Hello Gooners, Can I ask you a question? Realistically, did you really expect Arteta and his boys to win the Premier League at the first time of asking? I know you hoped they could manage to do so, but I bet that deep down, you always knew City would do it. If so, why should you be bothered by those accusing Arsenal of being title bottlers?
Like Aaron Ramsdale, look at the brighter side of Arsenal’s achievements, one of which is getting back to Champions League football next season, and see them as a success.
“This narrative of ‘bottled it’ is an easy way out,” he told The Times. “It’s just a quick, cheap narrative from certain people who have not actually gone digging into the stories of what we’ve achieved.
“And some people are saying it and forgetting that other teams in other years have had the same experience as us by missing out on the title by a certain number of points. For us, we are disappointed but extremely proud of ourselves as well.
“I also think it’s very hard to say that with a team [City] who have won it in five of the last six years, gone on an 11-game winning streak, and will potentially win the treble. So we have to be realistic as well.”
Yes, Arsenal are not winning the 2022–23 season, but I bet when this season is remembered, Arsenal’s resurgence will make up most of that report. It will be written how, out of nowhere, Arsenal entered the title race and gave Manchester City a run for their money.
For this season, lessons have been learned; hopefully, Arteta and his boys will complete what they started next term. We will certainly be more experienced and know what to expect, and I am confident we will have an even better squad for Arteta to choose from as well..
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One can use whatever set of words they want to describe our season and “bottling it” is one such example.
We see how other club’s fans are celebrating the fact that we let a nine point gap wither and then vanish to prove that point and, if I’m honest, I really didn’t think that would happen – especially after last seasons final few games.
I look at the PL table and see only one club that took the fight to city, a club embroiled in alleged financial misconduct off the pitch, so what satisfaction these other clubs fans get from city winning it, I fail to understand.
If these allegations are correct, then city has been cheating every club in the PL, yet they seem not to see that fact!!!
I have no axe to grind regarding the playing side of city, they have proven three times this season that they are better than us and also every other club in the PL.
But we pressured them throughout the campaign and, with three games to play, they still cannot claim they have won the PL – but, in my opinion, we will have handed it to them on a plate!!
I don’t understand the words “at the first time of asking” in the article.
We’ve been asking it since the last time we won it haven’t we?
Have we learnt the lesson for next season?
It seems we haven’t, as the collapse has happened once again, just as it did last season.
The club, however, FEELS different and that, for me, is a major step forward. The Emirates is, finally, a stadium that is at one with the players – we have CL football – we are London’s top club, both in position and results – so there is much to take from this season and I believe we will go forward under MA… but make no mistake, we bottled it good and proper.
I would put it down as a great opportunity missed not unlike the 2015/16 season when Leicester won the EPL.
Those lazy armchair pudits and journo said we ‘bottled it’. I almost believe them until I saw what shitty did to Madrid. Then I understood the scale of our achievement this season. Improving on the several gains of this season is sacrosanct or else it might take another 2 decades to break through.
“ Bottling it” Is a form of phrase used by those to denigrate Arsenal’s “ surprise” resurgence this season.Fot that’s what it really Is,a resurgence.Now within that we had an opportunity to win the title.Realistically? No.& that’s what’s happened.We are still in the process which THIS season Will hopefully be completed.Then let’s see who are the bottlers.
A rational and wise article PAT! People will have mixed views about whether or not – I say NOT- we have “bottled it”.
But either way, it is of no matter now What DOES MATTER is that we are steadily building a far better squad and therefore a far better team than we had around two seasons ago.
And after all the dismal AW rotten defence years, WHERE HE COULD NOT RECOGNISE A TOP CLASS CB, EVEN IF ONE CAME UP TO HIM AND BIT, HIM, we finally have some real top class defenders, including ONE WORLD CLASS CB and several others who are streets ahead of such AW inherited dross as Mustafi and the appalling Greek wrestler Sokratis!
Jon, I guess you don’t know your facts regarding the goals we let in under AW versus MA.
Here’s they are from season 03 /04 onwards under AW and his defence where he “couldn’t recognise a top class CB even if it came up to him and bit him” :
26 – 36 – 31 – 35 – 32 – 37 – 42 – 43 – 49 – 37 – 41 – 36 – 36 – 44 – 51
Now here’s MA’s goals against, when we “finally have some real top defenders, including one world class CB, who are streets ahead of such AW dross as Mustafi etc etc”
39- 48 – 42 – with Forest and Wolves to come. I haven’t included MA’s first half a season, as that would be unfair with such “dross” players, don’t you agree!
