Full Transcript Of Wenger's Press Conference Ahead Of Crystal Palace Clash

Arsene Wenger faced the media on Friday the 14th of August ahead of his premier league game against Crystal Palace where he discussed transfer, Flamini, injuries, team news among a host of other issues. This is the full transcript of his press conference. Enjoy.


       

Good morning Arsene. Can you start with your latest team news please?

Compared to last week’s game, we haven’t lost anybody. Just, Bellerin is back available again and other injuries like Welbeck, like Jack Wilshere of course are not back.

Wenger faces media ahead of Palace game

Not the start to the season you would have hoped for. What has the response been like this week?

We were disappointed with the result and with our performance. What we want is a strong season which is as well down to the way you respond to disappointments. So we focus on our next game and we prepare for that.

And it’s Palace on Sunday. What makes them a dangerous opponent?

They have a good offensive potential, strong defensively as well. They’ve played together for a long time, but I believe—we know that every premier league game can be a tough one and you just prepare for that.

How close is Danny Welbeck to being available again?

He is not close because he has not started full training, so I would say at least 3 weeks from today.

And does Jack Wilshere continue to make the kind of progress you hoped for?

Yes, he is back in training, but as we said, I thought at the start, it would be six straight weeks, it could be 3-4, so that’s quite positive news there

Is Alexis Sanchez fit to start? I know he came off the bench for you.

He is fit and he had a good work during the week and he is available for selection.

Has last week’s result changed anything in your mind in terms of the fact that the transfer window is still open?

Not really, no. We are as open as we were before that bad result as after. I told you we are working very hard and we are focused to do what can strengthen our squad. The availability is not big, but I believe now, we are Friday and we play on Sunday so it is important that we focus on our performance on Sunday.

Can a defeat like that be a blessing in disguise? You responded well to it a couple of years ago didn’t you?

Well, we always responded well. But honestly for me, a defeat is a defeat and it’s never a blessing. It always hurts and we have to analyse what happened to us and I think as well we have not to go overboard with what happened. It is a defeat and it hurts but that shouldn’t take our belief in our potential away.

Is that right that Nacho Monreal is close to signing a new 3 year deal?

No.

So is that the media? What can you say about whether or not…

I’m happy with his performances but at the moment we are not in negotiations for a new contract.

Palermo we are hearing have renewed their interest in Joel Campbell.

Well, we haven’t got anything concrete from anybody.

And Thomas Rosicky?

Thomas Rosicky, I think his agent said one to two months. It could be a bit longer

One of the issues of last week was the number or lack of English players that featured in the weekend in the premier league. 73 out of the 276. Do you have any observations about that?

We said many times. I can understand that mathematically it looks an issue but I don’t think it is. Even if you play with 400 English players, the national team manager will only have to look at 40. The 360 other ones will not come anyway under any other scrutiny to be selected. So, what is important is how good are the English players and I believe the 73 who made it must be really top players because they have a lot of competition today and it’s difficult for them but as well, it can make them better.

Arsene, what did you learn from the game last week/? What have you learned?

What we have learned is that we didn’t give the chances away, we were defensively quite sound, but we made 2 mistakes we paid for and in the final third offensively where we are usually creative, our accuracy and our creativity was not at the usual level.

Did that surprise you given the pre-season that you had?

Yeah, because you play at home, you don’t score goals it is a surprise to us of course. But I think as well we made it difficult for ourselves because at 1-0, we would have come back. Certainly, the second goal gave West Ham belief that they can beat us.

This time last week, you said the confidence and belief was great and sky high. Has this affected it at all?

Every defeat makes you a bit smaller, but it’s our job to take it into perspective. We have 37 games to go and we have history behind us in the second half of the campaign last year that shows that we have the quality to respond always and to be consistent, so let’s focus on our quality. Defeat is part of the season, we lose a game. Of course that was not planned but we know it is how we respond to these kinds of things that will make our season.

I’m sure you’ve seen stories this week about the physio. What relationship do you think a manager should have with his medical staff?

Well, it’s from inside a club, you have to—football is difficult enough, but if you are not united, it is more difficult. So, usually, it’s a problem of trust and unity inside the club that makes the strength.

       

Do you trust your medical team to get on doing their job or do you get in their way?

You speak about that story at Chelsea. First of all, I have not followed that at all because you know that I am not at great interest at what is going on at Chelsea, and secondly, the rules are quite clear is that when the referee gives an indication that the medical can come on, he can come on. After that, what happened specifically in this situation, I don’t know. But the rules are quite clear. It’s the referee who makes the decision.

