Category Archives: Features

Liverpool Are Top Of The League Because Of Arsenal

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As Liverpool destroyed Tottenham Hotspur and end the weekend top of the Premier League, you can’t help but think back to Saturday 8th February – the day Arsenal collapsed in dramatic fashion and lost 5-1 at Anfield.

Before that game, Arsenal were top of the league on 55 points. In fact, the top 5 looked like this after 24 games:

1. Arsenal – 55 points
2. Manchester City – 53 points
3. Chelsea – 53 points
4. Liverpool – 47 points
5. Everton – 45 points

So we were 2 points clear of Chelsea and Manchester City, and 8 ahead of Liverpool.

But now look at the Premier League table, only 8 games on:

1. Liverpool – 71 points
2. Chelsea – 69 points
3. Manchester City – 67 points
4. Arsenal – 64 points
5. Everton – 60 points

So before the the 5-1 drubbing at the hands of Liverpool, Arsenal have managed to get a pathetic 9 points from 8 games, while Liverpool have won 8 games from 8.

An 8 point lead over Liverpool has turned into a 7 point deficit. Let that sink in for a minute.

And why have Liverpool done so well over the last 8 games? Their form is that of Champions – they are determined, full of fight and give every since game everything they have. Arsenal on the other hand have been limp, lethargic and devoid of any motivation which ultimately comes from the manager. The 15 point swing from Arsenal to Liverpool is frankly unbelievable.

While Liverpool have been sensational, the catalyst was the shambolic performance at Anfield. Liverpool were 8 points behind Arsenal before the game kicked off and their aspirations were to finish in the Top 4 ahead of Everton.

So if you wanted to give a chasing team the belief they can win the league, then losing 5-1 in dramatic fashion is the perfect way to do it.

If Arsenal weren’t so naive and even managed to get a draw at Anfield that day, do you think Liverpool would be top today? No chance. That game gave them the belief they could do something special. After all, how often do you smash a top side 5-1?

And Arsenal have gone in the exact opposite direction. We have collapsed. There are no other words for it. As you watch Liverpool celebrate after beating Tottenham 4-0, you can’t help but think that should be us. We were 8 points clear of Liverpool in February and look where the red side of Merseyside are now.

Credit to Liverpool, they have done phenomenally well to be where they are now. They have what we don’t in abundance – belief, fight, passion and the will to win.

If a single game could dramatically change the fortunes of two top sides, then it was the 5-1 at Anfield.

So Are Arsenal Back In The Title Race?

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After the shambles at Stamford Bridge, and the disappointment against Swansea, Arsenal put in a dogged performance and managed to get a 1-1 draw against Manchester City (a score I predicted before the game).

I’ve said all season that Arsene’s approach against the top sides, especially away, has been all wrong. In games we should have kept tight and even played for a draw, we’ve collapsed. We lost 6-3 against Manchester City, 5-1 against Liverpool, 6-0 against Chelsea and 1-0 against Manchester United (most people forget the Old Trafford result, but remember this was against the worst Manchester United side in 20 years).

In those 4 games alone, if we didn’t go Gung Ho and played with intelligence then we could have conceivably come away with 4 draws. Currently we are 5 points off Chelsea who are top – with a win against Swansea and a draw against those top sides we’d be a point ahead of them. Manchester City and Liverpool have games in hand obviously, but being 6 points better of at this stage of the season would have been massive.

As it stands, we’re 5 points behind Chelsea, and theoretically 7 points behind Liverpool if they win their game in hand and 9 points behind Manchester City if they win their 2 games in hand.

Liverpool still have to play Chelsea and Manchester City at home, and City have to face Everton. And with teams fighting for Premier League survival, then I suppose some will believe that “there are no easy games left” in the Premier League. And Chelsea did lose against Crystal Palace yesterday so I guess if you’re clutching at straws then anything could be possible.

So what do you think, are Arsenal back in the title race?

Leave your views in the comments below.

Predictions For The Manchester City Game? Will Arsenal Lose 4-0, 5-0 or 6-0?

