Sagna reveals key trait that stopped Arsene Wenger's side winning the league

Bacary Sagna believes Arsenal’s fear of bigger sides prevented them from winning the Premier League title under Arsene Wenger in the 2010-11 campaign.

The Gunners pushed themselves to within one point of leaders Manchester United in February, but a typical collapse in the latter stages of the season abruptly ended their title challenge.

Sir Alex Ferguson’s side went on to claim the title that year, while Wenger’s side made it a sixth successive season without winning the league.

And former Arsenal right-back Sagna believes his side had an inferiority complex when it came to crunch games against top-four sides.

‘We just played game by game and we were winning a lot but obviously and eventually when we had to perform in certain games, we were failing,’ Sagna told Arsenal’s In Lockdown podcast.

‘Maybe it was because we put too much pressure on ourselves.

‘Most of the games we had to play, we played well and we won. But for example when we had to play against the top four, we found it difficult to play against them at that time.

‘I believe we under-evaluated ourselves. Playing for Chelsea image-wise was something different. They used their image a lot, they used to have some big players in the national team and we used to talk about them more than they talked about us.

‘Maybe in our heads, they were bigger players than us. On the pitch, we had as much quality as they had whenever we played, and when we played the Arsenal way nobody could beat us.

‘I believed nobody could beat us. We used to play simple passes, one, two-touches maximum.

‘But I believe we under-evaluated ourselves which is a big mistake in life.’

Follow Metro Sport across our social channels, on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.

For more stories like this, check our sport page.