Where Are Arsenal In The Title Race?
I watched the Arsenal v Everton game and it was a frustrating match.
I would have usually written a match report but I had a strange feeling of being too wound up and relieved at the same time.
The bottom line was Arsenal were sloppy, and did not look like a team that were motivated in trying to catch up with Chelsea at the top of the table and take advantage of all the other postponed games.
The performances of late (West Ham, Portsmouth and Aston Villa) all looked pedestrian without Cesc Fabregas. We managed to win against West Ham and Portsmouth without playing particularly well, which in a way is good, but against Aston Villa we needed the introduction of Cesc to push on and win that game.
Against Everton that extra lift was missing, and we were lucky not to lose the game in the end.
Where does that leave Arsenal in the title race?
Well it depends if you’re a glass half full or half empty man.
Let’s start with the positives.
Without Van Persie for the last two months and Fabregas for the last few weeks, Arsenal have still managed to keep their title challenge alive and are currently only 3 points behind league leaders Chelsea. Our away form is exactly the same as Chelsea’s and only marginally worse than United’s. And our home record is the same as United’s and 3 points worse off than Chelsea’s - so mathematically we are doing just fine.
And despite our striking crisis, we have the highest number of goals in the league this season.
And now the negatives.
The aura of invincibility over teams such as Chelsea and Manchester United in previous seasons is just not their anymore, and we haven’t taken advantage. Both teams, who have dominated the league over the last 5 seasons, are not as strong as they used to be. They have slipped up several times over the winter period and when you think Arsenal are about to take advantage and claw back the deficit they drop points themselves against teams like Burnley and Everton.
The strongest squad we’ve had since our last trophy in 2005 was the team of 2007/2008, and that side would coast the league this season.
That season, that awful and horrific injury to Eduardo ended up finishing our title chances for that campaign. Despite being top of the league, our form never recovered and 4 straight draws in February gave Manchester United the chance to pip us to the Premier League title.
And this season, you fear the same thing might happen again.
Without Van Persie, Fabregas, and now Song, we looked woeful against Everton. People will rightly say Everton played well and probably deserved to win the game but the majority of that was down to our inept performance. We’ve managed to keep going without Van Persie, and to a lesser extend Fabregas, but the absence of the inform Song, looks like a casualty too far. The squad is being stretched to the limit and we’ve lost too many big players.
I honestly dread to think what would happen if Gallas or Vermaelen got injured. They have been ever present this season and if we lost one of those then you can kiss our title hopes goodbye. Silvestre is hopelessly inadequate and should not be at a Top Four side in any capacity. He is well passed it and how a team like Arsenal struggle to find adequate backup is beyond me - Silvestre has the amazing combination of having no pace, having poor positional sense and the inability to carry out basic defending. The guy who called Silvestre a Geriatric was spot on.
And just like a deja vu, February could once again end our title challenge.
Successive games against Aston Villa, Manchester United, Chelsea and Liverpool are a run of games that really will make or break our season.
If Arsene have pull out his magic hat and get through those games and still be in touching distance of the title, then he is a miracle worker.
January 12th, 2010 at 6:28 pm
I do not agree sir. I am a glass half full man, you are obviously not. 7 and a half lines of “Positives” and 34 lines of negativity. Fans like you depress me, look around at the state of English football. Southampton, Pompei, Liverpool, Man U, W Ham and I could go on. The crazy uneven playing field created by Chavski and Citeh. We have moved home, taken the brave decision to rebuild our aged squad and still illuminated the prem with our football. We have been really unlucky not to have won anything recently, we have been very close even with everything taken into consideration. Get real man and stop looking for signings all the time. Its a team thing.
January 12th, 2010 at 6:41 pm
Where did it mention signings?
January 12th, 2010 at 6:44 pm
Once we lose to Villa, Manure, Chelski and Liverpool the season will be over. We don’t have the squad to cope and if a shite team like Everton can dominate us, those teams won’t have a problem.
And we have Porto straight after, so our poor run will probably ruin our CL chances too.
January 12th, 2010 at 6:56 pm
…might as well top meself now….