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Arsenal go into today’s game on the back of a disappointing draw at home against Swansea, and a disastrous defeat to Chelsea at Stamford Bridge. The level of opposition doesn’t let up as Manchester City come to town. The blue side of Manchester completely outplayed Manchester United (something we failed to do at two attempts), beating them 3-0 at Old Trafford.

So it’s going to be a big ask today.

If we can’t keep a clean sheet against Swansea, then what hope do you have against Edin Dzeko who is on form, Yaya Toure who is a beast and David Silva and Samir Nasri, who are pulling the strings.

If Manchester City turn up, then it could be another embarrassment.

The small consolation is that it is away from home Arsenal have been a shambles. At home, we’ve drawn against Chelsea, Manchester United but also managed to beat Tottenham and Liverpool.

So all hope is not lost.

But Arsenal are well out of the title race while Manchester City are in a fantastic position to win the league.

If Arsenal do manage to win, then they still have a slight chance to making a late charge for the title. It’s a small chance but it would still be possible to nick it if the other teams slip up – but it would take a near impeccable rest of the season, which on recent weeks looks hugely unlikely.

So predictions for the score this afternoon?

My heart says 1-1, but my head says 4-1 to Manchester City.

Arsene Wenger Has Obviously Lost The Dressing Room

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In 2013, Arsenal were virtually unstoppable. From January 2013 until the end of the season, our form was the best in the league – it was title-winning form. From August until Christmas, it was similarly good, albeit it with a couple of blips (mainly in Manchester). But since the new year, and especially February and March, our form has been awful.

From the last 6 games, we are 11th in the form table. Liverpool are top with 6 wins from 6 and have 18 points from those games (which is championship-winning form) while Arsenal have dropped 10 points, only getting 8 from a possible 18.

Only if we could combine the start of this season with the end of last eh? Combine those two half seasons and we’d be league winners.

If our form was as good as Liverpool’s, we’d be 4 points clear at the top of the Premier League.

But the fact is, Arsene Wenger has lost the dressing room.

There’s rumours that Arsene has already told the players that he’s leaving at the end of the season and it wouldn’t surprise me as the players have basically given up. Yes, we’ve had injury problems but we still get to field 11 professional footballers and in recent games that literally haven’t turned up. I mean our reserve or youth sides would have given a better account of themselves against Chelsea and definitely wouldn’t have lost 6-0 like the first team did.

Even against Swansea we were limp. Arsene has lost the dressing room – either because he’s already told the players he’s off in the summer or just because the players who have played for him for so long have lost faith in the manager.

Just look at the last few seasons. Samir Nasri and Robin Van Persie left so that could win things, and that they did. Would Cesc Fabregas have left if we were winning Premier League titles? And we know Adebayor and Clichy went for the money but having trophy-less season after trophy-less season probably helped them jump ship. All of those players played under Arsene for at least 5 seasons and what do they have to show for it? Nothing, except a nice bank balance.

So it’s hardly surprising the current squad have given up. Bacary Sagna, one of our most consistent players has obviously given up. If he had any faith that Arsene’s methods would bring success then he would have signed a new deal years ago. He joined Arsenal in 2007 and has seen team-mates  Cesc Fabregas, Alex Song, Robin Van Persie, Emmanuel Adebayor, Gael Clichy, Samir Nasri and even Kolo Toure all leave and win major honours. So he’s obviously sitting there thinking what the hell is going on at Arsenal? This is obviously a club who have no ambition of winnings things and are happy to settle for 4th place in the league.

And it’s not surprising that players such as Mikel Arteta, Santi Cazorla, Mesut Özil, Lukas Podolski, Per Mertesacker and Laurent Koscielny has lost form – they’ve given up as well. Nothing about Arsene Wenger or Arsenal suggests we are genuine title challengers, or even close to winning a major trophy.

The FA Cup may provide better performances and it would be unbelievable, even for Arsene Wenger, to somehow lose against Wigan in the semi-finals or mess up the final. Jose Mourinho was widely slated for calling Arsene a “specialist in failure” but it’s hard to argue against that. How else could you explain performances from the players like the ones at Anfield and Stamford Bridge. Arsene Wenger has obviously lost the dressing room.

