2002 FA Community Shield - Post-match

Post-match

He's an intelligent boy, makes things simple and gets into the box at the right time.

The result marked the first time that Liverpool had lost at the Millennium Stadium. Wenger used his post-match news interview to praise goalscorer Gilberto Silva and asserted that the Brazilan would be a "very strong player" for the team, in the incoming future. He noted that Dudek had "kept in the game for a long time" and was critical of Gerrard, who he felt was fortunate not to have been sent off for a "reckless and dangerous" challenge on Vieira. Wenger believed Arsenal's experience put the team in good stead for the upcoming season: "There are two attitudes to being champions. One is to get respect, another is to get kicked more and to face more aggression as people want to beat you more. We are quite used to that though as we have had some big fights in the past four or five years."

Houllier argued that his team paid Arsenal "too much respect" in the match and blamed his full-backs Xavier and Traoré for not providing width, adding: "We need to have more flow in our game, more safety in our passing construction". Gerrard was unrepentant for tackling Vieira and stated he was trying to "stamp authority" on the match. He accepted defeat and was optimistic Liverpool had the means to win the Premier League: "We'd rather they beat us in this game and then we go on to pick up the title. That's what we're really looking at. Even though they got the better of us yesterday, it doesn't mean they'll do better than us over the whole season." Diouf insisted he should have earned a penalty in the second half, given he felt there was "definite contact" from a challenge in the penalty box: "It was a penalty, definitely, but the referee is the master on the pitch and he didn't give it. I know the Arsenal players think I dived, but I didn't."