Soccer-Delighted Wenger refuses to get carried away by big win

...

A beaming Arsene Wenger refused to get carried away by the magnitude of his team's outstanding 7-0 win over Slavia Prague in the Champions League at the Emirates Stadium on Tuesday.

The Frenchman, who was 58 on Monday, had the perfect birthday present as Arsenal matched their biggest ever European victory and demolished Slavia Prague with a breathtaking display of attacking football.

"Yes it was a complete team performance," he said, "but we are a young team and can still improve.

"There is still more to come from this team. Can we keep our humility and feet on the ground? Can we continue to enjoy what we do? If we do I feel we can develop.

"We have seen some great performances, but still everyone is improving."

He added: "How do we keep our feet on the ground? We just remind everybody that two months ago I was crazy not to buy players and we were not even rated to be in the top seven.

"We have no reason to be carried away, because exactly the same people who will now say we can win the European Cup said we would finish 15th two months ago.

"We have to be realistic and just prepare for the next game and show we can win it."

Wenger singled out Theo Walcott for an outstanding performance. The 18-year-old scored two goals and was an integral part of most of Arsenal's sweeping forward moves.

Slavia coach Karel Jarolim said he knew that his side faced a tough task, but added: "This was the biggest defeat of my career as a coach. I knew it was going to be tough, but we helped them. We made lots of mistakes and never looked like scoring while Arsenal looked like scoring every time they attacked."

The two sides meet again in Prague on Nov. 7.

Keywords: SOCCER CHAMPIONS/ARSENAL QUOTES

[LONDON/Reuters/Finance.cz]