Arsene Wenger claims Arsenal are 12 years ahead of derby rivals Tottenham

Arsene Wenger last night stoked up the north London derby after claiming Tottenham are a dozen years behind Arsenal.

Wenger dismissed Spurs captain Robbie Keane’s claims that Tottenham have caught up with the Gunners and are ready to overtake their bitter rivals this season.

The Arsenal boss said: “I don’t share that opinion. How do you measure the dimension of a club? Success. Exactly.

“So if you look at success historically, they have a lot of work to do. We have been 12 consecutive years in the Champions League so once they have done that they can say, of course, that they are similar.

“They have the potential, the supporters, they are a big club. But what comes next is the consistency of achievement. At the moment nobody would deny that Arsenal is in front of them.

“In our job it is about performances not about opinions and so I believe the most important is what you do on the football pitch.

“The Tottenham supporters will have their opinion, the Arsenal supporters will have a different opinion, that’s part of the game. But what is the most important is the quality of our performance today.

“Tottenham are a big club, they invest massive money every year, why should they not be a threat? But we have always managed to get in front of them.

“I am happy with the players I have and I don’t compare with the Tottenham players. I have a strong belief in them and I believe we have the strengths to win the championship.”

Wenger yesterday went out of his way to try to avoid stoking up any bad feeling before today’s derby but still made his point that Arsenal are well ahead of their fiercest rivals.

During Wenger’s 13 years in charge at Arsenal, the Frenchman has won three league titles and four FA Cups - and that includes two Doubles.

Tottenham, in contrast, have never finished above Arsenal during that time, have only won two League Cups, have not beaten Arsenal in the Premier League for ten years and Wenger has only ever lost to Harry Redknapp once in 23 meetings.

The statistics and record books back up Wenger’s argument but there is no doubt that last season’s incredible 4-4 draw at the Emirates felt like a defeat to Arsenal and victory for Spurs.

Former Arsenal trainee David Bentley scored the opener with a 40-yard wonder goal and Wenger’s men were 4-2 up with 88 minutes on the clock before letting it slip.

That match had huge ramifications for Arsenal as it heralded a desperate slump in form. William Gallas was also stripped of the captaincy after blasting team spirit and revealing dressing room bust-ups after that game.

Wenger still remembers it painfully - but has no doubt that will avenge the result today.

He said: “It took us some time to recover from that. Don’t worry, every time we don’t win I suffer. You suffer more when you think you have won the game and the team comes back.

“It’s difficult to know what the impact was from that game. After that, we lost at Manchester City. It took us some time to recover from that.

“Redknapp has done a good job because they were fighting not to go down. He has shown through his experience and his intelligence that he can do it.

“But I believe that we are in a strong position in every competition we play in and for us it’s a good opportunity.

“Don’t forget that we have a game in hand, so the table doesn’t reflect completely the reality. For us it’s a good opportunity to take out distances and to get into a stronger position in the league.”