January 11, 2025

Effective betting

TIPS AND NEWS

As Arsenal’s title dream fades away, is it another example of ‘Arsenaling’?

admin042 mins
As Arsenal's title dream fades away, is it another example of 'Arsenaling'?

  • Chris Wright, Toe Poke writerMay 16, 2023, 08:00 AM ET

Arsenal‘s season had already exceeded expectations long before their surprise bid to win the Premier League title for the first time in almost two decades began to hit the skids in the spring.

Having been top of the table for most of the season, a sequence of three draws [against Liverpool, West Ham United and Southampton] and a 4-1 loss [vs. Manchester City] in April led to them being overtaken by defending champions and title rivals City, who went top for the first time since mid-February on Sunday.

– Stream on ESPN+: LaLiga, Bundesliga, more (U.S.)

The Gunners kept things interesting as they bounced back with impressive wins over Chelsea and Newcastle United, but their title hopes were all but ended with Sunday’s 3-0 defeat at home to Brighton & Hove Albion. That is the view of Arsenal captain Martin Odegaard, who said: “The way we played, especially in the second half, I don’t know what happened, to be honest. A big, big disappointment, and it feels like there is no hope [in the title race] now.”

Check the social media discourse during that run of results and, among a certain set of fans, you’ll likely see one term that keeps popping up: “Arsenaling.”

It’s nothing new, though, with the same online talk surrounding any Arsenal match at the business end of any previous campaign in recent years. Digging into Twitter, it starts to show up at least as early as 2011 — some time after the famed “Invincibles” delivered the Gunners’ most recent championship in 2004.

Despite the term “Arsenaling” also initially being used by fans to describe the team’s penchant for passing the ball around the opposition area without creating a clear chance on goal (which typified the second part of Arsene Wenger’s long reign as manager), by consensus it has now come to mean something else. It could be a “here we go again” feeling after a missed opportunity or bad luck during one match, but especially a sudden downturn in results over the course of a few games at a critical point of the season.

It’s no surprise that other professional athletes, such as NBA star Josh Hart, know an “Arsenaling” when they see one.

The term was once more all over Twitter in the wake of last month’s drubbing at Manchester City, which ceded control of the title to Pep Guardiola’s side …

… and again after that chastening home loss to Brighton.

Arsenal are four points behind City having played a game more. The defending champions can reclaim their crown if Arsenal lose at Nottingham Forest on Saturday, before they host Chelsea the following day.

“Arsenaling” has multiple entries on Urban Dictionary, the primary online resource for such things. One entry defines the word as “leading ’til the end and slipping up at the last moment,” while another reads: “This term is used to describe something so frustrating, distressing and baffling, you’ve gone past the point of caring for it.”

It certainly has a recency bias, forgetting years of Arsenal’s regular success that included five league titles between 1989-2004, and it’s hard to pin down the nation of origin for the term. But it bears a strong similarity to one used around the Clemson Tigers, an American college football team that seemed to have all the resources and talent and could never get over the hump and win a national championship.

In 2015, ESPN writer David M. Hale described “Clemsoning” as: “The derogatory term that hovers over the program like a black cloud, goading the Tigers with promises of an inexplicable loss that will somehow undermine an otherwise promising season.”

That term also belied the school’s rich history, even if it didn’t have the same level of success and global notoriety as Arsenal. The Tigers, however, have been able to mostly scrub it from their fanbase’s lexicon after four national semifinal appearances and two national championships. Arsenal might have let that chance slip by this year.

2007-08
Premier League: 3rd
FA Cup: Fifth round (vs. Manchester United, Feb. 16, 2008)
League Cup: Semifinals (vs. Tottenham, Jan. 22, 2008)
Champions League: Quarterfinals (vs. Liverpool, April 8, 2008)

Despite seeing star striker Thierry Henry move to Barcelona over the summer, Arsenal lost only one of their first 30 Premier League fixtures to top the table for all but three rounds of matches between Sept. 15-March 9. However, a poor run of results began on Feb. 23 with a 2-2 draw against Birmingham City — which started with striker Eduardo suffering a horrendous broken leg and culminated in William Gallas’ infamous postmatch sit-down on the pitch — and took in devastating late-season defeats against title rivals Chelsea (March 23) and Manchester United (April 13) as the pendulum ultimately swung in United’s favour. The Gunners recovered to win their final four games of the campaign by a heavy 10-4 aggregate scoreline, but they couldn’t prevent themselves from becoming the first team to win eight of their opening nine Premier League games and not win the title since … Arsenal, in 2004-05. Rating: 9/10

