It’s absurd to think that West Brom manager Sam Allardyce is planting some early mind games in an attempt to unsettle Arsenal in a potential fight for Premier League survival, but here we are.
Arsenal are in a perilous position and most teams would be considered for the drop at this stage, but most of us still don’t really believe that the Gunners could actually get relegated.
Big Sam clearly thinks they have to be considered as candidates for relegation at this stage and he does point out some deeply worrying stats from an Arsenal point of view:
Asked Sam Allardyce if @Arsenal were rivals at bottom: “Absolutely. They haven’t won a PL game for almost double figures (is seven, one win in 10). Getting beaten last night, even though not in PL drains confidence of Arsenal’s players. They will be wondering what has hit them”
— Simon Stone (@sistoney67) December 23, 2020
It’s still easy to see Arsenal either grabbing a couple of victories from their upcoming games with Brighton, West Brom, Newcastle and Palace to drag themselves away from the bottom, but Mikel Arteta’s job has to be on the line now.
Even if he loses the next few games Arsenal would still have the chance to bring a new boss in who would probably give them a boost and get some results, but there are suggestions that the board just don’t have any intention of making a change in the dugout.
It’s clever from Big Sam to try and emphasise that doubt in Arsenal minds and it doesn’t paint their situation in a good light, but the festive run of fixtures should give us a better idea of how doomed with Arsenal side is.