Arsene Wenger was a happy man after we beat Sydney FC in front of 80,000 vociferous supporters at ANZ Stadium.
The Arsenal manager has been blown away by the reaction of the fans since our arrival in Australia, and told the post-match press conference how much he has been enjoying his time in Australia.
on the experience…
I would just say, before we start, that we’re thankful to the crowd. There were 80,000 fans turning up for a game like that, we are very thankful and it shows how incredible sport is in Australia and how incredible the support we have here is. It is absolutely fantastic for us to see that. We haven’t come here for 40 years, so at least the players realise what support we have in Australia.
on reports he had the Sydney goalkeeper on trial in the past…
I don’t remember. I must say that it is such a long time that I’ve been at Arsenal that I don’t remember all the trials. But if he was with us, we made a mistake [not signing him]!
on the penalty…
Yes, we made a mistake - we should have given the ball back to them. It is always difficult to know how to behave, but I think we should have just rolled the ball back to them. I don’t know if Danny Welbeck saw it on the video, but on video it was obvious that it wasn’t a penalty. I haven’t spoken to him yet, but I think Per went to tell him to give the ball back, but I don’t know what happened.
on whether he has too many centre backs…
I’m cautious about having too many but I don’t think so. Koscielny has not played, Gabriel is injured, Mustafi was not there, Holding is not here. Most of these players can play on the flanks as well.
on why he didn’t play some players…
Laurent is suspended in the first two games of the season so I do not need to take any gamble with him. He’ll work very hard physically and there’s no reason for him to take the risk of getting injured. With Ramsey, I was a bit cautious as well because the last few seasons he’s been troubled with injury. I wanted to give him a good build up, a good foundation. He will play on Saturday night.
on Ospina…
Ospina just came back. I have three keepers and I will rotate on Saturday.
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