Robin van Persie knew back in the summer that Arsenal would
enjoy a much better season than the pre-season pundits
suggested.
In July, all the paper talk concerned the departure of Thierry
Henry and Freddie Ljungberg from Emirates Stadium. The argument
went that Arsenal had finished fourth in the last two seasons and
may struggle to hang on to their Champions League status because
the chasing sides had invested heavily.
Fast forward to October and Arsenal are sitting pretty on top of
the Premier League and Champions League Group H. The Dutchmans
goal secured their ninth straight win at Steaua Bucharest on
Tuesday night. Afterwards the 24-year-old said his insider
knowledge meant, right from the start of pre-season training, he
knew this young side was gelling nicely.
I began very early this season, he said. I first started just
with Theo [in June] and then the other lads joined. What I saw was
a great togetherness, a great belief and a great, great quality. I
saw it every day. Day in, day out
I understand the view from the press and friends because they were
not there every day. I was and this is what I saw. Yes it was early
but I told you at the Amsterdam Tournament this is what I felt.
However when I spoke, everyone was laughing.
I know it is not there and not finished but, at the start, we knew
we could surprise. Now 10 or 11 games into the season people are
like whoa this Arsenal side are a good team.
If we can stay together then we can do some amazing stuff in the
future. We are doing it now already but we are not at the end. This
is not the end-product but we are progressing every week that we
play.
I said this before and it is not something that I am going to
change. If we get a trophy then we are winning it with a good team
if we miss it then we are still a good team. But this is our aim
and if it happens Ill be a glad man.
they sure surprised some of the
top contenders 