Arsenal has more points after 33 games than any campaign since 2009-10

Posted on by Tony Attwood

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So, Hull.  Luring near the foot of the table.

Pld
W
D
L
F
A
GD
Pts
14
Aston Villa
35
9
8
18
29
50
-21
35
15
Newcastle
35
9
8
18
36
60
-24
35
16
Hull City
34
8
10
16
32
45
-13
34
17
Leicester City
35
9
7
19
39
54
-15
34
18
Sunderland
34
6
15
13
28
50
-22
33
19
QPR
35
7
6
22
39
61
-22
27
20
Burnley
35
5
11
19
26
53
-27
26
 Hull had a pretty awful January, but since there it really hasn’t been too bad.  April has seen two wins and two defeats (wins against Liverpool 1-0 and Palace 0-2) and defeats to Southampton (2-0) and Hull (3-1).
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March had three games, a 2-3 home defeat to Chelsea, and a draw with Leicester and a draw with Sunderland.  February had two wins, a draw and a defeat.
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Hull’s problem is however not so much a stuttering run of form, but rather the fact that after playing us, they have Burnley, Tottenham and Man U to play.   Man U and Burnley look winnable, especially if Man U recover some form, and secure their top four finish before the end of the season, and this should make sure Hull are in the top level next time around.
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Hull looked comfortable against Liverpool, but these days lots of teams do, so we can’t take too much from that game.
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The early news for Arsenal is that Jack Wilshere is ready to make his comeback but Arsène Wenger seems to be cautious about when he can come back.   Jack said he was desperate to play again, to which Mr Wenger replied, “I have 25 that are desperate.

“At the moment there are 30 days to go. What is my worry is Hull; I don’t care about the FA Cup at the moment. I am careful with Jack but he will play before the end of the season, of course. It is difficult to get in this team, I don’t deny that. If you consider any individual case you can say you are sorry that he doesn’t play.”

The point he was making is that a player can be fit, but not fully adjusted to the high-tempo intensity of the Premier League. “What people underestimate a little bit is that to get back to be capable to play is one thing. To be back and be capable to be sharp and efficient takes a bit longer,” was the view.

“In the Premier League it is a fraction of a second that makes you efficient or not. Even the players, from the moment they train again fully and the moment they are really back to their level, they are impatient. At the moment, every week he is stronger, he is getting back to the level now. This week was the first week he is sharp again.

“You live in a job where you need to trust your body. Jack is one of them who plays with freedom as soon as he’s back. So I don’t think on that front it will be a problem. He needs now one or two years without problems to really get the full confidence and belief back and I don’t see why it shouldn’t happen.”

Meanwhile the newspapers remain creatures of habit, and having looked at the copy they filed for the end of the season last year and the year before they see it is full of players leaving Arsenal.   So they have had their bash at Theo leaving, and now it is Jack.

Mr Wenger has none of it.   “He is an Arsenal player. I believe the success of the club in the future years will depend on how well the young players educated here will do. He is part of that….

“We had big injuries at the start of the season and we only got our squad together more recently. Even then we still lost players like Wilshere in November, and then again afterwards. We were not all together.

“So it took us some time to find a good balance in the team and we dropped some points because of that. Missing players was certainly detrimental to our results.”

The actual injury news is that Mathieu Debuchy has a hamstring injury – a common occurrence for a player keen to come back and do the business.  Mikel Arteta is fit, but needs another couple of weeks training.   Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain is progressing well but not yet ready.

Which leaves us with a squad of

Ospina, Bellerin, Mertesacker, Koscielny, Monreal, Coquelin, Ramsey, Cazorla, Ozil, Sanchez, Giroud, Szczesny, Gabriel, Gibbs, Wilshere, Ramsey, Walcott, Welbeck, Rosicky, Flamini.

And here’s another little starter.  Do you remember all that fuss about the “worst start in 30 years” that was propagated on Untold early on.  The Untold response was to cite the second unbeaten season when we worked our way up the league to win it.   The implication wasn’t that we would win the league this time, but that recoveries are possible.

