- If a product you bought sponsored ManC would you stop buying?
- To ban or not to ban and for how long?
By Tony Attwood
If you have been following my meanderings of late you will know that I have focussed on lot on the Manchester City issues. Other Arsenal sites you may have noticed have not always done this, focussing instead as usual on possible transfers and of course managerial errors. For there are always managerial errors. Here’s an example
Arteta has made big mistake as explosive Arsenal star could leave in January, UCL clubs keen
And maybe that is right – maybe that is the real news. Although the two types of news are in essence the same: “Arsenal has got it wrong.” Either because Arsenal are not signing the right players or through stories such as this one below, turning out to be true….
UAE COULD HIT THE PREMIER LEAGUE WITH A BOYCOTT CAMPAIGN
The UAE is reportedly still considering a boycott campaign targeting the Premier League, which could involve pressure on UAE-based companies sponsoring the league and individual Premier League clubs to reconsider their position as this story on X suggested…. pic.x.com/CFr0uZ9Y2x
Of course none of us knows where any of this is going… and there is always the possibility that it goes nowhere. The elongated early season break comes to an end and the league resumes on 20 October, having used the break to get some of their players most in need of time off, to have that very thing: time off.
Was it good to have a break after that 3-0 defeat to Brighton, or would it not have mattered who we played? Well, if nothing else, Arteta can work with the players who were on the pitch and establish with them exactly what went wrong and how it is going to be put to rights.
We are told by those who claim to be in the know that both William Saliba and Jurrien Timber are back in training and could be ready to be in the team, or indeed could be on the bench. But then again, other clubs that have brought in new players who have not yet settled, may have had a chance to adjust their line up as well.
The feeling from Arsenal is that Saliba will not be allowed to play until December, for fear of doing some more damage, and there is no clarity on the situation of Kai Havertz. But everyone else seems to have been able to use the time well, and get themselves ready for the forthcoming fixtures…
The October schedule gives us…
- Sat 10th Leeds United (H)
- Sat 17th Nottingham Forest (A)
- Sat 24th Everton (H)
- Tues 27th Fleetwood Town (A)
- Sat 31st Liverpool (A)
which suggests that we will have time to bring back the remaining injured players whatever happens.
The seven injuries that we have mentioned before (as per EPL Injury Table) should turn out not to be a true reflection of who is missing, and the huge variations that we are seeing in injury numbers in different clubs should come back down. Just to give an insight of what we are seeing consider these numbers of missing players…
- Brighton and Hove Albion: 11
- Chelsea: 8
- Fulham: 2
- Hull City: 10
- Ipswich Town: 2
- Manchester United 10
- Newcastle United: 12
These are best described as wild and whacky variants. But if Manchester City are still considered a threat to Arsenal we might get a bit of a relief from them as they play Liverpool on Sunday 11th October and then after that PSG in Europe. It really will be interesting to see just how they respond.
They seem to be on a run, and determined to prove everyone wrong, given that they have scored ten goals in the last two games. One can only wish and hope that such scoring was a blip and they might start to reflect on what has happened to their image.
Indeed they might also reflect on whether they are about to have points deducted and what the general public’s reaction is to their activities. Changes of “Cheat Cheat Cheat” through every match might not put them off, and it would be nice to know that others have been reading the news
I know it was an awful long time ago, but when we left, the table seemed to look a bit like this.
| Pos | Team | P | W | D | L | F | A | GD | Pts |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Manchester City | 5 | 5 | 0 | 0 | 13 | 5 | 8 | 15 |
| 2 | Arsenal | 5 | 4 | 0 | 1 | 8 | 4 | 4 | 12 |
| 3 | Brighton and Hove Albion | 5 | 3 | 1 | 1 | 16 | 5 | 11 | 10 |
| 4 | Brentford | 5 | 2 | 3 | 0 | 10 | 4 | 6 | 9 |
So what about that headline? Well, it does seem that the sponsors of ManC have got a bit upset about things and they like to do the unexpected, so demanding that the league comes clean and says “we are not charging you with anything” could be their latest idea. It might work. It might not.
I think their problem is they seriously do believe their own propaganda and really think they have been seriously mistreated by the League. And from that starting point, who knows what they might do next….
