Joaquin Seys: "It is instructive to play against such a top team"
That first Arsenal goal was pure class," said Joaquin Seys a few minutes after the final signal. "Madueke turns well away from me and then he shoots the ball in a beautiful way and then you can only say it was top notch. In the last quarter of the first half we did get some chances, but you have to remember it's against Arsenal and they know what defending is."
"We hadn't reckoned with the 0-2 right after the second half kickoff. The communication between Brandon and myself was not top at that moment, but in the end it was my man, so I should have positioned myself better in that phase. I think that after this 0-3 defeat, we have to mostly build on the good things and build on that, because playing against such a top team is very instructive and that's what we have to do. It is clear that if we still want to have a chance to continue, we will have to win our last two games and then I think everything is still possible to finish among the last twenty-four teams," Seys concluded after the match.
Hans Vanaken: "Lost to a pure class team"
"I think you can conclude that tonight we lost to a pure class team," captain Hans Vanaken spoke afterwards. "They scored two world-class goals, but it was mainly their second goal right after halftime that made it difficult for us. After the 0-1, we had a good reaction in the house and were able to seriously counterpunch a few times, but once the 0-2 was on the board, they knew perfectly how to play it out. We wanted to come out of the locker room with new energy, but that was quashed. It's a pity Alexandar couldn't capitalize on his chance, because then we would have been at 1-1. We tried, but it was clear that Arsenal were a stronger team."
Ivan Leko: "The players kept fighting"
Club could not stunt against Arsenal, but Ivan Leko was satisfied with his team's performance. "It took 10 to 15 minutes before we really got into our game. We wanted to play high, but obviously not give away too much space either. In the first half we had some good moments, both with and without the ball. The stadium also felt we had to seize those little moments, but unfortunately that didn't work out. That first goal came out of the blue and after the 0-3 it was definitely decided. But to the team's credit, they didn't give up. They kept fighting and kept looking for a goal. And that against an opponent who is certainly top three in Europe at the moment. To get a result against such a team, you really have to be top and everything has to go along with it. Unfortunately we couldn't get a result, but this is a good lesson for us. Now we have to stay calm and work every day to try to get better."
When asked how he will approach the coming weeks, the new Club coach responded calmly. "You can see that these guys know how to play soccer. They have confidence, so you can build on that. When you see how many yards they covered today, as a base, that can count. This is a good team, so no revolution is needed. Starting tomorrow, we will try to make progress every day. These have been emotional days anyway, both for the players and the fans."
Dani van den Heuvel: "I think now it's mostly up to us"
"For me personally, this match was a very instructive experience," were the first words of goalkeeper Dani van den Heuvel. "Although I must immediately add that it was a very difficult game against a top team like Arsenal. Both their first and third goals they shoot in fantastically. When their players get just a little bit of time and space, they can shoot the ball in wonderfully. Their second goal just after halftime was avoidable though, so we had a very hard time getting back into the game after that, but I think we still did well as a team."
"I didn't know until about 15 minutes before kickoff that I would be replacing Simon. I knew there was a chance it could happen despite the fact that Simon had done everything he could to play the previous days. I haven't seen Simon yet so I don't know what exactly is going on, but I will hear that later," the Dutch goalkeeper said.
"With the events of the past few days, we had to turn the knob very quickly to focus for tonight's game and I think that worked out pretty well. We have barely worked with the new coach for one day now. He has been able to express all his ideas to the player group though and I think it is now mainly up to us to show how much we want it on the Dender field next Sunday."