So how have we done?

You’ll know, of course we are second (at least at the moment I write this).  But did you know we have more points after 33 games this season than any campaign since 2009-10; this despite having fewer points after 12 games than any other Premier League campaign.

Funny old game.

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68 Replies to “Arsenal has more points after 33 games than any campaign since 2009-10”

  1. I thought I’d seen articles in the media this past week denigrating our ‘progress’ as nothing of the sort, as we have exactly the same amount of points as we had at this stage last year.

    Couldn’t/cant be bothered to even check, but that is what I think I read.

  2. off topic but you knew the ref would point to the spot with the first Chelsea dive and it was a dive. Boring and diving their way to the title….

    Oh and Ruud Gullig agrees with the boring stance

  3. Walter how many penalties has hazard got this season from diving? It’s a soft on my arse! There goes a player hanging Ramsey in the box in the fa cup oh look he hit the post! Not good enough! Dicks

  4. Stay classy Chelsea, cheating till the very end!

    Looked like hazard deliberately planted his foot hard into the ground with a different than normal running movement in order to halt his own progress and go down, looked well rehearsed… embarrassing really but that is the Chelsea way.

  5. Walter cud u pls send me the link where Rud Gullit agrees that chelsea had been boring.Tks

  6. By the way i feel for the stamford bridge crowd they had to sit for 90 min watching defensive boring football.

    Compare chelsea winning the title undet Ancelotti scoring 102 goals and this year they wont get past 80 goals for surely.Chlski were attractive to watch under Ancelotti for surely.

    Hope Mouriniho gets the marching orders sooner than later.

  7. The trouble is the media will ignore all the Chelski cheating – the thuggery and the dives – and acclaim the Odious One as the magnificent manager he aspires to be – but in reality never can be – no cheat can.

  8. Rosicky,
    Belgian newspaper report it. Saying Gullit said it against the people from the Sunday Mirror.

  9. I was watching the match for 15 mins before the penalty and I said to myself that it was just waiting for the chance to give it for the ref. He had been doing all he could to ignore Chelsea fouls and stop a possible promising CP corner. Ivanovic pulling/pushing Zaha no foul, Zaha brushing a Chelsea player was immediately punished and so it went on and on.

  13. According to Collymore on Talkshite it was a ‘played for’ (why he cannot call it cheating I don’t know) penalty by the cheat Hazard, but he sort of excused it by saying ‘all teams do it’. Well sorry Stan but all teams do not do it. Show me a serial diver in the Arsenal team. Our players try to stay on their feet nine times out of ten. I would like to know how many points Chelsea have accrued through dubious penalties.

  15. Excused it did he? Seems his a bit like his pal Durham who also changes his tune as and when it suits.

    The following from Collymore:

    -However, the United skipper’s goal, which came from the spot was a contentious one, after Rooney went down in the box even though there was no contact with the goalkeeper.

    This behavior from the Three Lions captain has infuriated Collymore, who believes that the striker should not be doing it, as he is the captain of the club and the country’.

    http://www.ibtimes.co.uk/stan-collymore-criticises-wayne-rooney-diving-during-manchester-uniteds-win-over-preston-north-1488307

    And

    -Stan Collymore’s broadcasting career may be on the line after the radio host promised he would walk away from his job if footage emerged of him diving during his playing career – something which was seemingly discovered almost immediately afterwards.

    The issue of diving became a topic of conversation on Monday evening after Chelsea striker Diego Costa was booked during The Blues’ 3-1 Premier League win at Burnley for appearing to go to ground too easily in the box.

    The incident resulted in Sky Sports pundit Gary Neville insisting that every player had tried to win a foul by diving at some point in their career.

    Collymore responded to the former Manchester United defender’s claim on Twitter by vowing to step down as a broadcaster if G-Nev could find footage that showed him ‘winning a foul’ during his playing career.

