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The race is not run yet, but for Arsenal, it certainly feels like they have crashed into a brick wall just as they were dipping their heads at the finishing line. It is not just that they need to break out of their own negative spiral, but that they need the worst team in the Premier League to bail them out.
A week ago, every one of Arsenal’s most reasonable dreams seemed within reach. Not just Champions League qualification but a chance to end Tottenham’s hegemony in North London. They could even have done it on their great rivals’ patch. Two games later, those aspirations seem as realistic now as they did when they sat at the bottom of the Premier League, no points and no goals to their name after three games.
All the undeniable progress that was made between then and this 2-0 defeat to Newcastle will feel like it counts for nought if it doesn’t come with the prize of Champions League football. Unless Norwich can beat Tottenham on the final day with the Gunners also overcoming Everton it is fifth place, this is a step up from where they were in their first two seasons under Mikel Arteta, but a cause for major disappointment given that they were four points clear at kickoff on Thursday.
The demons of derby day were on Arsenal’s shoulders. Arteta had tried to put that 3-0 humiliation in the past as soon as the final whistle was blown, but these players looked like they had come straight from the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium. What may well have ultimately cost Arsenal top four is their inability to take a defeat, hermetically seal it, throw it into the deepest pit in North London and move on.
Aaron Ramsdale took to the St. James’ Park a bouncing ball of buzz, giving every impression that this task held no fear for him. In his actions, though, it was clear that something was up. Perhaps the answer was rather prosaic, a player who slipped on each of his first three long kicks might…
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Source : cbssports
