Steve Nicol has begged Mikel Arteta to ‘shut up, please’ after hearing ‘excuses’ from the Arsenal boss with his recent claim discussing their Premier League title chances.
Arsenal are currently in America for their pre-season tour as Arteta looks to get his squad in shape. The Spaniard will hope a productive stint Stateside this summer propels the Gunners into a title fight they can finally win, having finished the past two seasons as the runners-up.
Manchester City denied the Emirates Stadium side their first Premier League title in 20 years last season by only two points. Arsenal managed to take the title race into the last day of the term. But they gave up control of the title race with a 2-0 loss at home to Aston Villa in April.
Steve Nicol launches an astonishing rant about Mikel Arteta’s Arsenal squad depth pleas
A few records still fell in N5 last season as Arsenal scored a club-record 91 goals in a Premier League campaign. The Gunners also finished the term with the best defence after conceding only 29 times, marking the fewest goals they let in over a single season since the Invincibles.
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Yet Nicol has taken issue with Arteta after claiming Arsenal ‘know there are certain positions that we want to improve’. The Spaniard has also proposed that the Gunners are ‘very short’ in numbers for a few positions if they are to bridge the tiny margins needed to win the title.
“I don’t want to hear that at this time of the year,” Nicol cried on ESPN. “I want to hear some positive, ‘We want to win the title. We think we’ve got enough to win the title, we just have to get better [and] we have to take advantage whenever we get ourselves [in a position to]’.
“I don’t want to listen to, ‘Oh, well we need more cover in more positions’. Shut up, please! How’s about you go, ‘You know what? I think we can do this. This year, we’ve got the ability and we’ve got the players to win this’.
“That’s what I want to hear. I don’t want to hear excuses. Once you start playing the games, there’ll be plenty of time to make excuses. I don’t want to hear it before a ball’s kicked.”
Mikel Arteta is right to target greater depth at Arsenal
The Gunners are on course to seal their second senior signing of the summer after triggering an option to buy David Raya from Brentford. An agreement is in place with Bologna over the transfer to Arsenal of Riccardo Calafiori. He will add to their left-back and centre-half depth.
While Nicol has launched an astonishing rant about Arteta targeting greater depth, left-back was a problem position for Arsenal last term. Regular injury lay-offs for Oleksandr Zinchenko and Takehiro Tomiyasu plus Jurrien Timber’s ACL injury often saw Jakub Kiwior get the spot.
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A lack of depth in the attack has also been a big problem in N5 with Arteta rarely able to give Bukayo Saka a break. The 22-year-old played in 47 and in started 46 of their 52 games last term. So, Arsenal have contacted Juventus about Federico Chiesa’s transfer this summer.
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