I have said time and time again in recent years that Arsenal have been prevented from winning the Premier League by some awful luck. Whether it be a string of injury problems to key players or in one specific area of the pitch at the same time, it always seems to be us that suffers.
That is not always true of course, as all the clubs in the Premier League have their own problems to deal with, but the ones who do go on to lift the Premier League trophy at the end of a long season seem to be blessed with a bit of luck along the way.
It is not always on the injury front either, but can be key moments in key games going their way, decisions of the officials or even something as unpredictable as the fixtures falling the right way. Everything seemed to go the way of Leicester last season in this respect and the same can be said of Chelsea this time.
I know that a lot of Gooners out there, especially the WOBs among you, will say that I am making excuses and I often wonder whether I am being too biased, but I saw a stat today that suggested my theory is spot on.
The stat was a chart showing the total of Premier League points picked up by the current top six since old purple nose himself Sir Alex Ferguson hung up his hairdyer and handed over the Manchester United reins to someone else and the totals are as follows:
1. Man City – 280 points.
2. Chelsea – 279 points.
3. Arsenal – 275 points.
4. Liverpool – 255 points.
5. Tottenham – 253 points.
6. Man United – 248 points.
This will be the fourth season without Fergie and it seems a bit hard on Arsenal that we are right up with City and Chelsea on points when they have both won the title in that time and we have not really been close. We have been remarkably consistent but there has always been at least one side that has done better each season.
Liverpool and even the Spuds have come closer and that does suggest that with a touch of luck our ability and consistency would have led to at least one title. So do you agree that luck has been lacking for Arsenal and does that mean we should be more tolerant towards the under-fire manager?
Bob.