Southampton v Arsenal: Saints are not the worst ever Premier League Team

 

 

• 17 players Arsenal want to sign, 4 who want to leave. Arsenal face another rough summer!
• Arsenal have far less of a problem than many commentators suggest

By Tony Attwood

Just how much criticism, just how many jibes, just how much commentary that is personal opinion dressed up as facts, should a club take?   For Arsenal, the answer seems to be an unlimited amount, for the club has no history of fighting back against mindless drivel.   But for Nottingham Forest, newcomers to the idea that what they do is of interest to the media, it is all a novelty – and one they seemingly don’t like.  Brian Clough (who passed away in 2004) of course used to give as good as he got.  But now…

For it is being reported that Gary Neville who dishes the dirt on behalf of Sky hasn’t been given a free ticket for the Nottingham Forest v Chelsea game.  And he seems a bit miffed.

Speaking on the matter he says he was told by Sky that he would be commentating for them but then told later Forest didn’t want him in the ground.  In one sense it all looks a bit petulant, but on the other hand there surely has to be a limit as to what clubs will put up with.    And indeed I would suggest Arsenal ought to know that limit, since they put up with torrents of negativity day after day.

And if you are a regular reader of Untold you might recall that I was banned from Arsenal’s stadium for much of one season – the allegation in my case being that I was a ticket tout – something I vigorously denied.  The club did eventually allow me to appeal, and the accusation was found to be without any merit whatsoever, and my ticket was returned.

However in this case Gary Neville has just been refused a freebie, which is something of a different matter, and it does say to journos that Forest at least have a limit in terms of the made-up rhetoric they will take.

The point is that in most areas of life, people can choose which journalists they give their time to.  In football however the players are performing in front of the crowd., and journalists demand free entry, especially good seats, free food and drink, phone facilities, replay facilities and goodness knows what else.  It does seem fair enough to me to be able to say “no” to someone who is especially critical.

When I was stopped from attending matches at Arsenal for almost a season I didn’t make it public, and only mention it now, years later, as it seems relevant to this issue.  And it is interesting that Neville has decided to make the matter public immediately, putting the boot in with the extra comment, “It’s symptomatic of things that have happened over the last 12 months with the club.”

Journalists however do not (to my mind) have a special place in society – they are regular people who sometimes point out issues we might have missed, and sometimes (at least in terms of football) make up tales, have vendettas or bend the knee as they see fit.   I see no harm in a club telling a journalist where to get off.

But back to the important stuff.   Southampton v Arsenal is one of the strangest matches I have ever attempted to preview.   Here is the home and away form table for the season, as usual.

 

	Team	P	W	D	L	F	A	GD	Pts
20	Southampton home	18	1	3	14	12	45	-33	6
3	Arsenal away	18	8	8	2	32	16	+16	32

So obviously two things leap out, Southampton have only won once at home and Arsenal have only lost twice away.   Those games were at Bournemouth in October (2-0) and Newcastle in November (1-0) – and that of course reminds us of the level of injuries circulating at that time.

Southampton’s solo home win was against Everton on 2 November, it was 1-0.  Since then they have played 30 games and won two of them, beating Swansea City at home 3-0 in the FA Cup in January and Ipswich Town away 1-2 on 1 February.

So here is the bottom of the table, and I publish it here not least because it might give just a little reminder to anyone who has had to see or hear a Tottenham fan celebrating, just how low they and their opponents in the Europa have sunk.

	Team	P	W	D	L	F	A	GD	Pts
2	Arsenal	37	19	14	4	67	33	34	71
16	Manchester United	37	10	9	18	42	54	-12	39
17	Tottenham Hotspur	37	11	5	21	63	61	2	38
18	Leicester City	37	6	7	24	33	78	-45	25
19	Ipswich Town	37	4	10	23	35	79	-44	22
20	Southampton	37	2	6	29	25	84	-59	12

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By way of comparison we might note that last season Southampton ended up in fourth in the Championship scoring 87 while conceding 63 which left them in the lower half of the table in terms of goals conceded.

League Championship table at the close of 2023-24 season

 

Now however they are in the unenviable position of having 12 points this season.   The worst-ever Premier League season, as we have noticed before, came with Derby in 2007/8 when they got 11 points.   Sunderland in 2005/6 got 15 points which of course Southampton could reach this weekend if they were to beat Arsenal….