Sunday 17 February 2013

Arsenal midfielder Jack Wilshere admits England call-up is 'a bit too soon ... - Telegraph.co.uk

Wenger claimed at the club's annual meeting that finishing in the top four amounted to winning "a trophy" and that it was a bigger achievement than landing either the FA Cup or League Cup. Wilshere, though, also wants to win tangible silverware.

"Our aim every season is to challenge for the Premier League which we continue to do so and we continue to do so week in and week out," he said. "Maybe now we're in a position where it could take maybe a minor miracle to do that.

"We need three points from every game and treat every game as a cup final. We know how desperate the fans are as well for a trophy and, trust me, as players we want silverware. When you look back on your career, you don't think: 'Ah right, we finished fourth every year'. You say: 'What have we won?' And that's what you want to do."

Wilshere has a contract until 2015 and there has never been the slightest suggestion that he would want to move but his comments do again underline that the club are not delivering results in line with the ambition of their best players.

Cesc Fabregas, Gaël Clichy, Alex Song, Samir Nasri and Robin van Persie have all left in the past two years, while Theo Walcott and Bacary Sagna are in uncertain contract situations.

Wenger, meanwhile, believes Thomas Vermaelen could be feeling the weight of captaincy. The Belgian was given the armband after Robin van Persie was sold to Manchester United. However, the usually reliable centre-half has allowed a few errors to creep into his game - most notably last weekend at Old Trafford where a poor clearance went straight to the Dutch striker, who fired United into the lead after just three minutes.

"Physically Thomas is outstanding, but what has happened to him in recent weeks has affected his confidence," said Wenger. "You put more pressure on yourself when you are the captain."

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