Arsene Wenger couldn’t hide his happiness with the Gunners masterclass against Basel last night and only regrets that we didn’t finish more of our myriad chances to kill the game off with a third goal.
Le Prof enthused after the match: “I would like to congratulate my team for the quality of what they produced tonight. My only regret is that we didn’t take enough of the chances that we created. It’s a good basis to have a taste for more.
“We eased off a bit in the second half and we couldn’t score the third goal. We still had plenty of chances but it’s tough to maintain that pace, accuracy in the passing and speed in the game over 90 minutes. The first half was top, top quality like what we produced against Chelsea.”
Our first few games in last season’s Champions League were dire and the improved attitude is palpable. Arsene was asked why he thought that came about. “It’s down to hard work of course, but also belief – and belief comes with the last results.” he continued. “The confidence comes with the last result. We were a bit edgy at home for a few games but now it looks like we are playing with full pace and power. Now it’s down to us to continue to improve. I think we can do better and that will be down to our humility.
“We’ll start again tomorrow morning and then focus on our next game.”
So on we March to Sunday afternoon’s game at Burnley, and it would be great to go into the international break with yet another win to keep our confidence at the highest level. Is it too early to dream? Wenger thinks we should not get ahead of ourselves yet. “It’s way too early. Much too early.
“It looks like the team has interesting potential. We have to be ambitious and, as you know, keep our feet on the ground to continue to develop. We know exactly how we want to play football and we have to continue to stick to that and get better at it. That demands big focus and some leadership inside the squad. It also requires humility.”
And don’t forget it also requires less injury problems and squad depth, which seems to be working so far, although we have lost Ramsey and Coquelin already this season. Hopefully they will return soon and before we sustain any more…..
Onwards and Upwards!
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