Arsenal have won both their away games so far this season, but the two home games have yielded just one point after a defeat by West Ham and a goalless draw with Liverpool. Arsene Wenger believes that this is because the teams below us have strengthened their sides during the summer and are less scared of losing away to the Big Teams.
“It’s not a surprise that the Premier League is stronger, as a unit,” Wenger was quoted as saying in the Standard. “Why? Because the English clubs are richer and the teams who play in the second half of the league can buy the best players from Spain and from Italy. So it is not a surprise that in England it becomes more difficult to win the games.
“After that, the phenomenon that is absolutely new is that there are few home victories. That shows that teams that go away from home have no fear anymore. They play with full power and because they have individual quality they can provoke surprising results.”
To be honest Arsenal have always seemed to play better away from the Emirates, perhaps because they are not under big pressure from the home crowd who always expect the Gunners to race into a lead and demolish the opposition. They looked nervous against the Hammers and perhaps they were a little overconfident.
It is also fair to say that West Ham, as heavy underdogs, had absolutely nothing to lose and therefore no pressure. Let us hope that this trend of dropping points at home doesn’t continue against Stoke next Saturday!