Sometimes you have to wonder if the Arsenal players think that us fans are thick or that we are so blinded by loyalty that we refuse to see the obvious, that is certainly what the latest comments from Sokratis Papastathopoulos imply.
Basically, the defender is refusing to acknowledge that there is a big issue with our away form, he tries to compare it with the likes of Man Utd and Chelsea and denies that it is anything any mental
When asked that specific question, if it was a mental thing he said
“I don’t think so because if you see big teams like United and Chelsea they also lost a lot of points,” .
“It is very difficult. We are in the Premier League and the other teams are strong.
“I don’t have a reason.
“Other teams are the same, some days good, some days bad. We have to improve and look towards the next game.
“But I think we didn’t have the same fight (as Everton) so we didn’t win a lot of battles and we conceded a goal which was a little bit easy.”
OK, let’s look at some cold hard facts.
These are the points gained away this season
Chelsea 28 points
Man Utd 29 points
Arsenal 19 points
Now, we have played two games less than United and one less than Chelsea on the road but even if we win those games and that is a big if, we would still be 6 points behind Chelsea and 4 behind United.
The only game we have won away in the league since November was against mighty Huddersfield Town.
So, how Sokratis can compare our away form to the likes of Chelsea and United I do not know and anyway, even if it was on par with those clubs what the hell difference does that make, it is like he is justifying our woeful road record because other top teams are just as bad.
As they say, the first step is to accept that there is a problem.
Seems Sokratis is not quite there yet…..