Arsenal round-up: Gunners lose at Anfield; Cech on title hopes; Ronald Koeman targeted

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Arsenal lost at Anfield on Saturday to dent their Champions League hopes. It is another big match that the Gunners haven’t turned up in and the pressure on Arsene Wenger is only going to increase as a result. He began the match with an unexpected starting line-up, with Alexis Sanchez dropped to the bench. It was an odd decision from the Frenchman to not start his top scorer and it was a gamble that didn’t pay off. His team were convincingly outplayed in the first half and left themselves with too much to do after the break.

This loss has seen them drop out of the top four and that is a major blow ahead of what will be an important part of the season for Arsenal. It is well known that Liverpool have a good record against the rest of the top six, but the Gunners made it easy for them on Saturday and questions need to be asked about the team selection. Before the end of the season, they have to play Manchester City, Tottenham and Manchester United. It is difficult to see them winning any of those three matches unless they significantly improve.

After joining Arsenal, Petr Cech was seen as a player that could transform the club into title challengers, but he concedes that they are too far away to now lift the Premier League in May. Although there had been a small amount of hope before their loss at Anfield, they must now focus on a top four finish, as they are 13 points behind Chelsea.

“With the three points we would have still been in the chase for the title, but now I think we are too far away.

“I don’t think Chelsea will lose so many points, so now we need to concentrate on finishing as high as possible and qualifying for the Champions League.”

It is a disappointment for Arsenal fans that they won’t be seriously challenging for the title during the run-in, but it is a reality of their situation. The Premier League is the toughest league to win in the world due to its competitive nature. There are six teams that can challenge for the title and the Gunners have to be at their best over an entire season to finish on top. Their inconsistency during recent seasons has prevented them from doing so and they must now completely focus on a top four finish.

Finally, the speculation about the future of Arsene Wenger refuses to go away and the loss to Liverpool will only increase the pressure on him. The Mirror report that Ronald Koeman has emerged as the hot favourite to replace the Frenchman at the end of the season. However, the Gunners will have to act quickly to secure the Everton manager as Barcelona are also interested. He has done an excellent job since arriving in England with Southampton and Everton, which has attracted interest from big clubs.

He would be a safe appointment as he has experience at the very top of the game as a player, while he is used to the Premier League. That said, there would be a section of the Arsenal fanbase that would be sceptical of his ability to manage the club, due to his lack of major success as a manager. His spell at Valencia wasn’t a success and it would be a huge test of his ability to manage a huge club like Arsenal. There are better candidates out there. This is a decision that Arsenal can’t afford to rush.

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