LONDON -- Arsenal manager Arsene Wenger insists his team do not need to step up their training regime despite Per Mertesacker suggesting extra work may be needed to resolve the Gunners' defensive difficulties this season.
Arsenal have kept just one clean sheet in their opening eight Premier League games, with the 11-point gap that has opened up between them and table-topping Chelsea putting a huge dent in their hopes of a title challenge.
Yet Wenger does not believe that a lack of effort and passion are the reason behind his side's defensive woes this season as he responded to Mertesacker's comments in a pregame news conference on Friday.
"I don't know what he meant by that that," said Wenger when asked about the suggestion from Mertesacker that Arsenal need to train harder between matches.
"We have to be careful with statements after the game. We train very hard. The spirit is right and the attitude is there and performance is linked with confidence. I cannot fault the attitude. Per is right, you get confidence back by working harder in the game.
"We are not at the same level defensively this season. That is something we have to work on. There have been changes as well in the team. Players have to get used to working together, but defensively last year we had 17 clean sheets and this season we have only one."
One shining light in Arsenal's defence this season has been left-back Kieran Gibbs -- who scored an equaliser at Anderlecht en route to Wednesday's late 2-1 Champions League win -- with Wenger suggesting the young England international has taken his game to a new level in recent weeks.
"I think so," was Wenger's response to the suggestion that Gibbs is emerging as the best left-back in England's top division. "He is consistent, determined and he has gained something in his stature.
"This is not just because he scored a goal [against Anderlecht], but he is more determined in the fight and more confident on the ball. He has all the attributes you want in a left back. He is quick, agile, has a good technique and he is intelligent as well. He has all you want to be a fantastic left back."
This weekend marks the 10th anniversary of Arsenal's unbeaten run being halted after 49 games at Old Trafford, when a 2-0 defeat to United was followed by a postmatch melee between the two sets of players that saw a slice of pizza thrown at then-United manager Sir Alex Ferguson.
When the subject was raised at Friday press briefing for Arsenal's trip to Sunderland, Wenger cracked a smile and offered his reflections on a game which lives long in the memory.
"First of all, I think it was an incredible run," he added. "I think it was only ended by a bad referee on the day and I will never forget that. The rest in the tunnel, it will make a good film."