Arsenal: Europa League success hints at other failings

Arsenal are enjoying another success cup run in the Europa League. Their success in the knockout competitions hints at their other failings.

Arsenal have had great success in cup competitions in recent years, especially domestically. The Champions League has perhaps been a little above their level, particularly given the quality of teams that they have drawn in the knockout stages, but they have won three of the last four FA Cups, for instance.

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I have long held the premonition that this team is better suited to cup competitions. As the old saying regarding the fragile but frantically fantastic saying goes regarding the more modern iteration of Arsene Wenger’s Arsenal, ‘they can beat anyone on their day’. That is very much the case. It is why knockout tournaments in which the performance of the odd few 90 minutes matters suit them so well.

Moreover, contrast their league form to that of their cup form, and it seems to prove the hypothesis. It is a theory that James Benge of the London Evening Standard put to Wenger his post-match press conference after the Gunners’ 5-1 aggregate win over AC Milan on Thursday night. His response, which you can read in full here, was very interesting. Here is an extract from what he had to say:

"“Look, we made 75 points last year. We were one point short in the championship and it’s the first time in the history of the Premier League that you don’t qualify for the Champions League with 75 points. The year before we finished second in the Premier League. It’s true that this year we struggled but [due] to our away results, not our home results. I wouldn’t like to go too quickly to that kind of conclusion.”"

Wenger delves into the detail with his answer. So let’s dig a little deeper and see if Arsenal are doing better in the league than their 14-year title drought would indicate. Wenger is right in one sense. 75 points last season is the highest tally that a fifth-place team has ever amassed. But from between 2003/04 – 2012/13, the average third-placed points total was 75.9 points. With 75 points, Arsenal would have only finished fourth, somewhat predictably.

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Wenger also sights the fact that his team finished third and second in the prior two seasons. Again, he is accurate, but only to an extent. Only once between 2003 and 2013 did a second-placed team finish on points as low as what Arsenal did when they finished second, 71 points, and it was only because of Spurs’ capitulation on the final day that they slid in behind Leicester. Similarly, their third place in 2014/15 of 75 points, as proven above, is just par for the course.

Moreover, the Gunners’ points-per-game have tailed off. Only twice in the last decade have they topped two points-per-game, and only once have they finished above third, the aforementioned flukey 2015/16 season. In Wenger’s first decade, for comparison, only twice did they finish below second — his very first season and the last of his first decade.

Contrast that to their cup results. Three FA Cup wins in the past four years. An EFL Cup final appearance this year. They are even unbeaten in the Community Shield in this most recent trophy run. And now, amid their toils in the league, they are flourishing in the Europa League. The comparison is not all that close: Arsenal are substantially better in the cups than the league.

Next: Arsenal Vs AC Milan: 5 things we learned

What tells us is simple: When it comes to a league campaign, consistency is king and Arsenal most certainly do not have it. Until they do, cup competitions will remain their bread and butter.

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