    Unfortunately for the commentator, it wasn’t long before one incident of the ex-England striker emerged from his Nottingham Forest days.

    http://metro.co.uk/2014/08/19/stan-collymore-threatens-to-quit-broadcasting-if-diving-evidence-found-example-emerges-immediately-4838299/

    And

    -Football pundit Stan Collymore has been criticised for making a ‘homophobic’ remark in a tweet earlier this week (November 30).

    The former England football player and talkSPORT presenter sent the tweet during football match between Southampton and Manchester City, after player Sergio Aguero received a yellow card for allegedly faking a fall.

    Following the incident, Collymore used the term “fairy” because of its association with a negative stereotype of the gay community.

    http://attitude.co.uk/footballer-pundit-stan-collymore-criticised-for-homophobic-tweet/

    -So Rooney “infuriated’ him.

    -He dived himself even though on this occasion diving offends him so much he promised to quit broadcasting (We should be so lucky)

    -Aguero diving upset him so much he went all homophobic on us.

    Collymore is just a hypocrite, much like his mate Durham and most of the rest of them at that excuse of a radio station.

  16. Half Time: Spurs 0 – 1 City.

    At the risk of sounding ‘obsessed’ if Spurs do go on to lose today would it be premature to hail today, Sunday May 3rd, as the latest ‘St. Totteringham’ day?

    I know mathematically they could still catch us, but what with an inferior Goal Difference 26, or worse, it would at least brighten up a rather dull Sunday afternoon.

    And what’s more it would really hack off the likes of ‘Anon’ who I’m sure is still hanging around like a bad smell.

    Great game by the way.

    Defending doesn’t seem to be part of either teams game plan.

  17. Oh, and I forgot to say well done to Chelsea.

    Not for buying another title you understand, but for allowing me to put the match on AND to catch up with some sleep at the same time. Marvellous.

    At least it means I’m wide awake enough to enjoy a match in which 2 teams try to entertain.

  18. There are instances of 8 and 9 goal differences in a single game of the EPL. For Tottenham to get 3 like that in a row, would be unlikely.

    All we need is a single point tomorrow for Totteringham to be sure. I’m a little annoyed at how many predictions only have us getting a tie or losing. Something about kicking us around the pitch being easy.

  19. Priorities for me:

    1) win second place,

    2) win third place if second is out of reach,

    3) win fourth place if second and third place are out of reach,

    4) on the way of the goals above secure St Totteringham’s Day.

    Hence my desire for City not to win today. A draw would be perfect. St Totteringham’s Day won’t run away – as I said before, it’s like Easter: it happens every year, only on a different date – while second place might slip out of our hands.

  20. I want Tottenham to win this or at least get a draw as Man City are still a threat to our hope of securing 2nd while St. Totteringham day will come sooner or later. Wish the perennial bottlers will just get it done this once.

  22. Walter
    I too watched briefly – was in the gym and they have many screens with different things like sport, news and music – and after seeing hazard, willian and fabregas all dive in quick succession on the edge of the box I said to myself I’m not going to continue watching these cheats with their theatrics. Not surprised to learn they eventually got a penalty from that. Chelsea are truly a disgusting side.

  23. Gord

    If we lost our remaining 5 matches all 3 nil, that would put us on +16, and Spurs won there final 3 matches 4, 4 and 3 nil, that would put them on +16 as well, that would do it for them by courtesy of scoring 3 more goals than us.

    So I think you’re right, we better hang fire.

  24. Sorry; the relevance of the many screens in the gym was I started watching musical videos on a different screen and totally avoided the one with the Chelsea match on! 🙂

  25. Boo/Josif

    As much as it pains me, I too would rather a draw as it would be nice to get 2nd.

    Al/Walter

    truth is I never had any intention of Watching ZZZZZZZZZZ because I knew exactly what it would be like.

    I’ll lay a pound to a penny the diving didn’t get a mention after the game.

    Watching this Spurs/City match is all I need to remind me why I detest Chelsea so much.