2008-09
Premier League: 4th
FA Cup: Semifinals (vs. Chelsea, April 18, 2009)
League Cup: Quarterfinals (vs. Burnley, Dec. 2, 2008)
Champions League: Semifinals (vs. Manchester United, May, 5 2009)

Gallas was again the centre of controversy in November after he was stripped of the captaincy by Wenger as punishment for making critical comments about his teammates. The armband was passed to talismanic young midfielder Cesc Fabregas, who lasted four games as skipper before a serious ligament injury sustained in a game against Liverpool in December ruled him out for several months. Overall, Arsenal’s entire season was an underwhelming endeavour. They effectively put paid to any latent title hopes with a run of five draws (including four consecutive 0-0s) between Jan.28 and Feb. 28 and then a protracted defensive injury crisis hit them hard in March and April. Come the final reckoning, this was the first time that Arsenal had gone four consecutive seasons without winning a trophy since 1985-86. Rating: 6/10

2009-10
Premier League: 3rd
FA Cup: Fourth round (vs. Stoke City, Jan. 24, 2010)
League Cup: Fifth round (vs. Manchester City, Dec. 2, 2009)
Champions League: Quarterfinals (vs. Barcelona, April 6, 2010)

While cup success quickly went out of the window, Arsenal scored 36 goals in their first 11 league games and were present in the title race for the majority of the season. They were even joint-second with seven games remaining, level with Chelsea and two points behind leaders Manchester United. However, a stoppage-time equaliser from Kevin Phillips in a draining 1-1 draw against Birmingham on March 27 caused the Gunners’ title challenge to falter irreparably as both their rivals got big victories elsewhere to pull away. As momentum ebbed and defensive fragilities persisted, Arsenal won two of their final seven games — recording critical defeats against Tottenham, Wigan and Blackburn in the process — to finish a distant third, 10 points behind second-placed Manchester United and 11 points behind champions Chelsea. Rating: 8/10

2010-11
Premier League: 4th
FA Cup: Quarterfinal (vs. Manchester United, March 12, 2011)
League Cup: Runners-up (vs Birmingham City, Feb. 27, 2011)
Champions League: Round of 16 (vs. Barcelona, March 8, 2011)

Despite suffering a smattering of galling defeats in big clashes, Arsenal were nonetheless within a point of Premier League leaders Manchester United as March arrived. However, a classic capitulation on all fronts saw the team win two league games through the entirety of March, April and May to put paid to their title challenge. Just to compound matters further, they were also knocked out of the FA Cup, League Cup and Champions League within the space of 14 miserable days between Feb. 27 and March 12 — including a loss to unfancied Birmingham at Wembley in the League Cup final — to ensure a sixth straight season without silverware. Rating: 10/10

2017-18
Premier League: 6th
FA Cup: Third round (vs. Nottingham Forest, Jan. 7, 2018)
League Cup: Runners-up (vs. Manchester City, Feb. 25, 2018)
Europa League: Semifinals (vs. Atletico Madrid, May 3, 2018)

Wenger’s 21st and final season as manager saw his tenure end in unspectacular fashion as Arsenal sat in sixth place from Dec. 22 (after a 3-3 draw with Liverpool) until the end. A shock 4-2 defeat away against Championship side Nottingham Forest saw Arsenal eliminated from the FA Cup third round for the first time since 1996. Indeed, the Gunners’ away form presented a major problem in the league too, winning only four games on the road all season. With unrest increasingly prevalent in the terraces, it took a 1-0 win at relegation-threatened Huddersfield Town on the final day for Arsenal to pick up their first away points of 2018 — the last team in the top four divisions of English football to do so. They made it through to the semifinals of the Europa League before being knocked out by eventual winners Atletico Madrid and failed to land Champions League qualification for the first time since 1997-98. Rating: 5/10

2018-19
Premier League: 5th
FA Cup: Fourth round (vs. Manchester United, Jan. 25, 2019)
League Cup: Quarterfinals (vs. Tottenham, Dec. 19, 2018)
Europa League: Runners-up (vs. Chelsea, May 29, 2019)

