As we all know Arsene Wenger was ‘disappointed’ last night, as were all Arsenal fans especially the ones that booed the players off the pitch! But, as the title says, there was one very happy man in the dugout. Step forward Claude Puel – the Southampton manager!
Thanks to some dismal defending by the completely revamped Arsenal back four, the Saints took the lead after 12 minutes and rarely looked like surrendering the lead. He said after the game: “It was a great performance because this game was a different profile,”.
“We were clinical in the first half, with two goals from two chances. I like this.
“After, in the second half, we had many chances to score another goal and make the game safe against a good team.
“It was a fantastic game to achieve that result: good solidarity, good attitude. I enjoyed what my players did.
“We have a chance to play a semifinal, home and away, in the second half of the season. That was the objective.
“[There are some] very important games in the future.”
Looking on the bright side, our reserves don’t have to play two extra games (although they would like to have had the chance) and two of our rivals, Liverpool and Man United, are due for a little fixture congestion in the near future.
Conversely, there were definitely lots of unhappy fans at the match, and Arsene Wenger admitted that the jeering supporters had good reason to vent their frustration. “It’s down to us to give the fans what they want. It is a fact. We have to live with that,” Le Prof said.
“We had a disappointing performance, particularly in the first half. I think we were not good enough defensively and gave cheap goals away.”
There’s that ‘disappointing’ word again. I wonder what Wenger said to the players!!!
Sam P