QUOTES
Last updated : 17 April 2003 By Editor
Sir Alex thought we were unlucky not to win:
“From a neutral's point of view, it was absorbing. From a
manager's point of view, I need a good night's sleep now!
"I'm proud of my players. In the first-half, in particular,
they were fantastic. I'm surprised that we didn't settle the
issue as we were the better team.
"The first Arsenal goal was a deflection. It's a big boost
to get a lucky goal like that.
"The second, which I've just seen again on television, was
two yards offside. It's hard to recover from that but they
showed their character and got back to deserve a point."
Fergie was unhappy with Sol’s flailing elbow:
“It's happening far too often - I can see someone getting a
serious injury soon. I haven't seen this incident again, in
fairness to Sol Campbell, but people seem to have forgotten
what happened to Gary Mabbutt a few years ago. I think
that's coming back into the game."
Looking at the title race he said:
“I think it's going to go to the wire. You've seen two great
teams tonight and our boys have got the momentum now - I'm
just sorry we didn't weather their storm.
“Arsenal have scored more than us - we have to do something
about it. We've got four games left and they are all tough.
Arsenal have five left and two or three of them are tough -
the pot is still boiling very strongly.”
Giggs:
“The team who won would have been in pole position, but it
was a draw. And there are plenty of games left yet and I am
sure points will be dropped. Blackburn on Saturday will be a
difficult game for us, Arsenal have a difficult game at
Middlesbrough, so there are a lot of points to be won and
lost, so we will concentrate on what we have to do now.
“It was a difficult game for both sides with a lot riding on
it. We knew we were going to be under pressure because they
are a good team and it was nice to get back into the game.”
Talking about the offside claim on the second goal Giggs
said:
“You just have to get on with it. It probably evens itself
out. We were just happy to get back into the game because
not many teams do [against Arsenal].”
He was also happy with his own goal:
“It was a great cross from Ole. I just headed it down. It
was nice to see it go in. I have just got to carry on
getting in the positions - I have missed a few - and just
keep putting them away. It was a crucial goal in the
circumstances.”
Sol Campbell is a bit upset about the sending off:
“I admit that I touched him, but it wasn't deliberate. It's
not as though I swung my elbow at him. It's tough. My whole
season could hinge on this and I've worked so hard to get
this far.”
Amazingly, Arsene Wenger actually saw something for once,
although he wasn’t too happy with it:
“Sol is destroyed because he cannot understand it. Everyone
who knows Sol knows he didn't touch him (Solskjaer) on
purpose. I can show you some stray elbows, but this one was
definitely an accidental one.
“What is his interest in doing Solskjaer with an elbow? He
had the ball and just wanted to gain an extra yard to give
the ball by pushing his arm out, which 99 per cent of
players do. I can show you some straight elbows against us,
which were really dangerous, but this was definitely an
accidental one. I'm very disappointed.
"In training, I've seen him in extreme situations. He
doesn't hit or kick anyone. It's a complete joke. Frankly, I
still can't believe it. I would love us to play Manchester
United again and a linesman to do that to Manchester United
as I've never seen it."
Looking at the upcoming title race he said:
“It's open for everybody to take. At half time I thought if
we lost it would be over but now I think we have a very good
chance. You can't say anyone is in the driving seat - we go
from game to game now because it changes so quickly.”
And on the game itself:
“I'm pleased with the response from the boys after half
time. But I'm disappointed because I feel we lost our
concentration for one minute - if we had kept it at 2-1 we
would have won this game easily because we were putting them
under pressure. We played well for stages - but I must say 2-
2 looks a fair result.”
Thierry Henry knows he was lucky to get one goal, let alone
two:
“I don't know [about offside]. I received ball, but did not
have clue. The first one was the luckiest I have scored!
“It is not easy to come back and even more so against
Manchester United. They play on the counter attack, but we
showed we had great character. Maybe we did not show enough
concentration to stay 2-1 up. We did not play well enough in
the first half. In the first half, we were lacking a bit of
power, but in the second half we put them under pressure and
scored two goals, one of them lucky. It has to go on now
until the end. All the games are cup finals now - starting
from today.”
Subscribe to the Red Issue magazine on line:
