Avram's ambition

It is 14 years since Arsene Wenger became manager of Arsenal.

During the Frenchman's tenure at the Emirates, the Gunners have won three Premier League titles, four FA Cups and reached the final of both the UEFA Champions League and UEFA Cup.

Wenger's Arsenal have also become synonymous with both fast, free-flowing attacking football and also the quality of a youth development system that has produced some of the finest players in world football.

The Hammers boss believes the club could do far worse than follow the Arsenal blueprint for success.

Ahead of Saturday's Barclays Premier League meeting at the Emirates, Grant also alluded to the early part of Wenger's reign in north London, citing the need for a manager to be given time to instil his philosophy at a football club.

"I spoke with Arsene about this and he told me that his first year at Arsenal was not easy, with many difficulties. Of course, when you come for the long-term and you want to build another style of football and need to solve many problems, like Arsene did, you need time. It's not coming in one day.

"You can't push a button and everything becomes good, so I think every club needs a vision and to build a strategy when things are not going so well and also when things are going very, very good. You need to stick with the vision that you have.

"This is one of Arsene's strengths - when he took the double and when he took the title without any defeat, and also when things didn't go well like one year ago, he sticks to his way. I think we need to respect him.

"This is the only way to get results, otherwise sometimes you are here and sometimes you are there but you are not consistent.

"I don't like to take the example from other teams but we are more or less trying to take the same ideas. We want to build a team. It depends on the money that we have. Arsenal always had a lot of money to buy. They didn't have as much money as Chelsea but they can always buy players for £10m or £15m and they did it.

"I think on the football side and how to build a top team from the Academy, this will be the same vision we have in West Ham."

Avram Grant

Consistency is a trait West Ham have shown themselves in recent weeks, losing just one of their previous seven matches in all competitions.

However, while the Hammers have secured draws at Stoke City and Wolverhampton Wanderers and pulled off a fine Carling Cup victory at Sunderland, Grant knows his team will need to engage a higher gear to avoid defeat at Arsenal.

"I think every team, even if they are a very good team, sometimes can lose a game. We need to think like this. We are in sport and I don't want to come to the day when I think there is something that is impossible. Everything is possible, even if you don't have big chances.

"West Brom beat them [3-2 at the Emirates on 25 September]. They were without Fabregas and other players, but they still had a very good team and West Brom did it.

"I think we will try to do the right things. It depends because we are talking so much about tactics, and it is the right thing to do, but sometimes things happen on the pitch that you didn't expect.

"We always try, even if you see the games when we didn't play well, to pass the ball and we are not a team that can play in a different way. We will try to do that at Arsenal also."

While a positive result on Saturday is the short-term aim, the manager is planning to emulate Wenger in the long-term by helping to build a sustainable, successful football club both on and off the pitch.

"I think there is no other way. When you want to build something good and have the right foundations, it takes some time. You need to do it, even when things are not so good.

"Arsene Wenger and Alex Ferguson are good examples of this. Imagine that they didn't let them continue after the first year like everybody was expecting - I think the histories of Arsenal and Manchester United would be different and we wouldn't have so difficult a game on Saturday."