http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/0/football/17554188 Emmanuel Petit thinks that the way in which we got beaten by AC Milan and the level of criticism we recieved, enabled us to pick it up and go on our current unbeaten run. One thing i think it's done is taken all the pressure off us. So could the main reason be a mental thing with us?
our main problem has always been mental. Whenever we seem to be thriving we inevitably wilt under the pressure whereas whenever people write us off we seem to adopt a more defiant approach and play with greater freedom. We have great talent but we're so out of the habit of succeeding over the period of a season we can never seem to sustain a good run. Thats what cost us the league in the 2006/07 season as well as the cl final against barca and even the carling cup final last year.
I think we genuinely was unlucky to lose against Barca in the CL final. However, 06/07 league campaign and the Birmingham Carling cup defeat were definately mental. I still believe you need tough players with winning mentalities in your team. We are finally changing on this front i think with players like RVP, Chesney, Wilshere etc....
correct - Wenger does not seem to be able to fire up our teams like many other managers. Complacency is a real problem. It was so refreshing to see Henry stirring up the fans and players alike.
Come on people don't be silly - Petit has no clue about football. We were 'never far off' and havent changed a thing.
Don't be stupid Jayram Of course we've changed things. But this has come from a renewed confidence in the team, which in part has been driven by players returning from injury and to form. If you ever take notice of Pat Rice and Wenger on the touchline, you'd have noticed that they've been giving the same instructions to the players ALL SEASON, it's only now that it's starting to come off and we're getting the results. But we were never that far off, Arteta saw that and spoke about it as I would imagine the whole team did. Now that we're getting the small details right, the confidence is flowing and we are being rewarded. Good job they didn't listen to the doom mongers eh ?
I'm not sure I totally agree with some of you. Look at the end of last season, we were not playing for anything much after the CC loss and we still went an a relegation form run finishing off the season (last 10 or so games). WE hear it all the time from Wenger, "the team played with the handbrake" or "you could see they played cautiously". Its only when we go behind do we see a reaction.
I think you guys meant when we collapsed during the 07/08 season after being 8points ahead at Christmas. We were no where near winning it in 06/07.
This is always a chicken and an egg type of argument, and why the other thread about who is right and wrong about what caused the improvement is so hard to win. The only mental strength I believe plays a big part in the game is confidence. If you lack confidence, either in yourself or your team, then playing better gains you confidence, and so makes you play better, and so on. Where in the cycle you come in, whether it is with the manager showing a bit of confidence in the team, one player coming back to fitness, or even a very small technical change in the system that makes a player more comfortable with their role, it's very difficult to say and the whole thing becomes self-fueling. If it were a precise science and you could determine exactly cause and effect, then football probably wouldn't be half as interesting.
06/07 was a depressing season, we were out of the title race by January but there were still hopes for the rest of the season as we were in the semi's of the carling cup, still in the FA Cup, had an easy last 16 tie with PSV, then came February-March and we collapsed, lost to Chelsea in the final, then lost in the FA Cup 3 days later, then to cap it all off got knocked out of Europe by PSV the week after, and during that season we weren't struggling for 4th spot, it was basically a done deal for us, so we literally had nothing to play for from March-May! And it was our first season at the Emirates!
Bad memories. Remember that PSV game at the Emirates like it was yesterday. Alex was a beast. Probably one of the best performances I have seen from a CB ever. He headed everything away and then went and scored at the other. Also that was Henry's last game in the first spell.
For me, our collapse last season and in the 07/08 season were worse. Last season, lost in the carling cup finals... knocked out by Barca on Wednesday (I believe) and then knocked out of the FA CUP 1/4 finals by Man Utd on Saturday. Three cometitions in under a week. Then in the 07/08 season, 8points ahead at Christmas... then our infamous 2-2 draw with Brimingham after the Eduardo incident and Gallas crying. Also, going out of the Champions League to Liverpool... although unfairly.
Confidence plays a part - sure, but are you suggesting we have won nothing for 7 years and have been miles away from winning the title for a few years purely because we havent been confident???? If you believe that watching Pat Rice shout on the sidelines gives us an answer as to whether any tactical changes have been made, then you are crazier than I thought! Still not sure what you mean by 'never that far off' - we're miles away from challenging for the title and have been for a while.
I also think with hindsight, we were never far from where we are now. Just, in some of the games we did not get the rub of the green as we are now. Sunderland away, we nick it in the last minute, Liverpool the same, Everton, they had a legitimate goal disallowed..... There are fine margins in football, but I don't think you can rely on JUST the rub of the green to win the league unless of course you are SAF/Manure!
