Uncle Si":r3vlghq2 said:
Gatehawk":r3vlghq2 said:
British Hawk":r3vlghq2 said:
Manchester City will win the Premier League this season. Chelsea, although thoroughly talented, are just too inconsistent. City on the other hand, are starting to find a real groove.
And what about Arsenal? City are winning games, but I hardly would say they've found their groove. 3 games in the past month included favorable decisions for City that shouldn't have gone their way and I still have questions about their away form.
Arsenal on the other hand have finally figured out the one thing they had so much difficulty doing over the past few years, grinding out wins. Against Villa, Arsenal should've blasted them to oblivion with how easy they made things look in the first half. But they let Villa back in the game. You throw that on top of the Newcastle win, and the win over West Ham, and you see a team winning games that a year or two ago, they would've dropped points instead.
Gate...Arsenal are doing spectacularly, but you kind of answered your own thinking. They are "grinding out wins" when they shouldve blasted teams into submission. How long can they expect to do it? Arsenal look far too thin for a title run. Many on here have said it, many pundits are saying the same thing. Its not impossible, but its just not as likely. They have a rough schedule coming up, and the battle between 1-7 will be that all points are at a premium. City and Chelsea are doing the same thing, but have the depth to continue it.
This seems City's to lose. Chelsea taking up second. Arsenal can surprise here but even you can admit they dont have nearly the depth that City/Chelsea do. Points will be dropped at the top by all three. As it stands right now, Arsenal look "the most likely" to concede more in the stretch as they just dont have the quality.
They may surprise, but it be just that... a surprise.
Should I mention the fact that City has lost to Cardiff and Villa who Arsenal beat? Or maybe I should point out that Arsenal haven't lost a match in 2 years in which Koscielny and Mertesacker play the full 90 together? From the "experts" it just sounds like a broken record, all I ever hear is that "Arsenal don't have the depth", "Arsenal don't have the quality", "Arsenal will fall apart", and "Arsenal won't keep it up". These are the same experts that said Arsenal wouldn't make it to New Years Day on top of the EPL, but they did.
You said Arsenal look most likely to concede compared to City and Chelsea. So the club with the joint best defense in the EPL(not to mention Szczesny is statistically one of the best keepers this season) is more likely to concede than City, who seem to concede almost as easily as they've scored at times this season, and Chelsea, who's strategy against top sides seems to be put all but 1 guy in defense. I said it at the end of the Villa match on Monday, the Villains never even came close to a threat until they were handed a goal.
I've absolutely had it with this "Arsenal don't have the quality and depth" crap also. Where does it say you have to have 5 strikers, and 5 center backs to have the depth? Giroud hasn't been scoring goals like Suarez this season(almost seems like not even Messi or Ronaldo could), but then again, why would he if he's getting just as much help from the midfield. I've gotten sick and tired of those who say Giroud isn't good enough, because quite frankly he's invaluable to the team's set up. And I was worried when Walcott was ruled out for the season, but Gnabry's performances in the last 2 games have squashed that, if he keeps that up, with Ox now back, then there's not problem on the wing.
Besides all that, we all know what Arsenal does best is finish the season strong. The last 2 seasons, in the final 15 matches, Arsenal picked up 33 points(11-12 season) and 36 points(12-13 season) out of a possible 45. The problem they had was starting strong and this year they did. If any club knows how to finish a season, it's Arsenal and to say they're more likely to concede and drop points, despite being the most consistent team in the league, is not giving a fair shake to the Gunners.
Hell, what if Arsenal crash out of the Champions League? I mean out of United, City, Chelsea, and Arsenal, the Gunners have the least likely chance of progressing cause they got Bayern Munich. They go out now(and City and Chelsea go through), they don't have to deal with a midweek European excursion. And that's good news if you don't have a deep squad.
Then you look at the run in. The last 5 games, Arsenal face West Ham, Hull(away), Newcastle, West Brom and Norwich(away). Chelsea face Swansea(away), Sunderland, Liverpool(away), Norwich, and Cardiff(away). And City face Liverpool(away), West Brom, Crystal Palace(away), Everton(away), and West Ham. If we reach the last 5 games and it's a 3 team race between City, Chelsea and Arsenal, who do you think has the more favorable finish? I don't think it's Chelsea cause they have to deal with Liverpool and Cardiff away, and City has to go to Merseyside twice, and both sides travel 3 times, and Arsenal have 3 at home and Newcastle would be their toughest test out of all 5.
I don't even expect you to agree with me at all Si, you never do, you probably think Liverpool has a better chance of winning the league than Arsenal.
