Can Arsenal get back into the top four? Must win
Fortress rebuilt?
By Boris Mellor
December 20 2008
Aston Villa are now four points ahead of fifth placed Arsenal and in third place. They are ahead of Manchester United by two points. They had a large dollop of luck in beating West Ham, but they took their chance, and Brad Friedel was immense between the sticks (forgive the pun). He was man of the match.
Meanwhile eighth placed Fulham are only six points behind Arsenal, beating Boro 3-0, a team according to Wenger who can beat anyone on their day. Well not their day to day was it?
You can see where I am going with this can't you? It is simple Wenger needs to give talk about how he is still in the title race a rest. It would be better if he concentrated on how Arsenal are going to stay in the top four.
Arsene likes to boast that Arsenal are brilliant against the top four, but which top four? If it is the top four that includes Villa then he is wrong. O'Neil is cautious, he refuses to say he can stay in top four, let alone win the league, even though only four points off the top.
So the Liverpool game is not really about two title contenders who must win to gain the crown. Rather it is one contender, who could even afford to lose points and still win the league. However Arsenal must win or lose even more ground against Villa.
So it could be said that Arsenal have played 3 top four clubs, two wins and a defeat. But if we exclude Villa as real top four then its two wins out of two. It could almost be interpreted that Wenger is saying the Gunners can win the league by beating top four clubs only. Now that would be foolish.
Whatever he is saying Liverpool is clearly a must win game. Thankfully Nasri is fit so hopefully Cesc will not be the only creative player on the field. Yes I know that Denilson makes the occasional assist, but he hardly makes a habit of it.
Now Arsenal played well against Man U and Chelsea, but Liverpool will be harder. Not because they are better than those two teams, but because Chelsea and Man U went all out to win. That is not Benitez's style, they will be far more cautious. If they attack they may well come unstuck. If Benitez sticks to his usual away game plan against teams of substance defence will the priority.
I watched them play Tottenham, true they were the better team, but at 1 - nil up it was still safety first before going for the killer second. It cost them the game on that occasion, but with their poor home form nicking away wins are an important reason why they are riding high.
Their first priority will be to frustrate Arsenal, so I don't expect the classic encounter like the Man U and Chelsea games, but I will be very happy to be proved wrong.
Probable Squad: Almunia, Sagna, Nasri, Gallas, Djourou, Clichy, Denilson, Fabregas, Song, Diaby, Wilshere, Eboue, Fabianski, Vela, Ramsey, Van Persie, Adebayor, Bendtner.
Here is one I did earlier for Liverpool FC
Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 2008:12:22:09:12:59 by Padre Pio.
I know one thing for certain, the players are definitely not thinking about 4th, they're aiming for the title. So for Arsene to come out and say we need to concentrate on 4th would be plain daft.
Not that I believe that this squad can win the league, I am worried they cant finish in top 4
But I still think our destiny is in our own hands now. Wenger has some serious decisions to make in January, make the right ones, and we can still be in the mix come may, stay as we are and Villa may well take 4th.
Quote:Padre Pio
I get your point, but i would prefer a more focussed approach. Lets win one game at a time, when we have won three in a row then maybe we can talk about winning the league.
But Wenger talking about 4th isn't gonna help the team win, talking them up and trying to build their confidence is. Thats what these players respond to.
I believe we can beat Liverpool and then Villa, and if we do then theres still a chance for the title imo
If he cannot sustain a top four position he will be in no place to make an assault on the league.
In his early years at Arsenal he often denied we were in a position to win the league and ended up winning it.
Now he says he can win the league and he doesnt, and I dont beleive he can.
So Arsene get a run together, when did this team win four games in a row this season?
Chelski - win
Boros - draw
Liverpool ???
Aston Villa ???
Pompey ????
Quote:80'sGoona
...So for Arsene to come out and say we need to concentrate on 4th would be plain daft.
Realistically, this team is simply too inconsistent to be vying for the EPL title. We should focus on getting 4th place. It is one thing being optimistic and another being unrealistic that this team has the resources to mount a EPL title challenge. The fixture are mounting now and I bet we will get a few more injuries before the next peak in Feb when the CL and FA cup games add to the toll. Getting 4th this year will be an achievement for this team - much as I hate to say that having seen how close we came last year.
Who are remembered most? Hungary, Holland or West Germany?
Everyone talks of Puskas and the magical magyars, of Cryuff and total football, yet west Germany beat them both in World Cup Finals, but nobody remembers the German team.
Quote:Padre Pio
I dont actually say that Wenger should talk about being fourth. I actually siad Wenger needs to concentrate on how he will stay in top four, which is different.
If he cannot sustain a top four position he will be in no place to make an assault on the league.
Yeah, either way though, concentrating on staying in the top 4 wont motivate this team to go out and win games. Concentrating on the title will, until its clear thats its absolutely not gonna happen. Its good that Wenger talks them up, he just need to get them to focus against the "smaller" teams. Wenger and the players will concentrate on the title over the next two games and if we do beat Liverpool and Villa then who knows..
Theres talk now of how Villa and Martin O Neill should be concentrating on the title, but he wont he'll concentrate on 4th so that his team are not under pressure. But Wenger and our players like and respond to that pressure (chelsea & man utd games), and if their manager is focusing on the top 4 and not the title, whats that gonna do for the player's motivation?
People still talk about Arsenal's wonderful football, only problem is they havent played much of it this year.
We used to have that, now weve lost the trophies, but more worryingly the beatiful football isnt there anymore.
be talking about our beautiful football many years from
now but how many times do we play that well?
Not very often this year and only sporadically last
year.
Ferguson's United will be remembered because they
played exciting football and won the CL twice. And the
EPL far more times than we have.
They also bought the best players. We had some of
the best players but we seem to settle for average
players these days hence the mess we're in now.