New intensity has us clicking, says Walcott

Wenger and his players by criticising their behaviour at Old Trafford after a spiteful scrap. Speaking in the Sky studio immediately afterwards and in these pages the next day, I came down hard on a team who, in my opinion, had overstepped the mark.

Led by Patrick Vieira, the Arsenal camp was not having that – to be slated by a former player who regularly interviewed members of the squad for the official Arsenal magazine. Though I was not banned from the training ground (as rumour had it at the time), my magazine assignment was abruptly brought to a halt.

The episode redefined my relationship with Wenger’s Arsenal. Rather than a friendly face from the club’s past, I had become an occasional voice of dissent on the outside. In turn, a cordial atmosphere sometimes grew frosty.

Whether the situation has changed much, I am not altogether sure. After all, it was only at the end of last season, following the team’s depressing exit from the title race, that I wondered whether the club would be better served by a new manager.

In fairness, whether they would or would not is not really the issue today as we survey 20 incredible years. I can only look on in awe at such dedication to the task from someone so tightly entwined with his football club. Unlike some peers, Wenger neither seems able nor wants to switch off from the job, to go home and concentrate on something else instead.

For me, there is actually a lot wrong about his entrenched position, such as an overarching influence that even extended to him having a say in the appointment, no less, of the chief executive, Ivan Gazidis.

And when Wenger recently reacted to constant cries for him to spend big by claiming he had to think about the financial implications, what with 600 club employees to consider, maybe he forgot that he is actually a member of that band himself.

But it does not quite feel like that any more. Wenger has turned into something much bigger. Without doubt, we will look back on his tenure as a remarkable chapter in the club’s history. How I would have loved to have played a part. Theo Walcott believes there is a changed mentality at Arsenal this season that leaves Arsène Wenger’s side better equipped to ensure the manager’s 20th anniversary celebrations do not fall flat at Burnley today.

Walcott, the Arsenal winger, admits the club underachieved last term, despite finishing runners-up to champions Leicester City. However, impressive victories last week over Chelsea and Basel point to a greater intensity to Wenger’s team this season, not least from Walcott himself, who has appeared revived, scoring four goals in the last three games and performing at a level that has helped put distance between the player and the disappointment of missing out on Roy Hodgson’s Euro 2016 squad.

The 27-year-old believes his own performances reflect a change in mindset among the team, with the winger highlighting the manner in which he and Alexis Sánchez have attempted to set the tone by providing a first line of defensive cover up front. That, Walcott insists, means there is less chance of slipping up against Sean Dyche’s side. “Burnley don’t give you a moment’s rest, but I don’t think we do either,” said Walcott. “We don’t give any team the benefit of the doubt anymore, and that’s the mentality throughout Arsenal Football Club at the moment. We are very positive going into games and I don’t think Burnley will look forward to playing against us right now.

“The new additions have definitely helped. We are more and more experienced in the league now and it [the intensity] starts from the front. We act when the opposition gets the ball and we do it as a unit, everyone acts together, not just one or two. We are all clicking at the same time and it bodes well. We are working so hard in training as well and it’s nice to see it paying off. Myself and Alexis are linking up very well. Everyone is on a high and we have to make sure it stays that way.”

The opening-day defeat by Liverpool raised concerns that the problems of last season had quickly resurfaced, and exposed the lack of cover in central defence. Since then, however, Shkodran Mustafi has arrived in a £35 million move from Valencia, and the Germany international’s partnership with Laurent Koscielny has provided an impressive defensive foundation. The 24-year-

old’s presence has also created a more demanding environment within the dressing room.

“Of the new players, he especially gets people up for games,” said Walcott. “If you’re not doing something right he tells you. He’s a German international and that’s the way he is. He and Koscielny have been fantastic centrebacks. They have a very good relationship and it bodes well.”

Questions will remain until Arsenal win their first Premier League title since 2004, but Walcott added: “You look how we performed last year and finished second, even though we didn’t have a particularly great end of season. We are playing well at this moment in time, but we’ll see.”