I am writing this before the kick off between Arsenal and Man United today and hopefully the Gunners will get the win and the three points we need to keep up with the current Premier League leaders Leicester City and back up the comments of Arsene Wenger.
The Frenchman was talking this week about why he feels that Arsenal are much more prepared for this title challenge compared to other recent seasons when we have been in a good position only to see the EPL trophy slip away in the latter stages of the campaign.
As reported by the Daily Mail, Wenger blames those previous falterings on the team spirit being affected by the club’s financial position and the subsequent loss of key players like Thierry Henry, Cesc Fabregas, Samir Nasri and all.
He explained that because of our lack of economic power the best Arsenal players were always the target for other big clubs in England and around Europe and were often tapped up during the season. This not only led to these players losing focus and determination for the fight nbut it also affected the rest of the dressing room.
Hopefully Wenger is right when he says that this is no longer the case and that the current squad are highly motivated as well as having more quality, experience and maturity.
The boss said, ‘What is different is that at that time we were losing momentum. This time it’s the opposite. We are chasing and gaining momentum. We have had two difficult games recently but overall the psychological situation is quite different.
‘We were very young at those times, with the famous incident with Gallas at Birmingham. And the mood of some players was to get the next contract somewhere else rather than to win the championship because we had to sell.
‘When we went into April some players were tapped up to go somewhere else and it was difficult to maintain the focus. That’s not the case at the moment.
‘Now we don’t have that problem at all. All the players are focused and want to win and have great solidarity. It’s down to showing how good we are. The psychological situation is completely different. In 2010-2011, we lost it because the spirit was not exactly what it should be because of tap-ups. At the moment, I think on the spirit front we are all right.
‘This is a team that’s very hungry. They want to win and I think they’ve shown that in the FA Cup in the last two years. This team wants to do well and is very conscientious and my job is more to relax them a little bit. They do not look at what happened five years ago, they look at what is in front of them. It’s certainly top, spirit-wise.’
Is he right or will Arsenal fans be let down again?