2011-02-27 : Arsenal 1-2 Birmingham City (Carling Cup Finals)

Wenger: 'The defeat is difficult to take'
Dear Arsenal Supporter,

I am bitterly disappointed about the Carling Cup Final, like the whole team.

We had some problems to start the game quickly, the number of games we have played caught up on us a little bit. It took us a while to get into the rhythm and pace of the game. In the second half we were on top, but unfortunately we couldn't score the second goal and, in the end, we made a mistake that left us no time at all to respond.

Congratulations to Birmingham, they took advantage of the mistake we made and they took the trophy which hurts us tremendously. We have to continue with our belief, pick ourselves up and face the other challenges we have.

The team is very disappointed and we will face a lot of questions after that mistake at Wembley but we have to be strong enough to stand up. It is a good opportunity to show that we have the mental strength to respond to the situation like that.

The big talking point from Sunday was Birmingham's winning goal and it was down to a lack of communication and determination. Like always, when the ball is in no-man's land someone has to take responsibility and go for it.

Both Koscielny and Szczesny felt destroyed afterwards and we have to lift them up again and help them, that is what a team is about. It is part of the game, we had enough chances to kill the game off before that mistake.

It's hard to say how much that defeat will affect my squad. It is a massive disappointment but we have massive challenges in front of us. The Carling Cup is five games but a championship season is 38. We will not throw 38 games away because of one game. I am confident we have the character and this is a good opportunity to show it.

In the last 18 games we have lost one at Ipswich in the first leg of the Carling Cup Semi-Final and we lost on Sunday in the last minute on a very special goal. What the team is achieving overall is absolutely tremendous and the defeat is difficult to take because we are used to winning.

Thanks for your support.

Arsène Wenger

2011-02-20: Leyton Orient 1 - 1 Arsenal (FA Cup)

Wenger: 'My squad can cope with a replay'

Dear Arsenal Supporter,

We were in control against Leyton Orient until their late equaliser, but we have to accept it, as that's what football is all about.

I believe we played the game with the right attitude and I cannot fault our fighting spirit. You have to give credit to Leyton Orient. They never gave up and, as long as you don't score the second goal, this kind of thing can happen.

It's a disappointment of course, but the most important thing is that we go through in the replay. It's frustrating not to win the game, but we are still in the FA Cup. On Sunday we saw a game that a team with fighting spirit against a team who were technically superior, but in a Cup tie fighting spirit has a chance.

Jonathan Tehoue scored their equaliser and I admit I had never heard of him before he came on. If they did not start him maybe they had a plan to defend up front with Alex Revell. But when he came on they went to a 4-4-2 shape and Tehoue did very well.

For us, Andrey Arshavin played the full 90 minutes on Sunday and he is coming back into form. What he is missing is a goal to get completely back to full confidence. But he is lively and dangerous at the moment.

Since the beginning of December we have played almost every three days. Sometimes it would not be bad to have a week where we can give a breather to the players. But we have a large enough squad to cope with a replay - we even left a few players at home on Sunday.

We didn't watch the draw, as we were preparing for the match, but somebody told me just before the game started that we will play Manchester United if we go through. It's an exciting and an interesting draw, but we have had a good warning that Leyton Orient at home will be a difficult game and we are not there yet.

Leyton Orient didn't drop physically, they kept their shape, they fought very hard and they will make it difficult in the replay as well.

Thanks for your support.

Arsène Wenger

2011-02-12 : Arsenal 2 - 0 Wolverhampton

Wenger: 'We showed the right focus'

Dear Arsenal Supporter,

There was no hangover from the Newcastle game on Saturday.

In fact our win over Wolves confirmed the quality of our performance at Newcastle because we had an outstanding game as long as it was 11 against 11. It was confirmed against Wolves with the number of chances we created, the quality of our play.

We were defensively solid too and that was important after the four goals we conceded. We create many chances, the only regret is that maybe we didn't score enough goals. Part of that is down to their goalkeeper Hennessey - all the goalkeepers look very inspired here at the Emirates. Their keeper had an outstanding game.

Robin scored two different goals, one with his right foot - that is not usually what he likes to do - and one on the counter-attack where we know we can be very dangerous.

We had to stay focused. For us it is important because on Wednesday we play certainly at the moment the best team in the world. It is important to go into that Barcelona game with psychological confidence and as well in a strong position in the league. We are in a Premier League race, we believe we can do it, we have the hunger, and we can focus on every single competition and that is important. We showed the focus on Saturday and did not have Barcelona in mind.

Jack had a very good game against Wolves. He defends well, attacks well, creates chances, had assists. I believe he will soon score, he looks very close. He has a hesitation sometimes to finish himself and chooses at the moment to give the ball, but I think when he is a bit more confident he will score goals. He has not scored yet but Cesc was for a while like that.

Will he prove himself against Barcelona? You wouldn't want to put too much responsibility on Jack in a game like that. When you play against an opponent of that quality you need everybody, all 11 to be absolutely at their top end.

For us it is important that we play with belief and on full cylinders. What we have learned from last season is that in the first half we gave Barcelona too much respect and we were lucky to get away with it. We are not favourite in this tie but I think we can do it.

Thanks for your support.

Arsène Wenger

2011-02-05: Newcastle 4 - 4 Arsenal

Wenger: 'We invited too much pressure'
Dear Arsenal Supporter,

Abou Diaby's sending off changed the game on Saturday.

It affected us more psychologically than on the footballing side because we became too worried about protecting our lead as we were down to ten men. Instead of continuing to play, we invited pressure. I thought we were very unlucky with some of the decisions as well but I cannot do anything about that.

It's very frustrating to let such a big lead slip because we played a good game and we had an opportunity to take three points in the title race. Newcastle kept fighting, I knew at 4-0 the game was not over because it was important to keep our nerves and continue to play.

Against a team that has already 'lost' the game, when they get back into the game you are always under threat. That was very important for us, not to allow them to get back into the game. Therefore, we were certainly guilty by going down to ten men.

Abou was very disappointed after the red card and he has to try to get over that. It's a shame because he had a great first half. His reaction could be explained by the fact he has been injured so many times from bad tackles that he lost his composure.

I was surprised by both penalty decisions too. But I am not the referee and I don't think my opinion is very important now because we cannot go back and change it.

Mathematically we dropped two points but psychologically the damage was bigger on Saturday because everyone was very disappointed in the dressing room. The future will tell whether we bounce back strongly.

Thanks for your support.

Arsène Wenger