Former Manchester United and Everton goalkeeper Tim Howard has now told Arsenal which competition they should make their priority this season.
Arsenal are currently in the heat of a Premier League title race, and remain in the Champions League too.
The Gunners’ Premier League form is scintillating right now. They kept up the pace with Liverpool and Manchester City at the top end of the table with a 4-1 thrashing of Newcastle United on Saturday night.
Mikel Arteta’s star men are consistently shining right now as his team are mounting a serious title bid. The likes of Bukayo Saka, Declan Rice, and club captain Martin Odegaard have all been in outstanding form in recent weeks.
Against the Magpies, Saka became the youngest Arsenal player to achieve one personal Premier League feat since Jose Antonio Reyes.
In their last six league outings, Arsenal have a 100% winning record, having scored 25 goals and conceded just three in that period. Statistically, the Gunners are the most solid team in the league defensively right now. Arsenal’s defensive unit is currently outperforming Manchester City’s by some margin.
There is still a long way to go, of course, and Liverpool and Manchester City both have their own advantages over Arsenal. Few would have the north London club down as the favourites to be crowned champions. They look set to give it a good go, though, and it would be foolish to discount them.
Should Arsenal focus on the Premier League or the Champions League?
On the other hand, things have been more of a struggle in continental competition. Having progressed through their group with relative ease, Arsenal came unstuck in the first-leg of their Champions League round of 16 knockout tie against Porto on Wednesday evening.
The Gunners were far from their best at the Estadio do Dragao, and were beaten 1-0 by Galeno’s last-minute strike from range. Arsenal will still fancy their chances of being able to turn the tie around and securing progress to the quarter-finals of the Champions League when they welcome Porto to the Emirates Stadium to contest the second leg of this fixture on March 12th.
However, their defeat in Portugal was a shot across the bows, and a reminder that they cannot afford to take any opponent lightly.
The longer Arsenal go on competing on both fronts, though, the more of a toll it will take on Arteta’s squad. The idea of winning both competitions, whilst possible, is fanciful to say the least.
As such, Tim Howard has now urged the Gunners to focus their energies on one competition. Speaking on NBC Sports the American said, “for this Arsenal team, I don’t care about the Champions League. I don’t, because it’s nearly impossible to do the double. It’s so hard, for a team trying to get over the hump, trying to win that Premier League title…the focus for them needs to be on the Premier League.”
Receive a digest of our best Arsenal content each week direct to your mailbox
