Former Arsenal midfielder discusses his surprise career change and makes title race prediction

Former Arsenal midfielder Henri Lansbury has discussed his surprising new job as a turf influencer since he retired from playing.

The 34-year-old, who started out in Arsenal’s academy before making eight appearances and scoring one goal for their first-team, hung up his boots a couple of years ago, ending his career at Luton Town.

Lansbury also played for the likes of Aston Villa and Nottingham Forest, but he now says he’s enjoying his new career in lawns and grass!

In fact, Lansbury, speaking at the launch of Ladbrokes’ “Gaffer of all Accas”, admitted that he now pays more attention to the quality of football pitches rather than the games themselves.

Lansbury paid particular tribute to the quality of the Emirates Stadium pitch, a ground he knows well, while he also picked out the Etihad Stadium and Craven Cottage as being particularly good on that front.

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“Currently I’m Turf Influencer of the Year, which is a funny one,” he said. “Not funny, really, I just love grass, and the reason I got it was because I was creating awareness for the rest of the greenkeepers, ground carers… you don’t realise, until you actually step into their shoes, just how much actually goes into keeping that pitch pristine.

“That’s anything, football pitches, golf courses… so much goes into it. And it’s only since I got into all of this, and started speaking to groundsmen, that I really understood it all… it was mind-blowing.

“So, then I started doing it a bit at home, and then I came up with this product – I guess nowadays I’d introduce myself as Turf Influencer and co-founder of Grass Gains. I’m just waiting for my trophy to turn up for Influencer of the Year, then it’ll take centre stage in my office.

“The grass comes first for me. To be honest, I’ll go to games now just to look at the pitch. I’m not too bothered about the football; I’d rather look at a nice pitch and speak to the groundsman.

“There are some lovely football pitches out there. The Etihad is great, I’d give a shout out to Craven Cottage, too. But the Emirates, for me, on the last day of the season earlier this year was unreal. It was cut at, like, 18ml, and the ball was just flying across it. That’s short for a football pitch, but it was unreal.”

Arsenal not among the main title contenders, says Henri Lansbury

Discussing his old club, Lansbury made it clear how much they need to beat Chelsea in their next Premier League game, whilst also admitting that he sees this year’s title race as being between Manchester City and Liverpool, despite the Gunners running Pep Guardiola’s side really close in the last two years.

“It’s so important that Arsenal beat Chelsea on Sunday,” he said. “They have to finish on a high, before going into the next international break.

“They’ve played quite a few of the big teams already in their first 10 games, so while they’re already seven points off top spot, I think Liverpool have got a challenging few weeks ahead, even in Europe, as well – so it’ll be interesting to see if they’re still top of the table come Christmas.”

He added: “I think it’s going to be a Liverpool/Man City contest when it comes to the title race. I’m a bit shocked that Aston Vila have dropped off, but are doing so well in the Champions League.

“Arsenal will be up there, and possibly Chelsea, but I think Man City and Liverpool are the two who it’ll eventually be between.”

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