Arsene Wenger has called on his Arsenal players to show in the final two months of the season if they are his next special ones.
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In beating Burnley 1-0 on Saturday, the Gunners recorded an eighth successive Premier League win, the best run since the nine-game streak of the ‘Invincibles’ in 2004.
That outfit, famed for its defensive strength and attacking brilliance, went on to finish the season unbeaten and claim the club’s last title.
Now Wenger is hoping he has another classy crop on his hands to bring back the glory days as they try to claw back Chelsea’s sevenpoint lead at the top, and retain the FA Cup as they face Reading in the semi-final this weekend.
The ‘Wenger stasis’ thing is beginning to look passé. Arsenal look to have taken a proper leap forward this season. Contenders next year.
— Jonathan Northcroft (@JNorthcroft) April 4, 2015
“I always think the best of my team but no manager in the world, if he is serious, can predict a run like that,” he said.
“We prepare always to do that, but people forget that we had big players out for four months and at some stages six or seven players from the squad completely out so that made a big difference.
“We have a better balance in the team. Some players have made it like Francis Coquelin who contributes to the balance of the team. Hector Bellerin now has come into the team and big players like Laurent Koscielny, like Olivier Giroud, like Mesut Ozil were out for four months. Four months, the three together. People forget that as well.
“I believe that we know we can play with sharpness and fluency but we know that Burnley was a bit more scrappy, more fighting, more combative and we can produce that side as well. Sometimes you cannot always win 3-1 or 4-1 or 5-1. In the season you also have to be capable of winning 1-0 and I am glad we can do that as well.
“We are already in a position that nobody believed possible one month ago for us so we just focus on ourselves and see where we stand at the end of the season.”
Striker Giroud says they need to perform to maintain the pressure on Chelsea.
“As long as we win our games, we could have a look at their results, but we need to focus on our games first and do the job,” he said. “But we don’t want to stop here.”
