Wenger: 'We were patient and intelligent'

Wenger: 'We were patient and intelligent' Dear Arsenal supporter, We played against a good Southampton side on Saturday and we took advantage of the only two mistakes they made. You can see how they got positive results against Liverpool and Manchester United because they are well-organised, but in the end our technical quality made the difference. Artur Boruc's error was a key moment in the game and Olivier Giroud took full advantage. Olivier is a positive character who is always ready for a battle. He gives us so much with his physical presence and with his link-up play. He is now into double figures for the season and that is important to every striker - if they say they are not obsessed by scoring goals then don't believe them! Olivier helps us when we have physical games like we did on Saturday. In those situations it's vital to be patient and intelligent and not make the first mistake, because it could have been a very difficult game if we had conceded the first goal. It was another clean sheet and we have certainly improved our defensive stability. After an international break you have two challenges: one is to get the team to focus again as a team because we have been spread all over the world, and you have very little time to get the focus right. The second is physical, because the players come back with different levels of fatigue. The first point we got right because the team were highly focused. We suffered a bit physically but overall the concentration was there. Our midfield was praised after Saturday's game and some are comparing it with my best ever midfield units. We have a long way to go before we can say that but we undoubtedly have the ambition, the focus, the concentration and the desire to succeed. It was good to have Theo Walcott back as well. You could see he is still a bit short physically, but he has not played at all for seven weeks and had only one day training with the group. His sharpness will come back quickly. Thanks for your support. Arsène Wenger