Arsène Wenger faced the media ahead of the Premier League clash with Cardiff City. Here's our round-up of the manager's quotes. For the headlines, visit our Digest page:
on playing Wilshere out wide...
It does [bring the best out of him]. It depends always on the collective performance because Jack is an intelligent player who finds little holes on the pitch where he can use his ability to turn the ball forwards. What is good for him now is that he also starts to find goals. Then he will be naturally attracted to play in a more advanced position.
on Giroud being among the top strikers in the league...
He is among the best, all of them have different qualities. He is more of a British/English type striker, he uses well his body and his link play with others [is good].
His physical presence in the box is massive, especially with the type of team we have, with smaller, technically-mobile players. To have that kind of presence up front is important.
on Wilshere saying Fabregas was a bigger loss than Van Persie...
It is always difficult to say or prove more or less. We lost two great players, one was an exceptional striker, the other an exceptional midfielder. Where Jack is right is that it did hurt us twice and hit us twice in a very hard way because we struggled [afterwards], especially at the start of the season, and it took us time to come back.
This season is the first season [for a few years] where we did not lose a great player and is why as well we had the advantage of a better start. On top of that as well we bought a great player [Mesut Ozil], which helped even more.
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