Arsenal may be top of the Premier League and Champions League Group H but their manager feels they are “nowhere” yet.
On the eve of their trip to Steaua Bucharest, Arsène Wenger warned his side that, despite their accomplishments and the praise their style is receiving, everything is ‘superficial’ at the moment. The tangible stuff, like the silverware, must be earned over the course of the season.
“We have played a few games and done well,” he said. “But we haven’t achieved anything. Any team in the League can do that. I think we have to be bigger than that. At the moment it is superficial.
“We are in a position of fighting with Man United and Man City, so at the moment we are nowhere. Real maturity is when what we have done is forgotten and exists only because of what we do at the moment.
“And at the moment it is all good. We all prefer to have ‘well done’ said to us, but that is not enough. A real team achieves something together. We are a team who are miles away from having done that.
“But I do think we have matured a little bit and play a bit more efficient now. That is the life of a team - they start all enthusiastic and play, after they go to a level where there is a good balance between being efficient but still playing, and then they get to a level where they are only efficient.”