Arsene Wenger believes his current Arsenal squad are more focused than any previous group of players he has managed, lauding the unity of his side ahead of facing Red Star Belgrade.
The Gunners can book their place in the knockout stages of the Europa League if they win on Thursday night, with Wenger saying he will once again select a rotated XI.
Despite the form of some of his recognised starters, the Frenchman has been hugely impressed by the application of his squad players – saying he has never witnessed anything like it before – and suggested that is why he was less active in the transfer market.
Speaking at his pre-match press conference, he said: ‘I personally believe that my biggest pleasant experience this season is how focused the whole squad is in every single game.
‘That’s the first time in my life I see that, how united and focused the whole squad is. I’m really honest when I say that, you cannot say any player has gone easy.
‘The focus of the squad has always been exceptional. The fact that there’s a good understanding in the squad, we haven’t bought seven or eight players.
‘They’ve played together for a long time, they’ve had positive and negative experiences and always responded well and they have a lot of respect for each other.’
Eye-catching trio Alexis Sanchez, Mesut Ozil and Alexandre Lacazette will all be missing from the starting line-up, though Wenger says his focus is on beating Red Star – not looking ahead of Sunday’s clash with league leaders Manchester City.
Asked if it was a risk to rotate, he said: ‘I don’t know, that depends on the result. We’ll know tomorrow and we’ll know on Sunday.
‘The focus in football is always on the next one. Every game for Arsenal is important, if we win tomorrow we qualify top of the group so for me that is important.
‘After that we can look at the rest of the competition in a quieter way. We’ve won three games, now we want to win number four.’
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