Arsenal’s best chance of winning the League? by JH
I write this article today with the obvious expectation that AKBs and AOBs are united in their great mood.
We struggle against the big sides, that’s what we are supposed to do, so when we had beaten Man United (so-called title contenders) in 20 minutes of sublime football, I think it is safe to say none of us could believe it. I roared loud enough so that my neighbours knew Arsenal had scored the first two times, but when Sanchez fired in a third, I was sat in pure astonishment. I laughed out of pure amazement, picked my son up and kissed him. After anticipating a very nervy 90 minutes, the game was over in 20. Not just that, but we played football the Arsenal way, we tore through them with quick incisive counter attacks, each move accompanied by great movement, fancy flicks and pure desire.
For those first 20 minutes Le Coq spent his time deep in Man United’s half, battling to win the ball back instantly as they tried to get some sort of respite.
Theo Walcott throughout the game played as if we had injected him with the soul of Alexis Sanchez, his energy, his desire, his quality.
Mesut Ozil, as Henry said, “came to the party” he was at his mercurial best, making us tick, scoring the second cooly.
Even at the back, Mertesacker was superb, he read the game very well, Gabriel seemed to win everything in the air in those final 20 minutes.
Then we have the fans, whilst it is of course easy to maintain such an atmosphere when we have basically won the points after 6 minutes, I thought the fans were immense, we were up for it from first minute to last, we truly were the 12th man, and we must do this for our players for every single game.
Now comes the point of my article, during the analysis of the game, Thierry Henry said something I didnt agree with at first, but having thought about it, he is part right, “Arsenal have to win the league this year, they have to”.
Now at first I thought that was a bit harsh, I mean we are capable of challenging in the seasons ahead, it is not like our squad is aging or players are going to be leaving.
But then it dawned on me, whilst we may not “have to” win it this year, this year does give us our most realistic and, for want of a better word, easiest opportunity. Look at the teams people claim are close to Arsenal at the present. I shall start with the ridiculous and work up.
Tottenham, whilst the media probably see this as being as ridiculous as we do, I thought I’d give their poor fans a mention. Spurs have won just 3 of their first 8 games so far, they however have only lost once, can Spurs be considered realistic challengers for Arsenal?? No, they our a million miles away from the Gunners right now, I struggle to think of a player in their side who could get into ours. Fans last year would have said Harry Kane, but he has scored the same amount of goals for Spurs this year as he has for Swansea. I believe Arsenal are superior to them in every way, and cannot take them seriously as contenders.
Liverpool, as Jamie Carragher said yesterday, “Liverpool are becoming Tottenham. They think they are a big club, but they are not, the big clubs don’t take any notice of them” I think this is clearer than I could have put it myself, at the time of writing nobody has been hired to replace Rogers, and of course the change may change people’s perception of them, but not this year.
Chelsea. Now where do I start with this, Chelsea are the Champions, they started as favourites to win the league again, however 8 games in and they find themselves 16th averaging a point a game, their defence is a shambles. Their attack seems no better, and their manager seems too busy blaming everybody from Eva Caneiro to John Terry to Arsene Wenger to all the refs, to actually sort it out. We currently lie 8 points clear of them already, and quite frankly should not be caught by them now.
Man United. I think all the media saw United as genuine titles contenders until 16:06 yesterday afternoon. Arsenal had hit them for 2 after just 6 minutes, and pretty soon Alexis Sanchez was about to fire into the top corner for 3. I am a firm believer that Utd are not challengers, whilst they currently lie just 2 goals behind us, their next 3 games are, Everton away, Man City at home followed by Palace away. So as long as we keep on form we should be clear of them soon.
Man City. The team that I see as our only big rivals for the Title, they sit 2 points clear of us right now, they just tore Newcastle a new one, and are just about everybodys pick for the league, and the only real test in the league coming soon is at home to Man United (Pray for a draw), but whilst they are everybodys pick, they are favourites, they are still not untouchable. Beaten soundly by West Ham, before Spurs tore them apart at WHL, they are beatable. We do not get our crack at them until mid December, and if we start how we did against United we will beat them.
So I come to the conclusion that Thierry is correct. In the summer, Man Utd will once again spend heavily. Liverpool with their new manager will spend heavily, win the league or not. Man City will again spend heavily, and Chelsea (I believe with their new manager) will also spend heavily.
Whilst we do not HAVE to win the league this season, this is our best best opportunity for some time, and possibly for some time to come, and If we can maintain the desire and quality we did yesterday, it’s hard to see who can stand in our way.
What do you think guys? Can this be our season?
By JonnHirons.