Interview

‘There’s been some great growth in this team’

Although he tasted defeat for the first time at Chelsea on Sunday, Joe Montemurro remains pleased with what he has seen from his side in recent weeks.

The Arsenal manager still believes we can win the title and that the gap between us and league leaders Manchester City can be closed.

“Overall it was a good spectacle for the fans, they got a lot of goals and a lot of action, so it was a great derby to be part of,” Montemurro told Arsenal.com. “The fans got their money’s worth, it was an exciting game.

“There were some things which were positive, in terms of how we went forward in certain areas and overall it was a step forward. At this level it’s all about the tiny moments and things that change the game, and that’s what happened.

“It was a great character growth in the team to come back. We were under pressure for the first 15 minutes and Chelsea are a very, very good, dynamic side going forward so we were under a bit of pressure sometimes and we dealt with it in patches well, so for us to really be under that sort of pressure and then to come back and dominate the game was very, very good. I think there has been some great growth in this team in the last few weeks.

“It’s a long season and remember Chelsea and Manchester City have European and cup commitments, so there’s a lot of football to play. They have very deep and strong squads, but there are also some very good teams in the league too, like Reading, who we are playing at the weekend. We’ve seen that they can take points, so this season is not over yet.”