Sporting Clube Portugal v Arsenal: how the clubs have been doing

 

• Why is so much blogging and journalism about Arsenal so appallingly negative?
• So now we know: our reserves aren’t quite up to

By Tony Attwood

It is, of course, not that difficult to write something positive about Arsenal this season.    Nine points clear at the top of the league.  Best attack in the league.   Best defence in the league, and thus rather obviously, best goal difference in the league.

Plus, we might also mention the fact that Arsenal are currently eight points better off than where they were after 31 games last season.   Five more goals scored than at this point last season.   Eight goals fewer conceded that at this point last season….    The list goes on and on, and you’d probably know all this if only the media would maybe just mention any of these facts, rather than endlessly focus on the last two games.  Here’s the table…

 

	Team	P	W	D	L	F	A	GD	Pts
1	Arsenal	31	21	7	3	61	22	39	70
2	Manchester City	30	18	7	5	60	28	32	61
3	Manchester United	31	15	10	6	56	43	13	55
4	Aston Villa	31	16	6	9	42	37	5	54
5	Liverpool	31	14	7	10	50	42	8	49

 

So what do we get in response?    A snivelling set of put-downs to the effect that ” nobody has surely ever blown a quadruple quite like this…” forgetting of course, that even attempting the quadruple is something of a rarity.  But of course it was ever thus…

Sometimes I am asked why I bother to keep reading and commenting on the football media in England, and the reason is this: what Arsenal have to do is not only take on the other 19 clubs in the Premier League and those of Europe, but they also have a battle from the first day of training onwards against the media.  As I suspect the club tells any player who signs for Arsenal, “From now on, in each and every match, you are playing the opposition, their supporters, every journalist in the country, and every Arsenal supporter whose minds those journalists have managed to infiltrate. 

And of course, that is not only in terms of the actual game, but also in terms of the daily list of players that Arsenal could buy, if only they were fast enough in the market and adventurous enough in their thinking. Players who would guarantee Arsenal the title.   But no, Arsenal are too slow.   Quite honestly, it is amazing that they have only lost three league games this season the way this club behaves.

So it goes on.   And as Arsenal prepare to play Sporting Clube de Portugal tomorrow in Lisbon, the torrent of negativity will rain down on the club.  The only good thing about that is that Arteta, having been at Arsenal for so long, knows all about it, and has built into the club preparations that will help the players ignore the media while taking on the opposition.

And tomorrow it is a serious opposition.  For just as this season Arsenal are celebrating 100 consecutive seasons in the top division (although you would hardly know it from the lack of celebrating in this regard by the club and the absolute non-mention of the fact in the media) so Sporting can celebrate being one of the three clubs in Portugal that have never been relegated from Primeira Liga.  It’s an achievement they share with Benfica and Porto.

But perhaps one of the most noteworthy activities of Sporting, yet also one of the least commented upon, is Fundação Sporting (the Sporting Foundation), which was created in 2012 as a charity to help people in need, the homeless and children at risk.  Donations are collected at each match.    There is also a percentage taken from the sale of tickets and given to the fund at some games to help the work of the charity.  

Sporting have won the league in the last two seasons, and indeed have not been out of the top three in the past decade, although it was the season before last in which they had their best performance of these last ten years, reaching 90 points while scoring 96 goals.   And indeed, for each of the last two seasons, they have only lost two league games in each campaign.  This season, they have scored 72 and conceded 17.   

This lack of multiple opponents who could beat them, of course, makes the whole league system in the country fairly predictable and has the disadvantage of not giving the top three many games where they have to exert themselves to ensure a win – which is why they can find the Champions League a struggle.

What Arsenal have as they approach this match is the advantage of having to play more games against teams who are capable of scoring against them.

More anon…