Kieran Gibbs says Arsenal are targeting consistency as they approach a daunting run of fixtures which takes in two games with Liverpool, a Premier League showdown with Manchester United and the first of a Champions League double-header Bayern Munich.
Happy to embrace the Gunners status as title-challenging ‘underdogs’ the left-back touched on the excitement that comes with big games and the belief the squad have taken from a prolonged spell top of the table.
“It is not often you get to play Manchester United, Liverpool and Bayern Munich, twice, in less than two weeks,” the 24-year-old told the Daily Mirror.
“It will be great to be a part of it – playing against the best teams in the world. Everyone enjoys the big games and this [Liverpool on Saturday] is just another big game to show what we can go and do.”
“There are 14 games left and when you get to this stage it is about being consistent and whoever can perform the best will obviously win the trophy,” he continued.
“It is February and we are top of the league so you have to have some kind of confidence to think you can win the league. That is the way we want to look at it.
“We have stayed top of the league for a significant part of the season and we are enjoying being top of the league. We are enjoying playing together and that is the most important thing as well.
“I think it is one of the most exciting Premier Leagues that there has been for years and you have to enjoy that and relish it.
“Going in as the underdogs takes the pressure off, but we are not looking at the odds of winning the Premier League. We just want to win the Premier League.”
Echoing the words of his left-back Arsene Wenger said that he and his squad are ready to enjoy the tests ahead having fought very hard to be in with a shout of silverware.
Talking to the press ahead of Saturday’s Premier League game with Liverpool, Wenger reflected:
“We have a tough predicted month. At the moment we are on a good run and the best way is to continue that is to keep the confidence level high and of course to stay in a strong position for the Premier League.
“I am convinced that we are mentally prepared [for the run of games ahead], we’ve have shown a great response throughout the season when we’ve had difficulties.
“Physically we’re prepared as well [although] it depends as well how many injuries you have as we need to rotate. It’s important that we have as many players available as we can. Big injuries now could mean the end of the season [for a player].
“When you’re in a good position to fight for something, the closer you get to the end the more each game becomes vital. In cup games it’s decisive but in the Premier League too every point is important. It’s a massive month for us but as well we enjoy it. We’ve fought very hard up to now to be in this position so let’s just enjoy it and give our best. I’m sure we will.”
I have been growing my nails just for this.
Let the chewing begin!
i have grown my toe nails too.. 😛
It’s all just getting too tense now. Before new year I was just pleased it was going well, but now it’s the run-in I can’t help but dread what seems like an inevitable fuck up.
The first game in the run is the most important..win at Anfield and we could come out of this run with 9 points.
Lose at Anfield then we might get he inevitable fuck up your talking about…out of both cups and 2 games behind in the league.
Scary stuff, come on Ozil and Santi!
9 points from two league matches would be an exceptional result.
I was implying 3 wins but well played sir heh
The first game is key for confidence. Liverpool’s midfield is a joke, so we should be boarding the bus with an easy 3 points. Come on boys!
Wow, top Gooner this SWGooner is. Whats the point of supporting the Arsenal with that pessimism. It defeats the whole point.
I’m optimistic Arsene and his boys will scale through #DeathRoll1 #COYG
Arse?
well let’s hope we navigate this Death Run as well as we did the Group of Death. people have doubted us but we have proved time and again this team have the resolve and character to come through. let’s hope come next month we will be Marching on
We finished 2nd in the Group of Death. Hopefully that was our blip…
All Lies in the Performance of Mertesacker ,Kosicleny and Mr.Szc.
Lies? Those guys puts in an HONEST effort..
Pleas, dont beat me up yet; I will just go away.
So it begins. The battle of Anfield Tirith is about to begin. Muster the Arsenal! COYG!
Hahaha! This cracked me up!
On the pass of Emir Morgul, our fortress, shall we overcome the rest enemies. COYG!
Win
Win
Win
Win
Next…
…Deathrun 2!
Win
Win
Win
Win
Trophies and glory!
I want the league wins.
And the Cup wins, too.
If we beat/draw the mugmashers tommorow, humiliate the skunks’ mancs at our own ground then beat either of Chelsea or shiteh i reckon that would be title defining for us. come on!
A lot will depend on how will everton play agains top 3 teams.
Or even more so Liverpool, as they still have a game against city and chelsea too
A confidence boosting win on Saturday should set us up nicely for 3 home games
I think DEATHRUN 2 (with Sp*rs, Chelsea, Man City, Everton, in an order I cannot remember) is much more tricky. It’s though really important that we grab three points on Saturday. It’s absolutely doable but it’ll be damn hard. COYG!
Deathrun2 will become even worse if we progress in the cups. It could become truly spectacular.
Deathrun 2: Kim Kallstrom to save the day!
Ya know… I am of the “I’m just enjoying being on top of the table” mindset. I feel the team has the drive and quality to for sure win the League and/or the FA cup.
But I do like also being under dogs. We have been a top four team,lower but top four and have been discount by the press,or our lack of silverware has been bandied about
So its nice that everyone is focused elsewhere… We maybe be sneaking off with trophy (s)?
I Believe! Come on Arsenal!
I feel exactly the same. It’s about being competitive, being worried that a dropped two points may cost us the league, rather than a loss giving rivals the edge in the “race” for fourth. The players have the attitude that’ll see them through i.e. not of a fan, biting nails and calculating win-loss-draw permutations for N rivals in 3 competitions.
One game at a time boys, that’s how we’ll bring it home. One game at a time.
