Retaining the title

Discussion in 'Arsenal' started by Senor Askew, Jan 28, 2005.

  1. Senor Askew

    Senor Askew Member

    Jan 19, 2001
    San Francisco, CA.
    Club:
    Arsenal FC
    Nat'l Team:
    United States
    OK, so there are 14 games to go, and ten points to be made up.
    In everyone's opinion, what do the Gunners need to do to retain the trophy?

    Regaining some of the spirit of "The Invincibles" would be a good start. Winning every match (or at the very least, not losing) is a must. And something needs to be done to stop Chelsea. Poisining the water supply in West London may be going to far in this case, but desperate times call for desperate measures...... ;)

    Shoring up the defense would help too. 25 goals conceeded in 24 games is far below par. Look at Chelsea, only 8 in 24 games - unbelievable.

    It all starts against The Red Menace next week................
     
  2. Bluto11

    Bluto11 The sky is falling!

    May 16, 2003
    Chicago, IL
    I don't think we can catch Chelsea, its kinda hard to drop points when you do not concede any goals

    edit: i know people will say that if Chelsea don't score and don't concede they will drop points, but they also do a good job of scoring goals
     
  3. nicephoras

    nicephoras A very stable genius

    Fucklechester Rangers
    Jul 22, 2001
    Eastern Seaboard of Yo! Semite
    There's no longer anything you can do. We have to lose it on our own. You could play better than Brazil's 1970 side, and it wouldn't matter.
     
  4. SLO-Gunner

    SLO-Gunner New Member

    Mar 11, 2003
    Baltimore
    that used to be true until Robben came back from his preseason injury....now they're scoring rather freely.
     
  5. Bluto11

    Bluto11 The sky is falling!

    May 16, 2003
    Chicago, IL
    thats kinda what my edit was about. They don't allow goals so if they don't score the game will end 0-0 and if Arsenal win they can gain some ground. However, as you stated, they seem to score at will now
     
  6. Senor Askew

    Senor Askew Member

    Jan 19, 2001
    San Francisco, CA.
    Club:
    Arsenal FC
    Nat'l Team:
    United States
    You see this is what I'm wondering.

    I'll never give up on Arsene and the boys: "Never give up, Never surrender and all that.

    But is there really any way we can catch them?

    How many points behind were the Mancs when they overhauled us two years ago? You'll forigve me but I've blocked all memories of the end of that season from my memory.
    And weren't we trailing The Red Menace by a full 12 points in February of '98? Then we beat them up at Old Trafford and never looked back.

    Ten points: It's been done, but were there more than 14 games left? And were any of the sides playing quite as well as Chelsea?
     
  7. nicephoras

    nicephoras A very stable genius

    Fucklechester Rangers
    Jul 22, 2001
    Eastern Seaboard of Yo! Semite
    I can't answer your other questions, but I can this one. No, mathematically there has never been an EPL team that has had more points per game than we do right now. We certainly aren't guaranteed to keep that pace, and given that we have two games against you and ManUtd left we likely will not, but there has never been a team winning at our pace.
    As to whether or not they were playing better than us, is a different question. :)
     
  8. 0-Point

    0-Point Member

    Jun 5, 2004
    Quantum flux
    It's possible but is it probable? Wot u need is the greatest comeback of all time, infact if Manu went on 2 take the title that would b worthy of the accolade! :cool:
     
  9. Henrik

    Henrik New Member

    Aug 24, 2004
    Every even game seems to go Chelseas way this season, just take their latest semi v Manu, and if that continues we wont catch them. We have not been as good as them in defence this season either and we have goalkeeping problems which may cost us against Bayern as well. What annoys me is, we should never have dropped points to the bottom 3 teams or lost to Bolton in which case we would be up alongside them.

    Anyway, life is great being an Arsenal supporter, we know what the future holds, but Chelsea fans don't, their fortune is down to a rich Russian who won't live forever..............

    But I did enjoy Chelsea kicking manure's best team out of the carling cup and the media rubbing it in leaving purple nose embarrased.
     
  10. Cannon

    Cannon Member

    Arsenal
    United States
    Sep 2, 2001
    Washington, DC metro
    Club:
    Arsenal FC
    Nat'l Team:
    United States
    Exactly and that answers the original question.









    Haven't any of you heard of tonya harding? ;) :D
     
  11. tmaker

    tmaker Member

    Nov 24, 2003
    Seattle
    You know, the defence on that free kick looked suspiciously like Arsenal defending a set-piece...

    We won't retain the title. Perish that thought. We have to reclaim the first spot, but as nicephoras put it, that requires the cooperation of the leaders. Man U overtook us in 03 because we kept dropping points in incredibly stupid draws, and lost to Blackburn Rovers and Bolton--not unlike the reason we're in second now, in fact, only the timing is different. Meanwhile, the Red Devils won every single game after Boxing Day except for one draw with Arsenal. Not unlike Chelsea, who will probably do the same.

    Who knows what fixture congestion and fluke injuries may do. Probably nothing, as the Blues essentially have two full first teams, but...we'll see.
     
