Wrong-Direction
Well-known member
- Mar 10, 2013
- 13,444
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[Football] Did Arsenal bottle the league?
- Thread starter The Wizard
- Start date
Badger Boy
Mr Badger
- Jan 28, 2016
- 3,658
Poor planning. Ramsdale in goal isn't great, Holding's a clown whose greatest trick is regenerating his hairline.
Bold Seagull
strong and stable with me, or...
Hardly an excuse. They spent £50m on an alternative CB.
BN41Albion
Well-known member
- Oct 1, 2017
- 6,448
No not bottled - just not good enough to last the distance against an insanely good MC team/squad. Its not easy to keep winning the way they had been when pressure kicks in at the top - especially when a relentless City are breathing down your neck.
They're 15 points ahead of 3rd/4th - far exceeded their or anyone's expectations for the season
They're 15 points ahead of 3rd/4th - far exceeded their or anyone's expectations for the season
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The Wizard
Well-known member
- Jul 2, 2009
- 18,383
- Thread starter
- #65
Arsenal 5 games after being 8 points clear:
Liverpool (A) : 2 nil lead, 2-2
West Ham (A) : 2 nil lead, 2-2
Southampton (H) : 3-3 draw - should have been a banker
Man City (A) : 4-1 loss - could happen to any team but the way they lost that game wasn’t great
Chelsea (H) 2-1 win
A lot of people are saying they have over achieved and didn’t have the quality to last the distance, all true but I think it can also be true that they bottled this league title, if you look beyond the ‘oh they’ve overachieved overall’ yes they have that doesn’t mean there isn’t some element of this that’s because they lost their mental strength for the challenge (bottle) at a key time.
Throwing away 2-0 leads in two games in a row, and failing to beat a dreadful Southampton team at home.
When they lucked out because we were missing our world class centre midfielders.
Garry Nelson's Left Foot
Well-known member
That's essentially bottling it isn't it? Couldn't deal with the pressure.
They could win when there wasn't any pressure but when the finishing line and title were in sight, when City started putting a run of wins together they folded.
They have lost out to a club owned by a state nation who have won the league 4 out of the previous 5 seasons and arguably fiddled their books to do this. No, they're not bottle jobs. More that they are not quite good enough/dont have the resources to win the league.From this position:View attachment 160951
Yes it’s still been a fantastic season for them over all but they won’t get a better chance at winning the PL with several other big boys toiling, and from this position with the results they’ve had against teams they would have expected to beat, for me it’s a 100% bonafide definition of a bottle job.
Seeing the salty arrogant arse fans trying to paper over the bottle makes it all the more amusing, or am I being harsh?
5Ways Gull
È quello che è
That's a really interesting table. Hope the Chelsea fans appreciate what Potter did for them earlier in the season, those stats put them right in amongst the pooey end if it was extrapolated across the whole season.This.
Just look at the form table for the last 14 games:
View attachment 160952
Arsenal 3rd, only behind Liverpool on GD and averaging over 2 points a game is hardly a big-time bottle job.
Man City is the outlier - just a ridiculous run.
That said, even though it's not really fair, I will very much enjoy telling the Arsenal fans I know that they bottled it
It's very much worth looking further down that table too.
Chelsea
Stains
Fair play to Bournemouth as well, as much as it pains me to say
BN41Albion
Well-known member
- Oct 1, 2017
- 6,448
Yeah I suppose so in a way, but I think it's harsh to say they bottled it really - no-one would've predicted that they'd be in that position to begin with and other than city fans others (so-called Big 6 especially) havent really got a leg to stand on when taking the piss (although it is entertaining to of course) because they haven't got anywhere near city this season let alone be in a position ahead of them to near the end of the season, and some have been absolutely bloody awful like jammy fuckers spurs and Chelsea
Garry Nelson's Left Foot
Well-known member
I agree that the rest of the big boys don't have a leg to stand on in terms of their challenge this season. It's also an overall positive season for Arsenal, they've taken a big step forward but in the context of how they've ended up second it can only be seen as 'bottling' it. Harsh term perhaps but the meaning is right, IMO.
Arkwright
Arkwright
I wouldn't say they bottled it, in the end they just weren't good enough. That said runner's up is a great achievement.
I thought on Sunday they were a bit clueless, knocking long balls over the top I presume to use pace with the front three was meat and drink for our defenders. Looked good when they did play through midfield.
Other than Albion games I don't watch a lot of PL matches, thought Ben White looked weak, he was good for us with Dunk and Webster doing the dirty work and him tidying up when required.
Maybe you could quiery Arteta's management, he cuts a miserable figure on the sidelines, not sure if continuous moaning helps the player's on the pitch.
I thought on Sunday they were a bit clueless, knocking long balls over the top I presume to use pace with the front three was meat and drink for our defenders. Looked good when they did play through midfield.
Other than Albion games I don't watch a lot of PL matches, thought Ben White looked weak, he was good for us with Dunk and Webster doing the dirty work and him tidying up when required.
Maybe you could quiery Arteta's management, he cuts a miserable figure on the sidelines, not sure if continuous moaning helps the player's on the pitch.
The Wizard
Well-known member
- Jul 2, 2009
- 18,383
- Thread starter
- #74
Yep, they definitely bottled it.
If they’d lost to city and dropped a few points here and there & city won every game I’d say fair play they just fell short and weren’t quite good enough, but this run is nothing to do with how good city have been, they couldn’t cope with the pressure when the going got tough.
That’s probably the definition of a bottle.
Discussed this elsewhere but I think undeniably, when the going got tough they kept slipping up, then lost belief
Iggle Piggle
Well-known member
- Sep 3, 2010
- 5,400
Saka has been brilliant all year but has dropped off in recent weeks. Understandable, it's almost impossible to perform consistently at that level all year with a World cup in the middle (where he was fantastic). They also have a thin squad - sound familiar - and had some key injuries at the wrong time. Tierney, Holding and Eddie Nketiah aren't quite good enough at least yet as replacements.
They haven't bottled it. It's a narrative that people put on mathematical variance. They've overperformed all season and just come up short against a team of superstars funded by an oil state managed by the best of the bunch.
They haven't bottled it. It's a narrative that people put on mathematical variance. They've overperformed all season and just come up short against a team of superstars funded by an oil state managed by the best of the bunch.
This was their moment.
Chelsea/Liverpool/Spurs/Manure all in flux, the Newcastle spending is only part way through, ManC getting use to Haaland had indifferent results and were way behind, Arsenal lucked out at several games eg MacA/Caicedo missing on NYE.
Next season will be much harder.
Always amusing to see what he has to say about it.
Chelsea/Liverpool/Spurs/Manure all in flux, the Newcastle spending is only part way through, ManC getting use to Haaland had indifferent results and were way behind, Arsenal lucked out at several games eg MacA/Caicedo missing on NYE.
Next season will be much harder.
Always amusing to see what he has to say about it.