Jack Wilshere praises unity in Arsenal squad

Midfielder Jack Wilshere believes Arsenal have matured as a team and are now mentally strong enough to end their trophy drought this season.

Accusations of an ability to stay the course for an entire campaign have often been levelled at Arsene Wenger’s side, with recent seasons unravelling spectacularly before the crunch month of May, but Wilshere is confident those days are behind the North Londoners.

The Gunners progressed to the fourth round of the FA Cup with a convincing victory over rivals Spurs on Saturday and sit one point clear at the top of the Premier League ahead of the trip to Aston Villa on January 13.

“Something clicked towards the end of last season when we knew we had to get fourth, there were games we weren’t playing well in, but we were still winning and that has carried on this season,” Wilshere declared.

An unconvincing December period that saw four games without a win and a damaging defeat to Manchester City saw the critics mount once more, but Wilshere is adamant his side have emerged stronger from their slump in standards.

“Sometimes you can’t always play your best and you have to still win games – you have seen the likes of Manchester United and Chelsea do that in the past and we are doing it now. Every team is going to go through a little blip. We had ours and luckily came back strong. We have won a few games in a row now. We are in a good place in the league, in the next round of the FA Cup and we have a break to recover.”

Whilst the squad seemingly buckled under the pressure in the past, the self confidence is clearly flowing through the veins at The Emirates, ”We know what we can do. There is great character in this squad, a great team spirit. We are genuine friends off the pitch. We have a mix of cultures – German, English, Spanish – but we all get on. That is helping us, and we are concentrating on ourselves rather than anyone else,” insisted Wilshere.

The ability of Arsenal’s armoury has rarely been in question, but their mental steel is another matter. However, if Wilshere and his teammates can prove themselves in this department an end to the club’s dormant decade may well finally come to an end.