NIGEL: ARSENAL NO APRIL FOOLS
Legend Winterburn claims Gunners better equipped
THE Premier League landscape is about to have its biggest shakeup in a decade and Arsenal are primed to emerge as the biggest winners.
With manager Jurgen Klopp leaving Liverpool next month and uncertainty at Manchester City as they wait to learn their fate on 115 Premier League charges of financial misconduct, what comes next could change the face of the English game over the next few years.
A period of transition at Liverpool could collide with a more serious demotion for City, as the threat of relegation from the Premier League is very real if they are found guilty of the charges facing them.
The prospect of turmoil at Arsenal’s two big rivals in this season’s compelling Premier League title race could play into the hands of Mikel Arteta (below) as he looks to confirm his team are ready to be winners over the next couple of years.
Arsenal headed into this weekend of Premier League fixtures at the top of the table with just seven games left to play, yet the perception that they are third favourites to lift the crown is hard to shift.
COLLAPSES
It all stems from end-of-season collapses of the last couple of years, with the first handing Tottenham a chance to leap ahead of them and claim a Champions League spot.
Then, 12 months ago, Arsenal appeared to be edging towards an unlikely title triumph until an atrocious April saw them surrender the advantage they had over City in what was seen as a predictable demise.
That was enough to lead many to conclude that this set of Arsenal players didn’t have the winning mentality to get over the line when the pressure was applied, but Arteta’s side has a different aura about them this season.
They go into today’s game against Aston Villa at the Emirates knowing that victories in their remaining Premier League fixtures will probably be enough to clinch the title.
And while it would be easy to suggest we have been here before and Arteta’s Arsenal will stumble when it matters most, the mood around this team has changed.
In their four matches against City and Liverpool this season, Arsenal are unbeaten with two wins and two draws.
That record compares favourably to Liverpool, who have failed to beat Arsenal or City this season, while Pep Guardiola’s champions have drawn three of those ‘Big Three’ clashes and lost against the Gunners at the Emirates.
Arsenal’s progress to the quarter-finals of the Champions League is another sign of the growing maturity of Arteta’s side, with former Highbury defender
Nigel Winterburn suggesting this team will end the club’s wait for a Premier League title over the next couple of years.
“I get the impression that people don’t believe Arsenal can win it after what happened at the end of last season when the team fell away in the final few weeks and Man City came through to win the title again,” said Winterburn, who won two league titles with the Gunners during his time with the club.
CAPABLE
“There is a feeling that this team are not capable of matching Man City and Liverpool – and that may still be the case when we look at the final table – but it feels like they have more about them this time.
“I said at the start of this season that if they are back in a position to challenge for the title in April, this team will have learned a lot, and I don’t expect them to fall away like they did a year ago.
“Now they are ready to challenge again and I’d like to think they are better equipped to deal with it.”
The absence of key defender William Saliba from the Arsenal line-up in the final weeks of last season was viewed as a key factor in their demise, yet the Frenchman has been back to his best in recent months and turned in a commanding performance in the draw against City.
Winterburn played in one of the best Arsenal defences of all-time featuring Tony Adams, Steve Bould and Lee Dixon and he believes Saliba now deserves to be placed alongside the Premier League’s best defenders.
“I see a little bit of Virgil van Dijk in Saliba,” said Winterburn, as he compared Arsenal’s defensive talisman to the Liverpool captain.
“He has that turn of pace, he is comfortable playing out under pressure and I’m pretty sure we haven’t seen the best of him. He is still so young, but he is already playing at a very high level.
“I look at Saliba’s performance in the draw at Manchester City (last month) and he shone in an outstanding defensive display.
“We built the game up and we were thinking it was going to be a classic with a lot of goals, but it didn’t work out like that and Arsenal deserved credit for restricting City and denying them the space to do what they do so well.
“Arsenal were superb defensively at the Etihad and while they missed a few chances to gain some momentum going forward, it was an outstanding effort to stop Manchester City. I’m not sure I’ve seen an Arsenal team play that well defensively for a long time.
“Performances like that are a sign of a team showing growing maturity and that is a good sign for this team looking to next season.”
UNIMAGINABLE
Winterburn’s assessment of Arsenal’s hopes for a bright future is made with reference to the Premier League script we have been engrossed by over the last five or six years, with Guardiola and Klopp taking the benchmark for success to previously unimaginable levels.
Should the uncertainty surrounding Liverpool and City lead to changes in their status over the next couple of years, Arsenal are well placed to step into the void that would be left behind, that’s for sure.