Which is why we were in the running. It's this idea that the game against man Utd was a catastrophe that has annoyed me. It damaged confidence more than our title chances. You don't lose the league by dropping points in those games. You do it by losing at home to crystal Palace and away at Everton (although in fairness, Everton away is a different proposition for us than for the other two, but Spurs and West Ham are probably harder for arsenal than for other teams).
Good post, and thank you for all the work you do for this thread, every season. It’s by far one of my favourite threads (setting aside my personal dislike of the mockers meme
)
As I’ve noted elsewhere, as someone who thinks defence is the most important facet of a challenging team, I am also convinced our psychological collapse has been precipitated by the constant falling behind through conceding the first goal. I don’t think even “mentality monsters” can keep doing that game after game. I damn sure I have found it utterly draining and I’m just a fan.
It’s interesting to me that we have always faced two really challenging rivals in Everton and United, that consistently prove to be very tough games even if they are struggling. Arsenal have the same, two “derbies” in Chelsea and Spurs. Abu Dhabi has none (even their supposed derby rivals, Manchester United, unfailingly refuse to turn up against them. I don’t think the APLT can account for this - especially since it’s a personal bias, possibly only anecdotal rather than evidenced) but it seems to be a factor in the title race each year.
