Those former footballers working as pundits and the reporters working in the football media do love to have a bash at Arsenal don’t they? Did you notice how quick they were to jump on that one bad result against Southampton. Okay Arsenal were below par but we were unlucky on the first three of the four goals.
I do not remember them being half as hard on Man City when they were hammered 4-1 by Liverpool or with the same scoreline by the spuds can you? And can you imagine what they would be writing about the Gunners and Arsene Wenger if we had been half as bad as Chelsea or as boring as Man United?
So even though Arsenal finish the calendar year of 2015 on top of the Premier League table, and having won more points over that 12 month period than any of our rivals, and are favourites for the title, the likes of Jamie Carragher cannot help themselves in watering down any praise.
The former Liverpool and England defender was talking to Sky Sports about our chances of winning it this season but instead of talking about our strengths he quickly turned to saying why the pressure was on Arsenal.
He said, “I felt Arsenal would be Chelsea’s biggest challengers this year, now Chelsea have fooled us all really in terms of where they are.
“If Arsenal don’t win it this year, I think it could be 10 years before they win it again. Because I just think Chelsea won’t accept the situation they are in, they will throw a lot of money [at it] in the summer, and get a new manager.
“I think Man City may do the same, and I think Man United too. So you think of those three teams, they’ve all faltered, and this is Arsenal’s big chance.
“They have to take it, whether that means spending in January. But this is an opportunity they cannot let slip.”
Really Jamie? Why should this young and improving Arsenal side be worse next year? And have Chelsea and the Manchester clubs not been throwing money at transfers and changing managers already? Where is the guarantee that it will work next season?
I do think that this is a great opportunity for Arsenal and probably our best one since 2008 but I do not automatically think that this will be our only chance for the next 10 years. Do you?