Arsenal: the team… and whose fault will it be if Arsenal don’t win?

 

 

• Emotionally and physically Arsenal need to beat Leeds United
• Arsenal injuries, and how the club compares with the rest of the league.
• And from the Arsenal History Society 100 seasons in the top division. The rebirth of Arsenal 1967-68

By Tony Attwood

When we think back to the Unbeaten Season – one of Arsenal’s many unique contributions to English football – we think, of course, of the joy of being unbeaten. 

What we tend to forget are sequences such as late March and early April 2004, by which time the journalists were starting to be aware that Arsenal might go through the whole season unbeaten in the League, and so were joyfully reporting on the 1-1 draw with Chelsea (24 March 2004), followed by an identical score agaisnt Manchester United in the league and then a home defeat to the same team in the FA Cup, and then a home defeat to Chelsea in the Champions League three days later which knocked Arsenal out of that competition too.

“Call that undefeated?” blared the media, but of course it was “undefeated” in the sense that we all knew it.   Now, once again, there is no thought of an undefeated season, but criticisms can be levelled all the same for the supposed, “missed opportunities” and the “lack of a top goal scorer.”

Actually, Arsenal have been shredding players, having loaned out Nwaneri, Dudzak and Copley while transferring Maldini Kacurri to Grimsby.   Something else might be happening today in the transfer market, but if not, it will be a “missed opportunity” according to the headlines from this evening on.

And the reason the media want to dwell on such matters is that all the way through December and January, they have been telling us who Arsenal are trying to buy.   Most of it is, of course, made up twaddle, but they can’t acknowledge that, so the blame game starts.

Although it does turn out that things are against Arsenal at the moment since the club’s plan of flying to Leeds was scuppered by the fog.   I guess they caught a train instead.

But just to make sure that no one can relax, there have even been headlines such as “Are Arsenal fans making team nervous in title race?” which comes from the BBC, which really ought to know better.  No, if anyone is making Arsenal nervous it is those wretched journalists.

Mind you, Arteta had a good answer to that saying, “This group of players are so competitive, and they seek excellence, and when you don’t reach it you ask yourself questions. My role there is to bring optimism and a reality of where we are.