Rio Ferdinand, a former Manchester United defender, openly expressed his desire for Arsenal to clinch the Premier League title this season during an episode of his Vibe with FIVE podcast.
Acknowledging Arsenal’s presence in the title race alongside Liverpool and Manchester City, Ferdinand offered his perspective.
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However, he critiqued the reaction of certain Arsenal fans following their ascent to the top of the Premier League table over the weekend.
Arsenal secured a 2-1 victory over Brentford with Kai Havertz’s late goal on Saturday, propelling Mikel Arteta’s team to the summit.
Despite Liverpool’s draw with Manchester City at Anfield on Sunday, Arsenal maintained their position at the top on goal difference.
During Monday’s podcast, Joel Beya, an Arsenal supporter co-hosting with Ferdinand, arrived adorned with a fake cigar, sunglasses, and a miniature replica of the Premier League trophy, symbolizing the celebratory mood among some Arsenal fans.
“There are three teams playing now to win the league which is Liverpool, Man City and Arsenal – I actually want you boys to win it,” Ferdinand told Beya.
“But you and some of your fans make me not want you to win it.”
Stephen Howson, Ferdinand’s co-host on Vibe With Five and a staunch supporter of Manchester United, echoed the sentiments of the former England international’s assessment.
‘Look at what we’ve got as United fans, we’ve got our nearest rivals [City], there are not loads of them but they are there and some of them have been there a while, not all of them are some of them,’ Howson said.
‘They are going for four in a row which is something we didn’t do. ‘On the slipside of that we’ve got the scousers [Liverpool] going for 20, which equals what we [United] did.
‘And then we’ve got you lot [Arsenal] who haven’t won in 20 years, we should be like, ‘all aboard the Arsenal bus’, but this is why we would rather 115-charges-deep oil nation win it, or Liverpool win it, rather than you lot. And there’s 20,000 of them like you.’
Ferdinand laughed & added: ‘It’s true, you’ve got to take some responsibility for that.’
