Ramsey: Pressure to win trophies is nothing new

Aaron Ramsey says the pressure to win major trophies is nothing new at Arsenal and believes the club can achieve big things in 2015-16.

The domestic season in England got underway at Wembley on Sunday, with Arsenal defending the Community Shield by beating Chelsea 1-0 thanks to a fine effort from Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain.

It was a successful return to Wembley after Arsenal won the FA Cup for the second year running in May.

However, Arsene Wenger’s side have failed to win the Premier League since 2004 and they finished 12 points adrift of champions Chelsea last term.

Midfielder Ramsey is confident that Arsenal can close the gap, though.

“There’s always pressure on Arsenal to go out and win games and win trophies. It’s nothing new to us as players,” he said. 

“We know what we’re capable of doing. We have a great team, a great squad. So we’re just excited as well about what this season may hold for us. We all feel confident that we can achieve something this year.

“It’s important just to go into the start of the season focused on these games and to get off to a good start, because that’s what we lacked last season.

“If we do that and keep everybody fit we’ll have a good chance. We have to get off to a good start because last season Chelsea were strong throughout the season and they stayed top for basically the whole season.

“Hopefully everybody can have a successful and fit season. Competition is good and we have a lot of quality and strength in depth.”