On the decision not to send off Gallas...
"Honestly, it didn’t look to me to be as clear as that. Obviously you fear the decision from outside but you never know who pulls first in this kind of fight. You have to really see a slow-motion replay to see who pulls the first shirt. Maybe he tripped Gallas, I don’t know. It didn’t look as obvious to me."
On scoring goals and winning games...
"We always feel we can score goals. The information we got after the two first games is that we scored 10 goals, we could have scored more, so that’s a brilliant start. It should create confidence and momentum. The first week was very successful with two difficult away games. Now we have another week, a second week, it is another test with Celtic and Manchester United. It looks to be exciting and interesting."
On whether they are now title favourites...
"Well, you go a bit too quick. I said after 10 games in the League you will see a trend and unfortunately I must say you have a break after Manchester United and then we go away to Manchester City. I am not completely convinced by the organisation of the Premier League and the whole schedule because after two games, one half of the table already has one game in hand. I think maybe we should have done it in a different way."
On whether Arsenal’s passing is quicker...
"I feel we create good space for our midfielders to run in and to go into the box. On that front we look more dangerous. If you analyse our goals at the moment our strikers provide more than they score. That is maybe down to the way we play as well."
On Abou Diaby’s similarities to Patrick Vieira...
"Abou is a more offensive player but if he decides to play defensively he is exactly like Vieira. At some stage when Gallas moved out I put Denilson centre back and put Diaby central midfield in a defensive role. And he looks completely similar to Patrick to win the ball back. But he is a guy who has a quick transition from defence to offence, from box to box, that is his fantastic strength, to change quickly. Nobody can go with him when he has that, when we are on the counter-attack. He is fantastic."
On the frustrating time Diaby has had...
"He has been out for nine months. He has been here three years and I have seen that today he played his 100th game so that means he has been out for a long, long time. He has had little problems and he worked very hard this summer. This could be Abou’s year, it could be his season because he prepared well, he looks very sharp, very strong, he has all you dream to have to play in the Premier League."
On whether he would like to prove the critics wrong...
"It would give me a lot of satisfaction but you have to accept in our job the opinion of everybody and there is only one way to respond: win your next game. In our games it’s ‘shut up, let everybody talk and win your game’. That’s the best you can do."
On free scarves and the atmosphere at Emirates...
"I feel the fans were positive. Today we had some fantastic moments in the game, as well some moments when we were a little bit flat. You felt that the crowd was always behind the team. We are trying to create something special at the stadium, to make it more warm, to warm the whole place, and the scarves are a part of that. You will see much more – it is not up to me to talk about that – but we want to make this place very special. There is more we will do."
On getting the crowd behind you when things aren’t going well...
"I never expected it the other way round. At some places there are exceptions like up north at Celtic or Rangers where the fans are a bit more fanatical. But in a big city like London you have to accept that the waves have to come from the team and they have to get the people off their seats, not the other way round. When that doesn’t happen maybe the vibes coming out of the team are not right. People maybe cannot always explain what is happening in the team but they sense that if the whole team is right or not. Last year we did not give enough belief to our fans that we could win. And as well maybe the belief of our fans has been affected by the negative publicity we got."
On the lack of goals from strikers this season...
"It tells me that we have a game where we attack from everywhere. Robin van Persie plays central because he can create space, he has a very quick brain and a very sure technique, that means he can give the ball. He gave the ball today to Ramsey. Our strikers at the moment are providers. Eduardo did provide a goal for Diaby as well. For me, in a good team everybody can score and a good striker scores and provides. At the moment they provide more than they score but I know that Eduardo and Robin van Persie will score so I am very happy that at the moment they don’t score and we still score goals."
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