The Arsenal dressing room does seem to be a happy place to be right now. Even the disappointment of an early Champions League exit did not dampen the mood or affect our desire and determination too much this week. The damage was done in the first leg against Monaco, of course, but the way the players, especially Olivier Giroud, shrugged that off and got back on with the job of winning matches was truly remarkable.
It has obviously delighted Arsene Wenger, that is certain, as the Frenchman told Arsenal Player. After watching his tired Gunners battle with all they had to hang on to the lead given us by the rejuvenated and clinical Giroud, Wenger was full of praise for the team spirit and he believes that there has been a huge improvement in those qualities of fight and resilience over the course of the season.
We now have the likes of Mesut Ozil and Santi Cazorla ready to roll their sleeves up and get stuck in and they are not the qualities that anyone would have assigned to Arsenal´s creative players before. So it appears that there is now a real team ethic at Arsenal FC, with everyone pulling in the same direction.
The manager said, “[I am pleased with] the spirit of the team and the mental quality of the players.
“They are outstanding guys and it’s a pleasure to see how they behave and a credit to the club as well to see that quality on the behavioural front and the desire to do well.
“I was very pleased with the resilience because it shows qualities that are important such as solidarity, the fact that we refuse to give in and on that front I think we did very well.
“We’re a stronger team today than we were in September and that’s down to the focus of the whole club, of the whole staff and the quality of work the whole staff puts in. Let’s hope we can go from strength to strength now until the end of the season.”
Of course it is still vital for Arsenal to show the quality that we possess as well as just battling through games, but put the two together and how far do you think that could take us?