Former Arsenal defender Thomas Vermaelen believes that Arsene Wenger appears to have brought back the winning mentality to the club.
After several years of struggling to put up a title challenge, the club are at the forefront of winning the 2015-16 season’s league title. Victories over Bournemouth and Newcastle helped them to go top of the table after New Year’s Day. When Vermaelen was playing for the gunners, the club did not appear to have enough belief within them. Wenger appears to have transformed the squad by bringing in top players like Mesut Ozil, who have contributed immensely this season.
The back-to-back FA Cup titles also appear to have done their job in motivating the players and also providing them with belief that they can challenge the likes of Chelsea and Manchester City. Vermaelen did not win any major honour during his time at Arsenal, but he has already received a number of trophies since the move to Barcelona. He has not featured much for the Catalan club. Vermaelen says that he has been following the gunners ever since he left the club. The Belgian international has been linked with a move to Italian football with Roma and Lazio interested in him.
Arsenal last won the league title during the 2003-04 season. “He has a winning mentality, he wants to win, and of course he has the character to win the title.I’ve been watching them and they look very strong. They are missing some important players but if you play so many games that can happen.It’s difficult to predict in England who is going to be the champions but if you look at the results Arsenal are always up there and I hope the injured players come back. Definitely, he has done it before. I hope they can do it,” said Vermaelen.
