on a fitting matchwinner...
You [the media] will say we are van Persie dependent! Today he got us a goal which was at the moment of the game where we struggled a little bit to create chances. He delivered something special and three important points.
on the performance...
Overall we created many chances in the first half, and the players were a bit disappointed at half-time that we did not score. In the second half, Everton played deeper and gave us less room, we lacked a bit of team pressure to get them out of position. We needed something special. I was always confident we would score, but I am very pleased we kept composure and did not give a goal chance away.
on Van Persie's ability...
I have elaborated on that a lot, so there is not much more to say. I feel Robin has scored an exceptional goal, he said himself he was not in his best of days, but what is important is that you are efficent. that is what it is to be professional, when you do not feel the greatest. I must give credit to Song as well, who gave a fantastic ball.
on the prospect of a Wenger statue...
What I am worried about is that we have a few to build - there were some great players who have played here, so around the stadium could be full of statues!
on pairing Anelka with Henry...
I read that Anelka has signed in Shanghai, so there is no need. The problem for us is we lose Chamakh in January, we lose Gervinho in January, and offensively we will be a bit short. However, we have Arshavin, we have [Oxlade]-Chamberlain, who has made great progress already, who can come in. If there is an opportunity there with somewhere why not? We have Park also, now his adaptation period is over, we will see much more from him in the second half of the season.
on whether Henry could sign...
At the moment he goes back on the 15th of January to a training camp. I don’t know where.
on whether Van Persie acclaim overshadows team effort...
It is a tradition in football that the goalscorers always get the plaudits, but I must say Robin deserves that because he has always been remarkably consistent. But I am very pleased as well that the team has improved defensively. When you look at the goals we conceded at the start of the season, we look much more solid now. We didn't give a chance away against Everton, basically, so on that front we are better.
on Henry's comment that "without team-mates I am nothing"...
We are in a team sport and without our partners we are nobody. But at the end of the day the media always take somebody out.
on building a title challenge...
We have to continue. The spirit is there, the consistency is there now, our focus is there, so we will see how far we can go. Today was an historic day for us so it's not easy to keep the focus right with so many people here and the celebration before the game with everybody coming back. But we were a bit historical today as well because we won 1-0. George Graham was here today, he deserves a statue!
on being in the top four...
Well, it is a virtual top four at the moment because if Chelsea win on Monday they will be in front of us. What is important for us is that we started from so deep that nobody could have predicted that at the beginning of December we would be where we are now. We have to keep going because we are still far away.
on putting pressure on teams like Chelsea...
We try, we try very hard. We have a big game next Sunday, that will be a big test for us but we have a week to prepare. It will be a good test to see where we are.
on whether he expected to be in the top four after August...
I hadn't made that calculation at the time. In some press conferences I had to say we would not play for relegation so you could not predict that we would be where we are today. The only thing you can do is focus on the next game and prepare the team well.
Source: Arsenal.com on 10 Dec 11
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