Hmmmmmmm,i am not sharing the same optimistic view,afterall we often do appallingly in top games because we are one dimensional in our play and top,top teams knows how to snuff us out.I dearly hope we can do it but fear this will be another let down,Arsenal often dont do well when presented with difficult tasks.
I’m afraid of the same. We somehow seem to be too static in the top games.
Comparing the teams, we really should beat Man U next week, but I think it’ll be really, really, really difficult. But what else can you do but hope?
The ManU game half our team were absent or suffering from illness and this looked quite obvious on the pitch.
The ManC game we were at the end of an horrendous week of fixtures and it’s the single point in the season when the whole team seemed off colour. Even considering that, Arsenal had a clear penalty and offside goal ruled out. Should have been 6-5.
Apart from that, beating, dortmund away, napoli at home, liverpool, sp*rs twice and drawing with chelsea is pretty good going for any team IMO.
I don’t agree that we do poorly when presented with difficult tasks or that we play “one-dimensionally”, but as long as we are putting in constructive criticism, I do think there are a few problems that could bug us against top teams. My primary concern with this team is the absense of proper wingers who can occupy the flanks and stretch play. I think we cover it a bit by putting additional load on full backs but still, having players like podolski and Walcott playing regularly is important. Because another side effect is that while defending, out full backs are… Read more »
I suggest to Wenger that his team forgets the handbrake otherwise it could be seriously embarrassing.
We’re better than Utd, we’re better than Liverpool and we’ve beaten Bayern.
This is what it’s all about. Give me this over scrapping around for 4th place any day of the week.
As we all know, the best way to handle a deathrun is to remain calm at all times.
AAHHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHHHHHAHAHGHHGHHGHHGHHGHH!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
shit
CHAAAAAAAAAAAARGEEEEEE!!!!! AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHOOOOHHOOOLYSHIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIT!!!!!!!!! crap, we lost 🙁
You are well-named, sir.
So ..ahem…who else is really worried about injuries during this run?
I’m taking it game by game, personally. If we don’t win the league then PLEASE can we be the ones to break Chelsea’s home record under the Portuguese madman.
All we can do now is scream our lungs out in support. I’d personally say there’s only one massive death run which starts now and doesn’t end till we play the toon in April. If we’re still there or thereabouts come then, then we’ve got a massive chance. COYG.
Good thing deathrun 1 has 3 games out of 4 played in Emirates. Not so much traveling.
My instinct tells me this is the season we’ll beat mourinho to end his unbeaten run at the bridge.
My Instinct also tells me that Arsenal will win the league this season regardless of the results
deathrun 1 and 2.
I think against Bayern we have to sit back and play on the counter. They have good runners and will murder us for our mistakes. But then again, Pep is in charge and he’s just not as good as Jupp, I think. I don’t fear them as much as i did last season, but that’s not to say we should take the threat lightly.
When we play away, with the away goals, we can go all out.
Not to sound defeatist but I really could care less about the Champions League this year.
I would much rather us focus on the PL and the FA Cup.
Given the options we have and the men missing, CL seems a bridge too far.. Thoughts?
Basically, if we progress through bayern, we will be favourites against every non-english team (not for the press, but who cares); none of the non-enghlish team has a clear advantage over the Arsenal. And since I think there is always a chance agains bayern, I think it’s worth trying to go for it.
I see where you’re coming from, but we can’t just take it easy in the biggest club competition in the world. Doesn’t speak well for the club.
Also, for fans and players alike, games against teams like Bayern are the major attractions of the season. The manger just can’t take it easy, trying to win the pl and/or fa.
I want us to do well and I’m confident we have the potential to come out of this run in flying colors. My only worry is that we are gonna run ragged and come out with tired legs and tiredness, physically or mentally, causes injuries. I just hope there aren’t too many. Will gladly accept being proved wrong though!
Irrelevant to the post I know; Michael Laudrup, you caused us some trouble boss. Respect and we look forward to playing your next team me thinks.
Having injured players back is not the same as having injured players back fit. Wilshere might step in and make a big change. Ramsey, Vermaelen, Diaby, Sanogo, Kallstrom will be a bit rusty.
The first game is a draw … A 2 ALL WRITTEN ALL OVER IT
I would suggest strongly the squad extra careful on what they are eating and extra security on players catering, prior to manure game.
Oh ya, and watch whom they shake hand with.
My question is, can Arsene play Giroud all four games?
Yeah, I think so. In the past weeks he has had good rest, and is probably charged up. Also, wenger says he has good stamina, and termed him as a “fighter”. Unless he picks up a knock or something, he should get through fine, especially if we keep getting good results.
I see no reason why we can’t win all 4 games. We have been good at home, and confidence is flowing through the team. Deathrun 1™ is a hard test, but Deathrun 2™ is what i am concerned with. Getting 9 points from 12 would be amazing, but i would also settle for 8…
Arsenal is the captain now.
I thought this is Death Run2. We failed Death Run 1 earlier but passed the test anyway to keep up top. However there is less room for error for death Run 2 as stakes are higher. We must beat Liverpool away to set the tone. Thereafter barring injuries, there is no better time to beat United at home. The FA cup will be tricky. May get dumped out if Liverpool come back for revenge. if we beat them, we would have beaten them pretty much all season which will be remarkable considering all the fuss around them by the ex-Liverpool… Read more »
How I see it we should be beating Liverpool and Man U no excuses if we cant beat these teams we don’t deserve the title… I don’t want excuses for losing to man u neither we should of won that game regadless and Wenger seemed to think the same.
We will lose the those scumbags Chelsea as usual, so we’ll just need to win the other games.
We can do it.