2011-01-22 : Arsenal 3 - 0 Wigan Athletic

Wenger: 'We feel stronger in every game'

Dear Arsenal Supporter,

The players were a bit frustrated after the first half on Saturday because we did not take our chances but I felt we played outstanding football.

We feel stronger and stronger in every single game. It is interesting the chance we have in front of us because we have an interesting game, the way we play is for me fantastic to watch. Let's just keep going.

I thought Cesc Fabregas was outstanding. At the end of the game he was frustrated because he didn't score but for me the ball he gave for the second goal was absolutely amazing. The second goal I could watch that and watch it and watch it again because it's just pure class from the pass to the finish.

Robin van Persie scored all three of our goals and he is certainly back in form. He was already fit and sharp last week. Of course it is important to have Robin at this level but we have plenty of offensive players. First of all let's hope we can keep him fit until the end of the season. It is down to us to use him in the right proportion of the games we play.

We will rotate the squad for Tuesday's game against Ipswich, we have no choice. We play nine games in January, it's the most we have ever played. When you look at the fixtures we had in December it means we need to rotate from game to game. But we have fantastic players on the bench and it is very important because we cannot always play with the same XI.

But Robin handles it alright when I tell him he has to be rested. He is intelligent but of course he wants to play. He was at Leeds on the bench, he came on and scored.

Defensively we look more and more stable even though we were questioned a lot on that front. Maybe the fact that reporters ask me in every press conference 'do I buy a defender?' has kept our defenders on their toes!

I am open-minded on the idea of buying another defender and if the right opportunity turns up we will take it. We are not desperate, we have Vermaelen who can still play a big part in the end of the season and we have Squillaci who comes back maybe next Sunday. Song can play at the back too.

It is not about having two weeks to make your mind up, it is two weeks to find the right players. It is not just because you want to buy that you find exactly what you need. I think that if you look at the defenders who play the moment - we have Djourou and Koscielny, and Vermaelen who played before - we have always found the right players.

Trust us - if the opportunity is there we will take it, if it's not we will play with the players we have, and I will not use that as an excuse if we don't win trophies.

Thanks for your support.

Arsène Wenger

2011-01-15 : West Ham 0 - 3 Arsenal

Wenger: 'It was a comprehensive win'

Dear Arsenal Supporter,

It became a pretty comprehensive win on Saturday because on the whole we had a very strong first half.

That affected West Ham's morale and in the second half it looked as if they were a bit flat. They didn't put us under pressure after the break, didn't really get out of their own half, and we always looked like we were closer to scoring the third goal than to conceding one. From then on it became a comprehensive victory. We had a good, mature performance.

It was a convincing win. In fact we are on a very strong run in the Premier League because we beat Chelsea, won twice 3-0 away from home and had a convincing 0-0 against Man City at home. So overall we are on a strong run. I have said many times that the Premier League will be exciting and interesting until the end.

Robin van Persie scored twice and set up the other goal for Theo Walcott. We have many offensive players and he plays them in well because he keeps the ball. You can see now that because he has a few games he's much sharper physically, and that is very interesting for us.

I don't know if we were more motivated because of the defeat at Ipswich as it is difficult to compare the competitions. The Cup is the Cup and you've seen that sometimes teams do well in the championship but not so well in the Cup.

Did we underestimate a little bit the difficulty of the Ipswich game? I don't know, but certainly you could come to that conclusion if you saw the team at West Ham.

We are building momentum in the title race and I think it's in our hands because we play all of the big teams at home and are on a strong run at home now. We have played many away games, so now we'll see that it is down to us.

Thanks for your support.

Arsène Wenger

2011-01-01 : Birmingham City 0 - 3 Arsenal

Wenger: 'We were prepared for a physical game'
Dear Arsenal Supporter,

We were prepared mentally to face physical challenges against Birmingham on Saturday.

We prepared ourselves not to lose our passing game and be calm, intelligent and especially keep the focus to put the ball down and play. We had chances in the first half and in the second half we were outstanding.

I was asked after the game about Lee Bowyer's challenge on Bacary Sagna but I don't want to talk too much about that. I don't want to keep that in my mind because what's more important is the way we want to play football. I am convinced this win will strengthen the belief of the squad.

A draw away is not a good enough, especially if you saw the results of the other top teams on Saturday. Every time when you play away from home you think a point is a disaster because you lose ground and you cannot afford to because there are so many teams fighting. You do not want to get behind.

I was criticised for making eight changes at Wigan but, in fairness, I am used to criticism! I can understand why I was critisied but I think what is important is that I am paid to make decisions.

Strong decisions are better than half decisions. I took a decision and it nearly worked, we were a little bit unlucky last Wednesday. I could have played the same team three times and lost at Wigan and tonight. I know that we dropped two points at Wigan but you can also say that Manchester United dropped two points at St Andrew's.

Over the festive period we were the team with less recovery time than any team and the team who played, along with United, twice away from home. I decided from the start when I saw the fixtures that I needed to rotate. You can do four or five in one game and four or five in the other game but I decided to go with the whole lot in one game and come back with the whole lot in the third game.

Now we take on Manchester City at Emirates Stadium and it is a big game. We have known since the start of December that the games at home against the big sides will have a big impact on the league. We started well with Chelsea and I think that win lifted the team and we can go into the City game with confidence.

So far we have played 20 games, with 11 away and nine at home. We have a good opportunity to take advantage of the number of games we have to play at home, especially against the big teams.

We are in a race where every game becomes important. You cannot choose your games. We have learnt two things since the start of the season: the most consistent team will win it and you can drop points anywhere. West Brom, who are in the second half of the table, play outstanding football and that has changed in the Premier League.

Thanks for your support.


Arsène Wenger