da dobrowin： Over the last ten years, Arsenal have finished 4th six times and 3rd four times. Time after time, Wenger’s side have been able to muster the strength to finish in the Champions League spots. But time after time the Arsenal faithful have been frustrated by the lack of competitiveness at the very top of the game.
da 888： Wenger has had a lot to deal with over the last ten years. Big players have left the club, money has been diverted from transfer funds and into paying off a new stadium, and with each passing year the fans have become more and more frustrated.
Ten seasons ago – the 2005-06 season – Arsenal finished fourth in the league. They finished miles behind Liverpool and Manchester United above them, and Mourinho’s Chelsea won the league at a canter. Arsenal only managed to stave off Tottenham by two points for the final Champions League spot. Wenger’s side finished the season only four points clear of Blackburn Rovers.
Yet there was cause for some sort of optimism. It was a season filled with injuries to players like Ashley Cole and Gael Clichy which saw Mathieu Flamini play at left-back during crucial games as Arsenal managed to reach their first – and still only – Champions League final. Clearly they’d done well, all things considered.
Two seasons before that they went unbeaten, the season before they finished second. And so the blip in the league was forgiven – allowing for injuries, 4th place and a Champions League final is not to be sniffed at.
Little did Arsenal fans know that they’d never retain their place at the top of the Premier League.
Wenger told us last season that he’d been given the job of keeping Arsenal in the Champions League for eight years while the stadium debt was paid, and that was his only remit. Keep the funds ticking over, and when the stadium is payed off they’ll have the money to sign superstars.
And eight years later Arsenal signed Mesut Ozil on deadline day the summer before last, last summer it was Alexis Sanchez. They managed a trophy last season for the first time in nine years, and they’re in the FA Cup final again. So that certainly marks progress. Even if they’ve finished third again.
But this third place finish isn’t like the third or fourth place finishes of recent years. This time there are real reasons to be cheerful at Arsenal.
The stadium is payed off, Arsenal are spending money, and the team are playing some good football.
Let’s leave the last few games aside. Arsenal found it tough to break down two very well-drilled defences and managed a draw at Old Trafford, but it’s always tough to get motivated for games at the end of the season when there’s little left to play for, even when you’re playing old rivals, and a team that can deny you 3rd place. Arsenal did what they had to do.
Next season, though, we can expect this team to have gelled even more. They’ll have some money to spend in the summer, and if they strengthen in key areas – a new goalkeeper, a strong, defensive-minded midfielder and possibly a clinical striker to help out Giroud – they can challenge.
Arsenal may think they’ve been close numerous times to producing a competitive challenge over the last ten years, but the truth is that they haven’t been nearly as close as they are now.
Things have changed at the Emirates. Win the FA Cup a week on Saturday to keep the trophy count ticking over, and buy wisely in the summer and Arsenal could find themselves on course for a very successful period under Arsene Wenger.
The man who the fans have been complaining about for years could be on the verge of a fine Indian summer before retirement. It might be a few years for Arsenal to enjoy.
[n5lbanner type=”london”]