Crisis Time?

Hello everyone,

Today is not a great day to be a Gooner. Actually, it's a horrible day. After crashing out of the FA Cup with a 2-0 loss to Sunderland at the Stadium of Light, it can be unofficially declared that Arsenal's quest for silverware will be prolonged by a seventh—yes, SEVENTH—season. That is, of course, assuming we don't pull off a miracle to beat AC Milan 5-0 at the Emirates, or somehow catch up 17 points to Premier League leaders Manchester City.

It'll take a while and a number of objects being hit by my first for it to finally sink in that Arsenal won't even make the quarterfinal of a cup this season, let alone actually win a bloody trophy.

But what's almost more worrying than the scorelines are the actual performances. The performance against Sunderland wasn't much better than the one against AC Milan—slow, weary, and lacking many attacking passes. Time and time again a defender will choose to pass it back to the goalkeeper or to another defender rather than look for a midfield-splitting ball or a simple through ball down the wing. As nice as it is to control possession, Arsenal can't expect to walk the ball into the back of the net, and are at their best when they take advantage of pace in the squad and combine to get shots on goal.

So now we come to the big question: are Arsenal in a crisis? This season is starting to look an awful lot like last season, when we crashed out of the Champions League and FA Cup within the space of a week. So my answer to this question is simple: the next three Premier League matches will decide whether or not Arsenal are in a crisis. We face the scums at home next week, followed by Liverpool at Anfield and then Newcastle at the Emirates. If we succeed in these matches, a top four finish will look good. On the other hand, if we fail to pick up some points then our season could go down the toilet.

So in my opinion, it's not a crisis yet. But by March 13th (day after the Newcastle match), we'll know if Arsene Wenger's side really are in a crisis and if wholesale changes need to be made to the club. At this point, it's our league position and a top four finish that matter most.

Looking forward to take on the scums next week as a win will take us within 7 points of them.

Come on you Gunners...

Matthew