On another test ...
"Yes we passed it well. I think the first half
was amazing. We were tested today, we were 1-0 down and in the
second half we were confronted with a very physical game yet we
passed the test. I think the squad will come out with more
belief."
On the first half being the best of the
season ...
"Yes it looks like that. We have had some good
ones but the first 45 minutes were absolutely amazing."
On recovering from a defeat...
"It was a test on that front aswell. When you
have a set-back the way the team responds can have a big impact on
the season. The way we played showed that it did not bother us. It
did not kill the confidence in the side."
On playing without Cesc Fabregas...
"What is true in one game is not true in 10
games. We want Cesc with us, he is a big player for the team. He is
a world-class player and we are better with him. But I doubt
he will be back for Wednesday night."
On Mathieu Flamini...
"I am delighted with Mathieu's season as a
whole and Diarra had a great game aswell. Mathieu had his own
destiny in his hands [during the summer]. I told him if he stays he
will have the same chance as everybody else."
On the trouble Villa caused...
"Carew was a handful. They played with four
strikers and were very direct. We were tested but we handled the
problem well."
On the difference between Villa and Sevilla...
"I decided to rest some players at Sevilla
because we had three away games coming up - this one, Newcastle and
Middlesbrough."
Copyright 2013 The Arsenal Football Club plc. Permission to use quotations from this article is granted subject to appropriate credit being given to www.arsenal.com as the source 2 Dec 2007
