- How referee bias will affect the Tottenham v Arsenal game
- How clubs are avoiding accusations of the maltreatment of young players
By Tony Attwood
It is interesting in light of the problems facing some clubs at the moment to reflect on how Arteta’s reign has helped Arsenal progress.
Of course the media don’t see Manchester City as anything but a club reaching ever higher heights, but there is no doubt that their legal case against the League could rebound on them, either if they lose, or if they win and the rest of the league then resigns, leaving them behind. (Or indeed if the rest of the league decides to resign anyway and set up a new league, without waiting for the legal outcome of the club’s case against the League).
And as ever there are still the 115 cases against Manchester City upon which once more the media want to say very little – but the case will be heard one day, for even if as we suspect Manchester C have been dragging the case out in order to cost the League a fortune in legal fees, eventually they must run out of new arguments.
However, that is not the only big problem in the League at the present time. Chelsea are, by any measure, chaotic. They have spent over £1.2billion on player transfers in the last few years and brought in a bit over £500m in sales. Players have been bought and sold at such a speed it is hard to see any sense in what they are up to.
And for what? After the highlight of winning the Champions League in 2021 they have been runners’ up, in three cup finals and 3rd, 12th and 6th in the League. OK overall that’s not so bad, but when one sees that sort of performance linked to that sort of spending, it looks insane. And surely they must be on the edge of breaking the profitability rules once again…
Mudryk, Fernandez… and seemingly endless arguments about who is supposed to be in charge of what, as well as who then has the final sign-off when it comes to selling players… And there is Sterling, seemingly freezing them out while paying a full salary. And all this while still trying to work out where they ultimately will be playing – the new stadium is still just an imagination.
But the point overall is that dropping down to 12th in the league is not always a bad thing, if it is a prelude to rising back up again. And with this in mind I realised that I hadn’t seen a table that compares the results of the big clubs against each other across the last few years – looking at the five clubs who might be considered to be chasing Manchester City
| Club | 2021 | Pts | 2022 | Pts | 2023 | Pts | 20024 | Pts |
| Arsenal | 8th | 61 | 5th | 69 | 2nd | 84 | 2nd | 89 |
| Chelsea | 4th | 67 | 3rd | 74 | 12th | 44 | 6th | 63 |
| Liverpool | 3rd | 69 | 2nd | 92 | 5th | 67 | 3rd | 82 |
| Manchester U | 2nd | 74 | 6th | 58 | 3rd | 75 | 8th | 60 |
| Tottenham | 7th | 62 | 4th | 71 | 8th | 60 | 5th | 66 |
One interesting measure of progress is the points total, and here we see Arsenal going up year on year – rising over the four seasons by 46% in a consistent trajectory.
Chelsea have zigzagged in points, their best over the four years being 74 which got them third place, although this is often only enough for fourth.
Liverpool did reach the heights with 92 points in 2022 but have since zigzagged down to 67 and back up to 82.
Manchester United are another zigazg club, the positions running 2nd, 6th, 3rd, 8th, but never once getting above 75 points., while winning the league now looks as if it needs 90 points.
Tottenham, despite all their claims to a new era have also never got anywhere near 90 points – their best in these recent years being 71 and fourth place.
In fact, only clubs in the pack chasing behind Manchester C have got anywhere near them – Arsenal and Liverpool and of these two only Arsenal have had continuous progress in the right direction.
| Club | 2021 | Pts | 2022 | Pts | 2023 | Pts | 20024 | Pts |
| Arsenal | 8th | 61 | 5th | 69 | 2nd | 84 | 2nd | 89 |
| Chelsea | 4th | 67 | 3rd | 74 | 12th | 44 | 6th | 63 |
| Liverpool | 3rd | 69 | 2nd | 92 | 5th | 67 | 3rd | 82 |
| Manchester U | 2nd | 74 | 6th | 58 | 3rd | 75 | 8th | 60 |
| Tottenham | 7th | 62 | 4th | 71 | 8th | 60 | 5th | 66 |
So what would happen to the league if each of these clubs had a performance in the 2024/25 season which was an average season for them, based on the results of the last four seasons?
- Liverpool would get 77 points
- Arsenal would be on 76 points.
- Manchester United would get 67 points
- Tottenham would get 65 points
- Chelsea would get 62 points
None of these of course would catch Manchester C with their squad benefitting from the years of unchecked purchases, and Liverpool do have the disadvantage of having just changed manager.
But here’s one more thought. By their own standards…
- Arsenal and Liverpool had an above average season last campaign
- Chelsea and Tottenham had an average season last year
- Manchester United had a below average season last year.
For Arsenal and Liverpool it is a case of trying to deliver a rise continuing on previous success.
For Chelsea and Tottenham, it is trying to move above their average level – a level that is not good enough to win the league, but at least a move above it would be progress.
For Manchester United it is a case of just trying first of all to get back to their recent average, even though that is nowhere good enough.
The Arsenal model of year-on-year progress looks the right one to me. Zigzagging and stagnating do not bode well for the rest of this season for any club.
