Wenger: 'It has been a good week for us'

Dear Arsenal supporter,

It has been a good week for us since the disappointment of losing our opening game of the season.

We played a tough game against Fenerbache and put in another good performance at Fulham.

We played in the manner we wanted to play and we created lots of chances. At the start of the game Wojciech Szczesny made a great save but after that we were always in control.

It's always hard to tell how your players will respond to an intense game in the Champions League but perhaps the positive outcome in Turkey gave us a mental lift which overshadowed any fatigue.

We adapted our style of play for Fulham but we were very dangerous every time we won the ball back. It was impressive because we had a good mixture of patience and speed in our game and that was positive.

I changed the shape of our team because I rested Jack Wilshere. We played with four defenders and six offensive players so we had to make it tighter with numbers but of course when we had the ball we were always a threat.

Lukas Podolski got his chance and he took it well with two goals. I am pleased for him because he hasn't started much recently, not because of his form but because of the need to balance the team. But as you saw he plays with spirit and he can score goals. If you look at his and Giroud's goalscoring record it's very good.

As for Olivier, his second season is always better than his first one. Technically he is quite impressive and his physical presence up front is very important to us. He looks like he's much more confident than last year.

Another player who has impressed is Aaron Ramsey and I'm happy for him. During the transfer period, people are so focused on who is coming in that they forget how good our players are.

When it comes to giving British players a chance, we had Jenkinson, Walcott, Ramsey, Wilshere and Gibbs - plus Oxlade-Chamberlain when he is available. I think we deserve credit for that.

Ramsey is still a young player and he was under scrutiny a year ago. People had major doubts about him but I think he deserves huge praise for moving forward the way he did. We deserve some as well because we continued to develop him and believe in him.

We face Fenerbahce again on Tuesday and it's important for us to finish the job and get the focus right. We have taken a big step but we're not over the line. The group stage of the Champions League is highly-important so I will not rest players, certainly not.

Thanks for your support,


Arsène Wenger