By Mac Johnson (Deputy Editor)
Arsenal sit in first place in the Premier League table. Let's just go over that for a minute. Arsenal have bettered Manchester City, bettered Liverpool, bettered every single team in England in the first three matches of the season, the same measure that signaled a death rattle for the Gunners twelve months ago.
Strange, to any new fan of the club, might be the old adage: "Arsenal on top of the table is like an elephant on a tree; you don't know how it got there, but know that it will fall." But to those of us who witnessed a decade of fourth place finishes, followed by nearly five years of doldrums down the table, that feeling is all too familiar. We Arsenal fans are simply not used to outright success.
The sensation around the club at the moment is altogether different, though. We sit first on merit, having kept two clean sheets, and earning three very decisive and deserving wins. We look like a Champions League side, a year ahead of schedule given our current European rostrum, but there is often a pitfall that awaits those Premier League sides who start in lightning form, unless those sides happen to wear sky blue, or call Anfield their home.
Specifically, I want to call Everton and Aston Villa to mind. They are two sides who, in the past three years, have each strung together a sterling first month of Premier League life. In those seasons, they have not finished above eighth in the table, and quite often, their plummet down the rankings occurs from mid-September to early November, when they find their form is unsustainable.
This Arsenal side differ in two ways. First, they possess a significantly more talented, not to mention deeper, squad than either of those teams, and they have the confidence to continue their current run ad nauseam. But second, they also have the major mitigating factor that is the Europa League. Though their group and schedule are yet to be determined, they will play a match every weekend and midweek from next week until November, when the world cup hits, assuming they are not eliminated from any domestic cup competitions.
This type of run is a form-wrecker for most teams, and has been for Arsenal in the past. We will play 20 games, 13 of which are league matches, in 77 days—less than a game every four days, which is mildly ludicrous—and though it's the type of run that top teams tend to blitz with ease, we have not yet proven such fortitude. We cannot let off the gas.
As wonderful as our run of form has been lately, we cannot be permitted to get ahead of ourselves. Especially once we hit October, and must play Spurs, Liverpool, Leeds, and Manchester City consecutively, a ridiculously difficult run of fixtures, maintaining momentum and keeping spirits high will be of paramount importance. There is a gnawing hunger inherent in the pursuit of victory, a desire that nothing can quench, and we have acquired players this summer who know what that taste is, and will not forget it soon. It's the type of recruitment that gives us an inside chance, but only if the squad unifies in that hunger.
We've made the best possible start, but we still have 35 matches to go. If silverware were determined in August, we'd have spent time in the Championship for the first time in club history, and we can all thank our lucky stars that's not the case. I'm unbelievably excited for this season, but the next few months may try us in ways we have not experienced fully before. And just as the players must unify in the cause, so must we as fans. To rest on our laurels now would signify an arrogance we do not deserve.
We move.
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