Jermaine Pennant doubts Arsenal’s prospects this season and believes that they will crumble after Christmas despite a strong start.
The Gunners have arguably been the story of the Premier League season.
Forget Erling Haaland – most of knew he was pretty good already.
Arsenal sitting top of the table having won nine of their first 10 Premier League games is something that few really could have predicted.
Mikel Arteta is working wonders at Arsenal but not everybody is convinced that Arsenal can keep this start going.
Jermaine Pennant doubts Arsenal’s prospects
Former Arsenal winger Jermaine Pennant has now shared his concerns about the Gunners.
Pennant – who cost Arsenal around £2million at the age of just 15 having emerged in the Notts County ranks – is still keeping a close eye on the Gunners.
Pennant has told talkSPORT that he thinks Arsenal will crumble after Christmas, bringing up their collapse to crash out of the Champions League spots last season.
The former wide man added that he will probably get slated by Arsenal fans but he can see the Gunner stumbling in the busy festive period.
“I think that Arsenal, after Christmas, will cookie crumble like they did the year before to drop out of the Champions League spots,” said Pennant. “I’m gonna get criticised and battered by Arsenal fans being an ex-Gooner! What Arteta has done at Arsenal, where they were two, three seasons ago and what they are doing now, is absolutely amazing.”
“We are giving Arsenal a lot of praise about where they are going and how they have conducted themselves in the first ten games. But it is all about will they maintain that, will they continue that after Christmas? We have seen a lot of teams come flying out the blocks and then as soon as the Christmas period comes and the games come thick and fast, they slip over easily,” he added.
Arsenal fans are all too familiar with this kind of opinion.
If anything starts to go well at the Emirates Stadium, pundits will say that it won’t last and that they don’t buy into it.
What if Arsenal are just… actually good though?
The Gunners have passed two big tests of late by coasting past Tottenham Hotspur with a 3-1 win, then beating Liverpool 3-2.
Those are the kinds of games people want to see Arsenal win before they believe, so maybe now is the time.
Mikel Arteta’s philosophy is shining through, Arsenal’s young players are thriving and their depth is better than in recent years gone by.
Maybe Arsenal won’t win the league and that’s fine, but they but they look a strong bet for the top four and they deserve a little more than having pundits waiting for them to slip up.
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