T'was a cold December afternoon in south London town, but the warmness of my company kept the shiver off my cockles. Indeed, in a cosy public house a stone's throw from London Bridge, I was joined by the Romford Pele himself - former Arsenal and England midfielder Ray Parlour. A notoriously cheerful fella, there couldn't have been a better time of the year to meet Ray, whose loud, cheerful and cheeky personality encompasses many of the feelings Christmas is synonymous with.

He was in a predictably joyous, festive mood but the timing of our encounter wasn’t quite so flattering from Parlour's perspective. After surrendering 1-0 half-time leads to Everton and Manchester City to leave both Goodison Park and the Etihad empty-handed, a debasing week saw his beloved Gunners reduced from Chelsea’s likeliest competitors at the Premier League’s summit to potential also-rans - a frustrating familiar feeling for Arsenal supporters, who haven’t celebrated a Premier League title since Parlour lifted it with the Invincibles in 2004. The following campaigns have contained countless capitulations, nearly always just when Arsenal were presented with opportunities to take the initiative.

Are you worried about Arsenal’s mental strength?

People are always going to say mental strength and they’ve got a fair point. But at times in games, when you’re up against it, you’ve got to defend as a team with everyone behind the ball. When Man City are having a go, pull Theo Walcott back into midfield, pull Alex Iwobi or Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain and form a little bit of a shield. Sooner or later the other side’s heads will drop and you can get back on the front foot again. There’s certain times when they stay forward too much, they don’t track back and the other team can use the flanks - I noticed that against Man City as well.

Was that what went wrong against Manchester City?

I think conceding that first goal was key. One thing you can’t do when you’re away from home is concede so early in the second half. The crowd got a lift and the players got a lift from that. Whether it was offside or not, you’ve still got to defend the situation and that was a real blow for Arsenal. After that, they seemed to drop too deep as a team.

They have missed Shkodran Mustafi at centre-half, him and Laurent Koscielny have formed a really good partnership. I’m not knocking Gabriel - I think he’s a good sub to bring on and he did well at right-back - but he’s not the same alongside Koscielny. I think he’s been missing that over the last two or three seasons - a good partner to have alongside him. Going back to the Invincibles team, we had Sol Campbell and Kolo Toure, who didn’t miss a game together. Unbelievable.

So we did miss Mustafi but this is a squad game, you’ve got to bring players in who can do a job as well. I’m not saying Gabriel did anything particularly wrong. Arsenal just dropped off a little too deep, which invited pressure on the centre-halves, and couldn’t get control of the midfield.

Was that a case of naivety away from home?

Yeah, a little bit of nervousness as well. I think they don’t believe in themselves enough. I know they were at the Etihad playing against top-class players - Kevin De Bruyne, David Silva and all that - but sometimes I look at the players and just think ‘believe in yourself a little bit more, you’re good players - go and express yourself’. But they dropped off too deep and suddenly, Sanchez is isolated up front, Ozil can’t get into the game at all and the wingers have gone quiet. It was just all Man City in the end.

The crowd knew that and they certainly got behind their team. Credit to the Man City players, they responded and deserved to get back into the game with that performance in the second half and got the winner which, again, was poor defending from Arsenal’s point of view.

It was interesting to hear Parlour pick up on Ozil’s performance in the second half. The German World Cup winner has continuously divided opinion since first arriving in the Premier League three summers ago. The English top flight is more acquainted with all-action No.8s, who drive from midfield and look to be involved in most phases of play. Ozil, in comparison, drifts in and out of games, elusively waiting for space to develop and rarely dropping deep in search of the ball. Many argue he’s yet to prove the difference for the Gunners in a high-profile game and his increasingly limited involvement throughout the second half has drawn criticism once again.

Does Ozil only play well when Arsenal are playing well?

When Arsenal aren’t playing well, it means they’re not getting enough possession. He thrives on possession - he needs to be passed the ball on a regular basis. Obviously, against City in the second half he went missing a little bit, but City had most of the possession - they were dictating going forward a lot more.

He’s not the player who’s going to run back into midfield to try and get back on the ball. So I think he relies on people controlling the midfield, which is why Cazorla’s important in there as well - he dictates possession, he’s very good on the ball, he’s clever, he can link up with Ozil probably a little better than some of the others. I like Xhaka, I think he’s going to be a top player, but he’s a bit more defensive-minded, so the link isn’t quite as good.

Sunday’s result has left Arsenal nine points off Premier League pacesetters Chelsea, who are six above their next closest rivals - second-placed Liverpool. Antonio Conte’s switch to a 3-4-3 formation has completely revolutionised a side that appeared in need of wholesale reconstruction at the end of last season, after enduring the worst-ever title defence in Premier League history. The Blues now head into Boxing Day on the back of eleven straight wins. Ironically enough, their last defeat was to Arsenal in September, a result that obliged Conte’s change in formation.

