Wayne Rooney says this season could be “now or never” for Arsenal manager Mikel Arteta and he will be “expected” to win silverware.
Arsenal were beaten 1-0 by Liverpool on Sunday as Dominik Szoboszlai scored a stunning free-kick.
When asked on The Wayne Rooney Show if he thought it was now or never for Arsenal, Rooney said: “Maybe not for Arsenal, but I think for Arteta, possibly.
“I think they’ve allowed him to bring a lot of players in, spend a lot of money. I imagine the board and certainly the fans will be expecting him to win the league. So I think it could be a big year for him.”
But the former England and Manchester United forward thinks Liverpool remain the favourites to win the Premier league this season.
“[Liverpool] are a very good team,” Rooney said. “They’ve got the know-how and the knowledge of winning the league twice over the last few years. It’s a sign of a good team when you’re winning games.”
Rooney added that he thought Arsenal should have shown more bravery at Anfield rather than setting up for games “to not lose them”.
“If they were just a little bit braver and went and actually took the game a bit more to Liverpool, I think they can go and win that,” he said.
“I think that’s a real chance missed for Arsenal today. But then I think Liverpool have done what champions do – they stayed in the game.”
The former England captain was speaking on his new podcast, The Wayne Rooney Show, which airs twice weekly on BBC Sounds, YouTube and iPlayer.
