Full Transcript of Wenger's Pre-match Conference Ahead of Brighton Clash

Arsene Wenger faced the media on Thursday ahead of Sunday’s FA cup clash against
Brighton. Below is the full transcript of his press conference.

Good morning Arsene

Good morning

 
Can we start with team news ahead of the Brighton game?

Yes. We have basically some uncertainties about Chamberlain, Bellerin but they have tests today, and Bellerin should be available. Chamberlain I’m not sure

Serge Gnabry is back in training?

Serge Gnabry is back in full training, but he needs first games in the under 21 because he’s been out for a very long time, but he looks quite promising. Physically and fitness wise, he’s okay.

Any update on Danny Welbeck?

Danny Welbeck is still out for I think he will need two more games for him to be back again. He’s not in full training yet

Looking back to last Sunday at Manchester city, how much did that performance please you, and what did it do for team confidence?

Well, we had a very controlled performance, and showed great solidarity, great togetherness, that’s always a very good basis where everybody contributed with hard work, great work rate, and can we keep that focus up on all these qualities and improve our technical level, we can only get stronger

How different a challenge is it to play away in the FA cup, especially to a team in the lower division?

In the championship, it’s always difficult away from home, and we remember 2 years ago, I remember it was a very difficult game against a team who was on the way up, they were fighting at the top level,  when he went there, and it was a very difficult game. We need to dig deep to get out with a positive result

What are the problems with Chamberlain and Bellerin?

Chamberlain is inflammation of groin problems, and Bellerin is an ankle problem.

Krystian Bielik has joined your youth. Do you see him coming in for some of these matches?

No, no, no, not at all. He comes just from Poland, he’s just turned 17, he’s not fit because they had a winter break at Poland, which was very long, so he’s at the start of getting back to full fitness. He’s not ready before 3 weeks.

Do you see him more as a central defender, or defensive midfielder?

Defensive midfielder without any question.

With regards to trying to bring in a central defender, how are talks going with Villarreal with regards to Gabriel Paulista?

Aren't you better informed than I am? No, the talks are progressing quite well. To be serious.

Is it true that arsenal have made any bid?

I don't think there is need to say much more. We are talking at the moment, can we find an agreement or not? I don’t know, we are slowly progressing but there’s a chance.

Would you be prepared to pay the 20 million Euros buy-out clause, or is that too much?

Look at the moment we are talking. 20 million is Euros, so that means at the moment, its 15-16 million pounds.

Would that be too much?

We are ready to pay the price we think right for a good player, no matter what the price is. If we think it’s the right price we will pay.

He will need to get a work permit. How keen are you to get that done now because of the change that’s coming this summer over getting the work permit? If you paId over 10 million, in the summer, he would qualify for the work permit. If you pay less than 10 million now getting It might be a bit trickier

Yeah trickier, but you know first of all I don't really understand the logic of it all, but secondly, if a player we want needs a work permit, we defend it now because he will not necessarily want to do it in the summer. We are short at the moment now, so no matter what the rules are, we have to do it now.

If you could get that done, would that be you done?

Not necessarily no.

Have you noticed a change this week in training given the fantastic week you had in the weekend?

Look what happened over the weekend helps the team to strengthen our confidence, but I think the attitude of the players since the start of the season, on the desire to do well, on the solidarity it has been extremely good, so the basics have not changed. We are certainly a bit more believed, and more strengthened in our belief yes.

And do you see Brighton as a different opposition now that they have Chris Hughton as coach?

Chris would give them his experience and his competence of course and he knows how to prepare a team for a challenge like that. For us the challenge is to turn up with the same spirit, and show that we can be consistent with our attitude game by game, and in the cup, God knows that its needed you know and we know that it will be another big challenge for us to go there and come home with a positive result.

Do you want the team to show the same attitude they showed against city between now and the end of the season?

Of course. I believe the spirit was always there. We had always that defensive solidity because we were many times in a position where we had to throw everything forward because w e conceded early goals

You said there was a chance of Paulista coming. Are we talking about 50-50 or 70-30?

50-50

Theo Walcott has said he thinks the current arsenal attack is better than the invicibles. Is that true?

I think number wise, certainly. We have more players today of top level than we had at the time, but at that time, we had exceptional players, but number wise, we were shorter than we are today. The competition for places is not as stiff as we have today. I agree with that on him. Having said that, we had exceptional players.

