Paul Merson says Arsenal will win the Premier League this season and believes Josep Guardiola could be forced to leave Manchester City if Mikel Arteta’s side win the title.
Arsenal head into the Premier League weekend leading the title race, two points behind second-placed Manchester City. They were racing well at the beginning of the season, but a few small bumps in the road cut into their lead.
But as Arteta prepares for his sixth anniversary in charge, Melson says the Gunners are on track to end their 22-year wait for Premier League glory despite competition from City.
And while it has been suggested that a potential replacement has been named after reports this week cast doubt over Guardiola’s future, Merson believes Arsenal’s title win could well spell the end for the Spaniard at the Etihad.
“Arsenal will win the Premier League”
“I think they (Arsenal) will win the league,” Melson said. “There are 22 games left. In my opinion, their team is so big and strong that they can win the league. If we were sitting here with six games left and we had two points, I think it would be Man City!”
“Man City is not the Man City of old. It’s not the Man City where you saw us crush teams. I used to do Soccer Saturday and watch teams come in and tickle their bellies, but if they come through with two or three points, they couldn’t be happier.”
“That’s not the case anymore. And I think it’s hurting him a lot. I think it’s harder now. I think there are things that are harder. Before, he was coaching the team, and then they left the team and started playing.”
“I think there’s more to do now. It’s draining. And when you’re a manager, he is. I’m just talking from a distance, but his head reminds me of a washing machine. The washing machine is always spinning.
“He’s always thinking about something. I don’t think he’ll ever let his guard down and that’s going to take its toll. And I think he realizes that even if we don’t win this season, Arsenal are probably going to dominate for a while and I think he’ll leave while he’s still in the lead.”
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“As a business owner, there are only two things that are certain: you pay your taxes and you get fired. Those are the two things that are the most certain thing for a business owner. You have to give it time.
“You know what Arteta has been doing. I heard people saying: ‘If we don’t win this year, Arteta has to go.’
“He breathed life back into Arsenal. They had no chance of winning the league. Could they be in the top four? It was a coin flick.
“They’re big, big players now. He got rid of everyone, all the problems, everything and reinvigorated the club. And now they’re a very good team. If they finish above Arsenal they can win the Premier League.”
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Chelsea are a strong team in cup competitions, but they are not a league champion team.
“(Enzo) Maresca says, ‘I don’t understand the problem.’ You were the problem! It started last week. If he doesn’t come out and say anything, everyone will just move on.”
“Chelsea are fourth in the Champions League and in the cup semi-finals. Everything is going well at the moment. It’s not too bad, but they haven’t won the league yet.
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“They don’t have a league winning team. They have a cup team. This is a cup team that performs very well at a certain level, but it’s a very young team so you could be here for a week and then be down here.”
“When you go to a Chelsea game, you never get 90 minutes of a performance. 20 minutes of a great performance, 25 minutes of ‘wow, where did this come from?’ and another 15 minutes of a great performance.
“That’s never going to happen across the board. That’s why I think they’ll do well in the cup competitions. I think they’ll win the cup competitions, but I don’t think they’ll win the league beyond 38 games. The team doesn’t have enough experience to compete at full strength.”
“In my opinion, they didn’t buy it to win the Premier League. So I don’t think it will be a problem if they don’t win the league.”
“I think they continue to be in the top four. They can continue to hurt players here and there and maybe even sell them, but for Champions League football they have to continue to be in the top four.”
“I don’t think it will hurt the owners if they don’t win the Premier League because they didn’t buy it to win the Premier League. In my opinion, they bought it to establish themselves in the Premier League and be a good cup team.”
Villa are not in the title race
“Aston Villa are three points behind. Speaking of today, yes, they are in the title race.
“But we are talking about the next 22 games. Unai Emery will want to win the Europa League. If he can come fourth and win this Premier League, the Villa fans will be happy.”
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“Villa haven’t won a trophy for 30 years. Yes, I’ve played for this club. Fortunately, I loved it there. It’s a huge football club.”
“They have to win trophies. If they can win trophies and finish in the top four, I think they’ve had a great season, but they don’t have the size of the squad. And if Morgan Rodgers gets injured, I’d be a little worried for them.”
The problem runs deeper than the Spurs manager.
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“It goes deeper than the (Tottenham) manager. It has to be the player, it has to be the player. Tottenham have had some of the best managers of all time, but none of them have been successful.
“And I didn’t like what he[Thomas Frank]said last week. I know the fans are going to be a little nervous, but if you’re not leading 3-0 in the first 20 minutes, everyone wants to be furious.”
“Their neighbors are doing well, but at the same time as a manager you have to understand the shelf. When you are a player you have a shelf, you have a shelf as a manager.
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“He runs a big football club and that’s no disrespect to Brentford. I was at Brentford when they lost to Bournemouth and everyone was walking around the ground and clapping. And they’re still there.”
“That’s not happening at Tottenham. You have to know that when you go in. Tottenham fans turn up every week, every other week, 60,000 people. They haven’t been good for years, but they’re coming. I can’t say what I said. I think Frank will be in trouble if they lose[to Liverpool]on Saturday.”
