If you asked most Arsenal supporters before the season (and certainly after their opening-match loss at home to Aston Villa) whether they would be content with another season of Champions League qualification and ending the club’s nine year run without a trophy, I think most would have said "yes." But then an interesting thing happened after that opening day loss: the club caught fire and spent 128 days at the top of the Barclays Premier League table. Of course, Arsenal suffered a difficult stretch thereafter, but did manage to clinch manager Arsène Wenger’s beloved 4th place trophy and have booked themselves a place in the FA Cup final against Hull City.
The first blow to Arsenal’s title chances came back in December when midfielder and Welsh international Aaron Ramsey injured his thigh and missed three months. Prior to his injury, Ramsey was a potential player of the year candidate, scoring 8 goals and adding 6 assists in 18 starts. Then, in January, they lost winger Theo Walcott to a torn ACL, which deprived the Gunners of the Englishman's tremendous pace. Arsenal was also without the services of the player GOLTV’s Ray Hudson calls “ole Avatar eyes,” Mesut Özil, for over a month with a hamstring injury. Midfielder Jack Wilshere has also been out since early March after injuring his foot on international duty playing for England. It is not a coincidence that the stretch in which these stars were out is when Arsenal dropped the points that effectively ended their title challenge.
One of the main gripes that Arsenal supporters (especially Piers Morgan) have about the season lies with Wenger's failure to bring in reinforcements at striker during the January transfer window. Although it is questionable who exactly would have been available that would have served as an upgrade, the Gunners were left with few viable options beyond Olivier Giroud. Giroud, who has had a solid, if unspectacular season with the club (22 goals in 49 appearances in all competitions), also had a rough stretch earlier this year when it came out that the married Frenchman had spent the night in a hotel with American model Celia Kay. Giroud’s actions, in addition to being a distraction to the club, reinforced many stereotypes about the French...
Arsenal's opponent in the upcoming final match is Norwich City, who (barring a miracle) will be relegated to the Championship. Despite a valiant effort to get a 0-0 draw at Stamford Bridge, Sunderland's incredible late season run (4 wins on the trot) has left the Canaries 3 points behind West Bromwich Albion for the last safe spot above the relegation zone, with a massive goal differential deficit to make up. It appears that Norwich's roll of the dice in firing manager Chris Hughton has come up snake eyes. Now Norwich City's three-year run in the Premier League appears to be at an end as the Canaries face what its chief executive has proclaimed as a fate "in a sporting sense worse than death."
As Manchester City closes in on the title, Arsenal supporters have to look back and wonder what might have been. Would Arsenal have been able to win the league had its stars been able to stay healthy? Given how badly Arsenal performed against the other top clubs this season, its injured stars may not have made the difference. But with so many top clubs in transition, the title was there for the taking this year, and fans of Arsenal (as well as Chelsea and Liverpool) must rue the lost opportunity.
So now as Arsenal approaches its final league match of the season with the FA Cup Final on the horizon, questions arise as to the future of the club. Wenger has already gone on record to say that the club does not need major upgrades, so fans should once again prepare for a quiet transfer window. While the Financial Fair Play rules (and subsequent sanctions) may restrict Manchester City's spending, it is widely expected that Chelsea and Manchester United plan to be very active this summer, and with Liverpool returning to the Champions League, they will be flush with the money needed to shore up their defense. Although Arsenal was unlucky when it came to injuries this year, which perhaps skewed the perception of how good they really were, will this current incarnation of the Gunners be able to keep up with the revamped squads of the other challengers next season? Only time will tell, but until then, the supporters might have to be satisfied with clutching the FA Cup trophy to their chests as warmly as Wenger's favorite coat.