January 12th, 2010 at 7:03 pm
Or we get 9 points from those 4 games and have a better run in for the end of the season knowing that it is in our hands. We can beat Liverpool and have beaten Villa. Man U will not be as lucky at the Emirates as they were at home so 9 points is not unrealistic providing everyone on the pitch plays like they want the title. Chelsea will be difficult but there is no reason why we couldn’t steal a point with a bit of luck. I guess my glass is full but not overflowing it will take a lot of effort to win those games.
January 12th, 2010 at 7:08 pm
Pat Rice Pudding, you get the team you deserve so if you believe that we’ll lose all of those games don’t bother going to watch the matches.
SkySports has built up the game to convince fans that the next game/next signing/next managerial appointment is the most important, but its b*llsh*t!
The league season goes through peaks and troughs for every team and no one team in the history of the game has dominated every game. Even our own Invincibles went through dodgy periods and scraped draws from games they could have lost (Portsmouth at home).
This season we are actually playing in a positive way and competing with Chelsea and United, yet for a large group of ‘fans’ they will never enjoy it because they want money spent.
3 points is nothing and if we can’t be excited about the fixtures coming up then I struggle to understand why you even like football?
January 12th, 2010 at 7:20 pm
Yes, those are killer games but they present an opportunity for the team. We have the chance not just to close the gap, but knock points off our title rivals.
Obviously we could lose them, but don’t forget that Arsenal generally play better against the top sides.
The only team that’s really battered us this season are Chelsea. We were very unlucky against United and Citeh, but I suppose fortunate against Liverpool in a sense.
The only games we have to win are the Chelsea and United fixtures. They’re the real six-pointers, as Liverpool and Villa are well out of it.
January 12th, 2010 at 7:56 pm
Robert: Correct the word “signings” is not there but the inference is plain to see: that our squad is not strong enough and is at breaking point. This piece was written with the rhetoric of the general bandwagon many negative Gooners are on. It is sad that so many of us seem to watch with envious eyes as clubs like Man U buy people like Berbatov etc - PATHETIC! So many footie fans are not really footie fans these days. The media, in no small part Sky, have created this weird, “instant” world where a team loses 1 game and suddenly are in crisis. They win the next 1 and will win the league. It is really ridiculous. Rant over
January 12th, 2010 at 8:06 pm
TangoKipperFanta, do you think we will win the league this season, yes or no?
I ask because although you say you’re positive about this season, you clearly state that Chelsea and Man City are on an uneven playing field - so does that mean we will or won’t finish above them?
That fact is you need to strengthen your squad if you want to win things. I’m not asking for £50 million players but you need a strong squad, as injuries are inevitable. You talk about this about being a ‘team’ but you forget to remember that we have injuries to Van Persie and Fabregas - arguably our best players. We’ve also got Bendtner, Clichy, Eboue, Song, Denilson, Wilshire, Gibbs and Walcott missing. Are you seriously telling me we can cope with that amount of absentees?
And I’d also like to add, with those players missing, do you believe we can still win the league this season?
This is a serious question I would like you to answer. That’s if you can of course.
January 12th, 2010 at 10:51 pm
Hi Robert, sorry I took so long but had visitors. I don’t know if we will win the league this season but I think we are capable of doing so. We certainly need some of the sick list to return though. RVP is gone but Cesc, Clichy, Bendtner and Denilson are very close I believe. Eboue and Song are only a couple of weeks away. Those 6 players back I am convinced we are as good as anything else in the league. If you were to say all those players would not play again this season then I would say that it is unlikely we would win the league. There is a bigger picture with AFC at the moment though. Too much is at stake to jeopardise our future by splashing out heavily to win the league NOW. Other clubs have been guilty of that recently and are now starting to implode. Our beautiful club is slowly building up to a solid, susainable, successful future. That will be worth waiting for imo. Hope I have answered well enough.
January 12th, 2010 at 11:30 pm
“I honestly dread to think what would happen if Gallas or Vermaelen got injured. They have been ever present this season and if we lost one of those then you can kiss our title hopes goodbye. Silvestre is hopelessly inadequate and should not be at a Top Four side in any capacity. He is well passed it and how a team like Arsenal struggle to find adequate backup is beyond me - Silvestre has the amazing combination of having no pace, having poor positional sense and the inability to carry out basic defending. The guy who called Silvestre a Geriatric was spot on.”
Don’t worry, we’ve brought in Sol Campbell!