You should be gunning to finish in top four
LEGEND LAUREN SETS ARSENAL CHALLENGE
ARSENAL V NEWCASTLE 12.30PM, SKY SPORTS
ARSENAL legend Lauren believes the Gunners should be under pressure to finish in the top four this season.
And the title-winning member of the Invincibles team believes it should come from within to raise the expectation levels under Mikel Arteta.
Arsenal have not reached the Champions League since 2017 and Lauren firmly believes there is a place up for grabs this season.
The former full-back, now working for FIFA as a technical expert for talent development, said: “We have to put pressure on ourselves always, both individually and collectively, to get to the Champions League places.
“You must always set high targets. They have to try to get back into the Champions League next season and then build on that for the following years because it makes such a difference. There’s Liverpool, Chelsea, Man City and then maybe there’s one place open. The reality says that you cannot fight for the league.
“There’s still many points but Arsenal have shown with some of the displays before Liverpool [a 4-0 defeat], I believe this team can get to the Champions League places. If they hadn’t started so slowly, they might have been able to win the league but I believe this team is capable of getting into the top four.
“To win the league is not impossible but it’s really difficult.” Lauren was part of the 2002 title-winning team and Arsene Wenger converted him from midfielder to rightback as part of the defence in 2003-04, which went through the season unbeaten.
The ex-Cameroon international now admires Arsenal’s Japan right-back Takehiro Tomiyasu who has been such a hit in the new-look defence since arriving in the summer with goalkeeper Aaron Ramsdale. Lauren said of Tomiyasu: “He looks comfortable and looks as if he has played there for years. “They have a good, settled defence. Gabriel, Ramsdale, what a fantastic game the keeper had at Leicester. I haven’t seen a performance like that for years. He is absolutely outstanding.” Lauren is now working on trying to improve the all-round structure of African football. Despite all the African superstars, no team from the continent has won a World Cup and FIFA’s idea is to improve the overall level in domestic leagues. Lauren has been working with former England manager Steve McClaren and ex-France defender Mikael Silvestre on brainstorming sessions and will try to improve facilities and coaching.