Sky Sports pundit Jamie Carragher (Photo by Carl Recine/Getty Images)placeholder image
Sky Sports pundit Jamie Carragher (Photo by Carl Recine/Getty Images)
Jamie Carragher has been discussing the progression, or lackthereof, of two Arsenal players,
Jamie Carragher believes two Arsenal players have failed to live up to expectations. The Gunners have had a superb season so far, and heading into the last 12 games of the season, they have a four-point lead over Manchester City.
Mikel Arteta has impressive depth at his disposal this season, and if Arsenal do get the job done, that may well be the key to their success.
There is work still to do, though, with Manchester City bringing that title-winning experience to the table, while City have been in fine form over recent weeks.
This is the best oppportunity Arsenal will have to win the title, it feels like, and if they don’t, it will go down as a clear failure. But what could be their undoing with such a strong squad?
According to Jamie Carragher, it is the lack of absolute elite quality, with two superstars having failed, in his eyes, to reach their full potential, at least yet.
“I made a comment about Arsenal about a month ago on the back of picking my Premier League team of the season so far,” Carragher said on The Overlap.
“People talk about their mentality – I actually think Arsenal have great mentality. But there problem could be a lack of quality in the final third. When I watch Arsenal, I don’t think they’ve got an absolute superstar in the front four or five players. I thought Saka and Odegaard were going to get there a few years ago.
“I thought they were ready to almost become the best players in the Premier League. I still don’t think Arsenal have got one of them. So people talk about mentality with Arsenal but what I think could actually stop them [in the title race] is actually quality.
“I think we would all agree that Arsenal are the best team this season but Man City have been there before even if it’s not a vintage City.”
Reviewing Carragher’s case
In the case of Saka, the 24-year-old has arguably failed to take the giant leap many expected him to in the last year or so, but he is still very young. Development is not linear, and players usually hit their peak at 28.
Saka has already had superb seasons as a player, and there are going to be seasons where he is not quite as impactful, although this season he still had seven goals and seven assists.
Having said that, he doesn’t currently feel like a player who will take the biggest games by the scruff in the way that Vinicius Jr or Ousmane Dembelé might. That may be to come, though, and it’s too early to cast a judgement as Carragher has.
Odegaard, meanwhile, has struggled a little this season when it comes to production, assisting six times and scoring once. But it does feel as though he can dominate big games, and try as they might, Arsenal cannot replace him.
No one can do Odegaard’s role as well as he does, creating behind the front line and keeping Arsenal ticking over with superb movement off the ball and quality passes on it.
You cannot have a top team in the world like Arsenal rely on your presence and not be an absolute elite player. Sometimes, it’s easy to look at the numbers, but there are few teams in the world who would turn down the chance to have Odegaard in their midfield, and that says it all.
Continue Reading