11th August, 2019
Ex-Chelsea and Man United coach, Jose Mourinho, has warned Arsenal a good start will not necessarily mean a good end to their Premier League season after they beat Newcastle 1-0 in their opening fixture.
It was far from a pretty game at St James’ Park as the Gunners edged a narrow victory courtesy of a second half finish from Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang.
Mourinho, making his debut on Sky Sports as a pundit, predicted before the game that Unai Emery’s side are not capable of challenging for the Premier League title.
And he claimed their hard-fought result could count for little at the end of the campaign.
“A good start doesn’t mean a good finish of the season, and of course that’s right,” Mourinho warned.
Despite his word of warning, Mourinho believes the Gunners could be pleased with an “important” win after focusing their pre-season preparations on their trip to Tyneside.
He continued: “When you work during six weeks, you are preparing for the season, preparing for the marathon, but there is only one match that you have in your brain.
“It is the first one, the next one, in this case it’s the opening of the season and there is not a better thing.
“You finish off pre-season, it doesn’t matter if you have great results, then you go to the first match of the season and to get something out of it is very, very important for Arsenal in a match where they were not very, very good.
“The game was not especially good, but to get three points is very important.”