In his latest column for Sky Sports, Paul Merson says Mikel Arteta deserves respect for the job he has done at Arsenal and likens his former side’s challenge of dethroning Man City to that of a heavyweight boxing challenger beating Mike Tyson for the world title!
‘How will Arsenal recover if they don’t win league?’
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Fair play to Arsenal, you’ve got to win games and they have gone to Spurs and won.
One of the main things about this victory is it is for the fans. It’s such an important game to the Arsenal supporters and the players got the job done.
What worries me, and I see Arsenal winning their next three games, is what happens if they do that but still don’t win the league? I don’t know how that will affect this Arsenal team for next season.
Last year, they came into this season, and everyone said they melted. They had something to prove and could go again.
Winning the next three games but not winning the league, they might start thinking what else can they do?
‘Inexperience still there for Gunners’
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It was very nervous all because of the goalkeeper. It was a bad mistake and it just causes drama.
Tottenham fans are relieved because they think with another 10 minutes they might have got back in the game, but the only reason they got back in it was the goalkeeper, it’s as simple as that.
That’s what you have to do in the run-in, you’ve got to be alive in every minute of the game.
Something like that could have sent everything pear-shaped for Arsenal.
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The message for Arsenal is to do the simple things well and the simple thing was for the goalkeeper to send the ball 60 yards down the pitch.
Even though you are 3-0 up it doesn’t mean you can take liberties with the other team because football changes like that, it changes so quickly.
That’s where Arsenal have to learn. They were cruising but then by the end, they were hanging on for dear life. That’s inexperience.
‘Respect must go to Arteta for job he’s done’
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Mikel Arteta now has 100 Premier League wins in 169 games. He’s fifth fatest to that number of wins behind some stellar names of the Premier League.
Respect [for Arteta’s record]. They stuck with him and he got the chance. Arsenal were patient with him early on but he must have been winning football matches.
It’s an unbelievable record. He’s only seven games behind Sir Alex Ferguson and 10 games behind Jurgen Klopp, who we class as a legend.
Fair play to him, it’s phenomenal.
‘How can you beat Mike Tyson?!’
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It’s all about timing.
If you are a heavyweight boxing challenger and Mike Tyson’s the champion, you aren’t winning the world title.
It’s a bit like that for Arsenal. They are just bang unlucky but they have to accept they could be the second-best team at this time.
If City weren’t about they probably win the league. It’s just about timing.
How many people won the 400m when Michael Johnson was about? No-one. That’s how it works.
‘Striker with electric pace can improve Gunners’
The other problem Arsenal have is how do they improve again next season?
It’s a bit like Tottenham a few years back. They had an unbelievable starting line-up but we all said they had to keep improving.
They had Harry Kane. If they wanted to sign a striker for £60m he wasn’t coming to just sit on the bench.
I do like Kai Havertz. He’s a top-drawer player, but I do feel like they need real electric pace up front that can turn it on for Arsenal.
Look at Haaland, he came on at Forest and the defence couldn’t believe it.
Arsenal haven’t really got that and they lost against Aston Villa because they didn’t have it.
‘We don’t give Man City enough credit’
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I can’t see Man City not winning any of their remaining games.
Wolves have a couple of players back but they are struggling with injuries and are not at full strength yet.
Fulham on their day can cause problems. That could be the game. They are a team that might hurt City. They are a good football team and have players like Willian and Rodrigo Muniz. If you give them the chances Forest had, Fulham will cause you problems.
People will say don’t give up, but Man City are too good. They are proven.
They have done it so many times before and I feel they become a better team when they have to win a football match.
They get together and they win football matches.
Sometimes you watch them at the start of the season, and it is a bit boring. They go 1-0 up and just pass the ball forever. At this stage of the season, it’s different. Against Luton, they scored the first goal and then went on to try and score seven or eight.
They are so good, and we don’t give them enough credit for that. They are playing under severe pressure, and they keep on performing week in, week out.
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