by Nia Griffiths

Ray Parlour took part in a question and answer session while attending the kit launch for the new Arsenal home and away kits with PUMA.

During the session, the Arsenal legend spoke about why he thinks results have started to look up for Arsenal over the last few seasons, and what – or who – he feels needs to be added to the squad in order to improve and who we already have that has that crucial winning mentality.

Over the last two seasons, we’ve not only finished in the top four, something we’ve done every year since Arsene Wenger took over, but we’ve won two FA Cups.

“Well they have been getting better players – the signing of Sanchez was superb last year,” Parlour said. “He is one of those players who hit the ground running, he was fantastic in his first season. The first few games he was brilliant. So that is a big, big thing.”

He continued, “They are improving as a squad itself. They are getting older. The age of the squad is very good around 25-26, probably coming into the primes of their careers. So if he can keep all the players together now and add a few more quality players, we will have a very good squad.

“Probably over the last few years we lost a few big players such as Cesc Fabregas, Robin Van Persie and Samir Nasri. So now they are keeping their best players – they have signed them on long-term deals – and that is really healthy for Arsenal.”

On who we should add to the squad, the former midfielder touched on one of the forwards we’ve been linked to heavily for a number of seasons.

“Benzema would be a great signing for Arsenal,” he admitted. “The fans will be very excited to have him in the squad.

“Cavani is another person who has been linked to come in and he has great experience with the national side and the teams he’s been with.”

He continued, “That’s the kind of quality we need to look at now. If they are available, who knows, something could happen now, that could be brilliant. We know how hard Bayern Munich players are and how hard it is for deals to go through. So I am sure Wenger knows about the inevitable players in the market and he knows that he could get them — maybe they are the ones he goes for.”

Saying this, Parlour does believe we do have immense quality in our existing squad, especially in the form of Alexis Sanchez who scored 25 goals for us in his debut season.

“Well, certainly Sanchez was a different class last season,” Parlour said. “He has got to do the same this time around.”

However, the Arsenal legend has an opinion of our star playmaker that many Gooners may not take too kindly to.

“Ozil has got to get better,” he said. “I think he is such a talented player, very good on the ball, but these sort of players have to really step up. They have to keep the same consistency.”

On another note, he continued, “I think it’ll be a big season for Jack Wilshere. I am really hoping he can stay fit because he is a quality player. We have seen what he has done for England, those two cracking goals, he has got to score a few more goals from midfield if he can.”

Midfield is an area Parlour knows plenty about and he went on to speak about how competitive the centre of the park is for our current team.

“That midfield area – there is just so much competition. You’ve got Aaron Ramsey, another good couple of seasons for him; Santi Cazorla, he was very good last year. There’s a lot of good players there but it’s just about getting consistent.”

Moving down the pitch, Parlour also spoke about our defense.

“Hector Bellerin has been superb at right back and if Laurent Koscielny can stay fit, I think he is our best defender and Nacho Monreal has also improved a lot. So they have got good players.”

He added, “It’s just about pulling all together and getting the team to go out every single week and put the performance in. Consistency is the key to winning leagues. You can’t play really well one week and then have a really poorly game the next week because you get beaten. It’s about getting to that level and sticking to it. I would have rather have people getting 7.5 out of 10 every week than people who get 9 one week and then get 4 the following week. So consistency is the most important thing for the players.”

Although I disagree that Ozil hasn’t quite been at his best, I do think the whole team can turn things up a notch next season. A couple of signing might be nice, but realistically, I believe we still have a chance without them.