Written by Jonathan Chong on Monday, August 24, 2009

Results

Date	Time	C	Opponent	F	A	R	S
22 Aug	3:00 PM	P	Portsmouth (H)	4	1	Win

Forward Andrey Arshavin admitted that manager Arsène Wenger had to remind his team against being complacent during the match against Portsmouth over the weekend. Arsenal eventually won 4-1 but there were times when it looked as if the North London club would let their opponents back into the match.

Goals from Abou Diaby (2), William Gallas and Aaron Ramsey sealed the three points from the Gunners but the team went into their half-time team talk with the scores at 2-1, Portsmouth just having scored a goal which exposed a surprising lack of urgency from the Gunners defence.

Arshavin revealed that Wenger basically told his team to not get complacent and to up the tempo and put their opponents to the sword, especially when they were there for the taking.

The Russian international said: "We started the meeting well. I think that our two quick goals went a long way in deciding the game. Arsenal's possession advantage allowed us to enjoy the game ... Perhaps, after the second goal, we relaxed a bit.

"Arsène in the locker room told us about this. He reminded us that in the Premier League you can not afford to be relaxed. Because if you prematurely stop to fully concentrate on the game, this will immediately be followed by retaliation by the opponents."

It's worrying that the problems that plagued the team at various times last season have started to creep back in, with complacency being one of the bigger problems. However, it's still early days and the team will be sure of taking the manager's advice on board.

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