Gala Interview: Arteta has no excuses, and it's hard for me to understand Arsenal signing White

Willem Gala, a French centre-back who has played for Three London Clubs Arsenal, Chelsea and Tottenham Hotspur, has recently given an exclusive interview with Gentingcasino, in which he talked about the situation of the three clubs.

(The following is the highlight of the Arsenal section)

Mikel Arteta, who led the team to eighth place last season, is he the right person for arsenal manager?

Last season I said he wasn't fit to lead Arsenal and I explained why, I said he had no experience managing the team. He is Guardiola's assistant coach, but the role of assistant coach is completely different from that of the head coach, because the head coach has to decide everything. You have to take full responsibility and in my opinion Arsenal's choice of Mikel Arteta was a mistake.

I'm also well aware that Arsenal fans are unhappy about being 8th last season and everyone is pinching their fingers to figure out how long Arteta can sit in the managerial position. He lost the first three games, but then he won two and the next one against Tottenham was a good test for him. After this London derby, we may know better whether he is sitting on the Arsenal side, whether he has a more sense of crisis or a more relaxed one.

Arteta has no excuses this season, they are not playing on a single side without European, which means he has to prepare for one game a week and Arsenal need to get a good result.

For the first time in 25 years, Arsenal are not qualified for European competition, what do you think?

I think it's a shame for everyone, especially for the fans. The fans are always crazy for their club, and Arsenal were champions league regulars. But now for the fans, who watch TV at home every week and may only be able to watch European matches from other clubs, I'm sure the fans will be very frustrated. That's why fans feel a great shame.

It's also a shame for the players, but unfortunately the reason they didn't qualify for European this season is simple, they did so badly last season.

Fans have to be patient, maybe next season Arsenal can play in the Champions League or the Europa League (Gala didn't mention the UEFA Cup).

Do you think Arsenal could finally finish in the top four this year?

This year, you know, it looks like Arsenal and Tottenham are going to be very, very difficult to get into the top four. Their opponents are Chelsea, Liverpool, Manchester United and Manchester City, so it is difficult for Tottenham and Arsenal to qualify for the Champions League in the top four. But Arsenal have some small advantages over Tottenham because they are single-sided and will be in better shape in all aspects.

Arsenal have invested in the Premier League and Continental this summer, do you think they spent £150 million and have a better squad than last season?

To me, this team doesn't look strong enough. Arsenal have too many young recruits but lack mature experience and they don't have any world-class players either. For Arsenal, or for the club, I don't really understand, they spent £150 million, but it seems like the money is not spent on a place.

Many have accused Arsenal of lack of leadership, do you think anyone in this team can be a leader?

The players who play for Arsenal now don't have that sense of ownership and tough character, nor do they have the experience to deal with everything. Arsenal have good young players, but they are still too young to really take on the burden. As for the experienced first-team players – a large percentage of them are sitting on the bench watching the ball.

In a subsequent interview, Gala, as a brilliant centre-back, also mentioned the contrast between Varane and Ben White.

Manchester United signed Varane, you know him well, Arsenal signed Ben White, which of the two deals is better?

It's hard for me to understand why Arsenal would spend £50m to sign a player who hasn't fully proven himself in the top flight, while United can get Varane for just £40m. You'll have to explain to me how this is possible, probably in part because Ben White is British.

Listen, compared to Ben White, Varane is a player of a completely different dimension. Ben White is still young, like I said, he hasn't made a career yet, how can you just casually bid him £50 million? I respect him, although I don't know him, I respect him, maybe in the future he will be a great player, but for the moment, he is not qualified enough. Sorry, you can't compare Ben White to Varane, nonsense.

(Editor: Yao Fan)