Forever destined to fall short? Killed by the accident of injuries and red cards? Stung by failure to strengthen their team?
The Premier League wrestings of Arsenal have led to a debate this season on the causes, but before their Super Sunday collision with Chelsea we ask: what is the true story of their campaign?
The Gunners were to the Champions League last eight, but they are 15 points behind Champions-Elect Liverpool while they are preparing for Chelsea on Sunday, after they finished second to Manchester City for the last two seasons.
Here we weigh the Hows and why behind the Premier League campaign of Arsenal and we ask you to have control of what really gone wrong for manager Mikel Arteta and his players.
Injuries: an explanation or an excuse?
Injuries have bitten hard for Arsenal in the second half of the season, especially in attack. In the space of the few weeks they lost Bukayo Saka, Gabriel Martinelli, Gabriel Jesus and Kai Havertz, with the last two excluded for the rest of the campaign, leaving the Gunners leftless.
There have also been spells for others. The shoulder fracture of Mikel Merino, suffered in his first training session in August, seemed to set the tone for a fateful campaign for the club in the field of injuries. It has certainly been different from the last term, when their most important players usually remained fit.
So how bad did they suffer, compared to other Premier League parties? Data from Prime Minister Letsels lost them fourth days of injury in the division, behind only Brighton, Tottenham and Ipswich, at 869. Liverpool leaders, on the other hand, have only lost 594 days to injury.
Arsenal ranks slightly lower for injuries that missed players one or more matches, she places their total of 25 sixth. But that number is still considerably higher than that of Liverpool and it is also worth considering the importance of the players set aside.
Together with Saka and Jesus, Captain Martin Odegaard played a much lower percentage of minutes than last season with an ankle injury with Norway in September. The percentage of Havertz will also be considerably lower, the end of the campaign, given its absence.
Some will say that Liverpool would be just as worse if they arrived without their four most important attackers for a few months.
Others will claim that Arsenal was not at the right level, even when most of their attackers were fit earlier in the campaign. No matter how you look at it, injuries have been a theme.
Has the January window killed the title challenge?
In the light of those injuries, the failure of Arsenal is to strengthen their attack in the transfer window in January by many as a key factor in the direction that their season has set.
The club was eager to recruit, even more after Jesus came to the sidelines early in the window near Saka, but felt that the right players were not available and decided to keep their powder dry.
The decision caused protest among supporters and frustration changed in despair when Martinelli and Havertz collapsed to their injuries only a few days after the window closure.
Should Arsenal have acted? Mathys Tel, a player with whom they linked, is perhaps a warning story that struggled at Spurs, with whom he became a member of an expensive loan costs from Bayern Munich.
But there is a compelling counter argument in Aston Villa, where Marcus Rashford and in particular Marcos Asensio had striking effects after their arrival in the middle season.
Arsenal already had the ground to make Liverpool in January. There is a question whether they were in the race at all. But a gap of six points soon extended to double digits and the statistics underline the size of their attacking drop-off after a calm winter window, so that she was well short in the last third part.
Red cards and referee: Ill-Fortula or poor discipline?
While Liverpool quickly found their groove under Arne slot in the early months of the season, Arsenal struggled to build any momentum, their task was made harder by a wave of red cards.
The first two, shown to Declan Rice against Brighton and Leandro Trossard against Manchester City, came in unusual circumstances, with second yellow shown for kicking the ball away.
The newly introduced rules for postponing restart were softened properly, which means that six months later the only Premier League side remains confronted with maximum punishment for the assumed infringement. Arsenal led in both races at the time of the red cards, but started it further.
A further red card to William Saliba against Bournemouth, upgraded from a yellow after a VAR check, and two more to Myles Lewis-Skelly, one of which was withdrawn in January after a profession, brought their total to five for the season.
No other Premier League side has received more than three. Arsenal's Reds have seen them play a cumulative 210 minutes with 10 players. Apart from in the case of Lewis-Skelly against Wolves, when his ban was destroyed, they also had to deal with the subsequent suspensions.
There is no doubt that the Broadcast Hinded Arsenal, but were they due to a bad or bad discipline? Arsenal has had 20 red cards in the Premier League since the appointment of Arteta, the most on the side, although only two in the two seasons before it combined.
Bottelaars or fighters?
“The Gunners are bustling again – again.” So an expert in the aftermath of Arsenal's 1-1 draw said to Manchester United. After back-to-back second finishes, this side develops an unwanted reputation, at least in the eyes of some, for the failure of the price.
Arsenal won 16 of their last 18 Premier League matches last season. Some will wonder what else they could have done. Only two Arsenal teams in history, one under Herbert Chapman in the 1930s and one under Arsene Wenger, have reached three consecutive top-two Finishes, the side of a performance that is Arteta to replicate. But the accusations will persist until they cross the line.
In the past two seasons, Arsenal had to compete with ruthless side of Manchester City. Liverpool has set this term high standards in the same way. There is also the context of their injuries, red cards and wrong neighborhood deviations. But is there truth in the accusations? Always the bridesmaid, never the bride?
Are problems exposed of squadrates exposed?
It could be said that the activity of Arsenal or the lack of in the summer was more expensive than what happened in January. Has the club tackled their team priorities by only signing Merino, Riccardo Calafiori and an on-Loan Raheem Sterling? The answer must be no.
The injuries of Arsenal have uncovered a lack of attacking depth, with Reiss Nelson, Eddie Nketiah, Emile Smith Rowe and Fabio Vieira can all leave without the signing of any replacements. Ethan Nwaneri and Lewis-Skelly are of course impressively staged, but the team is unmistakably short.
That said, Arsenal came in this season after he had already kept their best players and had broken a club record for goals in the Premier League in the previous campaign. Could they have replied those figures if they are not for the injuries? Or are they set up to fail?
It seems that their incoming sports director Andrea Berta has a long task list this summer.
Has Arsenal hit their ceiling under Arteta?
Despite all the progress of Arsenal under Arteta, a school is thinking that they have hit their ceiling among him. “I feel, and I have been saying for a long time that we have seen Peak Arsenal under Arteta,” said Sky Sports Jamie Carragher on Monday evening football this week.
A third campaign without a Premier League title, despite the drop-off of Manchester City, offers ammunition for that argument. His only trophy as an Arsenal manager remains the 2020 FA Cup.
“Where is the evidence to think that they can do it?” Asked Sports Pundit Roy Keane when he was asked about their title perspectives next season after Sunday's 1-1 draw in Old Trafford. “Do they have the right mentality? Did the manager? I don't think getting a striker in whom 20 goals scores per season will necessarily be the difference.”
The other view is that they come back stronger.
There is of course work to do in the transfer window, but Arsenal still has one of the younger teams in the Premier League, where most of their most important players are still approaching their peak years.
With the right additions and more happiness in terms of injuries and absence, could it be their year next year? Or is this season the proof that they are destined to lack again?
So … what is the true story of their season?
Which of the options below do you sound true?
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