William Gallas fears Arsenal can have to make do with winning only a solitary trophy this season despite still being in contention to win three pieces of silverware.
The Gunners’ hopes of landing an unprecedented quadruple evaporated prior to the international break following their Carabao Cup final defeat against Manchester City.
Mikel Arteta’s side are back in motion against Southampton within the FA Cup on Saturday evening and can hope to bounce back, ahead of resuming their Champions League campaign in midweek.
Despite being in a robust position in Europe and odds-on facourites to progress to the semi-final of a contest that represents the one major trophy Arteta has won in his six years on the helm, Gallas believes it’s the Premier League title that shall be heading to the Emirates Stadium in May.
Gallas told football odds: ‘Can Arsenal win the treble? I believe Arsenal will win one trophy and that’s the Premier League.
‘They still should watch out but normally they’d win the Premier League from this position.
‘Champions League? I don’t think so. The FA Cup all is determined by the result between Liverpool and Manchester City.
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‘If it’s Manchester City in the ultimate, I believe Manchester City will win. If it’s Liverpool vs Arsenal in the ultimate, Arsenal will win. It’s a unique style and I believe Liverpool’s style suits Arsenal higher.’
Arteta, meanwhile, shall be taking stock of his squad this afternoon ahead of the trip to St Mary’s amid fears that at the very least 10 of his players are carrying injuries.
William Saliba was amongst certainly one of a clutch of players who opted out of playing for his country. Gallas conceded the centre-half was playing a dangerous game, if he wasn’t seriously injured, ahead of the World Cup but believes Arteta has been shrewd in guarding against some potentially premature setbacks.
‘I saw the news on William Saliba when Didier Deschamps gave the list for those two games and Saliba was in that list but he didn’t go because he was injured, but I saw the Carabao Cup final and Saliba played the entire game,’ Gallas added.
‘I believe Arsenal have protected their players. I don’t know in the event that they are really injured.
‘For me, it’s very obscure in case you play 90 minutes plus in the ultimate and nothing happened, no one saw anything on him, after which they sent a message to the French national team to say he’s injured.
‘They tried to guard their players to not get another game of their legs because now it would be like a sprint for the remaining of the season.
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‘They’ve still got three competitions to win within the FA Cup, Champions League and Premier League. They tried to be very careful with the players within the international break.
‘It’s in regards to the agreements between the club and the national teams. If the national team asks for that player, the player has to go there.
‘I don’t know what was discussed between the medical staff from the national team and from the club.
‘If every club does the identical, there’d be no international football. That shows you as well the pressure Arsenal have gotten on their shoulders. That’s why they did it.’
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