  12. fortunatesonJG

    fortunatesonJG New Member

    Mar 10, 2004
    Scottsdale, AZ
    I'm confident that we can begin to edge Chelsea now that we've locked up Sol and Lauren. I believe a lot of the pressure will be alleviated since some of our distractions have been lifted, like Edu. The X-factors are obviously Vieira Gilberto. My hope is that we'll overtake Chelsea, but honestly the likelihood is second place. A fight like the '89 season would be nice.
     
  13. Jeff L

    Jeff L Member

    May 12, 2002
    London
    Club:
    Arsenal FC
    We will win it if the "PATS" win the SuperBowl!!! :)
     
  14. Catfish

    Catfish Member

    Oct 1, 2002
    Chicago
    Club:
    Arsenal FC
    Hey! It ain't over, yet. I'm really trying to stay positive, but Chelsea needs to help us out a little and dump a few matches.
     
  15. ZANI

    ZANI Member

    Feb 14, 2004
    USA
    Yeah man! It ain't over until it is over.
    With 21 points. Palace can win the league if the top teams stop winning. It also means Chelsea are only a point or two safe from relegation if they run into a big ass blip while the rock bottom placed teams make one hell of a run.
     
  16. Catfish

    Catfish Member

    Oct 1, 2002
    Chicago
    Club:
    Arsenal FC
    This is THE definition of a troll.
     
  17. yossarian

    yossarian Moderator
    Staff Member

    Jun 16, 1999
    Big City Blinking
    Club:
    Arsenal FC
    Nat'l Team:
    United States
    We actually drew that match against Bolton...2-2...but Bolton acted like they had won after being down 2-nil with only 25 minutes left.

    Your point, however, still stands. United's run after Boxing Day in 02/03 was incredible but we certainly helped them out in every way possible by dropping points in the dumbest of ways possible. Chelsea look unlikely to do so.
     
  18. Irelandboy

    Irelandboy New Member

    Jan 4, 2003
    North
    Against any other team or manager, yes. Against Chelsea and Mourinho I seriously doubt it. It'd be nice to be still in with a shout in April. No pressure. A good run though will boost confidence for the CL.
     
  19. 0-Point

    0-Point Member

    Jun 5, 2004
    Quantum flux
    If all Chelsea's remaining games were against Arsenal I would fancy Arsenal as they appear 2 b the only team in the EPL able 2 make inroads into their defence...other teams have 2 put the smack down, couple of losses and a draw...game on - even though the fat lady has returned from holiday! :cool:
     
  20. Martin Daoust

    Martin Daoust New Member

    Feb 14, 2003
    Hartford, CT
    Can we retain the title? In a word, yes. The odds are bad, but hardly impossible at this point. There are too many things yet to happen between now and APRIL let alone May. First off, Chelsea will be prone to a let-down during their European Cup clash with Barcelona? Why? Becuase its BARCA and not Bayern. It is THE glamour tie of the first knock-out stage, and the media will be all over it and the teams. Oh, and that little thing about the winner being one step closer to lifting the European Cup. Then there are the re-arranged domestic fixtures. Already one match will be moved because of the carling Cup Final. Yes, West Brom at home, but look what we did in the corresponding fixture in December. And if we do our job the media again will be all over Chelsea about us closing the gap, so they'll have to win their way back three points further clear. Who knows then? And what about if Birmingham get a draw tommorrow? It's hardly as simple as it seems yet.
    The real key will be in mid-April. Before hosting us, Chelsea are at ManU three days earlier. In all likelihood, ManU will be out of the League race and out in Europe, and might only have the FA Cup to play for. In any event, I suspect United will approach this match to prove they are still in the top three sides and even the top two in Ferguson's mind. Knowing they will face an Arsenal side hungry to prove their worth and perhaps get back into the Championship run-in three or four days later, Mourinho will keep it tight, like Wenger does at Old Trafford, looking to win late or take the draw, and also avoid disciplinary or injury problems ahead of playing us. And our problem of late at Old Trafford has been playing too tight, playing for the result rather than the win. You can't play a team like ManU for the result and be confident of getting it at Old Trafford, especially if say Mike Riley is the ref. Point is that Chelsea will be happy with a point there. They would also be happy with a point against us. But if we have our best 11 and healthy and in-form, we will win - full stop. I really sense that on April 24th we will be at worst four points behind, and possibly only two behind with four matches left. Goal difference could yet factor in, so we'd better start hitting the target, lads!
    Right now, ALL this really will depend on Tuesday, Beat United(and watching their defence today, mmmmmmmm....)will immediately give us tremendous momentum and place Chelsea on notice they HAVE to keep winning or else. And we have yet to see Chelsea cope with the pressure. I can't wait myself...
     
  21. yasik19

    yasik19 Moderator
    Staff Member

    Chelsea
    Ukraine
    Oct 21, 2004
    Daly City

    all good points there and anything CAN happen, but "Chelsea not yet coping with pressure", i don't know about that. This is what everyone was saying during the holidays where we had 4 matches in 2 weeks and how Chelsea would cramble. 12 out of 12, i think JM knows how to deal with pressure and if we keep winning in EPL, regardless of our result against Barca, what makes you think Arse will only be "most" 4 points behind us in April. It is really out of your hands now. It is ours to lose or win, simple as.
     

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