004-05 - two points clear before the defeat at Old Trafford that ended their unbeaten run in October. By January they were 10 point behind Chelsea. Finished second. 05/06 - Never really in the title race - three wins in a row to end the season saw them pip Spurs to fourth place on the final day. 06/07 - Never in the title race - by the time they went on a seven-game unbeaten run to end the season, they were already 22 points off the pace - it did ensure them Champions League place though. 07/08 - A win over Birmingham would have kept Arsenal top of the league in January, but Eduardo's leg-break, William Gallas' temper, and the late penalty are all the stuff of legend. By the time they lost to Chelsea two months later they wre six points off the pace, while defeat at Old Trafford in April made it nine. Finishing with four wins in a row meant the final gap was only four points, but the title was well out of reach. 08/09 - In January Arsenal were within touching distance of the leaders but three consecutive draws against Everton, West Ham and Tottenham saw them fall too far off the pace, and they were never in the race again that season. 09/10 - Top of the league on March 20, Arsenal drew with Birmingham and Man city and lost to Spurs, Wigan and Blackburn in their next six fixtures. By May they were 11 points off the pace. 10/11 - Before their Carling Cup final defeat to Birmingham, Arsenal were a point off the top. They won just two of thier last 11 League games, and eventually finished fourth. 11/12 - Out of the title race before they'd ever really been in it, and were 10 points behind Tottenham in February before a startling run saw them overtake their rivals and hold on until the final day, denying them Champions League football. 12/13 - Already 15 points off the pace by the start of December, Arsenal were seven poitns behind Tottenham, and in fifth, when they lost the north London derby in early March. But eight wins and two draws in their last 10 games saw them get Champions League football, yet again, by a point over their rivals. 13/14 - Arsenal topped the league almost constantly throughout the first half of the season, by as many as seven points at the end of November. Even after conceding six goals at Manchester City in December they ended the year on top. They were top of the league going into the game at Anfield that saw them destroyed 5-1, but by the time Chelsea hammered them 6-0 a month later they were seven points off the pace. They finished the season with five straight wins, but by then the title was a three-way fight between Chelsea, Liverpool and Man City. 14/15 - Chelsea had run away from Arsenal by Christmas, and while the Gunners had an excellent second half of the season - winning 13 of their 19 games to finish third, it was never going to be even nearly enough. Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sport/fo...-days-determine-title-race.html#ixzz3z6hnZMRm Follow us: @MailOnline on Twitter | DailyMail on Facebook So will Arsenal bottle it this year? I, for one, think they may surprise us this season. Please vote in my poll
I don't think they will surprise anyone, CFC, tbh. There's not only Leicester and £ity, but they have Poch's brave and noble warriors to contend with. As always, Wenger's battle with his nearest rivals - us - will distract him from winning the league, as it always has done. He instinctively knows that if Arsenal finish below Spurs, in any season, his feet won't touch the mat on the way out of The Library. The Gooners have forgiven many of his incompetencies over the years, but that is one that they could never forgive. So finishing above Spurs is the thing that most consumes him.
Do Arsenal really ever truly get into a title winning position? Being top for a few weeks doesn't make you contenders..
