Arsène Wenger maintains his latest generation of Arsenal youngsters have all the ingredients to emulate his team of "Invincibles".
The Gunners moved into the quarter-finals of the Carling Cup with a 4-0 victory at Newcastle on Wednesday night. And Chelsea's lead at the top of the Barclays Premier League was reduced to five points following a 3-0 win at 10-man Manchester City last Sunday, which continued the momentum from a 5-1 trashing of Shakhtar Donetsk in the Champions League.
Wenger has not tasted success in the domestic championship since Thierry Henry and Patrick Vieira swept all before them in the unbeaten campaign of 2003-04, while their last trophy was the 2005 FA Cup. But the Arsenal manager insists all that is about to change.
"There is a lot more to come out of this team," said Wenger, whose side host West Ham tomorrow. "I feel the ingredients of teams which I had before who were successful are in there. It is just how much we can get them out and of course we need to keep all of our players fit.
"As long as the attitude is right and at the end of the season when you look back you think 'This team has given absolutely everything they could', you will be proud of them."
However, Wenger accepts that just landing the Carling Cup would not be good enough. "There are some basics which have to be respected," he said. "It is important that priorities are there. For us it is vital to always be at the top level, and the top level is being in the Champions League.
"If you ask all of our fans, they will want to win every single trophy. They will not rule out the Champions League, nor the championship, and for me they are right because I am exactly the same, which is why I say let's give our best in every single competition and see where we stand at the end of the season."
The young goalkeeper Wojciech Szczesny impressed in the win at Newcastle and Wenger confirmed a new deal had been offered to the 20-year-old.
"He wants to stay, I want him to stay, so basically plus, plus, plus should be plus," Wenger said. "I want to play him, but our job is about competition. He has the qualities to fight for the position, and that is what I wish. He is a very talented young goalkeeper. He wants to be successful here and I want him to be successful here, so normally it should work."
With 12 goals in their last three matches, and Theo Walcott back in contention, Arsenal will be expected to beat West Ham, who also booked their place in the last eight of the Carling Cup this week but sit bottom of the Premier League.
However, Wenger maintains there can be no complacency, especially after the shock home defeat to West Bromwich before the last international break.
"I think we got the lesson," Wenger said. "In fairness to my team, that is the only game since the start of the season where we did not perform well, but as well it shows that just once you are not completely there and you are caught."
Source: Press Association, The Guardian on 29 Oct 10
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