Arsene Wenger faced the media after the 3-0 win against Watford at Vicarage Road on Saturday. Here is what he said...
on beating Watford…
To beat Watford you have to be completely committed to the game. We faced a Watford team that was well organised and knew exactly what they wanted to do. They were very physical in the challenge and very strong in the challenges and very direct. These three things together, it took us a while to get on top of that. In the second half, the fatigue coming in, Watford came in less in the challenges and we got the ball quicker in transition and were much more dangerous. When we scored the first goal, I like the fact we continued to attack and got a convincing win.
on Alexis…
I like to watch football and that is what you want when you watch him play. That is delightful.
on if he thought about dropping Alexis…
I did. Yesterday in the training session he looked quite sharp and the medical people told me he has no problem at all, then I thought I would test if he is ready and if he was not ready I would take him out. But sometimes it is easier to start the game and take the players off than when you go into the game a little bit tired, because you go with the game. So I decided to go for that.
on Alexis not playing…
I believe every player hates not playing but as well you have periods as a player. When a player is on a scoring moment then sometimes the flow can be disturbed. That is why I leave him in.
on playing a strong team…
I told you in the press conference that for me the important game was today because I knew that first of all to win today was vital to stay in touch with the top teams. Secondly, the best way to prepare for Tuesday night is to win today.
on if he will make changes for Tuesday night…
I don’t know yet but obviously there is no obvious reason to change completely the team. Maybe one or two I do not know yet. We will have to see how everybody recovers. I could rest a little bit Ozil and Sanchez and we have of course to put pace into this game and play against a big team, but we know we have proved ourselves in the Champions League. We want to make something special against Bayern Munich as it is the only way we can keep in the race.
on the pressure surrounding the Watford fixture…
When you play later than everybody else that is always the case. It will be the case next week when we play at 5.30pm again Everton.
on Walcott’s substitution…
He had no problem.
on Gabriel…
He should be available for Tuesday. He had a good training session before we left at our training ground and he looks alright.
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