Pre-season form means little to Arsenal title hopes by DN
I am not trying to say that Arsenal would be better off losing a game or two in the build up to our latest attempt to win the Premier League but when I see how carried away some of the Arsenal fans are getting after we won our first two pre-season games, I cannot help but think that they are building themselves up for a fall.
Just as a bad result in the pre-season build up does not mean that a team has no chance of doing well when the serious stuff starts, so a great run up does not mean it will carry on into the league games. These games are about preparation and while it is good to play well, for player confidence as well as form, it is not the be all and end all.
Look at last summer for instance; when we hammered Benfica 5-1 in the Emirates Cup and comfortably beat Man City 3-0 in the Community Shield only to struggle badly when the real action began. So if we beat Chelsea next week, do not think it necessarily follows that the title is coming to north London, or vice versa.
The summer before that we struggled to a draw and a loss in the Emirates Cup, played well to beat Man City in the final pre-season game and then lost to Aston Villa at home in the first Premier League game. But after that our season took off and we were top of the table for most of that campaign.
All I am saying, Arsenal fans, is that we should not get too worked up one way or the other about these games that, at the end of the day, mean nothing when the dust settles next May.