'We had possession but we lacked sharpness'
on the game…
“Well they gave us the ball and they said 'listen, we are happy with the 0-0, do what you want'. Basically the story of the game was that they did not only get the 0-0 but they almost won the game. We had a lot of possession but lacked a bit of sharpness to get them out of position and they defended very well. And on one of the rare occasions where we could score a goal the ball was given out. On the other hand, with one of the rare shots on goals they had, they scored. In the end we needed character to come back and at least get a point. Is it a good point or a point? I don't know. But it was a bit of a frustrating day for us, we didn't create the chances we usually do and as well because I must say Sunderland defended very well."
on Robin van Persie's disallowed goal…
“Well from the bench my neck is not tall enough to see if the ball was really out or not. Theo pretends that the ball was in, I would love to believe him of course but anyway it doesn't change anything now, it has not been given.”
on TV replays proving it was a valid goal…
“That's just another appeal for video. You cannot appeal on video but if a manager had two appeals per game then in this one I would have used it of course.”
on whether it was a fair result…
“It was a result. It depends what you call fair. If you take the possession and the initiative it was all us, but they defended with a great spirit and they were resilient for the whole game. I like to think the team who takes the initiative is rewarded but it's not always like that in football. We lacked a little bit of sharpness to pull them out of position.”
on why Arsenal created little…
“I believe it is down to the quality of their defending, they just focused on that. They never came out of position. Secondly, sometimes after a Champions League match we are very sharp or a little bit flat. Today we were a bit flat.”
on Cesc Fabregas…
“It shows he is just not a great footballer but a great winner. He is one of the smaller players in our team and he goes for the header in the last seconds of the match, it tells you a lot about him."
on why Cesc is not captain…
“Because he is a bit young and because we have a captain.”
on this game as a learning curve for younger players…
“Yes, they used all their experience - Dwight Yorke - to slow us down. You could see that we have quality but sometimes you play a draw in these kind of games. It can happen.”
on the formation…
“They congest the middle of the park and we wanted to use a bit more of the flanks. We finished with a 4-4-2 in the last 25 minutes and we looked more dangerus because it suits us a bit more. But it is always difficult to rate whether it was because we were a bit tired or because of the shape. It's difficult to know.”