Can Arsenal catch Chelsea now? Can anyone, for that matter?

It’s going to be difficult. At the moment, they look so solid - I think they’ve only let in two goals in eight games. Clean sheets are so important in football. You talk about goalscorers and players who can win games but if you’re solid at the back and don’t concede many goals, you’ve always got a chance.

Hazard’s in the right position going forward, Costa’s playing well, Moses on the right, Alonso on the other side and the three at the back have all been very good - the system suits everybody. I don’t know how you play against them; do you put two up front and go more direct against the three? It’s difficult to decide.

But certainly, they look very solid and they’ve got a few winnable games coming up, which puts the pressure on the other times to get results as well.

Off the pitch, there’s cause for concern at Arsenal as well, with their two talismanic entities - Alexis Sanchez and Mesut Ozil - yet to extend their contracts beyond the end of next season. The situation brings up painful flashbacks of summer 2012, when Arsene Wenger begrudgingly sold Robin van Persie to Manchester United as his then-captain’s deal wound down. But the Gunners fame themselves for keeping a tight grip on the purse-strings and there’s certainly two sides to every story. London Evening Standard claim Sanchez and Ozil want parity with world-record signing Paul Pogba, who takes home the biggest pay package, £290k per week, in the Premier League.

Are Ozil and Sanchez holding the club to ransom, or should Arsenal pay what they’re asking?

I don’t know what sort of fees they’re talking about, what sort of wages etcetera. But at the moment, they’re in a great position - they’ve got all the cards, they’re holding all the aces. Their representatives are doing their job in trying to get as much money as they can for their clients. At the end of the day, Arsenal is just Arsenal football club. They probably love playing for Arsenal, but it’s still just another club for them and it wouldn’t massively bother them leaving. So, they want the right deal for themselves.

Whether it’s going to happen or not, I think it’s important Arsenal try and get it done. I don’t know what Arsenal are holding but it’s documented they have millions in the bank, so maybe you have to just give these players what they want. And it’s a bit of a statement, being able to say we’ve signed these players on long-term contracts. It shows they’re trying to do the best they can for the fans.

Of course, Ozil and Sanchez’s contract negotiations aren’t the only ones on the collective mind of the Arsenal fan base. Arsene Wenger’s deal is due to expire at the end of the season and although uncertainty over his future has become almost a running joke in north London, there’s a feeling his generation-spanning reign could come to a close this summer if Arsenal’s campaign ends with nothing more than Champions League qualification.

What’s your take on Wenger’s contract situation?

It’ll be interesting to see what happens with Wenger. I think it’s going to go right to the wire. I think he’ll look at the season in general and where Arsenal end up, what went wrong, and then decide what to do. The problem they have is who’s going to be out there to take over. That’s the hard job.

You look at Klopp, he would’ve been perfect, but he’s at Liverpool, you look at Guardiola and he’s at Man City. All the top coaches really, they’re taken - how are you going to get a top coach?

Who would you pick to replace him if Wenger did decide to leave?

I don’t know. There’s a lot of talk about the guy at Red Bull Leipzig in Germany, a manager who we don’t really know. It’s a bit like Arsene Wenger when he first came in. We didn’t really know what he was like, but he’s shown in time he can be a top manager, so maybe they’re looking at someone like that again - but he is a gamble. The Premier League’s a demanding league, take Guardiola - he thought he knew the Premier League but he now knows how demanding it is every week. It’s not like La Liga or the Bundesliga - every single game, you’ve got to be at it and you’ve got to have all your players ready to work or you don’t get a result.

Would you like to see the next manager take the club in a different direction or stick with the Arsenal style?

I like the football they’re playing but you want success as well and it’s very hard to get both. Obviously, we had success under Wenger; we played attractive football but we could also dig in. But it’s a massive decision they’ve all got to make and we’ll have to see what happens. I think a lot will depend on how this season goes.

Is it a case of if Wenger wants to say, he should stay?

The board are making fortunes financially and he’s done everything they’ve wanted him to do - he’s qualified for the Champions League every season. But the fans now want to win trophies, they want to win the Premier League. But going back to when I played, it was a lot easier to win the Premier League than it is now. Now, teams are so much better - Spurs are better, Liverpool are better. In 1997/98 it was only Arsenal and Manchester United who could win it. Then obviously Chelsea came on the scene, suddenly it was Arsenal, Chelsea, Manchester United. Now you look across the board and the quality is so high. That’s the difference nowadays.

Sitting there in a particularly loud Arsenal-themed Christmas jumper, pint on one side and mince pie on the other, our chat had gone on far too long to continue ignoring the elephant in the room. Most would trade their souls to become a professional footballer, but if there’s one time of year when the general male population is far less envious, it’s mid-December to early January. The games come thick and fast, the weather takes a turn for the worse and of course, relationships with friends and family are sacrificed in the name of the beautiful game. Their handsome salaries are more than enough compensation, but whilst most will be spending Christmas evening getting merry with loved ones, footballers are hauled away in hotels preparing for Boxing Day.

