‘Compulsory wins’ give Arsene Wenger hope of top-four finish for Arsenal

Arsenal’s record against teams below them backs up manager’s claim that they won’t drop any points in run-in
James Olley16 April 2014

If Arsenal’s season continues to be founded upon beating the teams below them, then they look set to give themselves the best possible chance of finishing in fourth place once more.

The personnel may have changed and West Ham will rue a promising opening period before fading in the second half but the Gunners produced another resilient display with flashes of their more vibrant best to climb above Everton — for 24 hours at least.

Arsenal were understandably jaded following their lengthy weekend exertions at Wembley and manager Arsene Wenger admitted he “gambled” in his team selection by dropping Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain and Aaron Ramsey to the bench while handing Kim Kallstrom his full debut in midfield.

Circumstances had conspired to give this a real feeling of a banana skin fixture but perhaps we should not have been surprised that the Gunners overcame their London adversaries, albeit with the aid of some uncharacteristically suspect Hammers defending.

Of the 35 points Arsenal have dropped in the Premier League this season, only seven have been conceded to teams currently in the bottom half of the table — the opening day defeat by Aston Villa and draws against West Brom and Swansea.

It is against their top-four rivals that the Gunners have suffered, often embarrassingly so, and so the fixture list should offer considerable hope that Arsenal will secure the maximum points from here on in that they will probably need to see off Everton.

The Toffees can climb back into fourth place with at least a draw against Crystal Palace tonight and then face Manchester United, Manchester City, Southampton and Hull in their final four matches.

Arsenal also face Hull but Newcastle, West Brom and Norwich comprise a run-in which should play to their strengths, if their performances of this season are any reliable gauge. Everton are in the box seat at the moment and playing well but the Gunners have experience in prevailing at these top-four scrambles and have a pedigree proven by 16 unbroken seasons in the Champions League.

Wenger certainly relied on his elder statesmen last night. According to Opta, at an average of 29 years and 188 days, this was their oldest starting line up in the League since May 2003 against Leeds United.

“It was a gamble but I said before the game as well that it was the oldest team certainly that I’ve ever played at Arsenal,” said Wenger. “I trusted the experience of the players. It was an unusual around-30 [year-old] team and that experience of course helps when you are a little bit backs against the wall.

Five things we learnt from Arsenal v West Ham

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“It improves the confidence of the team. Saturday and Tuesday improves the confidence of the team but we know we have one advantage — the picture is very clear in front of us. We have compulsory wins in front of us. We want to do it of course.

“It doesn’t depend solely on us but it’s a good chance that if we win all our games it’s possible [to finish in the top four], yes.”

Arsenal need four more gutsy performances like this. Santi Cazorla was a mixture of energy, defiance and class as the Gunners recovered from conceding Matt Jarvis’s 40th-minute opener thanks to two goals from Lukas Podolski either side of a marvellous control and finish from Olivier Giroud.

The gradually easing injury situation will help. Mesut Ozil will be fit to face Hull on Sunday, while Oxlade-Chamberlain should be sufficiently recovered having not been required last night and Ramsey played just 17 minutes, most of which Arsenal spent in control of proceedings.

Kieran Gibbs and Nacho Monreal could also be available, while Abou Diaby is set to return to full training tomorrow. But if the Gunners are completely focused on their remaining matches, then West Ham’s performance suggests that they already have one eye on next season.

Andy Carroll still looked short of match fitness as the Hammers laboured in attack but it was the concession of soft goals which angered Sam Allardyce the most.

With 37 points, West Ham are surely safe and Allardyce is desperate to begin plotting for the next campaign.

“We haven’t been able to start the ball rolling in terms of pre-season, new contracts, players released and players staying,” said Allardyce.

“When you fall behind in that factor, you have to catch up with everybody else who has already started. Most teams who are secure in the Premier League will already have their pre-season planned.

“Ours is nearly there but not quite. The other scenario is players in, players out and budgeting which is the biggest part of your job when the season is nearly finished.

“A lot of work has to get done then so the wife doesn’t tell me off when I am on the phone for six hours a day while I am on my holidays.”

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