Mikel Arteta's Arsenal are looking to take on Manchester City for the title this season. Credit: Getty Images/Chloe Knott
For Arsenal to maintain their position as Manchester City's most likely title contender, they need to shed the baggage of last year's failure. They can start with 10 tips: There are 10 months left in the Premier League season, so stop acting like we're down to the last ten games.
Miquel Arteta's approach to the first legs was more radical. reminiscent of a run-in for a title, where each mistake is magnified and lost points are considered a disaster for hopes of winning the championship.
Everyone, including the fans, the players and the coach, seems too intense and too early. It feels like it's time for the club to calm down and stop panicking. The team is in good shape, but taking mediocre performances or early home draws like last week against Fulham as a serious title setback is a sure way to sabotage your aspirations before the campaign really kicks off.
The reaction to the victories was just as harsh. Witness Arsenal's celebrations after beating Crystal Palace 1-0. It was an encouraging, hard-fought victory, achieved under difficult circumstances, with the team reduced to 10 members. The reaction still reminded me of a team that had two games left instead of one that played its second game of the season.
Of course, there is only one significant reason for this. It's called Manchester City.
City have taken up residence in the minds of Arsenal in the same way that they have in Liverpool in the previous five years. They will love what they see in north London in the first three league matches.
The points threshold for winning the title is incredibly high. Everyone knows that if you don't score at least 90 points, you won't get close to Guardiola's team. Basically, you need to enjoy one of the best league seasons in your club's history just to be part of the conversation. This has resulted in an era where negative outcomes for those who seek to challenge are met with a stronger reaction than they would have been before.
Pep Guardiola's Man City scored 89 points to win the Premier League last season. Photo: PA/Martin Rickett
Arsenal are putting too much pressure on themselves to go head-to-head with the champions at the first whistle. City, by contrast, won their first three league matches without being at their best and without the slightest bit of anxiety. Champions have become masters of getting as many points as they need before Christmas before hitting peak form when it matters in the second half of the campaign. If they draw or lose a pair in their first 19 games, they will look to be able to make up any deficit.
Such internal and external pressures are inevitable once expectations return to where they are at Arsenal. A year ago, no one predicted a fight for the title. This summer, anything less will count as a step back.
This does not mean that the team will have to fly out of the blocks, showing mesmerizing football, in order to win flawlessly every week. The rise in emotional tension that we see from March to May, when big prizes are given away, cannot be repeated in the first game. It's inappropriate and not helpful.
For the first time, it seemed to me that something was wrong with the emotional state of Arsenal during the Community Shield meeting with City. As if they considered this game extremely important for quickly hitting opponents.
When Arteta received a warning for demanding a warning to Rodri for a foul on Kai Havertz, he seemed too excited for the occasion. Yes, the Community Shield is a trophy that every club wants to win, which gives confidence before the start of the Premier League. If Arsenal suffered a serious defeat, it would have a negative effect, so the determination to win was understandable. However, it seemed like one team was looking to throw everything in and treat the game like a big final, while the other saw it as essentially just another warm-up match.
Mikel Arteta was cautioned for requiring the referee to issue a caution to an opposing player in the Community Shield final. Photo: Getty Images/Eddie Keogh
I understand why Arsenal think so. Easier said than done with a measured approach when there is such desperation to win the title again, especially right after last season's disappointment.
The pain of losing the title is still acute. Arteta said this before the start of the season.
«The first few weeks were tough,» he said.
«You look in the mirror and wonder if you should have done something better and differently. And then you judge yourself. Are you still the person who will lead the club and the team forward? It took a lot of thought, but the answer is yes.”
There is a common belief that when a team improves and takes second place, it is ready for the next logical step. What worries me is that Arsenal gained all their momentum at the beginning of last season. They don't contribute anything to it.
After 19 games they have 50 points. They gave themselves a great opportunity, but took only 34 of the next 57 offered, allowing City to intercept them.
As Arteta's comments showed, they didn't get rid of the memory of losing the 10-point goal. so there is more negative than positive energy around the Emirates.
Sir Alex Ferguson's first title at Manchester United in 1993 followed a setback a year earlier. Chelsea's period of dominance was preceded by the club finishing second under Claudio Ranieri in 2004. And Liverpool took the next step in 2020, coming painfully close in 2019.
But for every side that used the title bid as a platform to win later on, there are others that backed off, missing their best chance. I had that experience at Liverpool in 2009. The same thing happened to Brendan Rodgers' Liverpool in 2014, while Tottenham failed to take that extra step under Mauricio Pochettino.
Over the summer, Arsenal improved their squad. Declan Rice is a great addition that has already made an impression. Losing Jurrien Timber to a serious injury is a terrible stroke of luck for the player and the club. Kai Havertz has had a difficult start and in changing the roster to accommodate him before Gabriel Jesus was in full form, something was lost.
However, the foundation is there, the quality and the age of the team. Under the current circumstances, Arsenal look as well-equipped as any other team to finish City again.
With a win this weekend — and I think they are far superior to Manchester United» — they will take 10 points out of a possible 12 points. It's a good start for any season.
To continue like this, Arsenal need to regain the joy of starting last year's trip and stop worrying so much and so soon about City and their incredible standards. .
Only a more controlled emotional approach will allow Arsenal to keep moving forward. Otherwise, this year's challenge will end before it even started and City will come out on top because the knockout punches they landed last season means they won't have to throw any punches this time around.
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