His rhetoric doesn’t work any more. There’s only so many seasons players and the fans can believe what he says. The performances from the players had dipped so dramatically because they don’t believe any more. Being top of the league gave the players belief but when they needed their manager to instil some fight and determination he was found lacking.

I’m not being funny, but I give more fight (possibly too much to be fair) when I play football on a Sunday. I hate to lose and people who know me know that I always want to win. It comes out when I play and the other players know it. The Arsenal players are so comfortable and devoid of belief that it’s almost unbelievable.

Flamini aside, half of the players don’t look like they’re bothered anymore.

Arsenal Fans Who Abuse Arsene Wenger Are A Disgrace!

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The Internet is a great resource and place to interact with other Arsenal fans. But there are some Arsenal fans who say things like people who abuse Arsene Wenger are a disgrace and they should be ashamed of themselves, as well as saying Arsene deserves our respect.

Now I appreciate what Arsene Wenger has done for the club, that is obvious to see. He brought success to the club, was involved in the new stadium and has set us up for the future.

And to some fans, that means he is invincible and immune from criticism.

But that’s not the case. Since 2005, Arsenal fans have experienced the same old story season after season. And while he has done great things for the club, there are many reasons why Arsene Wenger should be criticised:

  • His teams have no mental strength. Collapses against Chelsea, Liverpool and Manchester City are all too common – the whole club is mentally fragile and that comes from the manager. How can a manager not motivate his team to perform in massive games such as these?
  • We have no leaders. Arsene Wenger has consistently sold his captains from 2005. Any players that had leadership qualities have been moved on. Vieira, Henry, Gallas, Fabregas, Van Persie, the list goes on. Arsene Wenger doesn’t like players who speak their mind and would rather have a squad full of “yes men” than have anyone question his authority.
  • Olivier Giroud is awful and no good enough for Arsenal. And again, this is Arsene’s fault. He had a chance to sign a new striker in the summer, and in January, but didn’t. In 2004 we had Thierry Henry, Dennis Bergkamp, Sylvain Wiltord, Nwankwo Kanu and even Jose Antonio Reyes would could play up top. Arsene knows you need a top quality striker-force to win the league but put together a squad that has Giroud, Bendtner and Sanogo as their strikers. Bayern Munich would struggle to win anything as those three as their striking options!
  • Arsene Wenger is tactically inept. When Manchester City, Liverpool and Chelsea all scored early, every Arsenal fan knew we were going to get thrashed. Any other top manger would have changed things, saw the threat and steadied the ship. What does Arsene do? Nothing. He lets the team play the same way and we end up conceding an obscene amount of goals. If you’re defensively fragile then surely the logical thing to do is rearrange the formation or team and make sure you don’t keep conceding? Or is that too simple?
  • Arsene just wants to finish 4th. We have a manager who has no ambition to win the league. Arsene has the board wrapped around his little finger and as long as the Champions League money keeps rolling in his job is safe. Talk about winning the league is just a PR exercise to sell season tickets and merchandise.
  • Same old excuses. Every season the same old excuses come out – we have too many injuries, we were unlucky, blah blah blah. The only thing that chances is which month we are out of the running. This season it happens to be in March.

There seems to be this strange mentality that because he brought success and pioneered the stadium move, he is untouchable. So does that mean it doesn’t matter if he gets Arsenal relegated it doesn’t matter, he’s still the man for the job?

That whole ideology is seriously flawed and makes no sense whatsoever. By that logic, any manager that has enjoyed success should never leave a football club. But we never see that anywhere. Jose Mourinho is the perfect example of that. He did well in his first spell at Chelsea but when things turned sour he was told to leave. Football is ever-changing and seem to be the only club in Europe that is stuck in the past and relies heavily on sentiment.

Brian Clough was a great manager but he was immune from criticism so why is Arsene any different? It seems to be the whole charade of “will he, won’t he” sign a new deal is pathetic. Arsene Wenger will be Arsenal manager until he wants to leave. The board have show they have no balls and are full of yes men. Arsene Wenger has so much power over the club it’s unreal. No other manager in European football enjoys the control Arsene has at Arsenal.