Arsenal forward Theo Walcott has revealed that re-signing Mathieu Flamini has helped improve the discipline at the club and believes the players are communicating a lot more.
Arsene Wenger surprised several people when he brought back Flamini after he was released by AC Milan, but according to Walcott, the Frenchman has brought a lot to the club especially because he is a born-leader.
Speaking to the club’s official website, Walcott has admitted that the players communicate a lot better know and they stuck together during the tough times of last season and after their opening day defeat to Aston Villa.
“I think everyone is talking and everyone is communicating and that’s helped,” he said.
“The likes of Mathieu coming in, he’s a leader and you saw him bossing people around, that’s what we need.
“It showed from last season how we wanted to be in the Champions League and I think we are pushing on now.
“When you go to one of the toughest places in Europe and win [at Bayern Munich] you’ve got to think you are a very good team.
“At times I think we didn’t believe in ourselves and I think it showed that towards the end of the season we knew we wanted to be in the Champions League, we want more games like that and that’s why everyone’s working hard for each other and we will continue to do that on a high level.
“We haven’t got the biggest squad in the world and we’ve got a lot of injuries which doesn’t help but the players that are playing are contributing bodes well.
“It’s important that we stay focused and stay fit which is very crucial as well because we don’t want to lose any more players, but as soon as the players come back there’s going to be competitionfor places. That should be a good thing for Arsenal and I think we will definitely challenge this year.”
Written by Alex Batt – @AlexBatt
