Not so long ago, a small set of Arsenal fans booed Wenger as he made his way onto the train home after a disappointing loss to Stoke City. Now, a few months on, not only has he made individual history by winning six FA Cups, he also ended the season with a genuine sense of optimism at the club. The remaining challenge for Wenger and his team is to channel this optimism into a Premier League title next year — two or three signings and this ambition can certainly come a reality.
The Premier League shortfall
Chelsea, favourites to win the league by far, well and truly lived up to this expectation. They were far superior to Wenger’s men in the search for a Premier League title and Mourinho’s second season seemed to provide him with a ‘complete’ Chelsea side.
Those fans who booed Wenger after the Stoke game may very well bring up the argument that failing to sign Cesc Fabregas was an unforgivable mistake and an important ingredient in handing Chelsea the title. It’s hard for Arsenal fans not to reflect on the failure to sign the Spaniard bitterly and Wenger himself may have some regrets on this front.
Alexis Sanchez’s performance consistently helped rejuvenate and restore Arsenal’s hopes in the league. Although losing Fabregas was hard, Sanchez seems to be the complete football player and certainly lifted the spirits of those who were angry at the failure to resign Fabregas.
Arsenal’s performances in the league were outstanding in the second half of the season, but by then they were already playing catch up and ultimately left too much room between themselves and Chelsea. At times Arsenal seemed yet again like an irrelevance in the title race and failed to mount the significant challenge most fans were expecting.
There were various reasons for this unfortunate truth. A quick start is always essential in an effective push for the title; dropped points against the likes of Leicester, Hull and even scraping a draw against Everton can often be cast aside when looking at reasons for the failure in the league. Whilst losing to Chelsea in early October can feel like an early sign of things to come, dropping six points against teams who Arsenal can clearly beat on their day may equally be responsible.
The failings of February
By January Arsenal found their feet in a ‘big game’, beating Man City 2-0 and moving on to dispose of Aston Villa 5-0 in their next league game. They looked to be a real force in the league once again. Momentum is everything in sport, and having it halted by a Harry Kane-inspired Tottenham would have hurt Arsenal fans. February always ends up being a crucial month for Arsenal — this year it was no different.
In spite of four wins out of a possible six in February, the Tottenham and Monaco games had the greatest value and both ended up in bitterly disappointing losses. A 3-1 defeat at the Emirates to Monaco was a night to forget. No player seemed to put in anywhere near his best performance and instead left it to Wenger’s old team to dictate the game and look more like the home team. It was a night where the combination play between Özil and Sanchez was more or less non-existent and individually they did not live up to the occasion. Arsenal fans were gleeful upon the Champions League draw and tearful upon the end of the first leg of it, leaving themselves with it all to do in Europe yet again.
The Gunners March
The Arsenal way may be beautiful passing football and fantastic entertainment but it’s also the ability to go again and rebuild after failure. March saw Arsenal win all six of their games, and whilst this temporarily made them a little more relevant in the Premier League again, an excruciatingly painful but spirited game in Monaco saw Arsenal crash out of the Champions League.
The most irritating part to Arsenal fans is why Arsenal failed to produce anything like a similar performance at home against Monaco. The trend in Europe now seems to be a woeful first leg and a wonderful second leg, but unfortunately Arsenal tend to leave themselves far too much to do, as in the Premier League. If they alleviate this tendency in Europe then there’s no denying Arsenal could really delve further into the competition with at least some degree of success.
In the sixteen games after the 3-1 defeat to Monaco, Arsenal won twelve times, and suffered just one solitary, rather cruel, loss. It begs the question: why can’t they start the season like this and keep up the level of consistency needed for a Premier League title and more exciting run in Europe?
A successful summer spending spree will certainly help The Gunners. The squad looks to be only two or three signings away from looking near enough complete. The team this year was already incredibly competitive and the high quality English players the club have like Wilshere, Welbeck, and Walcott will all have to play exceptionally well to compete with the attacking talent present and earn a place in the team.
Perhaps what is lacking is the self-belief that they can really end the run of over a decade without a title or make history by winning Arsenal’s first ever Champions League trophy. Trophies, now pleasingly a plural, have been won at the club over the last two years and it’s very much possible that Arsenal’s success at Wembley will stimulate success in other areas, including the league title and European progress next year too. Arsenal now have no doubt they can be successful consistently.
FA Cup Jubilation
Arsenal once again ended the season in glory, playing truly magnificent football and, most importantly, retaining the FA Cup. The progress was clear to see from a year ago. The territory felt familiar, but the performance from the start was monumentally different though — Arsenal never looked like losing.
Wenger individually must have felt very satisfied. He now has the joint most FA Cups of any manger and overtook his old nemesis Sir Alex Ferguson to earn his sixth FA Cup; a truly phenomenal achievement. Having his own fans boo him at Stoke must now feel like a lifetime ago. The right man is at the helm of the club and he should have the backing of the fans. Yes, progress has been limited, but Arsenal are not only extremely stable financially but in a very promising position going into next season with depth in the squad and another trophy to their name.
Aston Villa could not deal with the fluidity of Arsenal’s passing, the determination to earn the ball back and incredible quality it took for Alexis Sanchez to score a goal worthy of winning any game. Arsenal are back winning trophies now and this leaves the fans with genuine optimism — exciting times lie ahead at the club, and just maybe a Premier League title too.
