Arsenal, for a long time now, have been one of Premier League’s most attractive teams to watch. Their football, for large parts of the last...
Arsenal, for a long time now, have been one of Premier League’s most attractive teams to watch. Their football, for large parts of the last two decades, has been artistic, enthralling fans and also winning admirers among the neutrals.
But beauty doesn’t always translate to success. In their pursuit of blurring the lines between football and art, the Gunners have often been caught on the wrong end of heavy defeats against fellow big teams that didn’t just neutralise their flair but exposed and exploited their weaknesses time and again.
The 8-2 defeat at Old Trafford, the 6-0 humbling by Chelsea and several heavy defeats inflicted by Liverpool and Manchester City in the last few years had handed the Gunners the unwanted tag of big-game bottlers.
For all their pretty football against the lesser sides, Arsenal always came up short when they locked horns with the very best.
The pattern that began under Arsene Wenger extended into Unai Emery’s reign. A 4-1 loss to Chelsea in the 2019 Europa League final was a classic case of Arsenal capitulating against a rival when it mattered most.
Since Mikel Arteta took charge at the Emirates stadium in December, Arsenal have shown signs of improvement on that front. While the odd...
