Arsenal’s troubles suggest that as Gunners fans we might have to face next season with the prospect of no Champions League football; what a change that would be! The team faces a stiff challenge in grabbing one of those precious Top Four spots in the Premier League.
The current campaign has been Arsenal’s 17th consecutive season in the Champions League so the reality of not competing at that level is something that the younger fans would likely not even remember. But when that 3-1 defeat away to West Brom on the 18th of March pushed us down to 6th in the table and left Arsene Wenger announcing that he would clarify his future plans “very soon” the prospect that this would be a season like no other in recent memory surely began to hit home with fans. The result against the Baggies was Arsenal’s fourth defeat in five Premier League matches and that poor run was compounded by the embarrassing elimination from Europe by Bayern Munich.
What needs to change? The obvious answer to that question – results! The West Brom game brought Arsenal to seven defeats in the Premier League this season, the same number as the entire campaign last time around when we finished second in the table. Dig a little deeper and you will find a more comprehensive answer to the question of what needs to happen with the team.
Attitude is something that also needs to be sorted out, quickly. Set piece defending was to blame for two of West Brom’s goals. How many of us are thinking back to the days of physicality in the backline of a Tony Adams or Martin Keown? On the plus side – if there is one, Arsenal did level against the Baggies after falling behind early on and a bit more commitment like that would do wonders for the team’s confidence.
The manager was right after the 5-0 win over Lincoln in the FA Cup that the Gunners had their confidence back after the defeat to Bayern in that same week. Lincoln City were non-league opposition, certainly, but they had nothing to lose and had put it up to Arsenal during a tense first half. The swagger shown by the Arsenal players in the second half of that game needs another few outings before season’s end if a Top Four spot is to be secured. The players also need to put aside talk of managerial change and play with their own reputations in mind, drawing on their experience from past campaigns.
The least that us Arsenal fans have come to expect is a Top Four place each season. Arsene Wenger knows the price of expectation and the hope now is that the Gunners can do what they did last season and go on the type of run that grabs one of those Champions League spots.
