'Our game in hand puts us in strong position'
On being up 3-0 at half-time…
“We had chances, we had been under pressure in the first 10-15 minutes and after that I felt we controlled the game. Overall we could have scored many more. We know that on every counter-attack we looked dangerous and as soon as we could win the second ball and put it on the ground, we looked always capable to play through their lines and score goals. I feel that where we were maybe a bit surprising when we came here we expected to suffer on set-pieces, to not necessarily to score on set pieces, and that’s what happened on the first corner. Apart from that, we controlled the game."
On Wolves chances on set-pieces…
“It’s very difficult to predict what would have happened, but overall, I still feel that we scored three against Tottenham, four against Alkmaar, four today. That means we scored 36 goals now in the League. That is not a coincidence. That means we can score goals. Of course, if they had scored first it would have been much more difficult.”
On Arsenal’s defence…
“We have a style where everyone goes forward. You cannot have everything in football, but I believe we have a good balance between offense and defence, and as long as we score as many goals as we do, we can accept that.”
On why Alex Song did not start…
“I wanted to rest him.”
On Aaron Ramsey playing 90 minutes in his second Premier League start…
“He’s 18 years old and people forget. I set him a target to play between 15 and 20 games this year. So at some stage when you set a boy a target you give him a chance. When we play every three days, I rotated it a little bit because I believe we have a real squad of 20 field players who are of a fantastic level and you can talk and talk and talk, but you have to do it on the pitch as well and give them a chance. He has improved a lot. He has a tremendous engine and he already has good experience for an 18-year-old player.”
On the squad’s desire to win…
“The desire is there. We want to strengthen our belief, but I think the most important factor is that we play for each other as we do, we focus on our performance, and that we continue to develop our style of play. To play at a high pace, our collective game.”
On being out of the title race early last year…
“We were already out of it last year. Two years ago, we were very close to winning it, and people forget that. And last year we were out very early because in 14 games we had lost five. Now it is very different. We are in a strong position because we have a game in hand. Let’s keep strength in our belief, keep humility, and enjoy our game.”
On tomorrow’s Chelsea-Manchester United match…
“It will be very interesting, yes. A draw is fantastic for us. But the most important thing is that it is a good game, it is too early to calculate too much. Is it good or bad to win? Let’s hope it is a good game and enjoy it. You enjoy it always when you have won your game!”
On the teams in the title race…
“I wouldn’t discount Liverpool at the moment. The problem we had last year, the others had not lost two. Now everybody has lost two, so the difference with Liverpool is not as big.”
Quelle: arsenal.com
