Arsène Wenger believes Arsenal’s growing maturity means he does not need to embark on a major spending spree to challenge Chelsea for the title next season, although he acknowledges that his side are not yet the finished article.
Wenger revealed that he would seek to add quality in the right areas and in small quantities after Arsenal retained the FA Cup with a resounding 4-0 victory over Aston Villa on Saturday, saying he wants to ensure that his current players are able to maintain the improvement they have shown since January. Although Arsenal’s manager ruled out joining the race for Paul Pogba, on the grounds that the Juventus midfielder would be too expensive, he said that signing Mesut Özil and Alexis Sánchez in the past two summers proves that he is not averse to spending money.
Arsenal have ended the season in impressive fashion. They secured automatic Champions League qualification by finishing third and thoroughly outplayed Villa, goals from Theo Walcott, Sánchez, Per Mertesacker and Olivier Giroud ensuring that it was a comfortable afternoon against Tim Sherwood’s side.
However, Wenger accepted that Chelsea remain the team to beat. He knows Arsenal have to improve further to close the gap on José Mourinho’s champions. He accepted that they would need to start next season strongly and said Arsenal would have a better idea of where they stood when they faced Chelsea in the Community Shield in August.
“We have to show that next season and we want to do it,” Wenger said. “I feel that we have moved forward and people think always it’s about buying but it’s as well about cohesion, and cohesion is a very important factor that is a bit underrated usually by people. We have to keep that cohesion and maybe add quality. But the quality we have to add is in short numbers. But the other teams – how good will Chelsea be? Who will they buy? I don’t know.
“Chelsea surprised everybody this season with the start they had. They had a very balanced team with quality everywhere. I think we have made some ground up at the end of the season. Now it’s about the start. We come here for the Community Shield and we will have a little bit of a better view of what’s going on. But Man City, Liverpool will buy, Tottenham will buy. I don’t know how good these teams will be.”
Wenger has been impressed with Arsenal’s form since the turn of the year. There have been a couple of disappointments, most notably the defeat in the last 16 of the Champions League by Monaco, but he feels they are progressing. “I think we have seen that since January,” Wenger said. “We have made progress on the mental side and on mastering our games and on being less naive and better balanced and knowing what to do. It is intelligence.”
Jack Wilshere, a late substitute against Villa, echoed that view. He cited Arsenal’s 2-0 win at Manchester City in January. “I think this season we’ve made a big step mentally,” the Arsenal midfielder said. “I remember in previous years going to big games, Man United, City, Chelsea, thinking: ‘Have we really got a chance today?’ But this year from the first big game, Man City at home, Man City away we’ve done well. We always thought we had a chance. Even United away we got a point. That’s a big step that we needed to do so next year we feel like we’re in a better position.
“We’ve been together a few years. There’s a group of us British players and a few of the foreign players, we’ve been together for a few years now. We know each other, we fight for each other. If a team like Arsenal with the quality we’ve got can fight for each other and win the ball back, we’re going to create chances.”
Wenger was asked why Arsenal have not been named as one of the clubs who could sign Pogba. “We have not spent that kind of money,” he said. “People forget that for years we had to sell our best players and that was a very difficult period. That is the reality. Since we buy again, we slowly come back to a more competitive level. You speak maybe about stratospheric numbers where we will not be involved – not at that level – for financial reasons. It’s simple.
“I do not want to tell you how much money we have. But I have not made a clear decision yet for what I will do. Don’t rule anything out and I will not tell you as well how much money we will spend. I’m always more focused on quality.
“Today Santi Cazorla has been voted man of the match. I think he has not cost £150m. [Francis] Coquelin was one of the best players on the pitch. You have to always look at the real quality of people. I am not against spending money. I have shown that recently. But I want a good rapport between price and quality. We still have some things to do, I am conscious of that, but I am conscious as well that mentally and tactically we are stronger. And the technical quality is not bad.”