The Arsenal vice-captain Per Mertesacker has been left out of the last few games in favour of Gabriel, despite the Brazilian arguably being responsible for a few goals over the previous two matches, and it seems that the BFG has not been impressed with the team’s attitude in our two derby draws.
“It’s about discipline,” said Mertesacker. “We lacked a bit of that desperation, even when we were 2-0 up at West Ham, to defend and get everyone behind the ball.
“To come back to that level is absolutely important in the Premier League and if you don’t you will get punished. These details are very important to us and everyone can see it, it is obvious.
“We want to win every single match now, to put teams in front of us under pressure. We have got the belief we can win every single one and that is the task from now on, to concentrate on the next one.
“Even when something is going against us in a game, we have to focus on ourselves and not get distracted by anything else.
“The focus and mindset is really important. There are fast changes, even in a single game and throughout the stretch of the season.
“We have to be ready and concentrate on ourselves and our games – anything can happen in football.
“We need to be there, when there is space and teams are dropping points. But that is not our business, we are just talking about ourselves and trying to win every single game.”
The problem is that Wenger and the players have been saying this for many weeks, and other than the 4-0 win over Watford, our focus and discipline has hardly been apparent. The last two games were must-win and we know what happened there. Why should we now believe that we can now go on and win every game this time?