    Spurs are our direct neighbours, but for all the banter, even abuse at times, that goes back and forth, I would never deny that they at least have the right principles as to how the game should be played.

    And as for City, yes how they attained there wealth and spend so much of it acquiring our players does infuriate me, but I cant help but love the way they play. Some of there football today has been sublime and at times reminds me of the invincibles at there best.

    Could go either way this game, but if I had to have a bet I’m afraid I would have to have my money on City increasing there lead.

    Still a great game though.

  26. Amazed how agreeable referees are to Chelsea, the team above all who spend their time conning them……and falsely accuse them of being racists.
    Think the phrase ” cheats never prosper” needs to go in the same bin with ” crime doesn’t pay” and ” fortune favours the brave”
    As for the Hull game, with I believe Mason as ref, think it is a game whereby we are going to have to be on our toes, and banish any complacency. They are on a good run and fighting for their lives. We will finish in the top four, but are aiming higher this season, let’s avoid ECL qualifiers this summer, and let’s make any pgmol interference at OT irrelevant.

  27. Mandy Dodd,

    Can’t agree with you more. I have been most grateful for Man United latest losing streak. I will really hate a situation whereby we would need a result at OT for 2 reasons:

    1. Their players always play us like they are on drugs or possessed by some wild spirit.

    2. If Man United the need a particular result, I am afraid that the ref will do his best to give it to them.

  28. Mandy Dodd

    “Amazed how agreeable referees are to Chelsea,….”

    I don’t know why Mandy?

    Chelsea are loved by the media, the Referees favour Chelsea.

    I’ve lost count just how many times I’ve said this on here:

    The Referees referee in accordance with the requirements of the media, and how they are subsequently judged by that same media, and nothing, but nothing could be allowed to get in the way of there favourite ‘eye gougers’ trudge to the title.

  29. Mandy – fully agree with your comments – unfortunately with the PGMO providing the “men in black” – cynical cheating Chelski (the ccc?) have prospered this season.

    I was hoping the Spuddies would take some points from a weakened City team today – but with 4 mins to go it does not look likely.

  30. Bootoomee, they certainly raise their game against us, and you know who regularly scores, by whatever means available. That said, their recent implosion has been nothing short of spectacular, they are very lucky Spurs , Liverpool and Southampton all seem to have ground to a halt

  31. looks like City will be on 70 points with +4 GD but they will also have played 2 more games

  32. Spurs would need to win all 3 and us lose all 5 for them to catch us

  33. Certainly agree that the refs are heavily influenced by the media. Cahill and Ivanovich get away with more than anyone ….at least since Fergie and Vidic parted company. Hazard is a serial,diver but does not get called to account. One thing about Jose, he knows how football, refs and the media work in this country , and pushes what he can to the absolute limit. The ref today did not seem especially biased, he was conned, if someone was conning my colleagues, or at least those I respected, I would act. But the fact is, Chelsea have some very powerful officials behind the scenes, who sit on influential boards. So of course do we, but I do not think Mr Gazidis is the type to abuse his power, unlike perhaps his predecessor. We all know about the relationship Jose and probably the club have with the most influential agent in football. We know they are a club who now use money to get what they want. Maybe this network of power wealth and influence, I won’t quite say power corruption and lies….lack of evidence, rather than a
    lack of reasonable suspicion….puts it’s own pressure on the refs, and perhaps the media.
    What I do know, this so called genius of a manager, of a club that has spent the majority of the last ten years living way beyond its natural means was too shit scared to take us on in the game of football recently. Have a feeling next year, wenger may abandon a few recent philosophies and principles, though of course not all he holds dear to…..and do everything in his power to knock Jose off his perch.

  34. We have 67 points & the Spuds are on 58 – so agree they need to make up the 9 points – but they would still be behind us on goal difference.

    So has St Totts day arrived?

  35. Blacsheep63

    “Spurs would need to win all 3 and us lose all 5 for them to catch us”

    Indeed you are right, and by how much is all explained above @ 5:14

  36. bjtgooner

    “So has St Totts day arrived?”

