Source: Team_Talk
Wenger pleased by Gunners patience
Arsene Wenger hailed the attitude of his Arsenal players after they kept going against West Ham to snatch a late 1-0 win at The Emirates.[LNB] Alex Song's late header denied the struggling Hammers a deserved point after Robert Green, in front of watching England assistant boss Franco Baldini, had pulled off a string of fine saves to keep the Gunners at bay.[LNB]As well as being denied by Green, Arsenal also hit the crossbar through Samir Nasri's long-range free-kick and an effort from substitute Theo Walcott hit the post.[LNB]However, with just two minutes left, Song dived to head home Gael Clichy's cross as Arsene Wenger's improving side kept the pressure up on leaders Chelsea.[LNB]"When you win with two minutes to go, it is always a relief," Wenger said.[LNB]"We needed to be patient, intelligent and not to make a mistake at the back against a team who had a strong spirit and were well organised.[LNB]"We did not do anything stupid, kept trying to be intelligent and that got us the goal.[LNB]"I was thinking it was one of those days when the ball went onto the post and came back into the goalkeeper's hands, that is not a good sign.[LNB]"But we kept going and out of this game we have once again shown a great attitude."[LNB]Arsenal had plenty of momentum going into this afternoon's game after following impressive Champions League performances with victory at Manchester City and marching into the quarter-finals of the Carling Cup.[LNB]However, Wenger had warned against complacency.[LNB]"We have matured, you see that in the game the way we handle it when it does not work for us, the players remain calmer than before," he said.[LNB]"We have a good chance [for the title], yes, but we want to show consistency first.[LNB]"We go step by step and we still need to step up a gear to completely achieve that.[LNB]"But on the other hand you feel there is more to come out from this team, we have good potential on bench today and some players to come back.[LNB]"If we can keep a good injury record then we have a chance."[LNB]Wenger added: "It is too early in the season, but I have belief.[LNB]"We need to show from game to game we can handle every single game with a different aspect which the Premier League has - today we played against the team bottom of the league and it was a real battle.[LNB]"We have to show can compete like that in every game."[LNB]Wenger hopes captain Cesc Fabregas will be fit to travel to Shakhtar Donetsk for next week's Champions League game.[LNB]"Cesc played a bit within himself. He had a bit of tension in his hamstring. Let's hope he has no setback," Wenger said.[LNB]"At half-time, I had a hesitation to take him off.[LNB]"Then I left him on, I thought 'just for 10 or 15 minutes', but in the end he got better and better."[LNB]The final result was somewhat harsh on West Ham, who had fought a brave rearguard action and also looked dangerous on counter-attacks as well as at set-pieces.[LNB]However, Hammers boss Avram Grant maintains all is not lost with his side still just three points from safety.[LNB]"When you come to just two minutes from the end, and it was 0-0, Arsenal almost did not create many chances, because we defended well and played well, so we are very disappointed," the Israeli said.[LNB]"We have played a game against a very good team who just beat us in the last minutes, so we can take a lot of positive things and also from many things which have happened in the past week.[LNB]"I don't want to talk about history, whether things are possible or not possible.[LNB]"We are not in a situation where we cannot do it - we can do it.[LNB]"We need to win games, we have deserved to win games and will try to do it in the next game.[LNB]"We are not yet in November, so we have time to do it. There are six or seven months until the end of the season.[LNB]"Even if we were in this situation in April, I would not think it was the end of the world."[LNB]Grant added: "We are not in a good situation in the league, but we are in a good situation with our performances so we need to take more points like we deserve.[LNB]"I really believe we can do it because the team have a good spirit and it was an heroic performance today.[LNB]"We know the difference to us winning games is not so big, so let's continue to fight.[LNB]"The players are not giving up, they are fighting, it is a good basis for the future."