Did you enjoy Christmas as a player?

Well, you miss all the parties and all that. But if you’re playing well, in a team that’s confident and you’re winning times, it’s a great time because you can really motor on. There’s lots of games and if there’s not really many injuries in the squad, you can really claim an advantage over other teams who may be hitting a bad patch

You’ll see a lot of that down the bottom, teams winning two or three over Christmas and suddenly they’ll be out of the relegation zone. West Ham are the prime example, they’ve got Swansea on Boxing Day as well. If they win there, suddenly they’re midtable!

It’s also a great time for supporters. Boxing Day games, people love them. We used to go out after the games - usually it was a twelve o’clock kick off which was ideal because you could go straight out after the game, have your dinner with your family and don’t play again for a few days. You can have a few beers and enjoy yourself a little bit. I don’t think you could do that now!

We’ve seen some very curious bookings in the Premier League over the last few games, ruling players out of the festive period with suspicious convenience - Marko Arnautovic and Jamie Vardy both sent off for dangerous tackles, Diego Costa picking up a booking against Crystal Palace that suspended him for Boxing Day. But Parlour thinks it’s all a bit of a myth.

Did you ever intentionally get yourself suspended so you could miss Christmas?

Martin Keown said something about that the other day; “I got two yellow cards once - I only needed one but I got two in the end." Against Newcastle I think it was - that was around Christmas time.

But you never go into a game looking to get sent off. Tony Adams was always suspended around that time but I don’t know if he did it on purpose. Honestly though, I don’t think players do that on purpose. You might see a dodgy tackle go in and think ‘he definitely wants to miss the next game’ when it comes up ‘Suspended for Boxing Day’ on the TV, or something like that. But I think these days you just go in for every tackle and sometimes you’re a little late. Some players always get booked anyway.

But in my day, you certainly didn’t mind playing, because it was fresh air and you could go out in the evening. What do you do on Christmas night anyway? You just have a nice dinner with family, leave about five o’clock, go to the hotel, go to bed early, play the game on Boxing day and you’ve got the rest of the day to enjoy yourselves. And you won’t get a bigger buzz than playing football, running out on Boxing day. It’s a packed house usually, and you love the atmosphere - everyone’s in a joyous mood, everyone’s a bit hungover from the night before and it’s a really good atmosphere.

Players’ Christmas parties were once notorious, but the demands on modern footballers to be role models, combined with an increasingly hyperbolic press and the sheer speed and scope in which we can share information in the digital age has pushed such events behind closed doors, or in a rising number of cases forced them to be cancelled entirely - especially if results aren’t providing the fans with much festive cheer.

Should players be given more leeway to enjoy themselves at Christmas?

It used to just happen in January instead, once it all quietened down. But it doesn’t quieten down these days, the FA Cup kicks off straight after Christmas. But there’s always an opportunity given time when the players can organise something. It’s a little bit different from my day, when Christmas parties were a little wilder and we drunk too much. We never went out for a meal like players do now really, we just went to the pub and had a good time.

I think they’ve changed a lot now. But then with social media and people taking pictures of you with camera phones, you’ve got no chance - you’ve got to toe the line. People will be waiting out there, waiting for footballers to do something wrong and you’ll be in the front of the papers. I think that’s the difference with my era - people didn’t have camera phones in the early 1990s and you could do what you wanted. You had a bit more freedom to enjoy yourself.

Do you think that’s a little unfair on footballers these days?

Not really, that’s the day and age isn’t it - a lot of players are on Twitter and social media anyway. You’ve got to live in the day today. If my team were around today, we would take it easy, we wouldn’t be able to do what we used to get up to. You’ve got to toe the line. Once you cross it, you know you’re going to get in trouble. If you don’t cross the line you can still have a good time, it’s as simple as that.

Do you support the idea of a winter break?

It would help a lot of teams. The Christmas period is very important in terms of games - I think everyone likes the Christmas spirit - so maybe in January we could have a two-week break. People are on a downer anyway after Christmas. Maybe football keeps them going in January but it would help the teams out definitely, and I think it would help going into the Champions League, going into that February-March period. I think you’ll see the benefit of that, being a little fresher going into that period.

Is it inevitable we’ll reach a point where it’s implemented?

I think so. It’ll be interesting to see how they do it, because of the games and whether you have to start the season early or finish late - we’ll have to wait and see. But the problem you have is when there’s World Cups or European Championships, the league will have to extend and so on. But a little two-week period, or maybe even just ten days, where you recharge your batteries, have a little mini-preseason and go back into it, will do players the world of good.

Thanks Ray, you've been a gent - Merry Christmas!

Watch Ray take on the Ladbrokes Festive Feast 

challenge at www.news.Ladbrokes.com and @Ladbrokes

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