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Wenger: 'We were never in full flow'
Dear Arsenal Supporter,
I think against West Brom we were complacent but that wasn't the case against Newcastle on Sunday.
In fairness the two teams who have beaten us at Emirates Stadium are good teams. They have shown that before and when we met them. But on Sunday we were never in full flow. We played against a good Newcastle team who are a team of men, physically strong and mature.
Overall I still believe we were very unlucky to lose the game. They had one shot on target and that was their goal. Apart from that they defended well and we were not sharp enough to get them out of position quickly enough.
We were a bit unlucky because we hit the post two or three times and their keeper made a very good save. But we put ourselves in a bad position just before half time with the goal we conceded.
Lukasz Fabianski didn't have a lot to do and I don't think he was expecting the challenge when Andy Carroll scored. It was not a technical mistake from Lukasz, it was a problem of timing. Carroll is certainly a handful though.
Laurent Koscielny was sent off for a professional foul on Nile Ranger but in my opinion he should not have been sent off because it wasn't a clear goalscoring opportunity and he was not the last man. Sebastien Squillaci was covering him so I personally don't think it was a red card.
Overall though our home form is a concern because even against Birmingham and West Ham we struggled to win. Everybody comes here and plays very tight and when we are not in full flow we have problems to play through the lines.
When you score the first goal it is alright because teams have to come out but as long as they can sit deep we have a problem to play through when we are not at full power.
One plus point from Sunday was the return of Robin van Persie. You could see he is not completely ready but we pushed him on early because I had to do something. You saw it was very difficult for us to score a goal and there could always be a set-piece or a cross or a pass where he could make a difference.
Thanks for your support.
Arsène Wenger
Dear Arsenal Supporter,
I think against West Brom we were complacent but that wasn't the case against Newcastle on Sunday.
In fairness the two teams who have beaten us at Emirates Stadium are good teams. They have shown that before and when we met them. But on Sunday we were never in full flow. We played against a good Newcastle team who are a team of men, physically strong and mature.
Overall I still believe we were very unlucky to lose the game. They had one shot on target and that was their goal. Apart from that they defended well and we were not sharp enough to get them out of position quickly enough.
We were a bit unlucky because we hit the post two or three times and their keeper made a very good save. But we put ourselves in a bad position just before half time with the goal we conceded.
Lukasz Fabianski didn't have a lot to do and I don't think he was expecting the challenge when Andy Carroll scored. It was not a technical mistake from Lukasz, it was a problem of timing. Carroll is certainly a handful though.
Laurent Koscielny was sent off for a professional foul on Nile Ranger but in my opinion he should not have been sent off because it wasn't a clear goalscoring opportunity and he was not the last man. Sebastien Squillaci was covering him so I personally don't think it was a red card.
Overall though our home form is a concern because even against Birmingham and West Ham we struggled to win. Everybody comes here and plays very tight and when we are not in full flow we have problems to play through the lines.
When you score the first goal it is alright because teams have to come out but as long as they can sit deep we have a problem to play through when we are not at full power.
One plus point from Sunday was the return of Robin van Persie. You could see he is not completely ready but we pushed him on early because I had to do something. You saw it was very difficult for us to score a goal and there could always be a set-piece or a cross or a pass where he could make a difference.
Thanks for your support.
Arsène Wenger
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