How many more examples do you need?
It’s not a classified secret that Arsene Wenger’s Arsenals are unpredictable under the pressure of expectation. Whenever we’re expected to defeat teams like Liverpool, Chelsea, Everton et al, more often than not they culminate in nervy performances. Even against Newcastle United and the infamous CL duo of Dinamo Zagreb and Olympiacos, our performances notably dipped.
It was a point further validated yesterday, since straightforward wins for Leicester, Manchester City, Tottenham (even Manchester United!) meant we were expected to conform to the winners and grab relatively easy 3 points home to Southampton. Of course, we did something unpredictable.
How frustrating, draining and utterly typically Arsenal has it been to create a ton of chances and not score? We should have got three from that game at least. After Alexis Sanchez’s shot was cleared off the line – that’s when I knew we couldn’t possibly win this. How could we? We’ve seen this failure over and over again until it makes our eyes hurt. The scab of the failure to capitalize on an easy opportunity has been aggravated once more.
And make no mistake, this league season is an opportunity in itself. Never have our competitors been weaker, so much so that 75 points might just clinch the title. Leicester City’s rise is not down to their quality more than it is of the quality of the league (or lack of it).
Three or four years ago, dropped points at Newcastle or Sunderland could mean calamity, because a Sir Alex Ferguson or a Jose Mourinho would gain points over you, forcing you to play catch-up. Now? We’ve dropped points against West Brom, Norwich, Southampton and Chelsea (yeah, they’re part of this group) and can still feasibly walk the league. All it takes is a winning streak to propel us forward (like Leicester and Tottenham have done).
Yet, when we should be soaring, we’re rotting in our fourth-placed comfort zone, five points adrift. The most stable club in England in the most unstable league seem incapable of even doing that.
It won’t be this easy again, you know. Pep Guardiola is going to monopolize the title the moment he sets foot in Manchester. This is as open a league as we can get, yet we’re not taking the opportunity. Why would we? Taking opportunities people want us to, is not our style. Our style is to literally grab defeat from the jaws of victory.
It takes no genius to know this has been happening for ten years. Ten years. It feels surreal that people haven’t even noticed the pattern. The eight year trophy drought, the Champions League loss to Liverpool, the 3-2 reverse at Wigan, surrendering the title in 2008, 2010, 2011 and 2014, the 4-4 collapse at Newcastle, those shaky performances at Wembley 2014, losing a three-goal lead against Anderlecht, embarrassing ourselves against Monaco… and that’s just the top of my head.
They’re too frequent, too similar and not showing any signs of stopping. The reason I made a subcategory called “Mental Fragility” was to highlight just how many times we’ve been lily-livered. Since 2006, who can possibly be at fault for this? Theo Walcott?
The fact that we were top of the table for so long was, admittedly, ludicrous. It wasn’t because we were spectacular in every game and capable of rivaling the best sides football has ever seen. It’s because the quality in this hyped league has fallen so spectacularly that we’ve been pushed to the top of the turd pile. England couldn’t have done a better job at handing us the title, but we can’t do a better job of turning them down over and over again.
This is the last time Arsene Wenger will get to win the league, period. Manchester City will get Guardiola who will immediately rule over this despondent league. The odds on Jurgen Klopp getting his act together at Liverpool are high. Manchester United and Chelsea will fix their managerial situations and steer their ships the right way. Next season (and perhaps the season after that, if Wenger dares to sign a contract extension) could be an absolute scrap for fourth.
What’s our competition right now? An inconsistent Manchester City, a crest-of-a-wave Leicester City and an impressive but beatable Tottenham Hotspur. That’s the best case scenario we could have hoped for, and the fact that we aren’t taking it is entirely down to Wenger. He’s the one who maintains rigidity with tactics. He’s the one who overplays our key players until they can barely walk. He’s the one who watches his team falter under the pressure of expectation, not doing anything about it.
We’ve lived with our flaws, but they’ve caught on to us now – as have our competitors. We’ve picked only two points from a possible 12. Even when we have the time to repair things, old habits tell us we don’t. Something needs to change.
Whisper it quietly, but if it doesn’t change – we may go on a Liverpool league drought.
-Santi [Follow me on Twitter @ArsenalBlogz ]
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