Arsenal dropped points in the race for the title with their defeat to Everton on Saturday.
Manchester United icon Rio Ferdinand has sent Arsenal a warning after their 1-0 defeat to Everton on Saturday and highlighted the importance of having experience in the squad during a title race when a team suffers adversity. The Gunners could have gone eight points clear of second-placed Manchester City with victory at Goodison Park, but if Pep Guardiola’s outfit defeat Tottenham on Sunday they will be just two points behind the Premier League leaders.
Arsenal will hope to bounce back in their next game against Brentford, as Ferdinand explained that one of the key rules during his time at United was not to lose two games in a row. “I think it’s important how you react,” Ferdinand told BT Sport. “I think when we played you don’t lose two games in a stint, and you’ve got to find ways to get results anywhere by any means.
“You can’t always play perfect football, and there’s going to be big long spells in games where it’s not going your way. How can you come out of those moments or override those moments?
“It’s going to be the experienced players – like Jorginho even who’s just come into the changing room – to be able to talk to young players, to make them feel comfortable, even in this situation at some points it’s not the end of the world.
Rio Ferdinand has stated the importance of experience for Arsenal in their title race
“You’re still top of the league, you’re still playing good football. They played some good football today, just didn’t have that cutting edge, so you’ve got to find positives somewhere in this performance – even though it’s going to be difficult – to maintain momentum and confidence throughout the squad. You can’t lose it through one result.”
Ferdinand believes that Manchester City will be buoyed by Arsenal’s defeat and though the top two sides still have to play each other twice, the ex-United defender is still cautiously predicting the Gunners to lift the title at the end of the season. “I tell you one thing, that City team will be sitting at home going ‘hmm, now then,’ licking their lips, rubbing their hands together, because now the pendulum could really swing,” Ferdinand added.
Arsenal signed more experience on deadline day with the acquisition of Jorginho from Chelsea.
“Especially when you see the fixture list – they [Arsenal] have got Brentford next week but then Man City the week after that.
“That’s when you maybe think the experience will be telling, but you look at Arsenal, they’re fearless and not as experienced as of yet, so you don’t know where that is going to sit.
“I was a young player going into Manchester United and needed the experience around me to help me through certain situations in the season where you drop points. As much as I still think Arsenal win the league, I’ll be very, very, very kind of wary of Man City.”
source:express
