How many points do Arsenal need before the New Year?

What would be a good haul of points for Arsenal at the end of the first round of Premier League fixtures? by SE

Arsenal, having garnered just 11 points from their first 8 Premier League games, look like a side that has its task cutout to finish in the top 4 at the end of 2014/15 Premier League season. Draws against Leicester City and at home to Hull City would have hurt Wenger’s wizards badly, and results in those two games could still be costly in the final analysis of the campaign that hasn’t yet got going. With injuries to key players impeding Arsenal during the first round of Premier League fixtures, what would be a good haul of points come the 28th of December, when Arsenal play their 19th Premier League fixture at Boleyn Ground against West Ham United?

You are in business for a top 4 finish if, over 38 games, you’ve done well to bag 75 points, and it would be no different in Arsenal’s case this time around. The North Londoners, in such a scenario, would then require 64 points of a possible 90 from here on. Wenger’s men have finished playing Everton, Manchester City, Tottenham Hotspur and Chelsea, securing 3 points from a possible 12 in those four fixtures. With Manchester United and Liverpool still to play at home and away, respectively, in the first round of fixtures, the Gunners are posed with a number of winnable games apart from the aforementioned marquee fixtures against the Red Devils and Scousers.

Taking into account the absence of Mesut Ozil, Olivier Giroud, and Mathieu Debuchy — who are expected to be out of action at least until the turn of the year — Arsenal would do very good to secure a minimum of 24 points from the next 11 games, taking the points tally to 35 from 19 games, which would still keep them adrift of averaging 2 points/game. And, even to win those enviable 24 points from a possible 33 in the next 11 fixtures, Arsenal would have to play out of their skins to keep them within touching distance of 3rd or 4th spots in the Premier League. Aaron Ramsey returned to action with a substitute appearance in the home draw against Hull City last weekend, and he would be pivotal to Arsenal’s scheme of things during the upcoming weekends. It would not be sensible to expect the returning Theo Walcott to fire on all cylinders from the word go, as the Englishman will be returning after 9 months on the sidelines, and would want time to get into the thick of things once again.

Final Thought
If Arsenal can finish with 35 points or more come the 28th of December with an away fixture against the Hammers, Wenger’s men would have given themselves a good chance of finishing in the top 4 at the end of the 2014/15 Premier League season. The Gunners, however, aren’t in the best of nicks in the Premier League, as was highlighted during those two inefficient displays against Leicester City and Hull City and, going forward, Arsenal cannot afford such results if they’ve got their sights firmly set on a top 4 finish.

Tags Debuchy Giroud Ozil

40 Comments

  1. Anything we get, Chelsea and City will get more. This season should’ve been the season where we challenge for the title no another ‘top four’ season. We didn’t that great of a transfer window as people make out since half of the players we bought were really replacements. We’re 2 players away from the title and we should’ve got those 2 players in the summer but Wenger as always is far too stubborn do address this situation.

    I feel sorry for Sanchez as he’s a one man team these last few games.

    1. 2 players away from a title?
      If we had Messi and CR7 we still couldn’t win a title.
      Monreal? Pants not good enough.
      Walk Wiltshire? Busy fool not good enough.
      Arteta? Slow average player not good enough.
      Mertesaker? Too slow not good enough.
      Giroud? Not good enough.
      Flamini? Not good enough.
      Most of those players are 1st team players and they are pants.
      Where is the back up?
      Squad is decimated by injuries which is having a greater effect than it should because of the condition Wenger has left the squad in.
      We are pretty fookin far from needing 2 players!

      1. I also think our team is only above average. We only have Ozil, Sanchez and Kos, the rest are average. Many fans here think we are top quality and we should compete for the title and C1 cup. You insisted Wenger should give more game time for the like of Podolski but look at him when he was started, any better? And funny that “Dench boy” said that Wenger should have used the money he bought Alexis to buy 2 cheap players, yet many fans supports his idea. Can’t believe it.

  2. Truth be told, a top club won’t have Arsene Wenger anywhere near the club not to talk of being manager. I think he should step down by the end of this season else we’ll continue to suffer in this mediocrity.

  3. We have an easy run of games for a while, only Man U and Liverpool… What is the reason for dropping 9 more points before the new year? We really we shouldn’t be dropping that much in the near future…

    1. We can’t say we have any easy run of fixtures when we’re clawing back in games just to get one point at home. You’re right, we shouldn’t be dropping that many points in the future. But we also shouldn’t have dropped that many points in the past either.

    2. ‘Only Man U and Liverpool’. They’re must win games. We can’t afford to lose against either team – they’re our main competitors for third place.

