The Gunners delivered the perfect birthday present to their boss who turns 58 this week. In their biggest ever European victory, they thrashed Slavia Prague 7-0 with a breathtaking display of attacking football at the Emirates Stadium.
However, Wenger has his feet firmly planted on the ground. He said: “Yes it was a complete team performance but we are a young team and can still improve. We have to be realistic and just prepare for the next game and show we can win it.”
Wenger is an old hand in mind games and his emphasis on humility is timely. A team full of energetic youths can stumble badly when they let all the success into their heads and start believing they have the world at their feet. For battle-hardened players, they will know how fast that aura of invincibility can vanish into thin air.
Right now, the young guns are enjoying the game and improving at the same time. That is a good thing and a major source of the wonderful team spirit stems from the absence of prima donnas in the dressing room.
One player who shone brightly in this match is Theo Walcott who is groomed for stardom. He scored twice, supplied two assists and caused mayhem in Slavia’s defence.
Wenger singled out Walcott out for an outstanding performance, saying : “He does not panic in front of goal and has improved a lot. He has good ingredients — intelligence and fantastic pace and his technique is improving.”
Slavia has only themselves to blame as they committed a lot of mistakes and never looked like scoring. Both teams will meet again on Nov 7; hopefully, Slavia will be better prepared and can prevent a similar bloodbath.
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