By Tony Attwood
I see that the ex-Tottenham manager and winner of the Europa League with them, a Mr Posttecoglou, has been sacked by Nottingham Forest. The Guardian is suggesting he is the “least effective Premier League manager ever.” And yet when he was manager of Celtic, the media happily reported that he was being offered jobs elsewhere all the time, with stories connecting him with Leicester City, Leeds United, Everton, Crystal Palace, Southampton, Chelsea, Southampton and Wolverhamton Wands, and at no state did any of these know-it-all scribblers suggest that the guy was useless and shouldn’t be working with the under 10s.
Now of course, they turn on him as a pack of wild hounds, because that is what they do. But he was the man who actually managed to give Tottenham Hots a trophy, which really doesn’t happen that often. He has been a manager at 13 clubs and in some cases he has been praised for his work, not least at Celtic (and for giving the Tin Totts a trophy – the first one in 19 years if you count the league cup, 36 years if you don’. Now the word is “At no stage did the Australian coach seem to understand the assignment he had been given at Nottingham Forest.”
So he will move on and find somewhere else – managerial club number 14 but probably not in England.
Meanwhile, Arsenal are top of the league, but don’t expect any accolades. The Guardian calls yesterday’s game a “mechanical performance”. Has any club top of the league been called mechanical before? And if Arsenal are mechanical, what are Manchester United, Newcastle and Aston Villa, as they reside in the lower reaches of the League?
Arsenal are not the top goalscorers in the league – that is ManC with 17 followed by Chelsea with 16 – Arsenal are third in that category with 15. But they do have the best defence with only three conceded, and the best goal difference with +12.
But if we compare that with recent years, Arsenal are not always keeping pace with their previous achievements. Indeed as the table shows, this is not as good as 2022 or 2023 except in terms of defence and goal difference.l The fact is that ManC and Liverpool have each been beaten twice already, and this season only Manchester City can rival Arsenal’s goal difference.
| Team | P | W | D | L | F | A | GD | Pts | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Arsenal 2025 | 8 | 6 | 1 | 1 | 15 | 3 | 12 | 19 |
| 3 | Arsenal 2024 | 8 | 5 | 2 | 1 | 15 | 8 | 7 | 17 |
| 2 | Arsenal 2023 | 8 | 6 | 2 | 0 | 16 | 6 | 10 | 20 |
| 1 | Arsenal 2022 | 8 | 7 | 0 | 1 | 20 | 8 | 12 | 21 |
Of course, none of this means we will or won’t win the league, but it does mean that Arsenal are top because other teams have slipped a bit and are beating each other. The league table in the order of the number of defeats so far reads.
| Team | P | W | D | L | F | A | GD | Pts | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Arsenal | 8 | 6 | 1 | 1 | 15 | 3 | 12 | 19 |
| 4 | AFC Bournemouth | 8 | 4 | 3 | 1 | 14 | 11 | 3 | 15 |
| 5 | Tottenham Hotspur | 7 | 4 | 2 | 1 | 13 | 5 | 8 | 14 |
| 8 | Crystal Palace | 8 | 3 | 4 | 1 | 12 | 8 | 4 | 13 |
| 2 | Manchester City | 8 | 5 | 1 | 2 | 17 | 6 | 11 | 16 |
| 3 | Liverpool | 7 | 5 | 0 | 2 | 13 | 9 | 4 | 15 |
So yes, it is great to be top, but I think for once the Guardian got it right. “This was a mechanical performance from Arsenal but it was enough.”.
What gives me hope for this season is that I still believe 100% in our new centre forward, and when he starts scoring, he won’t stop. But as ever we shall see.
Here’s another thing. Only Liverpool, Newcastle and ManC have scored against Arsenal this season – and each club has only got one goal. I have no idea if Arsenal can keep that up, but it certainly does bring about some confidence. (ManC have conceded six and Liverpool nine.)
So next up it is Atlético Madrid (fourth in the Spanish league, and six points behind the league leaders) on Tuesday, and then Crystal Palace (eighth in the Premier League) on Sunday. We should have some confidence in a win in each of those games. But what Arsenal also need is what they showed after the Liverpool game – that one defeat does not send them into a dip in which three or four games that we might expect the club to win, turn out to be draws.
But equally, Arsenal should not put everything into the game in Spain and then treat the Palace match as an easy affair. Every game has to be taken as one in which the opposition will seek to show Arsenal that they are not utterly almighty and can simply sail through every game.
And this, I think, is where the big squad, including those youngsters who are already showing such talent, will come into their own. With a spot of luck, Atletico will have been watching the victory this weekend, but not thinking about the players who didn’t make it into the team.
After this weekend’s game, the injury list is down to just four players – Jesus, Odegaard, Havertz and Madueke – and in time they will come back. All we need to do is keep winning without them.
