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Monday 17 November 2008

Opinion on Arsenal performance in the BPL in the 08/09 season

This year is one of the most competitive season in the BPL. So far what has happen is Chelsea unbeatable home record of unbeaten run has been put to an end by Liverpool. Manchester United is shaky but still on the tailcoat of Chelsea and Liverpool. ( Liverpool is doing very having beaten both Manchester United and Chelsea)

Not only at the top, the gap between the bottom club and the middle table team, is a gap of only 8 points. Therefore if any of the bottom team is able to string a few good results, they will immediately be out of the relegation zone.

However there is one team from the big 4 which has been the most inconsistent is Arsenal.


The below is a screenshot of the league as of the 18th of November.





Arsenal this season has been blowing hot and cold. They are able to beat Manchester United but are losing to teams like Stoke and Hull city. Stoke and Hull City are teams which in previous seasons, Arsenal will outplayed these teams and beat them convincingly. In this season, the Arsenal team seems to be lacking a cutting edge in the final third. They are still maintaining their high standard of intrigue passing and fast movement in the midfield and defence but once it goes to the opposition half, there seem to be something lacking.

In my opinion, Arsenal is crossing more often in the box especially if Walcott is in the team which is something some commentator has criticized them previouslyas lacking width. However, there is usually one player in the box when the cross come in. As a result, the cross is wasted. Their main striker Adebayor is usually not in the penalty box. It can get frustrating at times when you see the sole target man is not in the box but is on the flank. Whether this is intentionally setup in this way so that like Henry previously the main striker will cut from the flank and cause problem for the opposition, however in my opinion Adebayor is not the same type of player.

Therefore in recent matches his effectiveness is less apparent. In addition, the defense of Arsenal seems to be shaky in the last few games. They have been conceding quite a lot of goals. It seem strange that now Toure is on the bench when he was outstanding in center defence in the last few seasons. Gallas has been caught out for a few of the goals.

Arsenal really have a great youth system and there is talent abundance. However in the current condition, they are too inconsistent to last a title race and they do not have a plan B once their silky football is unable to make a breakthrough unlike Chelsea, Liverpool and Manchester United.

Arsenal will always entertain the fans with their play but are unlikely to win a leagu title unless they add some steel into their team to lead the team when the going gets tough. All the other teams have such a player, example Chelsea has Terry and Lampard, Liverpool has Gerrard and Manchester United has Gary Neville, Giggs, Rooney.

Taking everything into consideration, Arsenal is only a bit behind Manchester United so it is not all gloom.

The future is bright for Arsenal but whether the fans can tolerate a fourth season without any silverware remains to be seen.

This should be a very exciting race for the title.

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