Arsenal primed not to go bang

Last season Arsenal threw away a 12-point lead. Currently they are seven in front. Can they lose it? Jon Brodkin asks the experts

The back four

So much for predictions that Arsenal would be off the pace because they did not sign an established centre-back. Kolo Toure's emergence has helped but Terry Neill, a former Highbury manager and central defender, also sees subtle adjustments.

He believes, for instance, the centre-halves have worked on guarding against counter-attacks down the flanks. "Arsenal like to get their full-backs forward and now they're better at protecting the space behind them," he says. "They're being caught less frequently this season by the opposition knocking long balls into those areas." Neill feels that is also because the full-backs, usually Lauren and Ashley Cole, are more switched on defensively. Cole has made noticeable improvements in that regard.

"Cole and Lauren haven't abandoned their positive instincts," Neill says, "but there's a better balance now. Also, when they go forward and things break down they very quickly fill in holes, whereas maybe they were exposed once or twice last season."

Praise has rightly been heaped on Toure for strengthening the centre of defence with pace and fight but remember Pascal Cygan has partnered Sol Campbell for 10 league matches. Only four goals were conceded and Cygan looked steadier than during last season's run-in.

Defending as a team

It's down to more than tweaks to the backline that Arsenal are letting in fewer goals, making Tuesday's events in Vigo a surprise. The team has conceded 17 times in 26 league games so far compared with 42 in 38 last season. Defending from the front has been vital.

Nothing sums up their attitude more than the increased determination shown by Robert Pires in tackling and tracking back. Jose Antonio Reyes is chasing more than he surely did in Spain, while Thierry Henry and Freddie Ljungberg cover vast ground to close down. Crucially, Patrick Vieira, who missed several matches last spring, is back to his most commanding.

"A big thing I've noticed this season is as soon as the opposition get the ball, people fill in for each other," says Kenny Sansom, the former Arsenal full-back. "Patrick Vieira at times last Saturday at Chelsea was almost at centre-half. Chelsea were trying to hit balls through the middle and he's picking them off.

"Also Arsenal shuffle across the pitch better now. When George Graham came to Arsenal we worked on a similar thing. It was the 'piece of string' idea. It means if Vieira goes to the right, the people next to him also move that way. If he goes left, they go left. It keeps a compactness. Arsenal seem to be able to block lots of holes and make it hard for the opposition to break them down."

Sharp focus

Part of what drives Arsene Wenger is that he never looks back at success but only failure. Being overhauled by Manchester United last season cut deep with the manager and his squad. It has filled them with heightened desire and focus.

Graham Rix, the former Arsenal midfielder, can empathise. He was part of the Arsenal team that lost the 1978 FA Cup final and returned to win the trophy a year later. "I think it's mental more than physical or tactical," Rix says of the key behind Arsenal's form. "What happened last season will have hurt. They played some fantastic stuff but didn't get rewarded the way they should have done.

"I think the mentality is: 'We were the best side last season but we didn't win the title. This year we're going to show we're still the best and we are going to win it.' They're determined to put it right."

Relatively few transfers mean the squad are bonded by last season's pain and a closeness built over time. Pre- and post-match huddles are common. "The big thing that sticks out is the togetherness," Rix says. "Last April they drew at Bolton after leading 2-0 and they know they can't take their foot off the pedal for one second."

Less arrogance

Wenger may publicly put last spring's collapse down to nerves, injuries and defensive vulnerability but many are less charitable. "We were guilty of being over-confident," Vieira has said. Humility and hunger are now the guiding lights.

A change in the tone of comments emanating from Highbury has been marked. Wenger said last season his team could go unbeaten but is now far more cautious, even though Arsenal have not lost in the Premiership for 300 days.

Yesterday he noted "how quickly things can change" and said he and the players were "conscious we have won nothing".

"I don't know if we will win [the title] or not," he added. "I'm just confident the attitude of my players will be right."

Public opinion, perhaps extending to opponents, is characterised these days more by admiration than a hope that the "cocky so-and-sos" nosedive.

"The players have said they learned a lot last year and I don't think they just mean football," Rix says. "They're staying calm, not getting carried away. Not one of them has said: 'We're going to do this or that.' They're doing their talking on the pitch."

There Rix has seen a change reflecting the new mindset. "A big difference is they're working just as hard when they're winning," he says. "Last year maybe they thought: 'We can cruise this last half-hour' but you can't. They know in this league, if you're not spot on, you can be beaten."

The goalkeeper

Jens Lehmann epitomises Arsenal's fine line between confidence and arrogance. Wenger had a tough task choosing a successor to David Seaman on a tight budget but, after being linked with everyone from Rustu Recber to Billy the Fish, few would suggest he dropped a clanger.

Only the offer of a new contract to Dennis Bergkamp came close to the keeping conundrum as a key decision last summer, and it is worth noting Seaman's words about Lehmann in conversation last weekend with Bob Wilson, the former Arsenal goalkeeping coach.

"Bloody good goalkeeper, isn't he?" Seaman said. Though Lehmann has cost Arsenal a few goals, not least with his kicking, he has won the trust of team-mates and fans.

Wilson does not feel Arsenal are better equipped for the title because of Lehmann and believes Stuart Taylor could have stepped in - though he respects Wenger's choice - but says: "Jens Lehmann has done outstandingly well. He reminds me of myself in that he's a chancer. He takes up amazingly adventurous starting positions and he's very rarely got those wrong.

"If a team have a free-kick just inside Arsenal's half and they're clearly going to knock the ball into the box he'll be six yards-plus off his line. David Seaman or Peter Schmeichel would be two or two and a half yards off their line. When people are out wide he'll be looking for the cross."

Lehmann's willingness to claim difficult balls has delighted Wenger: "Especially when you're under pressure in the last five minutes of a game, he comes out, calms things down."

As Arsenal enter the "last five minutes" of their season, Wenger trusts a similar calm and focus will see his side triumph. "When you win the championship, usually, with five or six games to go you know," he says. "There's a click there that tells you 'OK, now the players really believe they can do it'." Outwardly he is circumspect but inside he is surely expecting that sound.