Arsenal defender Thomas Vermaelen admits he was hurt by their early season critics.
But the Belgian was happy to ink a new deal.
Talking about his sense of loyalty to Arsenal, Vermaelen told the Daily Star Sunday: "I thought about the situation with my contract for a really long time.
"Of course, I knew there were doubts from outside about the club. But the most important thing for me is that I feel happy here.
"I have only really played one year of games at Arsenal, so I wanted to give something back to the club that has looked after me.
"I believe in the club, I think the structure is really good. They are the main reasons I stayed.
"I think we can challenge the other clubs like Man City and Man United. We have to look at ourselves and we had to do that when our start wasn't perfect.
"The Carling Cup is a trophy we want to win - and not just because of losing last year's final."