Roy Hodgson admits he has ‘great admiration’ for Mikel Arteta despite Arsenal’s ‘gut-wrenching’ end to last season… as the Crystal Palace boss insists it is a major boost Michael Olise will stay at the club after snubbing Chelsea

Roy Hodgson has heaped praise on Arsenal boss Mikel Arteta and insisted he has a ‘lot of sympathy’ for how their title challenge collapsed last season.

The Gunners were shock rivals to Manchester City for the Premier League but ran out of steam towards the end of the campaign.

After winning seven successive games between February and April, they picked up just 12 points from their final nine games as Pep Guardiola’s side won their third successive league title.

They have begun this season well, with a penalty shootout victory over City in the Community Shield, before they also defeated Nottingham Forest 2-1 on the opening weekend.

And, speaking ahead of his Crystal Palace side hosting the Gunners on Monday, Hodgson – 35 years older than his Arsenal counterpart – revealed he felt for Arteta at the way they missed out on the title.

Hodgson also insisted he has a ‘lot of sympathy’ for Arteta regarding how the Gunners’ title challenge collapsed last season as they picked up just 12 points from their final nine games

‘I have great admiration for the job he’s done at Arsenal,’ Hodgson, 75, said. 

‘That’s a big club and he’s come in and done a really big job. I thought last season they were outstanding in every respect.

‘I have a lot of sympathy, to get that close and do so well and be overtaken by the machine really that to some extent is Manchester City, who are also a wonderful football team. 

‘It must have been a gut-wrenching occasion, but they’ve come back strongly from that and started this season strongly.’

He continued: ‘I think it will be another very good season from them. We’re expecting an exceptionally tough game. 

‘It’s always hard to play Arsenal – they always seem to do well against us even if we play well. They seem to find a way of getting a winning goal.’

‘We realise we’re playing against a very good team, a well organised team, and a team that everyone expects will be fighting for honours at the end of the season.’

Palace begun their campaign with a hard-fought 1-0 victory over Sheffield United at Bramall Lane on the opening weekend.

They have been weakened after losing club legend Wilfried Zaha – who joined Galatasaray – while star winger Michael Olise is currently sidelined with a hamstring injury.

The Palace boss revealed he fully expects Arsenal to be fighting for honours again this season

Hodgson said it was a massive boost his side will keep Michael Olise despite Chelsea’s interest

It also looked like Olise would be departing the club after Chelsea activated his £35million release clause but the France Under-21 winger snubbed the Blues interest in favour of signing a shock new four-year deal with the Eagles.

And Hodgson was absolutely delighted to have retained the services of one of his key men as Palace look to build on their 11th-place finish in 2022-23.

He added: ‘Luckily we go into it (the Arsenal games) off the back of a good start in terms of the three points and the performance in our eyes.

‘It’s a good time, I think, to get this game played, and everyone at the club and all our fans will be boosted by the knowledge that one of these very talented young players [Olise] is still going to play for the club.’