“Arsène Wenger” (CC BY 2.0) by Ronnie Macdonald
Arsenal have made a strong start to their bid to end their Premier League title drought after 13 years. The Gunners have previously enjoyed impressive openings to previous campaigns, only to fall away in the second halves of seasons, none more so than their failed challenge last term when they were beaten to the top-flight crown by Leicester City.
Arsene Wenger’s men have made the Emirates Stadium a fortress since their move to the ground in 2006 and have used it as a foundation towards their success in the Premier League. However, their form on the road has been their downfall in their quest for the title.
The Gunners lost four and drew seven of their 19 away matches last term, while in their previous closest title challenge in the 2013-14 season they were defeated six times on the road. Their inability to be dominant on their travels on a consistent basis has cost them adding to their collection of crowns under the Frenchman, leaving the club determined to resolve their issues in this campaign.
Arsenal should be backed by crowds of supporters on their travels after they learn from a study by Voucherbox that it is in fact cheaper for the Gunners’ fans to attend all 19 of their matches on the road than to buy a season ticket for the Emirates. Perhaps if the travelling hordes make their away venue seem like a home match for the team it will improve their form in crucial matches.
“Community Shield 33 – Arsenal Fans” (CC BY 2.0) by Ronnie Macdonald
Three years ago the North London outfit appeared to be on the verge of securing their first title since the days of the ‘Invincibles’. However, a heavy defeat to Liverpool at Anfield derailed their campaign, while losses to Stoke City, Chelsea and Everton knocked them out of contention, finishing in fourth place despite winning their final five matches of the season.
Wenger’s men had the same issues last season and once again they led the Premier League going into the final furlong of the term. However, another loss in a crucial moment to Manchester United would add to a number of costly defeats early in the season to Southampton and West Brom, while draws against Tottenham, Sunderland and West Ham resulted in their failure to close the gap on the Foxes at the top of the division.
“Arsenal v Chelsea 02” (CC BY 2.0) by Ronnie Macdonald
In contrast Leicester lost only two matches on the road in their title-winning campaign, and after their defeat to Arsenal in February they dropped only four points away from home, two of which came on the final day against Chelsea when the crown was already secure. Whereas the Foxes were clinical when it mattered the most Arsenal were at their least efficient, especially at the back.
This term the Gunners have been outstanding with their away form, winning five of their seven contests, including their 5-1 hammering of West Ham in their first visit to the Olympic Stadium. However, Wenger must ensure that his side maintain their excellent play on the road to guarantee that it will not be part of their downfall again.
Good luck to the team. Nice photos.
The issue is I think Arsenal may have to have an unbeaten run in their remaining 21 PL applications during which I for one is expecting them to win not less than 18 matches out of the 21 to enabled them have 90 points which I think should be sufficient points for them to win the PL title this season.
To me, 90 points should be the magic number of points to call this season’s title. Therefore, the Gunners MUST Strive to accumulate these points overtime as from their Boxing Day match at the Ems against WBA and onwards if their to recapture their most sort after PL title after missing out on it for 12 years.
Arsenal have only lost twice on the road this season in all applications. And the 2 loses they’ve suffered have come in their PL games away to Everton and Man City in a back to back manners. While one may argue that their lose to Everton was uncharacteristic of the Gunners who had caved in under the attacking heading prowess of the Toffees as the Gunners’ defense-line without Shkodran Mustafi have no stronger instilled defensive discipline in their lineup.
But in the case of their lose at the Etihad to Man City, the Gunners lose there was a Man City Pgmol assisted win via 2 offside goals. And the absent of Mustafi was also a contributing factor in conceding those 2 offside goals I would believe. But even then, I see no reason why the Gunners on the field of play without Mustafi did not take the game by the scuff of it’s neck to score the winner for 3 points.
We have 3 winning games in a row on the cards to take all the 9 points that will be at stake in these matches to improve our standing in the table. And hopeful that’s exactly what the Gunners will implement before they have Mustafi back and also 1 or 2 Gunners back too who have been on the sidelines to bolster their campaign.
I balk to call any games “winnable” at the moment as Arsenal has not completely sorted it’s midfield pairings since Sanri’s loss. With Santi we had another option to use, now Arsenal are seemingly at odds when teams press them, which in my view should make us press them too and not let them upset us with their pressing.
Yes, it will now take a winning run to the end of season to win PL and even that is not enough. Unless Chel$ slip up, we can kiss PL goodbye. We just cannot always depend on that.
The six points lost would have had us at 40 points, just 3 behind Chel$.
Those 6 points are not to be regained unless as mentioned above Chel$ manage to slip.
Don’t think we can afford to lose more than two more games until the end of the season. We need to win most of the others
I maintain we can’t afford to lose to our rivals and beating Chelsea is essential.
We are capable of doing it. Do we have the mental strength and desire to do so ?
We once again need to get the annual injuries sorted and the manager must look to use more of the squad to keep players fresh. We’ve looked really flat and off the pace in the second half of the last two games.
West Brom are having a good season. They have all the traits of a Pulis side but have the pace and creativity of Chadli and Phillips upfront and an underrated centre forward in Rondon who is scoring a lot of goals atm. It will be a really tough game.
How long will it take our players to sus that when we face a packed defence and have Giroud up front then we need width and it’s essential for us to press from the first minute. Is it so difficult to mix the approach when we have Alexis there too?
Les Martin