Arsenal chief Edu disagrees with Piers Morgan over ‘bottle’ claim after title collapse

Arsenal chief Edu Gaspar disagrees with famed fan Piers Morgan over ‘bottle’ claims.

The Gunners led the Premier League for much of the year before ultimately falling short with Manchester City with time to spare. Mikel Arteta’s men suffered an almighty wobble in their last 10 games to allow City to take control of the title race, and Arsenal were left wondering what could have been.

Arteta’s men were not expected to put together a title charge this season after missing out on the top four last term, but after leading for so long, there’s no doubting it was a wasted opportunity.

The slip led famed Arsenal fan and TV presenter Morgan to take aim at his team, suggesting they had bottled the title race.

He tweeted recently: “Aaron Ramsdale, who I love as a player with a proper winner’s mentality, insists it’s unfair to say Arsenal have bottled the League. But what else do we call what’s happened in the past few weeks? This is another dire display against a less talented team who just want it more.”

Morgan also tweeted after defeat to Everton previously, writing: “All over. A horribly lacklustre, passion-devoid, spiritless, pathetic performance that cements an inexplicably dismal run-in to a season which promised so much. Bottom line: we choked. #afc."

Interestingly, Arsenal chief Edu was asked if the club had ‘bottled’ the title during an interview with ESPN Brasil recently, and he was having none of it.

“I think it needs a little more elaborate analysis,” said the Gunners’ sporting director. “My role makes me need to understand the season as a whole. Perhaps in these last five games, we had a drop in performance, which was sustaining us to fight for the title and be fighting for the title was really the consistency of performance. From the moment we had this drop in performance, we have to understand why. This is already well understood by us.”

He added: “Saying Arsenal ‘bottled’ is a word I wouldn’t use, we created our own frustration. Nobody expected us to fight for the title. You being frustrated about not winning the title is a change of mind. It could even be considered, let’s say, positive, considering times ago. In the past, we celebrated the fourth place, the third. Today, we are frustrated with the second.”