On The Premier League
Who do you think is the best right back in the Premier League?
It’s a difficult one. You look at Kyle Walker, everything that he’s won, and he’s in the conversation because he’s been so consistent.I’ve been critical of him in the past, but you can’t deny his ability and he’s been the best right back consistently over a longer period - he’s got a good body of work.
Is Kyle Walker the best right back in the league at the moment? I don’t think he is. I think the best right back in the Premier League is Ben White. I think Ben’s performances at right back for Arsenal over the last three years have been superb. He’s getting better with every season, has a wonderful connection with Saka on the right of the pitch and brings a little bit extra in terms of his role from set pieces.
Ben White is the best right back in the Premier League.
From what you’ve seen so far, who are you tipping to finish in the top four?
I’ll go with Arsenal to win the title, City in second and Liverpool in third. The final place is a tricky one.
I've got no evidence to back this up, it’s more of a hunch, but something’s got to happen at Chelsea at some point with all those players.
Chelsea are going about running a club and building a team that everybody who knows anything about football is saying is wrong, and it looks completely the wrong way, but they've got a huge amount of talent in that squad. If Chelsea happen to stumble over some form, I think they will certainly be better than last year.
Newcastle have had a great start. Is this the year where Eddie gets them back in the Champions League? When they got there before, it was too much for them. They don’t have to worry about managing that European work load and that could help them, but things are not looking good behind-the-scenes. It’s all a bit messed up at St. James Park at the moment.
I’m leaning towards Chelsea. I’ll put my neck out and say Chelsea will finish in the top four.
The Premier League’s case against Manchester City starts on Monday. If they are found guilty, what do you think would be the appropriate punishment?
You’re trying to put the hammer of justice in my hand! I don’t think anyone knows how this trial is going to go and what the likely punishment for Manchester City will be.
What we do know is that it will likely be a drawn-out process, and the punishment will depend on what rules they have been found guilty of breaking. I’d be amazed if they were found guilty of all of the hundred-odd charges, perhaps the Premier League will be prioritising the charges they feel they can win on.
Nobody knows what is going to happen. You would think that if they’re found guilty on a number of them, then City are probably looking at some serious points deductions, possibly relegation. Relegation is also complicated because then your passing the problem onto the EFL.
I can’t see the club taking a financial penalty. That would be completely meaningless in my eyes as they can just write a cheque for whatever the fine is.
I also don’t think that the Premier League would take away any of their titles won during the period they allegedly broken the rules because that opens up a serious can of worms for several other teams in the Premier League; teams that went down, missed out on European football… that would really open Pandora’s Box.
From an Arsenal perspective, if City were docked points this season and it gave Arsenal a massive advantage in terms of winning the title, would it cheapen the achievement? Would you prefer the punishments to be delayed so Arsenal could potentially win a clean title?
It wouldn’t bother me in the slightest if Arsenal won a title or had an easier run at the title because City are given a points deduction. What’s happening at City has got absolutely nothing to do with Arsenal, it means nothing to the club and wouldn’t cheapen anything that they achieve through their own performances.
When you played for Arsenal, Manchester United were the club’s big rivals. They’ve been a mess for a while now. How many years do you think it will take Jim Ratclife and his team to turn United into a force again?
Manchester United are miles away from competing with the best teams in the Premier League and it's difficult to put a time on when they will be able to again.
I look at United, and I just can’t see them turning things around anytime soon. There are too many jobs that need to be done for this to be any kind of quick fix. You’ve got a new regime trying to put their stamp on the club and address things, a manager who is constantly standing above the trap door, there's no continuity at the club.
I don’t see a club where everyone is signing from the same hymn sheet, on the pitch and off it.
There are some good young players at the club who have been given an opportunity to show their quality, which is great to see, but there are a number of relationships between the manager and other players, elements of the club, that look completely broken.
When you watch Manchester United play, they’re all over the place; there’s no game plan. They don’t have an identifiable playing style. There are so many problems to solve at the club before they can even get close to the likes of Manchester City, Arsenal and Liverpool.
It feels like Erik ten Hag is a bad result away from the vultures circling every single week. Have you got any sympathy for the Dutchman?
I don’t have sympathy for Erik ten Hag, but I do wonder how the pressure and the negativity that can rear its ugly head whenever you speak about Manchester United affects how he prepares his team on the training pitch.
