I am genuinely worried about our chances of finishing in the top places this season. This is where we stood at the same stage last season. http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/0/football/16015017 Last season we were able to claw our way into the top places by stringing long unbeaten runs together, one in the first half of the season and one in the second. We have simply not been able to win enough games this season so far (since the international break destroyed our rhythm after the win at West Ham). I can't see where our next winning run will come from, but this is what we need if we are going to start getting up into the CL places again, but I don't know if that will be enough after seeing another summer pass without key places being filled, and the same defensive errors occurring again and again, now combined with our inability to score goals (something we never struggled with in the past). We are in trouble. Sincerely, A concerned fan.
We have not won back to back games in the league since September. The inability to build any sort of form is shocking. If we continue like this for the rest of the month, then even top four might be out of reach, because in January we have some seriously tough games, and we will be playing twice a week.
If we do get new signings, we had better hope that they bed in straight away because we might be totally out of the race for the CL places by February and out of the CL as well depending on who we face in the next round... Coc looks like our best bet of getting into Europe! It really is that bad....
Norwich won today, they are 2 points behind us. We're closer to the relegation teams than we are the Manchester clubs. I posted a breakdown of the results last season and this season if anyone's interested: http://www.not606.com/showthread.php/182310-2011-12-season-vs-this-season
We can soon find ourselves in a similar situation to Liverpool a few seasons ago when they just dropped out of the top 4, they were getting very bad results, Rafa promised to get them top 4, but it just never materialised because the bad form continued. All indications are that this is far more likely to happen than a sudden turn around in form, it's already December, and we have shown no form, with our last back 2 back wins coming in September. More worrisome is that our performances are also beyond bad, at least if our performances were good, one could say there are signs that things can get better and things aren't working out atm, but that isn't even the case. Our next 5 games are against West Brom, Reading, Wigan, Newcastle, and West Ham. If we can't come out of those 5 games with at least 3-4 wins, then I think we can start kissing our top 4 spot goodbye. No matter what happens though, I think Wenger also needs to go, the fact that we're scrapping for a top 4 spot AGAIN, shows we have made no progress, but seem to be regressing, it's time for him to move on, I'm glad he said he will reassess his future at the end of the season, hopefully he comes to the conclusion that he's no longer good enough to take us to the top, and that many people at Arsenal are questioning him.
Falling out of the top places may be the best thing that happens to this club. Something drastic is needed to make the owners wake up from their lethargy.
zaGooner - as far as i can tell what your saying is the furthest possible thing from the truth. Our financial model is based on achieving CL football - any year outside the top 4 eats into our cash reserves and puts us further away from being able to spend the money needed to compete at the top. We may initialy spend to try and jump back into the top 4 but, if that lasted 2 seasons we are heading the way of Liverpool. It would be really bad for the club not to finish in the top 4 - it would definately not be the best thing to happen...
I think this post is a bit too early as well - wait until the start of January and see where we are at and what sort of signings we make. For now we are in a poor position but the teams above us in 9th-3rd, several of them play each other over the next few fixtures so lots of points will be dropped in the group above us - and it's only a 5 point gap between 10th and 3rd. We also have a perfect run of fixtures to try and build some form with 5 winnable games in a row. The noise from the club would suggest we will strengthen in January so provided we can keep ourselves in contention by then i can see us having a better second half to the season.
Dear A concerned fan, Thank you for your letter. We understand that results have not gone as planned recently; however, we are doing everything in our power to rectify this and we believe our current business model is the best way forward. Please accept this signed photo of Ivan Gazidis sucking off Stan Kroenke with our best regards. Yours sincerely, Arsenal Holdings PLC
Very true. It's also worth pointing out that Spurs had 8 points more after 15 games last season, while Chelsea had 5 points more and Liverpool had 7 points more. Everything below the top two seems quite even these days.
tbh spurs are worst too.. can Everton catch you? i highly doubt it .. both club's squad is too thin to finish 4th so it is most likely yours .. but is not in your pocket yet .. you still need to work hard for it though
Spuds have just thrashed a good fulham team away and have won 3 in a row, i don't see how they're worse
I still don't see Everton as the main threat, they just don't have the squad. The same with Liverpool, if they can get a couple more players in Jan then they may be dangerous. The main threat will be spurs. They clearly have the best squad outside the top 4 and it depends if their new manager can make them consistent. Arsenal are still favourites but they have to go on a run. They lost the first game of their easiest run of the season and they need to win asap. If they fail to get at least 3 wins, top 4 will be extremely difficult.
We're 5pts off of fourth and it's only the beginning of December. I know we need to improve - and quickly, but if anything - last season was a lesson in not hitting the panic button too early
I'm not expecting any big signings in January, but am willing to wait until Summer to see what happens then before I join the 'Wenger out' group. At this point in time, I lay the blame at the feet of the players. Apart from Cazorla, the effort levels with regards tracking back, positioning to receive passes etc is shocking. It could be that our training methods does mean they can't cope with a glut of games, but I doubt it.
May I remind you that Spurs finished inside the top 4 last season and are inside it now. So it is probably Chelsea who have the best squad outside the top four from last year. Of course if you are referring to the table as it stands then perhaps Swansea, West Ham or Arsenal have the best squad outside the top four.
January is a notoriously difficult time to sign top players, so I think you're right, we'll have to wait until the summer. But, the players we do have need to be playing with a lot more commitment and urgency, because if they don't then we're not going to finish in the top four.
