‘There’s always so much hunger in boss’

Thomas Vermaelen insists there have been no signs of Arsene Wenger slowing down even as he prepares for his 1,000th match in charge of the Club.

The Frenchman has been working hard to prepare his side for their visit to Stamford Bridge to take on Chelsea on Saturday lunchtime.

Vermaelen praised the 64-year-old for his longevity, and says he remains just as focused as he has always been.

"It's incredible - not a lot of managers do that nowadays because they come in and out so for him to achieve 1,000 games is something unbelievable,” the captain said.

"Everybody wants him to stay as long as he can. He's been incredible with what he's done for this club and for the players as well. We would be really happy to see him signing on for a few more years.

"No [there’s no sign of hi slowing down] at all. If you see him off the pitch there's always a lot of hunger in him and a lot of ambition still. He's not losing that at all.”

Vermaelen admits that Saturday’s game at Stamford Bridge is important for their title bid - and feels they are better equipped than ever to handle the pressure.

"I think Chelsea are quite disciplined as a team and they have a good shape," he said. "They defend very well and have a lot of experience in that team, so they are used to playing in big games.

"But we have that as well at the moment, we're quite balanced and the team is very disciplined defensively as well as [being able to] score, so hopefully we can perform.

"We've worked a lot on our team shape and everybody knows their role in the team, everybody's working for each other and that's because there is a great team spirit. That's the great improvement for us this season."