TheDrowningMan

The Spurs game is the last realistic chance of Arsenal dropping points this season. I can’t see them falling short in any other.

People are going to be delusional enough to think we are entitled be a top four side as a result of our history despite spending like a lower top 10 side. Following our recent dip in form, I’ve seen a ton of social media cretins declaring that Klopp’s departure might be a good thing - they’re going to have a rude awakening next season, when the extent of our over-performance under his management becomes clear. The reality is that Europa League qualification would have to be seen as a really good result for a club that invests on the pitch like ours.

Or lose once.

Read my first paragraph again. Or the other posts where I’ve pointed out that Arsenal’s sudden success can be attributed in no small part to the shitloads of money they’ve spent.

If Arsenal fail to win the league this season, it would have to be said that Arteta has done a pretty poor job given the amount he has spent. Still, Arsenal have a healthy GD advantage at this point - a City draw in the last six, and they may well still win it unless they fall apart completely, which can’t be ruled out after last season’s collapse. I think we’re done since our pissing away of the GD advantage means we’d need both a City loss and a miraculous turnaround in form.

Have to agree. At the risk of sounding like a broken record, we are stuffed in the longer term if FSG don’t start spending like a top four club should.

I think squad player is about right, but that’s his limit. He should be someone we call on 2 or 3 times per season in the league, and is clearly not the calibre of player we need as a regular starter in that position.

Yep. People think we should be challenging for the biggest trophies on name alone. Fact is, our net spend is not that of a club that should be in the mix for league titles and qualifying for the CL year in, year out. If on-field investment continues at its current rate when the new manager comes in, consistent Europa League / Conference qualification will be a very, very good achievement for a club that behaves like ours does. If we perform at that level that level, a failure to go higher will be on the owners rather than the coaching staff.

We’re not going to get anywhere near this close with the current level of investment from the owners.

Nunez is a player you throw on in the last 10-15 minutes of the game, not a pivotal part of your frontline. He wouldn’t be a starter at any other top six club, and shouldn’t be for us.

I think it’s a bit harsh to blame his captaincy. We’re seeing a flawed team that played above itself for 2/3 of a season, which is an improvement on last year. Fact is, we need to spend like a top four club if we want to be one post-Klopp. There’s no excuse for Arsenal to be spending hundreds of millions more than us, unless our commercial department is the worst in world football.

It’s good that third place is essentially guaranteed, because the next three league fixtures are utterly terrifying for a team in our form.

Disappointing as it is, I think we’ve over-performed for much of the season thanks to the efforts of a brilliant manager. A squad with such glaring weaknesses can only go so far. The next manager is going to have a torrid time if FSG aren’t willing to spend properly - top four isn’t going to be a regular occurrence if we spend like we have. There’s no reason why we shouldn’t be outspending Arsenal.

Why not? They spend fuckloads - only Chelsea and Man Utd have thrown more at transfers in recent years.

I did, yes. Which, admittedly, is a bit of a spanner in the works unless we find a way to have 75 shots per game.

If FSG are willing to invest properly in the summer then I’d keep him as an impact sub, but if it’s the usual situation, he has to go, unfortunately.

We need to be going all out to win by 5 or 6 in every game now. Arsenal won’t drop any more points, so we need to do something sensational on goal difference.

Yep, though that’s compounded by the fact that we spend far below our status these days. Arsenal throw massive, massive sums around too, yet we’re apparently too poor to get close to the net spend of Tottenham and Aston Villa.

City will win the rest of their games too, but it won’t be enough. Arsenal have dropped points in one game since December and have mostly dross to play.

Disagree on the basis that it effectively confirms Arsenal as champions.

I think his place, if we keep him, is as an impact sub. He’s just not someone we should be relying on for 90 minutes and wouldn’t be a starter for any other club currently in the top six.

I’m inclined to agree. For whatever reason, we just can’t do it when it counts against United under Ten-Hag. As much as we claim they’re shit, it’s one in in 5 and three losses against them.

Once again, FSG won’t spend enough, and the consequences of that will be stark post-Klopp. A normal manager won’t have us competing with Arsenal if we don’t spend Arsenal money.

That’s that. Title is gone so all eggs have to go into the European Loser’s Cup basket.

Half an hour to stay in the title race. Ought to be making changes at this point, because we’re not going to again with the current line-up.