This article is part of Football FanCast’s Pundit View series, which provides opinion and analysis on recent quotes from journalists, pundits, players and managers…
Speaking on Sky Sports, Graeme Souness has lambasted Arsenal for failing to move forwards since their move to the Emirates.
What did he say?
After picking up their first win under Freddie Ljungberg’s tenure as interim head coach last Monday night against West Ham, the Gunners may have headed into the clash against Manchester City with a spring in their step.
Unfortunately for them, Kevin De Bruyne’s early goal shattered any hopes of a surprise victory, and in the end, Pep Guardiola’s men ran out comfortable 3-0 winners at the Emirates. And after seeing their humiliation, Souness tore into Arsenal for their lack of direction since their move to their new stadium well over a decade ago.
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He said (as quoted by The Daily Mail): “This club has always been the classiest football club in British football, they always did everything. And right now they seem to be rudderless, in terms of making football decisions. They’ve not made a decision yet knowing this was coming up. And I just see this football club as drifting.
“It’s all to do with non-football people making football decisions. And they’re at a real crossroads. They moved to this stadium from Highbury to join the big league, to be one of the big teams in Europe. They’re further away now than they were when they were at Highbury. It’s not happened for them.”
Ambitions
More than anything, the Gunners need to take a long, hard look at themselves and ask what their future ambitions are. Is it to genuinely compete for the Premier League title and European football’s biggest honours, or is it more of the same of what people are witnessing right now?
As Souness alludes to, the move to the Emirates was supposed to herald a new era for the north London side. Instead, it has almost become an albatross around their necks, weighing them down, and stopping them from progressing.
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The appointment of Edu in the summer to a behind-the-scenes role at least brings someone in who has a previous connection to the club and is a “footballing man”. They need more of those kinds of people to help understand and embrace what the side desperately needs.
