We couldn’t find a performance
As was the case ahead of the game, it appears Arsenal manager Arsène Wenger had other matters to deal with rather than discussing his team’s 5-0 win against us at the Emirates yesterday.
But it would probably be wrong not to use some of his words from yesterday as he said his farewell. Asked about his emotions with his final home game in charge now played, he said: “It is impossible to feel nothing unless you are completely robotic.
“It is 22 years of total commitment and togetherness. Overall I would like to thank everybody. I had the luxury of doing this job for 22 years at the same club and I am grateful for that.
“It is difficult to analyse this season for what this team has done. At home it has been championship stuff, but away from home it has not been enough. We also went to the League Cup final and Europa League semi-final.
“The fans may be lost at the start next season, but they will have a new manager and they can continue the work as the basics are here.”
It certainly wasn’t our day yesterday as Sean Dyche was quick to admit, but he also praised his players for their season’s work and Wenger for his contribution to football at Arsenal.
Speaking after the 5-0 defeat, he said: “I think Arsenal raised their performance considerably today, but we came into the game on the back of yesterday’s news that we’d qualified for the Europa League. That meant all of a sudden we had nothing to play for and I think that showed. Players are human after all, and then if you add in what it stood for today, for Arsène and the whole occasion, we couldn’t find a performance.
“We lost Ashley Barnes early on, which didn’t help and we’re waiting on news from the hospital about an injury to his shoulder/collar bone, but that’s not to take anything away from Arsenal. They were good and really turned up, but we just lacked that edge we play with. You need that edge, particularly when you play the big sides, but we just didn’t have it today and I understand that.
“These big sides can hurt you on any given days and sometimes reality bites. Today it did. You have players out there who are £50m and £60m a throw and they are top class. We are still developing players and trying to turn them in to better players, but that takes time and you have to take a few knocks along the way.
Speaking of Wenger, and also Sir Alex Ferguson who is currently in hospital having had surgery following a brain haemorrhage, Dyche said: “He (Wenger) has brought so much to the game. He and Sir Alex, who all our thoughts are with, are both titans of the game.
“Arsène is a legend of a manager and I think in 10 years’ time the Arsenal fans will be looking back and thinking what an era this has been. He has transformed a club into the machine that it is and all the different things he has done on the coaching side and his philosophy, which he has really delivered, make him a legend.”
He ended with thanks for the travelling Clarets and said: “Our own fans were great again today and they were very appreciative of Arsène today, and rightly so. Now we look forward to being back at home next week and delivering a big performance to sign off with in front of our own fans.”
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