ARSENAL'S appalling away record against the top six in recent seasons has been well documented and unquestionably is a prolonged failing that has cost them dear.
Staggeringly, the last occasion they beat Liverpool, Chelsea, Manchester United, Spurs or Manchester City on their travels was all the way back in January 2015 and that’s an awful lot of proverbial ‘six-pointers’ to relinquish among the 25 consecutive draws and losses. Damningly, the Gunners have only managed a single clean sheet away to their immediate peers during that period, conceding three or more goals 11 times.
If this goes a long way to explaining why the North London giants have been Champions League pariahs since 2017 it also points to a mentality issue within the club, one that festered since the autumn of Arsene Wenger’s reign. Fair or otherwise, the perception is that whenever Arsenal head to a top six rival their swagger disappears, and their belief is neutered: that they lack the necessary fortitude to emerge with the points.
Mikel Arteta will be very keen to address this shortcoming, starting with a daunting commitment at Anfield later this month followed soon after by two testing trips to Manchester but before the Spaniard does so he will be desperate to amend another concern, one that unexpectedly reared its head last season and ultimately left them trailing in eighth.
Because if the Gunners have long fired blanks against the best, they’re now also struggling to kill off the rest.
To illustrate how immensely damaging this is to Arsenal – and could be again – it is incumbent to walk down some very well-trodden paths littered with all manner of cliché. You know the ones; the oft-quoted despair at their failure to properly replace the leadership qualities of Tony Adams and Patrick Vieira; the painting of Arsenal as a side that routinely crumbles when pressure is applied but who then delight in bewitching inferior opponents with their fluid football when the sun is shining down on the Emirates.
Indeed, how many times have we witnessed this scenario play out: first Arsenal insipidly surrender at Anfield or Old Trafford and then just seven days later they turn on the style against Southampton or Brighton, looking like world beaters into the bargain.
That’s the thing about clichés: they often ring true, and if this portrayal of the Gunners as flat-track bullies doesn’t exactly put them in a good light it has served them pretty well in modern times, namely by guaranteeing Champions League qualification for 11 years running and then a top six spot when the Wenger era turned stale and Unai Emery came, saw and too rarely conquered.
Compare and contrast this selective brilliance however – that typically compensated for their undeniable soft belly – to last term. Arsenal’s record against opponents outside of the top six amounted to 12 wins, ten draws, and four defeats. On two occasions – against Watford and a usually goal-shy Crystal Palace – they let a two-goal lead slip to share the points. On six occasions they went ahead against sides much poorer than them on paper only to end up drawing or losing.
It's hard to shake the feeling that a less talented and less unified Arsenal side of a few years back would have gained maximum points in at least four of those games. Confidence would have taken hold and they would have flat-track bullied their way to a comfortable victory with a few tricks and flicks thrown in for good measure. It’s also hard to shake the feeling that this trait – as unflattering as it may be to the Gunners – is an essential one to have until their issue of going to top six grounds is resolved.
Arteta will be acutely aware of this and it partly explains the broadness of his grin after a leisurely, no-fuss 3-0 win over Fulham last Saturday. Granted Fulham were poor and porous, and frankly they already look destined to struggle this term but as Gooner Tim Stillman highlighted on Twitter, Arsenal took only seven points away to the bottom seven last season.
Arsenal took 7 points away from home against the bottom seven last season and 3 points away from home away at the bottom four. https://t.co/oDTjlhw6zv
— Tim Stillman (@Stillberto) September 12, 2020
In a fortnight’s time Arsenal journey to Merseyside and all the chatter ahead of the game will centre on the visitor’s top six curse. Yet perhaps similar chatter should be reserved for this weekend and West Ham’s short trip across the capital.
The Hammers have only won once at Arsenal since 2007 and usually this is a fixture where it’s fair to anticipate a straightforward outcome. The home side turns on the style. The home side ruthlessly punishes a poorer side to atone for flaws they have elsewhere.
If Arsenal have sincere top four aspirations that needs to be a habit they get into again.
