Arsenal are racing ahead but can be caught
Jan 29 2008 by Luke Edwards, The Journal
KEVIN Keegan admits Arsenal have raised the bar in the Premier League during his time away from the game as he warned it could take years for Newcastle to close the gap on the ‘Big Four’.
Keegan has already experienced a 3-0 defeat to the Gunners in the FA Cup last weekend and Arsene Wenger’s team will once again be the overwhelming favourites when the two sides meet again tonight.
But Keegan remains confident that, given time, United will again be genuine rivals to Arsenal and others in the self-perpetuating elite: “They’ve set the standards, along with other clubs like Manchester United, Chelsea and Liverpool, but you mustn’t think that Arsene went to Arsenal and everything was fantastic because it wasn’t.
“He didn’t build it in a day, but you have to admire what he’s done because it’s a proven track record. They’re doing what every club wants to do, but you can’t do it from day one with all those young players.
“It’s not going to be a quick fix, I wasn’t scared to say last time that we were after the title when we got promoted, but this division is tougher than it was. It looks as though Newcastle have fallen away, but the top four have just moved forward, they’ve kicked on because they’ve had European football, they’ve had the big money that comes from that and they’ve had the big games to attract the best players.
“Ultimately we’re trying to break into it. Until someone does that, people will keep saying there is the top four and that’s it. But it’s not a given, it’s just those four teams have got things right at the moment.”
And Keegan believes he saw enough in the first-half performance last weekend to suggest Arsenal can be beaten on their own patch. He added: “In the first half, I think if someone had said we could play like that against Arsenal for 45 minutes on their own patch, that’s asking a lot, but we did it. That’s encouraging, but obviously some of the stuff in the second half takes you back a bit. If we had scored the first goal on Saturday it would have been very interesting.”
Meanwhile, Wenger has warned his players not to under-estimate the threat of Michael Owen, who has scored just once in seven games – against Stoke City in the FA Cup – since returning from injury. “His match sharpness will come back with more games,” Wenger said. “On Tuesday night he will be sharper than against us on Saturday. You still feel that if you make a mistake, he will be there to take advantage of it as his runs are very intelligent.
“Against us in the FA Cup on Saturday, I was worried about him as I felt that if no-one was there, he would be there – on deflections he is in there. You see that the quality is there, but Owen is not yet 100%.”
LUKE EDWARDS
