Everyone might be getting a little ahead of themselves, but there’s now a murmur that Arsenal might still have a chance at winning the Premier League title this season. Even though Chelsea have practically got a hand on the trophy, and Arsenal have a propensity to shoot themselves in the foot, here are five reasons neutrals should be rooting for an unlikely Gunners title win this season…
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1) Chelsea are horrible
This alone should be enough for anyone to want a different title winner this season, but Chelsea are just about the most despicable club in Premier League history. They stockpile young players that they never intend to use, sell them for a profit, buy the biggest and established stars in world football, still play boring and defensive football, have players like Diego Costa kicking lumps out of every opponent he comes up against, and Jose Mourinho still complains. For the purity of the game, cheer on anyone but these guys.
2) Mourinho’s reaction would be amazing
The most sore loser in the game, it would be absolutely beautiful to see Mourinho react to letting the title slip from this strong a position. The Portuguese coach spends a whole week complaining if his side don’t get a penalty; can you imagine the excuses and efforts to convince us there’s a ‘campaign against Chelsea’ if his side totally capitulated now? It would be like nothing ever seen before.
3) They’re genuine underdogs
Okay, so a picture of Mesut Ozil, Santi Cazorla and Alexis Sanchez perhaps isn’t the best way to illustrate this point, but Arsenal are genuine underdogs in this title race, even if they’re not underdogs in the way that, say, Stoke would be. Forgetting the huge gap they still have to make up, the Gunners have not won the title since 2004 and would not have been anyone’s pick to do so at the beginning of the season – especially having endured such a disappointing start to the campaign. For the sake of keeping some magic in the game, let’s see as close as we can expect of a repeat of what Atletico Madrid did last season – a team with far less money to blow than their nearest rivals who would genuinely surprise everyone if they won it.
4) They play good football
It’s an old cliche about Arsenal, but with class players like Ozil, Cazorla and Sanchez at their best, they really do play some fantastic football. Even the supposed target man Olivier Giroud manages to look good in this Gunners side, while young players like Francis Coquelin and Hector Bellerin continue to come through and show the world that there is some hope for developing talent and playing in an ambitious and entertaining way. Do we really want to believe that it has to be the other way round, that spending and defending is the only route to success in the modern game?
5) Wenger’s not a bad guy
Look at that smile! He’s not perfect, but can anyone really dislike Arsene Wenger? And even if he’s not your cup of tea, hasn’t he been through enough? If there’s one thing you can say about the Arsenal manager, it’s that he has a hell of a drive to finally see his vision come to something, refusing to back down on any of his policies, for better or for worse, during his entire 18 years with the club. Many felt he should have gone out on a high after winning the FA Cup last season, but wouldn’t it be great to see his hard work pay off and bring another, long-awaited league title?