Jamie Carragher believes are too intense and emotional in their reactions early in the season and need to ‘chill out’ if they are to challenge for the Premier League title this season.
The Gunners started the campaign with wins over and but were held to a draw by Fulham last time out.
Carragher reckons the reactions to these results have already been too extreme, with players, fans and the manager too excited by victories and too distraught by points dropped.
The Liverpool legend reckons that such emotional swings throughout the season is unhealthy and unhelpful and should only be saved for the run-in if the title is on the line.
Offering ‘free advice’ to Arsenal, Carragher wrote in: ‘There are ten months of the season remaining so stop acting like we are down to the final ten games.
‘Mikel Arteta’s side approach to the opening fixtures has been more reminiscent of the title run-in, where every mistake is amplified and dropped points are considered catastrophic to hopes of winning the championship.
‘Everyone – and I include supporters, players and the manager – seems far too intense, too soon. It feels like the club needs to chill out and stop panicking. The team is in a good place, but treating so-so performances or early home draws like last week’s against Fulham as a serious title setback is a sure-fire way of self-sabotaging aspirations before the campaign has truly got underway.
‘The response to wins has been similarly extreme. Witness the Arsenal celebrations after the 1-0 victory at Crystal Palace. That was an encouraging, hard-fought win, eked out in difficult circumstances when reduced to ten-men.
‘The reaction still reminded me of a side with two games left, not one playing the second game of the season.
‘The increase in emotional intensity we see from March to May when the big prizes are given out cannot be replicated from game one. It is not advisable, nor healthy.’
Gary Neville had similar sentiments last season as Arsenal’s title challenge fell away and the former Manchester United defender thought the Gunners over-celebrated too early.
‘I always doubted whether this Arsenal team [could win the title], just looking at some of the things that were happening,’ he said on Sky Sports.
‘The over-celebrations against Aston Villa [after the 4-2 win in February]. I look at little things that might look a little bit harsh – Zinchenko celebrating an hour after the game with the fans outside and screaming.
‘You want your leaders in the team, who have been there before to spread composure around the dressing room and calm everybody down. You don’t want them to lift the anxiety, lift the emotion.’
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