We had the early chances but Olympiacos played a very committed game. They made it a good battle and we lost too many balls in the first half especially. We were a bit insecure.
Overall they were 2-0 up because they were sharper than we were. We came back to 2-1 and it looked more like we could level, but they scored the third goal.
on the right outcome...
I thought overall Olympiacos deserved to win the game but, unfortunately for them, it’s not enough because they will not qualify for the Champions League. Marseille made a super result which puts Olympiacos out of the competition.
They missed the first game at home against Marseille and it’s very difficult to get that back. Olympiacos deserved a better place. They paid a heavy price for not starting the championship before their first game.
on injuries to Lukasz Fabianski and Andre Santos...
Fabianski felt a deep cut on the knee and Santos suffered a bad ankle injury. He looks like he will be out for a while. We have Gibbs coming back in two to three weeks. Hopefully Santos will not be too long but, for Saturday against Everton, he looks to be short. We have as well Vermaelen who can play in his position.
on the performance...
I am annoyed because we lost the game. It’s difficult to single out (individuals) – I feel offensively and defensively we were not convincing tonight. We lost many challenges.
You could feel there was more at stake for Olympiacos than us. I think that made us insecure defensively. We lost many balls in position where we are not used to.
on the next stage of the competition...
Most of the teams I don’t like to play are top of their group, so that’s not bad because we can only play a second team. I wouldn’t like to say I don’t want to play this team, so we would be in an inferior position. So it’s better to wait for the draw. Now it becomes a cup game and you could see tonight that Olympiacos played it like a cup game.
on the experience...
It’s a fantastic experience (for the young players). They’ll realise what kind of intensity you need at that level. I still think, in patches, some young players have shown good things but, as a team, we missed a bit of maturity to keep the ball when we were under pressure.
Source: Arsenal.com on 6 Dec 11
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