31/01/2026

SPORTS SATURDAY | JAN 31, 2026

/thesuntelegram FOLLOW / Malaysian Paper

ON TELEGRAM m RAM

30

Arsenal’s unbearable weight Huge tension afflicting Arteta’s Gunners in quest for Premier League title

Ű BY MIGUEL DELANEY

If Arsenal were playing naturally, that just wouldn’t have happened. But nothing about their game was natural. It was all so pained. They were perhaps unfortunate to come up against a United side now enjoying an emotional wave of their own – not least with the two speculative strikes that won it. But that’s football. That’s what you have to dig out. Arsenal let it all get to them. And they shouldn’t. It’s only January. This isn’t unique to them, either. Prospective champions all have to go through bad moments. Sir Alex Ferguson’s United used to endure them regularly. The nature of the past few seasons has probably just changed perceptions of that. Manchester City have been a machine unlike any other, with arguably the greatest coach of all time working in the most lavishly funded football project ever seen. Challenging them also primed Liverpool to surge to the title in the last two seasons they won it. This is now something else weighing over Arsenal: the idea of that City side coming down the tracks, almost more than the inconsistent reality. Villa are right in there too. But titles are supposed to be hard won. You have to go through these moments. You can’t really win it by process alone, as Arteta has been striving to do. Such achievements usually demand something deeper, something more emotional, ironically. Arsenal are now going to have to show that. – The Independent

since there isn’t a manager who is as controlling – not even Pep Guardiola. If Arsenal’s great title rival is said to be infamously “neurotic” about tactics, sources say Arteta is like that with everything around tactics, too. This is someone who controls the temperature of the ice baths, who would consider “changing the angle of the steering wheel on the bus if he felt it would give his team an advantage”. And yet, just as used to be the case with Guardiola in the Champions League, that very control may now be constraining. You could see it in the United game. It was as if Arsenal weren’t really “playing”, at least in the sense of expressing themselves. They were going through the processes, exactly as the manager wants. And yet, in thinking about everything so deliberately, they stopped being themselves. How else do you describe the way they actually lost it? Arsenal have been masters at securing a lead, after all. Once they went 1–0 up, that really should have been that, as had been the case in the previous 24 games in which they went ahead. Not this time. There was a different air. So it was that one of the best midfield passers in the world, Martin Zubimendi, who has a 90 per cent completion rate, somehow played a ball back to David Raya that let Bryan Mbuemo and Manchester United in.

A team with all of these qualities now looks like it needs the psychological reset of a mid season break. The transformation has been remarkable. Arsenal’s last three matches – two 0–0s and a 3–2 defeat – have been surrounded by tension. It’s all the worse since the game immediately before that was a 4–1 win over putative title challengers Aston Villa, when Arteta’s side did indeed seem to show their true level and dispatch Unai Emery’s team from the title race. So, what’s changed? Some of it is the immense weight that comes from, well, the wait; the grand quest to finally be champions again. Every season makes it worse. Every inch you get closer actually makes the pain all the more acute. Arsenal aren’t there yet, but they’re getting there. Twenty-two years is already a long time for a big club to go without a title, and that is a club with plenty of experience of this. One of the defining works of modern football culture is actually about a long Arsenal wait for a title: Fever Pitch. This clearly feeds into the home crowd, which has now been the subject of much debate, even if it is subconscious. There’s an institutional memory. If all that is inevitable, however, then so too is the question of how you deal with it. This is where Arteta now has some choices. The situation will be all the worse for Arteta

A S far back as two weeks ago, when Arsenal were in an even better posi tion than they are now, Liverpool play ers said they could sense that Arteta’s side were tense; that their body language wasn’t comfortable. It was much worse on Sunday. Manchester United sensed blood, went for it, and have now sent Arsenal spinning and reeling. The mood among the squad was said to be one of angst on Monday. That might seem natural after a 3–2 defeat like that… but should it be? It’s actually remarkable when you stand back. Arsenal are still four points clear in the League. They had been in relatively good form, as their lead at the top of the table illustrates. In two other competitions, they defeated two quality sides in Chelsea and Internazionale with relative ease. The victory at the San Siro was almost only notable for how business-like it was. That’s just what this team do. Such performances strengthen the argument that they are actually the best team in Europe right now. Or, at least, they are when they actually play with a sense of freedom – because that is very much not the case in the Premier League right now.

Forest, Celtic into Europa League playoffs as Villa fight back

FROM LEFT: Forest’s Igor Jesus, Celtic’s Callum McGregor and Villa’s Jamaldeen Jimoh-Aloba celebrate after each secured victory in their respective Europa League matches.

N OTTI N GHAM FORE S T will go into the Europa League playoff round after a 4-0 win over Ferencvaros yesterday, while Celtic secured their place in the knockout phase with victory over Utrecht. Aston Villa finished second in the league phase after recovering from two goals down to beat Red Bull Salzburg 3-2 with their spot in the last 16 already assured. Forest stood an outside chance of climbing into the top eight going into the final round of matches but needed to beat Robbie Keane’s Ferencvaros and rely on other results

this season and a lot of highs, but this is top.” Villa, who sit third in the Premier League, will get a welcome break before the last 16 – where they could meet Lille, PAOK, Red Star Belgrade or Celta Vigo. Emery has won the Europa League a record four times as a manager and Rogers believes that is a considerable advantage for Villa. “He knows how to get his way through a competition, especially this one. To have him in our corner guiding us through it is going to be massive,” said Rogers. – AFP

Villa looked to be sliding to just a second defeat in Europe this campaign when Salzburg surged 2-0 ahead in Birmingham through goals from Karim Konate and Moussa Yeo. Morgan Rogers reduced the deficit and Tyrone Mings headed Villa level, with 19-year-old Jamaldeen Jimoh Aloba netting his first senior goal to complete the turnaround for Unai Emery’s men. “It’s a proud moment for me on my European debut,” Jimoh-Aloba told TNT Sports .“It’s just really nice to make my family proud and stuff because of all the hard work. I’ve had a lot of lows

champions Forest will learn their playoff fate overnight. They will face Fenerbahce or Panathinaikos over two legs next month, while Stuttgart or Ferencvaros await Celtic, who overcame lowly Utrecht 4-2 after scoring three times in thezvere first 19 minutes in Glasgow. Benjamin Nygren put Celtic ahead before an own goal from Utrecht captain Nick Viergever. Arne Engels converted a penalty with Celtic cruising, but Utrecht pulled it back to within one until Auston Trusty’s header gave the hosts some more breathing space.

going their way. Sean Dyche’s side did their bit as Igor Jesus struck twice for Forest after Ferencvaros defender Bence Otvos scored an own goal. James McAtee tucked away a late penalty, but the win was only enough for the Premier League club to finish 13th overall. “It has not been easy through various games, the schedule, planning, travelling and all that sort of stuff. To come out of a disappointing one in Braga (1-0 loss last week) and then to deliver that I am very pleased,” Dyche told TNT Sports . Twice former European