Former Arsenal striker Alan Smith has told Sky Sports, as quoted by the London Evening Standard, that he is anxious that Arsene Wenger will be unable to motivate the players in the final weeks of the season to ensure that they finish in the top four.
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Wenger, though, insisted Arsenal’s demanding schedule has made things more hard compared to Leicester, who he predicts will find things tougher next season due to the demands of Champions League football. “It looks like they’re going to limp into the top four again and that, for me, is boring”.
Parlour, who played under Wenger the last time Arsenal won the title in 2004, believes the Frenchman will still be in charge next season – but it could be his last. In a season where Chelsea, Manchester City, Manchester United and even Liverpool have shown themselves to be unworthy, the Gunners should have taken the prize by default. “When you have to play qualifiers, the European Championship is still going on”, he said.
Arsene Wenger has conceded he fears for Arsenal’s top-four security after Sunday’s 0-0 draw against Sunderland.
“I felt good. In my first under-21s game, I didn’t really feel that great”. “I knew that in this kind of game you have to be in front, because it was our third game in a week and that we could suffer a little bit physically in the second half”.
“But we have got 25 players, everyone wants to play and obviously the boss has got a lot of headaches with his selection”. We created less but could still have scored.
Mesut Ozil has admitted that he has been left “amazed” by Alex Iwobi’s impact at Arsenal since breaking into the first team.
‘Then you have the teams that go for something at the top and the teams that fight not to go down. “The players have given me everything this year”, he said.
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Asked what was behind that improved run, he said with a smile: “My brilliant coaching”, before adding: “You could say before that it was crap, though”.
