2011-03-19: W.B.A. 2-2 Arsenal

Wenger: 'We were too tentative at first'

Dear Arsenal Supporter,

I am proud of the spirit we showed on Saturday. It shows we are ready for a fight.

We made things difficult for ourselves with the second West Brom goal and we faced opponents who were very well organised. It was a little bit 'attack against defence', like a training game, and the pitch was very difficult for us, it looked difficult to get our passing to its top speed.

I think we were far too nervous and tentative in the first part of the game. They played with more freedom than we did. We were a bit nervy and you could see that the recent games had an impact in our mind.

In the end it was more down to character and resilience, and we have shown plenty of that. Mathematically we have lost two points in the title race but psychologically we have gained a point because when you are 2-0 down with 20 minutes to go, you are not too unhappy to come back.

What was good was the reaction the whole team showed. It will be interesting until the end of the season, we are ready to focus and ready to fight.

As far as the title race is concerned, I felt that it would not be over whatever happened on Saturday. But for the team it was important not to lose. Considering what happened to us recently, you wonder how easy it would have been to recover if we had lost the game.

Of course it's frustrating to see us make mistakes but that's the Premier League this season. It is the least predictable season since I have been in England so from now on it will be down to consistency and character.

Thanks for your support.

Arsène Wenger

2011-03-12 : Manchester United 2 - 0 Arsenal (FA Cup)

Wenger: 'They were more clinical than us'

Dear Arsenal Supporter,

We are all very disappointed by Saturday's defeat in the FA Cup. We were not outplayed but Manchester United but we were punished by a team that was more clinical than us.

I felt we had good control of the game. Man United had very few chances but they scored with almost their first attempt on goal. After that we put them in a position they like to be in, on the counter attack and they showed they are strong and clinical in front of goal.

In the second half we had a good opportunity to come back to 1-1 and two minutes later it was 2-0. As long as we could not come back to 2-1, they were comfortable. In the end, I cannot fault our effort but things do not go our way at the moment. We have gone out of three competitions in a strange way.

Now we have to keep going, support each other and come back strong. It was a strange game but we put a lot of effort in. At the moment, every goalkeeper against us is Man of the Match.

I also believe, subconsciously, that the disappointment of Tuesday night in Barcelona played a part on Saturday. You could see something has gone, not in our effort or our attitude, but confidence-wise.

Now we will find out about our mental strength because we will have to answer some questions in the next few weeks. We have to show that we have an answer to those who doubt us. We are used to being questioned by our environment, we have to show we are strong enough to deal with that.

I believe that we can win the title. It is a good test for us now, to show that we can regroup, show our mental strength and respond quickly. We have a week without a midweek game, that is the first time for a long time.

I don't believe the season is slipping away and Saturday's game can strengthen our resolve. The Man United game in the Premier League is only important if we win our games before that. But I am convinced that if that game is decisive, we have a good chance to do it at home.

Before that, it's important we respond very quickly. We go to West Brom on Saturday, we will see the first signs of how we recover there.

Unfortunately we will have to cope without Johan Djourou for the rest of the season - he has a dislocated shoulder. It will be difficult but we have a good opportunity to show that we are solid.

Thanks for your support.

Arsène Wenger

2011-03-05 : Arsenal 0 - 0 Sunderland

Wenger: 'We lacked a bit of sharpness'

Dear Arsenal Supporter,

Although we did not win on Saturday I was happy with the performance.

I feel defensively we were very good, we gave a lot physically but we lacked a bit of creativity and sharpness in the final third so we didn't manage to score.

We had two decisions go against us as well and they punished us severely, especially the offside that was given against Andrey Arshavin near the end. To win 1-0 on Saturday would have been important and the only thing I can say is that Andrey was not offside.

The same player could have had a penalty earlier in the second half and I think he did the right thing to try and stay on his feet. But it was clear that Titus Bramble was beaten when he came back at Andrey.

Saturday was our 46th game of the season and I cannot fault the players' attitude. It's true that we had problems to find our fluency today and I put that down to the quality of Sunderland's defending as well as our lack of sharpness. They marked us man-to-man and we missed some offensive players who could have had an impact.

But I think we have now eight wins and three draws in our last 11 League games - so we are quite consistent with our results. What we have to do now is focus on Tuesday night and Barcelona.

Thanks for your support.

Arsène Wenger