Post by Arsene Wenger on Nov 12, 2003 7:15:37 GMT
Dear Arsenal supporter,
We beat Tottenham 2-1 on Saturday and once again we managed to win without truly playing at our best. But what is important at the moment is that we get the points. Once you're up there you keep going from game to game.
In some games we have played outstandingly well but the sign of a good team is when you do not play as well but you still win the games.
I was concerned about our physical strength against Tottenham because we had such a tough game against Dynamo Kyiv in midweek. THFC made it hard by closing us down and when you're not so fresh it becomes more difficult.
When we had to play out from the back Tottenham made it very difficult for us. When I heard they played badly last week I said 'forget that game' because they will not be awful against Arsenal.
I think we had plenty of possession in the first half but they had the chances. The positive thing was that we were only one down at half-time because they had two one-on-ones with the goalkeeper.
The players were determined to come out in the second half and put them under more pressure. You could see that some of the players were tired after Wednesday but they kept going and that is a special quality of this team.
They dug deep into their resources and showed great determination to come back to 1-1. After that Tottenham didn't come out anymore and we got the winning goal.
Freddie Ljungberg was lucky that his shot was deflected but the goal was a consequence of our determination to get forward. THFC played well and can feel hard done by but we were determined and deserve respect for getting the three points.
Our record is good against Tottenham because we have had some good teams over the years, and we know that to win championships you have to do well in the derby matches.
Thanks for your support.
awenger@arsenal.co.uk
We beat Tottenham 2-1 on Saturday and once again we managed to win without truly playing at our best. But what is important at the moment is that we get the points. Once you're up there you keep going from game to game.
In some games we have played outstandingly well but the sign of a good team is when you do not play as well but you still win the games.
I was concerned about our physical strength against Tottenham because we had such a tough game against Dynamo Kyiv in midweek. THFC made it hard by closing us down and when you're not so fresh it becomes more difficult.
When we had to play out from the back Tottenham made it very difficult for us. When I heard they played badly last week I said 'forget that game' because they will not be awful against Arsenal.
I think we had plenty of possession in the first half but they had the chances. The positive thing was that we were only one down at half-time because they had two one-on-ones with the goalkeeper.
The players were determined to come out in the second half and put them under more pressure. You could see that some of the players were tired after Wednesday but they kept going and that is a special quality of this team.
They dug deep into their resources and showed great determination to come back to 1-1. After that Tottenham didn't come out anymore and we got the winning goal.
Freddie Ljungberg was lucky that his shot was deflected but the goal was a consequence of our determination to get forward. THFC played well and can feel hard done by but we were determined and deserve respect for getting the three points.
Our record is good against Tottenham because we have had some good teams over the years, and we know that to win championships you have to do well in the derby matches.
Thanks for your support.
awenger@arsenal.co.uk
