One of many duties of writing for Simply Arsenal is to meticulously sift by means of the day’s information for Arsenal-related tales that we imagine would possibly pique the curiosity of our readers.
As we speak, whereas performing this activity, I encountered varied headlines that includes the identify Tottenham, and it shortly turned obvious to me that, in some circles, they’re now being thought-about as potential title contenders.
As an illustration, The Manchester Night Information featured this headline: “Man Metropolis’s subsequent six Premier League fixtures in comparison with Tottenham, Arsenal, and different rivals.” Whereas it’s attainable they did this for clickbait functions, it’s price noting that they didn’t embody Liverpool within the headline, although Liverpool tends to generate extra clicks, as our analytics have demonstrated.
What this headline suggests to me is that some are actually taking Tottenham severely as contenders. This led me to ponder whether or not it will be unwise to underestimate them.
It’s fairly easy to dismiss Tottenham due to their lack of current silverware and the “Spursy” tag has grow to be synonymous with their perceived inconsistency. However is that this dismissal merely a results of tribalism?
I can recall the start of final season when nobody gave Arsenal an opportunity of difficult for the title. Most pundits and observers didn’t even think about us top-four materials. And why ought to they’ve? We had completed eighth, eighth, and fifth in earlier seasons, and we faltered in our top-four pursuits.
Personally, I don’t imagine Spurs are real title contenders. I keep that it’s a three-way race between ourselves, Manchester Metropolis, and Liverpool. Nevertheless, am I falling into the identical lure that many did final season when it got here to us?
I perceive that getting reasoned responses on this topic could also be difficult as a result of it revolves round Tottenham. However, when analyzing their upcoming fixtures, it’s evident that they’ve 4 consecutive video games that one would genuinely count on them to win. Furthermore, they’ve the luxurious of taking part in only one recreation per week, which is how momentum is constructed. As Leicester Metropolis and even we demonstrated final season, momentum could be an extremely potent power.
As I’ve already talked about, I don’t see them as real title rivals. Nevertheless, in the event that they proceed successful and accumulating factors, my perspective might but endure a change.
