I Want Arsenal To Win The League…But It Won’t Happen

Arsenal, they are doing it again aren’t they?

Sexy football, scoring goals, Theo getting into his groove, a lovely balance between experience and youth in attacking positions; they are title challengers for sure are the good old Gooners, aren’t they?

Same Old, Same Old
Nope. I, like many football fans would love to see Arsene win the title in his 20th season at the club but we’ve been here so many times before. We’ve seen Arsenal play teams off the park in the warm days of Autumn, seen players have a spurt of form only to be anonymous later down the line and I just can’t get excited, even if it is six games unbeaten on the bounce.

So let’s look at why.

Alexis cannot lead the line and be expected to do a specialist job all season. Giroud is wasteful through a season, so unless a striker comes in, even in January, that is a guaranteed 30 goal-a-season man who specialises in leading the line, takes that one chance against the big boys and inspires his midfielders to create chance after chance safe in the knowledge he’ll dispatch them, then the striker is still an achilles heel for Arsenal, and if you’ve been sucked into thinking it isn’t, watch it all unfold from February onwards.

Downhill For Theo
Theo won’t continue the form he’s in. The lad is one of the nicest men you could meet, speaks well and I’m a huge fan of his, (MY NAME IS THEO), but unless he can answer his own personal questions and continue this form until the end, that’s a fair chunk of goals and incision he’s providing at the moment that will disappear, can you do it Theo? Can you?

The gaffer is too nice. It’s his 20th year, and his demeanour never changes. Nice and smiling when he wins, looks seriously under pressure and lacking answers, real technical answers, when they lose. Pep, Conte, Klopp and Mourinho come into their own down the stretch, proven over the last 5 years in different leagues, so can Arsene rewind to the hungry, trophy-winning beast of yesteryear to maintain the challenge? At his age I’m just not so sure.

Xhaka
Totting up too many yellows, like that of a naughty driver will catch the lad out and Arsenal’s defensive midfield area may have to put up with him being out of the side for as much as he’s in it after Christmas. It may not seem much but chopping and changing between different players in that crucial area where players need an understanding, like Matic/Fabregas in season 1 and Kante/Drinkwater last season can’t be understated.

Arsene knew what he brought in Xhaka, a very competent defensive midfielder, but the lad really does need to calm it and get games rather than bans under his belt.

Ozil
A quandary wrapped in an enigma, wrapped in a very nice lad. That word again, nice. He really is a little genius, a master of the assist, but I still feel left wanting and needing more leadership from him to go with the skills. Why? He’s a World Cup winner, lots of caps, lots of experience so it’s not unreasonable to want a man to develop his talking and leadership skill set as he assumes an incredibly important role in the team, that of talisman, the best player, the focal point.

If he can, Arsenal challenge to the end, if he can’t, the quiet guy may excite us but he won’t lead this team to anything other than Top 3, again.

I hope I’m wrong on all of the above and it may come across as nit picking and harsh. Not true, most, if not all of the above will come true. You know it and I know it. But in football there is room to learn, adapt and move forward. Can Arsene? Can Arsenal? With all of the big sharks out there in this league? I’m not sure, but I hope they do! It would be a great story and a fitting reward for Le Prof’s longevity.