Football Directa

The Arsenal boss appreciated both the applause and the performance on the final day.

Arsenal finished their season with a flourish, beating Stoke City 4-1 at the Emirates. The Gunners were already assured of fourth place, but manager Arsene Wenger – who had been subjected to much criticism recently – and his team wanted to sign off with a strong performance ahead of next season.

The Gunners roared into a commanding first-half lead thanks to a James Beattie own goal, a brace from Robin van Persie – one from the penalty spot – and an Abou Diaby header. Ricardo Fuller replied from the spot for outclassed Stoke, while Van Persie hit the bar and Kolo Toure a post as Wenger’s side turned on the style.

And there was persistent chanting in support of Wenger from the home fans, which left the Frenchman gratified. He told journalists after the match, “It’s important to know the fans stand behind you and believe in what you do.

“I have to think about how we can now improve. First of all let’s keep the players we have here, and then add one or two. We don’t have to spend much because we already have a good base.

“It was a good performance – very lively in the first half. We eased off in the second half, but overall we were very good.”What was good was that it showed the team has improved. Defensively and offensively we looked a good team.”

He added to the club’s official website, “It was good to let the team get some credit. I believe we played during the whole season in a difficult position but overall it was good to finish well and have the crowd happy before we start next season. At Manchester United and today it was important for us not to play sloppy and to give a message out that we can come back next year and be strong.”

Reflecting on the season as a whole, Wenger said, “The difficult thing for a manager is feeling that the team has stood still. I feel that we had to re-find a balance after the departures of [Aliaksandr] Hleb and [Mathieu] Flamini and the injury to [Tomas] Rosicky. We had a little bit of a dodgy start but in the last 23 games we only lost once – against Chelsea here.”

Looking ahead to next season and possibly adding to his squad, he commented, “I feel the team is moving forward but the question we have to analyse now is are we strong enough to win the League next year? If not, what do we need to add to the squad? That is the basic question we have to answer. There is some great quality here, that is for sure. The squad is very young, that is for sure as well.”

Today Wenger played Alexandre Song-Billong in central defence, saying, “I wanted to see him at centre-back again today – he played well at Old Trafford. We looked strong defensively there and I wanted to see him again in that position.”

Asked whether striker Emmanuel Adebayor would be at the club next season, Wenger replied, “I think so. He’s a great striker who scores important goals. He has proven that for the two seasons he has been here.“The Frenchman will also be looking to tie Robin van Persie to a long-term deal, and explained, “We want to extend his contract – it’s our priority to extend [Nicklas] Bendtner’s contract too. We need to get everyone around the table, we have done that a few times but have been delayed after it. He wants to stay, I want him to stay but he still has two years to go anyway.”

Finally, he referred again to the backing of the fans, “It makes me feel appreciated and even more regretful that we couldn’t give them what they wanted this season. I am very respectful for their faith in me. It’s very warming and it makes me even more determined to pay them back.”

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