Thursday, February 2, 2012

Wenger's reaction to the Bolton Wanderers 0-0 Arsenal match

on the result…
We feel we have dropped two points because we had chances to win the game. But we produced a decent game against a difficult opponent who gives you the ball, marks tight and waits for their chance. We took all of the risks and we were a bit unlucky as well because we hit the bar, the post and missed some great chances. In the end we took a gamble to play four strikers and we nearly got caught in the last five minutes from a Bolton chance.

But I cannot fault the effort, the commitment and desire to win the game. On the positive side we haven't lost and we haven't conceded a goal. Of course we have regrets because we did not take our chances tonight.

on missing early chances…

Of course. In the end you could see as well that we had one day less recovery than Bolton and that we had given a lot in the second half against Aston Villa to come back and win the game. We had a few heavy legs to finish the game.

on one point in four…

We give our best in every game and that is what we did tonight. Journalists always talk if you are concerned but it is about the game you have played just now. You do not go in after a game and think it is the most difficult period.

We had even more difficult periods when we won championships and went six games without a win. It's part of football when you lose three games like we did, when you do not lose the fourth game it is already not too bad.

on Jack Wilshere's injury…

I don't know really. We made a statement today and we stick to that. I can talk and talk but I do not know more than you.

on how frustrating that is…
You want your best players available in February when you go away in the Champions League and play in the FA Cup. You want to come back into the top four and you want your best players available, so of course it's frustrating.

on confidence of top-four finish…
There is a long way to go and I am confident that we can come back, yes. We have gone through a difficult period where we lost the three championship games, but we could have won them as well.

on past finishes giving confidence…
I believe we had to produce it game by game. For us, every game in the championship is a cup final now. We go into a period now where we play in the FA Cup, the Champions League and it will be difficult to balance all three. It's important that we do not have more injuries. We now have Sagna back, Gibbs is not far and Arteta is back so overall I think we can cope with it.

on what is missing…

What I feel is missing at the moment, and in the game tonight, is taking our chances early in the game. That could have changed the whole game because they would have had to come out. They defended very well and as long as we didn't score, they were not in a position where they had to change their tactics.

Source: Arsenal.com on 1 Feb 12

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