BARUA YA ARSENE WENGER KWA MASHABIKI WA ARSENAL 4 FEB 2013

Wenger: 'Our defence was very solid' Dear Arsenal supporter, Stoke City made it difficult for us on Saturday, as they always do. They were well organised and denied us space, and when we did get chances their goalkeeper did very well. But overall I feel we deserved to win the game and we got what we wanted, even if there was some fortune when Lukas Podolski's free-kick took a deflection. It took some time for the goal to be given because the linesman put his flag up, but although Walcott was in an offside position he was not interfering with play. So it was the right decision to let the goal stand. Speaking of Theo, I was impressed with the way he handled himself in what is traditionally a physical game for us. He received some strong tackles but he showed full commitment and a desire to impose himself. He is a different player now. We knew we would have to grind out the result and that's what we did. It was crucial not to concede and I must say our defence was very solid. Nacho Monreal had a good debut, he got stronger and stronger as the game went on. There is no better introduction to English football than a game against Stoke! We are a bit more mature now and we dealt well with Stoke's game plan. Peter Crouch is a handful because he is not only physical, he is technically very good. He uses space well and in his link play he is international class. We are older and a bit more experienced these days and you could see that in our defence. Sagna, Nacho, Koscielny and Mertesacker - they have experience and stature. In England you have to deal with all types of football without losing sight of how you want to play. It is not always easy because if you have a team of 10 Santi Cazorla's technically you would be very good but against a team like Stoke you would struggle. We are in a close race with a number of teams for a Champions League place and some results went our way at the weekend with Chelsea losing and Everton drawing. We dropped points against Liverpool but we couldn't afford to do that again on Saturday. The quality of our performance is there, the spirit is there and our belief and confidence is high. Now we must focus on another big game at Sunderland next weekend. Thanks for your support, Arsène Wenger