Gunners want to be champs, not Champions League battlers

LONDON: Just qualifying for the Champions League is not good enough for Arsenal chief executive Ivan Gazidis, who believes manager Arsene Wenger needs time to put the Gunners back at the top of the English Premier League.

Arsenal is in fourth place, fighting with Aston Villa for the final Champions League spot from England. And while injuries to Cesc Fabregas, Theo Walcott and Tomas Rosicky have made things difficult, Gazidis doesn't seem to be interested in excuses.

"If we want to be the club that we want to be, we have to be competing for the Premier League title and it's not good enough for us to be in fourth place," Gazidis, who took over at Arsenal three months ago, said this week. "I think there are a variety of reasons we are in fourth place but it's not the level of our ambition - not the level of Arsene Wenger's, the board's or my ambition.