Why Are Pundits And Experts Against The Arsenal?

15 games in and Arsenal are leading the English Premier League by 5 points from their closest rivals. Arsenal fans could not have asked for more especially considering Arsenal's disastrous start last season.

Arsenal have stood firm this campaign when teams around them are leaking points here and there. Much of the good performance can be credited to their efficient use of the ball as well as their collective play when they lose the ball.

Pundits On a Mission....to Write Off Arsenal

This has meant we have had a lot lesser possession than we are used to in recent years but we have been far more efficient in front of goal while also being solid at the back.

This brings me to the point I want to make. The so-called "Pundits" and "Experts" just cannot let go of their habit of taking Arsenal seriously. Why?

A lot of that I believe, is down to the fact that Arsenal have not won anything since 2005(Yes that is a long time ago!). Also, it is a fact that we have been guilty of completely losing our way (2006/2007 season comes to mind) when we were sitting at the top. It is also true that we are relatively inexperienced at winning trophies(Ok make that "very" inexperienced).

To be honest, I don't have a problem with pundits writing us off regarding our title challenge. It is not that I don't believe Arsenal will not win a trophy but because I think it is still too early. Premier League fans will testify to the fact that the league winner was decided on the last minute of the last day of football a couple of seasons ago!

That was after 38 games and we are not even half-way through! So, I don't think you can say team A will win or team B will not.But I do think Arsenal have a very good chance.

The thing that has bugged me the most about the pundits comes mainly from some of their comments following our 1-1 draw with Everton in the weekend.

These were the pundits who have been shouting at the top their voices, year-in year-out that pretty football alone will not get Arsenal anywhere. They have said on numerous occasions that Arsenal need to learn to grind out results and win by playing "dirty" if need be so that they can win games even when they are not playing well.

When suddenly, they saw Everton playing a better passing game than Arsenal in the weekend, they stick with the "pretty football" and disregard "dirty football" again! If that is not farcical, I don't know what is.

My intentions are not to take away the gloss from Everton's performance. They were excellent and they have been excellent throughout this season so far. Yes, they out-passed Arsenal and enjoyed better possession. But out-passing the opponent or having more of the possession will not win you matches.

Wait a second.Isn't this the same thing Arsenal have been criticized for by the pundits for all these seasons? I am forced to use the "F" word once again.

FARCICAL.

ARSENAL FC : WHERE NOW?

I GIVE UP: THOMAS VEMAELEN AND JOHAN DJOUROU

I don't think one needs to be a rocket scientist to understand that Arsenal FC are in deep trouble right now. Arsenal are currently sitting 8th in the BPL 10 points adrift of the leaders Man Utd and their qualification to the knockout stage of the UCL still hanging in the balance.It is fair to say that at least the premier league is out of our reach now.I don't think anyone expects us to genuinely challenge for the UCL.FA cup and Capital One Cup?Arsene has made it more than clear that they are not among his priorities.

There are rumors that Arsene is going to splash 30mil+ on Cavani and he is also looking to spend on Taarabt,Zaha,etc.These are very unlikely to come to Arsenal.Why?Too expensive in Wenger's eyes.Le prof will not spend more than 16mil on a player(he never has). I won't criticize him for that. That is his way of dealing with player transfers and I respect that.Even if we wore to bring these players, they are not be our long-term solution.The real problem at Arsenal is defensive solidity(how many times have I mentioned that in my previous posts!). Right now,you will not find anyone who will say Arsenal will keep a clean sheet;against any team.They will give opportunities to the opponent to score;that is almost a certainty nowadays. This is what gives any team playing against Arsenal confidence that they can get a result.

The solution; we must develop the ability to keep clean sheets.You just cannot expect to outscore every opponent which we are doing at the moment.Honestly, I do not think we will sign any of the aforementioned and I will not be unhappy with that. I would be more happy if we keep clean sheets.Let the other teams feel that they have no chance of scoring against us.That will instill at least some fear in them.We have lost our fear-factor  and it is time we get it back-through defensive solidity.

GIVE ME A BREAK

So it is here again!It is that time when we go into a break in club football to be "Entertained" with some international football matches.The good thing for football lovers like me, is that we get to watch some good football.The hunger for watching football is constantly replenished for us,either through club football or through international football matches.But, you do have to take a moment and wonder how the players would cope with such continuous football week in week out.

From an Arsenal perspective, we have seldom done well in a match immediately following an international break(as if Arsenal fans needed to be reminded of that!). Either we have lost some important players to injuries or our players would not recover fully for the following match.And this "curse" seems to be upon  us again as new has surfaced regarding an injury to Koscielny.(God,no more injuries please...fingers crossed!)

Looking at the bigger picture, England national team seems to be suffering the most with so many football matches for club and country. Talks of a winter break like in other European countries has picked up fuel quite a lot recently. If you look at the performances of the English national team, they have been average,let alone being genuine contenders for any title.There is no proof that a winter break will help any team to perform well but other leagues who go into breaks seem to do better internationally (Germany,Spain,Italy,Netherlands,France).So, perhaps the call for a break is not a bad idea after all. (Although that would deprive us of some football matches!).

For the time being though, let us support all the teams that have players from Arsenal FC(which most of us will do) and enjoy some International action.