By Tony Attwood
The departure of Mr Wenger was something that a lot of journalists, bloggers and some fans in the stadium with placards had campaigned for, for quite a while. So finally they got what they wanted.
When Mr Wenger left, the team was in sixth at the end of his reign, with 63% of the points of the league winner
| Team | P | W | D | L | F | A | GD | Pts | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Manchester City | 38 | 32 | 4 | 2 | 106 | 27 | 79 | 100 |
| 2 | Manchester United | 38 | 25 | 6 | 7 | 68 | 28 | 40 | 81 |
| 3 | Tottenham Hotspur | 38 | 23 | 8 | 7 | 74 | 36 | 38 | 77 |
| 4 | Liverpool | 38 | 21 | 12 | 5 | 84 | 38 | 46 | 75 |
| 5 | Chelsea | 38 | 21 | 7 | 10 | 62 | 38 | 24 | 70 |
| 6 | Arsenal | 38 | 19 | 6 | 13 | 74 | 51 | 23 | 63 |
The clubs’ distance from the first relegation position was 30 points – meaning Arsenal had 1.90 times the points of the relegated club Swansea who were sitting on 33 points.
When Mr Emery was sacked Arsenal were 8th in the league with Liverpool 19 points ahead. So Arsenal had 49% of the league leaders.
| Team | P | W | D | L | F | A | GD | Pts | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Liverpool | 13 | 12 | 1 | 0 | 30 | 11 | 19 | 37 |
| 2 | Leicester City | 13 | 9 | 2 | 2 | 31 | 8 | 23 | 29 |
| 3 | Manchester City | 13 | 9 | 1 | 3 | 37 | 14 | 23 | 28 |
| 4 | Chelsea | 13 | 8 | 2 | 3 | 28 | 19 | 9 | 26 |
| 5 | Wolverhampton Wanderers | 13 | 4 | 7 | 2 | 18 | 16 | 2 | 19 |
| 6 | Sheffield United | 13 | 4 | 6 | 3 | 16 | 12 | 4 | 18 |
| 7 | Burnley | 13 | 5 | 3 | 5 | 20 | 18 | 2 | 18 |
| 8 | Arsenal | 13 | 4 | 6 | 3 | 18 | 19 | -1 | 18 |
In the first relegation position was Norwich with 10 points. So Arsenal had 1.8 times the points of the club in the first relegation position.
Today Arsenal are 9th with the leaders have 45% of the points of the leaders.
| Team | P | W | D | L | F | A | GD | Pts | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Liverpool | 17 | 16 | 1 | 0 | 42 | 14 | 28 | 49 |
| 2 | Leicester City | 17 | 12 | 3 | 2 | 40 | 11 | 29 | 39 |
| 3 | Manchester City | 17 | 11 | 2 | 4 | 47 | 19 | 28 | 35 |
| 4 | Chelsea | 17 | 9 | 2 | 6 | 31 | 25 | 6 | 29 |
| 5 | Tottenham Hotspur | 17 | 7 | 5 | 5 | 32 | 24 | 8 | 26 |
| 6 | Manchester United | 17 | 6 | 7 | 4 | 26 | 20 | 6 | 25 |
| 7 | Sheffield United | 17 | 6 | 7 | 4 | 21 | 16 | 5 | 25 |
| 8 | Wolverhampton Wanderers | 17 | 5 | 9 | 3 | 24 | 21 | 3 | 24 |
| 9 | Arsenal | 17 | 5 | 7 | 5 | 24 | 27 | -3 | 22 |
At the bottom in the first relegation spot is Southampton with 15 points, meaning Arsenal have 1.47 times as many points as the club heading for relegation.
So at each measuring point we are getting further away from the leaders. Mr Wenger left us with 63% of the points of the leader. By the time Mr Emery was sacked it was down to 49%. Now we have only 45% of the points of the leader.
As for the distance from relegation, Mr Wenger left us we had 1.9 times the points of the first relegation place. When Mr Emery was sacked we were 1.8 times the number of points of the club in the first relegation place. Now we have 1.47 the number of points of the club in the first relegation slot.
So at each move we are getting further and further away from the top club, and the distance to the first relegation place is getting closer and closer.
It just seems to raise the point that if we hire and then sack maybe another two manages, the club could be relegated for the first time since 1913. But replacing the manager over and over seems to be the key strategy of the journalists, many bloggers, and the placard wavers. I guess they just like Arsenal sinking lower and lower.
Freddie himself is getting a bit fed up with things, noted as saying…
“I’ve said to them [the club] they need to make a decision. We are here to help and the staff are trying to chip in but a decision has to be made so we can have the same resources as other clubs.
“Per is an academy manager and he is doing two jobs in one go. I think it needs to be cleared up, to make a decision, so everybody knows. That’s something I’ve said. But then it’s totally up to the club.”
Of course the bloggers are now out in force – because, well, that’s what they do. Here’s a few snippets…
Santi Cazorla: If Wenger had stayed, maybe I would have
That’s in the Daily Cannon, and yes, maybe under Mr Wenger things would have been better. As we can see above, things were better when he was here. They also tell us a new manager is imminent.
‘Shambolic’, ‘Absolutely useless’ – Many Arsenal fans blast ace who must ‘be sold’ at HT v City
That comes from Red London, and it represents the tragedy of life if it really is true that most people would agree with Piers Morgan.
BBC pundit delivers harsh warning for Arsenal’s hierarchy in the wake of humbling Man City loss
But just supposing that Santi Caz had stayed along with Mr Wenger. Would we have been in as bad a place as now? Some will argue so, but I rather doubt it. Change the manager go down the league, that’s the rule 80% of the time in the Premier League.
