Carragher: why Arsenal can't win the league

Jamie Carragher has admitted that he doesn’t think Arsenal are strong enough defensively to win the
Premier League, as reported by Sky Sports.

There has been a real surge of optimism at the Emirates in 2015 following the Gunners’ strong end to last season – finishing third and retaining the FA Cup – which has carried over into the summer after the acquisition of Petr Cech and a solid pre-season, including a victory over Chelsea in the Community Shield last Sunday.

With Cech now between the sticks, replacing David Ospina, many have tipped Arsenal as potential title contenders this term, 11 years after their last league triumph, but Carragher remains unconvinced.

When asked if Arsene Wenger’s men were strong enough defensively going into the new campaign, the Sky Sports pundit said: “Not really – I am a big fan of Laurent Koscielny and Per Mertesacker is a good player and a World Cup winner.

“You have those two and Gabriel Paulista, who they bought in January, but instead of signing Paulista, I would have liked to have seen them sign a top centre-back, so that the three of them are vying for two positions. As it still looks to be as though Koscielny and Mertesacker are first choice and there is no real danger of them losing their positions.

“Of course, that may change, but I would have liked to have seen them sign another top centre-back instead of Paulista, and seen him put big pressure on those two and eventually take the place of one of them. I am a big fan of Koscielny and if they can keep him fit, then I think he has a massive effect on Mertesacker, who looks a lot better when he is next to Koscielny.”

The Gunners conceded 36 goals in the Premier League last term, scoring 71, with an average pass accuracy of 84% while winning 52% of their average duels.

Arsenal kick-off their league campaign with a home clash against Slaven Bilic’s West Ham on Sunday afternoon, and the North London club will be desperate to start the as fast as they finished the last, having lost just two games after their 2-0 defeat against Southampton on New Year’s Day.