We sat down with ex-Arsenal footballer Anders Limpar, who believes that the Gunners are not out of title contention yet and gives his reasons for believing this. The Swede also talks about Mikel Arteta’s future at Arsenal, as well as the club’s search for a new sporting director.
The last international break of 2024 is done and dusted and we go back to club football this weekend. Arsenal host an in-form Nottingham Forest this Saturday and Mikel Arteta’s men need three points if they are to keep their dreams of a Premier League title alive.
Too early to write off Arsenal’s chances
The Gunners currently sit in fourth place, nine points behind league leaders Liverpool. Many pundits and fans believe Arsenal are out of the Premier League title race, but Limpar believes otherwise. As per the Swede, it is too early to write off Arsenal, or any other top team, for the Premier League title.
“You should never ever write off a team at this early stage. I mean, it’s 27 more games to go. It’s just early doors. We haven’t passed Christmas yet. You should never write off Arsenal or any of the top teams. I think you shouldn’t write off Arsenal at this early stage because we are a great, great, great side.”
He adds that the Gunners and Manchester City have been missing some of their most influential players and this has been one of the reasons for their struggles. He believes that the same can happen to Liverpool, and that can change things around.
“You have to play the games first. It depends a lot on injuries. Man City are struggling at the moment because Rodri is out and Kevin De Bruyne has been out. We have been struggling a little bit because of red cards, Martin Ødegaard’s injury, we haven’t played with the same team, Jesus has been injured and his goalscoring hasn’t been the best.”
“The team that’s performing the best right now is Liverpool because they’re intact. Can you imagine if Mohamed Salah gets injured and is out for four-to-six weeks with a hamstring issue? Then you see how good they are (at coping without him). So it all depends on the star players, if they’re fit or not.”
Mikel Arteta’s job is not in danger
Arsenal have managed successive runners-up finishes in the Premier League but they only have 2 trophies in the last five seasons, with one being the Community Shield and the other the FA Cup, which they last won back in 2020. Mikel Arteta has built a strong competitive side but silverware has proven to be elusive over the last 4 years, and some fans have incredibly questioned whether he’s up to the task or not. Limpar views those opinions as rubbish and points to the work that the Spaniard has done since he took charge as Arsenal boss.
“Arteta’s job is not in danger. Not at all. Look at what he has done with the club since he has arrived. It’s the toughest job. How can Arteta’s job be in jeopardy when he’s won FA Cups and Community Shields, finishing second in the Premier League? That’s just modern day football.”
The Swede expands on the reactionary aspect of “modern day football”, posing a question around whether Pep Guardiola should be sacked as Man City are having a tough run of games, which has seen them lose 4 in a row. He also gives the example of Sir Alex Ferguson and why patience is important when it comes to a manager.
“Pep Guardiola has won everything there is to win but City are now on a bad run of games and his job is apparently in jeopardy?”
“Look at the time Sir Alex Ferguson got with Manchester United. We should have patience with Arteta and he should stay at the club for as long as he wants. He’s been unbelievably good for the club.”
“When things get shaky it’s chaos but there have only been 10 or 12 games played. It’s a long, long season.”
I’d like to see Tomas Rosicky as Arsenal’s Sporting Director
Arsenal are also currently searching for a new sporting director as Edu Gaspar decided to leave the club. Names linked to the position include current PSG advisor and former Monaco and Lille sporting director Luis Campos, as well as former Arsenal stars Per Mertesacker and Tomas Rosicky. Mertesacker has been the head of Arsenal’s academy and Rosicky has been working as the sporting director at Sparta Prague.
In Limpar’s view, Rosicky would be the best candidate for the job. He also thinks Mertesacker would be a great pick but as he knows Rosicky better, he believes the Czech would be his pick.
“I met Tomas Rosicky at Kevin Campbell’s funeral. I sat down with him and had a chat with him. He’s an intelligent guy. He’s very calm. He knows his football.”
“I met Per Mertesacker when I visited the training centre in September and I can’t actually figure out what I think about him because I don’t know him. I just know that he is the head of the academy.”
“In my book, both of them are great candidates but my choice would be Tomas. He’s a very nice guy and his knowledge of football is amazing. Very clever guy and he speaks perfect English. He should be suitable for the Arsenal job.”
