- Arsenal boss Arsene Wenger has described their team spirit as "exceptional" after victory over Aston Villa.
Wenger praised the commitment of his side in recovering from a poor start to the season.
He added: "Our spirit is exceptional and that's why we came back from a bad start to the season to have such a strong run.
"You could see that some legs were jaded from Sunday and some minds as well in the speed of the decision-making. But we kept going and there is an exceptional attitude and spirit in the side.
- Arsenal boss Arsene Wenger admits they were fortunate with their victory over Aston Villa.
Villa winger Marc Albrighton scored the 20,000th Premier League goal and Arsenal striker Robin van Persie equalled Thierry Henry's club record for the most Premier League goals - 34 - in a calendar year.
But Yossi Benayoun's late header from a Van Persie corner saw the Gunners to bounce back from the weekend reversal against Manchester City.
Wenger said: "I can only congratulate Villa. They played well and gave everything. We got very late three points that are vital for us.
"We were a bit unlucky on Sunday against City and today maybe we were a bit lucky.
"But overall it was important to restart with a win. We had two difficult away games where we had a to give everything physically.
"In the first half we controlled the game quite well. In the second half when Villa came back to 1-1, we had a little bit of a difficult period.
"Then we stabilised the game again and in the last 15 minutes you could feel we were on top of the game again.
"But if Villa continue to play like that, they will quickly come up in the table because they had an outstanding game."
- Arsenal boss Arsene Wenger was again grateful to Robin van Persie in last night's win overAston Villa.
Van Persie struck again - this time from the spot - in the 2-1 triumph.
"He keeps going. Of course you always have that question when he plays against Manchester City and then again with that intensity, do
I rest him? At the moment he feels alright so I just take a gamble. Now we have a little breather to prepare for our home game and let's hope we can win then," said Wenger.
"We have to give credit to Villa tonight, we know they always give us a good reception here. They always make it very difficult for us."
- Arsenal boss Arsene Wenger was staying tight lipped on his transfer plans last night.
After victory over Aston Villa, Wenger was asked if he would buy in January.
"Frankly I don't know yet, it depends on what happens to Gibbs. Vermaelen does quite well at left back, it is not the position where he feels happiest but he does it with a good spirit. On the right side tonight I played a midfielder [Francis Coquelin], who I feel has done quite well."
- Arsenal boss Arsene Wenger says there's no reason to rush a decision over signing permanently Yossi Benayoun.
The on-loan Chelsea midfielder grabbed the winner against Aston Villa last night.
"We have him on loan until the end of the season so we do not need to decide [on a permanent transfer] tonight," said Wenger.
- Per Mertesacker admits that Arsenal felt the weight of expectation at Villa Park on Wednesday night - and he was delighted to come away with all three points.
The Gunners were fancied to beat struggling Aston Villa but had to wait until Yossi Benayoun’s 87th-minute header to secure a narrow 2-1 victory.
“We felt the pressure because of the bad game against Man City [on Sunday] but we have now won away from home again,” said Mertesacker.
“We were under pressure but we found a good solution with the first goal. We created some good chances but not as much as we thought at the beginning as Villa were always quick. Gabriel Agbonlahor was in some good situations [to score] but defensively we did a good job.
“Villa are a confident side. We thought because of their bad run that they were struggling, but I didn’t feel that today.”
- Arsenal midfielder Mikel Arteta knows a genuine title challenge is a long shot this season.
Arteta knows the odds are stacked against Arsenal.
"I think we need to be realistic," he said.
"It will be really tough to [make up] 12 points on Man City from here until the end of the season because they haven't dropped many points until now. But you never know in football. We can only go game by game and try to put pressure on them.
"The main thing is to focus on the football. We know that if we get through this period and get all the points then we will have a really good chance to be fighting for something at the end of the season. We know how important that is for the Club."
- Arsenal midfielder Mikel Arteta is excited by their Champions League tie with AC Milan.
Arteta knows Arsenal could have had an easier task - on paper at least - but he is relishing the chance to take on one of European football's most famous clubs.
"I smiled when the draw was made because I think it's a really good game to play," Arteta said.
"It makes it more exciting to play a team like Milan. Any team at this stage of the Champions League is going to be tough, even if people think you are favourites. I like playing against teams like this and we've got a good chance, so let's play. All the boys feel the same. If we have to play them, so be it, and let's try to win.
"This is exactly why I came to Arsenal. In your career you want to have moments like this. You don't face them every day so we have to take this special opportunity."
- Russian giants Zenit St Petersburg are looking to bring Arsenal’s Andrey Arshavin back to the club.
The 30-year old Russia international continues to struggle in North London and could be on the move back home with Zenit showing considerable interest.
"We are always interested in Arshavin," Zenit director Igor Korneyev told Sovietsky Sport.
"But I can neither confirm nor deny whether we have made an offer."
- Arsenal are maintaining a watching brief on Real Madrid midfielder Jose Rodriguez.
Gunners boss Arsene Wenger is a big fan of Rodriguez, who was named the U17World Cup Player of the Tournament earlier this year.
Rodriguez recently signed a new contract with Real, but that won't put off Wenger.
- Arsenal have made a check on Cliftonville sensation Rory Donnelly.
Liverpool, Swansea City and Everton have all tabled offers to Cliftonville for the young striker.
Arsenal youth chief Steve Morrow made a check on Donnelly this week in action against Donegal Celtic.
Morrow took in the first-half before leaving.
No comments:
Post a Comment