Arsenal's Walcott confident of win over Tottenham.. and anybody else who fancies their luck
Gunners have bounced back from shock opening-day loss and "the way we’re playing at the moment we believe we can beat anyone"
Michael Regan
Theo Walcott claims his Arsenal side feel unbeatable after proving
everyone wrong following their nightmare start to the campaign.
Walcott insists the Gunners go into Sunday’s North London derby against Tottenham full of belief on the back of three straight wins after THAT opening day disaster against Aston Villa.
The winger says he and his team-mates are not bothered by their neighbours' summer spending spree, because they believe in their own ability to be contenders this season.
Walcott said: “We need to make sure we focus on ourselves, and the way we’re playing at the moment we believe we can beat anyone," said Walcott before the weekend clash at the Emirates.
“I feel that we’re very, very strong.
“Everyone may say our squad is very, very weak and there are not many of us, but I think we showed we bounced back from such a disappointing result in the opening game and proved a lot of people wrong.
“Tottenham is a big test - the biggest test. Definitely.
“We know about the positives in their team, we know their strengths. We need to make sure we neutralise their weaknesses.
“They’ve invested well, they’ve got some very good players, a good manager as well.
“But we don’t care who we’re playing against, whether they’ve brought in £30million stars, it doesn’t matter. We just want to focus on our game and especially at home I feel that we can win.
“Tottenham are playing some very good stuff, but I think we are looking very sharp. For the neutral, it’s going to be an impressive spectacle.”
It has been an impressive turnaround for Arsenal, who have gone from losing their opening Prem match in such ugly fashion to safely qualifying for Thursday's Champions League group stage draw.
But Walcott insists that the Gunners - with their new-found wealth and spending power - should be winning trophies now, rather than just competing for them.
It's now eight years since Patrick Vieira lifted the FA Cup, the last piece of silverware Arsenal won, and Walcott added: “For the stadium we have, the support we have, the players that are coming in and out, we have to be there.
“We don’t want to be challenging for that fourth spot any more. We want to be challenging for the Premier League. That’s our main goal.
“Champions League and playing against the best players in Europe, you want to be judged on that. If you play against the best players you’re only going to improve yourself.
“I think you can see a lot of improvements this year, especially in players like Aaron Ramsey.
“Arsenal’s a massive club. We always keep it very tight towards the end of the season and we don’t intend to do that this year.
“But it just shows the great achievement, that the club has done it on a consistent level.
“We need to go to that next level and start competing a bit more - not to just get into the Champions League, but to compete.”
Walcott insists the Gunners go into Sunday’s North London derby against Tottenham full of belief on the back of three straight wins after THAT opening day disaster against Aston Villa.
The winger says he and his team-mates are not bothered by their neighbours' summer spending spree, because they believe in their own ability to be contenders this season.
Walcott said: “We need to make sure we focus on ourselves, and the way we’re playing at the moment we believe we can beat anyone," said Walcott before the weekend clash at the Emirates.
“I feel that we’re very, very strong.
“Everyone may say our squad is very, very weak and there are not many of us, but I think we showed we bounced back from such a disappointing result in the opening game and proved a lot of people wrong.
“Tottenham is a big test - the biggest test. Definitely.
“We know about the positives in their team, we know their strengths. We need to make sure we neutralise their weaknesses.
“They’ve invested well, they’ve got some very good players, a good manager as well.
“But we don’t care who we’re playing against, whether they’ve brought in £30million stars, it doesn’t matter. We just want to focus on our game and especially at home I feel that we can win.
“Tottenham are playing some very good stuff, but I think we are looking very sharp. For the neutral, it’s going to be an impressive spectacle.”
It has been an impressive turnaround for Arsenal, who have gone from losing their opening Prem match in such ugly fashion to safely qualifying for Thursday's Champions League group stage draw.
But Walcott insists that the Gunners - with their new-found wealth and spending power - should be winning trophies now, rather than just competing for them.
It's now eight years since Patrick Vieira lifted the FA Cup, the last piece of silverware Arsenal won, and Walcott added: “For the stadium we have, the support we have, the players that are coming in and out, we have to be there.
“We don’t want to be challenging for that fourth spot any more. We want to be challenging for the Premier League. That’s our main goal.
“Champions League and playing against the best players in Europe, you want to be judged on that. If you play against the best players you’re only going to improve yourself.
“I think you can see a lot of improvements this year, especially in players like Aaron Ramsey.
“Arsenal’s a massive club. We always keep it very tight towards the end of the season and we don’t intend to do that this year.
“But it just shows the great achievement, that the club has done it on a consistent level.
“We need to go to that next level and start competing a bit more - not to just get into the Champions League, but to compete.”
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