Wenger out to end Gunners drought

01 August 2009 07:47
The Gunners may be ready to move to bring veteran former captain Patrick Vieira back to the club, but Wenger insists the current crop led by Cesc Fabregas can deliver. Arsenal host Atletico Madrid in the Emirates Cup on Saturday afternoon as their preparations continue for the new campaign and the quest for a first trophy since 2005. "This team has improved a lot as compared to last season. They played 21 games unbeaten from November until the end of the season," said Wenger. "We reached the semi-final of the Champions League, FA Cup. We have a squad which is very ambitious. "We have the basic quality, they have international quality and are under 23, so their best time is now. "We have developed a style and culture of play that everybody accepts, so I feel confident and very strong. "Our focus should not be who can help us from outside, but who can help us from inside." One player who will not be involved on Saturday is Theo Walcott, who will be given extra time off following a busy summer of international football. Wenger, though, was left less than impressed by the youngster's involvement for the under-21s at the European Championships in Sweden as well as Fabio Capello's national team. "I was not in fairness a supporter of his experience with the under-21s for one simple reason: the youth teams are there to promote the players into the first team and once they are there, especially at national level, I don't see why they go back again to the under-21s," said Wenger. "The target is not to promote the players from the first team to the second team, they are supposed to be promoted from the second team to the first team."

Source: Team_Talk