Arsenal suffered an opening day 3-1 defeat at the hands of Aston Villa, which threatened to destroy the whole campaign even before it had started properly. However, the club managed to recover from it quite well and are currently top of the table. They have also managed to bring in German playmaker Mesut Ozil in a £ 42 million deal, which is now a new transfer record for the club. They would have spent even more money had it not been for the failed attempts to bring in the likes of Gonzalo Higuain and Luiz Gustavo.

After managing to get the team to the top of the table, Wenger has said that it was extremely crucial that the squad had stability in order to achieve this kind of comeback. Much of the Arsenal team has been constant throughout this run of matches. This has partly been down to the injuries and largely because of the squad strength. Arsenal simply do not have the strength to compete with the likes of Chelsea and Manchester city when it comes to the squad. Midfielder Aaron Ramsey has been a revelation this season, as he has been finally able to demonstrate his quality that was doubted in recent seasons.

“It [stability within the squad] creates a big difference on the confidence level because you know we have done well before with that group, so at least you have a basis. The confidence that basis gives you is of course important. If all starts well then maybe not but where the stability was important I think is with our first shock against Aston Villa. The fact that we could say ‘look guys, we have been together for a while, we know that we have bounced back before, let’s do that again,” said Wenger after the recent win over Sunderland.