We have no injuries and we had a good sweat. Overall what is important for us is to get slowly ready. I believe technically we were alright for our first game. Physically we suffered a little bit but what is important at this period of the season is to find our team play back and that was quite satisfying.
The first half was more difficult than the second because the teams were a bit disturbed and disrupted by the many changes. But the first half was physically at a good level and they played with a good pace. I felt they [Malaysia] defended stubbornly and very well in their box. They had a few opportunities but they miss a bit of calm in the final third.
on Jenkinson and Miyaichi...
Jenkinson has shown power and good decision-making. Ryo Miyaichi has shown as well good qualities, he is always available, always keen to take people on, he works very hard. Both of them have shown interesting qualities.
on Samir Nasri...
He has always had a very good attitude. We are a big club with many good young players so we are confronted with many rumours and speculation. But it doesn't affect much what's happening inside the Club. We have to live with that and you could see when he [Samir] played that he wasn't disturbed by that.
on whether the board support his decision to keep Nasri...
I think so, I believe that is no problem. It is a technical decision. On one hand people say I don't spend enough and when I spend people say I spend too much. It's very difficult to find the right medium. What is important is that the Club has a good team and is in a strong financial situation. The decisions are dictated by financial restrictions but not only by that. The most important thing is that the team is right and our financial situation is right as well.
on how the fans will react to him…
Very well. I believe that everybody who loves Arsenal wants all our strong players to stay at the Club.
on the Malaysia leg of the tour…
What is positive is that we are together, we have discovered a new country, we have discovered how much we are loved in Asia and that was unknown by many players. We have learned that the love here is genuine, enthusiastic and full of admiration.
on whether anyone can emulate Jack Wilshere this season…
It’s a bit early for me. I’m a football manager and, unfortunately, not a prophet! We are happy to have a player like Ramsey back, who didn’t play the whole season and Vermaelen as well. So hopefully they can have a very interesting season.
on his thoughts on the Malaysia XI…
They were mobile, motivated and well-organised defensively. I would say they lacked offensive power as a team but they were very interesting. Their transition from defence to offence was very quick and good but in the final third you could see there was a big difference between the two teams.
on his targets for the new season…
The target is always to win the Premier League. That’s the basis of our target.
Source: Arsenal.com on 13 Jul 11
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