Post by Arsene Wenger on Oct 21, 2003 10:25:01 GMT
Dear Arsenal supporter,
I was delighted with the 2-1 win against Chelsea on Saturday. Once again we showed our mental strength and found the resources to get something from the game.
I felt at half-time that we were unfortunate to only be drawing 1-1. Chelsea didn't create a lot but we played with the handbrake on after Edu had given us an early lead. Our strikers were quite isolated.
But we were more positive in the second half. We were lucky Carlo Cudicini made a mistake which allowed Thierry Henry to score the winner because he is usually reliable.
However, we still created more chances than Chelsea and I felt they would be happy with a point. Kanu hit the post and Thierry had a good chance saved by Cudicini before he made his error.
When Chelsea equalised with a goal from Hernan Crespo, Jens Lehmann was not happy. He said that Crespo was off the pitch by his goal post and he came back on when Chelsea won the ball back.
I think he might have been doing up his bootlaces. Fortunately it didn't make a difference to the result in the end.
With 25 minutes to go I sent on Kanu and Dennis Bergkamp because I felt we needed more pressure offensively. We needed the three points so I went on the offensive in the closing stages of the game.
At the other end of the pitch we looked very solid and didn't let Chelsea have many chances. The back four were outstanding. Sol Campbell was dominant in the air and won the ball cleanly. I think the Turkey game was a relief for him.
The Chelsea game showed how tight it will be in the title race between us, Manchester United and Chelsea. United v Leeds was also a tight game but we have dug deep each time to get a draw or a win.
Now we travel to Kiev for a very important Champions League match. Hopefully we can keep our good run of results going and improve our position in that competition.
Thanks for your support.
awenger@arsenal.co.uk
I was delighted with the 2-1 win against Chelsea on Saturday. Once again we showed our mental strength and found the resources to get something from the game.
I felt at half-time that we were unfortunate to only be drawing 1-1. Chelsea didn't create a lot but we played with the handbrake on after Edu had given us an early lead. Our strikers were quite isolated.
But we were more positive in the second half. We were lucky Carlo Cudicini made a mistake which allowed Thierry Henry to score the winner because he is usually reliable.
However, we still created more chances than Chelsea and I felt they would be happy with a point. Kanu hit the post and Thierry had a good chance saved by Cudicini before he made his error.
When Chelsea equalised with a goal from Hernan Crespo, Jens Lehmann was not happy. He said that Crespo was off the pitch by his goal post and he came back on when Chelsea won the ball back.
I think he might have been doing up his bootlaces. Fortunately it didn't make a difference to the result in the end.
With 25 minutes to go I sent on Kanu and Dennis Bergkamp because I felt we needed more pressure offensively. We needed the three points so I went on the offensive in the closing stages of the game.
At the other end of the pitch we looked very solid and didn't let Chelsea have many chances. The back four were outstanding. Sol Campbell was dominant in the air and won the ball cleanly. I think the Turkey game was a relief for him.
The Chelsea game showed how tight it will be in the title race between us, Manchester United and Chelsea. United v Leeds was also a tight game but we have dug deep each time to get a draw or a win.
Now we travel to Kiev for a very important Champions League match. Hopefully we can keep our good run of results going and improve our position in that competition.
Thanks for your support.
awenger@arsenal.co.uk
