Arsenal Seems to Be Sputtering to the End: A Fan's Take

Posted Saturday, April 28, 2012 by YAHOO Sport

As Arsenal prepares to play Stoke City, I hope there are four words that keep running through the players' minds: "we need a win." It seems the Gunners have been sputtering to the end of the season of late. There loss to Wigan was surprising, though there draw last weekend to Celsea was head scratching and awful.

Consistency is not Arsenal's friend right now. There midfield defense has looked lost at times, like a chicken with its head cut off. With Theo Walcott out for the remainder of the year, you have to look at the midfield attack with a jaundiced eye. There is talent everywhere on Arsenal's club, but will that talent shine through during the most important stretch of games of the season.

Arsenal, for the most part, has done nothing but surprise everyone that follows them. However, for the past two weeks the surprises have been of the negative kind. The have been a number of times in the history of sports when teams have had strange collapses at the end of the season. Let's keep our fingers crossed that don't happen to the Gunners. A lot of great collapses by franchises have happened due to a major injury that altered the balance of the team.

Against Stoke, Arsenal could have some trouble with their two midfielders Dean Whitehead and Glenn Whelan-they are workers who play box-to-box to almost perfection. Beating Arsenal would be a big win for Stoke. They really would love to spoil the Gunner's chances of finishing in third. It'll be that way until the end of the season for Arsenal; every opponent has a mission and it gives them inspiration.

Arsenal is the more talented team, except when you have a club that most opposing fans in the Premier League can't stand and ruining their party looks like a sensible goal, just about anything can happen. And the way the last couple of matches have gone for the Gunners, anything is possible.

Before heading off to Stoke, Arsene Wenger said, "... I believe we deserve to be third, considering what we have gone through."

A big performance from Robin Van Persie is a must, but, I know, that's the case almost every match. It's a broken record, however it's true. It would be nice if he scored a goal or two, but he needs to take his presence up a notch. That goes for everyone else on the squad as well, but the Gunner's need their award winner to create some havoc and give us a much needed victory.