By Tony Attwood
- Tottenham player says he’s gettinig psychological help: snigger snigger
- What are the punishments for the past sins of Chelsea and ManC?
Are we still in with a chance? The Guardian today says of Manchester City, “This is a side that last month drew against Nottingham Forest and West Ham and were well-beaten by Real Madrid. There is no reason to assume they will win six out of six.”
Which, when we come to think of it, is rather upbeat.
The negativists among the fans and the media – those who relentlessly criticise Arsenal, Arteta and various members of the team, seem to have upped their game, and there can be little doubt that some players Arsenal have been looking to sign, and others they want to keep, will have been influenced to some degree by the negativity in the media and the blogs. Because of that, we quite possibly will lose players we want to keep, and fail to bring in players we want to sign.
But of course it is not all over yet as long as Arsenal players and management do not give in and doubt their own abilities. Arsenal were not washed away 5-0 by ManC, and although Saka and Merino won’t be seen for a while, there is a chance that Calafiori and Timber will play a part in the remainder of the season.
The biggest problem remains the negativity of some supporters and journalists, who ceaselessly blame Arteta and the squad and claim we need a number of replacements. Certainly, if the players are starting to doubt themselves, we are all lost, and what the team must do is recognise that they were not walked over on Sunday, nor swept aside, nor anything else. They are not bottlers, despite what the negativists among Arsenal supporters say. If the belief is truly there, Arsenal can climb back to the top.
But of course, the negativists do have recent statistics on their side in the run of games, and if one tries to engage in any debate on this, the only answer that comes back is that one is making excuses. But the fact that although the run from 22 March onwards reads played six, won one, drawn one, and lost four, only two of those games were in the league. And both were only lost by one goal.
Yes of course, we should have beaten Bournemouth, but we didn’t, and that has to be faced. Maybe by remembering that Arsenal from the end of January on to mid March had a run of six wins and two draws in consecutive Premier League games, scoring 19 goals and conceding five. Now if the form that delivered that run can be found once again, there is every chance.
So yes, there are psychological considerations to be dealt with in relation to recent matches, but there was a tremendous run before the recent set of games, and the memory of that must still be in the players’ minds.
The loss of two players, as noted above, is a problem, but the squad has shown its strength in depth, and there must surely be hope that they can pull matters back together.
Manchester City are not miles ahead of Arsenal – they are ahead on one simple factor: goals scored – they have got three more than Arsenal. On every other factor, the two clubs are equal.
I would also argue that Havertz has not only been good since his return – he has been improving, and although there is always criticism made of Gyökeres, he has scored 12 goals. Now I know people then point to the fact that Haaland has scored 23, but consider this. Manchester City have scored just three more goals than Arsenal in the league this season, but most are from one player – Arsenal’s have been spread around. That is a better and safer way to set up a team.
The key issue now is psychological. If Arsenal can pull themselves together and be determined to win the remaining games, there is still a solid chance of the title, not to mention the Champions League. Of course, as supporters, we go on supporting no matter what, and we support Arsenal now in second place just as we did when they dropped to 15th in the league in Arteta’s first season. They recovered from that and can recover from the defeat to ManC.
On Saturday, it is Newcastle, and that is where all the focus should be.
