A Perfect Storm – Recent setbacks are just a ‘dent’ in our aspirations – Here’s why.

Bees were buzzing and are a good side

Our aim at the start of the season was to finish on the Top 4. That’s still our primary goal and we’re still well on track to achieve that. Anything above that is a bonus but seeing as we’re 3 points clear at the top of the table, the ‘bonus’ is worth talking about.

So why have we dropped points in 3 of our last 5 premier league games? First let’s look at the results.

Newcastle 0-0 Draw (3rd Jan)

Spurs 0-2 Win (15th Jan)

Man U 3-2 Win (22nd Jan)

Everton 1-0 Loss (4th Feb)

Brentford 1-1 Draw (11th Feb)

In between Newcastle and the Spuds, we put 3 past Oxford in the cup and narrowly lost away at City in the same competition on the 27th of Jan. It was a result which I think it’s fairly safe to say we weren’t that fussed about in the context of the season.

So, what do Brentford, Newcastle and Everton have in common? Deep block, counter attacking play and the dark arts. It’s also worth mentioning that if the referees had done their job both the Newcastle and Brentford results would have been different, but we can’t change the fact that the standard of refereeing in this country is poor. You can also bet (Ivan Toney style) that Mikel Arteta will be saying the same thing to his players. If we’re to win games, we must win them in spite of the match officials.

Now let’s look at the teams where we dropped points

Newcastle, who boast the best defensive record in the Premier League (at time of writing they’ve conceded just 13 goals) were always going to be a tough nut to crack. They’re well organised, very well drilled and they know how to grind out a result. It’s also worth mentioning that they’ve only lost 1 league game all season. A draw against them is a point gained, not a point dropped.

New Manager Bounce – Bad Timing

Everton was the perfect storm as we all know. 12:30 kick off away from home, new manager bounce and at a ground where we’ve struggled in recent years. This Everton side is not one that should be fighting relegation. They are clearly in a false position and are only there because they’d downed tools in a successful effort to get Lampard sacked. I fully expect to see them rise to mid table over the 2nd half of the season. We should have been capable of beating them, but there will be bad games in the run-in, and this was one of them.

Brentford, like Newcastle are something of a surprise package this year. Normally teams that have done well in their first season get ‘found out’ in their second season in the Premier League. This is not the case for the Bees who are deservedly in the top half of the table and pushing for a European spot. While the result wasn’t ideal, I was encouraged by the fact that we were largely dominant in the game, (although I acknowledge that we gave away some good chances). What would have concerned me would have been if we’d had had another Everton like performance and been outplayed. Brentford have done that to teams on occasion. They beat United in a dominant display and took all three points when they played City earlier on in the season. When you’ve not got your shooting boots on and your passing isn’t crisp, it’s important not to lose games like this, and we didn’t. Once again, versus a form side in the League I consider this a point gained.

Let’s not forget

In this run of 5 games, we’ve played the spuds away, dominated them and reminded them that North London is Red. We also put three past United, who are allegedly in the title race. If you’d have offered us two wins, two draws and a defeat in this run of games and to be 3 points clear with a game in hand (especially bearing in mind we’re still without Gabi Jesus) I think most reasonable Arsenal fans would have accepted it.

Emphatic NLD win

It’s interesting to see that teams that try to go toe to toe with us often end up getting spanked. It’s therefore no surprise that opponents are reluctant to do that and resort to the deep block and trying to hit us on the counter. This has been happening all season, it’s not a new phenomenon. We’re only just starting to really notice it now because it’s worked on three occasions in close proximity. The reality is that there aren’t many teams that will survive against us with these tactics, (just look at the first 19 games of the season).

Another point of encouragement is that against Brentford we had 23 shots (7 on target) and against Everton we had 15 (3 on target). Whilst this may not seem encouraging, my point is that we’re creating opportunities, we just need our shooting boots on. This is a temporary issue which we have enough quality to address.

So where does that leave us?

While I don’t think the game against City is the be all and end all that the media would have us believe it is, it is important to get back to winning ways. City will go toe to toe with us and I feel that we have the quality to hurt them. I also think that the referee and VAR will be extra cautious after the mistakes that they’ve made against us recently. I hope Arteta goes for the jugular, because a win would go a long way to reminding future opposition that we’re capable of hammering anyone in this league. It will also be helpful from a fan perspective as I must admit that the atmosphere inside the Emirates on Saturday wasn’t ideal.

Charismatic leader

Overall, don’t be too discouraged by our recent run of results, Everton aside, they’re not the dramatic wobble the media hopes them to be (look how fast they’ve forgotten our displays against the spuds and United), they’re actually decent results against quality opposition. Bring on City.

David Glicksman

I’m a lifelong Arsenal fan. I got my first kit at 3 years old and my dad put a nail in my wall and hung it there rather than in my wardrobe. Mum was furious.