Arsenal are still aiming for the Premier League title but are in serious danger of joining an infamous list of collapses that includes Newcastle, Manchester United and Liverpool.
Mikel Arteta’s reaction to Arsenal’s loss to Manchester City (Image: Getty)
If Arsenal lose the title, it will be the biggest predicament in Premier League history.
Arsenal were nine points behind Manchester City in April (albeit with more games played), but this is an inexcusable lapse.
And the reason this result is better than three classics – Newcastle in 1996, Manchester United in 2012 and Liverpool in 2014 – is because Arsenal’s season has been in meltdown.
On the morning of March 22nd, Arsenal were still gunning for an unlikely quadruple. They then lost in the Carabao Cup final and were eliminated in the FA Cup against Southampton, and have now surrendered their place at the top of the table.
Yes, they are still chasing the title, but a win (seemingly a formality) against Burnley on Wednesday night could knock City out of the top spot.
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Arsenal have spent the past 200 days at the top of the Premier League and should have been at the top again. No matter how well they played against City on Sunday, the title race would have been in jeopardy.
In the 2022/23 season, they allowed City to turn things around. They didn’t bottle it up because at the time no one expected Arsenal to come out on top. In the 2023/24 season, Arsenal lost the top spot again, but with eight wins out of their last nine games, they are far from being able to maintain their lead.
Arsenal didn’t do much last season. They never got close to Liverpool.
But this time, there’s no other way to look at it. The painful but harsh reality is that if they don’t win, there’s no getting away from the fact that they bottled it up. And Mikel Arteta may never be able to get his team over the line.
Arsenal’s season is on the verge of complete collapse
Arsenal clearly believe in Arteta and they would be happy to give him a new contract, but the bigger question is whether it is the right decision to re-sign a manager who can’t deliver big trophies.
Certainly, this reinforcement did not benefit Arteta. A better striker than Victor Gokeres would have made the difference by at least 10 points.
In fact, it’s the games where they gave up points, such as the games against Sunderland and Wolves, and even the home game against Liverpool where they never looked like scoring, that are the days they should regret.
Questions will remain as to whether Arteta will be able to return. Will he be able to cheer up the players who have finished in second place four times in a row? That’s the problem.
Steven Gerrard is depressed after his blunder against Chelsea in 2014 cost Liverpool dearly.
In January 1996, Newcastle lost the title to Manchester United despite leading by 12 points. That seems to be the biggest collapse.
In 2012, City lost to Arsenal, with United leading by eight points with six games remaining. But City fought back and United lost the game with an Agueluo moment.
Liverpool were on the brink in 2014 until Steven Gerrard went down. That caused City to come back, but Brendan Rodgers never recovered. Sadly, if Arsenal don’t win, the title will fall and Arteta will be haunted forever.
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