Arsenal title win 'not boring', insists Gunners legend Liam Brady
BRADY'S BUNCH: Arsenal legend Liam Brady has rejected suggestions that his successors adopted boring tactics to win the Premier League. Pic: Stuart MacFarlane/Arsenal FC via Getty Images.
Arsenal legend Liam Brady has rejected suggestions that his successors adopted boring tactics to win their first Premier League title for 22 years.
Brady began his professional football career with the Gunners, winning the FA Cup and becoming the first foreigner to be named Players’ Player of the Year in 1979.
He signed for Juventus the following year for just over £500,000 but would later return in 1996 as head of youth development for a 20-year spell.
“It’s not all been boring stuff when you look at the amount of goals we’ve scored,” he told RTÉ’s Inside Sport after the league was wrapped up on Tuesday night with Sunday’s final game against Crystal Palace to spare.
“When the league table looked as if we would win it, the team got a bit nervous. That was a bit like a golfer going into the last few holes many shots ahead but the field tightens and he makes a few mistakes.
“That was understandable given its been so long since the last title and the team finished runners-up in the last three years. It affected some of the performances but if the team got a goal the defence usually kept a clean sheet.
“They didn’t have a great result against Wolves, getting pulled back at 2-0 up to draw, and then losing to Bournemouth at home was a shock but Bournemouth have shown again against Manchester City what a good team they are.”
He added: “We’ve been very good defensively, even if the last few months were a bit shaky, but we got over the line in the end. That was down to all the wins and good play from the first half of the season.
“Mikel Arteta is only a young manager and Arsenal deserve a lot of credit for giving him his first job. We might be building on this task. Getting a big one like the Premier League under your belt makes winning others easier.”
Brady, 70, believes Arsenal can add the Champions League to their haul when they face holders Paris Saint-Germain in Saturday week’s final in Budapest.
“Nobody worries about how you win the Champions League and Arsenal haven’t won it yet,” he noted.
“It would have been a difficult situation had they blown the league but who’s to say they can’t get a goal and defend the lead against a very attacking Paris Saint-Germain side.”
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