Arsenal: 5 Reasons Why They Are This Year's Indianapolis Colts of World Football

Sports history is always important, but nowadays the present offers much more enjoyment or despair.

For both Arsenal and the Indianapolis Colts, the current season is not so good. Out of the 30 teams in the NFL, I feel the Colts are closest to Arsenal when you look at what is happening currently, and in some of the most recent history of both teams.

For those of you who don't know the Indianapolis Colts, here is a little bit of the team's recent history. The Colts are generally one of the top 5 or 10 teams in the game and they have one of the top five quarterbacks in the game yet they have only been the Super Bowl twice in the last six years, winning it once in 2007.

They were the favored team in their second Super Bowl appearance but suffered a loss. Sound familiar? Okay the Super Bowl is in no way equivalent to the Carling Cup, but I hope you get the point.

There were other contenders like the Philadelphia Eagles, New York Jets and the Oakland Raiders, but the Colts just edged it. The Eagles and Jets are similar in certain aspects, such as recent success (or lack of it) but the Colts just felt right.

Picking the Oakland Raiders would have been harsh considering the 2010 season was its first respectable season in a while after going 8-8, but Arsenal has made fourth place its home for some time now.

Of course, these teams are not completely similar, and the shorter NFL season gives much less time for a ship to be righted, but I think Arsenal and the Colts have a lot in common.

If you don't believe me, then read on through to see why this Arsenal team is the Indianapolis Colts of World Football.

Expectations

Arsenal: Title challenge (read fourth-place finish), FA Cup challenge, Carling Cup challenge (U-20 only) Champions League Knockout stages (avoid Barcelona)

Indianapolis: Division champions, Conference Champions (avoid Patriots), Super Bowl

Above are the usual expectations for both clubs when the start of the season rolls around. Of course, we all know how those are turning out.

The possibility of Champions League football for Arsenal next year is not a good one currently, with teams like Liverpool and Tottenham vying for the coveted fourth spot as well. All the cup competitions require a bit of luck on top of skill, and Arsenal has been short in that department lately.

Indianapolis may already be looking toward the draft for reinforcements. The playoffs will not happen this year, and the future of the team, and Peyton Manning, is in doubt.

Manager/Head Coach

Indianapolis Colts - Jim Caldwell

Arsenal FC - Arsene Wenger

Jim Caldwell looks lost. I don't blame him. He looks a lot like another forlorn head coach figure across the pond. Wenger has been manager around for 15 years, and Caldwell has only been the head coach for the Colts since 2009. But that is where the differences end.

Both coaches have had their decisions questioned of late, and the failure to build upon previous successes has led to increasing displeasure from fans, and criticism from the media. Caldwell has more, or less depending on how you look at it, time on his hands to turn things around, but he may lack the experience to do it.

Wenger last won a trophy in 2005 and subsequently embarked on a youth project that has failed to produce as expected. Caldwell inherited his Colts team and started off with a bang, though people were not really sure if the team's success was down to him or Peyton Manning. Peyton Manning isn't around this season, and an 0-5 start does not look pretty.

Both managers currently look short of ideas, and every week is a tense one.

Recent Success (Or Lack of It)

Last Major Trophy

Indianapolis - Super Bowl 2007

Arsenal - FA Cup 2005

There is no real way to judge the similarity of both teams' accomplishments, but there is still a common theme. Let's say that the Colts making it to the playoffs is equivalent to Arsenal ending up in a Champions League berth.

Since 1999, the Colts have made the playoffs every year minus one, and made it to the Superbowl twice it that time. Since Arsene Wenger's arrival, Champions League football has become synonymous with the club, even if it meant the odd playoff.

The way both teams have started the year, neither team looks set to make it to their usual goals. For Indianapolis, they have the consolation of possibly getting a very high position in the draft. Arsenal has no such luxury, unless you consider the Europa League good enough.

Both teams have fallen at major hurdles that could have propelled them to greater heights. The Colts lost the Super Bowl in 2010 to the New Orleans Saints and were not as dominant the next season. Meanwhile, Arsenal gifted Birmingham City the Carling Cup trophy in 2011, and imploded down the stretch.

The memory of those last two trophies are very distant.

Overall Squad

Both teams are strong offensively, weaker on defense and should be doing a lot better than they are. Coming into this season, each team needed to focus on defense to fix its problems.

The vulnerability in Arsenal's defense was there for all to see, and it was thought that would be rectified over the summer. It doesn't seem to be the case right now.

Indianapolis let go one its best defensive assets after the season was done and for a team that was 20th in the league in yards per game allowed and 23rd in points per game allowed that was not a smart move.

Right now, Arsenal lie 15th in the league with a goal differential of minus-six while the Colts are 19th in the league in opponent's passing yards and 30th in the league in opponent's rushing yards

To be honest, there were no real reinforcements on offense, either. The departure of Cesc Fabregas has been covered up by the purchase of Mikel Arteta, an older, solid, player of lesser quality. Peyton Manning for Kerry Collins, anyone? Both offenses have still put up points and so forth, but you can tell that something is missing.

Both teams have a highly talented mixture of youth and experience, but fluidity and consistency on both ends has been the problem so far.

Fans

It is safe to say both fans are disgruntled with their teams' current predicaments. Arsenal fans are either calling for Wenger to be sacked, convincing themselves that fourth place will come again (and that the team can win something this year), or immersing themselves into a virtual reality where Arsenal is king once again.

Colts fans have endured year after year of promise followed by failure, and they have taken it graciously. They were probably able to prepare themselves well for this years' current woes after knowing about  the injury to Peyton Manning injury for some time. Regardless, the majority, or minority, will be disgruntled that they have wait another year, or more, to get back to the top.

Both sets of fans are probably among the classiest in its respective sport. There is no way that any set of fans, especially those used to success, will be completely dignified, look no further than the Arsenal fans at Tottenham, but if there are two sets of fans that will push on with their team, it's these two.