So, apart from AW’s last season, despite having world class and top defenders versus dross and no CB, it seems that, either MA is not able to manage such tip top players, or AW didn’t have such dross players… unless, of course, AW had more ideas about defences than MA and you have ?
Here we go again! Typical “stage one thinking Ken!”
No mention at all of our free flowing play esp this season,which is bound to leave more gaps defensively than in AW’s dismal last years when we passed the ball endlesly but without ever looking like scoring.
If you ONLY compare goals against back then with this season as you are doing, unthinkingly, you then ignore how tight we have been defensively, up until key injuries began hitting us esp SALIBA, of course, the single WC CB I refer too. Til then we let in about the same as City and only Newcastle were ahead in goals conceded.If you arehonestly atempting to tellu sthat Mustai and the Greek wrester were on a par with our defence now, then you really need help!
ODD THEN that in 22 years under AW, the ONLY WC CBs we ever had were those inherited from GG and his own sole import of Sol Campbell.
ONLY ONE of his own imports and that on a free- for which I credit him- in ALL THAT TIME.
And I WONT even list the huge amount of dross CB’s he brought in, as I GO TO BED IN THREE HOURS TIME.
And please dont tell me Koscielny, Gallas Vermaelen or Merts were WC, nor Toure either, if you want to retain any credibility at all.
Nice try Jon, but you were talking about our defence – not our free flowing football.
You made a claim that bears no resemblance to the facts about Wenger’s defences and are you also saying that his players didn’t have injuries?
Vermaelen, Koscielny, Per Mertesaker (for example) all had longer times out than Saliba has.
It’s not my credibility that’s at stake, as I don’t make statements that cannot be substantiated by facts.
Wenger’s PL stats showed that, except for his last disastrous season, his “dross” defence was as good as, if not better, than MA’s has been this season.
If only MA had not bought defensive players like Pablo Mari, or ignored Tierney while playing Zinchenko, the fact that Saliba has missed a handful of games (compared to say Mertesaker’s nearly one season) would not have mattered.
I must admit though, that the signing of Saliba by, who was it actually, was a masterstroke, just as Sol Campbell’s was.
Let’s hope we can see this much “superior defence” able to cope with the injuries that occur during every season and the 43 goals conceded so far this season can be brought down below the 40’s, as Wenger’s “dross” defence did on nine of the fourteen times alluded to above, with such inferior players.
Please check the facts Jon, otherwise YOUR creditability will be the one shot to pieces.
Comes down to perspective and expectations I would say. 90% of the season we stay above City, no mean feat by any means. However yet again we collapse when the pressure rises.
They needed an amazing run to overtake us and they did just that.
On the other hand we just needed to avoid falling to pieces, but that’s what we did. Tie with pool at Anfield is not bad, but drawing with a woeful West Ham and Southampton is.
Unfortunately ripped apart by Brighton and played off the pitch and the title is gone.
Club is building in talent and players, but we also need to build our mentality which we clearly lack. That “bottle it” label will stick until we achieve something and remove it.
Bottled it with a capital B. It couldn’t get worse bottling wise. Everyone said we would and we did. Now we can try to spin our failure in various ways like such has going toe to toe with the best team in the world but we didn’t lose the league losing to city, we lost the league dropping valuable points to teams at the bottom when it matter most.
Not so long ago, there was a discussion on Sky .the consensus was that times have changed blah blah blah and the word “bottle” cannot and should no longer be used.i have also noticed that Sky pundits have stopped using it since,there were several opportunities when the word could have been used but no pundits did.
We had the talent to lead for 90% of the season but lacked the Mentality to finish the last 10%. Limp displays when it mattered.
Ramsdale talks about “what we achieved” this year? CL football, but aside from that no trophies and no title. Out of Mickey Mouse Cup, out of FA, and poor display at home to get ousted of Europa.
Lastly, true about other teams missing out on the title by points in the end. But Arsenal are the only PL team to lead for 248 days and “bottle it” during the end run.
Mentality is clearly our biggest hurdle, and denying reality will not help.