Why can't we win at Arsenal?

[Gubbins]

We've had many bogey teams over the years and grounds where we've not won for decades. Stamford Bridge, Upton Park and painfully the City Ground had all been graveyards for City for years. Thankfully we've managed to put an end to all those horror runs at some point over the last two decades. But not Arsenal away. This fixture just withstands any statistical probability and whilst we haven't played there every season in the last 45yrs we've played the fixture enough for it not to be a weird anomaly like Peterborough where we always seem to struggle or our recent troubles against Bournemouth. Is it incredible bad luck? Have all our sides in recent times been mentally affected? Do most clubs have a fixture they just can't win? Help me understand!!!

[1972 Fox]

Yes we've just been incredibly unlucky.

 

I remember us being particularly unlucky in the 98/99 and 00/01 seasons when we lost 0-5 and 1-6 respectively at Highbury.

[ozleicester]

They have had better teams 

[fox_favourite]

Simples - Just been better than us. Better players, better managers, more money and, in recent times, very lucky. We've ran them close the last few times which shows we've improved over time. But the underlying problem is they are just a bigger club. 

[foxfanazer]

A mixture of them having better players, poor decision making, poor refereeing and not taking our chances

[surrifox]

We were better than them in 15-16 ( with 10 players) but they still managed a spawny win 

[Koke]

Even though they are superior to us on the playing side and a much bigger club, we have at times been unlucky there. Remember when we were drawing 1-1 at Highbury and Frank Sinclair scored a stunning own goal? And they do seem to score late winners against us. Giroud last season. Welbeck the one before. Their invincible season when Vieira got the winner.

 

I can accept our shocking record against Arsenal. It's our dismal record against Bournemouth that annoys me more.

[lgfualol]

They have Aubameyang coming off the bench we have Okazaki and Ghezzal

[Guest MattP]

Bit of bad luck combined with poor defending and management this year.

 

Last year woeful changes from Shakespeare despite looking comfortable. 

 

Year before that a shocking referee and a bit of stupidity from Simpson and Wasyl. 

 

One big 4-0 defeat aside early last decade aside we always seem to compete and then find a new way to cock it up.

 

From memory we were even 1-0 up at HT against the Invincibles on the final day.

[davieG]

1 hour ago, fox_favourite said:

Simples - Just been better than us. Better players, better managers, more money and, in recent times, very lucky. We've ran them close the last few times which shows we've improved over time. But the underlying problem is they are just a bigger club. 

We've beaten plenty of teams that would be classed as better than us so not that simple.

[joachim1965]

Would have been different last night had we been given the penalty , but once they got going they looked good.

Will we ever beat them at their place? Who knows.

[Drew Peacock]

It’s a good talking point. Even in The Great Escape season we perhaps should have got something. 

Once again we are talking about the big decisions going against us, and the cliche of fine margins with Maguire and Ndidi’s chances.

We still might not have won, but you need all those things going for you at places like The Emirates dont you?

We’ve not been smashed there since we returned to The Premier League and could have had a good result in all the 5 games since, so it gets you thinking.

But there is no great voodoo at work is there? ?‍♂️

Just a combination of some unfortunate refereeing decisions, but more so, a lack of quality on the pitch and certainly last season, some strange changes from the manager.

 

[Nalis]

To be honest, a 5-2 scoreline would have been about right for last nights match.

 

Having said that, we just looked like a different team when we scored and a lot less 'free' so we wouldnt have pushed for a second goal regardless.

[Heart-Shaped Fox]

Annoyingly since coming up we have played very well at Arsenal and lost all the games and arguably should have at least drawn all of them. 

 

We don't take chances there tho, seen again last night. 

 

And the defence becomes very sloppy too. All their goals last night could have been defended better. .

Having said that every time we play them I have never ever seen a team constantly get all the luck and decisions. We should have had a pen. We hit the bar. And I thought some of their players should have had a booking early on. 

[AKCJ]

26 minutes ago, Drew Peacock said:

It’s a good talking point. Even in The Great Escape season we perhaps should have got something. 

Once again we are talking about the big decisions going against us, and the cliche of fine margins with Maguire and Ndidi’s chances.

We still might not have won, but you need all those things going for you at places like The Emirates dont you?

We’ve not been smashed there since we returned to The Premier League and could have had a good result in all the 5 games since, so it gets you thinking.

But there is no great voodoo at work is there? ?‍♂️

Just a combination of some unfortunate refereeing decisions, but more so, a lack of quality on the pitch and certainly last season, some strange changes from the manager.

