The former Arsenal and England forward Alan Smith was clearly not as disappointed as some Gooners with the away point against a difficult and in form Stoke City side at the weekend, especially as the Gunners were without two of our best attacking players in Alexis Sanchez and Mesut Ozil.
In fact Smudger, who scored the opening goal against Liverpool in the final game of the season in 1989 that gave Arsenal our most dramatic title win ever and inspired the book and film Fever Pitch, thinks that the resilience the current team showed at the Britannia Stadium proves that this squad is capable of going all the way and adding another title to our history of major honours.
Last week saw Arsenal complete the transfer of Mohamed Elneny from Basel and today we added a new contract for our Spanish left back Nacho Monreal and while a lit of Arsenal fans are hoping for or expecting more from the club, with most of them hankering for another striker, Smith is not and he does not think we need any more players to win the league this season.
Smith told Sky Sports, “Danny Welbeck is apparently only three weeks away and that will help them if he comes back in the kind of form he is capable of.
“Any manager would love to get in a world-class player to give the dressing room a lift, but it’s so difficult and I don’t think it’s going to happen.
“I think they’ve got enough. They didn’t have (Mesut) Ozil or (Alexis) Sanchez at Stoke and they were able to cope with that, and they’re due back soon so they’re not far off full strength.
“I think those are two good draws at Liverpool and Stoke. I know they could have won it easily at Anfield but in years gone by, they would have lost that game at Stoke.
“They didn’t use to be able to grind out those draws and wins in the difficult games. When they’re not at the top of the game and not playing that lovely football that we’re used to, they can get results.
“That’s the stuff of champions and you’ve got to have that if you’re going to win the league. That resilience will please Arsene Wenger.”
Resilience is not enough, of course, but the Gunners have also shown some great style and class and if we come through what looked like a potential title stopper of a month of January, still on top of the table and with the injury problems close to being sorted, will Smith be proved right?