Arsene Wenger’s new assistant Steve Bould took charge of his first Arsenal game last night with Wenger banished to the stands, and after an excellent first half the Gunners had to dig deeply in defence to keep Montpellier from equalising as they pressed strongly while Arsenal tired.
Overall Bould was more than happy with the performance. He said: “I am really pleased. It was difficult. I thought we were excellent in the first half – we kept the ball and kept the crowd really quiet. The second half was tough and we looked physically a little bit tired. The crowd got right behind them and it is quite an intimidating place to come and play, so we’re glad to get the result.
“It’s fabulous to get an early away win. We’ve had a decent start to the season and we have kept the run going so it is important all round, not just for the Champions League. We have got some tough games coming up. We have got great team spirit and I think that was evident tonight. Everybody is digging in and things are looking OK.”
“I wouldn’t say Montpellier surprised us, they have got some very good players. Technically they are very, very high level. They kicked the second half off really well and got the crowd behind them. We are physically a little bit tired so it was tough. It wasn’t a surprise.”
Everybody has been raving about Bouldy’s influence on making Arsenal more defensively sound, but he refuses to take all the credit. “Any coach will tell you it is about being good players and we have got some good players who want to work.” he said. “So far, so good. Everybody has spoken about myself but Neil Banfield gets missed and he does a great job, too. There are a lot of good coaches, there are great players and everybody is working hard. I think that is why we’re doing OK at the minute.”
Although the team looked very tired towards the end, the Gunners have five days now to prepare for the daunting task away at Man City next Sunday, but having conserved their unbeaten run while City were getting beaten by Real Madrid means that Arsenal may be more mentally prepared than Roberto Mancini’s men. Bould concluded: “Of course Sunday is a tough test. We certainly go in there with a bit of confidence, with everybody believing things are going OK. But it is a proper test and that is where we want to be. Hopefully we can come through the other side and say we have done OK again. Everybody is fine, touch wood. Things are looking quite bright.”
The future is bright. The future is Red And White!!!!
SHARE THIS ARTICLE WITH YOUR MATES! Tags: confident, excellent, Montpellier, Red And White, Steve Bould, tiredCategory Arsenal game review, Arsenal News, Champions League News
Trackback: trackback from your own site.
COMMENTS GUIDELINES: ANY COMMENTS WITH SWEARING OR PERSONAL ABUSE WILL BE DELETED WITHOUT EXCEPTION: PLEASE DISCUSS THE SUBJECT IN A FRIENDLY AND OBJECTIVE MANNER. SERIAL ABUSERS WILL BE BANNED. PLEASE BE NICE TO YOUR FELLOW GOONERS! NEW IDEA!! If A comment is deemed EXTRA SPECIAL I reserve the right to sopy it and use it as an article in its own right. (Edited of course!)
No comments:
Post a Comment