Wenger Post Match Reaction: ‘We weren’t efficient where it matters’

Here are some of Arsène Wenger’s comments after today’s 2-1 defeat against Tottenham Hotspur.

on the derby…
It’s frustrating because we put so much effort it and we lost the game when we were on top of the game. If you watch the game again you will see that at the moment we were 2-0 down we should have been 2-0 up. They had a very difficult start, we were on top of the game, and the 2-0 lead of course gave them the confidence to defend well and that’s what they did for the rest of the game.

It’s very frustrating because we had a great attitude but we come out with no points and as well because we were not efficient in the zones where it matters – at the front and at the back. Also, without being at any moment dominated, the only times Tottenham were dangerous today was on counter-attacks. If you are dominated and they create chance after chance, OK you accept it. But today it was a strange game to lose.

on the goals conceded…
I will have to see it again, we certainly lacked caution on both goals because there was no pressure on the ball and we didn’t cover.

on the battle for a top-four place…
It will be a massive challenge, massive. I said before the game we couldn’t drop these points today and I maintain that after the game. Especially the way the game went, it is difficult to understand how we can lose games like that.

on learning lessons at the back…
Ideally you don’t concede goals at all. It is frustrating because we had the best defensive record in the league away from home until today. When you go into a big game like that, once you’re 2-0 down you make it difficult for yourself because you have to come out, open yourself up against a team that is good at counter-attacking.

But after in the final 20 minutes it was stop and go, they would foul and stop us from going. They stayed down a lot. We couldn’t get the final flow into the game because it was stop and go always.

on conceding two goals in quick succession…
It happened to us many times this season and only in big games. It’s difficult to say why, there’s no common thing, in all the games there is a different problem. But after you make it difficult for yourself. I cannot fault the attitude or the effort that the team produced, or the spirit the team has shown, but you give yourself a mountain to climb every time in a game of that magnitude.

on whether he believes Arsenal can finish in the top four…
I still think it is possible and we will fight for it, that is for sure.