You need to be fully focussed to make improvements with your team. I’m not doubting Erik ten Hag’s commitment to the job at hand, but there is so much background noise and until that starts to quiet down, until people like you and me shut up about the club’s problems, then this is going to be the reality. It’s game-to-game survival mode for ten Hag.
He needs to put a run of results together, but he also needs the performances to be decent. He needs something to build his season on and he needs it quickly.
Several people suggested that Liverpool were title contenders this season. What’s your point of view on them, Lee?
It'd be foolish to say that Liverpool aren’t going to compete for the Premier League title this season because they’ve got so much quality in their squad.
I love watching them play, I love their style. They've got some great forwards.
Slot’s come in and he'sbasically got the same group of players that Klopp had. He's trying to play in a slightly different way, and that takes a bit of time.
I thought Liverpool looked really good in the first three games. They had an energy about them. You can see that Slot’s tweaked certain elements of their game and is trying different things compared to Klopp.
I don’t think anyone saw them losing at home to Nottingham Forest, but that can happen in the Premier League.
I think Liverpool will definitely be in the top four at the end of the season.
Which manager is going to win the prize that no one wants this season: the sack race?
Erik ten Hag is the obvious name, isn’t he? He’s the manager that is always in the papers, but that is what the pressure is like when you’re in charge of Manchester United.
I think Sean Dyche could be in a bit of trouble. Four defeats on the trot, thirteen goals conceded
He's under the pressure because Everton’s next six games are games that you would expect them to pick up points from. Leicester away is the next one, then Palace at home.
Perhaps the uncertainty behind-the-scenes at the club is helping him out. There doesn’t seem to be anyone with itchy trigger fingers, but with a new stadium to move into next season, panic will start setting in soon if the club don’t start putting points on the board.
Ipswich are on the horizon. If he doesn’t win any of those, then he’s got to be a candidate for the sack race. I hope he isn’t the first manager to go, I think it’s only a matter of time before he turns things around, but the signs are not looking good at the moment.
Ben White has continued to rule himself out of international selection. Do you think his England career is finished?
It’s not for me to say whether or not Ben White’s international career is over. The only person that knows that is Ben himself, but whatever he decides to do is absolutely fine by me.
If he decided that he wanted to play for England, then I think Lee Carsley would pick him in his squad tomorrow because he’s a fantastic footballer. The previous manager would have done the same thing, but both have been told that he’s not available so what can they do?
I certainly won’t judge Ben for any decision that he makes on his international future. I will completely respect his decision regardless. As long as he and his family are happy, that is all that matters.
On Arsenal
What’s your immediate reaction to Arsenal’s victory over Tottenham?
I think that this could have been Arsenal’s most important away performance and victory from the last eighteen months. When you’re in the position of chasing a team down, and that’s where Arsenal are, even if its early in the season, and you go into the match against your local rivals with your two most influential midfielders missing, it shows the maturity in the team.
It was a really impressive victory. It was resilient. It was solid - Arsenal got the job done in some tough circumstances against an opponent that would have been desperate to give them a bloody nose.
It wasn't a classic in terms of the football, but Arsenal had a stranglehold over the game, and they never let it go. They were in control. Watching it, you never felt that Tottenham would get anything from the game.
It was a brilliant team performance. The back four was superb. Timberprobably had his best game for the club.
Gabriel was immense. Jorginho came in and he was solid without being spectacular - hedid exactly what was needed.
I've never been so pleased to see a 1-0 to The Arsenal.
You were part of one of the most iconic and meanest back fours in Arsenal’s history. How do you think the current back four compares?
There’s no doubt that the Arsenal back four are a very committed bunch. Left back has been a little bit of a problem. Timber came in, got injured and missed the entire season, but it looks like he’s making up for lost time. His absence was a big blow last season.
Both full backs had a great game against Spurs and dealt with arguably Tottenham’s two most dangerous players in Son and Johnson quite well.
The two centre backs, Gabriel and William Saliba, that’s the best partnership in the league. Saliba is the player that normally gets more attention, but I think Gabriel is just as good. His positioning is exceptional and his appetite to defend is fantastic. He’s dependable and he scores goals.
David Raya has been solid since he joined. He’s not as good as Dave Seaman, obviously and Ben White’s not a patch on me (joking).
It's a joy to watch this back four. They really enjoy the process of defending, the best teams do, and some other teams overlook that sometimes.
