Since Arsene Wenger last guided the Arsenal team to a Premier League title back in 2004, there have been plenty of ups and downs. It has not all been bad by any means, as the Gunners did reach the Champions League final in 2006 and nearly beat Barcelona despite an early red card for our keeper Jens Lehmann.
Arsenal have been close to the title since then but something has always got in the way, most notably the injury to Eduardo in 2008 and the host of injuries to players like Ramsey and Walcott a couple of years ago. But because of our long wait for another EPL trophy and with a stunning ability to ignore all the many problems the manager has had to cope with, the football media has found it easy to find fault.
There have been a number of criticisms aimed at us in the last 10 years; we can´t defend, we are too focused on attack, we have no plan B, we have no leaders, we crumble in big games and many more. Whether you thought they were fair or not, the current Arsenal squad has by and large answered all these questions, except one.
What I am talking about is the theory that we only perform under pressure and that we are no good as front runners. A perfect example of this was in the final 16 of the Champions League last season. A brilliant draw (for a change) and we all expected to breeze past Monaco. And then again on Boxing Day we blew a big chance to go top after an insipid showing at Southampton.
How do Arsenal get over this final hurdle and win the race to the Premier League trophy?
Focus. That’s up to the manager, to keep the boys grounded. They shouldn’t think because they’re leaders in December, they’ll be leaders in May. We have seen we’re capable of both the sublime (Leicester 2 Arsenal 5) and the ridiculous (Southampton 4 Arsenal 0), so we still have a lot of work to do.
I don’t think that is Arsenal biggest problem. Arsenal and Wenger’s biggest problem is injuries.
If we did not have the injury problems, we would have wrapped up the PL by now.
This is the perfect opportunity for wenger and arsenal. Except City no one we really need to bother much and even city is inconsistent. Pellegriny is under pressure and they have some injury problems.
I know Wenger is right that world class players are not available in January. But we may not need WC players to win the league this year. A medium range players can also win the league.
We must go for players like Wanyaman and Chicaharito but if not, I can not believe that players better than Flammini and OX are not available.
Spend some money and get the title..
Welbeck, Wilshare, Cazorla, Coqualan…
Any manager would have signed after missing these players and specially the position we are in.
Its a massive chance . Wenger should not repeat his mistakes.
Actually, injuries are the common problems of all team, not just Arsenal. The key is how to manage through it but at the same time still going upward. It’s a small change to a starting player to play all 38 fixtures + cup competitions + international duties.You’ll need good squad depth to do this, where the subs have nearly the same quality as the starting. My opinion, this was our main problem apart of Arsene’s tactical tendencies.
So far, it won’t happen this season. Bunch of injuries but half season winner. We did fall 0 – 4 to Soton, but bounced back instantly like no scratch. In tactical matter, we also seeing that Arsene is getting lot more flexible.
Ball possession is not “God” anymore. Our quality to turn over or the counter attack has been working properly.
UCL? We can use the early bad results as lessons. We can beat Barca the same way as we beat Bayern. The very basic key is to keep the team ball pressure, specially when defense, as tight as possible. That’s the way Chelsea, Madrid, or Atletico done to deal and neutralized Barca.
Except Arsenal has one of the highest rate of injuries in Europe and the highest in England. And we have coped with injuries better than any other team in the league, City struggle when they miss one player whereas we’ve been coping with 4 to 7 of our main starters since the start of the season.
it pipes me off when pundits, some arsenal fans and other fans say we are top of the league because other teams are playing badly.
what about when Chelsea lifted the title, nobody said because other teams are playing badly..
my point is we are were we are because we worked for it..and people saying we are not capable of winning it because we lost to southampton.
games lost by big teams :arsenal lost to West ham w ,westbrom, Chelsea and Southampton.
man city lost to Liverpool, arsenal,stoke, spurs,westham. no disrespect for Chelsea and Liverpool but they are not title contenders. man u lost to arsenal, stoke,bournemouth, Norwich, swansea.. now tell me looking at those loses arsenal haven’t lost to a big team other than the robbing at Stamford bridge..
so my point is give credit.were it is due.
wishing every one a happy new year..Asante sana
M8, u seem to forget that all the big games, apart from the Chelsea away one, were played at the Emirates. Much like in the season 2013/2014 and we all know what happened that season.
