Graeme Souness has dismissed Arsenal’s chances of challenging for the Premier League title this season despite the progress that they have made under Mikel Arteta.
The Gunners have become a better team since they made Arteta their latest manager as the Spaniard has transformed their performances.
They finished 8th on the Premier League table last season but ended the campaign by winning the FA Cup.
They have also won the Community Shield this season and they have started their campaign with three wins from three domestic games.
They will visit Liverpool next in the Premier League, a team that won the title and finished 43 points above them last season.
They beat the Reds in the Premier League during Project Restart as well as the Community Shield before this season started.
Souness has praised some of the club’s players, but he still doesn’t feel that the Gunners are ready to win the Premier League yet.
‘Arsenal are nowhere near challenging for the Premier League,’ Souness wrote in a column for The Times.
‘They finished eighth, 43 points behind Liverpool, last season, and that’s not a gap that you close in one transfer window.
‘The knockout tournaments are again their best chance of success this season. Trying to retain the FA Cup, a decent run in Europe and maybe the Carabao Cup.
‘I’ve always been a fan of Willian and have no fears that he still has a couple of years left at the highest.
‘The hardest players to get are the ones that score and create goals, but Arsenal have plenty of attacking options.
‘Willian, Alexandre Lacazette and Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang are backed up by talented youngsters like Bukayo Saka and Eddie Nketiah. Keeping Aubameyang is a huge boost.
‘He was entering the last year of his contract, so they would have sold him at a discount and received nowhere near enough to buy a replacement of a similar standard.
‘I still see a player in Nicolas Pepe, too, and I’m hoping he has a big year because he’s not really grasped the intensity and physicality of the Premier League yet.
‘I also like the look of Bernd Leno, their goalkeeper, but none of their midfielders or back four would get anywhere near the Manchester City or Liverpool team, hence the points difference between them in the final table last season.’
Souness is ignoring the progress made, there is no way there will be a huge gap between Liverpool and Arsenal this season, it will close significantly in my opinion but pundits prefer the anti Arsenal narrative that seems to be criteria for being a pundit.
