The Arsenal manager Arsene Wenger has revealed that he is extremely pleased with the display of the Spaniard Nacho Monreal, who made his debut for the team in the 1-0 win over Stoke city during the weekend. The Spaniard was a deadline day signing for the club for around £ 12 million. His presence really helped Arsene Wenger to overcome the injury problem suffered by the defender Kieran Gibbs. Even though he was not outstanding, Monreal was extremely solid at the back and he helped Arsenal keep the first clean sheet after a long time.

Wenger has praised the display of the Spaniard by saying that it is a culture shock for everyone coming from Spain and having to immediately play against Stoke city, who approach the game in a physical manner than most teams. He also had very little time to gel with his teammates, which made the performance even more impressive according to Wenger. Lukas Podolski scored the only goal of the game, but it was highly controversial goal. Further, the huge deflection also helped Arsenal take the lead in the second half. This result helps them keep in touch with Tottenham, who themselves managed to get all three points as a result of the 1-0 win over West Brom.

“There’s no better culture shock than Stoke when you come from Spain, because of course they have a very physical game, and I think [Monreal] dealt well with it. The satisfaction is that Monreal had a good start for a player who just arrived yesterday and is in the team today. He had no time to think about it, but overall I felt he got stronger and stronger during the game. There were some heated moments, I don’t think there was anything exceptional in the tackles,” said Wenger after the match.