Monreal: Team defending has made us challengers

Mark Holmes
Nacho Monreal: Says Arsenal now defend as a team

Nacho Monreal: Says Arsenal now defend as a team

Nacho Monreal believes Arsenal’s good start to the Premier League can be attributed to their attacking players helping out with the defending.

Arsenal have taken 26 points from their opening 12 games and are being kept off the top of the table by goal difference alone, raising hopes they can sustain a serious title challenge.

Monreal told The Sun: “I think the level of the team is better now and I hope we can do something special this season.

“At the moment, everything is right so we need to carry on.

“The secret? I will say that we are playing more compact, like a unit.

“The players are playing with more solidarity, all players try to defend. I think this is the [reason for] that.”

Arsenal have been in a strong position at this stage of the season before having sat top of the table on New Year’s Day during the 2013-14 campaign only to finish down in fourth.

Monreal is confident there will not be a repeat this time around.

“We need to learn from that,” the 29-year-old added. “I remember it very well because we finished the first half of the season [near the top].

“In the second half, we lost a lot of games so we need to learn about that.

“I think the team is different now. We have different players and are more competitive.”