Arsenal 2025-26 - Will they bottle it?

I am surprised that so many of the more prominent Arsenal supporters are saying a draw would have been a correct and fair result.
City scored two goals without any bloopers, and Arsenal got their only goal because of this round's biggest blooper.
 
Glorio said:
Worst fan base in the EPL. They consistently put their team under so much pressure because of how over the top they are. Never balanced with them - they're either the best team to have ever graced world football with their existence or they are all useless idiots, not fit to lace the boots of a pub team.

Imagine booing your team for a loss when they're still top of the league. Entitled bunch based on nothing at all and if they bottle it, they deserve all the banter they get.
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I think paying for the most expensive tickets in the league allows you to show some entitlement
 
Sarni said:
Do they really have a much easier run-in than City like everyone is saying?

City are playing Burnley A, Everton A, Brentford H, Palace H, Bournemouth A.
Arsenal are playing Newcastle H, Fulham H, West Ham A, Burnley H, Palace A.

I'd say these are very comparable. City's might be slightly tougher but not by much and of course you'd feel more confident backing them when the going gets tough.
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You're missing Villa from City's list though. However, at that time they might have already secured Champions League and be preparing for an EL final.
 
Bournemouth away will be tough for city. Can’t see Arsenal beating a West Ham team trying to stay up
 
Mike Smalling said:
You're missing Villa from City's list though. However, at that time they might have already secured Champions League and be preparing for an EL final.
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Indeed. That's the final game of the season though so like you say, they may have not much at stake here.
 
Assuming they don't win the champions league, I think Arteta will go on for another season and then leave by mutual consent.
 
They are on the ropes right now but piranhas everywhere just need to be gracious until the CL and the PL end, otherwise...
 
Sarni said:
Do they really have a much easier run-in than City like everyone is saying?

City are playing Burnley A, Everton A, Brentford H, Palace H, Bournemouth A.
Arsenal are playing Newcastle H, Fulham H, West Ham A, Burnley H, Palace A.

I'd say these are very comparable. City's might be slightly tougher but not by much and of course you'd feel more confident backing them when the going gets tough.
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It’s teams like Fulham and West Ham that you’d be worried about if you were an Arsenal fan. Newcastle are also unpredictable at times. Palace away could be negated by their conference league final if they make it.
 
Sarni said:
Do they really have a much easier run-in than City like everyone is saying?

City are playing Burnley A, Everton A, Brentford H, Palace H, Bournemouth A.
Arsenal are playing Newcastle H, Fulham H, West Ham A, Burnley H, Palace A.

I'd say these are very comparable. City's might be slightly tougher but not by much and of course you'd feel more confident backing them when the going gets tough.
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City also have Villa at home (last game of season).
 
I wonder if it is worth trying to Macheda the league at this point. Stick Dowman in for Madueke.
 
The juxtaposition of Gabriel escaping a red card for 'violent conduct' while we have Martinez sent off for a hair pull is one of the big reasons they have been flying high this season.
How many offenses have they gotten away with on set plays and when defending their own box.
They are undoubtedly being refereed to a different standard than the rest of the league.
 
Lemon Custard said:
City's fixtures are objectively harder. Everton, Bournemouth, Villa and Brentford are stronger than any team Arsenal has to play.
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Don't think there's much between Everton, Bournemouth, Fulham and Newcastle. Newcastle are where they are because of Bruno injury, he's their talisman and he will be back next week with some match practice last weekend.

If I'm City I'd prefer to play Villa at home than WHU away due to the latter fighting for their life and generally them losing points to Wolves and Forest in similar occasions.
 
Mike Smalling said:
Why did they even buy Madueke in the first place? He's outrageously average.
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I assume he was bought in mind to be a Saka backup in respect of coming on near the end of the game to play against a tired defence, not to start as much as he has been because he offers little to nothing defensively.
 
As Wenger pointed out, it's harder for a London club to win the league than a club from outside the capital due to the number of derby fixtures. Smaller clubs raise their game against their bigger local rivals.
I addition, Champions League contenders tend to drop league points after a difficult away game in Europe.

Arsenal have three derbies in their run-in, they won't win them all while facing Fulham three days after their away game at Atletico is an accident waiting to happen.
 
Bartondale said:
As Wenger pointed out, it's harder for a London club to win the league than a club from outside the capital due to the number of derby fixtures. Smaller clubs raise their game against their bigger local rivals.
I addition, Champions League contenders tend to drop league points after a difficult away game in Europe.

Arsenal have three derbies in their run-in, they won't win them all while facing Fulham three days after their away game at Atletico is an accident waiting to happen.
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This sounds like nonsense tbh. Of course it comes from Arsene Wenger, no stranger to making excuses. London "derbies" are pretty tame. You can't tell me Brentford or West Ham get more up for a game against Arsenal than they do against United, for example.
 
