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Wenger: We must be audacious in Barcelona
Dear Arsenal Supporter,
Saturday's win keeps us in the title race.
It was important to forget Barcelona for 24 hours and focus on the Wolves game, and that was not easy. But we did it well - I think we had a good focus. We were a bit jaded physically but we kept going and we didn't make a mistake at the back. In the end we got a deserved victory against a resilient Wolves team who had a great goalkeeper.
I put all our late goals down to our mental tenacity, our unity and the focus of the players who come into the side. Everybody works in the same direction. And as well, we often take advantage of our technical superiority in the final part of the game.
I felt it became more difficult against 10 men when Wolves had Karl Henry sent off because suddenly they dropped 10 yards and got everybody in front of their box. We were not so much under the threat of conceding a goal but it looked difficult to create chances. I knew we would continue to try but I was not certain we would score in the final minute!
Nicklas Bendtner scored our goal and he is a player who can take criticism. He responds well to it and has that strength. I believe he is improving, which is not unusual for a young player at 22. There is still room for improvement, but he is becoming more of a team player and is working hard. It is all positive.
A draw would have finished our title hopes because if you're five points behind Chelsea with five games to go, you can forget it. But a three-point gap is feasible because we have a difficult programme but they have a difficult programme as well.
Now we focus on Barcelona and I don't deny it will be a difficult task. We have to raise above the impression they left on us in the first part of the match, to have a game plan and stick to it. I believe we have to be audacious and not hide. I do not deny in the first part of the first leg that Barcelona were over-dominant, but if you look at the chances we created, we had some good ones.
Thanks for your support.
Arsène Wenger
Dear Arsenal Supporter,
Saturday's win keeps us in the title race.
It was important to forget Barcelona for 24 hours and focus on the Wolves game, and that was not easy. But we did it well - I think we had a good focus. We were a bit jaded physically but we kept going and we didn't make a mistake at the back. In the end we got a deserved victory against a resilient Wolves team who had a great goalkeeper.
I put all our late goals down to our mental tenacity, our unity and the focus of the players who come into the side. Everybody works in the same direction. And as well, we often take advantage of our technical superiority in the final part of the game.
I felt it became more difficult against 10 men when Wolves had Karl Henry sent off because suddenly they dropped 10 yards and got everybody in front of their box. We were not so much under the threat of conceding a goal but it looked difficult to create chances. I knew we would continue to try but I was not certain we would score in the final minute!
Nicklas Bendtner scored our goal and he is a player who can take criticism. He responds well to it and has that strength. I believe he is improving, which is not unusual for a young player at 22. There is still room for improvement, but he is becoming more of a team player and is working hard. It is all positive.
A draw would have finished our title hopes because if you're five points behind Chelsea with five games to go, you can forget it. But a three-point gap is feasible because we have a difficult programme but they have a difficult programme as well.
Now we focus on Barcelona and I don't deny it will be a difficult task. We have to raise above the impression they left on us in the first part of the match, to have a game plan and stick to it. I believe we have to be audacious and not hide. I do not deny in the first part of the first leg that Barcelona were over-dominant, but if you look at the chances we created, we had some good ones.
Thanks for your support.
Arsène Wenger
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