First place Arsenal suffered a huge setback towards their championship dreams. Theo Walcott will miss the rest of Arsenal’s Premier League title challenge AND the Brazil World Cup with England as the full extent of his knee injury was released today. Walcott will miss six months at a minimum. Now can the Gunners stay at the top of the table without their star winger? Arsenal currently has a point advantage on Manchester City, and a two point advantage on third place Chelsea.
NBC Sports football experts debated the championship chances for Arsenal.
NBC analyst Kyle Martino when asked what intrigues him most about the second half of the season:
“… Arsenal. After nearly a decade since they last won the Premier League title no one, not even some of their fans, thinks they have what it takes to stay the course and lift the trophy. I do.”
His chum Robbie Earle was asked what impressed him most during the first half of the season:
“…the development of Arsenal football Club in 2013. During a Premier League Live show before a ball was kicked this season, I suggested the Gunners lacked the necessary strength down the spine of the team to win a title. A first day 3-1 home defeat to Aston Villa only served to back up my point. Since then, the team have been outstanding have and played some wonderful football showing some of the resilience required of title contenders. There has been a remarkable improvement in players like Wojciech Szczesny, Per Mertesacker, Aaron Ramsey and Olivier Giroud. Additionally the signing of one high profile player Mesut Ozil, seemed to give the collective squad a self confidence they had lacked in the past. Arsenal will have to keep answering the questions posed by the critics, who doubt their ability to stay at the top but they have shown me this season, they are a serious player in this season’s title race.”
Robbie Mustoe on what storyline he’s interested in during the second half of the season:
“… Whether Arsenal can continue at the top of the Premier League is fascinating. The team has quality, skill and ability, we knew that, it’s the stamina and mental toughness required to stay on top through different challenges each week that we need to see. They’ve been in great league positions in the past only to fall away when the pressure mounts. In the coming weeks the character of this team will be questioned and I can’t wait for the answer.”
Paul M. Banks is the owner of The Sports Bank.net, an affiliate of Fox Sports. He’s also an analyst for multiple news talk radio stations across the country; with regular weekly segments discussing: Illinois, Northwestern, Notre Dame, Bears and Bulls on NBC and Fox Sports Radio. President Barack Obama follows him on Twitter (@paulmbanks)