Teams are no longer afraid of playing Arsenal, home or away.
There was a time when teams felt panicked before they faced Arsenal at home. Highbury used to be a slaughter ground for every Premier League side and those teams were not even sure of taking all the points when they welcomed Arsenal to their grounds.
Nowadays teams like Sheffield United who have just been promoted back to the Premier League can hold Arsenal to a stalemate and even Crystal Palace can come to the Emirates and play confidently looking to get all three points.
One of the most embarrassing stats this season is the fact that Watford and Wolves had over 30 shots against us. These stats show just how bad things have become in recent seasons.
A younger manager has made no difference
One reason we thought teams didn’t fear us under Arsene Wenger was that ‘Le professor’’ tactics seem to have been outdated and new managers like Pep Guardiola, Brendan Rodgers, and Jurgen Klopp have new and better ideas.
But we now have a younger manager who has won three consecutive Europa League titles. Why has the fear factor not returned?
They say charity begins at home, and so we have to make the Emirates unbearable for visiting sides. We can’t expect opponents to be afraid of coming to the Emirates when the Stadium is not hostile to them.
Our away performances have to improve, that is a no brainer. It cannot be right that Arsenal is seen as an easy touch on the road. This has been a problem for at least three seasons now and must change as a matter of urgency.
I suspect that most teams are now afraid of playing Leicester City than they are playing Arsenal.
The only way that Arsenal can get that fear factor back is by beating teams on a regular basis. Sounds simple but until that happens we can expect more poor performances and bad results. That is the consequence of teams no longer being afraid of playing Arsenal.