Why Arsenal Will Still Win The Title
Sometimes a loss or a result feels worse or more meaningful than it actually is. It’s happened to Arsenal twice over the last three fixtures. First, at Liverpool when a Joe Allen goal in stoppage time robbed The Gunners of an excellent three points. The draw felt like a loss. Yesterday, when Per Mertesacker’s red card and Diego Costa’s goal in the subsequent aftermath gave Chelsea a 1-0 win at The Emirates, it feels like the title is slipping out of Arsenal’s grasp and it’s their own doing. But, lets think about it for a minute.
After the transfer window closed and Arsenal had only signed one senior outfield player, many fans called Arsene Wenger “deluded” if he thought he could win the title with this squad. I only bring it up now to showcase not only how fan sentiment can change, as those same fans will probably call for Wenger’s head if he doesn’t win the title with this squad, but also how sentiment can be ruled by emotion rather than logic. So let’s consult the table.
We’re level on points with Manchester City and three points off Leicester City (also two above Spurs). So, Arsenal have 15 Premier League games left, that’s potentially 45 points, with games against Leicester at the Emirates, against Manchester City at the Etihad, and against Tottenham at White Heart Lane. This late in the season, the table doesn’t lie and it’s telling us that everything is still there to be won.
I see a large sect of fans saying Arsenal have bottled the title, that these past performances against Liverpool and Chelsea specifically showcase the same weak underbelly that has plagued the squad for years. I see the contrary. The Liverpool draw was actually a decent result; it only hurt so much because of the late nature of the equalizer.
Similarly, a point away at Stoke, where a number of “top” teams have lost this year, without Mesut Özil, Alexis Sanchez, or Francis Coquelin is also a good result. There is no sugar coating that the loss to Chelsea yesterday hurt. To take zero points from a downright listless and dreadful Chelsea side when Arsenal have their best squad in years is tough to workout (although much of it has to do with the fact that the Gunners failed to keep 11 men on the pitch in either match).
Despite the blow, Arsenal can still take some positives out of the Chelsea match. The 10 men played their hearts out for 70 minutes, they didn’t quit, and they bossed large portions of the match, probably deserving to get at least a point. This will not be a season defining loss, no one capitulated, the team showed solidarity which was echoed by Petr Cech’s postgame quotes.
What gives me the continued faith that Arsenal will still go on to win the title is the fact that, when healthy, Arsenal have the strongest XI in the Premier League (yes, stronger and more well rounded than Manchester City) and the Gunners are about to get healthy. Alexis returned to the squad yesterday and while he appeared short on match fitness, another run out in the upcoming FA Cup tie will give him the legs to get back into the starting XI for Arsenal’s next league match.
Francis Coquelin is back in full training and appears to be on the road to being available as early as this Saturday. Another aspect that has hampered Arsenal over the last few months is the lack of real, seasoned options off the bench. Tomas Rosicky is back in the squad after playing for the U21’s, Danny Welbeck returns to training this week and Jack Wilshere is reportedly close. Alexis and Le Coq will go right back into the starting XI, while Welbeck and Rosicky will provide versatile and dangerous options off the bench.
Theo Walcott will also likely drop to the bench, with Joel Campbell keeping his place, but Theo will also provide a dangerous option or perhaps even garner some starts at center forward. Fickle and forgetful is pretty much the standard for all fans, myself included, so we forget how good a side we were with Theo at striker.
We were the side that blitzed Manchester United in 25 minutes, the side that beat Leicester 5-2 at King Power Stadium, the side that beat Bayern Munich 2-0. Theo is taking a lot of gruff right now because he really isn’t a left-winger but I’m willing to wager if he gets a few games at CF, fans will be singing his praises again. The impending return of Coquelin cannot be overstated. While Flamini has done an admirable job filling in, Le Coq is simply different class. Statistics suggest he’s best Premier League’s finest defensive midfielder, that’s what Arsenal have been missing.
His return will not only serve to aid the back four but also the midfield, specifically Aaron Ramsey. Ramsey has suffered a bit while partnering with Flamini in midfield, as he doesn’t provide the kind of cover as a Coquelin and hampers not only Ramsey’s ability to get forward but his ability to link up and control the pace of play in midfield.
Using the previous Chelsea game as a prime example, Ramsey continually had to drop extraordinarily deep to pick up the ball and dictate, thus hampering his runs into the box, which make him so dangerous. With Le Coq’s return, I believe we’ll see the best of Aaron Ramsey again. The morale of the story is, unlike any of the other teams around the top of the table, Arsenal haven’t been playing with anywhere near their full firepower. Maybe there’s something to be said for keeping ourselves in it in time for all that fire power to return.
All fans won’t agree, especially after the loss to Chelsea, but Arsenal also have the best manager of the four teams vying for the title. Surely the WengerOut crowd will be seizing on these last few games as an opportunity to put forth their agenda but of the four managers in the title race, most unbiased individuals would conclude Wenger is the best and most experienced of the bunch. One of Arsene’s strongest aspects is getting a response from his team after a poor result, ensuring that his squad never gets too high or too low, and preventing prolonged slides. He’s done it before and he’ll do it again.
What should give all fans faith or at least hope that Arsenal will still be champions is the unpredictability of the Premier League. Teams will drop points, that’s a certainty. Leicester, Manchester City, Spurs, and yes Arsenal will surely lose or draw games many would expect them to win before seasons end, that’s just the nature of the beast this year.
While that fact is unnerving, paradoxically it’s also encouraging. It means that any given week could be the week that Arsenal can gain three points on their title rivals. While despair is the order of the day right now, if Arsenal were to simply rattle off 2 or 3 wins in a row, they would likely be top again.
The league is a marathon and we’re just entering the third leg. With the team finally healthy and within a single games worth of the right results of being top, now more than ever fans need to get behind the squad rather than devolve into divisive and fractious behavior.
Breaking the title drought was never going to be easy, it was never going to be a walk in the park that would be won with a month still to go. It’s going to be a knock down, drag out dogfight till the end, and Arsenal are still the strongest dog in the fight.
