There is a quite widely held theory in the football world that Arsenal have become a team that just cannot seem to produce our best performances when it really matters and there is evidence that the proponents of this theory can point to for support, most recently the slips against the likes of Swansea and Man United that effectively ended our chances of the Premier League title.
I think we can also point to periods and individual games that go against the theory as well though, such as the hard fought draw at Man City last weekend, the brilliant win away to Olympiacos that kept us in the Champions League and the strong finished that Arsenal have produced a few times in recent years to get back above Tottenham after the spuds had got themselves into a top four position.
Unfortunately we cannot dent our north London rivals that this time around but we can still finish above them if things go our way and it would also be a nice way for the Gunners to finish off a generally disappointing season if they could produce the sort of performance that we know they can.
The fact that the pressure is pretty much off this game should help Arsenal to click and play the fluent, creative and exciting football that makes us the best team in the country when it happens. So will we see Arsenal go out with a bang against relegated Aston Villa on Sunday?
No point drumming up support…the thrill is gone man!
Hahaha ?
We still have the transfer window’s shenanigans to look forward to ?
Ozil to be offered £200,000 aweek to extend his contract!
And wenger is on the verge of extended his own stay too.
i think winning two FA cups in a row shows you can play under pressure, chelsea, man utd, liverpool and man city are beow us in the table, no I am not happy but fix the issue in center forward position, beef up a few postions, stay healthy and compete… we are not in the league to win the champions leaque, but we can compete for the league…
The “fizz ” has gone from the champagne which is rather “flat” now!
I can understand how you all feel; I really do, But I (right or wrong) still feel a thrill when the lads in the red and white come out onto the pitch.
Its all about aspiration and ambition.
1. Kroenke says that he is not “involved” to win championships
2. Jack Wiltshire on arsenal.com says aim is top four finish
Seems to me that kroenke has decided that to aim for PL win is too expensive based on what chelsea and manc have spent. In PL aim is 3/4 place. In CL aim is last 16. When these aims are under threat we perform, hence performances against manc, olympiacos and previous seasons like fight with tottenham mentioned above. There are lots of other example.
What we cannot do is take advantage of opportunities to go and win the PL like swansea, west ham and manu this season (plus many others).
Team and Wenger consistently meet the targets set by the owner, top four in PL, last sixteen CL and occassional domestic cup.
So much for things getting better when stadium debt was not a millstone around our neck. My criticism of Wenger is that he cannot motivate the team to achieve more than the aims set by the owner. Contrast this with leicester and some other teams in PL who have exceeded expectations.