The 2024/25 Premier League campaign has turned into another incredibly frustrating one for Arsenal fans, as despite our hopes that we would go one step further under manager Mikel Arteta and finally get our hands on the much wanted league trophy, it has all gone predictably pear shaped once again.
Our failure to appropriately strengthen during the summer transfer window as we seemed to prioritise new favourite faces over improving the whole group, and finally addressing well discussed striker issues – and then in some cases not even using the options available to us – came strikingly to the fore with the utter collapse of Pep Guardiola’s Manchester City side.
It was then a two horse race with Arne Slot’s Liverpool and with a mix of injury issues hitting, a lack of useable depth and the continuation of our falling strike rate that led to far too many games ending with a draw, we wildly slipped off the pace and then we apparently made the wilful choice to do absolutely nothing about it in the January window and for those fans who like a flutter with betting, the odds on one outcome flowing from this was obvious.
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It did nothing for our chances in the second half of the campaign, and with us now at the true business end of the year whilst there is plenty of cheer about when it comes to our Champions League progression, club legend David Seaman admitted on his Seaman Says Podcast, sponsored by Betway, that in terms of the domestic title, we have effectively cooked our own goose again and it is an error that could have, and should have, been easily avoided.
The 61 year old, 75 capped England international goalkeeper, had to admit that although he ‘can’t hear anybody singing’ just yet, the orchestra is ‘getting warmed up’ as the title is undoubtedly heading back to Anfield this year and Arsenal will again go down as plucky runners up like we have in more recent seasons.
The main topic of conversation with former professional striker Kevin Phillips was again our utter failure to address the never ending attacker question at the club, as even Phillips had to admit it was now very much a case of asking ‘the same question every day’ yet the supporters never seem to actually get an answer from the club.
Not least in January as Phillips leaned on his own experience as a player and spoke about how a new signing, and a signing of intent, can lift the whole dressing room and that additional ‘buzz’ can always help to get you over the line, whether you are chasing for a title, the European spots or even battling relegation, but again our deadline day ended with a whimper and it seems that this is how we are going to see the season out as well.
The more critical Gunners fans amongst us would agree, as we hit the midway point of March we are not so much looking up to top spot and that 15 point gap, plenty will be watching what happens below us with Nottingham Forest bizarrely only four points shy in third spot and six sides in total are within ten points of us.
That was a point Seaman more than agreed with as he knew finishing in third spot now would be a real negative as we look towards the summer.
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