Arsenal failing to win the league not bad — Laura Woods

Arsenal could finish second in the Premier League title race behind Manchester City, but according to talkSPORT presenter and Arsenal fan Laura Woods, it wouldn’t be a “failure.” Woods made the assertion on talkSPORT and argued that Arsenal were not expected to compete for the title this season, with City expected to defend their title and Liverpool anticipated to be their closest challengers.

Arsenal fell apart in their bid for a top-four finish last season, losing to Tottenham Hotspur and Newcastle United in quick succession, leading to people mocking Mikel Arteta for his “bonkers” methods shown on the All or Nothing docuseries.

However, the Gunners have been leading the charge in the league since the start of the season and even opened up an 11-point gap on City at one point. The draw with Liverpool at the weekend, saved by Aaron Ramsdale after they were two goals up, left the gap at six points, and put Arteta’s side at risk of soon finding themselves behind their rivals.

Guardiola’s team has a game in hand and host the north Londoners at the end of the month, making them the bookies’ favorites again. Despite the possibility of losing a significant gap to their rivals, Woods believes it wouldn’t be a failure for Arsenal if they missed out on their first title in almost 20 years.

“Come the New Year, Arsenal was supposed to fall away and they haven’t. They have proved everyone wrong. I don’t like these kind of binary arguments about if you win the league or if it is a failure. I think there is so much more you can celebrate in football, so for me, no,” Woods stated.

Woods said she would remember the 2022/23 season fondly, even if Arsenal missed out on the title. However, many others would consider it a failure, having gotten them to this position, and the team should likely consider not winning the title a failure, according to sources.