Jamie Carragher has opened up on a conversation with a nervous Arsenal fan as the Gunners sit nine points clear at the top of the Premier League with the title run-in approaching
Jamie Carragher believes Arsenal fans are anxious ahead of the final weeks of the season
Jamie Carragher has disclosed how he found himself acting as an impromptu counsellor for an anxious Arsenal supporter in the critical closing stages of the Premier League campaign. Arsenal currently hold a nine-point advantage over Manchester City, although Pep Guardiola’s team have a game in hand against Crystal Palace and are still due to welcome the Gunners to the Etihad later this month.
Arsenal continue their pursuit across two competitions as they attempt to break their prolonged trophy drought and claim a first Premier League triumph in over 20 years. Throughout last month’s international break, 11 players withdrew from international duty, sparking speculation over whether the the club were battling an injury crisis or being cautious
While working as a pundit for Champions League broadcasts on American network CBS Sports, Carragher spoke about the extent of nervousness amongst Arsenal supporters, recounting an exchange he’d experienced with a fan earlier that same day.
“There will be a real fear from Arsenal supporters, as I found out today when I spoke to someone at the bank,” Carragher explained. “I cancelled a couple of direct debits and he said, ‘can I ask you a question?’ and straight away I knew he was an Arsenal fan.
“I went, ‘you’re an Arsenal fan, aren’t you’, he went ‘yeah’. No other fan would do that. The fear with Arsenal fans right now is that everything is going to fall apart. That’s normal for a football fan. I felt like I was a psychiatrist this morning – I was counselling him.
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“Everybody’s like that now for Arsenal which is understandable. The big worry is, are they like that inside the club right now?
“Mikel Arteta brought eleven players back from international duty, I’ve never heard of that in my life – it tells me there is a real fear right through the inside of the club that they could blow this.”
On Tuesday, Arsenal secured a crucial 1-0 quarter-final Champions League victory over Sporting Clube de Portugal in Lisbon, carrying that slender lead back to the Emirates Stadium for next week’s second leg.
Kai Havertz netted the decisive goal at Estadio Jose Alvalade, while Martin Zubimendi had an effort of his own chalked off for offside.
Focus now turns to the Premier League, with a lunchtime encounter against AFC Bournemouth on Saturday (12:30pm) in another vital fixture before their journey to the Etihad Stadium on Sunday (April 19).
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