Arsene Wenger believes team spirit is “like a flower” that you have to constantly care for to ensure that it does not “slowly die”.

Club captain Mikel Arteta said earlier this season that the camaraderie among the Arsenal squad is the best he has ever known.

Wenger says it is important to protect that at all costs, because it can make the difference between winning and losing.

"I believe it’s a little bit like a flower. You have to take care of it and look after it every day, or else it will slowly die" Arsene Wenger

“You can ask the question the other way around: can you be successful without team spirit? If I asked you that question, straight away you would say no,” he told Arsenal Player. “That just shows you how important it is.

“It’s difficult to put a percentage on it, but you know without it you have no chance. Afterwards, what is interesting is to know how big the team spirit is. You can have different degrees of team spirit, because without it you have no football at all - everybody would just do what he wants.

“But how far can you go in cultivating and developing that team spirit? That’s our target. We know that to have a chance of being successful, we want to be more of a team than any other side in the Premier League. Therefore, I believe it’s a little bit like a flower.

“You have to take care of it and look after it every day, or else it will slowly die. But as well, you can make the flower bigger, better and prettier if you care for it. We believe that part of the responsibility of the players and the staff is to take care of team spirit.”