The Gunners are perfect in Europe and have a four-point lead in the Premier League, but many pundits are still reluctant to praise Mikel Arteta’s side too much.
Bukayo Saka remains a key figure in Arsenal’s title bid despite their season being suspended (Image: Getty Images)
Arsenal have played 41 games this season and lost three, all three of which have been the result of odd goals. Dominik Szoboszlai scored the winner late on at Anfield (83′), Emi Buendia scored the winner late on at Villa Park (90′) and Mateus Cunha scored the winner late on at the Emirates (87′).
That’s it. They won all eight of their Champions League games, qualifying for the Carabao Cup final and the FA Cup fifth round, and won 17 Premier League games on their way to a four-point lead at the top of the table. But sincere praise remains difficult to obtain.
On the surface, Wayne Rooney and Jamie Carragher were appropriately complimentary in their latest podcast, with the former saying Mikel Arteta was handling the issues “brilliantly” and the latter praising the team’s “great mentality”.
But there always seems to be a caveat when it comes to Arsenal’s current prominence.
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“It’s the actual quality that can stop them,” Carragher says. Rooney believes Arsenal will win the Premier League, but added: “Do they have the superstars, players like Ronaldo, Didier Drogba and Sergio Aguero, who can make a difference? I don’t think they have it.”
Rooney and Carragher are understandably referring to talismanic attacking players, particularly out-and-out attacking greats. Both spoke very passionately about Arsenal’s relentless drive to win, with Carragher saying he was referring to “four or five players up front” when he said there were no “absolute superstars” in Arteta’s ranks.
Declan Rice has been outstanding for Arsenal this season (Image: Offside, Getty Images)
Mikel Arteta has been described as ‘fantastic’ by Wayne Rooney (Image: AFP/Getty Images)
Five of the top eight teams in the first phase of the Champions League are from the Premier League, and efficiency alone cannot lead to competition of such strength. His reluctance to praise Arsenal too much should be his driving force going into the season.
But of course, there is one more caveat that cannot be avoided when evaluating this mighty Arsenal side, who rarely lose a football match. They haven’t won anything yet. They have not won the Premier League since the 2003-04 season.
Inside Emirates, it must feel like the outside world is just waiting for them to flinch. But they would be too good for that – this Arsenal team has more quality than they are given credit for.
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