Arsene Wenger’s press conference on Friday covered a wide range of topics, from contract talks to early-season form and the battle between the goalkeepers.
Read on for more quotes from the manager’s media briefing:
on Per Mertesacker’s contract situation…
At the moment we have not dealt with that situation.
- 'Why Giroud hasn't started yet'
- The boss' verdict on Granit Xhaka
- Wenger on Usain Bolt v Hector Bellerin
on whether Per’s contract offer will depend on his fitness…
Not especially. Of course he has to come back but we go year by year with Per and we’ll see together at some stage when he will be back in full training.
on the Alexis and Ozil contract situations…
No [there are no updates].
on Ospina’s performance v PSG…
I don’t want to come out with my plans [for who plays in which competition]. I think the decision was questioned, which I can understand because I have two world-class goalkeepers. On the day I chose Ospina and I think he had an outstanding game.
on Barca having different keepers for La Liga and Champions League…
More and more clubs have that. If you have two world-class goalkeepers you cannot keep them both if one of them doesn’t get a game, or you have a secondary choice who never plays, and when he does, you have a big problem. Or you try to get two world-class goalkeepers, like we have. Then you have to give them games in big competitions as well.
on Arsenal’s start to the season…
We had a difficult start, and knew that very quickly we were under pressure and that the mentality of the squad was tested straight away. We came out of it at the moment in quite a satisfactory way, but we have already to make some ground up against teams that have started very well. The mental state is quite good, but now we have to show consistency with our results.
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