Arsenal legend George Graham fears this year’s title talk has come too early for Mikel Arteta’s “excellent” young side.
Arsenal top the table at the halfway stage on this FA Cup weekend. They go to struggling Everton this Saturday in the knowledge a win could send them further ahead a day before Man City go to Tottenham.
But the proud Scot, who won the title as both a player and manager for the Gunners, refuses to burden Mikel Arteta by making them favourites to win the Premier League. “I think it’s too early,” Graham said, as he looked ahead to the challenges facing his former club in the second half to the season.
“There’ll be games when it’s tough and you’ve gotta dig deep. But I can see that in their play. There’s been a couple of games this season I’ve seen this season when they’ve not been at their best and have managed to dig out a result.”
There was no better example of that than last week’s stunning last-minute win over Manchester United. Like his latest successor Arteta, Graham was an unexpected choice when he took charge aged just 41 in 1986.
He had early League Cup success and a three seasons later he ended a 18-year title drought when his side packed with homegrown talent won the league in dramatic fashion at Anfield, in 1989.
He won the league again, losing only one match all season, in ‘91 and ultimately left the club with six major trophies in his nine years in charge.
Graham’s defence-first tactics and reliable scorers such as Alan Smith, Kevin Campbell and Ian Wright paved the way for the club’s notorious ‘one-nil to the arsenal’ reputation.
And he joked how he doubted the hugely impressive Arteta, now in his third season in charge, could struggle to emulate that element of his success. He added: “I won a few trophies, but not with the style as they’re playing with now. I think it’s really exciting to watch and good to watch - good football.
“But that wouldn’t be from my homework. Because I didn’t do the attacking style they play with now. Unfortunately, I never got to that stage.
“I think they’re in good hands just now. I think the coach is excellent. He has done his lesson from Pep Guardiola (as his assistant at Man City).”
The only vague criticism Graham, now a dapper 78, has for Arteta and Arsenal’s latest generation of title challengers is their ability when they lose the ball.
“I think the manager is doing a great job, playing good football, very good in possession, in fact, excellent in possession. They’re very good or good-ish without possession and could probably do a bit of work on that one.
“I would agree with how he has brought a sense of unity back to the club. He’s a young manager like I was. He’s in his first job as a coach and he’s just doing a great job and an excellent job.
“Football is basically about in possession and without possession. In possession they’re up there with the best and without possession, I think they could do with a few more one-nothing victories!
“Arsenal is a big, big club when they’re doing well AND when they’re not doing well. They’re a big club, one of the best .They deserve success and I think they’ve got the right coach.”
