- Media launches all-out attack on Arsenal based on the flimsiest of suppositions
- 3 PL clubs may be fined and staff threated with prison over shirt sponsors
- While fans of other clubs protest, Arsenal march forward. Let’s not spoil it now.
By bulldog Drummond
To suggest that there are “No Arsenal players left available” would of course something of an exaggeration, but the media like exaggerations so I thought I’d throw one in. We have no forwards at all apparently, and could be using Raheem Sterling as a false nine. False because well, he’s not very good, according to the media,
What you wouldn’t even guess by reading the media is that Arsenal are currently the most successful home team in the Premier League, and you might have expected someone to recognise that and then point out with glee that of course Arsenal tomorrow are away. But they don’t because even Arsenal’s away form isn’t that bad either…
| Team | P | W | D | L | F | A | GD | Pts | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 18 | Leicester City home | 12 | 2 | 3 | 7 | 11 | 21 | -10 | 9 |
| 3 | Arsenal away | 12 | 6 | 4 | 2 | 22 | 12 | +10 | 22 |
In fact the difference between the two teams is astonishing. Arsenal have won three times as many away games as Leicester at home, have scored twice as many away goals as Leicester at home, and have conceded only a fraction over half as many away goals as Leicester at home.
Indeed there is, as you can see a nice symmetry between Arsenal’s away goal difference (+10) and Leicester’s home goals difference (-10). On the basis of those figures, anything other than an Arsenal win would be one of the shocks of the season, no matter how many forwards Arsenal are missing.
And let us not forget that in the last six Premier League games Arsenal are the best team in the League while Leciester are the worst team in the League. This table provided by the Fishy
| Team | P | W | D | L | F | A | GD | Pts | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Arsenal | 6 | 4 | 2 | 0 | 14 | 6 | +8 | 14 |
| 2 | ManC | 6 | 4 | 1 | 1 | 18 | 9 | +9 | 13 |
| 3 | Nottingham Fo | 6 | 4 | 1 | 1 | 16 | 8 | +8 | 13 |
| 18 | West Ham Un | 6 | 1 | 1 | 4 | 6 | 16 | -10 | 4 |
| 19 | Southampton | 6 | 1 | 0 | 5 | 7 | 17 | -10 | 3 |
| 20 | Leicester Cit | 6 | 1 | 0 | 5 | 3 | 13 | -10 | 3 |
Actually the last 10 games makes fun reading too.for although Arsenal now drop down to third, Leicester are still firmly entrenched and the woeful form of Tottenham is revealed in a way that even the media couldn’t miss (although in effect they do).
| Team | P | W | D | L | F | A | GD | Pts | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 3 | Arsenal | 10 | 6 | 4 | 0 | 21 | 8 | +13 | 22 |
| 17 | Tottenham | 10 | 2 | 1 | 7 | 20 | 22 | -2 | 7 |
| 18 | Ipswich | 10 | 2 | 1 | 7 | 9 | 24 | -15 | 7 |
| 19 | Southampton | 10 | 1 | 1 | 8 | 7 | 24 | -17 | 4 |
| 20 | Leicester | 10 | 1 | 1 | 8 | 6 | 25 | -19 | 4 |
But of course that is not the only comparison to be made for it is always handy to have a look how Arsenal are doing by this stage, compared with last season, beset as they are with seemingly no players left at all (according to reports). Tables from 11v11
| Team | P | W | D | L | F | A | GD | Pts | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2 | Arsenal today | 24 | 14 | 8 | 2 | 49 | 22 | 27 | 50 |
| 3 | Arsenal 2024 | 24 | 16 | 4 | 4 | 53 | 22 | 31 | 52 |
| 1 | Arsenal 2023 | 24 | 18 | 3 | 3 | 52 | 23 | 29 | 57 |
| 5 | Arsenal 2022 | 24 | 14 | 3 | 7 | 38 | 27 | 11 | 45 |
Now there is a very interesting fact to be seen there, which is of course not generally reported. Yes Arsenal are seven points behind where they were at this stage in 2023, and that is not welcome. BUT, and I think this is important, the club is only three goals behind the goals of 2022/23 at this stage, and has conceded only one more than this point in the 2022/23 season.
And yet every newspaper and most bloggers and every radio and TV station is saying that Arsenal are a disaster because of their lack of a centre forward. But in reality the club has, despite the constant injuries, a defence equal to the last two seasons, and is within a handful of goals scored in the last two seasons.
I have also included 2022 here to show the leaps forward that the club has made under Arteta, and why I perceive criticism of him to be a load of mindless gibberish.
The point is this has been a catastrophic season for injuries, and the notion that Arsenal should have in place reserves of top quality to step in here is simply a fantasy. If those players were of the top quality and not getting games each week they would have demanded transfers long ago. You cannot simply have and keep top players who are not playing. And although rotation can work to some degree, players of the highest quality demand to be playing every week, or else, again, they go to a club that will play them every week.
And if you want to see where things can go wrong in a club that is according to the media doing it all in the right way, try this…
At the end of the 2021/22 season Arsenal, Manchester Un and Tottetnham Hots were all bunched together at the end of the season with the media expressing positive thoughts about Man U and Tottenham, even though the gap from fifth to sixth was pretty large…
| Team | P | W | D | L | F | A | GD | Pts | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 4 | Tottenham Hotspur | 38 | 22 | 5 | 11 | 69 | 40 | 29 | 71 |
| 5 | Arsenal | 38 | 22 | 3 | 13 | 61 | 48 | 13 | 69 |
| 6 | Manchester United | 38 | 16 | 10 | 12 | 57 | 57 | 0 | 58 |
Now today, ManU are 13th and Tottenham H are 14th. ManU are 21 points behind Arsenal and Tottenham are 23 points behind.
I think those people who endlessly criticise Arsenal and Arteta should remember. Clubs that shuffle their management teams around can go down, as well as, well, down.
great post and very true! thanks!