I am sure that there will be plenty of people ready to criticise the current Arsenal players for talking about winning the Premier League title, but I am not so sure it is such a bad thing really.
We have already heard from a number of Arsenal stars such as Per Mertesacker, Jack Wilshere and Mesut Ozil who spoke this week about the great run of form that the Gunners are on, and the belief that we can take that into next season, start well and make a real go of reclaiming the trophy that has not been resident in north London since the Invincibles brought it to Highbury 11 years ago.
Our France international right back Mathieu Debuchy has had to watch from the sidelines injured for almost the whole of his debut season as a Gunner, but he has clearly been impressed by the improvement that the team have made. Impressed enough to add his voice to the growing confidence and belief that next year could be ours.
Debuchy told Arsenal Player, “I am convinced that we will challenge for the title next season. Every big club wants to win it, Arsenal is a big club and it is definitely a target for us all.
“It has been a difficult season for me. I had two injuries, involving two operations, one on my knee, one on my ankle. It is a shame because I felt very good with the team, I think I made a good start to the season, so to be off the pitch for almost six months was difficult to deal with.
“When you start a new season in a new club, you really want to prove what you are capable of. I really thought that the difficult time was behind me and that I could show my qualities. Unfortunately I picked up my shoulder injury only a few weeks later and that was difficult for me to deal with.
“But having a lot of French players at the club was a good thing to help me settle quickly, especially the guys that I know from the French national team. It was a bonus, and they’ve helped me a lot.
“Of course it is not finished yet but so far, it is a good season. We’ve picked up a lot of wins, a lot of good results. I really hope we can carry on playing well until the end, and if we do we will say it was a good season.” It will be, but even former Gunners, like Thierry Henry and Ray Parlour, have suggested that we still have a long way to go to be title contenders, so do you think it is a bit presumptuous for the current players to be talking about next year´s title when we still have this one to finish and are sitting a hefty 13 points off the top?
I personally like to hear the title talk because it shows a big desire to do it as well as the confidence that comes from playing well and winning games. What do you guys think?