Tottenham beat Premier League leaders Chelsea last night, meaning Arsenal dropped out of the top four of the table, whilst stopping them from building on their eight point lead over our side.
The Blues were looking near-unstoppable of late, having won their last 13 league outings equalling the all-time top-flight record of consecutive wins in a single term, but last night’s result put an end to that run.
Chelsea will now have a relatively easy FA Cup tie with Peterborough before travelling to face PL champions Leicester in the league, and that match will be no walk in the park.
There is now an aura of uncertainty around the league leaders, and we have to thank Tottenham Hotspur for that, as painful as that can be.
A thought that is even less desirable is the possible fear of our North-London rivals, with their club enduring a purple patch at present, including five consecutive wins.
Spurs have now overtaken us in the table to occupy third spot, and we have the reality that we are in a six-way battle for the Champions League spots, with our noisy neighbours and sixth-placed Manchester United having the best form inside the top six.
The harsh reality is that although we took solace in the defeat of the leaders, we now face the daunting task of breaking back into the top-four, whilst holding off the challenge of United who are flying high at present.
We are fed up at Arsenal at having failed to successfully challenge for the PL title in recent years, but the reality is that we have so many rivals this year that targeting the trophy right now is step too far.
Can we still expect to be in the top spot or even two spots? How confident are we of a top four place? Do we finally have to take Spurs seriously?
Pat J
For me a Chelsea victory was important because IMO we are battling for a top 4 finish not the PL.
I am more certain than ever that we will finish 5th or more likely 6th. Spurs and Man U are getting better and more consistent now that we get into the important part of the season and we are fading again as per usual. This is probably not what most want to hear but it is a reality.
The atmosphere around the club is also getting more negative and this will continue. Not only is Sanchez fed up playing around losers. Yes, contrary to Sanchez’s disappointment with the dropped points, some of his teammates were happy with the draw against Bournemouth. As the season drags on and it will become more and more clear that Sanchez will never win a major trophy under Wenger it will become obvious that he will leave. This will not be good for the atmosphere around the club.
We are again in meltdown mode make no mistake about it, and a Chelsea victory could have delayed the realization of the reality.
Agreed.. Sanchez was so frustrated seeing teammates celebrating a draw against the mighty Bournemouth while to his standards, they should go for a win before they can even smile.. that gave him a clear view of the ambition of his teammates and the club as a whole. he doesn’t belong here
and where does he belong? Sanches is not Arsenal, I love him as a player but if he decides to move on he should just go and let others concentrate. Enough of this Sanches story, is he Lionel Messi or Cr7? no player can be in a club forever but the club will always remain, Arsenal have seen better players than Sanches and better players than him will come after him.
Typical Arsenal fan with shorts up his neck. Instead you haven’t noticed Sanchez is the only one ” concentrating” On that pitch. I mean you are saying he should leave because he have got an ambition for this club ? While the others get paid s$$t loads of money for celebrating a f##king point shared with Bournemouth? Come on! For once let the reality hit you!
@ Zion………………Magnificent reply, settling for spoils and shortcomings have infected the mentality not just of the players but Fans as well.
I understand that when you are a Sunderland fan that each year your fight is to keep away from the relegation zone, if you make it to the next year that is your biggest achievement……being an ARSENAL fan makes you wish for more, WENGER gave it to us when he stormed the league but now has taken it away
Spurs were awesome last night. Let’s see if Chelsea change their formation. They changed it after they lost to us..
Chelsea Couldn’t equal Arsenal’s 14 consecutive victories but they have been phenomenon..
Chelsea was the first team to defeat Spurs this season, now Spurs broke their incredible run. This is why we love football… I wanted a draw in the game but Spurs neutralize Chelsea threat so they are worthy winners.
Our usual top four is under a threat now. Arsenal will try and make their way to the top four. Wonder why this happen time and time again. Before the season starts, we are in the race. Even after few games, we are still in the race. Come January ‘ Feb, we are fighting top 4. Maybe, just maybe it will do the club good if we finish outside the top 4… Oh well.. .
I will thank the spurs for preventing chelsea from equaling our 14match winning streak and at the same time FEAR them for bundling us out of our comfort-zone(4th position)
You are the fan of my type. Thank you.
What some of us don’t know is that if you don’t recognise the capabilities of your adversaries you can never defeat them because you’ll be relax.
Sad to say, Sp*ds have improve but are stagnant. We have to recognise that and know that it’s no longer a stroll in the park.
Arsenal have no business being 0-3 down at anytime to Bournemouth. Our manager and players should know that they disappointed us.
Just tired of top 4 finish. I need top 1.
I would rather Chelsea had won because it’s plainly obvious we are not going to win the league and it would have kept Spurs below us in the battle for 4th place. I also can see us finishing 5th or 6th, as much as it hurts me to admit it but out of the 6 teams at the top we look the most fragile when up against it.
