At the time of writing this (April 12th), it has been 20 days since we lost to Manchester City in the Carabao Cup Final. Also within this span of time, we also lost to Southampton, a second division team, meaning we also got knocked out of the FA cup competition. And yesterday, we lost to 12th place team AFC Bournemouth in a title race that became tighter as the season came to a close. This means we have only one 1 game in our last 4, an incredibly alarming statistic for a team of Arsenal’s stature. In this article, I will break down each of these games and come to a conclusion whether or not, despite going from possibly winning four trophies to two at most, if the Gunners can turn things around.
On March 22nd, Arsenal played Manchester City in the Carabao Cup Final. The Carabao Cup, also referred to as the EFL cup, is similar to the FA Cup in that it spans English teams from the Premier League to below. In order to get to the Final, Arsenal played the following teams: Port Vale, Brighton, Crystal Palace, and Chelsea. For Manchester City, they had to play the following teams: Huddersfield, Swansea, Brentford, and Newcastle. For the Final, we fielded our strongest team using our available players. However, there was one noticeable change: Kepa Arrizabalaga replaced usual starter, David Raya, in net. Kepa had played every game in the EFL and FA Cup competitions, so this wasn’t unexpected. However, most fans including myself thought that, since this was a huge chance to end our 6-year-long trophy drought, we should play Raya in goal. The game started out pretty well in Arsenal’s favor. The Gunners dominated possession, and even had 3 shots on target within ten seconds. The half would end well for both teams, as Man City and Arsenal both showed a willingness to win. The second half started, and it was pretty much the same. That was the case until the 60th minute, where Kepa Arrizabalaga dropped a cross and Nico O’ Reilly, Manchester City Left Back, capitalized on the chance and made the score 1-0 to the Citizens. Only 4 minutes later, he would have another goal making the score 2-0. Upon various chances from our players, we couldn’t make anything of it, and the game would end in a 2-0 loss to Manchester City. Many people coined Kepa as being the reason Arsenal lost, and although it’s definitely a factor, it’s not fair to say it is entirely his fault. A majority of our players showed no fight in the second half and were seemingly “waiting” for the game to end. With this loss, the Gunners tried to keep their head up and looked forward to the FA Cup clash with Southampton after the international break.
Upon returning from the international break, Arsenal looked for an easy momentum gain in a potential victory against Championship side Southampton, who even played in the Premier League last season. Much like the Carabao Cup final, the game started with us dominating possession. Midfielders Christian Norgaard and Martin Odegaard worked well to move the ball up. However, in the 35th minute, Southampton Striker Ross Stewart would capitalize on a defensive error from Ben White to give the Saints the lead. After this, the domination over the game seemingly went in the favor of Southampton. The half ended in their favor. In the second half, Southampton continued their control. They had several shots, with one just barely getting on the crossbar as opposed to being a goal. However, in the 68th minute, German international Kai Havertz would find Viktor Gykores in a tight space, where he would send the ball bottom right to tie the game. Hope seemed restored, that was until later on in the 76th minute where substitute Shea Charles would seemingly run through our defense and send the ball back in the net. We couldn’t do anything in the last 10 minutes, meaning we were knocked out of the cup. What added insult to injury was that not only was this a 2nd division team, but the player who scored the winner, Shea Charles, grew up playing for Manchester City’s academy. With yet another defeat, Arsenal looked toward their UCL game against Sporting. We won that game late 1-0, and on Wednesday we will look to solidify our place in the semi-finals. This brought a tiny, but needed, confidence boost.
For the first time in around a month, after games in other competitions and international break, Arsenal return to Premier League competitions. We played against AFC Bournemouth, a mid-table team that we beat 3-2 back in January. In the 17th minute, AFC Bournemouth CAM Junior Kroupi received the ball after it awkwardly traveled through the box. I’d say this goal completely encapsulates how we have been playing recently; we thought nothing bad would happen, but our arrogance led to something actually happening. In the 35th minute, we were awarded a penalty. Swedish Striker Viktor Gykores scored it, tying the game 1-1. The game played out in a regular manner. However, in the 74th minute, midfielder Alex Scott scored, making the game 2-1. After this game, something is becoming very crystal clear: we are losing momentum, and if we don’t fix our issues fast, we will suffer the consequences of continuing our trophy drought.
After losing in the EFL Cup final, getting knocked out of the FA Cup, somehow managing to win the first leg in the UCL quarter final 1-0, and being in jeopardy regarding our journey to winning the Premier League, a question remains: can we still win a trophy? Honestly, as much as I’d like to hope so, I don’t know. We have lost significant momentum and confidence following recent defeats, and with Manchester City exemplifying amazing form, we have a lot of pressure on our hands. I wouldn’t be surprised if we win either of the two trophies we have left, but I also wouldn’t be surprised if we don’t win anything. This is our final chance to prove everyone wrong, because if we don’t, we will forever be known as the team that always came so close, but never lived up to what we were meant to be. Changes need to be made, and trophies need to be won.
