Gervinho: Third-place is Arsenal's priority
442 Staff - Thursday 19 April 2012, 16:19
Arsenal attacking midfielder Gervinho has stated that finishing the
Premier League campaign in third place and securing automatic Champions
League qualification is a priority after a disappointing start to the
season.
The Gunners experienced a difficult summer, seeing prized assets
Samir Nasri and Cesc Fabregas depart for pastures new, with their
highly-publicised moves to Manchester City and Barcelona questioning
Arsene Wenger’s transfer policy.
Despite a slow start to the campaign, in which the Emirates Stadium outfit were
embarrassed 8-2 by Manchester United back in August, Arsenal have turned their
season around and are currently third.
Ivorian international Gervinho, who arrived in the summer from French
champions Lille after helping them win the league and cup double,
believes the Gunners’ priority should be to seal third place ahead of
North London rivals Tottenham Hotspur, with five-points currently
separating the two rivals.
“We want to be among the top three,” he told the club's official website. "The whole group is very motivated and we are already happy to be where we are.
“We can still do better with the four matches coming. We are fighting only for third place, we don’t think about fourth spot.
“Everybody is determined to fight until the end, from the players and
the manager to the fans, to maintain third place. If we manage to keep
it then everybody should be proud because we fought very hard for it.”
By Matt Maltby