Gatting on Marseille, Hayden and chances

Steve Gatting spoke to Arsenal.com after the 1-1 draw with Marseille in the Uefa Youth League on Monday. Here is a transcript of what he had to say:

on the result…
I thought it was a terrific game, it was just what the Youth League is about. Marseille came with a gameplan and they played it very well indeed. In the first half we found it very hard to break them down and they caught us on the counter-attack. Isaac let himself down with a little bit of petulance and in the second half, when we went down to 10 men, we asked the boys some questions and I thought they came up with some good answers.

on Marseille’s approach…
They defended the middle third, were very compact, screened the play and got us on the counter-attack. Our passing wasn’t as crisp and decisive as it’s been in the past but you have to give credit to Marseille as well.

on responding well to going a goal down…
That was key. If we had gone in at half time 1-0 down and also down to 10 men, we would have found it very difficult indeed. So to come back so quickly evened things up and gave us a platform for the second half.

on Isaac Hayden’s red card…
He knows he has made a mistake. He is not a nasty lad, he has got to learn from it. When you play in big European games you are under a bit of pressure and you need to control your emotions.

on second-half chances…
I thought in the second half we looked like the team who were going to score the goal. We had the chances, but credit to the Marseille keeper and defenders for blocking the shots. I think Jon Toral and Chuba hit the ball well at certain times and we had those chances, so credit to them. You are always thinking in the back of your mind, will they sneak a goal? I said to the boys afterwards that it was a little bit disappointing not to win after the chances we had in the second half, but it’s a competition and our aim is to qualify.

on being well placed…
Hopefully [we will qualify], if it is as runners-up or first, but our aim is to get through.