Palace Draw Shows Why We Are Not In the Title Race by Dan Smith
After 11 consecutive victories some people started to question how far Arsenal are away from being title contenders? It’s offensive to everything Pep Guardiola did last season to even suggest such a huge points difference had been closed based on our limited transfer activity. This weekend’s draw with Palace is a proper reflection of where we are currently at. We were below par at Selhurst Park but, it mirrored most performances barring Fulham.
In most matches we have been slow out of the blocks we are (yet to be leading at half time in the League) and too easy for opposition to get at our defence. It’s a bad habit these group of players have had for a couple of years, too many days where they simply don’t show up. It’s unrealistic to expect Unai Emery to change that attitude overnight and he would have known the level of performances meant it was a matter of time before our luck ran out.
‘Uni’s Red and White Army’ are not playing any better than last season but are just stronger in the head. Results have been better then performances so far, but our new boss has done a great job in changing the mentality in such a quick time. In the last couple of years, we lost the art of winning when not playing well, to have managed that already is ahead of schedule. Yet you’re not going to get away with it every time. That’s why our new boss won’t entertain talk of winning the Premiership.
How many games do Man City have where they don’t show up, where key players go missing? That’s the level of consistency we must find long term.
So, Monday Night cheer for City not Spurs, it’s the top 4 we need to worry about, we not ready for a title push yet.
Selhurst Park showed us that.
Dan Smith