“That’ll be on the dressing room door the first day” - Paul Merson feels Man City star has already helped Arsenal win the Premier League next season
Football pundit Paul Merson believes that Manchester City superstar Rodri's 'harsh' comments will spur Arsenal on to win the Premier League title next season. In the 2023-24 season, the Gunners fell short by just two points to the Cityzens, who lifted their fourth league title in a row.
On the last day of the season, Mikel Arteta's side beat Everton 2-1, but Pep Guardiola's side cruised past West Ham United 3-1 to crush Arsenal's title hopes. During City's trophy celebrations however, Rodri raised a few eyebrows with a controversial comment that seemed to take veiled shots at their title rivals.
When asked about their dominance in English football, the Spanish midfielder said (via Football365):
"To be honest, I think it’s in here [points to the head]. It’s the mentality... Arsenal also, they deserve, they did an unbelievable season, but I think the difference was in here [points to head again]. When they came here, they faced us here at the Etihad, I saw them and said, ‘Ah, these guys, they don’t want to beat us, they just want a draw’.
"And that mentality, I don’t think we would do it the same way... At the end, if you give us one point, we will win the last seven, eight games even though it’s so tough. So I think [the win] comes down to mentality.”
Merson felt that Rodri's comments could serve as motivation for Arsenal to go out and win the Premier League title in the 2024-25 campaign. Speaking to Sky Sports, he said:
“Rodri’s comments will only help Arsenal. You come back [from the summer break] and they’ll say, ‘We’ll show you’. I thought it was wrong, because Arsenal did nothing wrong... For me, that’ll be on the dressing room door the first day in pre-season. There’s no doubt about that, I don’t know why he said it – it’s a bit harsh."
"Its one game thats cost them" - Paul Merson points out where Arsenal lost the 2023-24 Premier League title
In the same interview with Sky Sports, Paul Merson went on to explain exactly how Arsenal missed out on the 2023-24 Premier League title.
The Gunners were in pole position to lift the trophy until their game against Aston Villa on April 14. Former Arsenal manager Unai Emery led the Villans to a famous 2-0 win at the Emirates, which seemingly took the air out of the Gunners' title challenge.
Although they did not drop a single point after that match and won their last six league games, Manchester City didn't drop a single point either. With both teams remaining perfect, City edged out Arsenal by just two points to lift their fourth EPL title in a row.
Merson explained:
"They came back after New Year, they brushed themselves down and it’s one game that’s cost them... One game, one game against Villa, they’re a good team who can catch you on the counter."