TalkSPORT host Adrian Durham has blasted Unai Emery for his supposedly defeatist comments over the merits of Arsenal’s title challenge for the season ahead.
Speaking after the Gunners’ 2-2 draw with Real Madrid, the manager said: “We need to be realistic because the distance between City and Liverpool to us is a lot of points.
“We reduced the difference with Chelsea and Tottenham and in the end we were only two and one point behind them.
“I know that is not enough, but I am positive we can take further steps forward to compete with the big clubs and fight for the top four in the Premier League.”
Durham felt that Emery’s comments leave Arsenal fans with little to look forward to, despite a pre-season that included wins over Bayern Munich and Fiorentina, before being taken to penalties by the Spanish giants.
Letting off some steam on his Drivetime show, Durham said: “Unai Emery, post-match last night, gave up on the title, and I think we’d all say Arsenal would be hard-pushed to make a title challenge never mind win the title this season, but he did also say Arsenal fans have got to be realistic.
“That, to me, sounds very negative before the season has even started.”
The pundit was scathing in his review of the comments, attacking the Gunners’ activity this summer so far, highlighting the sticky situation involving Laurent Koscielny and labelling their as-yet failed pursuit of Wilfried Zaha as “embarrassing”.
“For me, already Arsenal are not offering their fans any kind of optimism whatsoever,” he continued.
“The season is around the corner and they seem to be, if not in meltdown, there is no reason to be positive about Arsenal ahead of the coming season.”
With Arsenal not finishing in the top four since 2016, to suggest the Gunners are in the running for the title itself may have been a case of blind optimism on Emery’s part rather than the contrast of seemingly casting their title aspirations aside that irked Durham to the point of him feeling the need to rant.
But improvement next season in the shape of a Champions League place would surely represent a successful campaign, with the club failing in their last three attempts to qualify for the competition – and in turn, optimism can be taken from a promising pre-season programme ahead of the fight to finish in the top four come May.
