MIKEL ARTETA needs to instil an important message into his players’ minds if they are to win the Premier League title this season, says club legend Ray Parlour.
The Gunners’ bid to win their first league trophy since 2004, when Parlour was still playing with the Invincibles, has faltered after losing three of their last five matches to Aston Villa, West Ham and Fulham.
That led to the North Londoners plunging to fourth place in the table and getting eliminated from the FA Cup by Liverpool.
Despite recent struggles, former midfielder Parlour remains adamant Arsenal still have a massive chance of conquering the Prem as long as they win their next “three or four games” to regain their momentum.
That in turn would help them find the required form that would allow them to become consistent, something that will be especially important in April and May when they approach the finish line.
The ex-England international remembered how that sort of mentality helped Arsene Wenger’s side win the Double in 1998.
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Arsenal were 12 points away from the top but a massive victory over Manchester United at Old Trafford led to a 10-game unbeaten run that saw Parlour lift one of three league trophies he won.
But in order to do that Arteta needs to make his players understand that they’re still in a title race despite their recent poor run.
The 50-year-old hopes these sort of necessary talks took place during the club’s recent warm-weather training camp in Dubai.
Parlour told SunSport on behalf of NetBet Betting: “Well, all they got to do now is win their next three or four games, that is vital now [starting with] Crystal Palace next week.
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“You know they’ve had that little bit of a blip, sometimes when a break comes around is a bad time for your club. When you do really well you want the next games to come on very, very quickly.
“But I think this break has come at a good time for Arsenal where they’ve had three defeats to Liverpool, Fulham and West Ham but now they can go away together.
“They can have a couple of meetings, they can get that little bit of togetherness because they are in a title race still, as much as they’ve had three disappointing results – I mean the FA Cup is always an important trophy for the club as well but they are in a title race.
“Whether Man City drop points we’ll have to wait and see. They nearly dropped points at the weekend against Newcastle, [Kevin] De Bruyne made a big difference when he came off the bench.
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“But you’re still in a title race and that is what Mikel Arteta has got to get across to the players. It’s an old cliche, one game at a time but the next three games for Arsenal gotta guarantee three wins.
“As a title winner myself, it doesn’t really kick in. You got to stay in the hunt. But when you get to the last seven games, that’s when every game is so important, every single game.
“And I’ll go back to ’98, we was 12 points behind [and] we managed to get a run going. We beat Manchester United at Old Trafford and then we went on a 10-game unbeaten run. That’s that sort of form you gotta find towards that sort of time.
“I mean, March [and] April, is when it really starts hotting up. That’s when it starts.
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“Every single game gets pressurised and I’m hoping the youngsters – because it’s a young squad – they’re still learning but hopefully they learned a little bit from last season and they can probably turn that around a little bit.
“But yeah, it’s gonna be really tight up there. And I really hope it goes down to the last three games and Arsenal have got a chance.
Source: Soccer - thesun.co.uk