      1. Did u just say “third place”? What place is that?

        Pal, we own “4th place”, aint no place like “third place”, and if there was, it’s never ours.

  4. Another rat race for the 4th place. At least year we had hopes of title till January. This time we know we are fighting for Wenger’s trophy from october itself. Makes me wanna puke. Is it really worth all the pain to persist with Wenger ? We have no hope for trophy, we have lost the fluid and attractive brand of football, except Sanchez there is no-one to look forward for excitment, half the team is playing out of position and looks demotivated and the other half is injured. So depressing.

  5. U haven’t even begun to touch on his unbelievably poor decision making, I shake my head every time I see carl jenkinson in a west ham shirt and when monreal looks like a helpless chicken at CB and when I see diaby chilling in reserves with his 60k a week, promising to return to action in a few weeks as always and i also shake my head when joel Campbell and lukas podolski remain on the bench when we need firepower and when ozil fails on the wing for the gazillionth time and when flamini dives in and flops around like a helpless seal and when arteta gets shoved around like a kid in a playground and when wilshere is put in a new position

    But I guess we’re the only ones who expect more smh….. I’m gonna go watch some highlights from the invincible reign, wake me up when arsene grows up

    1. it seems watching Arsenal play is not a relaxing time for you. If it only annoys you, i suggest you stop doing that, maybe until Wenger leave?

  6. with wenger theres so much background, 18 years as a manager is unheard of- so many memories, new stadium.
    its hard to let go….but its getting difficult, we’ve tasted real success, had the worlds best in our team- all now a memory

    every year its the same- 4th place trophy – arsenal are better than that- we know this
    what to do?

  7. WE NEED EVERY SINGLE POINT IN REALITY TO CHALLENGE FOR THE TITLE. Rest assured we will struggle to get 75% because we struggle against average teams . Just like @quantic dream, I am fed up of this 4th place talk, tis the reason I have not watched many Arsenal games. IT IS NO LONGER A MATTER OF SIGNINGS. We are poor tactically and player are demotivated because they have lost confidence in Wenger. I AM FOR WENGER STEPPING DOWN AT THE END OF THE SEASON 4TH PLACE OR NOT.

    1. He could just piss off now, couldn’t be worse than the mess he has us in now.
      We have an OK team if played in the right position ‘s and a few great players that should be utilised with tactics to suit their game.

  8. 35 points from 12 games? Not impossible. But for the way we’ve been playing, that goal seems kinda far fetch. Things gotta change on the pitch or we will only be setting ourselves up for disappointment. If we haven’t been disappointed already.

  9. WENGER OUT.DON’T HAVE ANY REGRETS,HE’S DONE HIS JOB, HE’S DRAGGED US KICKING AND SCREAMING INTO THE 21st CENTURY WINNING US MANY TROPHIES IN THE PROCESS. Hope E’LL NEVER BE FORGOTTEN AND HE’S BEEN WELL PAID.
    A NEW COACH/MANAGER MUST NOW BE SOUGHT TO FILL THE BOOTS OF ARSENE.
    NO ONE SAYS IT WILL EASY BUT IT’S THE RIGHT MOVE.

  10. ————————-Welbeck————————-
    —–Podolski—-Sanchez—–Cazorla—–Joel——
    ————————–Arteta————————–
    —–Gibbs—–Chamber—–Mert—–Bellerin——
    ————————-Szszesny————————-

    — Flamini needs to be replaced for a few games at least.
    — Sanchez and cazorla can drive forward with the ball from deep within our half and collect simple passes from Arteta
    — Podolski and Joel can make sneaking runs of the ball, Joel can also dribble, Podolski has the power shot.
    — Coquelin can also play at RB, anyone of him or Bellerin but but not chambers.
    Chambers is better at CB.

    Ramsey doesn’t look like he is back yet, so would have him on the bench.

    1. Oh, that doesn’t seem right.

      —————-Welbeck————–
      Poldi—Sanchez—Cazorla—Joel
      —————-Arteta—————–
      Gibbs—Chamber–Mert–Bellerin
      —————Scszesny————–

      *Flamini not to be replaced for a few games, maybe one or two becuase he is making some mistakes per game. So benching him for thwose one or two gaems will bring him back to what ever level he was.

          1. But it’s not different. That’s what we’ve been using since the start of the season, or at least for the most part 😉

    1. Gibbs says post match v Anderlecht, everyone is giving 100%.
      Per says next day, we need to be honest and train harder.
      Wenger says today he doesn’t agree with Per.

      Per is right even though he is one of the players making mistakes.
      other players brush it off, saying we will fix it in the next game, but how many next games have we had with same performance?

