‘Leader’: Hargreaves shares what he noticed about Oleksandr Zinchenko before Arsenal win

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Owen Hargreaves has praised Oleksandr Zinchenko for ‘leading the circle’ at Arsenal before their dramatic 3-2 win over Bournemouth on Saturday.

The former England midfielder shared that he noticed the Arsenal defender leading the troops, rather than the usual captain, Martin Odegaard.

It just goes to show the leadership qualities within Arsenal’s ranks that they can have many players leading them, from £32 million summer signing Zinchenko (Sky Sports), former captain Granit Xhaka or now the man with the actual armband.

It’s a big reason why Arsenal have this never-say-die attitude and why they are sitting at the top of the Premier League table with a five-point lead on second-placed Manchester City.

For many, many years, Arsenal fans have watched their team be a soft touch. Weak during the big games away from home. The inability to defend or show character.

Well, they are showing every single inch of that now, with Hargreaves stating that winners being brought into the dressing room by Mikel Arteta has played a part, as he told MatchDay Extra on Premier League Productions (04/03/23 at 8:10 pm).

“I think Mikel Arteta realised that ‘I need a couple of guys that have been there and done it before’,” said Hargreaves. “Gabriel Jesus, okay in an unlimited role at Manchester City, then Zinchenko and Jorginho (in January), who has won trophies with Chelsea and Italy.

“Those guys, in those moments, I saw Zinchenko before the game. He was leading the circle as a leader. These guys have been there and done it in big moments winning trophies.

“I think now, all of a sudden, all the young guys start to believe that ‘we can do this’.”

ARSENAL CONTINUE TO CHARGE

When the England players set off for the World Cup back in November, a certain Kyle Walker told Bukayo Saka ‘you guys need to stop winning’.

It was an interesting comment by the Manchester City star, who will now know that this Arsenal team just simply isn’t going away.

That gap of five points is very significant right now because a very, very tough April awaits those in north London.

Chelsea, Liverpool and Manchester City are going to be title-defining games for the team, and if they see through it, then that long wait to win the title will come to an end.