Post Match Reaction Arsenal 0 – 2 West Ham: Are Arsenal Ready For Increased Expectations?

Well that certainly didn’t go to plan.

When you address one of your biggest needs with one of the biggest and best in the position it doesn’t cross your mind that they are humans and prone to errors. Certainly, Petr Cech would love to have this performance back.

I don’t for a minute think this will be the norm for him. I also still firmly believe that I do not think this will be the norm for Arsenal.

Let’s be clear – it’s concerning. It’s concerning on a few fronts. First, with Chelsea dropping points on Saturday this was the perfect chance to establish an early buffer against them. Second, it was concerning because in my opinion the bigger worry is – can this team handle the increased expectations that have been heaped upon it?

Arsenal have been great when the eyes of the world aren’t turned upon them. They flow through a season when they’ve already lost out on the title. It’s flattery by deception to a large part. Now, however, the pieces are in place. Two FA Cups in 2 years and a pretty systematic handling of Chelsea a week ago, mean that bigger is now expected.

Can Arsenal handle it? Can Arsene manage that?

Outside of setting up the team, Arsene’s biggest job this season will be managing the weight of expectations on this team. Sure, they may openly welcome it, but are they handling it.

One of the most difficult jobs any manager faces, especially in this era of the self-indulgent player is managing the psychology of sport. Wenger when he came on board and in his tenure has often been praised for his handling of his players. They praise him as a father figure and friend. Which is great but now he needs to be counselor.

He needs to set the expectations in all that they do. From the minute the first whistle blows on the season to the last. He needs to insure his players are mentally prepared for the task at hand.

Yes, there is a certain individual element that each player has to have relative to their role within the team however when it comes to the team as a whole, the manager has to have his team mentally prepared for the task at hand.

Sure, some of yesterday likely came down to Petr Cech’s nerves or still getting acclimated to players he has only know for a few months rather than a decade. Still some of yesterday’s match still seemed to be Arsenal underestimating the task at hand.

Sunday mattered. Sunday mattered for the macro and micro picture of a whole season. While I won’t get too carried away – as there still are 37 games to be played – the task only gets harder as the season goes along.

I don’t buy into the fact that West Ham were fitter. Arsenal have been humming this pre-season. The fitness and preparedness of the team shouldn’t be an issue.

The mental preparedness shouldn’t really be an issue. This team has winners in. Not Premier League winners mind you and that may be an issue. Save for Petr Cech and Danny Welbeck none of Arsenal’s starters have been through a Premier League title run.

Winning is a learned mentality. Winning over the course of a season takes effort at every level. Yes, sometimes in the course of the season you will have troughs of bad luck. Those troughs however, shouldn’t be happening in the first game.

There are still some recurring themes to yesterday’s travesty and they have been gone over ad nauseum by blogs and pundits. And yes, all the responses to the loss were predictable.

As we’ve said here – Arsenal can and will challenge for the title this season. No, adding one person wouldn’t have changed the outcome of yesterday’s match. The errors had nothing to do with talent NOT brought in and had everything to do with individual errors by the talent we did bring in.

Yes, Arsenal will be better if we sign another striker but we will also be better if as a team we learn to handle the expectations that are now placed on this club. It all starts with Wenger and how he manages and prepares this team for the task ahead.

We can’t and shouldn’t be happy with being in the top 4 (we aren’t really but hey I thought I’d through those who believe that narrative a bone) – the pieces are in place for bigger and better.

It definitely wasn’t the start we wanted. The good thing is that with 37 games left to be played we can make it up with plenty of time to spare.

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