2008-04-14 : Manchester United v Arsenal

Dear Supporter,

I believe we played with quality and spirit at Old Trafford on Sunday and were unlucky to lose the game.

I never felt under pressure from Manchester United and I believe defensively we played quite well. We lost on a penalty - that you can give or not give but we are used to that now - and on a free-kick when Gilberto did not touch their player. I believe these two decisions made a big difference. We have to take it but overall I am proud of my team.

There was very little between success and failure this season. We have to accept that we will not win the title and that is hard to swallow. But we do not feel that there is a difference technically and collectively between us and Chelsea and Manchester United.

We have to continue to produce the football we produce because we will not always be unlucky. We played well at Liverpool and again on Sunday. With all the bad things that have gone against us we needed to be exceptionally strong to produce a performance like we did against United.

I am confident about our future because we have the quality and we are young. I have worked with this team for a long time now and people don't know what that means.

For example Alex Song played on Sunday. It is two years ago since I bought him and he played in a massive game against Manchester United and showed that he has exceptional quality. He was not like that two years ago. We want to be rewarded for the quality we have.

It's true that our confidence has dropped recently. In the last two months we have gone through a difficult period. You cannot fault our spirit because that has been exceptional, but when you get knock after knock it is difficult to take.

Thanks for your support.