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This article is part of Football FanCast’s Pundit View series, which provides opinion and analysis on recent quotes from journalists, pundits, players and managers…
Speaking on talkSPORT, former Chelsea star Joe Cole has tipped Arsenal to potentially fall out of the Premier League’s top six next season.
What did he say?
The Gunners missed out on Champions League football for the upcoming campaign after finishing fifth in the Premier League and falling short in the Europa League final. Despite Unai Emery’s side seemingly opening up the chequebook this summer to improve their squad, Cole believes that the club could slip away from the proverbial ‘big six’.
He said: “I can’t really see anyone breaking into it, but I could possibly see Arsenal falling out of it, because there doesn’t seem to be enough harmony around the club. At Manchester United he (Ole Gunnar Solskjaer) seems to be getting his act together a little bit. I like the signings they’ve made – they’ve been good additions.
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“Arsenal possibly could, but it depends on the last few days of the window. It’s not like this is something new. If they do fall out of the top six it will be because of the policies that are in place at the club. They’ve been crying out for 10, maybe 15 years, to strengthen defensively and bring the right characters in. If they don’t do that they’ll keep conceding goals from set-pieces and conceding too many goals in general.”
A little over the top
The Gunners’ defensive issues are certainly public knowledge, but there can be no getting away from the fact that Emery’s side still boast some of the best attacking firepower in Europe with the likes of Alexandre Lacazette and last season’s Premier League Golden Boot winner Pierre Emerick-Aubameyang.
The strike duo alone should keep Arsenal in and around contention for the Champions League places, whilst their summer additions are also likely to address some of the issues they faced last season, and we haven’t even talked about £72m man Nicolas Pepe.
If anything, United’s struggles over trying to sign Harry Maguire and Sean Longstaff, and the continued drama surrounding the futures of Paul Pogba and Romelu Lukaku, would indicate the Red Devils are the side with question marks over their “harmony”.
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Whilst Cole certainly has a point in saying that the final week of the transfer window could be pivotal in what happens next season, barring an unpredictably disastrous campaign, the Gunners should once again finish inside the top six.
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