Why This Season has Objectively Sucked More than the Last Five

In the season of 05/06, we just about finished fourth but lost the Champions 'League final to Barcelona, albeit contentiously.

The season of 2006/2007 was our first season at the Emirates or 'The Grove' and it wasn't great at all. We finished a lackluster season in 4th place and we lost the Carling Cup final to Chelsea.

Our next season started off amazingly. We led the Premier League table for around 7 months in 07/08 but suffered an end of season capitulation much like this season and we ended up 3rd.

In 08/09, we were semi-finalists in the FA Cup as well as the Champions' League but we were inconsistent domestically and finished 4th.

09/10 was equally disconcerting as the Gunners' highest progression in any tournament was merely to the Quarterfinals. To their credit, they finished 3rd, with automatic Champions' League qualification, but still.

Now for this season. It was a season full of promise and endeavor. This season saw a rise in the performances and desires of the lesser teams and the exploited inconsistency of the big teams. In the most difficult season in Premier Leage history, we doggedly kept up the title challenge, in pursuit of United and there was quite a lot of talk of the 'Quadruple'. However ridiculous it seemed to win all 4 trophies in a season, it was good to be the only team in with a shot at them all. But what was so glaringly obvious in 2008 and also now was hidden by our relative success until February. This Arsenal side was touted as free-scoring, offensively-creative, mentally solid and by looking only at our goals conceded, defensively shored up. Fail.

The reason that they bottled the title race in 2007 is the same reason they did it now. In the face of pressure, when mental strength is required, the current Gunners' crop failed to muster the requisite performances. Another issue is the lack of motivation in some players. As you've read, Arsenal has the best away record in the Premier League and has the best record against the clubs that finished in the top four at the end of last season. While the team could successfully motivate themselves for matches against teams like Chelsea, Man City, Barca and United, they looked absolutely complacent and inefficient against the smaller teams, regardless of the importance of the game. There are many players that Wenger has defended time and time again and they've consistently let him down for the past 3 seasons. Sure, they've displayed talent and ability but I'm not sure of their drive to improve. Players like Denilson and Vela earn wages that are disproportionate to the number of games played and their performances on the pitch. Players like Denilson, Clichy, Bendtner, etc haven't shown the motivation and skill that's expected of them. At one point, Denilson was the prime choice for the holding midfield and Song was unknown. Talk about a role-reversal. Clichy makes the same mistakes due to concentration lapses and it costs us goals. Despite the fact that he's been pretty solid on most occasions, we cannot afford the same mistakes and a player that doesn't learn from any of them. It just seems that Clichy and the club have gone as far as they possibly could and now it's time for someone else to force Gibbs to be a benchwarmer.

Unlike other seasons, Wenger has finally decided that the time is right to feel let down by those he's been unconditionally defending. As this season was ending, no one expected a mass clear out but by the way that Wenger's been saying things, a busy summer in the transfer market is definitely on the cards. Denilson has said that he wants out and I'm glad. Bendtner and Clichy are set to leave for right offers. Thankfully, Almunia and Eboue have fallen out of favor and we can look for some decent players. One or two experienced leaders who know how it is to win things will do no harm. If indeed many players go, the replacements must be proven, skillful and determined. It's all up to the manager and we've got quite a bit of money to spend and yet stay considerably stable, so we'll just wait and see.

I hope these summer firings and signings will save me from going mental, come next May.

I also hope that Chelsea's trophy-less season extends into a long streak that sends them back to a mere 8-9 years ago, when they were just another money-less, midtable club.

Too Little, Too Late

After so much disappointment, finally, a reason to write. Over the last two months we threw away our part in the title race with the most half-assed of performances. A dull Arsenal performance, a defensive Sunderland one and a blind refereeing team allowed us to help ourselves to a dour goalless draw at the Emirates. The Arsenal legend, Almunia, once again threw away points against West Brom on account of his horrendous decision-making. An uninspired Gunners side played out a goalless draw at home to Blackburn, who were the bottom club at the time. We had some respite, winning at Bloomfield road but only to be brought crashing down by the moronic Eboue. The ball only had to bounce for the ref to blow his whistle, but he got close and created a situation that Lucas could make the most of and Liverpool got one back. I still blame Andre Marriner but Eboue was just stupid. Our fragility cost us a two goal lead against Spurs and sent us back home from the Bolton game without a point, and that was that. In March and April, we won 8 points out of a possible 21. The title race was all but over.

Then United come home and we control the game and put in the most dedicated performance since the Barcelona game in September. Szczesny and Koscielny were really good and Ramsey took on his midfield role with aplomb. It's amazing to see him score after Shawcross was so kind as to snap his leg in two. After we scored, we knew we couldn't afford to choke like on previous occasions and had to defend for our lives. It's unusual to see Arshavin fly into so many tackles and that just showed the Gunners' commitment. It's probably too late for the title, but regardless of what happens to United and Chelsea, 9 points out of a possible 9 are required.

Elsewhere, I read that we're going to kick Arshavin back to Russia and we're looking at Barca's Bojan Krkic and Shakhtar's Willian as replacements. We know what Arshavin can do, but he's also shown us his workhorse side of his game this season, albeit quite rarely. Actually, only twice. It would suck to see him go, but it also makes sense if Arsene's fed up with him because he's been quite profligate and lazy this season. He does have eleven or twelve assists to his name, but he's proven that he capable of better while attacking as well as defending. I was hoping for experience to be brought in for next season and I have my reservations about both Bojan and Willian. Bojan's pretty much as old as Ramsey and I really don't think that he can bring a Plan B that Arsenal so desperately seem to need. I haven't seen enough of Willian to know anything concrete, but Denilson openly said that he recommends Willian so I have my doubts. Only because Denilson's a moron.

We'll just see what the summer has in store for us and hope for a successful next season.

I'm tired of promising seasons.