Once a team at the top of the EPL, Arsenal is no longer in contention for the title. Instead, they are forced to win their remaining games in order to secure a top four finish.
This was the year for Arsenal FC.
Coming into the New Year, the Gunners were sitting at the top of the Premier League table with their sights fully set on an EPL title that has eluded them for 12 years. They were also solidly in the running for the Champions League and the FA Cup.
“If you look at the team as a unit it is like a person,” said a smiling Arsene Wenger back in January, when his team was two points over second-place Leicester City and three over Manchester City. “When you are a long time in the job, you can feel if there is something in there or not. They are more experienced.”
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Wenger offered those thoughts after deciding to give his players a small mid-season break in January as the perennial Arsenal manager was hoping to make a big push in the second half of the season. It was the perfect time: defending EPL champions Chelsea were in a rut, both Manchester clubs were ridden with inconsistencies, and that pesky Leicester City team was bound to crumble at some point. The title was within his grasp and he could feel it.
It was not to be.
Wenger’s title hopes evaporated faster than liquid nitrogen in the following weeks, something that has already become a painful case of déjà vu for Arsenal supporters.
Those unknown Leicester City players, who continued their fairy tale run steadily, were justly rewarded as they surpassed Arsenal in Week 21, when the Gunners fell 1-0 to Chelsea at Emirates Stadium. To make matters worse, North London derby rivals Tottenham Hotspur started orchestrating their own run at the title.
Now, with five games to go in the season, it’s a two-horse race and Arsenal is no longer in contention for the title. Instead, they are forced to win their remaining games in order to secure a top four finish. They were overtaken at third place by Manchester City over the weekend after settling for a 1-1 tie at home to Crystal Palace amidst boos from their own fans. With Manchester United within four points of fourth place, Arsenal’s situation is nothing short of precarious.
It’s the same old story for Wenger, except this time the fall from grace has been more extraordinary.
In the past, Wenger could point to economics as one of the main reasons his squads could not keep up. Chelsea’s rise under Roman Abramovich and Manchester City’s own under the Abu Dhabi United Group helped Wenger make the case that their young Arsenal squad wasn’t equipped for that kind of competition.
This season, however, teams like Leicester City and West Ham United are demonstrating that outrageous amounts of money are not necessarily needed to be competitive in the Premier League. As those teams triumphed during the second half of the season, Arsenal’s form dipped even further, crashing out of the Champions League and the FA Cup within weeks.
That sudden – but somehow expected – change of fortune has taken a toll on the supporters, who have stopped attending the games, forcing the club to take the unusual step of placing tickets on general sale because of a lack of interest from season-ticket holders.
It’s in that environment, with disenchanted fans booing and calling for the head of a once-revered manager, that the Gunners will have to approach their last set of crucial games this season.
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Arsenal, Manchester City, Manchester United and West Ham all have a shot at a top four finish and they are set to face each other. The Gunners visit City on May 8, while Manchester United take on West Ham two days later.
At least two of those teams will drop points on those crucial dates. Should Arsenal be one of them, they not only would have lost a chance at a championship, but also their usual spot in the top European competition… an unthinkable notion back in January, but a very real one four months later.