    I posed the same question @4:46

  37. @Jambug

    Thanks, I missed your earlier comment. Still…… very close!!

  38. Don’t know about anyone else but I am certainly going to raise a glass to St Totteringham this evening…..whilst of course not being complacent about tomorrow and being mindful of higher aims this season.

  42. Mandy – Sounds good to me too.

    Excuse the 2 failed attempts with my obviously, naff new list of emoticons.

  44. It seems strange the media thinks we have regressed, when at the same point last season we has fewer points, and were not even in the top 4. A quick look at the tables indeed agrees we have not beaten 64 points after 33 games in the last 4 seasons.

    Then again, this is the bunch that cuts us no slack when we have half our squad injured, while Costa being out partially excuses their current monotony.

    As far as St Totts goes, tomorrow will do when (hopefully) it becomes mathematically impossible for that lot to catch us, and the natural order is enforced for another year.

  45. Rufusstan

    Indeed it is. But isn’t it just standard media rubbish aimed in our direction.

    How many points did we actually have at this stage in the last 4 seasons?

  46. Article on long term progression in the works… some interesting analysis already carried out! But need to wait for our final points tally.

  47. Watching the Chelsea game on MOTD & it is another extra goalkeeper just as at Arsenal, this time Terry using his arm to stop a goal bound shot (no comment by BBC football pundits). Hazard did his dive for the PGMO to have their excuse for a penalty.

    Well done Chelsea another Trophy.

  48. First: How could you allow Walter to drag this post completely off topic? I thought that was considered to be serious trolling.
    Second: Who wrote this article? Was it some school kid?
    Third: Can you substantiate the headline with some facts please. You can’t just say some something with no back up.

  49. Congratulations to Chelsea Football Club on becoming English Premier League Champions today.
    I’m sure their owner, manager, players and supporters will value their victory as they see fit.
    Remember people, we are the Arsenal, we are better than others, we should not expect lesser clubs to live to our standards. Rest assured, when we win the title next year, we will do it the Arsenal way and it will be valued higher than any other victory.
    In the meantime, we should not sink to gutter level just because life is not as fair as it should be. We should rise and remain at the Arsenal level.
    So again, congratulations Mr. Abromovic, mind our trophy well, we shall require it next May.
    Allez les Gunners!

  50. @Menace

    You are correct – Terry handled the ball within the box (yet again) – but Terry & Cahill are allowed to do that! They have mastered the art of the sliding block with one arm raised & so far they have got away with it.

  51. Dec, fine sentiments and I agree with every word, but if we are to win the title next year, we might need a bit of the devil within, certainly in this league and with certain referees. I am not talking about eye gouging, leg breaker tackles, a bus parking philosophy, blatant cheating, but more about being more streetwise than we have been in recent years, though recently, we seem to be finding a remedy to that. I hope coq or someone like him is here to stay , we will need that

  55. Some headlines say Moaninho is tired. Not half as tired as we are of him.

    Chelsea won the league. Congratulations. Don’t let the door hit you in the ass on the way out.

  56. Sure Chelsea get away with alot of big, easy to see cheating like diving. That is half of the way they score goals. But its the off-the-ball and on-the-ball tugs, kicks, pushes, etc., all those ‘little’ things that are fouls but not called against Chelsea, that allow them to disrupt the rhythm of their opposition in the English league. People outside of this blog always mention the money but money is not nearly the story, its those little fouls. Goodness I would hate to be a referee reviewer of Chelsea games – I watched the last 5 minutes of normal time yesterday and was shocked at the amount of cheating I could see only from the eye line of the camera.

    They are not a football team. They are a pack of cheats disguised as a football team. Nothing will change as long as the referees let them get away with it. And nothing will change the referees unless systematic change is taken. Its a farce.

