Everyone is waiting for Arsenal to collapse - but Sporting win could change it all

View 2 Images

Mikel Arteta had better get used to it between now and the end of the season. Arsenal baiting has well and truly begun. If Arsenal go to any Premier League ground they will be treated to a chorus of “Second again, ole, ole.”

When Arsenal played Wigan at the Emirates in the FA Cup back in February even the travelling fans were singing it then. This is, with great respect, a team struggling in League One for pity’s sake.

It is open season because Arsenal’s quadruple has halved after that lost the Carabao Cup final to Manchester City and then crashed out of the FA Cup at Southampton.

Even this felt like a now-in situation. Win and it is only Sporting Lisbon. Lose and Arsenal blew it again. This time, Arsenal looked stronger, more determined and proved a point.

Kai Havertz’s last gasp winner stole victory but it was a mature, controlled performance to silence a few doubters - and change the mood completely.

It feels like everyone is waiting for Arsenal to fail. Celebrity Arsenal fan Ian Stone was interviewed on BBC 5Live and the question really was: Are they about to implode? Fair play, he stepped in to remind them that Arsenal are nine points clear at the top of the Premier League.

And if you do not believe it then just listen to former Tottenham striker Teddy Sheringham. It would be easy to say he is just a bitter former Spurs player. But there’s far too many more like him.

Sheringham, in an interview with BestBettingSites , said: “If Tottenham went down, that would obviously be bad for the club. If West Ham went down, it’s not the end of the world — they’ve been used to that, up and down, albeit not for a while— so it wouldn’t be such a shock, although it wouldn’t be great.

“If Arsenal won the league, it wouldn’t make my weekend very happy. If they lost the league and the Champions League, that would be funny. Ask me again at the end of the season and how it all ends, because they’d have to really implode for Arteta not to win anything. That would be hilarious.”

View 2 Images

Clearly, Sheringham had to weather a few chants of “Oh, Teddy, Teddy - he went to Man United he won f*** all.” He answered that with the Treble in 1999.

And that’s the point really. Why does it feel like Arsenal are in the line of vision? Maybe it’s Mikel Arteta. He’s gone from being the underdog who challenged Manchester City to the jack-in-the-box touchline menace who the neutrals seem to love to hate.

Or maybe it’s the self-entitled fans who think they are owed success. Or maybe it’s the Arsenal Fan TV crew all over social media. They have turned it into a weekly laugh at Arsenal soap opera.

WORLD CUP LEGENDS: The stars who lit up football’s greatest tournament - Buy the Special Edition today

Blowing the title once was bad in 2022/23. A second time plain unlucky to be facing Manchester City, the best team of all in 2023/24. Last year, there was no challenge at all. Just a near miss in the Champions League. They were beaten by Paris Saint Germain in the semi finals. But Arteta said the better team lost.

And then he claimed Arsenal would have won the title in any other season because Liverpool only got 85 points. You can surely see why Arteta and Arsenal don’t do themselves any favours, can’t you?

But actually, this was a mood-changer. From doom and gloom, the late win changes everything. Now they can smile again.