Injured pride as Arsenal's Premier League title dreams are shattered
The disappointment was etched on the face of Arsène Wenger long before the final whistle at White Hart Lane last night.
This wasn’t just a defeat for Arsenal, it was a defeat to local rivals, a defeat that ended all pretentions of the Premier League title, and just the latest defeat in a big game this season. The Gunners haven’t fired when it really matters.
Manchester United beat them home and away, as did Chelsea. They also lost to Manchester City, while the whole world saw what Barcelona and Leo Messi did to them last week. All is well and good when they are playing their attractive, expansive football against the lesser sides, but when it’s really mattered they’ve come up short, and that’s why they are trophyless again.
Injuries haven’t helped obviously. Arsenal fans will this morning be wondering just how different their season would have been had Robin van Persie, lively in his cameo last night, been fit for the majority of the campaign. Liverpool supporters wonder the same about Fernando Torres’ fitness, while surely Manchester United’s followers can’t help but think the opposite about Wayne Rooney. What if he’d been injured for a longer period of time?
All ifs buts and maybes, and while Arsenal have keenly felt the absences of van Persie, Cesc Fàbregas, William Gallas, Andrey Arshavin and others at times this season, they can be no excuse for the basic errors that have blighted recent matches, errors such as Manuel Almunia’s late flap against Birmingham City, and last night’s skewed offside trap that allowed Gareth Bale to score what proved to be the winner.
Tottenham thoroughly deserved their win last night – Danny Rose’s sublime goal simply had to be for the winning team – and while Arsenal were spirited in their late attempts to secure a point, it was all too little, too late.
Chelsea are stronger, Manchester United are more consistent, and so both have greater claims to the Premier League trophy. The Blues rarely hit the free-flowing heights that Arsenal’s football can reach against the lesser sides, but they know how to win the big games and they know how to win trophies. That is why they deserve to be champions.
Until Arsenal work out how to grind out the bigger games then they’ll go on failing.
Their easy-on-the-eye approach has won them many admirers, but they were given a lesson in combining that with hard work when they visited Barcelona. The Catalans are a wonderful team to watch, but it is what they do without the ball that makes them a truly great side. They hassle, harry and hustle their opponents into submission. Too often Arsenal aren’t willing to do that.
Any team would miss the talents that Wenger has been denied from calling upon this season, there is no denying that key absences at key times have been crucial, but they are not the only reasons.
The five-year trophy drought goes on, and until that occasional elegance is combined with ever-present industry, it is likely to go on for some time yet.
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