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'The qualities we've been missing'

The good news: we've not lost in November yet, a traditionally difficult month.

The bad news: consecutive draws against Tottenham, Manchester United and Paris Saint-Germain have seen us lose ground at home and in Europe.

At his press conference on Friday, Arsene Wenger was asked to put his finger on what’s been missing from our performances in recent weeks.

“I believe we have to find our game back,” he said. “We didn’t lose but if you do not create, that will not last.

“It’s important that we find our simplicity, speed and pacy combinations back. We missed that fluency, and that security in our decision-making that made us dangerous in the final third a little bit. That is what is at stake for us.

“It depends now what we will do for the last weeks of November to assess it [as a month]. But at the moment, we haven’t lost. We had difficult games: Tottenham, Man United and of course Paris Saint-Germain. It’s three difficult games in a row but let’s see how we finish November.”

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We’re three points off the top ahead of Sunday’s game against Bournemouth - a match that now holds extra significance.

“Yes, of course [it’s more important now],” said Wenger. “The positive side is that we don’t lose, but that is not positive enough for us. We want to win our games and build momentum. Sometimes you go a little bit through spells where it’s less easy and we want to come back to the three pointers.

“Slowly there are little differences [in the title race] but I think as long as there is not nine points or 10 points difference, the teams are in the race. Over 10 points difference after a third of the season and you can say that it is too many points.”

 

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