  57. Tailgunner,

    Next time you doubt Untold you could look for it yourself. But just in case you are not able to find it here are some links

    http://www.statto.com/football/stats/england/premier-league/2013-2014/table/2014-04-13
    http://www.statto.com/football/stats/england/premier-league/2012-2013/table/2013-04-17
    http://www.statto.com/football/stats/england/premier-league/2011-2012/table/2012-04-14
    http://www.statto.com/football/stats/england/premier-league/2010-2011/table/2011-04-23

  58. I’ll bet if manu or livpool were second, CP would have got the decisions that allowed them to win.

  60. Rosicky@Arsenal, don’t think Mou will get his marching orders, although he was originally sacked for his boring football, he was brought back for a 10 year plan to make Chel$ play entertaining football, hence buying Cesc to “build a team around him”. (Wait, didn’t we do that?) I guess the lure of the trophy put paid to those plans and Chel$ has reverted to themselves. Hey, you may well be right and he will get his marching orders.

  61. Rantetta

    From that link:

    “I think he’s wrong,” said Wenger. “He’s paid for that. We know all the system now of the modern media, especially on TV. I know how it works. They push you to be controversial because they give you a lot of money.

    “I can accept an opinion but the comment on Giroud was a bit more wrong, especially because I heard the same thing being said about Nicolas Anelka, about Thierry Henry himself and about Robin van Persie. And they all became world-class players themselves.”

    And the most telling line from what Wenger:

    “WHEN KNOW ALL THE SYSTEM NOW OF THE MODERN MEDIA, ESPECIALLY ON TV. I KNOW HOW IT WORKS. THEY PUSH YOU TO BE CONTRAVERSIAL BECAUSE THEY GIVE YOU A LOT OF MONEY.”

    So there we have. Even one of our greatest ever players. One that seems/seemed to be still be ‘in love’ with the Club. A player that still seems/seemed to have extraordinarily close ties to, not only the Club, but Arsene Wenger himself. One that seemed at least to have ambitions to manage, possibly, in fact almost certainly, at Arsenal, is too weak to resist the pressure to tow the line.

    Rather than show so spine and give some balanced, reasonable critique he choses to:

    -Slag of a Player he almost certainly has recently worked with. Possibly mentored. Who is one of the most in form strikers in the Country, if not Europe.

    -Undermine a manager he supposed to admire. A manager he must know comes under the most unreasonable, unfounded criticism from all sides, yet he sees fit to contribute to the bullshit.

    -Criticise a Squad that in recent memory welcomed him back like the prodigal son.

    I hope Wenger has had the balls to call him up, tell him what he thinks, and told him to keep his disloyal arse as far away from Arsenal as possible.

    And all for money he almost certainly doesn’t need.

    What price loyalty?

  62. Jambug

    There was an article on PA recently – where I vented my spleen on the Henry thing.

    Shottagunner wrote:
    Rantetta @ 4:18pm Nothing more nefarious than the power of money. Ex players are especially vulnerable as the big weekly checks stop coming in so it is easy to adapt to the new paymaster. We should stop idolizing them.

    “We should stop idolising them”.

    True, but ****!

    http://positivelyarsenal.com/2015/04/29/arsenal-needs-say-those-who-dont-know/comment-page-1/#comments

  63. Theres always some great stuff to read at PA,one interesting point was made recently on how MC are sneaking around the FFP system, and some quotes form Liam Brady on the YTP.Good people at PA.Always worth a read.
    I get the feeling that Wenger has put a bit of light on punditry, whenever there’s more sensationalism, we know its the cheque book talking, making the punditry null and void.I also think he forgives TH, Wenger is the master of psychology and dealing with skulduggery and looks at the bigger picture.

  65. It has been suggested by some that Arsenals improvement has been exaggerated.

    It has also been suggested than what Mourhino has done this season is close to the achievements of the Messiah himself.

    I thought I’d make a comparison of the 2 to see just how much more Mourhino has improved Chelsea compared to how much Wenger has improved Arsenal.

    For the sake of continuity I’ve made the comparison at 33 Matches, basically because that’s all we’ve played up to now.

