Per Mertesacker believes Arsenal are still looking for the consistency required to win their first Premier League title since 2004 but acknowledges Monday’s victory over Manchester City at the Emirates further demonstrates his side’s improvement against other sides in the title race.
Arsenal are four points clear of Manchester City and are second in the table, two points behind Leicester City, after a third straight Premier League victory – a run that followed three matches without a win which included a 2-1 defeat at West Brom.
Over the Christmas period Arsenal are away to struggling Southampton on Boxing Day before hosting Bournemouth two days later while Newcastle are due at the Emirates on 2 January.
Arsène Wenger spoke of a strengthened belief within his squad and after goals from Theo Walcott and Olivier Giroud were enough to defeat City
The bookmakers certainly believe Arsenal are the favourites for the title but Mertesacker believes such talk is premature. “We haven’t proven anything yet and we haven’t been that consistent that we can talk about that,” he said. “We go game by game and concentrate on having a gameplan and trying to implement it. That has been our strength so far against the big team and it makes us stronger as a unit.”
West Brom aside, Arsenal’s two other league defeats have been at home to West Ham and away to Chelsea but they are unbeaten against other sides in the top five with emphatic wins over Manchester United and Leicester while their Champions League victory over Bayern Munich also demonstrated the belief Wenger refers to.
“We are capable of doing different things sometimes and that is what makes it harder for the opponent,” said Mertesacker, who points to last January’s 2-0 victory at Manchester City as a turning point. “That is our thoughts and that is why we implement them into games sometimes but we are still dangerous on the counterattack and that makes us a real threat.
“Last season we played at City and we showed some different kind of match-plan. That is what we had in the locker already but this year we are more consistent and it is what makes us a bit better as a unit.
“Sometimes we need to adjust, we don’t have all the players available at the minute, we think that is best way to win against City but we need to trust that way as well – it is not only thinking about it, it is also about putting it in to practice.”
