Source: Daily_Mail
Arsenal on top: Wenger's players kept faith when the world wrote them off
Looking back, Arsene Wenger admits his comments were 'ludicrous'.Arsenal had been battered by Chelsea and were 11 points adrift of the Premier League leaders.The key for Wenger, however, was to restore self-belief in his camp. So he came out fighting by claiming Didier Drogba 'doesn't do a lot' and Chelsea 'will still drop points'. Heading to the top: Cesc Fabregas scores for Arsenal in their 4-2 win over Bolton on Wednesday night Less than eight weeks on and his team are top of the league. Belief is no longer a problem. Inside the Arsenal dressing room, they all believe, and when they talk they talk about belief. It has been a strong midwinter for the cult of Wenger.'We are there and we want to win it,' said Tomas Rosicky, as title talk gripped one half of north London after Wednesday's 4-2 win against Bolton. 'Everybody will have to compete with us.'It is a drastic change of heart from the Rosicky who spoke in the aftermath of the 3-0 defeat at home to Chelsea on November 29 and declared: 'It will be very difficult for us to win the title now.'In fairness to Rosicky, he was not alone. The Gunners were widely written off and Wenger's stubborn faith in his principles was under attack from all angles.Again he had failed to address the glaring weaknesses down the spine of his team, choosing to buy a central defender who was barely six foot in Thomas Vermaelen not long after paying a record fee to land Andrey Arshavin, a slightly smaller version of the snake-hipped tricksters he already had in abundance.There was still no world-class goalkeeper, no midfield destroyer and no muscular centre forward. Wenger continues to greet the whirl of transfer speculation with a smirk,despite vowing to delve into the market for a striker this month.Ruud van Nistelrooy lacks the subtleties to play in this team, the Frenchman explained. Edin Dzeko is too expensive, Carlton Cole too injured.Once again, the message is simple: No spending for the sake of it, especially not if it stifles youth development.Amid such intransigence, Arsenal looked on course to win more accolades for their beautiful football while watching Chelsea and Manchester United bully their way to more trophies. Too easy: Didier Drogba scores in Chelsea's 3-0 win over Arsenal in November - but the Gunners have bounced back superbly in the two months sinceWenger's faith appeared blind, and agitated noises about his pig-headed refusal to spend transfer funds were starting to emerge from the inner confines of what, since the manager's appointment in 1996, has normally been a harmonious club.These critics will resurface if it ultimately proves to be Arsenal'sfifth season in a row without silverware when their title rivals havebeen so vulnerable.It's just that from the top of the Premier League it is harder to hear them. An unbeaten run of nine games since the Chelsea defeat has restored confidence that Wenger's way can be successful as well as artful.Belief is the key, from the academy starlets, drilled each day to pass 'quicker, quicker, quicker' by the rhythmic commands of their coaches to the executives who suspectit might be better to spend millions on Yaya Toure than give Craig Eastmond a taste of the first team.'I'm very proud of what the players have achieved,' said Wenger as he reflected on the last couple of months. 'At the time, it looked a bit ludicrous to say we'd come back, but the players played with that belief. We believe we have a real chance. I'm convinced this team will have a real go. It's very important we keep a good mixture of humility, feet on the ground, and ambition and desire to win it.'Samir Nasri has referred to Wenger's half-time fury at Liverpool last month as a turning point for the team. Some players had never seen the manager so angry as when they trailed in 1-0 down.Wenger insists his words were irrelevant. Instead he pointed to the belief instilled in the minds of his players by coming back to win 2-1 at a place like Anfield. It had an impact on the games which followed.The Gunners fought back from behind to beat West Ham in the FA Cup, they kept going for an undeserved point with a stoppage-time equaliser against Everton and won from two-down against Bolton. Thumbs up: Arsene Wenger has guided Arsenal to the top of the Premier LeagueWhere there were doubts there is now determination. 'We have to be competitive if we want to win this league,' said captain Cesc Fabregas this week, and Bolton have felt the truth of that statement.Mark Davies was left in agony after a nasty tackle by William Gallas on Wednesday as Arsenal were allowed to play on and Fabregas levelled the game at 2-2. Davies left the field on a stretcher and, though his injury is not as bad as first feared, the incident changed the game.Do champions require devilment? Such a spirit was certainly synonymous with Wenger's great Arsenal sides of the past - his earliest successes at Highbury came in a blaze of red cards and a team mentality bordering on arrogance because defeat was not an option.Chelsea and United have had the same swagger in recent years. Arsenal sometimes have not but it may be no coincidence that Gallas and Fabregas were central to the Davies controversy. They are two of the few players in Wenger's squad with personalities to inspire.They may be prone to petulance but they are winners. They have fire in their bellies and a ruthlessness beneath their silky football.The Gunners are third favourites for the title in the eyes of bookmakers.Their fluent attacking style would make them popular champions but the grisly experience and durability of United and Chelsea remain valuable commodities.More will be known about the Arsenal challenge on February 10, by which time they will have played Premier League games against Aston Villa, Manchester United, Chelsea and Liverpool.It could make or break them. But the idea of Wenger winning his first title since 2004 no longer seems quite so ludicrous. Enlarge Arsenal boss Arsene Wenger won't risk table toppers in FA Cup clash with StokeWilliam, it was really nothing! Gallas escapes action over late tackleARSENAL FC