Arsenal could have parked the bus against MC but they dont. Bravely they play possitve attacing footbal against a world clas team with lot of youngsters. They were by no means a pounching bag and create chances of their own. I say this is brave. We started to rebuilg and please ignore the overwelming negative and onesided bla bla. It will anyway never stop. When MU was recently a third from the bottom she was very softly nurse back to standerd by a oh so a supportive press.This will never given us. Freddie is brave I only hope our supportes and players can and will also be.
I agree. It was by no means a bad performance.
Going one down after one minute to a well taken goal did not help and we did try to attack but so many of the attacks were ended by a cynical foul.
It was only towards the end of the 2nd half when the players had really given up when Man$ity really took control and made us look amateurish.
To make Ozil the scapegoat yet again is unfair and wrong.
Why should a high [rofile player not comment in public about the ill-treatment of his co- religionists?
Truth and honesty, being absent in politics have now become absent in football as well. All that matters is the money,
@Tony Well this is a consistent view of Untold but the fact remains that Arsenal did sack Emery and have to make a decision about how they are going to replace him. They have not done this. This cannot be ignored. I cannot fathom why the Arsenal board do not have a short list of potential successors to replace Emery and then acted upon this. Where is the succession planning?
My concern in all of this is that I do not trust the Arsenal board make a bold, forward thinking decision the befits a club of Arsenals stature and history. I fear that they will ‘make do and mend’. I hope that I’m wrong.
I fear they will go for the cheap option like they did with Emery.
Have done that with him and discovered that his dossiers on the players and his promises about them were meaningless, they then decided to spend spend spend and when that didn’t work they did what they should have done at the end of last season.
But, yet again they did it without forward planning and someone else lined up.
Yes, I agree the board seem not to know how to take us forward.
@Gooner S,
Frankly, just take a step back and try to put yourself in someone who would be on a shortlist
First of all, the list would be very short… Ancelotti ? Pocchetino ? Kovacs ? who else ?
I’d imagine they all have a clause that says they get millions if they stay out of coaching until season’s end.
That shortens the list some more.
And then, the guys left, well, go to the web, read newspapers, meet colleagues and players. And what do they hear ?
– hell yes, we love playing at the Emirates…arsenal fans are helping us far better then our own traveling fans ?
– we like going to thr Emirates, anybody knows that Arsenal are just incapable of playing there, not like it used to be in the past.
– Arsenal ? wonder if they have even a board…
– and I imagine other niceties in this logic
I commend MM. Ljundberg and Mertesaker for what they are doing and can imagine how disruptive this is in their own plans/jobs/carrers. Suddendly they are in the line of fire which neither had planned to be into so quickly. And in the end the danger is that they will become the next scapegoats whereas they are a real asset for Arsenal. Again, one gets the feeling Arsenal are now just throwing their kin under the bus and not supporting them. At least this sure is what it looks like.
And people at Liverpool can really now legitimately say : what are they smoking at the Emirates ?
As for the game, well I liked what I saw. They were trying, their play wasn’t bad at all, they are young, an not yet cynical. And Guardiola is only for the beautiful game when it suits him and he has a galactical squad. So much for the piedestal TV and the press have built for him. He lost much of the respect I had for him yesterday. He ain’t different.
Say what you want about Mr Wenger, but I can’t remember that his teams were as cynical and brutal.
Playing against well prepared league champions with their top player in best form of his life is never easy. Freddie just unlucky that his newly settled team gotta play them now. However, it was thrilling to watch Arsenal attack although they lost comprehensively. They tried but just wasn’t enough against Pep’s dream team. At least, second half, the players didn’t play naively and concede counterattack goals. Definitely the best match Arsenal played this season but the fans are getting worse. They are gonna doom the club that I love so much.
City fan here and a great admirer of Untold Arsenal’s writing. Good result for the blues but as this is an Arsenal blog I’d like to say. It makes me sad to see Arsenal like this. I’m old enough to remember the Graham incarnation but what really inspired me about Arsenal as the initial period under Arsene Wenger and his on-field lieutenant, Patrick Viera. In my humble opinion: he is a footballing genius who was cheated out of his legacy by the Premier League, Alex Ferguson and his lackeys at the PGMOL and a compliant national sports media. In tandem With Dein departing and new ownership, Arsenal are a shadow of what Wenger envisioned. PS. Respect to the Arsenal fans who stayed till the end yesterday and sung.
Thanks Kenward for your kind and accurate thoughts. Those who pretend to know what to do at this juncture are blowing hot air. AFC don’t usually rush into things and my guess is that Freddie will remain at the helm for a while longer, at least until things becoming clearer as to certain players and options. The candidate to be the new coach/manager are, in no particular order and with their cons and pros:
1) Carlo Ancelotti who has extensive experience in the EPL and has won stuff here. That said, he may not be all that keen on taking over a difficult side like AFC, who are in the rebuilding stage.
2) Mauricio Pochettini who was the most successful manager that spuds have had to date and whose man management skills are well known. That said, he probably wouldn’t take another toxic position after having failed at the Spuds.
3) Patrice Viera who is getting his sea legs and experience elsewhere but is a giant among our legends. The problem is that giving him the job would be like throwing him into the deep end and hope he can learn to swim!
4) Joachim Loew is my personal preference since he has a fantastic won-lost record in all competitions and is a very popular coach. He has no experience of the EPL but with at least 3 other European Leagues. He is disciplined and well organized and unafraid to experiment tactically….we need that at AFC. He also likes using youngster with experienced players.