Arsenal boss Wenger: Alexis in Luis Suarez class

Arsenal were also keen on acquiring the services of Suarez last season, with club £40M and £1 in the January transfer window. But they bought [Roberto] Firmino. No more fragility. No more waste.

“The Frenchman insisted Mesut Ozil, who provided the assist for Olivier Giroud’s strike against Crystal Palace, is ready to show his best form this season”.

Arsène Wenger knows as well as anyone that titles are won on dominance of your home ground and that West Ham must be a freak aberration. “Now we need to come back to our usual strength that we have at home”. Wenger changed what Arsenal was all about and you could make the argument that Alexis is doing the same now, as Arsenal seemed to be pushed from being Champion’s League qualifier to being regular title contenders. As a continental manager who has commented on multiple occasions about the lack of technical ability in British players, our success with foreign players leading the way remains a constant.

Q: Finally, what is your prediction for the game?

Normally you would think over 19 games you can sometimes be unlucky once or twice. The 17-year-old was signed from French side RC Lens in July of 2015 and his style of play has seen him draw comparisons with Gunners great Patrick Vieira. Of course it’s for the confidence and psychologically they are important. Bringing in Cech from Chelsea has been seen as a massive step towards doing just that, but the veteran ‘keeper doesn’t expect this to happen overnight; he knows it takes time for a solid defence to be forged. “After that, it was hard . You have no chance now”.

“If you want to win the championship you need to win your home games”, he added.

There are few who have such a passion for what they do. Their goals came from our mistakes.

He spoke on a range of topics surrounding his team from injuries to transfer rumours and other events.

“Benteke he has the stature, he is good in the air, he protects the ball well in that way”.

And with Mathieu Flamini’s future with the club in doubt and Jack Wilshere ‘s continuing fitness problems, there is an obvious vacancy in the Emirates engine room. On the other hand you have to get the number right. “Off the pitch Wenger has been just as effective, taking an active role in the building of a new training ground and the Emirates Stadium project”. “I always get asked two questions”, he said.