Joaquin Seys: "It's a real learning experience to face a side of this quality"
"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 finishes it in style. Sometimes you can only acknowledge the quality. In the final fifteen minutes of the first half we created a few half-chances, but you can’t forget you’re playing Arsenal. They know exactly how to defend.”
Seys also looked back critically on the second goal, which arrived immediately after the restart. “We weren’t expecting to concede so early in the second half. The communication between Brandon and myself wasn’t great in that moment, but ultimately it was my man, so I should have positioned myself better. After a 3–0 defeat, we have to focus on the positives and build on those. Playing against a team of this calibre is a real learning experience.”
Looking ahead, Seys remains optimistic about the team’s chances. “It’s clear that if we want to stay in the Champions League, we’ll need to win our final two matches. If we do that, I believe everything is still possible and we can push to be among the last twenty-four teams.”
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 half-time that made it difficult for us. After the 0-1, we reacted well by putting the goalkeeper at work. But when Arsenal scored a second time, they knew perfectly well how to see out this match. We wanted to come out of the dressing room with renewed energy, but that was quashed quickly. It's a shame Aleksander (Stanković) couldn't put his chance away, because that would have brought us level at 1-1. We gave it a real go, but it was clear that Arsenal were the stronger side tonight."
Ivan Leko: "The players kept fighting"
Club could not upset 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 football. They have confidence, so you can build on that. When you see how many kilometers 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 real 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 score 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 kick-off 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 at Dender next Sunday."