Over a year ago, on February 8th 2010, I made a prediction on how Arsenal’s 2010/2011 season would go. Unfortunately, I wasn’t too far away and we find ourselves yet again in a situation whereby Arsenal fans should be grateful to be in the Top 4 and playing Champions League football next season.

Anyone thinking Arsenal will win the Premier League title is deluded. Yesterday pretty much summed up Arsenal and their lack of “mental strength”. They can’t win ugly and grind out results when it matters. We should have beaten Birmingham City but we bottled it. We had a lead over Barcelona and while they play fantastic football at 3 of their goals were caused by Arsenal mistakes. And in the FA Cup against Manchester United we huffed and we puffed but the bottom line was we couldn’t beat Manchester United’s reserves.

Injuries again have been a story of our season. We have them in key areas every season yet we don’t bring in adequate replacements. The problem is now that I’m so used to Arsene’s “ethos” of not wasting cash and ensuring value for money that I actually believe it. Unlike most other Arsenal fans, I don’t believe that we should spend big on players. But obviously that viewpoint is hugely flawed. But as we are suffering a long list of injuries, so are Manchester United so we can’t really use that as an excuse.

I’ll say this yet again, our biggest problem isn’t the lack of talent, but the lack of bottle. Our team has no balls or winning mentality. Manchester United, in relative terms, have played awful football this season. This seasons Manchester United squad is arguably the weakest Alex Ferguson has ever fielded yet they are cruising at the top of the league. They grind out results and win when it matters. You might call it lucky but you make your own luck in football. Whatever you or I want to say about Manchester United, the fact is they are born winners. They might not be world class technically but they get the job done. They just win, whatever the circumstances.

And that is the key area where Arsenal fall short.

We are currently 5 points behind with a game in hand, but I guarantee it now, we will not win the Premier League this season.

We will do what we always do – we’ll claw it back, maybe even go level on points as some stage, but when it truly matters we will blow it in spectacular fashion. We play Manchester United at the Emirates on Sunday 1st May and that sets us up perfectly for Arsenal to collapse and essentially give United the chance to place the final nail in the coffin.

Anyway, here was the prediction I made last year:

It’s the same old story every single season, so to make things easier, here’s a check-list of what will happen next season:

1. The club tell us Arsene has money to spend.
2. In the summer, we will sell 4 players, bring in 2 and be ’stronger’.
3. We are told by Arsene Wenger that Arsenal will mount a real title challenge this season, as our squad is more experienced and stronger.
4. The club are happy that we’ve made a profit.
5. After a positive start, we will lose a big player to injury before Xmas.
6. We don’t need to sign anyone, as players returning from injury are just like ‘new signings’.
7. We don’t bring in anyone in the January Transfer Window.
8. We throw away the FA Cup.
9. We’re told that challenging for the league is better than any FA Cup.
10. Our form suffers and we’re out of the title race by Spring.
11. We’re told a Top Three finish is better than any FA Cup.
12. We get to the Quarter/Semi Finals (delete as appropriate) of the Champions League, but go out.
13. We’re told a Top Four finish is better than any FA Cup.
14. ‘Real’ Arsenal fans tell us that we should be grateful for a Top Four position and all these expectations are unrealistic, we don’t really support the club and we’re spoilt, despite Number 3.
15. Arsene Wenger tells us finishing in the Top Four is like winning trophies.
16. Lather, rinse and repeat.

See you next season.

I said weeks ago, before the first Barcelona game, and when all of the fixtures started to build up, that this could be the start of an Arsenal collapse.

Unfortunately, I was right.

Since beat Barcelona in the first leg of the Champions League, whatever could go wrong for Arsenal has gone wrong. We’ve lost Walcott, Fabregas, van Persie, Sczcesny and now Djourou for important games. We’ve been unceremoniously dumped out of the Carling Cup, Champions League and FA Cup within the space of 2 weeks.

The problem that we Arsenal fans all know about is the lack of mental strength this Arsenal team has, and the inability to grind out a result when it matters.

But then again, I suppose I’ll be labelled as a Spurs fan or plastic Arsenal supporter.

Even the day after, the pain is still as strong as it was yesterday. The typical “Arsenal way” to cock things up is something all Arsenal fans can relate to and once we got to the last 10 minutes and it was still 1-1, we all knew something bad was going to happen.

But why isn’t it a surprise that we managed to cock things up in the most monumental fashion?

Hand on heart, you weren’t surprised something like this happened did you?

And why is this? I touched on it yesterday but the fact is Arsenal reward failure and have done for the last 7 seasons. There is no doubt that the team, in footballing terms at least, is supremely talented. That cannot be disputed and proof of this has come in many memorable victories, including those in Europe over Barcelona, Real Madrid, Inter Milan, AC Milan, etc.

But over the last few seasons we’ve struggled domestically. Our record against the Top 4 is appalling and our ridiculous collapse against Tottenham at The Emirates sums up the mental fragility throughout the squad. Only recently, we unfathomably let slip a 4 goal lead against Newcastle United.

A 4 goal lead!

Now say that again to yourself.

A FOUR GOAL LEAD.

It was interesting to note from the comments yesterday that because I ridiculously criticised the team for their performance against Birmingham that somehow I was a Spurs supporter or a “fair weather fan”. That notion is preposterous and not that it matters, but I have supported Arsenal Football Club since I was 5 years old and they are firmly in my heart. When Arsenal lose it hurts me immensely, but when they lose in ridiculous fashion it hurts even more. Yesterday’s defeat is something which still hurts now and will do for the next few weeks.

Because we all knew it signified a new era for Arsenal, but instead it represented broken promises. They say it’s not the despair but the hope that kills you and for Arsenal fans this sums it all up. This Arsenal team does what no other top team does and capitulates when under any kind of sustained pressure. Without Fabregas we lacked any kind of cohesion and an in form Arsenal would have won comfortably. We’ve beat Birmingham twice already this season but yesterday Arsenal beat themselves. It wasn’t because Birmingham were the better team, it was because Arsenal couldn’t take that next step.

The first trophy is always the hardest and ironically this was the easiest to win. Arsenal were in a one-off game against a side that currently sit 16th in the Premier League. They have scored the least number of goals out of any of the 20 teams in the league and yet they scored twice yesterday and could have scored more in all honesty. Birmingham played well because we let them.

This Arsenal side cannot cope under pressure so the notion that they have “3 other competitions to fight for” is surely a million miles away. Yes we currently sit 2nd in the league but United have a team full of winners that can grind out results when they’re not playing well. Victory yesterday on the performance Arsenal put in would have been the blueprint for how resilient we were and proof that we can win ugly when it mattered. The last significant game where Arsenal ground out a result was in the FA Cup Final in 2005.

No bottle, no winners and no mental strength. Arsenal’s performance against Birmingham City in the Carling Cup Final is much more than just losing out on a trophy. Click on the link below for the full report.

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