So ? We still won, and we have one of the best away records in the year of 2015. Saying we will win the title because the other teams are poor is a BS excuse and typical denial from plastic fans and sugar daddy a$$ kissers. The smaller teams have stepped up their game and are playing to their potential unlike last year which is the reason you see established teams like Villa, Newcastle, United and Chelsea doing so poorly. They thought they wouldn’t have to improve while the other clubs around them have been slowly building themselves into top teams, without the unnecessary spending that many delusional fans think is the solution to being successful.
Arsenal’s biggest advantage
is that two of the best EPL
teams Man U and Chelsea
are shite right now.
Ferguson and Mourinho are no longer there to torment us.
Leicester and Spurs are in the top four!!!
Just Man City and Pellegrini stand between us and the title.
Pellegrini is not a wind up merchant like Fergie and Mou.
So we just take of business one step at a time.
Newcastle next week and hope Norwich take points off City.
A DM and CAM are options we need to consider in Jan.
Then we watch City play energy sapping possibly injury
incurring Capital Cup games v Everton while we rest and recover.
I can see City falling off the pace quite easily
while we just keep getting further ahead 🙂
Probably win with four games in hand.
I’d go for a striker as well, I don’t think that Giroud can stay top class for the whole season. He needs proper competition, Wallcot is at his best as a winger.
Well the team needs to let go of the tactically weak players. In the match vs saints mertesacker was not targeted but koscielny which means the German gets isolated. Looking at the match Flamini,Ramsey attacked at every opportunity which gave them more space. What they need is a shepherd who can control the herd. Arsenal’s plan B should be if “if Arsenal can’t win a match then atleast not allow the oppents to win.”
That’s what we’ve been saying since last season, a replacement for Coquelin so that our attack-minded players can play their natural game. Ramsey isn’t a DM expecting him to remain defensive is unrealistic, if he had leCoq by his side I’m pretty sure Southampton would’ve only had that one goal.
and nobody is giving wenger credit as he has managed our injury..look at man u with their injury problem and they couldn’t find an answer and it is clear to everyone without kompany man city are no way near there best. imagine man city without silva, you’re, debryune,kompany,aguero.. or imagine man u without smalling,rooney,martial,carrick mata. but we are without at some point no walcot,ramsey boss,bellerin,mertesacker,chambo. and now we are without sanchez,cazorla,coquelin, I don’t even want to mention Welbeck and co..but we survived without them and we are still surviving..
I am looking forward to new faces this transfer..a friend said the elneny guy is more of schweinstiger than wanyama meaning he is not an out an out dmf.
and he says he is a good long range passer. has the most pass accuracy in basel but stats sometimes are misleading. fingers crossed. but I would really like for us to get an Amf along side Dmf becaus God forbid something happens to ozil well only ramsey will be left as now cazorla is March and I don’t trust rosicky because of his injury problems. and wilshere
who has a setback in his recovery, we all know what that means..
I am incensed that anybody can have the audacity to thumb down Lucia whose arguments are factual and make a lot of sense. There is no logic in saying that Arsenal is where it is because the other teams are not doing well. Is it Arsenal’s fault that its opponents are currently not doing well? In any case every one in a competition wishes their opponents do not perform well because the aim of joining a competition is to win. If your opponents perform badly it is to your advantage. Why then would any one calling himself a Gunner get upset about that? Every season the winner is the one who performs least badly or maybe best! What some people have failed to come to terms with is the fact that the so-called lower teams have now got more money and bought better players and can therefore challenge the big boys. That is why the gap between the teams is narrowing and this will continue to be the case as teams benefit from broadcasting rights and other revenue. T
players did not believe to win the title, fan also… always find a reason not to win the title.