TWO MORE YEARS OF WENGER STARTS WITH A TROPHY

ANOTHER Arsenal triumph at Wembley sparked another deluge of ticker tape and another team celebration shot, in the goalmouth where the penalties had been taken. It has been a prolific start to two more years of Arsene Wenger, winning the Emirates Cup and beating Bayern Munich on penalties in China. The winning habit is a good one to get into, whatever the stage of the season. One or two in red and white seemed bewildered by the new ABBA penalty system but they worked it out eventually. Twice they have beaten the champions with silverware at stake but Wenger is not about to be fooled. Three FA Cup and Community Shield doubles in four years are great for the photo montage but it is time to compete for something heavier. ‘It is an encouragement, not more than that,’ said Wenger. ‘We had some bad starts recently in the last four years, in the first games of the Premier League, but we had the intensity in our games in preparation that is needed to be ready. ‘So let’s go into the league with the same spirit and see where we can go.’ Arsenal kick off against Leicester on Friday and are feeling the need to summon a genuine challenge for the title in a season when they are not in the Champions League. Uncertainty surrounds the futures of Alexis Sanchez and Mesut Ozil and Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain, though. Wenger also confirmed the club are trying to offload players. ‘The number of players is too high, we will let some go,’ he said.