I know this has probably been posted and discussed to bits, but i just want to put across my two cents on the issue..
We finished 7 points behind MAN CITY so essentially 8 extra points would have gotten us the title.
Many have stated that the following games cost us the title.
1) MANU 1 ARS 0 lost 3 pts
2) MAN CITY 6 ARS 3 lost 3 pts
3) ARS 0 CHEL 0 lost 2 pts
4) LIV 5 ARS 1 lost 3 pts
5) ARS 0 MANU 0 lost 2 pts
We lost 13 points in the above games. Everyone has slightly different matches but they all point out to the thrashings we got from Liverpool, Man City and Chelsea and the fact that we never could defeat a clearly weakened United.
For me that's not the case, the games we lost the title are ;
1) ARS 1 EVE 1 lost 2 pts
2) SOUTHM 2 ARS 2 lost 2 pts
3) STOKE 1 ARS 0 lost 3 pts
4) ARS 2 SWANS 2 lost 2 pts
We lost 9 points in these 4 games. I picked these games because ;
1) None were against a direct rival.
2) Apart from the Swansea draw, none of the above games came after a heavy defeat, in fact we had been on a 3 match winning streak before the Everton draw, a 5 match winning streak before the Southampton draw and a 2 match unbeaten streak before the Stoke defeat.
For me this shows that in order to win the title , you don't necessarily have to beat your title rivals and also our players had become complacent during our winning streaks.
Next season we need a change in our players' mindsets and we obviously need someone who can keep everyone on their toes even during winning streaks. For me getting a clinical striker is not really as necessary as this.
Where the League was Lost.
posted on 27/5/14
comment by D'Jeezus Mackaroni (U1137)
posted 24 minutes ago
Our form against the top 5 was not good enough. You need to pick up wins at home in those, and draws away.
Every team has a few slips against the lower teams, no team is perfect, but the head to heads against the teams around you are key.
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At Stoke and home against Swansea killed us finally. Yeah should have won against City and United at home as well which was possible.
posted on 27/5/14
Comment Deleted by Site Moderator
posted on 27/5/14
This graph is very useful
http://img546.imageshack.us/img546/6545/arsenalboombustcycle.png
posted on 27/5/14
Its the same most years, teams lose to lesser sides and say it shouldnt have happened, but every year it does..
posted on 27/5/14
Id personally say it was the following that costs us -
Arsenal 1 - 3 Aston Villa
Stoke 1 - 0 Arsenal
Arsenal 2 - 2 Swansea
posted on 27/5/14
Comment Deleted by Site Moderator
posted on 27/5/14
Any club can look back through their fixtures and do the same, in fact I could point at Villa and Sunderland as games we got no points from and with a ref on top of his game we’d have had 6 points and won the league. Ifs, buts and maybes.
posted on 27/5/14
You can't go into a season and rely on an almost 100% record against the smaller teams to win you the title.
You HAVE to atleast compete with the teams above/around you ffs.
posted on 27/5/14
Liverpool game killed our hopes and made them believe theirs...only for them to throw it away in the last second.
Of course games like away to stoke and Everton were the final nail. Though I'm sure by the time we played Everton we were already out of it.
posted on 27/5/14
comment by ManUtdDaredevil (U9612)
posted 3 hours, 22 minutes ago
This graph is very useful
http://img546.imageshack.us/img546/6545/arsenalboombustcycle.png
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