Football: Arsenal's Emmanuel Eboue praises boss and his squad’s ‘maturity’
Published: 18 February, 2011
Grown-up Gunners scaling new heights
EMMANUEL Eboue believes that the faith shown by one man has helped Arsenal “grow up” this season.
The Ivory Coast international heaped praise on manager Arsene Wenger following the Gunners 2-1 victory over Barcelona on Wednesday in the Champions League.
The result leaves the north Londoners still chasing an unprecedented quadruple, a quest which continues on Sunday when Arsenal travel to the Matchroom Stadium to take on Leyton Orient in the FA Cup.
Deputising for the suspended Bacary Sagna, Eboue played his part as the Gunners came from a goal down to beat Barcelona, thanks to strikes from Robin van Persie and Andrey Arshavin. The result sets up a thrilling second-leg at the Nou Camp next month.
The 27-year-old told the Arsenal website that he thinks the increasing maturity of the whole squad has helped the club to scale new heights.
“This year we have got more maturity in our team,” said Eboue. “We are so happy to have Arsene as our manager because he believes in us. We have grown up this year and have done very well.
“The game was very, very tight and it was very important for us to win. Our manager believes in us and he told us to give our best and not to be scared to play.”
Barcelona are still favourites to advance to the quarter-finals but Eboue is confident that Arsenal have a fighting chance of springing another surprise in Spain.
“Why not?” he said. “If you play football and don’t believe in yourself you should stop playing. I believe because we have done very well in the first-leg. Now we will try to forget this game and look forward to the FA Cup, the League, the Carling Cup and then the second leg.”
Meanwhile Johan Djourou is tipping Arshavin to rediscover his form after coming off the bench to score the winner against Barcelona.
The Russian play-maker is in line to start against Leyton Orient, and Djourou is confident his team-mate is back to his best. “His goal showed that he is a great player. Great players come back…
“I have never been worried about Andrey because he has so many qualities and he shows it again and again. He showed how important he is to the team.
“I hope it can be a turning point for him because we need him.”