With new manager Unai Emery at the helm, a transitional Arsenal squad did little more than tread water as intermittent away wins once again characterised their season. Come the latter stages of the campaign, the Gunners were chasing Tottenham in the race for fourth and the door was left open. Spurs lost eight games in 2019, meaning six points from their final five games would be enough for Arsenal to nip in ahead of Mauricio Pochettino’s floundering side. However, despite facing mid-table opposition in all of their remaining fixtures, Emery’s team bumbled to three straight defeats in the space of a week against Crystal Palace, Wolves and Leicester City in late April to drop to fifth. A 3-1 away win over Burnley on the final day wasn’t enough to prevent them finishing one point and one place below a faltering Spurs side. Despite missing out in the league, Emery and the Gunners still had one last chance to qualify for the 2019-20 Champions League: by beating Chelsea in the Europa League final out in Baku, Azerbaijan. But they lost 4-1. Rating: 9/10

2019-20
Premier League: 8th
FA Cup: Winners
League Cup: Fourth round (vs. Liverpool, Oct. 30, 2019)
Europa League: Round of 32 (vs. Olympiakos, Feb. 27, 2020)

Emery lasted until Nov. 27 before he was sacked following Arsenal’s worst run of results since 1992: a 12-game winless sequence that left them eighth in the Premier League and culminated with a 2-1 defeat against Eintracht Frankfurt in the Europa League group stage. Consistently off the pace, amid a backdrop of turmoil, they sank as low as 12th over the Christmas period. The general sense of turbulence continued for the rest of a campaign hindered by the COVID-19 pandemic, though new manager Mikel Arteta did lighten the burden by delivering FA Cup success in August’s delayed final, the club’s record-extending 14th victory in the competition. Rating: 6/10

2020-21
Premier League: 8th
FA Cup: Fourth round (vs. Southampton, Jan. 23, 2021)
League Cup: Quarterfinals (vs. Manchester City, Dec. 22, 2020)
Europa League: Semifinals (vs. Villarreal, May 6, 2021)

After winning the first two Premier League games of Arteta’s first full season in charge, Arsenal won just two more of their next 12 fixtures, losing eight, while dropping down to 15th and hovering precariously above the relegation zone. Results gradually stabilised and a five-game winning streak was at least enough to cement a top-half finish. The Gunners also experienced unceremonious eliminations from the FA Cup, League Cup and Europa League which ultimately saw them fail to qualify for any European competition for the first time since 1994-95. Rating: 4/10

2021-22
Premier League: 5th
FA Cup: Third round (vs. Nottingham Forest, Jan. 9, 2022)
League Cup: Semifinals (vs. Liverpool, Jan. 20, 2022)

Without the distraction of Europe to contend with, Arteta’s effervescent young squad generally gave a good account of themselves on the domestic front, though their cup runs came to abrupt ends within the space of 11 days at the start of the new year. They spent more time in fourth place than any other Premier League team from December onward, despite seeing club captain Pierre Emerick Aubameyang dropped from the first team over disciplinary issues and then shipped off to Barcelona on a free transfer in early February. However, a blip in March and April saw Arsenal lose four games from five (including three defeats on the bounce against Crystal Palace, Brighton and Southampton) and allowed Tottenham to close the gap before they handed them the advantage with a 3-0 loss in the North London derby on May 12. Going into the final match of the season, Arsenal were trailing fourth-placed Spurs by two points and therefore had to win and hope their rivals lost in order to qualify for the Champions League. The former thrashed Everton 5-1 but Spurs’ 5-0 victory at Norwich saw the Gunners finish fifth. Rating: 7/10

Conclusion: Every club has its ups and downs, both over the course of a period of years and within one particular season. What separates the best from the rest is being able to arrest the slide and bounce back from adversity.

Arsenal have shown they can still deliver silverware even in the midst of a bad season, something local rivals Spurs have proved unable to do for some time even when they have been the superior team in north London.

But, since winning their last league title in such glorious fashion, the Gunners have made a habit of throwing their season away with a bad run of results across competitions at the wrong time. It’s easy to see why their fans and supporters of their rivals are always on the lookout for the theme repeating itself anew. For them, “Arsenaling” is a constant hazard to be aware of.

But could this season’s performance, when they were top of the table for so long before Manchester City regained the advantage in the title race, be a sign that they can end the phenomenon? Or is this season just one of the cruellest examples of “Arsenaling”? We’ll have to wait until this time next year to know for sure.

Related News