Football
Kelvin Leong 9y

Emmanuel Petit backs former club Arsenal to win Premier League title

Arsenal legend Emmanuel Petit has backed his former club to land this season's Premier League title with the help of "fantastic" signing Petr Cech.

The ex-France International, who helped the Gunners to a league and FA Cup double in 1998, made the prediction during a visit to Singapore where he hosted a football workshop for local children.

Petit was an integral part of Arsene Wenger's revolution that saw the London club adopt a sleek passing game which won them three Premier League titles and six FA Cups since 1996. But he admits that his former boss will need to deliver more silverware this season after a 10-year drought since their last league success.

"After nine years without the league trophy, the pressure is very, very high on Arsene and the club." Petit told ESPN FC.

"Arsene has been very intelligent in the transfer market for the last three years where they signed players of international quality like [Mesut] Ozil and [Olivier] Giroud.

"Along with the youngsters that are coming through the academy, his efforts are paying off and two FA Cup trophies in the past two seasons is good testament to his work."

But Petit added that it is the elusive league title that the fans are after. So could this season see the drought come to an end with the signing of goalkeeper Cech from Sunday's Community Shield rivals Chelsea?

"Petr Cech will improve this team defensively along with his proven winning mentality," the 44-year-old said.

"He has won many trophies with Chelsea and has been a great, great player for them for the past decade. His professionalism will also be helpful in the dressing room to help the young Gunners focus on the title challenge.

"I'll also put a coin on Arsenal to win the league title this year. The main reason I say this is because when you look at a team that is playing quick one-two touch passing, you can see the players are enjoying themselves on the pitch.

"The whole Arsenal team are speaking the same football language and with special players like [Aaron] Ramsey, [Mesut] Ozil, [Per] Metersacker and Santi Cazorla among others, you have a very strong squad with experience and quality.

"As a former player, when you look at the team on the field, you can tell if they are enjoying the brand of football and that is the only way to win titles. To enjoy and believe in your team's style of play."

Petit also played for Monaco, Barcelona and Chelsea in a 16-year professional career. He earned 63 caps for France, winning the 1998 World Cup and Euro 2000 at the peak of his career when he was at Arsenal. While he has faith in his former club winning the Premier League title,

The Frenchman expressed concerns about the central midfield and defence. With Mikel Arteta and Mathieu Flamini often relegated to the bench, Francis Coquelin is the only recognised defensive midfielder amongst many creative playmakers who can change any game with a single pass.

"Arsenal will be a better team than last year but there is one huge concern for Arsene," said Petit. "They only have Couqelin as a defensive midfielder but the same problem can be said of the central defence which consists of Metersacker and [Laurent] Koscielny.

"The three players are definitely good enough but if one or two injuries set in, that will become a huge problem with a lack of cover.

"Having said that, I still believe we have a winning midfield combination of Cazorla, Ramsey, Wilshere and even [Alex] Oxlade-Chamberlain who can play down the middle. It is in defence where we are a little bit short."

After Sunday's Community Shield, Arsenal host West Ham United in their opening game of the 2015-16 season on Sunday, Aug. 9.

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