Retired Arsenal and Cameroon international Lauren sat down with Get French Football News to discuss his former club who after narrowly missing out on winning the Premier League in 2022/23 and 2023/24 are hoping to win their first league title since his 2003/04 Invincibles.
After two near misses, how close do you think Mikel Arterta’s Arsenal are to winning the league?
Still a long time [before the end of the season]. I believe that it’s still a long time to go and the team will be fighting to win the Premier League.
The red card on Saturday against Bournemouth was a disappointment for William Saliba but can you speak a bit about his importance to this Arsenal side?
We all know that he’s a massive player for us. The fact that he was sent off against Bournemouth was a big blow for us. It’s not easy to play against a team that pressed high and pressed in the middle of the park and pressed everywhere. So losing Saliba was a big blow and we have to recover as quick as possible if we are to achieve our goals by the end of the season.
Do you think Saliba would have fitted into your Invincibles side and do you see any similarities between this Arsenal team and the Invincibles?
We have to avoid comparisons. Saliba is a top player and he could play in any team around the world. I don’t like to compare generations or teams, because as long as we keep comparing it’s a sign of weakness.
We have a strong team this year and a team that has been developing and with top players in the squad. We have to focus our attention on the squad we have now, [and think] that we can challenge anyone in the Premier League and we can challenge anyone in the Champions League.
So I prefer to speak and think about [the current team].
You’ve spoken before about how Arsene Wenger’s warmth attracted you to join Arsenal over Real Madrid – how different was he from other managers at the time?
I don’t know the other managers [laughs]. Arsene Wenger was a top manager. The best I ever had because he was a top manager in every single sense.
Lauren was speaking to Get French Football News exclusively on behalf of NewBettingSites.uk, who have the latest football betting offers.