ARSENE WENGER insists he feels vindicated by his decision to abandon the transfer market in the summer.
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| Arsene Wenger only added Petr Cech from Chelsea to his squad in the summer |
The Arsenal manager made just one signing in the shape of goalkeeper Petr Cech from Chelsea for £10million.
But his side are now second in the Premier League, just two points behind Leicester as they head to Southampton on Boxing Day, to leave Wenger reflecting on an excellent 2015 and one justifying the faith he had in his squad.
"In attack we not only had Olivier Giroud," he said. "We also had Theo Walcott, Alexis Sanchez and Danny Welbeck who are world-class strikers.
"When I looked at the market I don't know who are better than those four players when spending money.
"Competition exists if the numbers are not too short or not too big. When the number is too big, there is no competition anymore and goes against the interests of the team.
"If a player is number 26 in the team, he needs three players to die before he has a real chance to play. That has an impact when he comes in the morning.
"He is down and he takes something away from the team. When the number is too short he thinks 'no matter how I am I play' and that is not good as well. I felt we have the right number."
It has gone full circle for Wenger who started 2015 with a 2-0 defeat at Southampton on New Year's Day and he returns to the ground that gave him a wake-up call.
"I think what changed is we are or stable defensively," he said. "If you look at our record we are more consistent with our results and...someone made the table in 2015 and we are quite ahead of everyone else in 2015."
Southampton have lost five and drawn one of their last six matches in all competitions and manager Ronald Koeman said: "If you sack Mourinho, if you sack Monk from Swansea - then we know.
"It's all about the philosophy of the club, the chairman, and the board. It's still quiet in Southampton but maybe in one month it can be different."
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