14th position in the Premier League is not pretty reading.
It shows a gargantuan – and growing – gap between us and where we want to be.
It shows that we have lost five games from ten this season. It shows just how far away we really are from where we want to be.
And yet, we are undefeated in the Europa League this season and guaranteed top spot in the group.
We have to bear in mind the class of opponent we have faced so far, and how far away they are to what we face week in and week out in the Premier League.
But the poor form should have spilled over in some way into our European exploits – and it hasn’t materialised. We have made plain sailing thus far.
And just look at last season’s FA Cup win. We defeated the top teams in the competition and lifted the famous trophy – but looking at this season, it’s looking like an anomaly. Ditto the Community Shield.
Are we becoming a cup team?
In 1993, we won the FA Cup and the League Cup – but finished tenth.
In 1994, we won only our second European trophy, the European Cup Winners Cup. We finished 4th in the Premiership.
In 1995, we again reached a European final. We finished 12th in the League.
We have history of becoming a team that – on its day – can raise its game and upset the odds against the bigger teams. We did that in the seasons listed above and since Arteta took over, it looks like we could be doing the same thing again.
We have defeated Liverpool multiple times, we defeated City, Chelsea, on our way to our trophy win last season. We have defeated United twice – yet we have lost half of our league matches this season.
It smacks of a motivational issue. We seem to rise to the occasion when we face sides that should – on paper – defeat us.
But face off against a team we should beat? We lack the displays we are capable of. The high press, the effort that we put in and show in the big games?
It completely disappears.
Of course, trophies are what matters and if we were to win cups continuously? Would you endure midtable obscurity for it?