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Don’t jump the Gun
Alan Shearer is impressed with Premier League leaders Arsenal — but insists it is too soon to talk about them as title contenders.
Mikel Arteta’s Gunners returned to the top of the table with a 3-0 win at Brentford yesterday lunchtime.
Yet England and Newcastle legend Shearer, 52, is not convinced they have what it takes to lift the trophy come May.
Writing in his BBC Sport column, he said: “It’s not time to talk about them as title contenders yet, but people now know this is a different Arsenal to the team we saw just 13 months ago.
“The Gunners’ 3-0 win at Brentford on Sunday epitomised their progress under Arteta, because we all remember what happened in this fixture on the opening weekend of last season — when the Bees didn’t just beat them, they bullied them.
“This side is not only bigger and stronger, it is also more committed. They were better in every department and dominated right from the start.
“In just over a year, Arteta has not just built a different team, he has transformed the mood of the whole club. He deserves great credit for that, because he got a lot of criticism after the way they started last season, with three straight defeats.
“This time, they have won six of their first seven league games and go into the international break at the top of the table. They deserve it.
“I still think Arsenal’s main target [this season] is a return to the top four — and they have not done too much wrong so far.”
Off the boil
Emma Hayes could not hide her disappointment as Women’s Super League champions Chelsea slipped to defeat at newly-promoted Liverpool.
A game of three penalties saw the Reds snatch a shock 2-1 win at Prenton Park — leaving Hayes to bemoan her side’s finishing.
The Blues boss said: “For us going forward, I didn’t think we could hit a barn door. I just think we played poorly in the first half.
“I think sometimes we want to win things by bigger margins when we should just follow the process and keep passing the football.
“I thought in the second half it got a little bit stretched for us. We’ve still got new players coming in and they’re still learning the system. There’s big responsibilities on them.
“But we just chalk it off and we go again.”
England star Fran Kirby opened the scoring from the spot after just three minutes. But a second-half brace of penalties from Katie Stengel secured the points for Liverpool.
