Team News, Ozil Becoming a Leader, Transfers + Being More Mature
The boss has spoken during his press conference just before our game against Newcastle at home the day after New Year's. Here are the highlights during his press conference.
Team News... We might have Flamini back with Alexis being just short. Alexis could be back for our FA cup game against Sunderland. Arteta is also short but he is currently training. The players are a bit fatigued from our last game vs. Bournemouth, but they're all fit.
On Ozil... He has said that Ozil has become more comfortable on the pitch due to good fitness and him being able to play in his preferred No. 10 roles for a long period of time. He also thinks that psychologically he is much more suited to the league, not just fitness wise.
"He is a complete athlete. I also believe he has grown in stature and takes responsibilities, leadership in the team and on that front he has improved tremendously and looks determined to lead the team compared to when he arrived.”
On the Januray Transfer Window... We'll be busy, which is something that Wenger usually never mentions, but I'm assuming that we're really serious about our title situation. He has not revealed anything about who we are interested in, and he has also mentioned that there may be a possibility that Debuchy might leave during the window.
On becoming more mature and reliable in 2015...
“From January 1 to December 31 we were consistent and have improved our results,”
“The team has grown in stature, is more mature, more reliable and we won the FA Cup and the Community Shield. We are in a strong position in the Premier League so hopefully 2016 will be better."
“We are mature enough and we have the requested quality to fight and compete. The most important thing is to feel, at the end of the season, that we have given absolutely everything to be successful. After that, if somebody has been better than us, we will accept it, but we want to fight to show that we have a chance.
“The public opinion is not always stable, it changes a lot. It is always linked with the final result. We have to rise above that and show that we can deal with it. I believe we have to be guided by playing better football and being a real team in every game and show that we can be competitive.
“We can have great solidarity in every single game and after that we have a chance. You cannot rule us out after 19 games. We have chance and we want to fight for it. Everybody wants to predict who will win it at halfway but even for the most intelligent people [that is] impossible.