Arsenal legend Patrick Vieira noted the difference between 'good teams and great teams' in Arsenal's 2-1 loss to Manchester City on Sunday.
Arsenal played well, but were ultimately not good enough to beat Manchester City and stop their late run to win the Premier League title.
A gap which used to be nine points has now been reduced to just three, with Manchester City still having a game in hand over Arsenal.
If they win the game by two goals, they will be at the top of the Premier League table, and Mikel ARteta and his men would not have been able to even fathom that a few weeks ago.
Patrick Vieira's perspective on the title race makes complete sense now
Vieira was asked about the game on Sunday, to which he gave a detailed response on why Arsenal would feel more pressure now, and the difference between teams who win it all and teams who don't.
He said: “I was confident that Arsenal would get a result (against Man City), and by that I mean at least a draw because it is a really difficult team to beat and score goals.
"Today, they had a good performance but the difference between good and great teams are the teams who are not used to winning and the ones who compete at this level all the time.
“You can see the difference today on the field and those top players made a difference today. The momentum is on City's side. It will be interesting to see how Arsenal recover because it's a huge disappointment for them.
“They will feel the pressure more now. I always question the mental strength of the team and I will question it more now regarding the result today.”
Vieira's quotes are, as always, absolutely spot on for a number of reasons. He did not just discuss what was wrong with the way Arsenal are handling the Premier League title race. He also mentioned how good Arsenal were, while giving credit to Manchester City about what it means to be champions.
You don't just have to be good, you have to be great in certain moments of the game. Manchester City, a team who have won a lot of Premier League titles in the last decade, would be much more suited to be 'great' in those moments than Arsenal, who haven't tasted silverware since 2020.
Arsenal were good, and there is a lot to take home about that performance, but City knew how to be great in those moments in front of goal. They maximised their individual brilliance through the likes of Rayan Cherki, and tried to dominate the game without dominating it.
The pressure will now be on Arsenal. They would have not faced as much pressure before as they would now, and it would be a test for them to see it and react to the situation.
Obviously, fans - Vieira included - would like to see them sustain the pressure and win the Premier League, but as we have seen many times in the past few years, you simply cannot blame some of the fans for being a little pessimistic.
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