    ………………….Arsenal………Chelsea

    Wins

    13/14……………….19……………22
    14/15……………….20……………23
    Change……………….+1……………+1

    Losses

    13/14………………..7…………….5
    14/15………………..6…………….2
    Change………………..-1…………..-3

    Goals For

    13/14……………….56……………65
    14/15……………….63……………65
    Change……………….+7…………..–

    Goals Against

    13/14……………….40……………24
    14/15……………….32……………26
    Change……………….-8……………+2

    Points

    13/14……………….64……………72
    14/15……………….67……………77
    Change……………….+3……………+5

    In summery:

    -We have both WON ONE MORE game each than last season.

    -Arsenal have LOST ONE LESS, Chelsea have LOST THREE LESS. *****

    -Arsenal have SCORED SEVEN MORE, Chelsea have SCORED EXACTLY THE SAME.

    -Arsenal have LET IN EIGHT LESS, Chelsea have LET IN TWO MORE.

    -Arsenal have THREE MORE POINTS, Chelsea have FIVE MORE POINTS.

    What does this tell us.

    In all but TWO statistic we have improved as much or more than Chelsea, the problem is that One of statistics is vital and bears a direct impact on the other.

    We have out improved Chelsea both in attack and defence, increasing our goals for, where as Chelsea are the same, and improving our goals against, where as Chelsea are slightly worse.

    We have both won just one more game each than last season.

    Now the one, vital statistic, that Chelsea out improved us on, LOSSES.

    Okay, we have actually lost one less than last year but Chelsea have lost 3 less than last year, and they already lost TWO less than us last year, and that is what has won it for them so comfortably.

    We needed to match that improvement just to maintain that gap in points from last year let alone overtake them.

    It was without doubt that early season form that cost us.

    Too many draws that should of been victories, Leicester away, Spurs home, Hull home, as well as losses that should of been at least a draw such as Swansea and Stoke away and United at home.

    Yes, Chelsea have improved, but we have improved also, more than Chelsea in many aspects, and to suggest otherwise is simply not true.

    S

    We have both improved our points tally, Chelsea by just 2 points more than us.

  66. The conclusion – as far as I am concerned – regarding Chel$kie taking the PL title is that if Chel$kie fans like this type of ‘football’ then I am so happy Arsenal will and never have played in such away – especially during our title winning seasons!

  67. @Jambug

    I pretty much agree with your comments. There is one thing that is rarely mentioned regarding Arsenal improvement in the last few years (yep, it didn’t start yesterday) and that is our ability to beat “little teams” like big clubs do. Of course, that change has gone unnoticed because people were more occupied by our poor record in big games, especially against Manchester United and Chelsea, in the last decade.

    If you take a look at 2011-12 or 2010-11, you will notice that we had spilled a lot of points against teams that were either relegated or in danger of being relegated. Holding onto our lead wasn’t our strongest point either. In 2012-13 and 2013-14 we were brilliant in terms of keeping the lead. In those two campaigns combined we spilled nine points after taking the lead at some point of the game. Compare it with, say, 2007-08 where we could have easily won the league with that mental strength. In 2012-13 and 2013-14 we won all available points against relegated sides.

    In a way, there is only one downside of this campaign and that is keeping our lead. We have spilled too many points from the winning positions (11) for our own good. Truth to be told, most of it happened in the first half of the season when we were destroyed by the injuries.

  68. It is easy to point at injuries in the first part of this season as the reason we dropped points. Injuries are the result of the real cause that impacted our seasons past & present – poor officiating. If the officials were honest & unbiased the difference in our injury list and our points total would be magnificent.

    I am glad that Wenger has changed the system to cope with part of the cause of injuries – possession. Now there are going to be very embarrassing situations for officials because they will not be able to hide behind as much selective vision when we don’t have the ball. Issues will now be wrong calls on position – ie off side & the off the ball incidents (chav speciality) that are usually not captured on camera.

    Hull is not going to be an easy win. We have the quality. All we need is luck & pace to evade PGMO taxation.

    Go easy Arsenal, we will win.

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