Wright, Shearer react to Arsenal title win as trophy parade date and start time are confirmed | OneFootball

Arsenal legend Ian Wright gave an emotional interview after the Gunners were crowned Premier League champions for the first time in 22 years.

Manchester City’s draw against Bournemouth on Tuesday night made it mathematically impossible for Pep Guardiola’s side to catch leaders Arsenal.

The Gunners still have a chance to win the Champions League too as they face Paris Saint-Germain in the final on May 30 in Budapest.

Arsenal players, fans and Mikel Arteta have had to face a lot of criticism this season, both internally and externally, but they pulled through to win the title with a game to spare.

And Wright picked out four people in particular who deserve massive credit for their achievments this season, including former sporting director Edu.

Wright said on Stan Sport Football: “Winning in ’98 was unbelievable but experiencing it as a fan, with everything we’ve gone through in the last three years and everything that’s gone on, everything we’ve had to take…

“It’s just been so tough the last three years and to finally do it… honestly, what can I say.

“Mikel, unbelievable. For what he’s done, it’s almost visionary what he’s done. He came in, turned everything around, got the owners on side, got the fans on side, got players out, got players in, stuck to his principles.

“Hale End… Per Mertesacker is leaving now, unbelievable work he’s done for us. Even Edu, he’s got to get some love, Vinai [Venkatesham], all these people who have got us to this, it’s amazing.

“This club deserves it, our fans deserve it, all around the world, we deserve this now.”

Wright added: “People just hammer us all the time, constantly hammer us, hammer us.

“They hammer our manager for his gimmicks, his this, his that. Now they can’t do that no more.

“All that noise has got to stop because everything he’s done has led to them winning the league so they can’t hammer him for his gimmicks now.

“The fans getting hammered, ‘We’re bottlers, we’re this, we’re that!’, we’ve had to take that for the last three years and now this season, this team, with the squad they’ve built… people said at the start of the season that this squad was good enough to do it and they were.”

When asked about his celebrations and feelings while watching Man City draw against Bournemouth, Wright continued: “When Bournemouth scored I was absolutely over the moon. They missed a couple of good chances as well.

“I got my Mrs and my girls in a cab and said, ‘Come on, we’re going down there! Let’s go to the Emirates’, and then Erling Haaland scored.

“There was only a minute or two to go and the taxi man had it on, I said to turn it off, ‘I don’t want to listen to it!’, and then bam, he blew the whistle and it’s done.”

When will Arsenal have their trophy parade?

Arsenal could yet be celebrating two trophies at their north London trophy parade, if they can get their hands on the Champions League trophy too, with the date confirmed as Sunday May 31.

The parade will start at 2pm in the afternoon in a quick turnaround for players, staff and fans heading to Budapest for the Champions League final the day before.

An Arsenal statement confirmed: ‘This will be a major public event, and we anticipate large numbers of supporters will turn out in the local area.

‘We hope you are able to join our celebrations on the day. Local residents and businesses should be advised that the event will lead to disruption across the borough that will involve road closures and parking suspensions. You may also find it difficult to move normally around the borough or pass through the route.

‘We will communicate more details on the parade closer to the time, which will only be published on our website and other official Arsenal channels.’

Shearer: They’ll be absolutely on the way to getting s***faced

Alan Shearer hailed Arsenal as “the best team” in the Premier League this season, despite criticism of their style of play, and reckons there will be an overwhelming feeling of relief among the team.

Shearer said on The Rest Is Football: “They’ve been the best team, they’ve been the most consistent team, they’ve found a way to win games when they weren’t playing that well which you have to do being the champions.

“It’s been a long, hard and stressful road for them but when it’s been that long you have to go through all of that, all that stuff.

“I’ve been there myself, I know what it feels like. The relief… I can just picture the scene now with all the staff, all the players.

“They would have all got together in the small hope that City didn’t win at Bournemouth, just in the small hope, just in case.

“They’ll be absolutely on the way to getting s***faced and so they should because all of the stress has just been released from them.

“All the hard work, all the dedication, all they’ve had go through, not only this season but last season, the season before, the season before that.

“They’ve been the best team, they deserve it and I hope they have a great few nights.”