Yes I know that Arsenal have not exactly looked like title winners so far this season. And even when we have had a bit of luck or put a few results together, the hoped for momentum has been lost soon after. But although it looks like Jose Mourinho and his Chelsea team, currently 11 points ahead of Arsenal, have got one hand on the Premier League trophy, it is not over yet.
Us fans would certainly not appreciate it if Arsene Wenger and the players gave up now would we? So it was good to read the report in the Daily Mail in which our German striker Lukas Podolski has refused to wave goodbye to the title just yet and warned Chelsea that there is plenty of time for things to change, especially in a league as competitive as ours.
The striker said, “You can always speak about problems but the season is not finished. The Premier League is the best league in the world. It is not like in Spain where you have two teams or in Germany where you have just Bayern Munich.
“Here you see it every week that every game is tough. Home and away every team is hard to play and you can never say that the three points are easy to get. In other leagues a team might have only three top games in a season but not here. We lost our last game and it’s a big match against Manchester United so we have to win it.
“We are capable of that [a late run] but it would be better that we don’t have that run and we make first place and end up as champions.
“It’s a long season and there is a long way to go. So far it is not a bad or a good season. We are still there or thereabouts but we have to win games. We have to focus on our game and if we are ready, and if we fight hard, then we will win this game because Manchester United are not where they want to be at the moment. Our players will not need no motivating for this game.”
Of course it is a long shot, but the history of sport is filled with stories like that. And just because everything has been going right for Chelsea so far does not mean it will continue. One key injury or even one bad result could push them out of their comfort zone and that could lead to another and all of a sudden they are low on confidence and struggling. Remember also that football matches in the Premier League are often decided by very fine margins and that us and Liverpool could and should have had a penalty when we were 1-0 down against them this season.
So come on Gooners, take a leaf out of Podolski’s book and don’t give up just yet!!