Arsenal take on West Ham this evening looking to climb back into the top four of the Premier League table. As if the three points weren’t important enough against their north London rivals, Hammers boss Sam Allardyce has been quick to give his opinion on why the Gunners are not challenging for the league that they led for so long.
Allardyce points towards the financial strain since Arsenal switched to the Emirates, and suggests that they won’t be title contenders for some time yet.
Reported on the Mirror, Allardyce said, “I still go back to the fact that Arsenal’s building of the Emirates is one of the main reasons why they have not won another trophy or won the league since.
“They haven’t had the spending power to sustain what they had before. They used all the money to build the stadium which limited their spending. So I’d say that was the start of what they haven’t been able to recover from.”
But is he right? I disagree with the West Ham manager. The Gunners proved this season that they can cut it with the best on a long term basis, but in the big games they have fallen short and have suffered a lot of injuries.
For me there is a lack of winning mentality. It’s as if the players, the fans and everyone else involved with the club expects them to fall short, and the nine-year wait for a trophy won’t end until everyone pulls together.
Of course the spending has something to do with it, but they spent money this summer and that hasn’t worked.
For me it’s a lack of winning mentality, not the amount they spend.
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