The shock result this week in the Champions league was Arsenal beating Bayern Munich 2-0 at the Emirates. I say the word “shock” mainly because over the last few seasons, Arsenal have seemed to break down like an old motorcar against the top European teams. AS Monaco last season, the Bundesliga giants previous two seasons to that, AC Milan in 2011/2012 and Barcelona A year before that.
Arsene Wenger thinks this win will give his team a new belief but I for one don’t have the same faith. Arsenal as we all know are a splendid team to watch, on their day they can beat anyone which we saw this week, but when it comes to consistently beating quality opposition they just can’t deliver.
If you look at the stats over the last few seasons, Arsenal have struggled against the top 4 teams in the premier league. We shouldn’t be shocked by this weeks result, which happened before within the Champions league in previous years.
Have we forgotten that the Gunners have a very good team with world-class players? I suggest we haven’t forgotten, it’s just that teams of quality don’t get hammered by rivals 6-0, 6-3 and 5-1 by top opposition as in their 2013/2014 premier league campaign.
After losing their first two champions league games this season I was quite optimistic about Arsenals premier league chances. Refocus, refocus, refocus on the premier league I squawked like an over excited Parrot. I would evengo further by saying that if they had lost their Bayern game and then had been knocked out of the Champions league, their premier league challenge would have been enhanced immensely.
Wenger needs to focus on the premier league, winning this title gives them the platform for building towards the Champions league cup for the future.
The Premier League title announces your team to the world as the champions over the course of a season. It breeds confidence to the players, creates an aura of authority for the club, attracts big name players and also worries the opposition.
If the north London club do progress in the Champions League, my worry is that as previous seasons have indicated, it will be too much for them to cope with.
Think February/March 2016, Arsenal with all their fingers in the football trophy pies will again be left with too many injuries, players tired/underperforming and come April, the Frenchman will no doubt be talking about the tough Christmas fixture period and the lack of quality refereeing in his matches.
I hope I’m proved wrong…. I hope Walcott and Giroud don’t get injured and contribute right through the season with goals galore. I hope that Ozil performs in every game the way that he did on Tuesday night, I hope that Czech adds 10-12 points this season; I hope they buy Benzema and a holding midfielder in January.
High high hopes but again judging on the last few years of history, Arsenal will come up short, a bit like a pair of wrong fitting 80’s chinos.
– Written by Glenford Ross
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