@marty53 – I have to agree. We do look the most fragile. Can’t be bothered to do the math but I am pretty sure if we look at last 5 or 10 games and compare the top 6 against each other, we will have the least points or momentum. This is the time of the year you have to build momentum and we are simply not doing that.
Last year we had little competition from Chelsea, Liverpool and Man U, this year we don’t have that luxury. Top 4 looks unlikely particularly now that we got away from the formula that got us some of our best results but instead have reverted to last season’s formula with starting bigger roles for Giroud and Ramsey.
Finishing below spuds and most probably out of the top 4 will be Wenger’s farewell as bad karma for years of not buying players we need and for using wrong tactics and late substitutions.
Hey Guys, we need to shake off this negative feeling that comes from a poor performance @ Bournemouth. Spuds won’t be anywhere near us, if not Mike Dean’s assistance in 3good games. United also got some help from poor officiating in their last 2games (Mhyki’s offside goal, red card to West ham and Zlatan’s offside goal). If we stay focused in our next 3games and either win or at least draw Chelsea @ Stamford bridge, u’ll see a different looking table by February. Its not all gloom yet.
We have shaken 2 consecutive defeats to Everton and city! We are f##kin tired of shaking! This is a 13 year old reality! It will not go anywhere! Its sad we have become like this…praying other teams fail or win, fearing spuds and new boogy teams every f##kin year! We were the Arsenal!!! Believe it or not we have become the new Liverpool. It will be at least 7-10 years until we compete for title. Even if wenger leaves now, all top 6 teams have sorted out their s##t and progressed fast (Chelsea) or slow ( man utd) in the last few years and will only get stronger and progress once all the mangers philosophy settles in. While we expirment with a new manger and ozil and Sanchez leave.
Namoski I quite agree with you. The battle line has just been drawn as the Spurs victory has proven Chelsea a beatable team.
Haven said, I also feel rather than get scared we appreciate Spurs for demystifying the Cheks as they are just a club after all.
The league is now thrown open and any club in the top six including Arsenal can win it.
However if arsenal fails to grab the trophy then our usual top four is guaranteed.
Don’t entertain fears at all. Because our regular spot is not threatened.
Cheers!!
Who can get the starting 11 for SPUDS from our players other than COS and Alexis? I am sure COS and Alexis can do that but others will be bench warmers. I don’t think any coach could prefer to play OZIL ahead of Alli.
First off Yesterday’s Spurs win was the best thing that happened not only for the league but for us. For that we need not thank or fear them but show them the usual respect that any other premier league team deserves. Secondly those that think that Spurs win was an absolute disaster need to take a look at themselves. They are 1 point ahead of us which is not a chasm.
Coquelin out for three to four weeks, damn, when does Elneny leave.
Elneny’s already gone to Africa…..
Last nights win over Chelsea by the spuds was a good result however you look at it. Yes Arsenal dropped to 5th but gained a point on the leaders after our draw Vs Bournemouth.
The title race is now slightly more open than it was and we have to be grateful to Spurs for keeping us with an outside chance of winning the title, had Chelsea won we would have been looking at next season. The season is far from over and the fight for the top three or four places still on, i do not believe that any of the teams occupying the positions above us will be faultless throughout the remaining games and we should be fearful of all our competitors in the league or we will surely finish outside the top four.
On another note, Alexis Sanchez is right to be upset with the result Vs Bournemouth and with the team mates who were happy with it afterwards. The man does more than anyone else on the pitch, runs his heart out for the cause and deserves to win the big trophies.
I blame the players for going 3goals down before starting to fight back, but I don’t blame them for being happy with the come back. When you cancel a 3goal deficit within 20mins to the end of a game, the joyful reaction comes naturally.
We seem to be under rating Bournemouth, forgetting how tough our home game against them was, also forgetting what they did to liverpool. They’re no push overs, especially at the vitality stadium.
What I want to see is a team that has learnt her lessons, that will start fighting from the blast of the whistle in our coming games. Man U/Liverpool will clash next and one or both will drop points, we play Chelsea soon. I still maintain that if we can win our coming games and possibly beat Chelsea at the bridge, you’ll see a different table by February.
Talking tactics; its usually not produced the best of results whenever arsene play Coqueline and Xhaka in the middle. The games against Man city and Everton are good examples.
Elneni has always been a better pare but he never does that.
However, now that the Coq is out we should look out for a different pair, Ramsey may not fare so badly if played in midfield along with Xhaka. Let’s see how Iwobi will fare with immediate opportunity to play in the no. 10 role as Ozil is not yet back.
However Theo returns soon. Sánchez should lead the line once again and. I think Lucas should be given more playing time.
Then Giroud despite his beautiful goal should go back to the bench in our next premier league game.
This is my candid thought.
I don’t know about yours.