"It was a very difficult summer because half the dressing room wanted to leave. You're preparing for a season where you don't know who's going to come in, the players who are staying are asking themselves what's going on at the club, you've got a pre-season tour of Asia. It was extraordinarily difficult. What saved us is that we're a club that are extremely solid and united. Other clubs would surely have gone to pieces in those circumstances."

-- Arsenal coach Arsene Wenger says his team is steadily recovering its poise after a desperate summer that saw half his players wanting to leave. A 2-1 win over Sunderland last weekend put Arsenal back into the top half of the standings. (Guardian)