Ruud Van Nistelrooy saw his PSV side downed 1-0 in last night’s Europa League clash at the Emirates, and moved to praise Arsenal’s chances to win the Premier League.
The Gunners struggled to break down their rivals yesterday, but managed to find a breakthrough thanks to Granit Xhaka’s second-half strike, and both sides deserved credit for their efforts in stopping their opponents from created too many clearcut chances.
Van Nistelrooy has come out to praise his managerial counterpart after facing his side for the first time, before talking up our chances of winning the English top division.
“Of course, I know Mikel, the way he wants to play,” RVN said after the full-time whistle.
“The way he has developed his team into the team you see and how they play. I was very looking forward to prepare my team against Mikel’s team. I admire him, the way he plays and the way he lets his team plays. He’s an example in that sense.
“He’s a young manager who had some rough patches last season and I’m very happy he survived that and was able to build his side and see how they’re playing and how they’re doing now in the Premiership.
“I was able to share my appreciation for Mikel, the way he is building his team, the way he’s letting his team play, the signings he has made to make his team play the way he wants to play, and he’s connecting it with results.
“If you are 10 games ahead in the Premiership, winning nine of them, you are definitely a contender. Obviously, it’s the youngest team in the Premiership – that is the challenge, but they have the squad for it, quality for it and manager for it.”
I don’t think many would have said that we have the manager or squad to win the title before the season begun, but we definitely added strength in a number of our weaker areas, and it really is paying off at present. So far, we are four points clear at the top of the table, and should we manage to maintain our current form we will win the title, but it is definitely going to be difficult to continue to win 90% of our league matches. The World Cup is a strange obstacle to contend with also, but I do believe in our squad and the way we are playing.
Patrick
Watch Arteta on PSV, Xhaka and Saka and our third 1-0 win in a row!…
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