Arsene Wenger believes Arsenal's change in ambitions has strengthened their belief they can win silverware.
The Gunners will head into 2014 on top of the Premier League, a stark contrast to this time last year when they were 16 points adrift of leaders Manchester United.
Wenger thinks keeping the current squad of players together has been behind their fine form in the first half of the campaign.
"At the end of the day, it is down to what we do on the pitch"
Arsene Wenger
"We lost big players every time during the summer," Wenger said. "We had to rebuild every time and we found our run many times after Christmas.
"We were in a position where we sold our good players, and we accepted being behind the teams who invested a lot of money.
"That has changed, and that has strengthened as well the belief."
Manchester City are the bookmakers' favourites to lift the title, but Wenger says Manuel Pellegrini's side are not the only team to beat.
"They are favourites, not more than Chelsea or Man United for me," he said. "They have a squad of names who can pretend to win it. But at the end of the day, it is down to what we do on the pitch.
"Are they, at the moment, completely unbeatable? Not for me. They have lost a number of games away from home.
"They have played one more game at home, than away. We have played one more game away, than at home. So it is open."
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