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Arsenal icon Ray Parlour has offered his advice for Mikel Arteta and his players ahead of the Gunners' final six games of the season. The north London giants saw their Premier League title charge suffer a major blow following a defeat against Aston Villa while their Champions League run was also brought to an end by Bayern Munich in midweek.
Arsenal and Liverpool both lost their Premier League games last week handing reigning champions Manchester City a two-point lead at the top. Ray Parlour, who was a part of the Gunners' invincible Premier League-winning side in 2004, has urged the Arsenal players to keep fighting for the title.
Parlour insisted that the players cannot afford to feel fatigued and must push beyond their limits as they still have plenty to play for. The former England international said, as quoted by Football.London:
“Well, you heard Rodri you know, Man City players saying, ‘We’re tired. We need a rest. And they got the rest [last] weekend. But for me, at this stage of the season, you can't feel tired. I mean, even if you are tired, you can't feel tired. You just got to make sure you do everything you can, massages. You know, you keep getting your body ready for the next game because you don't get many opportunities to be in the title race.”
Parlour added:
“You know, all them sort of big games and this is why you play football. So when they say, ‘I feel tired' I'm like, wait a minute, you might feel tired when you're mid-table and you have nothing to play for and you're getting a bit, ‘Oh, well, I've had enough now. I just want the season to end,’ but there's still much still so much to play for. And this is why you play football, to win trophies and compete at the highest level. So as I said before, I mean, I felt tired in a lot of games, but I made sure I didn't feel tired when I played."
Parlour has reminded the Arsenal players that the prize is huge should they achieve success in the Premier League this season. He insisted that if the players give their everything, they will only look back at their efforts with pride in the future. The 51-year-old added:
“You’re running around like normal, and you make sure you make that extra effort to keep going as a team because you let your teammates down if you don't. So as much as players have played lots of football, which we know. But this is the most exciting part of the season. You know, when you come to that crunch last five, six games and you know you've got you've got a chance for the title, you've got to find something extra."
The Englishman concluded:
“I don't care, 'red zone' or whatever they call it now and all this you know, for me, you've got to say right, ‘Wait a minute. I'm gonna roll my sleeves up. I'm gonna run even harder to try and win the next game and maybe at the end of the season, I've got a winners medal.' And when you finish your career, you know, you can look back and say, I put that extra bit in and every single player did and that's why we won that trophy that season. So for me, you just got to deal with it and Arteta has got to look at it and say, ‘You've got to play, but recover better.’ I mean, you don't have to train hard now this time of the season, you aren’t going to get fitter than what you are now.”
Arsenal's season have suffered a major setback in just three days with two back-to-back defeats. A 2-0 loss to Aston Villa saw them go on the back foot in the race for the Premier League title. They lost 1-0 to Bayern Munich in the second leg of the Champions League quarter-finals following a 2-2 draw in the first leg.
Pundit urges Eredivisie star to snub Real Madrid and move to Arsenal
Former Dutch manager and television pundit Aad de Mos has urged PSV Eindhoven midfielder Joey Veerman to reject Real Madrid and move to Arsenal instead. The 25-year-old has earned rave reviews with his exploits for PSV catching the eye of European elites.
Veerman has been mentioned as a target for Real Madrid and former Ajax and PSV Eindhoven manager Aad de Mos reckons that the players suits Arsenal's system. He also backed the former Heerenveen star for a bright future for both club and country. The 77-year-old said:
“I think Veerman is a typical player for Arsenal. He is a different type than Taylor. The latter is also younger than Veerman. He has a great future and is now playing in a very bad team. Let everyone have their say. We will see in the long run. He has already played for the Dutch team, scored against Germany. He will make his minutes at the European Championship."
De Mos added:
“They (Real Madrid) have a lot of good midfielders there at the moment. With those two French guys (Edouardo Camavinga and Aurélien Tchouaméni) and of course Bellingham. He won’t play much there. I think it would be better for him to move to Arsenal.”
Joey Veerman is capable of playing either as a number six or number eight and offers a lot in both attack and defence. He has contributed with six goals and 15 assists in 37 games this season.
