The biggest threat to Arsenal’s title challenge is Arsenal.
Don’t take offence, supporters of Manchester City and Aston Villa. If another team take this title from Mikel Arteta’s team, they will deserve great credit. There remains a considerable lead to overhaul.
But it’s increasingly difficult to escape the feeling that if Arsenal do fall short, they will have been the architects of their own downfall.
A 3-2 defeat at home to Manchester United means it’s now three games without a win in the Premier League. Their advantage at the top has been cut to four points. But the ramifications of this defeat go beyond that — it has opened old wounds in a fanbase scarred by second-place finishes.
It was perplexing to see Arsenal lose this game off the back of such an impressive showing in midweek. On Tuesday, Arsenal were victorious in the battle of the top two in the Champions League. A 3-1 win against Inter at the San Siro, with a rotated team, showcased Arsenal’s trophy-winning credentials.
It’s worth noting that United had no such mid-week test — that they’ve been able to prepare for this game for a full seven days. That advantage should stand Michael Carrick’s top-four bid in good stead in the remainder of the season. Arsenal, still fighting on four fronts, must find a way to cope with an increasingly intense schedule.
But there’s more to this result than who had the most rest.
In recent weeks, it has felt as if there are two Arsenals: a commanding, confident team in the Champions League and the domestic cups; a meek imitation in the Premier League.
In games against Liverpool, Nottingham Forest and Manchester United, Arsenal have looked like a team burdened with expectation.
United came to the Emirates Stadium buoyed by their derby victory, but still as underdogs. They found freedom in that. This looked at times like a team with nothing to fear visiting a team with everything to lose.
“I think to discriminate between competitions is very difficult, for me at least — to separate individual performances of the players and the collective one,” Arteta told reporters afterwards. “But it’s a reality that we haven’t won in three games in the Premier League — and we have to pick up points now.”
The other competitions feel like palate cleansers; the Premier League feels like a gruelling march towards gratification. What lies at the end of this arduous road for the Arsenal fans? Is it joy? Or merely relief?
It may already feel like a distant memory, but Arsenal started this game brilliantly. The own goal they forced from Lisandro Martinez was just reward for a dominant opening 20 minutes.
Mikel Arteta shows his frustration during Sunday’s game (Alex Pantling/Getty Images)
But as soon as Arsenal were ahead, mistakes began to creep in, culminating in the disastrous backpass from Martin Zubimendi that gifted United their equaliser.
Arteta admitted Arsenal had looked suddenly shaky. “There were three or four errors, to be fair, that were very unusual today in the game, and they are part of football,” he said. “Sometimes you get punished and sometimes not, and today we got punished.”
Arsenal were brutally punished in the second half too — two superb strikes from Patrick Dorgu and Matheus Cunha gave United the win.
A raft of substitutions, including a quadruple change before the hour mark, could not turn the day in Arsenal’s favour. One substitute, Mikel Merino, did turn the ball home to make it 2-2, but the lead lasted a matter of minutes.
Merino’s goal came from yet another set piece. Arsenal’s threat at dead balls is as impressive as it is necessary — in open play, their attack is struggling for fluency.
It is a widespread issue. None of Arsenal’s attacking players can be said to be in top form. Even those Arteta seemingly trusts most, Bukayo Saka and Martin Odegaard, are falling short of expectations.
It would be an exaggeration to say the title race has been blown wide open. City and Villa have not yet demonstrated the requisite consistency.
But this recent run has exposed a chink in Arsenal’s psychological armour. Just as they needlessly invited United into this game having gone ahead, they are offering considerable encouragement to the chasing pack. History suggests Pep Guardiola and Manchester City require little invitation.
On this occasion, Arsenal’s team and fans became equally beset by nerves — a vicious cycle of anxiety that sucked the life (and the noise) out of the Emirates Stadium.
Expectation and fear make for a horrible cocktail. Those outside of Arsenal often seem more convinced of the team’s title credentials than their own supporters. The trauma of three consecutive second-place finishes, of leads squandered and opportunities lost, weighs heavily.
There was a smattering of boos at full time. It’s not antipathy. It’s pain.
Perhaps this is the wobbliest point of Arsenal’s wobble. Perhaps this is where Arteta gets a grip on his team, when they wrestle with their demons and overcome them. Perhaps it can be a turning point — the moment when Arsenal let go of the fear of losing the league, and seized the initiative required to go on and win it.
Play to their potential, and they are more than capable. On Wednesday, Arsenal were being lauded as the best in Europe — and this is still just their third league defeat of the season. There is no crisis. But there might be a crisis of confidence.
And it’s still only January. If Arsenal look unsteady now, how will they look when the pressure ramps up in March, April and May?
In recent seasons, Arsenal have been able to point justifiably to external factors as the reason for faltering — injuries, officiating, a freakishly relentless City.
This time, with a squad this deep and this good, they are all out of excuses. If they do not win the Premier League this season, Arteta and Arsenal will only be able to look at themselves.
