Arsenal defeated Burnley at Turf Moor on Saturday evening to make it eight wins in a row. The North London side were not at their best but Aaron Ramsey’s goal was enough to ensure all three points.
After the game, Arsene Wenger spoke to the press about a number of subjects including the win, Arsenal’s title push and on Francis Coquelin’s individual quality.
On the win, Wenger said he was pleased with the manner of the three points, describing the performance as a fight:
“I’m pleased with the performance because it was a more fighting performance than a fluent performance. Many people question us on that side but I would first say that I’m surprised by the quality of Burnley.”
Wenger continued to discuss Burnley and stated:
“It would be a shame if they go down because they are fantastically well organised, they press very well, they have a great solidarity, they are very fit and I understand now why they took points from the big teams here. We had to fight, we had to be combative until the end and we couldn’t score the second goal. Our defenders played well today and won us the three points.”
The boss then described the difference between the three points at Turf Moor to the three points picked up in the win at home to Liverpool last weekend:
“It was a different test. At some stages at the start of the second half I thought we were under pressure to concede a goal because we didn’t start very well. In the last 20 minutes it looked like they got a little bit tired and we could have scored a second goal. There were periods in the game where we need to be tight, well organised and calm at the back, and I think our defenders and goalkeeper deserve credit.”
When discussing Arsenal’s potential title push, the Manager said:
“Nothing has changed. Chelsea are still too comfortable. We need a perfect run and we need a non-perfect run from them. We cannot master that; we can only master our attitude. I feel they are still in a comfortable position.”
“We want to keep winning because we have to look behind us as well. Manchester City, Manchester United, Southampton, Liverpool and Tottenham are behind us but we have made a little bit of distance between us. Manchester United and Manchester City are closer to us.”
Meanwhile Francis Coquelin who was fantastic at Burnley, was described by Premier League legend Thierry Henry as “our police officer”. The Frenchman made an unbelievable 11 interceptions, two tackles and two clearances while boasting a pass accuracy of 85%. Wenger recognised Coquelin’s influence and discussed the balance he brings to the side:
“First of all he’s shown his individual quality winning the ball and passing it quickly, and he’s very strong in the challenges. He also contributes to the balance of the team and that’s very difficult to measure. You know that the balance of the team sometimes depends on one player who has some characteristics that the others don’t. He looks like he has hugely contributed to that.”
Arsenal travel to Wembley Stadium next weekend to face Reading in a game that could see the Gunners through to the FA Cup final for the second year in a row.
