Arsene Wenger was delighted to see Arsenal surge back to form on Saturday, with it his opinion that a comprehensive victory had been coming.
Gunners boss sees his side silence critics in style
Arsene Wenger was delighted to see Arsenal surge back to form on Saturday, with it his opinion that a comprehensive victory had been coming.
The Gunners put seven past struggling Blackburn at Emirates Stadium, with Rovers only able to offer a solitary goal in reply.
A crushing victory on home soil was Arsenal's first Premier League success of 2012, with a four-match winless run having led some to question their top-four credentials.
They offered the perfect response to those critics in their latest outing, but Wenger will not be getting carried away on the back of one positive result.
"We had a crisis of results for a while, but the way we played was never really bad," he told
Sky Sports.
Encouraging
"We had some good games and lost, but in the last week we played well against Villa and at Bolton.
"We played well today and overall it is encouraging. We had a comfortable day today and got the three points that we needed."
Gael Givet's dismissal shortly before half-time undoubtedly played into Arsenal's hands, but they were already 3-1 up by that stage and looking good for a comfortable win.
"The big question mark was how well had we recovered physically after putting in a lot against Villa and Bolton," said Wenger.
"We finished a bit tired at Bolton but today we started strong. When it was 11 against 10 we were comfortable in a dominant way."
Deadly
Talismanic skipper Robin van Persie netted a hat-trick as the Gunners cruised home, while Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain bagged a brace and Mikel Arteta and Thierry Henry grabbed one apiece.
On his captain, Wenger said: "We have spoken many times about how exceptional he is and he has shown that again today.
"He got good balls in the box and Robin is so intelligent that he is deadly when he gets the service. Theo Walcott was very efficient and the assists are as important as the goals."
On Oxlade-Chamberlain, who opened his Premier League account against Rovers and is now being touted as a possible England star of the future, Wenger said: "Three months ago he was not ready, in my opinion.
"He had shown talent, but suddenly in the last two or three months he has stepped up. You can see that in every game he becomes more important and his personality comes out in the game."
