LONDON – When Arsenal ran out of steam in the second half against Aston Villa on Sunday, they knew what was coming. There was tension in the air among the home fans. They were quiet. Excited. Disappointed.
The internal dialogue of Arsenal fans went something like this: “It certainly won’t happen again this season. right right!? Tell me it won’t.
It can.
After theirs a shock 2-0 defeat at home to Villa we have an idea what’s next. But it doesn’t have to be. With six league games to go and a Champions League quarter-final second leg tied, there’s still time to put things right. But as Arsenal boss Mikel Arteta poignantly said, the time is now.
Arsenal have been here before. The beginning of a collapse. They did it two seasons back in the Champions League race. Last season they capitulated in April and their title dreams wiped out after a terrible run of two wins from their last seven games.
But that home loss to Villa leaves their title hopes on the brink. Opta says Arsenal now have an 18 per cent chance of winning the title. Manchester City’s odds increased to 70 percent. Liverpool is at 12 percent.
After Liverpool’s shock loss at home to Crystal Palace earlier on Sunday, there were huge cheers around the Emirates Stadium as Arsenal fans cheered and felt like they were about to knock another team out of the title race. But they followed Liverpool’s lead. Now they are the ones trying to hold on as Man City press the gas.
Building negative vibes
Now it’s all about the answer. Can they prove they have learned from last season? Do they have a different mentality to turn things around?
All is not lost, but the feeling at full-time looked eerily familiar from watching Arsenal collapse at the end of last season. Hands on hips. Looking at the field. The fans silently leave the stadium.
Walking the streets of north London after the game, fans drinking pints in the street talked about how many points Man City had and what Arsenal needed to do. There was some questionable math being thrown around.
“I give up,” said one disgruntled Arsenal fan as he did the sums. Another neutral observer chimed in as he walked past a pub full of Arsenal fans: “Man City are winning it.” The Arsenal fans’ response? A resigned: “Thanks for that, mate.”
Given recent results (a draw against Bayern Munich and a loss to a very good Aston Villa side), a negative atmosphere is building at Arsenal, but it can be nipped in the bud very quickly.
They face Bayern on Wednesday in the second leg of the Champions League quarter-finals and can easily win it. They then head to Wolves on Saturday and play twice before Man City return to Premier League action. Liverpool are struggling. All is not lost. They could be back on top of the league very soon.
This is when Arsenal can prove that this season is different. That they learned from last season. Remember: they’ve already done it once this season.
They have shown an almighty response already this season
Their run of three defeats from five at the end of 2023 had everyone doubting Arsenal. They then won 10 of their next 11 and were unbeaten in that run until Villa came along and broke their momentum. They proved they can respond and there is a real belief that the poor second half against Aston Villa was a strange 45 minutes. Nothing more.
Even if Arsenal were sluggish in the second half against Villa, perhaps understandably so after their success against Bayern in midweek, they were sensational in the first half and could have led by three or four. Let’s not forget that.
They know what they have to do now. Arteta said it best: “The time is now.”
Now we find out if Arsenal’s young side have learned – as they’ve been saying all season – from last season’s heartbreaking title collapse.
This season has an extra calm. They have extra depth. There is more confidence. But is it enough? Even if that’s not the case, Arsenal still look set to push Manchester City all the way for the title, and even if they come up just short, it’s still an improvement on last season.
All is not lost. But how Arsenal respond over the next two games to this devastating defeat will tell us all we need to know about how they finish the season and whether this young side have learned from their disastrous collapse last April and May.
In April came the critical time for Arsenal. Again.
