Arsenal season may just be cursed as loss to Newcastle shows, but there's reason for hope amid the misfortune

The Gunners have not had luck on their side, but manager Mikel Arteta says they are in better position than last season

LONDON -- Welcome to Arsenal's cursed season. There will be all sorts of reasons given for the 2-0 defeat to Newcastle that probably means no trophy in March, a prime opportunity for Mikel Arteta to assert his status on the English game slipping away.

This team, which just put up way over two expected goals on one of the Premier League's form teams, lacks the attacking mustard. They are too reliant on Martin Odegaard for creativity. It's set pieces or bust. Arteta has made this team too big, too clunky, too conservative.

If any of those are the explanation that speaks to you then the following really isn't. Hear me out, however. What about if Arsenal are cursed? A particularly luxurious bit of hoodoo, the sort that a lot of other teams would consider a dream season, but Arsenal: The Murphy's Law year regardless. There are other issues, fixes that could propel this team higher up the table but little if anything, maybe not even several hundred million in the transfer window, would have as profound a positive benefit as working out what exactly is causing all this misfortune. Who found a monkey's paw and asked to make Arsenal contenders, not champions?