Arsenal are in danger of finishing outside the Champions League places for the first time in 21 seasons after a shock loss to relegation threatened Crystal Palace at Selhurst Park on Monday- the Gunners’ first ever loss to the Eagles under Arsene Wenger.
The defeat left the club in sixth, seven points behind fourth place Man City, albeit with a game in hand. Despite being 6th, Arsenal (54 points) are closer to 16th place Palace (34) than league leaders Chelsea (75), and that is a telling stat for how badly the season has unravelled for Wenger’s men.
In early December, Wenger’s men were briefly top of the table, having picked up 34 points from their opening 15 games. Since then, they’ve picked up only 20 points from their next 16. They’ve been on the losing side in their last four away games (3-1 to Chelsea, 3-1 to Liverpool, 3-1 to West Brom and now 3-0 to Palace)- the first time under Wenger that they’ve lost four successively on the road in the league.
The calls for Wenger to quit have grown louder , and several unhappy travelling fans at Selhurst Park could be heard telling the players “that they were unfit to wear the shirt”. It was a pretty average performance from the Gunners and their defence fell apart in the absence of Laurent Koscielny. Even worse, they failed to register a single shot on goal in the second half.
Angry Arsenal fans at Selhurst Park (Video)
How could this affect Arsenal’s share of prize money?
Last season, Arsenal received the highest share of prize money (£101m) from the PL despite finishing second behind surprise package Leicester City. They also had the highest number of games on TV. A finish outside the top four will definitely mean a hit to the club’s finances and by extension, their ability to attract top class talent to the Emirates.
(Numbers & stats thanks to WhatBookies.co.uk)
In the 2015/16 PL season, each place was effectively worth £1.2m in merit money. Bottom of the table Villa got £1,242,405 while top of the table Leicester got £24,848,100. The difference between finishing 2nd and 6th last season, therefore, was around £5m.
Every team also got around £55.8m as part of the central share (domestic and overseas television and commercial rights) last season- a figure sure to increase this year owing to the larger TV deal signed beginning 2016/17.
As you can see, Arsenal are in serious danger of missing out on the top four. Even winning the FA Cup (they play Man City in the semis later this month) but not qualifying for the Champions League would be a gross disappointment for a club of their stature, and this could be the tipping point for Wenger. Some pundits are already of the opinion that he has lost the dressing room (not unlike Mourinho from last season or Ranieri this season), and that would mean that the writing is on the wall for the Frenchman.
