Former Liverpool defender and pundit Jamie Carragher has claimed he is impressed with Arsenal, but is unsure if they have the squad to make the top four this season. It comes after the Gunners made a blistering start to life back in the Premier League, winning all five of their opening five games.
However, Sunday saw their first setback in the new campaign, falling to a 3-1 defeat against Manchester United at Old Trafford. The Gunners had largely performed well, but the key difference between the two sides came down to who took their chances, with the hosts doing just that to inflict a first loss on Mikel Arteta for the campaign.
After the game, the Spaniard said: "Very disappointed that we haven’t won the game because the game was there for the taking. We haven’t won it because we lacked discipline in certain moments to defend certain actions, and we weren’t ruthless enough in their box."
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It marks the first bump in a very long road for Arsenal this season, only added to by the fact they now have European football to contend with too. They will still be looking to finish as high as possible though, with a top four finish and a return to the Champions League on the agenda.
However, while ex-Premier League defender Carragher is impressed with the Gunners, he has questioned their squad depth once again after suffering with such issues last campaign. He said on the Overlap debate: "I've been impressed with them [Arsenal], I just don’t know if they’ve got the squad.
"When I watch Tottenham, Manchester United, they’re almost getting results the same sort of way, big, powerful, tough to beat. When I watch Arsenal, it’s fast, energetic, I’m excited watching it, but could what happened [against Manchester United] happen too often?
"But the more impressive team, when we talk about how the game is played right now, the technical game and what Liverpool and Man City have done over the last four or five years, I think Arsenal are closer to that than say Tottenham or Man United are."
That is a slight U-turn on what Carragher had said back in May after Arteta failed to get his side into the top four. The pundit believed Arsenal wouldn't come close to finishing in the Champions League places with the addition of Europa League football.
Speaking then on the Overlap, he said: "I wanted Arsenal to get top four because I like what Mikel Arteta’s done, I think Mikel Arteta has done a good job. I love the young players they’ve got when you’re talking about going forward and building on that, Mikel Arteta right now is not at the level of Conte, Tuchel, Klopp and Guardiola, I think that Newcastle game will be one fans look back on and think that’s where it went wrong for Mikel Arteta because when you say bringing people in, it’s a building process but you’ve got less money now top four will have.
"I think that’s a massive opportunity, having no European football was a big advantage now you’re going to play Thursday, Sunday I don’t see how you’ll get Champions League. There’s no way at the start of next season whoever you bring in I’m sure it’ll be a striker and a couple of players, I would think Arsenal won’t come close to the Champions League."
It remains to be seen if Arsenal can finish the job that they couldn't last time around. However with a thin squad and plenty more fixtures on the cards, it could be another challenging race for the top four.
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