‘Never happy to lose’published at 19:03 BST
19:03 BST
FT: Arsenal 2-1 Chelsea
Chelsea manager Xabi Alonso, speaking to Sky Sports: “It hurts. It hurts because a defeat has to hurt. It has been a very
intense game with different moments for everything. We had chances to
equalise. In the first half as well a couple of chances. Never happy if
you lose.
“After we scored, there were 15-20
minutes where we had to defend too much and we were struggling a bit to
get control. We then had better spells with the ball. Overall, it was a very tight, very intense game. We could do better with the second goal
to conceded too early. The guys gave everything, tried everything. It
has to hurt.
“It’s about preparing the best
possible way to compete the best possible way. You need to control the
overloads on the right side. It’s part of the game to have these
actions. We continue. It’s game three and this is going to be a long,
long ride.”
On Chelsea’s approach to corners: “You take decisions, you make approaches. We want to be active and take
initiative. Sometimes with set pieces, sometimes pressing high or lower.
I think that’s what you need to compete in all the stages. Today we’ve
come here trying to compete as well as possible now we need to continue.”
On
what he learnt today about the gap: “I learnt about the game, about us,
about what we are doing, what we are starting. The players have this
attitude, this desire to compete better game by game to create something
we believe in. So far I’m happy. We want to win games, this is the
ultimate goal.”
On whether he felt short in
midfield today: “You need to deal with injuries, the squad are missing
the injured player. The ones we had went with full gas. Today they tried
their best and have given everything.”