Arsenal ‘flops’ in ‘title collapse’ that saw them lose two of 14 run-in games

Editor F365
Arsenal duo Emile Smith Rowe and Ben White look dejected

Arsenal really did ‘bottle’ that didn’t they? They lost twice in almost three months, the big old flops.

 

Top of the floppity-flops
Arsenal have already recorded their highest points total of the last 15 years and are guaranteed to finish second in the Premier League but…

‘BOTTLE FLOPS Arsenal branded ‘bottle job champions of world’ as horror stat shows time spent at top of the league before blowing it’

The Sun are certainly leaning into a theme here, jumping on a ‘horror stat’ that was already pretty obvious, that Arsenal have spent the majority of this Premier League season at the top of the table.

Does that make them BOTTLE FLOPS? Apparently so. After all, there is nothing more floppy than going from fifth to second in one season while adding at least 12 points. The big old floppy flops.

And who has labelled them ‘bottle job champions of world’? A pundit? A player? Somebody entirely f***ing anonymous on social media?

Presumably the latter but The Sun don’t even bother naming their source for this incendiary quote that they are more than happy to stick in a headline that adorns the very top of their football homepage.

They should be ashamed. And no, we don’t mean those Arsenal flops.

 

This is the trend
‘Mikel Arteta makes it very clear who’s to blame for Arsenal throwing away title’ is the Mirror‘s click-tastic offering. Ignoring the small matter of whether you can throw something away that you do not own, who does he blame?

Remember that he ‘makes it very clear’ as you read the opening line of this masterpiece: ‘Mikel Arteta seems to blame himself for the way Arsenal’s title charge fell apart after a 3-0 defeat by Brighton at the Emirates to gift Manchester City the league.’

‘Makes it very clear’ to ‘seems to’ is a bloody long way to fall in one sentence.

‘After the full-time whistle, Arteta failed to hide his disappointment as he conceded the morale was low. Speaking to Sky Sports, the Spaniard insisted he felt responsible as he claimed: “I hate the feeling of letting people down when they’re really expecting something. That’s the biggest regret I have today.”‘

Ah, so he said absolutely nothing about ‘blame’ and actually, he said absolutely nothing about Arsenal ‘throwing away’ the title, but rather said that he ‘hates the feeling of letting people down’, which makes him, well, human.

That headline banged so brilliantly for the Mirror that they doubled and then trebled on down in the space of 15 hours:

‘Arsenal news: Mikel Arteta clear on who to blame as Aymeric Laporte mocks Gunners’

‘Martin Odegaard details where Arsenal title bid went wrong after Mikel Arteta takes blame’

We would call that a ‘trend’, which is why Football Trends Writer Aaron Catterson-Reid jumps on for football.london:

‘Mikel Arteta delivers honest verdict on who he blames for Arsenal’s title collapse’

We know already that Mikel Arteta did no such thing, and we also know – thanks to Twitter – that Catterson-Reid really does not think this is a ‘title collapse’:

The way some fans are reacting IS insanity so it’s a good job the media is retaining its perspective.

 

Collapse into now
That phrase ‘title collapse’ really has become the phrase du jour:

‘Man City star mocks Arsenal minutes after title collapse confirmed’ – Evening Standard.

‘Roy Keane aims brutal dig at Arsenal after heartbreaking title collapse – “Well short”‘ – Mirror.

‘Gary Neville pinpoints SEVEN Arsenal mistakes after devastating title collapse’ – Mirror.

‘What Arsenal must do to avoid another title race collapse’ – Daily Telegraph.

They have lost two of their last 14 Premier League games. They might have had a fall but that’s not a sodding collapse.

 

Where there’s a WILL…
Old school Mediawatch fare here…

Headline on The Sun: ‘Brighton boss De Zerbi sparks Chelsea, Arsenal and Liverpool transfer bidding war as he admits two stars WILL be sold’

Actual quotes from Roberto De Zerbi: “We will lose some players, maybe Caicedo or maybe Mac Allister.”

There WILL be nonsense.

Mediawatch Mikel Arteta