2ND Place: A Warm, Cozy Area for Gunners

Black Mamba

Feb 28

3 min read

Hello, gentle readers!

You already know who it is.

For our new readers, welcome to The Pop Radar, and I’m your host for this article, Blackmamba (BM).

On today’s episode, we bring you the saga of the "two-time kings of second place" in the English Premier League:

Arsenal

Arsenal,

Arsenal! (Cue the on-field fans’ chant) 😅😅😅.

Now, don’t get me wrong; I don’t hate them. But they are my opps, so it is what it is.

Second Place Kings: More Like Area 51 for Gunners.

Some Arsenal fans point fingers at Mikel Arteta, claiming he hasn’t prioritized the CF position in transfers. But let’s be honesthow much control does he really have over the club’s spending decisions? 🤔

Before we dive into that, let’s take a quick recap of Gameweek 26 in the EPL, where Arsenal’s title dreams took another hit.

Liverpool seized the moment, extending their lead at the top to 13 points with a 2-0 victory over Newcastle.

Meanwhile, Arsenal, in true Arsenal fashion, fumbled two crucial points in a 0-0 draw with Nottingham Forest.

At Anfield, Dominik Szoboszlai struck in the 11th minute, and Alexis Mac Allister sealed the deal, giving Liverpool their 20th league win in 28 games. If Liverpool clinches the title, they’ll equal Manchester United’s record haul. And trust me, I can’t wait to see that happen. Lol.

Meanwhile, Arsenal’s goalless draw highlighted the obvious an injury crisis up front that left them looking about as sharp as a butter knife. That’s three scoreless games in four for the Gunners. Yikes.

Elsewhere, Manchester City clawed their way back to fourth place, thanks to Erling Haaland’s return from injury, netting the only goal in a 1-0 win over Spurs. Is City back in the title race? Only time will tell.

Arsenal’s Drought: A January Transfer Blunder?

Arsenal’s decision to chill during the January transfer window might be proving costly. How Arteta must be wishing for fresh attacking reinforcements right now.

Injuries to Kai Havertz, Bukayo Saka, Gabriel Jesus, and Gabriel Martinelli have completely derailed Arsenal’s title challenge. And let’s not even talk about on-loan Raheem Sterling, who has managed just one goal in 21 appearances. 😬

Arsenal was linked with Aston Villa’s Ollie Watkins, but in classic fashion, they ended up empty-handed. Now, their title pursuit is looking about as promising as a Spurs trophy cabinet.

Arsenal’s Leandro Trossard tried to put a positive spin on things: “We played well and were dominant throughout the whole game… but goals happen in the boxes. We defended well, but up top, we need to try and create more.”

Translation: We did everything but score, which, unfortunately, is kind of important in football.

Arteta’s Optimism: “Over My Dead Body”.

Despite slipping 11 points behind league leaders Liverpool, Mikel Arteta insists Arsenal is still in the title race. The Gunners still have a game in hand and a crucial fixture at Anfield on May 10.

When asked if he was ready to concede the title, Arteta replied:

“Over my dead body. If not, I will go home.”

Well then. If Arsenal is going down, they’re going down swinging.

Arteta knows the odds are stacked against him:

Only three teams in Premier League history have overcome an 11+ point deficit to win the title.
Arsenal needs a near-perfect run to even stand a chance.

But hey, the man believes:

“The difficulty is higher than three days ago, but if you’re going to win the Premier League, you have to do something special.”

He also pointed out that Arsenal matched Liverpool’s results in their last 15 games (10 wins, 5 draws, same goal difference) . But that one loss to West Ham disrupted their momentum, and Liverpool capitalized.