Wenger cautious over Arsenal potential

Arsenal manager Arsene Wenger says he cannot assess his side’s strength so far this season because they are yet to face a title contender.

North London club Arsenal began the campaign with 0-0 draws at home to Sunderland and away at Stoke but impressively edged out Liverpool at Anfield before thrashing Southampton 6-1 on Saturday.

However, Frenchman Wenger remained coy on his side’s title aspirations, underlining the importance of facing off against the likes of champions Manchester City before making judgements.

He told reporters: “I think we have a chance but I don’t know how strong our opponents are. We’ve not played against any of the title contenders yet.

“We won the championship in 2004 and we played against Chelsea the following season and I finished the game thinking: “We’ve just played against the new champions.

“It will be important to see how we do against the bigger teams. We will know that after 10 games. I think we have a chance. But do we develop well, do we keep our attitude?

“It will be a test next Sunday but for us the most important part will be to maintain our level of performance that we showed against Southampton and go from game to game.”

Despite his cautiousness, the 62-year-old was keen to express delight with the good start his side have made in contrast to last season.

“Last year we had a very bad start but were quite strong as a team for a big part of the season,” he said.

“But this year we have had the luck and started better. We will only know if we’re a better team in the future.”

Wenger went on to hail the spirit among his players and backed them to fill the void left by the departure of last season’s Premier League top scorer Robin van Persie.

“The vibes coming out are that we look like a real team and we enjoy to play together and that’s a good basis and is interesting,” he said.

“We have a spirit, a desire to play together and strength in depth. As well the vibes coming out you feel, I feel, the supporters feel.

“You ask anyone who watched the game and they will tell you we looked like a team who wants to play together.

“That’s a good basis. We are famous for having a good passing and team play. Van Persie scored 30 goals and when you score 30 everyone gives you the ball.

“Our game is a little bit more diversified but we have to go from game to game.”