      1. A man with class is one who sees something wrong and acknowledges it.

        I may not like Per, but I admire his honesty and I think he sure does have class, unlike some parrots in our team who take after a certain clueless prof.

  11. Off Topic/ On Topic

    Arsenal is a club that used to be known for two things: style and results. I think it’s safe to say that at some point in time, the only club that had a more fanciful style of play than us was Barcelona. And as much as we played beautiful football, we also won most of our games consequently, and when we don’t win, we were hard to beat because we were very cohesive at the back. In general, our class used to be obvious for all to see.

    Class is a combination of style and results. Class is not a product of wishes, it’s a product of HARD WORK. In terms of style and results, Arsenal has been very abysmal recently. In other words, we’ve not been as classy as we used to be and according to Per Mertasecker, it’s because the team has not been training hard enough.

    Wenger has come out to refute Per’s claim, categorically saying he doesn’t understand what Per meant when he said Arsenal needs to “train harder”. Wenger says, “I don’t know what he meant by that… I think we train very hard… .” So who should we believe in this case? The one who just stands and watches the team train, or the one who actually participates in the training?

    We, as fans, can see for ourselves that the team has really been below per so far and Per is not far from the truth in his general assessment of the performances of a team he is a regular participant in. Just as a whole lot of us think, he (Per) also thinks more effort should be put in by the team. Even oppositions think we (Arsenal) are not worth being worried about (just ask Anderlecht).

    But Wenger thinks otherwise. He is proud of our shambolic performances. He’s never admitted the truth before. Not once! Every one can see that something is wrong with Arsenal and needs to be fixed; Parlour, Pires, Keown, etc., have all called for a change. Even current players like Koscielny, Arteta and Carzola too have. But the one to fix it is Wenger and the Prof. sees nothing wrong. So, how can Wenger fix something he sees nothing wrong with?

    In conclusion, I know some persons have said we need 2 or 3 additional players (primarily a defensive midfielder and a central back), but I strongly am of the opinion that what we need more is a new manager. What’s the point buying a defensive midfielder only to watch him forced to play as a goalkeeper, and a central back forced to play as a striker?

  12. A man with class is one who sees something wrong and acknowledges it.

    I may not like Per, but I admire his honesty and I think he sure does have class, unlike some parrots in our team who take after a certain clueless prof.

  13. How many points before the new year to do or for what??
    Challenge for the league title?
    Challenge for the top four?

    Regarding the league, Chelsea will be champion unless City starts rolling.
    I think it will be the easiest league won since I can remember.

    Regarding the top four, we are only few away from the spot, so it is quite reachable.
    Since it is the only think we might be able to aim for, I suggest we go for that.

    Anyway, we do not have the squad to do anything else.

    We need to get out of the CL group stage, so we can “access” the cash reward (the only truly motivation)… After that we will meet one of “big boys” and it will be clearly over… Again!

    The FA Cup, may be… We just cannot challenge for the major trophies… This is just not a top club… We look like one with a great stadium and massive fan based, but other than the sporting aspect of the club classed us as “nobody” amongst the best…!!!

  14. If Meretsacker is “telling”, it means that training might be “relaxed” or not “appropriate”…!
    That might be the reason why he is getting slower every game !!

    Looking forward to get some of our main players back because we are lacking edge and consistency.

    I also hope Wilshere will be on the bench as he brings nothing to game/play and does not use the ball properly.
    Cazorla or Rosicky (if fit) should be our number 10 and orchestrate the play.

  15. Just realised that Wilshere is suspended for tomorrow’s game.
    Watch how we win that sh*t easy!

    I also looked at the league ranking so far and realised (again) that even though we are playing worse than ever before and not getting the results we wanted, Tottenham aka the Spurs are still behind us…
    I am asking myself sometimes what do we have to do so they will have a chance to enjoy a run upfront!! It just shows that the shadow is impenetrable and they will be our b*tches for years to come… And I like that 🙂

  16. I think we can still win the title if the Gunners would stop dropping points starting from the Sunderland game up to the last BPL game in Dec. However, the Gunners will play 3 UCL games in between those Barclays ties. Let us pray we come top with maximum points from those 16 games. I personally believe our hopes to win the Barclays Premier League are not lost. Starting from tomorrow, there are still 90 points remaining for the Gunners to haul for. And I am confident they will at least get 80 out the 90 which will place us with 91 points on the final league table. Will 90 points be sufficient for us to win the title? Well, let us wait and see. But one thing is certain, the Gunners will finish above 4th this season. If I were Mertesacker, I would limit my comment with in the team. Obviously the boss is not happy with him making his criticism public. And no top manager will accept such a comment that could spark controversy with in and outside the club. Honestly, some Gunners have been talking carelessly.

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