How much credit does Mikel Arteta deserve for the defence?
Mikel Arteta absolutely deserves credit for Arsenal having the meanest defence in the Premier League. He's put that back four together and it gets protected by the midfield, but there is a confidence in the shape and the discipline of the entire team. Everyone knows their job perfectly with and without the ball. When you set yourself up like Arsenal do, and you’re hard to break down, you’vegot a very good chance of winning the game.
All of our success in the past was built on that being hard to beat and making the pitch smaller when we didn’t have the ball and bigger when we had it. Arsenal aredoing a brilliant job at that now.
Do you think we learned anything we didn’t know about this Arsenal team after the victory?
I don’t think the Tottenham win told us anything we didn’t already know about this Arsenal team, but I think it gives you more confidence in them and the title race knowing they can dig in and produce performances like that.
If you look at the two teams, one has adapted to problems in Arsenal, they dealt with the absence of two key midfielders, and the other didn’t really have the ability to change their approach. Spurs only ever play in one way, they can be pretty one dimensional, and I think that is the biggest gripe the fans have with Ange’s football.
Arteta has shown a willingness to be flexible with his tactical approach. Of course, he plays beautiful football at times, but he’s also capable of setting up a team to dig in. He’s working with a lot of data in his mind. He’s got a game plan for every opponent and he’s never afraid to use it.
We haven’t seen much of Riccardo Calafiori in an Arsenal shirt yet. We saw him at the European Championships, what do you think he’s going to bring to the Arsenal defence?
I think it would be very dangerous for Arsenal and Mikel Arteta to think ‘we’ve got the best back four in the Premier League, let’s just keep what we’ve got’. You need the quality in reserve if you want to compete for all of the trophies and the competition in the squad keeps standards high.
When you’re playing in a team competing for title, you have to get used to the competition as a player. I think I was at the club for 15 years and every single season it seemed like the club were trying to bring in someone to replace me. I saw them all off until Lauren joined, but I was 37 at the time and coming towards the end of my powers as a player.
When he joined, I took him to one side and said: “I love this football club, I know that you’re going to take over my job in the team, let me help you. I’ll give you all of my knowledge and experience.”
He must have listened to me because a few years later he went on to become an Invincible (laughs).
You need that competition and that’s what Riccardo Calafiori will bring. The biggest compliment that I can pay him is his versatility. We’ve seen him play in a number of defensive roles; centre back, left centre back in a back three, left back. He’s comfortable moving into midfield in possession of the ball.
The fans will like him because he looks like all he wants to do is give everything he's got for whatever shirt he's got on. He looks like he’ll smash a few people as well and there’s nothing wrong with that sometimes.
Mikel Arteta signed a new contract this week, his third with the club. If the first was about stability, the second improvement and turning Arsenal into a club that competes, is the third all about delivering trophies?
It’s time for Arteta and Arsenal to start winning titles. That’s the natural progression for the progress the club has made over the last few years under Mikel.
There's no point in adding depth to squad and signing better players, playing fancy football if you don’t win anything. The point of management is to improve players and win trophies, and that’s what Mikel will be aiming for. That's what he’s in it for.
It’s irrelevant that Arsenal are challenging one of the juggernauts of modern-day football in Man City, that’s just the way it is at this moment in time.
Arteta knows better than anyone that he needs to win some major titles. He doesn’t need to be told that by anyone.
The club have given him everything that he’s asked for. He’s been really well supported, and he’s got people around him that have complete faith in his ability to turn this potential into trophies.
He’s rebuilt the connection between the club, it’s fans and the players. Things were toxic at Arsenal for far too many years, but now The Emirates is a very happy place, and he’s been the main facilitator of that.
He’s ticked every box and the most difficult one left is winning the Premier League. If he doesn’t achieve that in the next two or three years, he will say that he’s failed. It would be a failure because of the standards that he sets.
Do you think Mikel Arteta has any similarities in his style and approach to Arsene Wenger?
Arteta and Wenger are both stubborn winners. They’ve got that in common.
If you're not an Arsenal supporter, then you could quite easily dislike both of them.
That's what it takes to win. You need to have that single-minded approach and that desire.
Arsene not seeing things where his team was a bit naughty, he did that because it was the best for the club. Mikel is exactly the same in terms of everything that he does is what’s best for the club. All they both think about is Arsenal and the next game; they're very committed to the job.