Gazza said:
This sounds like nonsense tbh. Of course it comes from Arsene Wenger, no stranger to making excuses. London "derbies" are pretty tame. You can't tell me Brentford or West Ham get more up for a game against Arsenal than they do against United, for example.
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This :lol: fecking hell
 
Gazza said:
This sounds like nonsense tbh. Of course it comes from Arsene Wenger, no stranger to making excuses. London "derbies" are pretty tame. You can't tell me Brentford or West Ham get more up for a game against Arsenal than they do against United, for example.
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Yeah as with most things coming out of Wenger's mouth, c'est de la merde.
 
Not sure how to find the messages from way back in this thread when I said the way they play and win games is not sustainable over the course of a season and was told I was wrong, but I would like to take a victory lap.

You can’t keep relying on corners and own goals to win you games, it 100% always catches up to you over the course of a long season. In cup comps? Sure. Never in the league.

Mind you, they may still win it but it would be more a case of City losing it than them winning it from here.
 
Mogget said:
I think paying for the most expensive tickets in the league allows you to show some entitlement
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Fair bit of good that's done you folks. If you can't get behind the your team and spur them on once things get difficult, you're doing more harm than good and still paying exorbitant prices as the pressure-laden team buckles time and time again.
 
Have City faltered and actually lost a title race they were well in before? Always seems like they're able to push through the finishing line.
 
I wonder how this will affect Arteta.

Either Arteta will think that the aggressive way they played was good and could lead to big wins against teams not named Manchester City and throw caution to the wind and attempt to beat City on goal difference. It allows them to control their fate but there's risk of getting hit on the counter. Will also need his team to do the opposite of what he worked for the majority of the season

Or does he think the reason they lost to City was because of this and reverts back to playing for 1-0 wins and hope City drop points. This City team have dropped loads of silly points but they are managed by Pep and he knows how to handle a title push.

The Newcastle game is a really interesting one to look forward to.
 
Dirty Schwein said:
I wonder how this will affect Arteta.

Either Arteta will think that the aggressive way they played was good and could lead to big wins against teams not named Manchester City and throw caution to the wind and attempt to beat City on goal difference. It allows them to control their fate but there's risk of getting hit on the counter. Will also need his team to do the opposite of what he worked for the majority of the season

Or does he think the reason they lost to City was because of this and reverts back to playing for 1-0 wins and hope City drop points. This City team have dropped loads of silly points but they are managed by Pep and he knows how to handle a title push.

The Newcastle game is a really interesting one to look forward to.
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If anything, we've seen Arteta is risk averse. If playing football will let them score goals while also increasing the chances that they concede, then he's probably not going to take that option. I have a feeling he will rely on City dropping points.

He's not getting fired by Arsenal if he loses the league. If by some chance they end up on same points as City with a worse goal difference, he will use that to get more transfers his way. We've seen he slowly has gotten more power within the club, and I suspect he wants to pull an Arsene and stay long term.
 
Imagine Arsenal becoming second in the league slightly behind City and making it to the CL final but losing and the fans asking for Arteta to get sacked.
 
Bartondale said:
As Wenger pointed out, it's harder for a London club to win the league than a club from outside the capital due to the number of derby fixtures. Smaller clubs raise their game against their bigger local rivals.
I addition, Champions League contenders tend to drop league points after a difficult away game in Europe.

Arsenal have three derbies in their run-in, they won't win them all while facing Fulham three days after their away game at Atletico is an accident waiting to happen.
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This was ridiculous when he said it years ago, and still is today. Is Bournemouth vs Arsenal a more heated rivalry than Man Utd vs Leeds?

You could even argue that London clubs have an advantage in that they travel less distances over the course of the season.

I fully expect Brighton to win the PL sometime in the future, given they don't really have any rivals of close proximity.
 
Glorio said:
Fair bit of good that's done you folks. If you can't get behind the your team and spur them on once things get difficult, you're doing more harm than good and still paying exorbitant prices as the pressure-laden team buckles time and time again.
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I think you're inventing something that isn't really there. We have been getting behind the team and supporting them, despite the absolute garbage football that's been served up and all the other unpleasant antics. It's a stretch to pin any of this on the fans and our expectations

I think it's also wild to act like there's some incredible pressure at Arsenal created by the fans. If the players can't deal with pressure here then it's fair to say they're never going to win a major trophy anywhere, because there's plenty of clubs where there's far more pressure to win
 
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NinjaZombie said:
This was ridiculous when he said it years ago, and still is today. Is Bournemouth vs Arsenal a more heated rivalry than Man Utd vs Leeds?

You could even argue that London clubs have an advantage in that they travel less distances over the course of the season.

I fully expect Brighton to win the PL sometime in the future, given they don't really have any rivals of close proximity.
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Bournemouth?
 
Gazza said:
This sounds like nonsense tbh. Of course it comes from Arsene Wenger, no stranger to making excuses. London "derbies" are pretty tame. You can't tell me Brentford or West Ham get more up for a game against Arsenal than they do against United, for example.
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Maybe it's actually easier for them to win because they don't even need to travel to those derby games? Why not look at it from this angle, whilst we are trying to clutch at straws anyway?
 
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