 

It does feel a lot like that great escape season.

 

A lot of things going against us and it sort of feels like we're minor changes away from being genuinely very good..,.

 

But we're losing too many games through our own naivety and very, very poor defending.

 

A side searching for 7th shouldn't be losing 5 of their first 9 games.

 

 

I am worried. Not that we'll go down or anything. Just that we're wasting this huge pool of young talent that desperately need guidance and a few steady eddies that can come in and help stop things like the last 30 minutes last night.

[HighPeakFox]

Because we don't set up right against them for 90 minutes. 

[Gubbins]

I think it's just the statistical improbability that gets me. Yes there are moments in individual games which have led to the defeat and yes there have been half a dozen fixtures where they were the best or second best team in the country and we just couldnt live with them but that just can't account for our record being as appalling as it is (a single draw in the last 20 I think). By default of being in the top division it's our best sides that have played them, and some of those sides were damn good. We should have a win through sheer likelihood!

Edited 23 October 2018 by Gubbins

[Blue ROI]

4 hours ago, Koke said:

Even though they are superior to us on the playing side and a much bigger club, we have at times been unlucky there. Remember when we were drawing 1-1 at Highbury and Frank Sinclair scored a stunning own goal? And they do seem to score late winners against us. Giroud last season. Welbeck the one before. Their invincible season when Vieira got the winner.

 

I can accept our shocking record against Arsenal. It's our dismal record against Bournemouth that annoys me more.

I wouldn't begrudge them that. That was the last day of the 03/04 season and we were already relegated by then.

 

The last couple of visits to Arsenal though have been painful given how we've lost.

[Matt]

3 hours ago, joachim1965 said:

Would have been different last night had we been given the penalty , but once they got going they looked good.

Will we ever beat them at their place? Who knows.

Would it? I keep seeing people claiming this and either way who knows, but that’s exactly my point.

 

My train of though is as soon as we scored we instantly sat back, inviting them on to us, inviting the pressure, getting pushed further and further back making no attempt to go forward after such an impressive performance before the goal.

 

At the time of the penalty claim it was 0-0? So what makes people think has we been given the penalty, had it been scored we wouldn’t have done what we did - sitting back and the inevitable happen etc?

 

Had we already been 1-0 then given the penalty, scored and made it 2-0 people may have a point.

 

I suppose the game changer would be they’d be down to 10 men but the way we let ourselves suffocate going so defensively and negative after taking the lead I think there’s an argument to be made about a team with 10 men still beating us.

[fox in the sox]

We rarely pick up points away at the top 5 or 6 so not really a surprise that we have had a really bad run at one of these grounds. We need a bit of luck to get anything because they have always had better players, but we just haven't had it there.

[David Hankey]

"Why can't we win at Arsenal"? I've often wondered and to me it seems a mixture of not being good enough and poor officiating.

[Corky]

A lot of the early defeats were when they were a top side, three times champions and runners-up. Recently it has been very frustrating. Not winning there is understandable but we should've some draws in the last five.

 

Established Premier League teams like Everton haven't won there for over 20 years. Even Tottenham have won once in 25 years.

[fuchsntf]

13 hours ago, Koke said:

Even though they are superior to us on the playing side and a much bigger club, we have at times been unlucky there. Remember when we were drawing 1-1 at Highbury and Frank Sinclair scored a stunning own goal? And they do seem to score late winners against us. Giroud last season. Welbeck the one before. Their invincible season when Vieira got the winner.

 

I can accept our shocking record against Arsenal. It's our dismal record against Bournemouth that annoys me more.

Yup,  I'd accept a title win against a double loss every season....

 

one instant is branded in my mind,worse than any!!!!

 

At the gunners FA-cup .   Farrington runs onto a through  ball in his own half scores, linesman lifts his flag for offside...!! Bonkers plain bonkers,

Jimmy hills words!!

It's a draw!!  We lose the replay,after a Wothington header hits the post,runs along the line,hits the other post and spins out.

The first time I seen our team,come off in tears,in both games we battered them!!

The only time,I came away with tears  in my eyes ,on any football orientated day..Other than the title day!!..I

I am not a promotion or relegation tear guy,there's worse and better moments in life!!!

[Hammo]

What's with all these rational explanations?

 

We're cursed. End of.

[CosbehFox]

I think we must be the only side who play at the Emirates and actually get their crowd going into something more than audible