Arsenal captain Cesc Fabregas says a lack of a winning mentality has led to the club's trophy drought since 2005.
The 23-year-old also believes manager Arsene Wenger would probably have lost his job if he was a coach in Spain.
"For me, it's a lack of a winning mentality, also of maturity in key moments. We have plenty of quality but lack this bit of confidence," he said.
The Gunners face Tottenham on Wednesday in what is a make-or-break fixture for their Premier League title ambitions.
Any result other than a victory for Wenger's side at White Hart Lane is likely to confirm a sixth straight season without silverware.
Fabregas told Spanish magazine Don Balon: "From 2007 I had already started saying we're not winning, but we're playing well. And then you realise that's no use.
"The problem is that the team needs to win something and that's why it was so important to win the Carling Cup [they lost 2-1 to Birmingham in the final].
"You have to make a decision: either go and win, or develop players."
Arsenal's 2-1 defeat by Birmingham in the Carling Cup final at Wembley began a spell in which the Gunners went out of the Champions League to Barcelona, exited the FA Cup at the hands of Manchester United and lost significant ground in the Premier League title race.
And Fabregas believes Arsenal boss Wenger would have faced increased pressure in Spain to produce trophies.
He continued: "It's clear that if you come to Spain and say to [Unai] Emery [the Valencia manager], [Pep] Guardiola or [Jose] Mourinho that they'll win nothing in the next three years, it's obvious they wouldn't continue [in their jobs].
"But here it's different. The boss is an intelligent person and the club values other things: that the team is always in the Champions League, that it fights until the end, that it brings young players through, the economic stability.
Cesc Fabregas and Robin Van Persie Fabregas and Van Persie won the FA Cup with Arsenal in 2005
"I suppose for the board that's important, although I imagine there will be a moment when you have to decide to take the next step - to win or not to win."
Fabregas spoke of a marked contrast between the current Arsenal side and the 'Invincibles' of the 2003-04 Premier League season, who went throughout the entire league campaign unbeaten.
"The 'Invincibles' knew how to win games, when to dig in, when to attack," he said. "They had a special intelligence to read games.
"Now we are very young - Robin van Persie has won an FA Cup as I have but there's no more trophy winners."
Fabregas, who joined Arsenal from Barcelona on a free transfer in 2003, also talked about his own future.
"You have to have patience with things and wait for the right moment," he said. "The day that I leave Arsenal I will do it with my head.
"As well as that, who can be sure that you are going to play in a new team? Here I have the great fortune that at a personal level, despite not having won much, I'm doing very well."
There was speculation in the summer of 2010 he would return to Barcelona and a bid for Fabregas of about £30m from the Spanish champions was turned down.
But the Arsenal skipper remained at the Emirates and is contracted to the club until 2014.
"I spoke with [Barcelona captain Carles] Puyol and he told me that at 26 he hadn't won anything - he has now won everything in the football world," Fabregas added. "Patience and hard work are the most important things in life.
"If some day I do leave Arsenal, it will never be to sign for another English team."
