Arsenal 3rd

[boundngag]

Arsenal are now 3rd in the league with 48 pts. There's been an improvement in form, but we are still 7 points behind Man City and 12 points behind Chelsea. It looks like Arsenal could well finish in the top 4, but this is mainly due to the inconsistent form of other teams. I don't really understand how Arsenal signed Alexis Sanchez and remained pretty much the same. Wenger signed Paulista in January and subsequently only get linked with strikers, such as Jackson Martinez, in the press. It's almost like Wenger's signed a token defender to appease the fans and is then reverting to his policy of only signing forwards. This is my main frustration with Wenger - I don't understand what he's trying to achieve.

[brianmac]

The problem is that whilst Arsenal are very good to watch they do not have the killer instinct to win the big matches although I hope they get thro to the FA cup with their style of football and not please one of the lower sides

[boundngag]

Yeah, the problem with Arsenal is that when something goes against them, they just give up! The frustrating thing is that, not so long ago, we would fail to challenge for the title because we struggled against the so-called 'lesser sides'. We'd do well against the good sides and then mess it up stupidly against sides near the bottom of the leagues. Man, I miss those days. It's come to something when the days you're missing involved failure!!!

[pantywank]

Personally, I think arsenals form since the turn of the year has been the arsenal we have been expecting. Away wins at Man City and Utd. Away win at Monaco. Swept aside villa and West Ham. And fought hard for wins at Palace and Newcastle.
3rd in the league, fa cup semi final, 8 wins out of the last 9 games. If anyone is still chanting wenger out they need their head looked at.

[John]

Thats the problem, its up and down with Arseanal. They have done well lately but I think what frustrates most Arsenal fans is that top 4 finishes are notable but they dont win you a trophy and within the current Arsenal squad, and Wengers repeated asserstions that he has money to spend and can compete financially with the "big boys", it seems there is little, if any progress towards being real title contenders.

That said, the FA Cup last year certainly helped alleviate the tension.

[boundngag]

When we won the FA Cup and then the Community Shield, I hoped it would be a turning point. But then it was just more of the same. The improvement in the team with Coquelin in the defensive midfield role rather than Flamini (he's been really poor this season) was more luck than judgement, imho. He'd been an Arsenal player for years before this season as well, it's not like he was a new signing! I think we've shown better form in the new year, but that is what we usually do - improve when we can no longer win the league. The same as in the Champions League knock out stage - screw it up in the first leg, then play better in the second leg when it's very unlikely we will be able to win. That is a mentality problem and if it's affected the whole team, can only come from one source - Arsene Wenger. I still think Wenger needs to go because I don't think we will do more than finish in the top four and challenge for the domestic cup competitions under him. With the amount he is spending now, that's not acceptable.

[John]

A pundit on one of the Footy programs stated he was rather cynical about Arsenals performances in that they are doing this season, exactly what they have done in previous seasons, which is showing their ability to perform when the pressue is effectively off.

I would agree somewhat with that as they seem to persistantly fall short when the chips are down.

[boundngag]

I think that's the most irritating thing, especially when I compare it with the Arsenal I knew when I was growing up. Admittedly the football was frequently boring (I can't say that about Wenger!), but the likes of Adams, Keown, Bould, Dixon, Winterburn, Seaman etc came to the fore when the chips were down. It's like the Arsenal of today are the opposite of the Arsenal of those days!

There are two main reasons for our apparent improvement this season. Suarez left Liverpool and Manchester City have effectively collapsed. I bet Man City won't keep Pellegrini as manager indefinitely, as long as he finishes in the top 4!!!