Wenger thinks it is an open League this season by SP
After Arsenal recorded a 4th, a 3rd and a 2nd place in the last three years, I was very hopeful that we could extend that sequence into 1st in this campaign, but the reality is proving to be just as difficult as we predicted at the start of the season.
After the defeat at Tottenham, Chelsea still have a 5 point lead, but Arsene Wenger still thinks the title race is open with six teams all bunching up at the top of the table. “It looks like Chelsea are still quite comfortable but when you’re interrupted in a series of wins, it always raises hope for others.” Le Prof said. “It means you have to restart again. I think it’s an open league. The second part of the championship starts now. We know that January until May is the moment of truth for everybody. Who will come out of this race on top? It’s very difficult to predict at the moment.”
With all six contenders playing well, it is a fact that two of them are going to miss out on the Champions League next season. Wenger was asked if it was going to be extra hard to finish in the top four this season? “For everybody. But at the start, you want to win the league and give absolutely everything to do it. But I agree, every year you have to function exactly the same, no matter who you are. First, get 40 points. After, fight to be in the top four and possibly fight to win the league.”
First of all, considering we are currently 5th, we first of all have to fight to get back into the Top Four, which shouldn’t prove too hard considering the run of games that we have coming up, and Man United v Liverpool, Man City v Tottenham and Liverpool v Chelsea all being played before the end of January.
All Arsene Wenger has to do is make sure we win all our games up until then!
Sam P
Although we’ve gradually moved up the table over the last three seasons, the progression has been minimal (if there has been any), from what I’ve been seeing watching Arsenal. Despite finishing fourth in the 13/14, it’s the closet we’ve been to winning the league over the last few years, so one could argue we’ve regressed over the last two seasons, but definitely last season, when we didn’t win a trophy, and gained less points, and had the same amount of defeats as the previous season.
Yes it’s an open league this season, but wasn’t that the case the previous three seasons, what with all the managerial changes at the big clubs? The reality is, it’s harder then EVER to win the league this season, and I don’t give us a chance at all, given Wenger’s track record.
If we win all our games, we will get 95 points, enough to win the league. Teams normally win the league with 86 points. We have about 9 points we can afford to lose. (Our destiny is still in our hands people. Tough games – we are away to Chelsea on 4 Feb, away to Liverpool on 4 March, 1 April and 6 May we host Man City + United and another tough game Spurs will host us 29 April. Those are the games we should be expected to lose points.15 points to play for against the top 6 teams, at least get 9 points from 15 and beat all the other “small” teams.
Arsenal still have Liverpool, Spurs, and Chelsea away, Utd, and City at home. Four out of those five fixtures, I can definitely see us dropping points. Then you also have to consider all of our other fixtures.
Off topic:
Admin Pls who took De captain’s armband when koscielny left De pitch verses Bournemouth?
Cech
I would have been a little more optimistic had Carzola returned in January.
He is such a big player and turns our midfield from being mediocre to the among the best in the league. He goes on to further strengthen our defence believe it or not.
Most games that we have dropped points so far is because our midfield has been out run because we don’t have an intelligent enough player to control the tempo, release pressure, start attacks, and read the game. I hoped Xhaka would be such a player but he has a lot to lean to get to the level of ice men like Carzola, Pirlo, Xavi, Alonso, Modrich, etc. For the type of football that is being preached at Arsenal, having a player like that is key.
Its unfortunate we cant recall Jack, not that he is the most reliable player due to his injury issues, so if Wenger is really smart he might want to start looking for a Carzola replacement because the nature of his injury and at his age unfortunately he may never be the same again.
All we can do now is play every game like a final, cover our fit players in wool and pray to God players like Ramsey, Xhaka, Ox, Gibbs, and Cech hit form along with the rest of the squad. Unity is also important in the dressing room.
We can still do it.
We are still in control of our own destiny with respect to the top 4. To win the PL we are not in control of our destiny and we need Chelsea to drop points.
A lot will come down to our games against the top 6 opponents, we have beat them head-to-head. Having said that we are even struggling against none top 6 team and can’t win more than 2 or 3 in a row. This is the time of the season you have to start winning these games. You can blame the referee or the schedule but if you drop 2 points every 3 games or worse, you will struggle climbing up the table with all other teams picking up steam.
I didn’t do the math on other teams but the last 10 games we have 20 points vs Man U 24. They have won 6 in a row now (yes you can blame the referee for that as well). We have to respond with an impressive series of our won, something we have not done in over 3 months (I think).
The 2 points dropped against Bournemouth might come back to haunt us. I don’t expect the gap between 4th and 5th to be more than 2 points.
My beliefs faded and died as soon as “The Bottlers” reared their ugly heads, once again and it was no coincidence that this happened the moment we hit the top of the premier league, albeit the lead only lasting less than 24 hours, but it just goes to show that nothing has really changed at the club.
The only title that our players will be celebrating at the end of this season is the 4th place trophy ?? and that will probably be won on the final day… at the spuds expense… As per usual ?
It’s obvious that at the end of the season Sanchez, Ozil and Possibly Santi will leave, all this bcos of Wenger’s stubbornness to sign a World-class Striker or find the right balance for the team . Get Wenger Out!!!
The players all looked in great mood in training. Pires having a laugh with Mustafi, Ospina and Xhaka too. Wenger reckons that they all get as frustrated as Alexis, but just show it differently. I don’t think this is true. I believe some players get over it very quickly and look forward to the next round of games. After Eve and city, you’d expect allot of focus and desire leading up to games, but here we are again, with players saying the right things, but how committed are they to what they are saying.
by the end of January we ll have ourselves a clear picture on whether we should still hold on to the thread of hope or just realistically give up.. the results for us n also against Chelsea especially.
n also who we bring in could play a part.