Premier League table toppers Arsenal continue to have their doubters. But Spurs, currently placed two positions below their north London rivals, are still considered one of strongest in the race for the league title.
Tottenham aren’t title contenders because they’re regularly up among the best competing for silverware, or because they have a recent history which suggests that they simply needed to get out of a slump to capture league title glory. It’s helped by the fact that football is often obsessed with the new, with the exciting and with changes in landscapes. It sells, so fair enough.
But there is something odd about labelling Spurs as title contenders but not Arsenal. And the thing is I don’t believe either are legitimate title challengers at this stage, though Arsenal could strengthen their case with additions in January. Both clubs have their own hurdles to overcome, and that’s without the pressures and quality from those throughout the rest of the league.
For those outside the Arsenal borders, the idea of favouritism towards the local rivals may seem farfetched. But no one can deny that there has been an urge for some kind of shift in power in north London, with undertones of Tottenham’s apparent title challenge and Arsenal’s inability to hold a top four spot this season adding to that.
Tottenham are consistently talked up as having one of the strongest midfields in the league, and that may be so to some. It doesn’t, however, factor in that most of the midfield was brought in this summer. Nor is it mentioned that many of these players have personal obstacles to overcome, such as the lack of a winter break, the step up from a notably inferior league, and being completely new to European football altogether. On paper, Spurs possess a strong team, but 1-0 wins, in the modern game in particular, will only take you so far. On paper it looks exciting, interesting, possibly capable of tipping the scales, but it doesn’t dictate what will happen on the pitch.
Arsenal, on the other hand, and despite topping the league table, are also not without their own demons. The injury plague has hit again, and that will no doubt play a part in how far this team can go. The knock to Olivier Giroud at Swansea on the weekend quite clearly disturbed Arsene Wenger in the dugout. The team may be managing for now – and that’s certainly an understatement – but how long will the injury-ravaged squad hold out?
The other point, and this is central to Tottenham too, is that Arsenal’s current group of players don’t have the experience of winning the Premier League title. Of course, there are players who have won league titles in other countries – Mesut Ozil, Giroud, Lukas Podolski – but as a collective at Arsenal, the team lack that experience to get over the line.
But then you do have to acknowledge the importance of what it takes from a club as a whole to land a league title. Arsenal have retained Wenger, a manager who knows what it takes to win the Premier League, while Andre Villas-Boas’ greatest achievement is going undefeated in Portugal. Ok, let’s not turn our noses up at that, but there is a difference, and it is far from miniscule.
Michael Owen wrote a particularly interesting, for lack of a better word, article on the weekend. He dissected the Arsenal team and opined that none of the Arsenal players, bar Ozil on a good day, perhaps due to injuries, would get into an “all-star Premier League XI.” That’s fair, in a way – and I still think Santi Cazorla is underappreciated in this country, probably because he didn’t come from Real Madrid or Barcelona and now doesn’t play for Chelsea or Manchester United, or something equally infantile – but Owen talks as if he’s never played the game himself. He fails to mention the combined effort, and though he may not rate Per Mertesacker or Bacary Sagna individually, it’s how the Arsenal backline performs as a unit that matters. But who cares about footballing logic when you have an agenda?
In terms of the title race, Tottenham no doubt have a squad of players who are talented enough and strong enough to mount a charge. But that doesn’t happen overnight and it doesn’t happen when the majority of the players have to adapt not only to a new league but to a new way of playing too. Arsenal are topping the league table at the moment because there is consistency and familiarity. It’s owed to the form of Aaron Ramsey, the efforts of Giroud, the improved back four, and the added quality of Ozil. As individuals, people may have their reservations. But collectively Arsenal are where they are because changes haven’t been wholesale, while improvements have largely been internal rather than via the market.
A lack of depth – and that’s predominantly because Arsenal seem incapable of holding a fully fit squad for any length of time – may inhibit their charge on the title, but if the team are going to be exposed and have their credentials questioned, then it’s only fair that the same is done for others.
Why are Spurs title contenders but Arsenal aren’t?
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