In the away game against Bolton Wanderers, the team that had conceded the most goals at home in the Premier League this season, Arsenal failed to score a single goal and ended up with a goalless draw with their opponent.
Although Arsenal obtained 65% of the ball in the entire game, the ratio of their attacks into the opponent's half of the field was 48% to 52%. They also only had four shots at the goalpost, which was only one more than their opponent.
It could be said that even in terms of the game, Arsenal did not have the upper hand.
Although they eventually stopped the decline of three consecutive defeats in the Premier League, as Wenger said after the home defeat to Manchester United in the last round of the league, Arsenal was already "in a very difficult position." Previously, they wanted to catch up with Chelsea, who was ranked fourth in the league, but now the fourth in the league had become the Gunners' arch-rival, Tottenham Hotspur, and they were leading by as many as 12 points! This must have made the Gunners even more miserable!
The Gunners could no longer afford to lose pointless points against a weak team.
However, in the face of Bolton Wanderers, who were ranked fourth from the bottom in the table, Arsenal was still unable to get all three points. Not only did they fail to narrow the points gap with Chelsea, but they were also overtaken by Newcastle United, who was originally ranked behind them.
In the four rounds of the Premier League in 2012, Arsenal drew one and lost three and only scored one point. Their position in the table had also fallen from fifth place on December 31, 2011 to seventh place now.
Some time ago, Wenger had said, "For me, not being able to participate in the Champions League is a disaster because I want to compete with the best teams. We want to be in the top four and qualify for the Champions League. Other than that, nothing else is good enough."
However, from the looks of it now, the disaster of not being able to qualify for the Champions League this season was still continuing, and it was getting closer and closer to the next season.
Wenger still stubbornly said after this game, "There is still a long way to go to compete for the top four. I am confident that we can catch up from behind. We have already passed the difficult period. We have lost three league games in a row, but I believe the team will soon find the feeling of winning. "
However, compared to Chelsea, who invested a transfer fee of seven million pounds to bring in the England national footballer, Gary Cahill, to fill the gap in the center of defense, Arsenal's signings in the winter transfer window were only to sign a two-month short-term loan contract with the 34-year-old Henry, and then spend six hundred thousand pounds to bring in a young lad from the Borussia Dortmund youth team, Eisfeld. Could the Gunners, whose lineup was already lacking in depth, surpass the Blues and Tottenham Hotspur in the league? Oh, now they had to overtake Newcastle United first. The cruel competitive situation really made people suspicious.
After entering 2012, Arsenal only managed to win the FA Cup after four rounds of the Premier League with one draw and three losses.
After Arsenal's 3: 2 comeback against Aston Villa last Sunday, Walcott said to the Daily Express, "A medal is something I want to get. I want to look at my career and see the trophies I have won, but I haven't got one yet. I am willing to do anything. Trophies are the most important thing. I want to get fourth place or better with the team in the league and win any trophy we can win. The FA Cup is a good opportunity for us because some of the big teams have been eliminated. This is a competition we can win. The way the players launched a desperate counterattack from a 0: 2 deficit shows how much we want to win the FA Cup. "
Walcott also revealed, "Van Persie gave a speech during half-time. He is the captain and he once again showed how much he believes in us and how much he wants to win the title for this team. He knows that we have the same desire in our hearts. "
As Walcott said, Arsenal, who had not won a title in five years, yearned for glory.
Especially the captain, Van Persie. His love and loyalty to Arsenal was obvious to all, but his desire for glory was just as strong.
A few days ago, Mundo Deportivo, the mouthpiece of the Barcelona club, published a report on the front page, claiming that Van Persie was dissatisfied with the long absence of a title in his career, which was why he had not renewed his contract with Arsenal.
Van Persie's current contract with Arsenal would expire in the summer of 2013, but Mundo Deportivo pointed out that Van Persie, who had a tacit understanding with Fàbregas, should transfer to Barcelona this summer. Mundo Deportivo believed that Van Persie would be happy to go to Barcelona and enjoy the joy of winning the title with Fàbregas.
Mundo Deportivo's appeal was bound to make all Arsenal fans indignant. But if such a fact really happened and Arsenal could not be ranked in the top four of the Premier League by the end of the season and qualify for next season's Champions League, then even if Van Persie chose to leave the team in this summer's transfer window, or even if he was poached by Barcelona, who could provide a chance to compete for the Champions League title, no one would blame the dedicated Arsenal captain for being heartless.
Compared to the decline of the two London giants, Manchester United, who used to compete with Arsenal and Chelsea for the title, had a solid performance in the current round. Losing the FA Cup did not affect the fighting spirit of the Red Devils. Ferguson's ability to adjust the team had always been obvious to all.
Manchester United easily defeated Stoke City at home by 2: 0 and continued to put pressure on the top team, Liverpool.
And the most unexpected thing was that Liverpool was able to return to the top of the table thanks to their arch-rival, Everton.
Moyes led the Toffees to give the Blue Moon Manchester City a head-on blow at Goodison Park!
1: 0!
Everton gave Manchester City a painful defeat by relying on Manchester United's abandonment of Darron Gibson's kill.
On the one hand, after Yaya Toure went to the African Cup of Nations, Manchester City suddenly looked like they could not play football. On the other hand, the media jokingly said that Manchester United caused trouble for their arch-rival by sending Darron Gibson to Everton to snipe Manchester City!
After 23 rounds, the battle for the title on the scoreboard was still fierce, and the battle for the qualification for the Champions League had also become white-hot and exceptionally cruel.
Liverpool 54 points.
Manchester United 53 points.
Manchester City 51 points.
Tottenham Hotspur 49 points.
Chelsea 42 points.
Newcastle United 38 points.
Arsenal 37 points.
Although Tottenham Hotspur had the possibility of winning the title, Fleet Street always thought that Tottenham Hotspur was still a contender for the qualification for the Champions League, and the battle for the title was still a game between the two cities of Manchester and Liverpool.
Unless Tottenham Hotspur could wash away the decline of the past few years in the civil war with the powerhouses in the second half of the league tournament and remove the shame of White Hart Lane being called a three-point lane.
Otherwise, even if Tottenham Hotspur was only five points away from Liverpool now, the gap between them would be widened after Tottenham Hotspur played against the two Manchester giants, Liverpool and other teams.
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