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Wenger on the win, Giroud and Bergkamp

Arsene Wenger faced the media following Saturday's 4-1 win against Sunderland. Here is what he had to say:

on the result…
We had a very demanding week physically and mentally and we gave the right response today. We did the job in the first half and we scored two great ‘Arsenal’ goals; one of them scored by Giroud, the other by Rosicky. I am very pleased for Rosicky because today Bergkamp got a statue and I think Rosicky took the Bergkamp role well. Certainly Dennis will have been pleased to have seen him play.

on Arteta’s performance…
He is an extremely intelligent player, focused and committed. These three qualities together make him an exceptional player and he understands everything that is going on on the pitch. I agree with you that sometimes his performances are not [highlighted], but we notice them.

"Today Bergkamp got a statue and I think Rosicky took the Bergkamp role well. Certainly Dennis will have been pleased to have seen him play"

Arsene Wenger

on Giroud’s two goals…
I had no hesitation about his strength of character. Of course you want him to come back into the team and be successful, which he was today because he scored two goals. One great one at the end of great movement and the other a little bit of a gift from Sunderland. He got an assist as well, so he did well.

on confidence levels…
Against Bayern Munich, the target was to have a good performance and a good result. We only had the good performance. Of course we were very frustrated but we had to transfer the positives that we got from this game. Overall, we believe we can still have a go at Bayern. We have shown today we are capable of responding and that is the most important thing. You see City had a difficult game, Chelsea had a difficult game so you see it is difficult for all the teams at the top, but we did the job well.

on Koscielny and Monreal…
Koscielny has a back problem, Nacho has a foot problem because he was kicked on his foot. I think both should be available next week.

on Mesut Ozil…
Yes [he was injured], a thigh problem but it was a kick. He should also be available next week. He is in the dressing room at the moment.

on Wilshere…
He had a tight hamstring, I don’t know if it is bad or not. They tell me it is not too bad.

"[Bergkamp] changed the destiny of the club because he arrived at a moment when football in England was changing"

Arsene Wenger

on Dennis Bergkamp…
He changed the destiny of the club because he arrived at a moment when football in England was changing. He was the first big star to arrive at this club, having been at Inter Milan. Overall I think he contributed to transforming the way we played football here. Nobody forgets him. Always the biggest admiration is from the players who played with him. Everyone admitted Dennis in our team. Even today, when I meet the former players they speak always about his class. He was class, intelligent and he had another quality that is a bit lost today: he was loyal to this club. He deserves special treatment.

on whether he could join the club…
I am not against it one day. One, he has the qualities, but you need to have the need as well because we have a big staff already. He is now at two clubs that made Dennis Bergkamp. The first, and certainly the most important one, is Ajax. He is at Ajax now and a coach there. The second club that is important in his life is Arsenal. Maybe that will be the next step!

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