Thoughts on Arsenal v/s Aston Villa

Arsenal suffered their first defeat of 2024 against Aston Villa, probably crushing their title hopes for this season. They had perfect opportunity to go on top of the table with Liverpool losing against Crystal Palace, but they too lost thanks to first half goal from Eze which was enough to win for the first time in nearly 18 months at Anfield. This makes Manchester City who are currently top of the table in the driver’s sit for their 4th successive title, an unprecedented feat. My thoughts on Arsenal’s match against Aston Villa

Emirates needs to learn

Arsenal’s home record this season has been good with 12–2–2 (12 wins , 2 draws, 2 loses). Arsenal moved to Emirates from Highbury to compete with Europe’s elite. Currently they are in Champions League Quarter-Finals against Bayern. The supporters are pretty good when we are in the lead. But I feel they need to do more when we are behind. They need to stand for their team. Push the team , help them get over the line. You can’t always win with 4–1 and 6–0 scorelines . Sometimes even if it is not your day, you just somehow find a way to win.

In the match against Aston Villa , where we were the second best team for majority parts of the game, what baffled me was that the stadium went quiet. Emirates needs to learn this ! We see the atmosphere of other stadiums like the famous ‘Yellow Wall’ of Dortmund or the noisy Anfield with supporters singing “You’ll Never Walk Alone”. The crowd they have is perfect. You see why Liverpool had so many victories in injury time? It’s because the crowd is behind them even though the team is losing or not performing well. In Arsenal’s last match where we were in behind after Aston Villa’s two quick goals in last couple of minutes the supporters started to leave the stadium. How do they except the team to win title? Even a point in that match would have great difference in the final pints table. The Emirates needs to learn.