I mentioned a few times during last season that I thought it was a bit unfair and unduly harsh of all the football commentators and experts to give Arsenal such a hard time for failing to win the Premier League. We still managed to be the best of the usual suspects expected to challenge for the title but this was not enough.
We had blown our best and possibly only chance they said, because the likes of Man City, Chelsea and Man United would not be as bad again. While this conveniently failed to take into account the bad luck we had with injuries and with some referee decisions (I’m looking at you Mike Dean) I could see the point and agree with it to some extent.
But hold on just one cotton picking minute Arsenal fans. Is the theory really that sound? What about the old adage of it taking time for a new manager to make his mark on a team? And what about the often seen time it takes for new players to settle, especially those coming from different leagues as a lot of the big clubs’ new signings have?
Chelsea, Man City and Man United all have new managers and are all looking to alter the squads quite a bit, so perhaps they will also take a while to really get going and perhaps the Gunners, with our stability, will be the team ideally placed to take advantage.
All three of our main rivals have suffered defeats in pre-season so far, with a baffled looking Jose Mourinho and his United side’s 4-1 pasting at the hands of Borussia Dortmund possible the most entertaining and least expected. So should we stop worrying about whether Arsenal wasted the chance to be crowned champions last season and get behind the lads as they go again this year?
Bob.