There are any number of different reasons that have been pointed to in order to explain why Arsenal keep coming up short in the hunt for the Premier League title and it is very unlikely to be just one of them, but a combination of certain factors like the almost constant injury crisis and the pressure of expectation from the Arsenal fans and the players’ failure to deal with it.
Some factors, however, could be more important than others and it is hard to ignore the impact that our awful record in big away games has had on our chances of being crowned champions of England. This season looks like being a tighter title race than usual with as many as six different clubs having the potential to win it, so doing well against those mai8n rivals could be vital.
Unfortunately a Metro report shows that Wenger and Arsenal just do not seem able to get results against the likes of Chelsea and Manchester United away from home, as our last 17 away games against the other sides currently in the top six have produced just two Arsenal wins and the most recent of those was two seasons ago at the Etihad.
We have already failed three more times this season with draws at Man United and Tottenham and a loss at Man City and if the trend continues at Chelsea and Liverpool I really cannot see this season ending our wait for the EPL trophy, can you? If the Gunners can get a rare victory at Stamford Bridge, however, could it be the springboard to an Arsenal title?
Bob.
Another season when we have no control of our own destiny. Chelsea would either have to lose 3 games or draw 5 while we win every game until then for us to even catch up. Let alone leapfrog them. Bless those fans that see the possibility but I don’t. All while City and Liverpool are also ahead of us with Utd and Spurs on our tails.
Can’t deal with the pressure of the fans? Why choose a line of profession if you aren’t able to cope with the pros and cons. I’m sure they have no pressure taking home those weekly wages…
Because Wenger doesnt’ use tactics. Every match we play, we play how the players feel like playing. He picks the players starting and lets them just “do their best”. Simple really when you think about it.
OT:There are some issues which need to be addressed seriously!!Why are we always on top ten list when it comes to Injuries?Why??Look the Top 4 INJURY Table,
1.Sunderland
2.Arsenal
3.Crystal Palace and
4.Hull City
Aint those top injured teams struggling??but why We are always on top list??Or its just normal that we are always there?Rarely you will find Chelsea,Manchesters,Spurs on that top so dorminant as we do,why??Look now,we are badly missing Carzola and Mustafi!!Something is ODD!!
@samtz – our injuries have always been strange and IMO can not be written off as bad luck.
Has Wilshire been injured this season whilst away to Bournemouth?
Having said that, our injuries have not been debilitating. Yes, we miss Santi but on paper, we signed a 35 million replacement in Xhaka and at DM we have decent cover (Coq, Eleney and Xhaka).
Even before Mustafi got injured we were dropping points left and right. His absence doesn’t explain the 9 point gap with the top of the table either.
In fairness, City had more key injuries and absentees than we did and the squad we fielded against Everton was more than capable of winning.
Our problems have nothing to do with personnel, in our two recent losses we were the better team for the first half and didn’t show up for the second half. That is a mental issue not a technical skill issue. We are simply not capable of acting like contenders for 90 minutes in a row or for more than 3 or 4 games against lesser teams.
That’s the problem. Putting previous seasons aside this is another season where we’re failing to produce when the lights shine brightest. Against top teams we’ve failed to register a single win Chelsea being the exception to the rule. If we haven’t drawn we’ve lost.
Unfortunately at the moment we deserve to be called fast track bully. Not that I’m discounting those games against bottom half teams cause you still have to go out and play and every game in the EPL is difficult. But champions go out and win against top 6 teams too.
We’ve been there before and this is a concern. This isn’t about Santi or Mustafi being injured or players extensions. Few teams are completely at 100% that is why you have depth in a squad and compared to previous seasons this is our deepest squad yet. Yes they would’ve played but when looking at the past 2 games:
1) Everton hadn’t won a game in the last 5 before playing us
2) City was without players that would’ve made there best XI: Kompany, Gundogan, Aguero & Fernandinho
We are unable to have the consistency and killer instinct. When you’re up 1-0 away against teams that find themselves in such situation you have to kill the game by halftime not let it play out and than start being concern about the outcome 5 minutes from the final whistle.
I dunno if the manager is responsible or the players. In my opinion it is a bit of both. On both occasions the XI was really strong give or take 1-2 players, the subs might have been late or wrong.
At the end if they don’t pick it up quickly the season will be over before we get to the end of February.