Arsenal fans with good memories are all too well aware of some of the club’s more repetitive problems, although to be honest they do keep happening to keep this sort of thing nice and fresh in the minds of your average Gooner. And of course we always have those friendly faces in the football media that are always willing to point something out and remind us why Arsenal are destined to fail.
This week there are two what you might call Arsenal hoodoos being reported; the curse of November and now the record away to Olympiacos.
It has been, somewhat gleefully, pointed out that Arsenal have lost ball three of our previous away games against Olympiacos in the Champions League and so we might as well forget qualifying for the knockout stage. And the fact that all three of those games came on the final matchday makes the hoodoo seem even more real. Like most statistics though, this does not tell the whole story.
As pointed out by Arsene Wenger, we had already qualified on at least two of those previous occasions and although we might have still had a chance of topping the group we fielded a weakened side. And if you need any more proof that previous results and records do not really matter, remember that the Greek side had never won in England against anyone before this season. It happens.
When it comes to the curse of November, statistics show that the Gunners have scored fewer points per game in this month than any other since Wenger became manager. And you can see that the month has not been kind to us this time either.
It started with a thumping away to Bayern Munich and a lacklustre draw with the spuds before the international break. Then that shock loss at West Brom but all this has not actually been as damaging as it might have. Beating Dinamo Zagreb last night has kept us in the Champions League and there is just one November game left, away to Norwich City, and if Arsenal win it we might even find ourselves on top of the Premier League.
Hoodoo, what hoodoo?