How Arsenal Proved to Be a Small Team
When the league started in August, 2022, critics argued that the North London team remained a small team and that it would struggle to make it to the UEFA Champions League, which often stands as its major trophy for years now.
Mikel Arteta’s side made frantic efforts to prove the critics wrong and rise to the peak of the table. Arsenal was able to win some key games and towards the first half of the competition (this season), Arsenal had lost just one match (against Manchester United).
The gunners spent more than 200 days on top of the table. Football enthusiasts still doubted the determination of Arsenal to win the English Premier League. It’s become a tradition that the team that top the table by January would lift the trophy. Arsenal’s case is now an exception.
Yet at that time, when it was obvious the gunners would end the wait, critics (notably Chelsea’s fans) insisted that the team would still drop just as an elephant couldn’t sit on a branch of a tree for long.
Two months ago, the club was still at the pinnacle with 8 points above now-champions Manchester City. The last eight games of Arsenal undid its bid for the first title since 2004. Arsenal has bottled the league.
The mentality of a big team, a requirement to sustain the lead and hitherto win the league, is not there for the side. Arsenal broke its bank in January to reinforce the squad. It signed Jorginho from Chelsea and Trossard from Brighton Hove and Albion.
The Mikel Arteta’s side managed to win just two of their last eight games. They were able to beat London rivals Chelsea and ambitious Newcastle United. Yet they failed to win crucial matches.
Arsenal’s dream started to fail when they squandered a two-goal lead over Liverpool at Anfield. The Reds almost completed a perfect comeback and the two sides settled for a draw. The doubt over Arsenal’s competence and perseverance came up one more time.
They also drew West Ham, Southampton, lost to Brighton, Nottingham Forest yesterday. The defeat at the City Ground, home to Nottingham Forest yesterday handed the trophy once again to Pep Guardiola’s Manchester City.
A big team, football analysts say, would endeavor to manage to win the league with that enough margin between Arsenal and Manchester City two months ago.
Gunners had to angrily leave the Emirate Stadium while the side faced rampaging, though inconsistent, Brighton last week. It’s one of the defeats that ultras of the club would not forget. It literally ended the struggle for the title.
There was no tangible or consequential depletion in the squad. Saliba’s absence may not be an enough reason as there were other options for the team in the defense. The clincher is that Arsenal has proved to be a small team.
Follow us on social media
