I look at this Arsenal team of today and think, ‘I recognise them’. It’s a familiar DNA. The one that made us winners so long ago. A mix of technicians and physicality, beautiful football and brute force. You need that combination to be champions.
In the early years of Arsene Wenger’s success, we felt like giants. We had technical players but plenty who could get physical, too. Patrick Vieira could pass a ball but he never shied away from getting stuck in, and neither did Emmanuel Petit.
If anybody tried to fight us, it wasn’t going to end well for them. If they tried to outplay us, think again, because that wasn’t happening either.
I remember being in the tunnel at Highbury and seeing our opponents sizing us up. You’d hear them whispering, ‘They’re even bigger in real life than they look on the telly’. They were frightened of us, but knew we had the finesse to go with it.
I love seeing that aura back at Arsenal now. There’s a resilience to them. They won eight of their last nine Premier League away games last season, drawing the other 0-0 at Manchester City when the eventual champions failed to score at home for the first time in 47 games.
The Gunners have a mix of technicians, beautiful football, physicality and force
They’re big numbers — proof they can handle the pressure away from the comfort of the Emirates.
If you’re going to stop City from winning a fifth consecutive title, you can’t be a soft touch, home or away. You’ve got to match their desire for winning and then some.
The £31.6million signing of Mikel Merino is another step in the right direction, although after an unfortunate shoulder injury in his very first training session his debut will be delayed by a few weeks.
Merino is mobile, technical and physical. He is one of the great duel-winners in the game, winning more for Real Sociedad than any other midfielder in Europe’s top seven leagues last season.
When he is fit enough to feature, Merino will add to that physical side of Arsenal which is already prevalent.
Gabriel Magalhaes and William Saliba are titans at the back. I love seeing them celebrate blocks and tackles. That’s determination. They’re fired up.
When Arsenal compete now, they’re in the fight — which hasn’t always been the case over the last 10 years. Mikel Arteta never wants to see his team go into a game as boys versus men.
He wants his players to be able to handle themselves, and Merino is the latest addition to Arsenal’s new giants.