Home comforts key to Gunners’ revival next season, says Wenger

ARSENE WENGER intends for Arsenal to put the squeeze on teams at Emirates Stadium next season to force their way back into title contention.

The Gunners could yet finish third in the Premiership if they better Liverpool’s result when they travel to Portsmouth on the final day of the campaign.

However, there remains a feeling of underachievement within the camp, having ended another season without silverware.Although reaching the Carling Cup final with a youthful squad may well bode well for the future, Wenger knows his first-team players must become more consistent to close the gap on the likes of ManchesterUnited and Chelsea, as well as pressing for honours in the Champions League.

Part of the problem this season, in the Premiership at least, has been dropping too many points at their new Emirates Stadium home. Converting those six draws into victories would have lifted the Gunners into contention for second place.

Wenger believes things will be different next season, with his men now familiar with the impressive surroundings of the 60,000-seater venue.

“Now we feel we are nearly there, not completely, but we feel much more at home now,” said the boss.

“At the start of the season we allowed too much space to our opponents, and we do not do that as much anymore.”

Wenger added: “The size of the pitch has affected the way Arsenal have played this season too. The distances are bigger, so you need a bit more patience because we were used to getting from one end of the pitch to the other very quickly at Highbury.

“I also feel that we need to learn to use the width of the Emirates pitch better and get more crosses in. Slowly we are getting there — we are more dangerous with our crosses and we are more patient in our build-up.”

With many of the memorabilia now transferred from Highbury, Wenger believes there is agrowing sense of history in the making at Emirates.

He said: “We have got the stadium the way we want it now, and the pictures in the players’ areas also play a part in that. The history is all around us. Now it is up to us to make it on the pitch. We live with the legends of the club, which makes us feel at home.”

Captain Thierry Henry, currently sidelined through injury, admits things could have been better on the field as the Gunners entered a new era.

“We are all as frustrated as the fans are with the way the season has gone. We lost too many points at home, and a lot of things happen when you move to a new ground,” said the Frenchman. “Hopefully we have learned from that.”