There'sa big difference about their Monday to Friday. Arsene was always on the training pitch, but he didn't do a lot of coaching. Arsenewasn’t a move you around the pitch type of coach. He's would put a session on and let the players get on with it. Mikel's more hands on and very involved.
There’s many similarities and many differences, but they both want the same thing at the end of the week and that’s winning.
On Manchester City vs Arsenal
From an Arsenal perspective, how much of a boost does the Spurs victory give Arsenal going into that clash with Manchester City next week?
It's not only just the boost of winning a game, to be honest, it doesn’t matter that the victory came against Arsenal’s local rivals. The supporters enjoy the kudos, and that’s great, but the players will see it as three points and most importantly, the gap to Manchester City hasn’t increased.
It was a good result under difficult circumstances, and that resilience is a good thing to have in your muscle memory for a game against City because it’s going to be a difficult afternoon for Arsenal in Manchester.
The gap between the two clubs is two points, it could have been five. Lose to City and its eight and people start telling you the title is over. A load of rubbish gets talked by so-called experts in the game, people saying the title race could be over after four games, it’s nonsense, but had Arsenal lost to Spurs and lost to City, maybe I would be jumping on that bandwagon.
I don’t think Arsenal will want to be in a situation where they find themselves eight points behind City at any point in the season, let alone after five games. We know that City will register at least 90-odd points - you can’t give them too much of a head start.
Going into the game, two points behind them, within reach, game on. If Arsenal had lost to Spurs, they would have been dealing with a week of negativity and questions being asked by the so-called experts. Players can try and block that out, but they hear it all. That wouldn’t have been good, but now they can enjoy themselves, have a little trip to Italy and come back ready to take on the champions.
ErlingHaaland has started the season like a man possessed. Can William Saliba and Gabriel keep him quiet on Sunday?
It's always the key battle, a goal scorer like Haaland tends to take all of the headlines, and it will be up to Gabriel and Saliba to deal with him. I’m not saying City’s only threat is Haaland, that would be foolish, but he is the biggest threat in the team.
He’s going to be coming up against the best defence in the Premier League. He knows what he’s facing. He’s one of them players that can be quiet for the entire game, have three touches and one of them is a goal. He’s got that quality.
I’d take Alan Shearer all day long over him though. If you put Alan Shearer in this City team, he’d score a million goals as well. The City team give Haaland so much service that I reckon I would probably get at least 10 goals if I played up front for them (laughs)! Definitely double figures.
He’s the main man in a brilliant team that constantly feed him. It’s going to be a key battle to keep an eye on next week.
We’ve seen Arsenal improve their results against Manchester City over the last couple of seasons. Do they need a statement victory at The Etihad Stadium?
No Arsenal don’t need a statement victory over Manchester City. All the statement does is build you up, and then the title becomes Arsenal’s to lose. If Arsenal beat City and lose the next game to Leicester, it doesn’t mean anything.
There are points in the season when games do turn into statement victories, and they can be very important in terms of shifting momentum, but we’re far too early in the season to consider this one of those.
When we won the title in ‘98, Marc Overmars scoring the winner at Old Trafford, that was a statement victory. It was pivotal. When we were in the dressing room at the end of that game, we could hear theirs and it was silent.We knew that we had just given them a massive blow. Had they had drawn that, I think United would have won the league, but it gave us the momentum and we had the games in hand. We kept winning and won the title by a single point.
It's too early to consider this game an opportunity to record a statement win, but it’s always nice to beat your rivals and main competition whether it’s in September or April.
I also don’t think that a victory for Arsenal would strike any sort of phycological blow to Man City. This is a team of serial winners managed by one of the greatest managers ever. Pep wouldn’t dwell on a defeat; he’ll be thinking about the next game.
Do you think the Premier League title winner is going to come from this fixture?
One of these teams will win the title this season, and my loyalties lie with Arsenal. I’m sticking with Arsenal based on the progression they’ve made over the last few years.
City have won it four times on the trot.That’s an astonishing achievement. It’s so hard to win it back-to-back, let alone four in a row. To stay that hungry, that motivated, it’s incredible.
You think to yourself, ‘how can they keep it going’. Pep deserves so much credit for that. It will be very difficult for anyone to stop them, and, if this is Pep’s last season at the club, he will want to go out with another Premier League title.
