Michael Owen thinks ‘after a long few years of waiting’, it’s time that Arsenal ‘start to get excited’ about where they are heading under Mikel Arteta.
The former striker shared that he has been the first person to ‘accuse Arsenal of being soft’, but he no longer feels that about them and thinks they now have a ‘sense of maturity’ to their game.
The Gunners moved to the top of the Premier League table on Sunday, after they eased past free-scoring Brentford, who had beaten them the season before.
In those 12 months since that opening night humiliation for Arteta and his players, a number of young stars, such as Gabriel Martinelli are starting to shine, whilst players like Granit Xhaka are playing the best football of their careers.
It’s only seven games, but the fact that Arsenal are being talked about as title contenders compared to if they are even European worthy, which they weren’t a number of seasons ago, then it shows the progress being made.
This is still a young squad being built by Arteta, but despite that, Owen feels there is a sense of ‘maturity’ about the group, as he told Premier League Productions.
“Definitely, yes, I would have been the first person to accuse them of being soft over the past few years and they have been that,” said Owen.
“But they have got a maturity about them, despite having quite a few young players in the team. We have looked at the fixtures they have played and it has been favourable.
“The first five they won, then their first real chance and the big test was against Manchester United and they stumbled. It was important they got back on the winning trail at a really tough place. Back to the top of the league.
“The confidence is growing. They are all maturing nicely. I have said before, and I will say it again, after a long few years of waiting, then I will start to get excited.”
BIGGER TESTS AWAIT ARSENAL
The biggest one yet will come straight after the international break when they face Tottenham on home soil.
That’s when the fixture list really stacks up for them and it will be a serious test of their squad depth because, during the last two summer transfer windows, big money has been spent.
But, when the crunch moments of the season arrive, mainly from March onwards, that’s when they have to really answer their critics.
It was that period of the last campaign that cost them Champions League football, and if they fall down that same road again, then it will only raise further questions than answers.
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