STILL TRAPPED IN THE PAST
Arsenal net new players and a new boss, but some things don’t change, says Smith
ALAN SMITH fears it will be a “long road back” for new boss Unai Emery to stop Arsenal from being a soft touch.
Smith has never shied away from being outspoken about his former club, even being ostracised by former team-mates after some felt he overstepped the mark, particularly after the “Battle of Old Trafford” in 2003. Gunners legend Smith, 55, was equally hard hitting about the tail end of Arsene Wenger’s reign and he can already see marked improvements since Emery took over in the summer. Smith (right) said: “The first two games were always going to be difficult and there are things you’d hope he would have eradicated, in terms of tracking runners or dealing with long balls over the top. “But I guess old habits die hard. The lack of accountability is what wound up a lot of us ex-players. If we didn’t follow orders, we wouldn’t play in the next game. That didn’t always happen under Arsene and was always frustrating. “Emery is certainly a sea change, he’ll pick on merit rather than reputation and that’s good to see. But it’s a long road back, although the club has turned and is heading in a better direction. That’s almost the most you can hope for. “Success would be a top-four finish. That would be a fantastic achievement. To claw that back won’t be easy, but maybe more than league places and trophies, it’s more about being a team with more substance, a bit more steel, which won’t roll over. “When you go to Manchester City or United, and you don’t see the sort of chaotic performance that we saw this time last year at Liverpool. It’s about changing that reputation back to Arsenal being tough to beat.”
The Gunners have signed more creative players such as Alexandre Lacazette (left), Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang and Henrikh Mkhitaryan, but they are still seen as having a soft centre.
The difficult relationship between the club and one of their greatestever strikers – two league titles and two Golden Boots – turned TV pundit and newspaper writer is now repaired, and Smith is treated with the respect he deserves. “Maybe it’s different now Arsene has left,” added Smith. “All that happened under one man because maybe he, his coaches and players took umbrage to what I said (about the match in September 2003), when I was critical on Sky.
“I thought some of the players overstepped the mark (in the ‘Battle of Old Trafford’). Patrick Vieira said, ‘He can’t come to the training ground and be all matey and pally with us, but then be critical on TV and in print.’ That was fair enough.
“But my relationship now with Arsenal is very good. Fans down the years have had the hump but, if you let it worry you too much, then you won’t say anything. If anything, it allowed me to be more objective.
“Martin Keown called me out at Southampton one day – he thought I’d been too critical after Old Trafford. Now, if we had the same chat, when he’s retired from playing and is a pundit, I wonder what he’d say. He’s been more critical than me, when it comes to certain players.
“But the cut off is very abrupt when you cross the white line and become an ex-player, leave the circle of trust, and I think fans of all clubs appreciate that I always try to be fair.”