Rio Ferdinand says the Arsenal players cannot afford to get ’emotional’ despite seeing their lead within the Premier League title race cut by Manchester City.
Arsenal were minutes away from boasting an enormous nine-point lead at the highest of the table as Man City trailed Liverpool 1-0 at Anfield earlier this month.
But Pep Guardiola’s side produced a surprising late comeback to win 2-1 and, within the eyes of many pundits, keep the Premier League title race alive.
Man City subsequently thumped Fulham 3-0 after which watched on as leaders Arsenal dropped two points in a 1-1 draw with Brentford.
Those results mean Arsenal, bidding to win the Premier League for the primary time since 2004, lead Manchester City by 4 points with 12 games remaining.
Arsenal visit basement boys Wolves on Wednesday night before taking over north London rivals Tottenham in an enormous derby this weekend.
Manchester City, meanwhile, who’ve won six of the last eight league titles, return to Premier League motion on Saturday against Newcastle United.
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Ferdinand still believes Arsenal will end their long wait for a Premier League trophy but says it’s imperative that the Gunners ‘react’ to the Brentford attract the proper manner.
Six-time title winner Ferdinand acknowledges this shouldn’t be a guarantee given the shortage of previous winners within the Arsenal squad and for that reason says Gabriel Jesus could play a ‘critical’ role.
Jesus won 4 Premier League titles with Manchester City before his £45m move to north London in 2022.
The 28-year-old missed the beginning of this season through injury but has shown glimpses of his previous form since returning, scoring 4 goals in his last six appearances.
‘If I take myself back to the moment of being within the changing room during a title challenge, it’s a good result against a tough team to play against,’ Ferdinand, speaking on his podcast, said of Arsenal’s draw with Brentford.
‘Forget the name or the status of the club, each season teams turn out to be a distinct version of what we knew them as. Brentford is a tough place to go this season.
‘I’d have been within the Arsenal changing room and saying, “boys, it’s some extent away from home, we move on”. As much as fans might get emotional, the players can’t do this.
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‘The largest point will probably be, what was the conversation and the response like after that result? Was it a sense of, “guys, we’re letting it slip, we’ve been here before” and a little bit of fear creeping in or did just a few of the players rally across the troops and remind the group that they will drop points, and it’s about the way you react.
‘Who’s having those conversations? That’s where experience is available in and that’s where Gabriel Jesus is perhaps critical straight away because he’s considered one of the one ones in that dressing room who has won something.
‘The players are going to be searching for answers and guidance.’
Assessing Arsenal and Man City’s run-in, Ferdinand added: ‘The thing that may mess things up is the mental games now… who’s playing first each weekend because that creates a distinct pressure.
‘I’ve checked out each of the run-ins and I don’t think there’s much difference. I don’t think anyone is majorly harder than the opposite.
‘I believe it’s a very good run-in, I’m glad that Arsenal are getting pulled in simply to make it more interesting because they were beginning to run away with it, I used to be getting a bit fearful of that.
‘I’ll be celebrating if Arsenal win the league from afar. I’ll be completely happy in the event that they win it and I’ll send just a few of the players a text and be completely happy since it means Man City or Liverpool haven’t won it.’
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