Robin van Persie knew back in the summer that Arsenal would enjoy a much better season than the pre-season pundits suggested.
In July, all the paper talk concerned the departure of Thierry Henry and Freddie Ljungberg from Emirates Stadium. The argument went that Arsenal had finished fourth in the last two seasons and may struggle to hang on to their Champions League status because the chasing sides had invested heavily.
Fast forward to October and Arsenal are sitting pretty on top of the Premier League and Champions League Group H. The Dutchman’s goal secured their ninth straight win at Steaua Bucharest on Tuesday night. Afterwards the 24-year-old said his ‘insider knowledge’ meant, right from the start of pre-season training, he knew this young side was gelling nicely.
“I began very early this season,” he said. “I first started just with Theo [in June] and then the other lads joined. What I saw was a great togetherness, a great belief and a great, great quality. I saw it every day. Day in, day out
“I understand the view from the press and friends because they were not there every day. I was and this is what I saw. Yes it was early but I told you at the Amsterdam Tournament this is what I felt. However when I spoke, everyone was laughing.
“I know it is not there and not finished but, at the start, we knew we could surprise. Now 10 or 11 games into the season people are like ‘whoa this Arsenal side are a good team’.
“If we can stay together then we can do some amazing stuff in the future. We are doing it now already but we are not at the end. This is not the end-product but we are progressing every week that we play.
“I said this before and it is not something that I am going to change. If we get a trophy then we are winning it with a good team if we miss it then we are still a good team. But this is our aim and if it happens I’ll be a glad man.”
they sure surprised some of the top contenders 