Arsenal 1-0 W.B.A.
Barclays Premier League
Saturday, August 16, 2008, 12:45
'We made good start, were always in control'
On the result…
"Well it was the first game of the season, we had a physical game on Wednesday night and I was worried before the game that we would not be sharp. We made a good start, were always in control but could not finish the game off.
"You have that old story in the game, when you cannot finish the game off you feel you deserved to be punished when there's 10 minutes to go.
"I am pleased with the fact that we didn't concede a goal. We scored two on Wednesday, one today, so it's better than the reverse. Overall it was a good week for us. A winning start, a win in the Champions League, so yes a good week."
On Nasri…
"He has shown he is an intelligent player, he has good technique and can integrate well with the team. He also worked hard for the team. He added something that people wanted from him in France and that was to score goals. He started to score some goals towards the end of last season and had a scoring start here today."
On failing to score more than once….
"I'm not really worried about the lack of goals because I don't feel we were sharp enough to finish off what we created. I believe when everyone is fit we can create clear cut chances. At times today the final ball was not good enough, too heavy, not timed well enough, and I feel we will improve a lot on that.
"We created many chances, but it's about converting them. Look at the amount we scored in the last 10 years and you can see we scored a few, even last year we had a very good striking force. It was not so much offensively we were punished last year, it was defensively."
On the need for a trophy…..
"We just started the season and I know I'll hear that [we must win a trophy] 38 times and I'm prepared for that."
On Carlos Vela…
"He has shown in pre-season he is a good player and he will take part in our team. We have four strikers and he is one of them. In a season like this one we have 60 games so he will play games. But he is going to Mexico tomorrow afternoon."
On West Bromwich's chances of survival…
"They defended intelligently and played in a positive way. You expected them at some stage to crumble but they never did and they kept going until the last second of the game. They have fantastic spirit and a positive attitude towards the game. They were not dirty, they were resilient and well organised."
On Arsenal's title credentials…
"We made 83 points last year and lost only three games. We have stability in this Club that allows us to feel that we can improve on last year. We lost three games and in two of the games we were leading 1-0 with 20 minutes to go. We lost some big names but what is important is what we produce on the pitch. Last year we were four points behind Man United and we didn't win a trophy. However we won the trophy of the most unlucky team. We had injuries to players for very long periods too. We lost [Tomas] Rosicky, [Robin] van Persie and Eduardo."
On being under pressure….
"Is a trophy to finish 12th and win the Carling Cup? For me a real quality of a team is to fight for the championship. If you don't win it you're very frustrated but what is important for me is the consistency of the Club and of the team. You have to accept that the level is very high when you fight for a title; two or three points difference in the end is not a big gap. Last year that is where we finished. We were there until the end."
On finishing in the top four….
"Of course [it is more important to finish fourth than to finish 12th and win the Carling Cup]. First of all you see the quality of a team over 38 games, and in the Carling Cup you play five games and you're in the Final. You play against lower league teams. If you have no quality you are not there at the end of the championship. After that it can be said it's not good enough. You must accept the competition is of a very high level, maybe the best level in the world. We finished with 83 points, anywhere else we would have won the championship."
