Less sovereign for several weeks, Arsenal remains in a position to win the Premier League and the Champions League. But for Ian Wright, legend of the London club, the content of the matches of Mikel Arteta’s team does not encourage optimism. So much so that he fears an end to the season without a title.
Can they really lose everything? Recently beaten by Manchester City in the final of the League Cup (2-0), and eliminated by Southampton in the quarter-finals of the FA Cup (2-1), the Gunners are starting to tremble somewhat at the end of the season. Even if they are still in a position to win their first English league title since 2004, and to go all the way in the Champions League. Therein lies the paradox of this team, still in the running to achieve an incredible double but which fears seeing its old demons and its loser label resurface.
“Look at the way we play…”
A feeling shared by Ian Wright, one of the greatest legends of the London club. “Watching the matches has become painful. It’s a throbbing pain, which pierces me. It kills me to feel this when I pushed the coach (Mikel Arteta), the team, the players so much…”, explains the former striker, winner of the Premier League in 1998, in the podcast The Overlap. “We see everything crumbling,” points out the former England international with 185 goals scored in the Gunners jersey, in comments reported by the Daily Mail. “We see them making mistakes. I didn’t expect it to be easy, because it never is. But look at the way we play… We can’t get over our nervousness.”
A slightly excessive judgment according to Roy Keane, former captain of Manchester United and guest of the same podcast: “Arsenal are still at the top (of the Premier League). Yes they are nervous and seem feverish, but they can overcome this period.” Beaten last weekend by Bournemouth (2-1), William Saliba and his gang are only six points ahead of Manchester City, who they face this Sunday at the Etihad Stadium and who have one game in hand. In the Champions League, Arsenal suffered to eliminate Sporting in the quarter-finals (1-0 in the first leg, 0-0 in the return) and will face Atlético de Madrid for a place in the final.
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