OK, first thing’s first. Let’s take nothing away from Hull’s fantastic 2-1 win at The Emirates on Saturday, nobody would have predicted that they’d win this match, especially after falling behind early in the second half of the match. However, while Tigers fans must be pinching themselves after this unbelievable victory, it’s a big blow to the title chances of Arsenal, who are two points behind Chelsea and Liverpool, despite a favourable-looking first six fixtures.
So why did they come a cropper at home to the team expected to finish bottom of the Premier League this campaign? Was there an element of complacency from Arsene Wenger’s team, did they fail to create enough clear-cut chances or are the likes of Van Persie and Adebayor not delivering the goods? AFP reports that the Frenchman cites his team didn’t operate at the ‘right level’ in order to win the match.
“We weren’t completely switched on to the level you need to be to win the game,” Wenger said. “Human beings are not machines and perhaps subconsciously we thought we would just win it.
“We were a bit careless and it was a good lesson for us. We now know that if our attitude isn’t right, we can lose games and Hull played very well, especially in defence.
“You can never afford defeats but it is very concerning to lose a game like we did today. We had a good chance to go top of the league but at the end of the day, if we had had the same level of concentration as Hull we would have won the game.”
Arsenal fans, surely you must be concerned by this defeat, although are you still confident that the Gunners can challenge for title honours this season? After all, the Big Four have all unexpectedly slipped up already this season, although Wenger’s men can’t afford too many more slip-ups if they’re to reclaim the league this team.
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