Owen Hargreaves has praised Mikel Arteta for the ‘remarkable’ job he has done at Arsenal amid their Premier League title charge, despite the spending of their rivals, including Tottenham Hotspur, Chelsea and Manchester United.
Arsenal opened up a five-point lead at the top of the table on Saturday after their 2-0 win at Wolves and Manchester City losing to a stoppage-time Ivan Toney goal.
Even though the Gunners have played a game less, they are still on top of the tree heading towards the break for the 2022 World Cup.
You could probably count the teams that don’t spend anymore rather than those who do given the money available to teams.
In the summer, Chelsea were the biggest spenders, whilst Arsenal and Spurs also splashed the cash in order to boost their chances to, at the least, secure a top-four finish.
Well, one side of London is doing far better than that and former England and Bayern Munich star Hargreaves thinks not even Arteta would have dreamt about this situation, as he told MatchDay Extra on Premier League Productions (12/11/22 at 10:45 pm).
“They have put themselves in that position,” said Hargreaves. “Who would have thought after 14 games Arsenal would be top? Not even Arsenal fans. Not Mikel Arteta.
“You think about it, Man City and Liverpool are two of the best teams in all of the world, never mind in the Premier League. The money Chelsea and Man United have spent and Tottenham.
“What a remarkable job. He has had a transformation there. From the fans to the atmosphere. Remember how toxic it was a few years ago? They had holes in their squad. Every time you looked at Arsenal, you thought, they need four or five players.
“But now you look at their starting XI and they are a solid team – credit to Mikel Arteta, they have been a joy to watch and they deserve to be top of the league.”
JANUARY TRANSFER WINDOW
Arsenal opted against using the winter transfer market last season, and for some, it cost them Champions League football because they didn’t refresh.
Given their current status, they have to push that button this time around, not to replace players, but to add some freshness and much-needed depth.
And if those new players sing, then this could become a very, very interesting end of the season for those at the Emirates.
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