Arsenal need to stop the roof caving in on their season

Arsenal in crisis? No, far from it. The Gunners are sitting pretty at the top of the table. Only Manchester City (who are seventh) , have scored more goals than them in the league this season. And they have been pretty miserly at the back too, conceding only 6 goals since that dismal first day. Arsenal are the team of the season so far . They have silenced most doubters with sublime performances marked with goals and moments of inspiration from Ozil, Giroud and Ramsey. Well, the only key part here is, all this is being written in November.

Arsenal’s season has surely been very impressive, there is no doubt about that. But here is a closer look at their season from a different perspective. The games in which Arsenal have played so far , are the ones that you expect Arsenal to win. An interesting read is their results from 2012-13. Substituting Crystal Palace with Queen’s Park Rangers, Arsenal’s 2012-13 team’s points tally from the same set of fixtures was an astonishing 25 points out of 27 compared to the 22 that they have gotten from this season so far. So, the problem clearly has not been these nine games for Arsenal. Over the years, you might have seen the odd freak result but Arsenal generally put teams like Fulham and Swansea to bed.

But in actuality , the problem for Arsenal’s point of view is they generally tend to lose the big games. Their big game from last season reads - 0 points out of 6 against Chelsea, 1 point out of 6 against Manchester United (the point came against a United side who had already won the title), 1 point out of 6 against Manchester City , 3 points out of 6 against Tottenham Hotspur and 4 points out of 6 against Liverpool. Thus the tally reads a very poor 9 points out of an available 30 against the bigger teams.

How many big games have Arsenal played this year? Well, there is only the derby to show for. In the remaining 10 games from now to the halfway mark of the season, Arsenal have to face Liverpool, Manchester United, Chelsea, Manchester City, the in form and dangerous likes of Southampton and Everton . And among their other worries will be the way they needlessly conceded an invaluable goal to Robert Lewandowski in the Champions League and opened up a group from a position where their progress was nearly sealed. Now the games at Dortmund and Naples will be sandwiched among their many tough league travails.

Arsenal have already been knocked out of the Capital One Cup. By whom , you ask? Well, a big team - Chelsea , who took the game by the scruff which Arsenal failed to do. Next they face Liverpool in the league before going to Dortmund. Where next? Old Trafford. Dear , oh dear, Arsene Wenger and Arsenal must really get this little phase of the season right. Else it could be yet another tale of a season with so much promise in which Wenger promised the world to Arsenal fans and delivered nothing. (Read seasons 2007-08..when they were top till January, 2009-10..when they looked favourites after Ronaldo’s departure, 2010-11..when Samir Nasri and Cesc Fabregas threatened briefly to win the title)