Capital One Cup Quarterfinals – Bradford 1-1 Arsenal (PK’s 3-2)
Arsene Wenger’s post game quotes:
on the game…
It’s disappointing, but congratulations to Bradford. They defended well [and] started stronger than us. In the second half of extra-time it was all us but we couldn’t convert our chances. They defended very well.
It was a typical cup game on a difficult but playable pitch. We lost on penalties, that unfortunately happened tonight. I cannot fault the effort. We have put the effort in [and] have given absolutely everything until the last minute. It was a typical English cup game and Bradford got on top of us in the end. We missed three penalties – that’s a lot to take.
They defended very well in their own half. The pitch was a bit slippery to get in behind. They defended very deep and played the ball forward. There was no space, no room.
on if he feared the worst when the game went to penalties…
When it goes to penalties, you know that you can win and you can lose. When you miss the first penalty, of course it’s difficult.
on if there is a psychological problem…
I don’t think so, no.
on under-performing…
I feel we gave a lot. It’s difficult to make the game the whole time. We played with a very offensive team. What is disappointing is [we played] basically over an hour with five strikers basically, and couldn’t score. We created a lot of different situations. You have to say they defended very well. It’s difficult to play this kind of game. I know people will say ‘it’s League Two’, but a cup game is a cup game. In football you always have a chance if you give everything. They did that tonight and we put ourselves in a difficult situation by being 1-0 down.
on where the result leaves the season…
Where it leaves our season is to focus on the next game. Sport is about that. Win the next game [and] focus on the next game.
on if the team are embarrassed…
You feel embarrassed when you don’t give everything. I feel the team did fight and will be more disappointed and frustrated.
