da brdice： What can you say about Arsenal’s season? Unlucky or just plain predictable?
da mrbet： We are approaching the last weeks of the season and Arsenal are in the battle for top four rather than the title… as it’s usually been in the second half of Arsene Wenger’s reign. Three Premier League titles, six FA Cups paints a picture of success, but the latter competition has lost the importance of yesteryear, while the last success in the former was over a decade ago.
The league and Champions League are where elite clubs are measured, and the last time Arsenal approached April and May as serious contenders was in 2004, when they went unbeaten. Since 2006, there has been a move towards a less physical, more technical style of play in hope that the rest of the league would follow suit.
However, this season has shown physicality is needed more than ever, with Arsenal’s north London rivals displaying a more aggressive, pressing style which is attracting admirers. 4-2-3-1 is slowly being phased out with a more progressive 2-3-5 system slowly coming into the Premier League with Guardiola being a fan of this system at Bayern.
So where does this leave Wenger? Does he adapt with the times or hope that his system bears fruit come next season? This should worry Arsenal fans:
“The physical levels of teams has gone up and tactical knowledge of defending has gone up. Players who do not contribute to team work are kicked out everywhere.
“Then you go two ways: you say look that doesn’t work any more so we have to change our style, and I wish you good luck when you kick the ball anywhere after people have seen good football for 10-15 years, or you say we have analysed well where we are not efficient enough and we do better with the style we play”.
Next year will be so competitive, with top managers such as Guardiola, Antonio Conte and possibly even Jose Mourinho coming into the league, while the new TV money will give clubs like Leicester, West Ham and Tottenham a fighting chance to progress, so top four will not be a given next year for the Gunners, let alone the title.
Mark my words, this is a turning point for Wenger. Will he let perhaps his final year as Arsenal boss be remembered for the first half of his reign or second? Unless he adapts to the new surroundings it seems unlikely to change.
This article was submitted via our new Write For Us feature. Think you can do better? Submit your own article via the link below, and make sure you follow @FFC_WFU on Twitter for #RealOpinions…
[ad_pod id=’writeforus’ align=’center’]