Last Years Top 6 - Where are they now?
Arsenal
At this point I could probably stop write a book instead (you’ll notice that I settled for this incredibly long post instead) but I will endeavour to act like a Physicist for this bit and I will try to be concise. I’ll start with the Champions League and I’ll be brief. (You may notice at this point, that I spend a lot of time writing about what I am going to say without actually saying it, I do realise that I do this but it suits my writing style so kindly bare with it). We are in a good position in our group and I don’t care how we got there, all that matters are the points on the table and I am sure we will improve in our next fixtures (given how we’ve played that shouldn’t be too hard).
I shall also spare a mention for the League Cup and I will say this – I care. I care that we are challenging for one less trophy and that these games would have presented more opportunities for us to build our form. I care that given the fact that we may need to play the likes of Hayden and Bellerin in defence that this would have been the perfect place for them to get some much needed game time. And most of all I care because some of our rivals are still in the competition and it is a competition that Arsenal is no longer a part of.
The Big One - The Premier League.
Game 1 - Arsenal vs Crystal Palace (2:1)
We weren’t great but Ramsey Score a 90th minute winner. We got a bit lucky.
Game 2 - Everton vs Arsenal (2:2)
We went missing in the first half and we were 2-0 down at half-time. We left it late and Ramsey scored in the 83rd minute before Giroud scored the equaliser in the 90th minute. We got a bit lucky.
Game 3 - Leicester City vs Arsenal (1:1)
We were a bit poor. It was just after playing Besiktas but this was a winnable game.
Game 4 - Arsenal vs Manchester City (2:2)
We played okay, we gave as good as we got and created well. They equalised with around 6 minutes remaining (from a corner – those darn set pieces) and we lost Debuchy. We were unlucky.
Game 5 - Aston Villa vs Arsenal (0:3)
We played our best football during that amazing 3-minute spell. Deserved the win.
Game 6 - Arsenal vs Spurs (1:1)
How we didn’t roll over one of the weakest Spurs’ teams in the last few years is beyond me. Losing Arteta, Jack and Rambo to injury didn’t help but much like the Leicester game, this was a winnable fixture.
Game 7 - Chelsea vs Arsenal (0:2)
We played okay, a moment of brilliance from Hazard settled it and the other goal was born out of our desire to get an equaliser. Like many Arsenal fans I was disappointed, but arguably our hardest fixture of the season and we didn’t get hammered. You can quote me on this; we will return the favour in April. #MysticSim
Game 8 - Arsenal vs Hull (2:2)
Diame fouled Flamini. Mertesacker could have played on (though I am unconvinced this would have stopped the goal) and they scored a controversial equaliser. Fine, bad decisions happen and referees make mistakes (some more than others). The score is still only 1-1 with 73 minutes left to play. This doesn’t justify the defending on Abel’s header and doesn’t excuse the fact that we didn’t beat Hull at home. We ended up equalising in the 90th minute. We were lucky (and unlucky with the decision but are you honestly surprised when a referee gets a decision wrong? I’m not.)
Game 9 – Sunderland vs Arsenal (0:2)
After Sunderland got demolished we expected them to be defensive though I also expected Arsenal to use this game to demonstrate a bit of form. They gifted us both goals and Mannone evidently forgot what team he was meant to be playing for. All in all I’d say we got a bit lucky.
So to summarise, of our 9 games we realistically dropped 6-8 points so far. Which for title challengers isn’t acceptable and even if it isn’t always apparent we are title challengers - so why aren’t we firing on all cylinders?
Well I have probably wasted enough of your time (and mine) so I’ll steal a bit from @Blackburngeorge in his recent article3 (honestly give it a read after this, really well written – puts me to shame). And he makes a valid point.
“If I were to pick my best 16 players from the current squad I would choose: Szczesny, Debuchy, Mertesacker, Koscielny, Arteta, Gibbs, Ramsey, Wilshere, Ozil, Walcott, Sanchez, Cazorla, Welbeck, Giroud, Chambers, Gnabry. Of that 16, eleven have been unavailable for at least three matches since the start of the season, many for considerably more. It is a massive testimony to the strength of the squad, the resilience of the players and the ingenuity and tactical acumen of the manager to have reached this stage of the season in such reasonable shape: 5th place in the table but poised to mount a proper challenge, qualification to the final 16 of the Champions League all but assured. The reasons for such a potentially crippling series of unfortunate injuries is unclear: the pitch, lack of rotation, training methods and the strength of our players have all been under scrutiny, as have the unwanted attentions of opposition players, seemingly given carte blanche, as opposed to carte jaune or rouge, by the referees to do as they please. Whether it is some or all of these things together remains open to debate”
The obvious counter point is that we are Arsenal we know we will have injuries we should have prepared for this in a better way via transfers not loaning out certain players etc – you know the spiel. The fact of the matter though is this, we have a strong squad, players are returning and we have the capacity to improve. We are the current home of Alexis Sanchez and with Theo in our side I believe we have power to improve. In honesty, the title or even the CL are both long shots for Arsenal this season (I thought we had a much better chance at the title last year) but I still maintain that our squad is filled with quality. I trust that our form will improve and when that happens I really think we will be difficult to stop.
Super Unrealistic Sim Prediction - I’ll predict Arsenal to win the league, if only for the fact that I want to be a hipster and in the immortal words of Canada’s equivalent to Jedward “- Never Say Never”.
Sources
2 - http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/0/football/29678081
3 - http://positivelyarsenal.com/2014/10/28/arsenal-are-doing-well-despite-doing-badly-2/
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