So, there has been a lot of talk during the international break of wherever Arsenal is still in the title race?
Incredibly the same Gooners who arrogantly predicted we would win all of our opening games and played semantics over the ‘could go unbeaten’ are now forecasting the Gunners will now go on a winning run.
My own opinion is 11 games is too soon to rule us out of being Champions from a mathematical point of view. With 27 matches left that’s a lot of points still up for grabs, but the fact is that we haven’t won any of our last 4 games.
The only positive spin I can offer on being 9 points behind Liverpool is that we have got the majority of our tough away fixtures out of the way, and now (on paper at least) have a winnable run of matches coming up.
It’s worth remembering that in the last two seasons most of this squad were able to put together a long unbeaten sequence of results. That will be required again if we want to end our title drought in 2025.
Yet people can overcomplicate this sport. Our fan base can point out our injuries and spread conspiracy theories, reasons can be argued why the top two will slip up, but in reality, do an eye test. Your vision is not playing tricks.
Quite simply not enough of our players are performing at a level where they can be compared to the last two years. Too many individuals are not showing enough personality yet again raising doubts over the mentality at the club.
Arsene Wenger used to say you had to earn the right to be involved in the conversation, and at the moment we haven’t seen enough character for that to be a reality.
Of course, that can change with one result or a player having one moment of brilliance to refind their mojo. Too many names are not being brave. Bravery isn’t measured on fighting or being strong in the tackle. It’s about who demands the ball, who takes their man on, who tries to move off the ball, who isn’t afraid to play the risky pass.
At the moment I still think this team will have the capability of an afternoon where they don’t show up with the correct attitude.
That will cost us.
Dan
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With our back firmly against the wall a decent run in the league would hardly surprise.
Have watched Arsenal over the years and this is the time they always prove critics wrong, in fact the legendary Frenchman was mis quoted on going unbeaten, but went on and did exactly that winning the league in the process, if my memory is correct.
But doubts are being raised because many fans (you included, certainly) never thought Arsenal would be in a position where they had their “backs firmly against the wall” in the first place!
The season, so far anyway, certainly wasn’t supposed to be like this. It was to be, according to some, more of a coronation than a title race.
That’s why I think it’s sensible to be a little circumspect about what Arsenal may or may not do now. Unexpected things, good and not so good, happen in football. Once bitten, twice shy is an old adage that comes to mind.
@Bertie
In other words, we seem to be resting on our laurels from the past two seasons league positionings. Just sayin…
To a degree, yes. I think having come so close last season in particular some fans thought that this season would be nailed on for the title.
Indeed, that’s almost what quite a few posts suggested at the start of the season – along the lines of all we need are “x” points more and/or “y” goals more”. Forgetting that all those other points and goals from last season have to be earned all over again, they’re not sitting there waiting.
I think we’ve all learned now that every season starts afresh – nothing is carried over and nothing can be taken for granted.
It would be interesting to know how many people actually said or believed what is being implied. It’s probably no more than a tiny minority of fans that would have said that we were nailed on for the title. Of course, we all want to win it. However, fans have generally been far more circumspect than what is being suggested.
I have to agree with this comment. I think most Arsenal fans probably thought City would win again this year and most probably did not think that Liverpool would start the way that they have.
This team is not a patch on the invincibles and Arteta is certainly no Wenger .
@Dan kit
👍🏾
Absolutely!! Not yet anyway!!
Siting fourth with nine points off the pace any of the current top four got to be in the conversation when discussing where the big jug is likely to end up.
With a steely determination, the gaffer is unlikely to wave the white towel.
There is no doubt we had one of the toughest start to this campaign, with the most difficult away fixtures firmly behind us
So with trips to Spud, Chelsea, Newcastle and the champions firmly in the rear view mirror a bold run in the league would certainly complicate matters at the top.
Looking ahead is where it’s get interesting, starting tomorrow against Forest who are fifth then Fulham in seventh who we face in a seven game stretch, the next five matches against teams are that are among the bottom eight sides in the premier league.
Now this includes games against Everton, Ipswich, and Palace who are 16th, 17th and 18th in the league respectively.
So we also face less travel, in all competitions, while playing once just outside the capital, against the Portuguese outfit in the champions league.
Arsenal can take heart in the fact the big pretender leading the league is not the winning machine of the champion Manchester city, talking about the champions we are only four points off Pep Guarrdiola side.
All in all the mighty champions have faded and the title race as a whole feels far more open,
We were chaser in the last campaign and have shown we are more than capable of putting a run together when under pressure
“All in all the mighty champions have faded “, there you go again. Have they though? Like Liverpool were “wobbly” after their first (and so far, only, defeat by Forest)? You’re still as quick to write off other teams as you are to build up Arsenal. Wait and see.
@Dan Kit
Was asked to relay a message to you from TRVL who posts on:
londonisred (dot) com
All the best and I sympathize with your assessment of Arteta.
Fcking love that Md – gunner
Did t know that as a fan forum
Tell him I miss his amazing wordsmith on JA (one of kind )
I’ll make my way over and see if I reconnect.👍
If I can reconnect *
We had better players though and players who had won titles before
Where are the geniuses who predicted Havertz will outscore Haaland this season? Using the amusing logic of “if he scored 13 goals in half a season he will score 26 in full season”.
I don’t see them mentioning him much nowadays as they energetically did last season nor do I see customary weekly articles about Havertz anymore.
As much as the so called “anti Arteta” have a “bad reputation” on this site, they have been proven right time after time after time for 5 years in a row.
Very interesting when you think about it.
Yes you’re right and you must be very proud of that. Cheers to your achievement. 😂
Yet you say nothing at the time
It was up there with the worse prediction of all time next to Eddie Nketiah being a better option then Mpappe
Overall the play is what is concerning. We had had moments of brilliance this year, but our play has been spotty at best. Nothing convincing or rarely dominating as we have seen in the past.
Sure injuries and the schedule have played a part, but you would think the team would have learned lessons and kicked on considering the disappointing finishes of the last 2 years.
We are still a good team, but nothing to date has convinced me we can go on a run of games to get on top of the table and stay there.
27 games left is a long way to go and much can happen, but can anyone say they are convinced? Honestly, still can’t tell which Arsenal team will show up on any given match day.
Our incredible run in the second half of last season has raised expectations levels of gooners. This season hasn’t been a smooth sail; no win in 4 EPL games sums it up. It’s important to get back to winning ways as quickly as possible, we face Nottingham Forest next who are no pushovers this Season. We’ve got to dig deep to get
the 3 points.
My opinion is that we ignore the talk of going on a winning run and just approach the rest of the season on a game by game basis (one at a time, of course hoping to win each).
At this moment our Team players are participating in four different competitions (PL,Champions,Cup and Nations L.) playing every 3 days,and we can see injuries in nearly every game and our squad is very limited in numbers and in quality, so we are paying for the bad planning and decisions by Edu and Arteta and probably scarcity of money.
We have only 13 top quality players:Raya,Saliba,
White.Gabriel,Calafiori,Timber,Partey.Odegaard.Merino,Rice,Saka,Havertz and Martinelli.
We have 6 substitutes in witch we can relay temporarily:Neto,Jorginho,Zinchenko, Trossard and Nwaneri.Total 19 players .Forget about the others.We should have at least 24.
We do not have proper cover for the 4 pillars of the team: Saliba,Odegaard,Saka and Havertz.
I can only hope that we obtain a trophy in one competition with luck and most important a top 4 position in the PL.
I am not sure if I am a Realistic, Pessimistic or Optimistic, but I am concern about my club.
It’s match day, yes it is. COYG!!!!