- In football the old order has changed, and Arsenal are benefitting enormously
- Another staggering Arsenal victory, and again no one can get near Arsenal
By Tony Attwood
Before the Champions League game this week, Mikel Arteta said that he felt that Arsenal are a universe apart from the likes of Real Madrid and Bayern Munich because they (Arsenal) haven’t won the Champions League. Being a respectful sort of guy, he didn’t make any other references to the enormous differences between the various leagues that provide teams that enter the Champions League, but that is where the story of this season lies.
In Germany, Bayern Munich reigns supreme, having won the league 12 times in the last 13 seasons.
In Spain, Barcelona have won the league six times in the last 11 seasons.
In England, Manchester City have won the league six times in the last eight seasons
In Scotland, Celtic have won the league 13 times in the last 14 seasons.
In France, Paris Saint-Germain have won the league 11 times in the last 13 seasons.
But there have been hints that this decadent old order of dominance is changing. In Italy, for example, Juventus won the league nine seasons in a row up to 2020. Since then, Inter have won it twice, Napoli have won it twice, and Milan have won it once. In four of the last five years Juventus haven’t even made it into the top three!
And yet, in many cases, each season begins with a near certainty as to who will win the league this time around, except in Spain Real Madrid are giving Barcelona a real run for their money. In England, as we know, Arsenal are currently seven points ahead of regular winners ManC who are currently in third place. Chelsea in seventh have not won the league since 2017. In Scotland Celtic are currently four points behind Hearts at the top of the league. And although PSG are top of the French league it is only by two points.
What this suggests is that the German Bundesliga is suddenly something of an outlier with its constant winners still pounding away at the top of the domestic table. But their pounding by Arsenal last night suggests that maybe even they are slipping a bit as well. So a feeling (unnoticed of course, by the eternally out of touch media) is creeping across Europe that the old order is changing.
Of course, the media know nothing of this because to save money, their normal approach is to take last week’s, last month’s and last year’s news and just do a quick update. Doing it that way saves on journalists’ time and generally keeps staff costs down. But that is at the cost of reality.But such an approach has its dangers, as here, for most commercial media outlets seem to be missing the big story, which is that the old order changes.Of course, Arsenal still have their anti-Arsenal lobby – most recently criticising Arsenal’s Noni Madueke on social media, but it was good to see him return and score.
The fans who seek to be critics, egged on by the media, will carry on, but their petition against his signing was pretty feeble, and the player recently said, “You are in the public eye; people can say whatever they want about you. But being in the stadium and how the fans have taken to me in the stadium is unbelievable. I am not really worried about all of that. It is in the distant past.
The last game versus Tottenham was incredible, and that gives me such a boost. So the next game is first against second, and Madueke might play. As ever, the anti-Arsenal Arsenal lobby is irrelevant. Making fun of Harry Kane as he was endlessly disrupted by Declan Rice was much more fun. As the Guardian said, “it felt impossible not to sense a weight lifting.”I can hardly wait for the next game.
