Two points lost or one point gained? by OA
As Arsenal supporters we all have that one hope to win titles such as the league, but there are many things that we disagree on. However, one thing that admittedly all Arsenal fans can agree on is the fact that we were shocking against Spurs. The performance seemed to replicate how we played against Bayern away last week, apart from we were lucky in that we played against Spurs and not Bayern.
Tottenham clearly came into the game with an obvious but intelligent game plan, pressing high; not allowing us to get the ball down, keep possession and play our usual passing game. This was of course shown in the way in which we played. We seemed to get the ball off Spurs, kick it into their half, obtain possession and then the high pressure stopped us from passing the ball. There were no players from Arsenal who were busting a gut to try and go towards the ball in order to help a team-mate and eventually players became stranded. This is of course was what led to Tottenham’s first goal, players being out of position and a ball through to Harry Kane, before him scoring. Their game plan was successful but in the end, the score of 1-1 didn’t pay dividends for Tottenham as we clinched a draw in the 77th minute. Therefore, as a result of injuries, a shocking display and a perfect substitution in bringing Gibbo on for Joel, did the draw give us a platform to build on after the international break with the one point, or was it a disappointing result and thus it was as though we lost two points?
As the majority of Arsenal fans know, City also drew 0-0 with Aston Villa, a result which gave us a huge chance to claim the top spot of the Premier League, had we beaten Spurs. We would have headed into the International Break on top spot, before Walcott and the OX were back from injury, which would carry our march on towards the title. A win would have been the preferable result in order to have achieved this and therefore drawing to an of course ‘mediocre’ team like Spurs is disappointing when we would have liked to have gone top of the table. Two points were arguably lost due to this as we are sitting in second place instead of being top of the league.
However, I don’t believe that this game is two points lost, but more so one gained, for the reasons that we have an injury list that is mounting, City also drew today and the run in of fixtures that we have after the international break. From how we played today we certainly didn’t deserve to win, let alone draw and we got the undeserved point. When getting something that goes against the run of play, one point is a good point. Three vital players in Oxlade Chamberlain, Walcott and Bellerin will be fit after the upcoming break. This will be close to having our best team back in action, which means that we can mount a real title challenge after the break with our best starting XI. This result doesn’t put us in a bad position but leaves us in a good position as we matched exactly what Man City did today apart from we drew to a better team than they did – as admittedly Spurs are better than Villa. This in a way makes it seem as though we gained points on City, instead of matching them, which is the perfect mentality if we want to believe that we have a chance to win the League this season. Up until Christmas we have a much easier run in of fixtures than City do. We are on the same number of points and surely comparing fixtures, we shouldn’t drop points, whilst it is expected that City do, which will bring us ahead of them. This point may leave us in second but also forces us into being joint top, which is certainly positive. The positivity around us having injured players back fit soon as well as having an easy few next 4 games or so makes me believe that this is a point gained, rather than a point lost. Agreed?
Ollie