[Football] Did Arsenal bottle the league?

[pb21]

Why were they good enough for 28 games to be 8 points clear, but at crunch time when it mattered they weren’t?

Because they over extended themselves in the first 28 games, also they were 8 points clear after they had played 28 games, one more than City. The season is 38 games. I was occasionally looking at odds, and even then the odds were ~50/50, and that wasn't the market pricing in Arsenal bottling it IMO.

 

[Audax]

Arsenal do not have the squad depth that City do

Why were they good enough for 28 games to be 8 points clear, but at crunch time when it mattered they weren’t?

The top quote partially answers the second quote. The rest of the answer to the second quote is that Arsenal's season went from "absolutely amazing", to just plain "good" once their squad was hit by some key injuries. Lack of depth + injuries = tailing off.

 

[Badger Boy]

"Bottled it" is a child's phrase. City have stepped it up beyond belief, they're conceding consolation goals sometimes but they're putting games away with 10/15/20 minute spells where they just run away with it. They did almost nothing at Everton but turned it on for 10 minutes and killed the game. Arsenal started amazingly well at Liverpool and West Ham but didn't take the game away and couldn't control the game the way that City can and do. City retain the ball and squash the game in a way that nobody else can do, so they don't even finish games tired. Arsenal always look dead on their feet toward the end of matches because it costs them so much playing how they do.

Also, bottom line - Ramsdale is rubbish and a liability (with the occasional "good" performance), Holding is a clown and Zinchenko is a show pony. There are too many players there who aren't very good and throwing on Reiss Nelson isn't something a top team should be doing. Their squad isn't quite right at the moment, but they've had a remarkable run and they show what can happen when you go on a good run from the start of a season. It carries you through and they'll take 2nd as a massive improvement from the disaster they experienced at the end of last season. They timed their consistency very well this season but I don't back them for top 4 next season.

 

[Arthur]

Not at all. Their year on year improvement has been astonishingly good and they were comfortably the best team to come to the Amex (so far) this season IMO.

If anyone "bottled it" so to speak it was Liverpool. They were never in the picture. Think that may be different next season. You could also make an argument for United.

 

[Berty23]

I strongly disagree about the choke. I think what we are seeing is more a regression to the mean. They got on a really hot streak that lasted for longer than we thought. Their starting line up is okay but the squad is weak compared to city. The biggest weakness is centre mid. Yes, Xhaka and Partey have been good at times but in no way are they a league winning partnership.

What we are seeing is arsenal being more the level they are and the first two thirds of a season were something of a fluke. A bit like that run villa went on when essentially everything went their way.

 

[jamie-oh]

Of course they bottled it. Eight points clear a month and a bit ago, top since august basically, then it gets to the pointy bit of the season with some actual pressure and they comprehensively shat the bed.
Again.
Like they did last season. Then it was only a four point lead with three games to go, and this time it was eight points with nine games to go. Despicable club who should be stricken from the annals of history.

 

[Pevenseagull]

No. A few things.

Look at Man City's subs bench for a given game, look at Arsenal's bench for a given game. Would any of Arsenal's bench improve our best starting XI? Would any of Man City's? It's a long season.

Two of Arsenal's best players this season were picked up as surplus to requirements from Man City. I know Jesus was injured for a bit but they got a bit lucky with Nketiah having a brief purple patch.

When Trossard became available did Man City think he could have any impact whatsoever on their season? Arsenal fans I know were absolutely delighted that they signed him (still are).

Haaland.

If Arsenal finish within 10 points of Man City they've had a brilliant season.

 

[zeemeeuw]

They needed more balls, no?

 

[Doingitforthekids]

A technical no.

I thought Gary Neville's comments were insightful about the pressures that teams are under, and until you have been through it then it cannot be imagined. Arsenal do not have a team full of champions of other leagues and it will be new to the vast majority of them.

Other comments about regression to the mean, different fixtures and City stepping up are also valid.

As a different example, if Brighton finished 8th would the OP say they bottled it? I'd hope not and would be conscious of the numerous other factors such as injury, squad depth etc.

If City had blown an 8 point lead then there may be more of an argument due tomorrow their history of triumphs. However, this would still undermine the pressures involved and in a time when mental health is not given the importance it deserves, would still be a crude simplification.

 

[portlock seagull]

No they didn’t. FFS, I hate all this “bottled” and “blown” malarkey. Finishing with a silver or bronze is a splendid achievement, especially against Citeh and Newcastles never mind the other Big 6’s. And then of course there’s us. Getting 3 pts off is this season was no mean feat either.

Congrats to Arsenal on a very fine season I say.

 

[The Fits]

You don't bottle the league when you're competing against City. You make sure you're on the top of your game for at least 95% of the season, you need luck, few injuries and a deep squad or you ultimately have no chance against that machine.

 

[Mackenzie]

Not really, they just aren’t good enough.

 

[Lenny Rider]

No their squad wasn't big or experienced enough.

Two or three big signings in the summer might see a sucessful challenge for the title in 12 months time.

But ask any Arsenal fan back in August, would you settle for Runners Up and Spurs and Chelsea both failing to qualify for Europe?, and they'd have snapped your hand off

 

[Ⓩ-Ⓐ-Ⓜ-Ⓞ-Ⓡ-Ⓐ]

They definitely bottled it in key run of games in April:

2-0 against Liverpool, ended up drawing 2-2 including an 87th minute equaliser
Next game, 2-0 up against West Ham after 10 minutes, ended up drawing 2-2
Next game, 2-0 down against Southampton after 10 minutes (sh!sitting themselves), managed to rescue a 3-3 draw

 

[Neville's Breakfast]

Voted no, but because I don’t really know what it means in this context. They weren’t scared of winning the league, they just weren’t good enough,

 

[pure_white]

Absolutely NO as its over the full course of the season and they had games like playing Brighton they had no chance of winning!

 

[SAC]

If I have the misfortune to discuss it with Arse fans then certainly yes, and it's very funny.

In reality, they did very well to give City a run for their (vast amounts of) money.

 

[Wozza]

It depends on the context.

If you are asking if they bottled it with 10 games left, then absolutely they did. Arsenal were 5 points clear (on the premise of City winning their game in hand) with 10 games to go and they're now likely to finish second by at least 6 points.

If you are asking if their finishing second is a failure, in the context of the whole season it absolutely isn't. Incredible achievement to take a side from 5th to 2nd in the context of the modern Premier League.

That's not "context" - that's two different questions. And the poll is about the first.

Anyway... yes, they 100% bottled it, given their clear lead.

Arsenal didn't need to be perfect to close out the season. They just needed to be very good - which you'd expect at the top of the table.

But they're SIXTH in the form table (behind Albion) over the past 10 games.

 

[Weststander]

They were in the driving seat and had the luxury of no cup games, giving a week's prep for some PL games.

Failing to beat Stains, Brentford, West Ham and a little club from Sussex were the killer blows. The Anfield draw wasn't a disaster, Ramsdale prevented a cricket score loss in the second half.

They blew it.

 

[warmleyseagull]

Insufficient strength in depth and lacking leader for when things aint going right. So they bottled it because not quite good enough.