arsene wenger v manchester city — LONDON, ENGLAND - MARCH 01: Arsene Wenger of Arsenal looks on during the Premier League match between Arsenal and Manchester City at Emirates Stadium on March 1, 2018 in London, England. (Photo by Shaun Botterill/Getty Images)

Arsenal Opinion

It’s happening again: Arsenal’s pattern of failure & redemption through the years

Mar 10, 2018

In recent seasons, Arsenal have started to settle into a pattern of making a late flourish when all seems lost, but then performing even more poorly in the next campaign.

The final stretch of each season seems to lull fans into a false sense of security, making them think everything isn’t as bad as it appeared. It never lasts though. Let’s take a look at the last four seasons to illustrate the point.

22015/16

The Premier League was as open as it had ever been the next season, yet Arsenal performed even more poorly.

By March they were out of the running in every competition, with Watford knocking them out of the FA Cup, Sheffield Wednesday embarrassing them in the League Cup and Bayern Munich and Barcelona combining to crush the team’s Champions League dreams.

Meanwhile, consecutive defeats to Manchester United and Swansea ended their title hopes.

After that, Wenger’s side went unbeaten until the end of the league season. They went to White Hart Lane and the Etihad and got results, and edged in ahead of Spurs for second place on the final day.

Despite the higher league finish, Arsenal’s points tally decreased from 75 to 71, and they went trophyless. It was a worse season than 2014/15, but again the final flourish left fans vaguely optimistic.

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