Reports say the 20 premier league clubs are among the top 40 wealthiest clubs in the world, which is a great reflection of the premier league. What do you feel the success of it is?

The success of the premier league is that the world’s richest people invest in the premier league, which has not been the case in the other leagues.

Why?

That’s a very good question because I think the quality, and the audience of the premier league all over the world is big, and maybe Europe is getting poor, but the rest of the world is getting richer, but the rest of the world invests in football in Europe, and at the moment only in England. Would that last? I’m not completely sure, and the second reason is that that’s down to you. To televisions, to the fact that television in England pays the money that makes us richer.

So as far as you’re concerned it’s the best in the world?

For me, I’m always a bit cautious to use the word best, but the most spectacular, certainly, the most attractive to watch for sure.

Is it looking likely that Ozil starts on Sunday?

It’s likely yes

And also to Teixeira who’s on loan from Liverpool to Brighton. He scored a double yesterday. Do you think he would be a player to watch and mark?

Yes of course. We have to keep their strikers quiet and in the cup, you have to be ready from the start, and people like that can surprise you if you are not ready

Do you consider him to be their main threat?

We have to study them well. We will do that today, and tomorrow, but at the moment he’s one of the players who scores

You said you didn’t understand the logic of the work permit rule. What do you mean by that?

The logic that the availability of the work permit is linked with the amount of money you spend. It should be linked with the quality of the players only.

Because at the moment, if a player plays over 75% of international matches, they get a work permit. But if they don’t there is a subjected argument as to whether these players are good enough

You are right, but the amount of money you spend is not always directly linked with the quality of the players. I think the 75% rule as well can be questioned, because it’s much more difficult for a player to make 75% for Brazil than for Luxembourg, and so that again, it’s difficult to make a rule that satisfies everybody.

Are you confident of getting a work permit for Paulista?

Look, we don’t know. We are open. We respect the rules in England when we buy a player who doesn’t fulfill the criteria, we go in front of a commission, and if they tell us okay, yes or no we’ll accept that. We have to respect the rules that are in this country after are the rules right or not? That can be discussed, but at the moment the rules are like that. You have to go in front of a committee to get a work permit.

Can you talk about why you brought Coquelin back and just put him in the team, and how well he’s done?

I saw that he had made major developments in training, and I explained that for me to give him a potential chance, he needs match practice, and I cannot give him that. I can only give him that if he has played some minutes before. He took the challenge and came back, and since I played him, he’s doing well.

Do you see him as a long term solution?

 Yes. He’s a very young player, and you look just at what’s happening on the football pitch you know, win the ball and make a good pass, and that’s in his position the most important

Are there plans to offer him a new contract?

Yes we offered him a new deal.

Are you confident that he would sign it?

I’m confident that it will be done.

What’s the situation with Diaby at the moment?

Abou Diaby is still injured.

Can we expect to see him this season?

At the moment, he’s not in a position where he will be ready to play soon because he is not on the field at all.

You have decisions to make about his contract

I have a decision to make about his contract yes.

When you look at the bench at the weekend, you had Ozil, Walcott. Is that a luxury now for you, you’ve got guys like that on the bench?

No, you know people reproach you when you have no competition on the bench and when there is one, they question you as well. It’s true that there’s competition for places at the moment, and that’s a luxury that only a club of our stature can afford. But it can make the players better, the competition inside the club is very important to keep everybody on his toes and these are players who are in a special position. It’s not their quality that is questioned, but the fact that they've just come back from long term injuries.

Do you have your best 11 and best formation, is that settled for you?

Look, the best 11 that I have in my head can change every week. We are in a world where competition is vital and competition is just down to the performance in the last game.

A word on Santi Cazorla, have you noticed the reason why his performances have improved?

He’s as you know a very talented football player, but since he’s played central, I think he’s taken another dimension, because on the flank he was a bit more exposed to things where he’s not at his best, but at the middle of the park, he gets you out of situations where you are under pressure, as always, technically perfect and I think yes in recent games he has been in the best form of his career.

Is he putting pressure on you or did you see that changing?

No, he didn't put any pressure, Santi is happy to play. He’s everyday happy to be with the ball and go out there. He’s the perfect example for every young player believe me to follow.