2010-01-11 : Arsenal 2 - 2 Everton

Wenger: We were a bit flat on Saturday

Dear Arsenal Supporter,

We played against a very good Everton team on Saturday who for the biggest part of the game were more dangerous and sharper than us.

At the end of the day we dropped two points but, looking at the game, we gained one point. We were closer to losing the game than winning it. We got the point because we had the spirit, the desire, but we didn't find our game. I thought we had problems technically while Everton stopped us from playing. In midfield they were dominant.

Tomas Rosicky's late equaliser was an important goal because it shows the spirit of the team is there until the last minute. With three minutes to go Everton had three or four corners and we didn't get out of the box. At that time I would have signed for a point but we kept going and in the end we got that point.

That rewards the efforts we produced but I believe on Saturday we did not produce the quality we are used to in our team play. The spirit was there though. We were a bit flat and Everton are a good side.

Scoring goals from deflections was the good news of the day. We didn't create many chances and we scored two goals from deflections where maybe our opponents threw their bodies in the way and it still goes in the net. We are a bit lucky at the moment with those and I like to think we are lucky because we have the right spirit.

The attack on the Togo team bus at the Africa Cup of Nations was a terrible incident but I will not try and recall Alex Song and Emmanuel Eboue from the tournament. I don't believe you can just stop any competition at any incident because that will reward people who provoke the incident. That means any competition in the world will be stoppable at any time.

The second thing I believe is that international federations have to make sure that the security is well-respected and good enough for the competition. The third thing is that you have to leave it individually to some players as to whether they leave the competition if they feel insecure or scared. I personally feel the competition has to go on.

Thanks for your support.

Arsène Wenger