Arsenal legend George Graham has warned Arsene Wenger his World Cup star Alexis Sanchez will not be enough to land the Premier League title.
Gunners fans enjoyed their first glimpse of the £33million Chile striker in the pre-season Emirates Cup tournament at the weekend.
But while Wenger has locked down one Barcelona star, Graham thinks he will need more than that if he wants to break the Manchester stranglehold on the title.
Graham – who won six trophies in nine years as Gunners manager – rates Sanchez as world-class, but says Wenger will need another prolific goalscorer to land the club’s first league crown since the Invincibles class of 2004.
Sanchez, lively and industrious, was an instant hit in a cameo appearance in the 5-1 demolition of Benfica, then played 70 minutes of Arsenal’s 1-0 defeat by Monaco.
But Olivier Giroud, who had only been back in training a week after his World Cup exploits with France, looked desperately laboured.
And Graham – who led the Gunners to the title in 1989 and 1991 – said: “They’ve brought in real class in Sanchez, but are going to need someone else to finish all the wonderful chances they make.
“Arsenal will be challenging if they get another two or three players.”
Wenger starts the Premier League campaign without his trio of World Cup winners – Germany stars Per Mertesacker, Mesut Ozil and Lukas Podolski.
And he will get an early taste of the firepower required to dislodge champions Manchester City in Sunday’s Community Shield at Wembley.
No comments:
Post a Comment