In the years when Arsenal were not winning anything except our annual place in the Champions League group stage, Arsenal fans were understandably a bit miffed when Arsene Wenger spoke about the balance of the squad and about building for the future.
But it now seems as though the Frenchman´s plans for the foundation of future success were well laid and are now beginning to pay off. The paying off of the Emirates stadium debt and the subsequent ability to spend big money on top quality players like Alexis Sanchez and Mesut Ozil has helped, of course, but we have not had to go out and buy a whole new team.
Premier League rivals like Liverpool, Man United and the spuds have all brought in big numbers of players in recent years and then seen them struggle to gel into a team. That has not happened at Arsenal and it is the balance between exciting new players and those that have been with us a while that makes the Gunners such a happy and together unit according to Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain.
The Ox told Arsenal Player, “It’s a great place to be. I’ve always loved being at Arsenal and the group’s always felt like a great bunch of lads.
“But where we are right now with the boys who have come in and the boys who have grown up through the club – the likes of Jack, Theo and Kieran – it really feels like a great group of lads.
“It’s a really nice place to be and everyone gets on really well. We’re all in it together. This parade is lovely and this is what winning’s all about.
“That’s what we were talking about yesterday, that we wanted to go that step further and get more success. We’re motivated to do that but I’m glad I can enjoy this moment with all my team-mates and I’m really proud of all of them.”
Wenger is not just in the business of making his players happy, but it does seem to be a no brainer that you will get more from a happy dressing room than one where players do not get on, are separated into cliques or are simply not happy with the manager´s demands of them.
Hopefully our happy team will continue to be a successful team and hopefully the negative side of the Mourinho effect will soon start to tell in the Stamford Bridge dressing room.