Arsene, how has Cech reacted this week?

Like a great goalkeeper, he stood up for what happened to him and focuses on the next one.

He has got such great experience…

He analyzes it very well, he is a bright player, bright man and he knows that it is down to how well he responds to that.

What did he put that debut down to? Is it not quite being ready or…

Maybe wanting to save the team in a situation where our defending was not great.

Just on Jack Wilshere, it’s good news that he’s going to be back soon. Are you mindful of making sure that you don’t bring him back too early or that you don’t rush him back?

I always bring him back when he says to me he is ready and then our fitness coaches tell me he has the quantity of work behind. We come back to the relationship with the medical and your fitness people. If that is confirmed by what I see in training, he plays. But, we never rushed him back. Maybe when he was younger, we overplayed him a little bit sometimes because he was such a good player, but now we are quite cautious with him.

The results of the opening weekend. United won but they struggled a bit, the Liverpool result. Does that suggest this will be a tougher league to be consistent?

Yeah, I agree. It will certainly be a tighter league and a tougher league because the quality of teams in the lower table has improved and overall, I believe in every game when you look at it and you look at what gives you a good indication is if you look at the bench of the team you play against, and when you look at the lower teams, teams who play in the second part of the table and you look at their bench, it indicates that you will have tough games.

So, do you think it will be a lower points tally that wins it because of that?

It could be, yes. Certainly than last year.

Do you think there is a tendency that the premier league is easier than it actually is because you said it’s more difficult to beat teams like West Ham, Crystal Palace. There are no easy matches anymore.

I never had many in my life but it is always getting more difficult, that’s true.

Why do you feel everybody goes overboard with an Arsenal defeat?

Passion, love and that’s what hurts. We have a big following and disappointed people are emotional and that is understandable and that’s what hurts us as well. It hurts us to disappoint people who have a high level of expectation from us. But we on ourselves on our side have to put things in perspective, we come out from a very strong run and we have 37 games to go. It’s how we respond.

How do you keep things level because after winning at Wembley, people were saying Arsenal is going to win the league. And after losing against West Ham, you were going to get relegated.

By focusing on the next game, our job is about that and to deal with this kind of reaction and just to keep your mind on your job. That means play well football and enjoy it because as well I believe we have a great group, we have a fantastic mentality inside and we have a united group as well of players, so we are focused together on our next game.

Do you feel this group will need at least one more addition before the transfer window closes to win the league or can you win it with this group of players?

When you lose a game you always get that kind of demand. I believe we have to be honest enough and ask, ‘Could we have won the game without any addition?’ and I would say yes. Always the solution comes from outside, let us look inside at ourselves and produce the performance that is expected from us. I think that would be much more intelligent than always expecting a miracle from outside.

Is that a maybe for somebody before the end of the transfer window?

Look it is exactly the same situation as before the West Ham game. Do we find somebody anywhere who strengthens our squad, we will do it. It is not easy, it is not supermarket stuff where you go in and say, ‘I would like this. Please can you give it to me?’ The availability is not easy.

Are you excited that nerves played a big part last week? Do you think your players with all the title talk before the season affected them?

Maybe. Maybe as well, it was a little bit a mixture of nerves and maybe thinking as well “Anyway, we would win this game”, a bit too high level of confidence.

Also, Crystal Palace. Many are thinking they are going to go on and do very well this season. Do you think the surprise package with the likes of Cabaye and Zaha…

Yes, I would say they have made a great addition because they had a strong striking force and they have a player, Cabaye who can fight them from a distance. He has a good eye, he has a good long pass and that could be something very important for Crystal Palace.

Is he a player that you were interested in?

No. I always liked the player, but he plays in an area where we have a high number of players.

What is the latest with Mathieu Flamini? There has been reports that he could leave before the end of the window. Do you expect him to be here come September?

Yes, I expect him to be here in September because I spoke to him. At the moment he is not involved but he has no intention he told me to leave. He will be involved at some stage. He works very hard and his intention is to stay.

And also, there has been reports linking you with Serbian midfielder Grzegorz Krychowiak. Is there any foundation in that?

No.

Just about Emiliano Martinez on loan at Wolves. What was your thinking behind that?

To give him competition because he was in the No 3 position here and he’s 23 years old now and I believe he’s in the period of his life where he needs to play and to show how good he is and I’m convinced that Wolves have made a very good buy there. Not really a buy but a very good loan signing there because he will save them points.”