Swansea 1-2 Arsenal
Arsenal lead Premier League with 15 points, two point clear of Tottenham.
Wenger reacts after 5th consecutive win in the League.
on getting a win on his 17th anniversary in charge…
It was better than any cake but the first half was quite difficult, Swansea played well, they were sharper than us. We didn’t play with enough purpose and they won many duels. In the second half we played in a more compact way and took advantage of every time we won the ball to be dangerous. We have seen a different Arsenal that is much more clinical and playing with much more purpose. We hung on a little bit in the last 15 minutes and they came back to 2-1 but overall I felt we deserved to win the game.
on being more clinical this season…
First of all that’s linked with young players who improve naturally in the final pass. We have added Ozil who can give a good ball in the final third and at the moment we have more confidence as well.
on Ramsey’s improvement…
Aaron Ramsey is a young boy and today Ramsey scored and Gnabry scored. Their combined age is 40 years old.
on the other surprising results in the Premier League…
It came as a surprise but it added a bit more pressure because you always feel guilty if you have an opportunity to solidify your position and you don’t’ take it and I think it’s part of a team as well during the season to grab the chance when you have it.
on being eight points clear of Man United…
Yes but it’s still an early stage and let’s not forget we were in a massive crisis after the first game.
on Gnabry…
He is surprising. He has the talent but the personality on the pitch as well. He doesn’t look timid, he looks to play with belief and of course talent. Unfortunately he is another player for Germany, he’s not English.
on Gnabry’s age when he started at Arsenal…
He was one year old. I can’t believe it. Now I have some players in my squad who were not born when I arrived at Arsenal.
on overcoming the ‘crisis’ of losing on the first day…
In our job there is only one response and that is on the pitch and that is what we did.
on conceding a sloppy goal…
Yes it was a bit of a sloppy goal. It was a bit easy and was down to a lack of concentration.
on scoring two goals in quick succession…
You feel that when we get over the halfway line on the counter-attack that everybody made the right decision and you see the danger coming. That is an enjoyable feeling because you feel when we are on the counter-attack that we can score.
on Ramsey’s resurgence…
First of all let’s not forget that his career was disturbed by a big injury and you need patience. After that people became a bit impatient with him and put pressure on him when he had some bad games. I believe it was a turning point for him when his game was questioned because it’s always an important period in the life of a football player, can you deal with that, come back to basics and practice even harder? Or does he feel sorry for himself and give up. That’s when I saw him responding in the way he did. I always thought we would come back and that’s why I kept faith in him.
on his goalscoring record…
Honestly I could not predict that. The only thing I can say is that he was always in good positions in the box and because he has improved his technique he doesn’t rush his decisions. Even the goal he scored today he needed a good touch, go past a player and finish quickly. Before, he used to rush his finishing but now he is more confident.
on Ramsey continuing his record…
I wish, but finishing is a bit cyclic because he will not score 38 goals in a season and you have to accept that. But it’s good you have players from midfield who can score.
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