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Wenger - There is no reason to panic

One-one against Tottenham, 1-1 against Manchester United and now 2-2 against Paris Saint-Germain.

We’ve taken on some big teams at home and in Europe this month, and emerged unscathed. But as Arsene Wenger admitted after the draw with PSG, we need to turn those draws into wins - and fast.

Here’s what the boss said in his post-match press conference:

on the result…
Well, I think we have put the intensity into the game and overall I believe that we were committed, for periods dominant. But the start of the game was in favour of Paris Saint-Germain because I think we let them play too comfortably. After, the last 20 minutes of the first half we pushed up and came back to 1-1. We had a very strong start again in the second half, where we were dominant until it was 2-1 and after we dropped off and didn’t maintain the pressure and we paid for that. It’s frustrating because we scored an own goal basically on a ball where we thought it was a goal kick. We were a bit passive on the corner, but it’s a 2-2. It’s of course disappointing because we were 2-1 up, but we played against a good team that has top technical quality and that’s it.

on whether it was tough to get going or if PSG nullified us…
It was difficult for us to find the right positioning on the pitch from the start, because we were a bit hesitant to play high up or to block them deep. So we were a bit in between the two and that is never good.

on whether there has been a loss of momentum in recent weeks…
We have not lost, but we have lost a winning momentum a little bit, yes. But we played against a good team tonight as well.

on whether he will be glad if November is over…
No… I believe that I have to be careful about the choice of my words because when I say ‘stuttering’ it comes back in the next press conference. Look, I think there is a special spirit in the squad and the consistency of the results… we are unbeaten for 18 games. Sometimes you go through a spell, when you have such a long momentum, where we win a bit less. It’s down to us to continue without losing a game but as well to transform the draws now into wins. But there is no reason to panic.

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