Read a transcript from Arsene Wenger's press conference following the 3-2 defeat against Olympiacos:
on if that was his worst night in Europe…
Sit on a bench in a European final and I will ask you the question after.
on if that was how he expected the game to go…
Some aspects of our game were quite good but I thought we lacked quality defensive concentration and we played against Olympiacos who defended very well. I believe we had a bit of bad luck as well because they had four shots on target and scored three goals and that happens once in 100 Champions League games. The turning point was 2-2 and after a difficult start at 2-2 we gave them a goal and that was the turning point of the game. We gave a lot and had 65 per cent possession. We feel guilty because we gave easy goals away.
on the Ospina decision…
That is a simple thing. David Ospina played 19 games last season and kept 14 clean sheets and last week he had a fantastic game. No keeper is mistake free, it could have happened to Petr Cech as well.
"It puts us in a bad position but we are still in it. We have to think we can deal with Zagreb and Olympiacos and we need a result in our next game away from home against Bayern Munich"
Arsene Wenger
on if Cech was fit…
He had a slight alert before the game at Leicester and I did not want to take take a gamble but it is not because of that we lost the game.
on if fans will be frustrated not playing Cech…
I make the decisions and selections for the team and I’m responsible for it. I know many things that you don’t know and that you ignore. You cannot select a team by using a poll and getting everyone’s opinion before the game.
on where that leaves Arsenal in the group…
It puts us in a bad position but we are still in it. We have to think we can deal with Zagreb and Olympiacos and we need a result in our next game away from home against Bayern Munich.
on Koscielny…
It is a hamstring. This is why I rotate as we play many games. The other teams do it as well. You look at the other teams in Europe’s benches and you will see them rotate. You cannot play every three days without rotating your players That is a fact and you have to accept that.
on the dressing room’s reaction…
We played four away games before tonight. We played Zagreb, Chelsea, Tottenham and then Leicester. Tonight is the first game at home. We are disappointed. Are you surprised? A disappointment is enough.
on what wrong tonight…
We played Santi Cazorla, Mesut Ozil, Francis Coquelin in midfield. They have played together for six months. On the right, we had Alex Oxlade-Chamberlian, on the left Alexis and up front Theo Walcott. That is the team that plays always. It is either Oxlade-Chamberlain or Ramsey or Cazorla or Ramsey. We were open because we attacked and went forward.
Copyright 2024 The Arsenal Football Club Limited. Permission to use quotations from this article is granted subject to appropriate credit being given to www.arsenal.com as the source.
