Monday 29 February 2016

Arsenal's unrealistic expectations

Arsenal fans may have lost belief in the team's ability to win the title after this latest setback against Man Utd.

Putting the 3-2 defeat in perspective, Old Trafford has not been a happy hunting ground for many a year, so it was unrealistic to expect to gain three points there.

It is also unrealistic to expect Theo Walcott to perform as a striker now and again, if he is mostly employed as a winger. To be an effective striker, you need a decent run in the team to establish yourself playing in that position. That's not happened in Theo's case, despite all the talk about switching him to that position.

Therefore, Theo should only be used as a winger unless Olivier Giroud, Danny Welbeck and Alexis Sanchez are unfit, as all of the above are more natural strikers, at the moment.

Indeed, this does not appear to be a time to experiment. However, at Old Trafford, Arsene Wenger threw on Alex Iwobi and Mohamed Elneny for the experience, presumably, as they didn't appear to be substitutions designed to win the game. Surely unused substitute Joel Campbell would have been more likely to score than the two aforementioned players.

Nevertheless, Arsenal fans should not give up on this team. It is stronger than it was last year and the title is still possible. Much depends on how the game at White Hart Lane goes, as the game against Spurs is now a traditional 'six-pointer'.

Leicester, meanwhile, may have finally become the 'real' favourites to win the league, as they show no signs of slipping up. I still think they may have a bad run of form before the end of the campaign, so it wouldn't surprise me if Capital One Cup winners Man City put a run together to be Arsenal's main rivals in the run-in. There's still a long way to go.

Sent from my iPhone

3 comments:

  1. Are you real...lost to Man Utd kids team apart from Ozil no one showed any sign after extra 2 days of rest. Leicester has to play once a week. Spurs are scoring at free will and you say city is the only competition.Even Wenger is not sure what to do!!

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  3. I don't say that Spurs and Leicester are not in it, as clearly they are! I'm just saying, don't be surprised if Man City put a run together and end up winning it. Arsenal have more experience of title run-ins than Spurs & Leicester so should still have a good chance too.

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