Boss on defeat and the teams at the top

Arsene Wenger gave his thoughts on the 1-0 defeat to Manchester United. Read a transcript of what he had to say:

on the defeat…
It's disappointing to lose the game the way we lost it. I felt that we were a bit nervous at the start of the game and didn't play our game against a team of Manchester who was nervous, a bit insecure and we gave them a little bit of comfort by making the mistake at the first set-piece - or the second. After that we lost too many balls and we rushed our game in the first half.

In the second half when we played our game we played in one half and they counter-attacked a few times but we didn't find the opportunity to equalise. We had the opportunities but we missed always a few inches to push the ball in the net. They were well focused to defend and defend and then try to catch us on the break - that happened once or twice in the game. Overall it's disappointing to lose the game like that because I think we had the opportunity at least to get a draw out of this game.

on the sickness in the camp pre-match…
Look I don't want to speak about that because that can happen the whole season - it doesn't mean that you have to lose the game.

on it affecting the players who did play…
No I don't think so. They declared themselves fit so when you play, you play so there is no excuse. I felt that physically we were alright, maybe we lacked a little bit. I just think we were too nervous in the first half but until the end we looked like we could score. We were always dangerous but we lacked a little bit of quality in our final ball or a bit of sharpness maybe to finish on crosses but the opportunities were there.

on what he puts the nervousness down to…
Maybe the fact that we haven't won for a long time here [Old Trafford] and that it was a big game. Once again it was a tight game that has been decided by a set-piece. That's what we will keep from this game. We knew that could happen but after that we had a go and we gave absolutely everything until the last minute. This team has a great heart so I feel sorry for my players tonight.

on Jones' challenge on Szczesny…
I didn't see it honestly because there was so many people there. I just saw that Szczesny got the ball out. Anyway, it's down to the referee to make the right decisions - I think he got a few wrong today but it was not the only one.

on whether he considered substituting Szczesny…
I listen to the doctor, if he says to me he has to come off then he comes off no matter. Even if we have seven players on the pitch I do it. You have only one life and you have 60 games per year.

on if the doctor said Szczesny was fine…
No nobody told me anything about him. If he had said there was trouble I would have taken him off.

on any particular decision he was unhappy with…
I don't want to talk too much about that. I need to buy some Christmas presents and all these statements cost too much money now.

on whether the international break will be an advantage…
The international break is not welcome because when you lose a game like that you want to play straight away again. We have some players who go to play massive games, under massive pressure and will not come back after the break refreshed - they come back maybe exhausted because France plays against Ukraine - we have a few French players. All the other countries it's a bit better.

on six points separating the top eight teams…
Six points is not too bad after 11 games. What we have learnt again today is that not only that Man United could beat Arsenal but everybody can beat everybody in this Premier League. Sunderland beat Man City and that shows you how much excitement you will have until the end of the season.

on the quality of the top teams…
I don't know because you have for example a team like Southampton who is close to the top but they have three international players in the England squad. They have Luke Shaw is not far, they have they say [Nathaniel] Clyne is not far. That means maybe the whole Premier League has gone up. I don't think necessarily players like [Robin] Van Persie are not as good as last season or two seasons ago. It's just the whole quality has gone up.