On the result...
"I'm very happy because we had a great first half with outstanding quality. Unfortunately we couldn't take advantage of it and at half time it was 0-0. It's difficult to maintain that pace and quality for 90 minutes. In the second half our physicality dropped a little and our fluency went a little bit as well. It's important then not to make a mistake and to dig deep and hope that they die a little bit more than us and take advantage in the last 20 minutes. That's what happened. I think we dominated from the first to the last minute and Olympiacos defended very well. They were well organised and disciplined and gave absolutely everything for 90 minutes."
On Antonis Nikopolidis' performance...
"Their goalkeeper was not only good but intelligent as well. He read everything and you could see why he played in the Greek national team for such a long time. It is one of the best [goalkeeping displays] I have seen recently. I saw a good one from Vito Mannone on Saturday."
On Olympiacos' defensive approach...
"I expected that because they are a team who groups well in their half and waits for the opponent. We wobbled on one or two set-pieces because they are very strong at those. Maybe because we didn't let them come out, they didn't come out."
On Andrey Arshavin...
"When you play against a team who defends with 10 men in their half it is important to have players who can play in a very small space and Arshavin is a specialist at that. He was sharp tonight and determined and in these types of games he is always a threat."
On two high-intensity games in quick succession...
"We have five days to recover now. It is always difficult to play two games. The game at Fulham was very, very intense and in the second half we dropped a little bit physically. It's very difficult for any team to maintain the quality we had at that pace."
On not underestimating the opposition...
"Olympiacos have played in the Champions League for 10 straight years. They have quality. Wherever you go in Europe it is a difficult game. If you look at the results tonight you will see that. To win at this level without conceding a goal is always fantastic."
On Robin van Persie being a good value buy...
"I believe that like any player in the world who is a big name, Robin was not as big when he arrived. We've got some very good players who made their name here."
On not buying many new players...
"When you look at the players who did not play tonight, you see why we are not desperate [to buy players]. Now that the Club has announced good financial results, people want me to splash it out straight away. At the moment there is no transfer market, you cannot buy anybody; the window is closed. Even if you want to buy the players at Waitrose you cannot. There is no supermarket. It is only during transfer periods that we can buy new players."
On getting the goals late...
"I felt that for them to keep that focus, that concentration and the goalkeeper that quality for 90 minutes would be difficult. I always had hope but it's true that we played 4-2-4 at one stage and that is always a gamble because you can be caught on the break. I felt we kept composure and kept going. What I liked in our performance tonight was that we always played with a desire to keep the discipline in the team because that is very satisfying. We did not do anything crazy. We have matured and a game like that shows it."
On Eduardo...
"Eduardo is a quality player. He was not fit enough to start the game today because he had a little muscle problem but we still put him on the bench even though we were scared that he could get injured. But we had no other resources than to bring him on and again he made the difference."
On the fans...
"The crowd was very good tonight."
On Theo Walcott's return from injury...
"We played against Olympiacos Under-20s and he played for 60 minutes and came through well. He will be available for England selection and for us on Sunday."
[Tuesday, September 29, 2009]
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