- The Great Mistake which the others made but Arsenal avoided
- Court decides footballers have the same basic employment rights as everyone else
By Tony Attwood
I think my heart is still beating twice the speed that it should be, and I am not going to try and write a review of that game yesterday – if you are an Arsenal fan, you’ll have watched it or have got hold of a video or other recording, or be about to watch it, so you can see the drama yourself
But I will say that the central character was the ref and his mates in the VAR department, and that really should not be the way it is, but it is what we have got to go on, for the moment.
The Manc can still win their three remaining games and get 83 points. Arsenal have two games left and so need 84 points to get there no matter what, which means winning both of them. That is possible, but hopefully not by leaving everything to the very last second. Although, of course, the Manc might not make it anyway.
| Team | P | W | D | L | F | A | GD | Pts |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
|
1 Arsenal
|
36 | 24 | 7 | 5 | 68 | 26 | 42 | 79 |
|
2 Manchester City
|
35 | 22 | 8 | 5 | 72 | 32 | 40 | 74 |
|
3 Manchester United
|
36 | 18 | 11 | 7 | 63 | 48 | 15 | 65 |
|
4 Liverpool
|
36 | 17 | 8 | 11 | 60 | 48 | 12 | 59 |
|
5 Aston Villa
|
36 | 17 | 8 | 11 | 50 | 46 | 4 | 59 |
Equally, of course, we still might harbour hopes of Tottenham Ho descending to the lower reaches. They are above the last relegation place and have a game in hand, meaning they have three games to play. I think the next one is against Chelsea on the 19th; rather like the inept taking on the moneybags Tottenham are currently one point above West Ham, who are at the top of the bottom three, but with a better goal difference.
Still, I suppose there is a reason for keeping Tottenham in the top division – it adds to the fun and laughter. But above all, it should be a reminder to all clubs of the danger of thinking you can just buy players and change managers and then automatically get to the top of the league. It should be, but I suspect it won’t be.
Whatever happens this season, there is still the issue of whether finally the Mancs get their comeuppance for all their financial dealings. If they don’t get a significant punishment this summer, then I think that probably means it is all over. By which I mean, they will be able to spend anything they like on players without any fear of punishment And that in turn means that the Premier League will become another of those leagues where the same team wins all the time. For in such circumstances, no one will be able to outbid or outspend them for the best players.
Now, of course, I know that Arsenal has been able to find players that other clubs have missed, by having a good research department, but if ManC are allowed to spend anything they want, they will most certainly improve their research level. But more than that, every club that has a great player and some debts will be phoning ManC offering to sell that player for an astronomical fee.
In such circumstances, ManC won’t mind paying up because they will have more money than everyone else put together and a guarantee that they can give to their players that they will win the league every year. Or almost every year.
The only thing that will be able to stop that process will be another team being bought by an oil-rich club, so we can have a bit of a fight each year between the two. And then another. And another….
Personally, although of course I want Arsenal to win the league each year, but not by them having the ability to buy any player at any price.
So we wait and see what the summer might bring. In the meanwhile next up is already relegated Burnley at home, which hopefully should not require a goal in the last seconds of the match. But we will look at that in a bit more detail as the game approaches.
Meanwhile, I wonder what the odds would have been at the start of the season for Arsenal at this moment being 20 points above Liverpool and 42 points above Tottenham Ho. Oh yes, and Tottenham are playing Leeds this evening, which might bring a smile or two to a few faces.
