Can Arsenal Win League Next Year?


By Merlion
May 5 2015

After last night's scintillating display the inevitiable question arises can Arsenal win the league next year, having now failed for the last ten. Merlion looks back at what went wrong over the last few seasons, and if now, at long last, Wenger and his team are on track.

2007/08 season:
Scintillating start and remained unbeaten until injuries took their toll on Hleb and Fabregas (after being targeted for a good kicking).

After October, the team is inconsistent and lead ManU by 5 points in mid-Feb 2008.
Then we bottled it in March, April and May, eventually finishing 3rd just 5 points behind ManU with Grant's Chelski sneaking into 2nd spot.

Last 3 seasons:
We usually had a bad start, maybe leading the table,  but comes new year, Arsenal collapsed under expectation and needed the last game to win 4th spot. (making for exciting time at Emirates screening. ED)

This season?

WC2014 as an excuse?
C'mon, forewarned is forearmed and that largish squad is supposedly able to handle the absence of the likes of Mertesacker, Ozil and Poldolski who came back late.
And we have Alexis, Koscielny, bought Chambers, OX, Ramsey, Wilshere, Arteta, Flamini, et al.

1 - Knowing Vermaelen is a Sick-Note and will leave with at least one-year notice (disgruntled being on the bench for much of 2013/14 season, it is Wenger's negligence for not buying a quality CB in the summer that is to blame.

2 - Arteta-Flamini is at best above average and fans and pundits were shouting we really need a DCM after 2013/14 performances. Ramsey-Wilshere pairing did not worked out too and exposed our Back-4 in 2013/14 season. Arteta was showing his age as well and injury-prone. Flamini on the decline.

..........................................................................

That is only one of the reasons why we flopped in 2014/15 season and not pushing Chelski even in May 2015 as title contender.

The key reason is that this team is mentally fragile and bottled it under sustained pressure in tight games.

How many points we lost due to opponents scoring last grasp winner or equaliser?

We dominated ManU and yet they are able to score 2 goals.

At St Marys, it was shameful with a total collapse from the team. No fighting back as if everybody gave up the ghost in disgust over Szczesny? (or perhaps they just hate smoking. Ed)

Apparently we have had such a scintillating run in the last 18 games - winning 16 out of 18 - can also be due to that there is nothing to play for (out of title race, out of CL Cup) and players are playing with freedom and no high expectation, just an achievable target of Top-4 spot.

No Pressure
And this confidence-building was helped by virtually no pressure due to the shocking slump in form of Abu Dhabi City and the inconsistency of ManU, Liverpool and Tiny Totts that gave us such a pressure-free and almost frictionless run into Top-4 and 2nd spot within grasp.

Winning Top-4 status is entirely different from that kind of intense pressure that perpetually keep you on the edge of genuinely winning title; a slim margin of error that means winner or loser; a sustained, relentless and incessant pressure on one mentality and performance in every one of the 38 games you played.

Of course, there is always a mini-slump in form (like our October Blip and November Slump), but a mentally-tough team will always bounce back in no time at all and never loses two games in succession.

Come start of 2015/16 season, will we still have a "Dr Hyde and Mr Jekyll" team with October Blip and November Slump that may last till February and when we are well and truly out of the title race, without any high pressure of expectation, we start another last 18-scintillating run to secure Top-4 status?

Or will Arsene Wenger make use of all available funds - and demand from Silent Stan for more to buy the players he needs - to strengthen the squad, fortify their mental strength in pre-season training and take-off at lightning-speed as in 2007/08 season?

And despite October Blip and November Blip that we are still top of the table, 5 points ahead of chasing pack and then light the turbo-charged engine and accelerate away from chasing pack like 2001/02, winning the last 18 games to win the title by a mile?

We have history and we have past examples in the French Spine.
Over to you Le Professeur to build a title-winning TEAM with this nucleus of your rebuilt 3rd TEAM (You sure its only 3 teams? Ed).
 
This article first appeared as a post on Arsenal Times Forum. Discussion here

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