2012-08-18: Arsenal 0 - 0 Sunderland

Wenger: 'We lacked sharpness and fluency'

Dear Arsenal supporter,

We played with a good spirit on Saturday and we certainly put the effort in. But we lacked some sharpness and fluency and that made us less dangerous in the final third.

We did create a few chances but we couldn't convert them, and Sunderland defended very well throughout the whole game. When you play a team like that you have to be sharp enough to make the difference, otherwise it becomes very difficult.

Our balance wasn't quite right up front because we needed maybe one more creative player to improve our accuracy in the final third. There was not a lot of space left to our strikers, so everything had to be created from our midfield.

It is a missed opportunity of course, and it is always frustrating when you have so much possession and only get a point. You have to accept that you will have to settle for draws at different points of the season, but you don't want to start with one in the first game.

Our three new signings made their debuts and they all contributed. It's difficult not to be pleased with Santi Cazorla because he played on Wednesday night for Spain in Puerto Rico and all our chances were basically created by him.

I feel that Lukas Podolski is not physically ready yet but he has the quality to do well, and Olivier Giroud showed he has a presence when he is on the pitch. Olivier had a great chance on his right foot and I think he had more time than he thought.

I never denied that Robin van Persie will be difficult to replace but when you are on the football pitch you don't think about the players who are not there. You try to make a good pass when you have the ball. We had the opportunity to play the ball against Sunderland but our overall passing was not quick enough.

Finally, as you know the Club agreed terms to sell Alex Song to Barcelona. We did this because we have Jack Wilshere coming back, we have Abou Diaby back, we have Tomas Rosicky not far away and we will try to bring in another midfielder as well.

Thanks for your support.

Arsène Wenger