Arsenal: Emmanuel Petit optimism isn’t totally ridiculous

Emmanuel Petit has stated that Arsenal could yet mount a title challenge after their loss to Manchester United on Saturday. While that may seem a little foolish to say, his optimism is not totally ridiculous.

Entering the season, it was somewhat difficult to gauge the expectations of the year ahead for Arsenal. After a disappointing campaign that saw them slip to fifth in the table, the first time that the club has finished outside the top four, and a contentious summer littered with controversy and despair, there was a degree of trepidation regarding the quality and the future fate of the side.

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Having said that, Arsene Wenger continued to protest that the current squad was capable of a title challenge, and having kept hold of Alexis Sanchez and Mesut Ozil, partnering them with Alexandre Lacazette there was always a slither of hope that a title challenge could be mounted.

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But just 15 games in, after an unfortunate and undeserved 3-1 loss to Manchester United at the weekend, by early December, the Gunners find themselves 12 points off the pace. That is far from where they want to be. And in the aftermath of the loss, the general consensus claims that the title hopes that still persisted had now died.

That, though, is not necessarily the viewpoint of former Gunner Emmanuel Petit. When asked about the weekend’s performance and what it meant for the season ahead, Petit stated his belief that, if Arsenal can perform as they did against United, then they may be able to catch Manchester City, if a few things break their way in the process:

"“The Gunners showed huge passion on Saturday and they need to hold onto that mentality moving forward. The way they played with desire and offensive flair reminded me of how we used to play. Arsenal will definitely make the top four if they keep that level of performance up. They are probably out of the title picture, but anything can happen – in 1998, we were 12 points behind in February and pulled that back. If City lose at United and then Spurs, it could be wide open again.”"

That may seem like a ridiculous, foolish notion to conceive of. And, to some extent at least, it is. But there is also an element of truth to what he says. I can’t quite believe that I’m saying this, but Arsenal can still win the title.

Now, that statement comes with a rather substantial caveat: They can still win the title, but it is very unlikely that they will win the title. I would rate their chances less than their weekend’s opponents, and last year’s victors Chelsea, as well as Manchester City, obviously.

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That, though, does not mean that it is impossible. Football is an odd game; stranger things have happened. Petit may seem hopelessly optimistic here, but there is still a shred of accuracy to his comments. But it’s just a shred.