'We are organised and structured to attack'
On the referee's decision to award Eduardo a penalty...
“From outside I must say it looked a penalty but having seen it again on television, it doesn’t look to be a penalty. But I must still say that we were always likely to score the first goal because Eduardo had a great chance before the penalty and we always looked in control of the game tonight.
“I believe that it was not a penalty but having seen it again, I'm not sure that the ‘keeper didn't touch him with his right knee. I am a bit cautious because with what happened to Eduardo, you know. He might have jumped out of the way, so you have to speak to him. I don’t think he would have complained if the penalty was not given but did he want to get out of the way of the ‘keeper? I have to ask him. I haven’t spoken to him yet.
“We looked capable of scoring but that doesn’t mean that the penalty is important if it is not a penalty. That doesn’t mean I do not want a penalty that is not a penalty, but I do not go as far to say Edaurdo dived. He went down, for what reason I do not know. But I do not think he would have complained if the penalty was not given.”
On diving…
“Is it acceptable? I have never asked in my life any guy to dive to win a penalty, but sometimes players go down because there is no other way to escape the goalkeeper’s tackle, sometimes they dive. We got a penalty against us two years ago in the Quarter-Final of the Champions League that made the difference when Babel dived. Nobody ever apologised to us, it was a blatant dive and nobody spoke about it.”
On the difference in quality between Arsenal and Celtic…
“I believe that in the two games Celtic were well organised and showed some great mental qualities. They never gave up at any moment, and for me, they are a good side. Over the two games, they were a bit unlucky, because in the first game the free-kick deflected. They were always one behind the score and when there is a technical difference between the two sides, it makes it even harder.”
On injuries ahead of the Manchester United game…
“Aaron Ramsey is injured. I do not know how bad it is. I know they checked his knee but I have not spoken to the physios yet. Cesc looks to be short for Saturday. I could take Diaby off because he has not played for a long time. Three games in the same week would be a lot, apart from that, everybody looks alright.”
On Tony Mowbray’s comments that his side won’t play a side in Europe as good as Arsenal again this season…
“It is a great compliment. We are now in the top, top league in Europe, with all the big names. Somebody told me our team tonight had an average age of 23.9 years. That means if we can get out of the Group Stage, then in six months we can be even stronger.
"That is what we want to focus on, to continue to improve our team play, the speed of our game and show that we have made big improvements come Saturday at 5.15.”
On the Emirates atmosphere…
“There is a little wave of optimism again because our team has started well and the fans are a bit more optimistic.”
On scoring goals…
“For any team, you would want to score goals. We are orgainised and structured to go forward. The price we pay is sometimes we concede as well, but as long as we score, we do not worry too much.”
On Abou Diaby’s fitness…
“Diaby can’t play three in the trot because he has not played for a long time. I took him off in case I want to play him. After playing 60 minutes, the last 30 minutes can make a difference.”
On the 4-3-3 system…
“I believe we defend better as a unit. The system is not that new, we have played many games like that. At the moment, it works well for us. We have another test to see that on Saturday afternoon.”
On the 4-3-3 system working at Old Trafford last season…
“We played using that system in the Champions League game against Manchester United as well and it didn’t work at all. What changed? I feel in the Champions League, we were on back foot and in the Premier League we were more adventurous and going forward more often. We were too passive in Champions League; it is more mentally than tactically.”
On Thomas Vermaelen settling in…
“Who wouldn’t be happy, the two centre-backs were again outstanding. Thomas was great.”
On going to Old Trafford…
“I’m happy to go there because it is the first big, big test. You want to have a high level of confidence when you go to Old Trafford and we have that at the moment. For us it is most important to recover physically because Man United didn’t play tonight.”
Quelle: arsenal.com
