1. Away day blues for Arsenal in the Premier League
As the full-time whistle blew at the Hawthorns boos rang around the stadium from the Arsenal fans. This is now three consecutive away defeats on the trot for Arsenal, and it may be understandable that two of those defeats were against Chelsea and Liverpool but it is inexcusable to capitulate in the way they did against West Brom. More worryingly their only wins in the last seven games across all competitions have come against lowly non-league sides.With the games running out, may Wengers saving grace come in the FA Cup. #Worrying Times
2. Arsenal do not learn their lessons from set pieces.
Arsene Wenger warned as much that West Brom’s main threat would come from set pieces and it would be up to Arsenal to deal with that physical battle inside both boxes. Yet time and time again they prove to be naive and mentally weak. Before Dawson scored his first from a corner, you could see the big defender with plenty of room inside of the box nobody getting close to him and inevitably he rose highest to get a head to the ball to flick it into the far corner. Jamie Redknapp in the Sky sports studios at half-time screamed about the lack of leaders in the team especially from set pieces where they knew West Brom would be so dangerous. So then to concede the third goal in the same fashion was inexplicable, where three West Brom attackers could have actually scored.It begs the question where is the characters in this team? Are the players taking responsiblity? Because it is their reputation’s on the line and this now could turn into a dismal season for Arsenal.
3. #Wenger out banners going nowhere any time soon.
During the first half of this must win game for Arsenal, an aircraft could be seen from the sky raising the banner “NO CONTRACT, #WENGER OUT”. The Arsenal faithful are getting restless with the situation where they find themselves in the dark on whether Arsene will sign a new contract or not. From these banners we know what the majority want and as the full-time whistle blew, many more banners seemed to be coming out in various sections of the Arsenal support. This is a truly testing time for Arsene and his players and it will be interesting to see how they bounce back with a FA Cup semi-final to come and race to get into the top four now.
4. Arsenal facing an uphill task to reach the top four.
A win today could have moved them three points behind Liverpool and put pressure on them for their away fixture against Manchester City. However, they somewhat choked again and could find themselves in a real uphill battle to get into the top four and could find themselves sixth and eight points behind Liverpool as we go into the international break. With difficult fixtures in their next seven games against Manchester City, Tottenham and Manchester United this could prove to be a key point of the season for Arsenal.
5. West Brom finally beat one of top six in the Premier League
West Brom had reached the magic forty point mark for the season and could have been forgiven for easing off the gas come the final stretch of the season. Nevertheless, they had a great attitude towards the game and although Arsenal had more than 70% possession West Brom largely dominated the game and were always a danger from set pieces. Having previously gained only one point from their previous meetings against the top six clubs this season, they finally got that monkey of their back and dispatched of Arsenal quite easily in the end.
Writer: Adrian Addai
Co-editor: Adrian Addai
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