By Bulldog Drummond
There are some real odd issues that are arising from the league table as we approach the end.
| Team | P | W | D | L | F | A | GD | Pts | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Liverpool | 37 | 31 | 3 | 3 | 82 | 32 | 50 | 96 |
| 2 | Manchester City | 37 | 25 | 3 | 9 | 97 | 35 | 62 | 78 |
| 3 | Manchester United | 37 | 17 | 12 | 8 | 64 | 36 | 28 | 63 |
| 4 | Chelsea | 37 | 19 | 6 | 12 | 67 | 54 | 13 | 63 |
| 5 | Leicester City | 37 | 18 | 8 | 11 | 67 | 39 | 28 | 62 |
| 6 | Wolverhampton Wanderers | 37 | 15 | 14 | 8 | 51 | 38 | 13 | 59 |
| 7 | Tottenham Hotspur | 37 | 16 | 10 | 11 | 60 | 46 | 14 | 58 |
| 8 | Sheffield United | 37 | 14 | 12 | 11 | 38 | 36 | 2 | 54 |
| 9 | Burnley | 37 | 15 | 9 | 13 | 42 | 48 | -6 | 54 |
| 10 | Arsenal | 37 | 13 | 14 | 10 | 53 | 46 | 7 | 53 |
Arsenal have ended up struggling behind Tottenham (who are spending a fraction of the money Arsenal spend on players), Wolverhampton (who have already spent next season’s TV money) and Leicester (home of the most extraordinary tackle / foul / yellow card stats the Premier League has ever seen.) Why is that?
Untold’s view throughout has been that consistency of management and playing staff develops the position in the league, while a large number of transfers and change of management undermines it – the latter particularly explaining Tottenhanm’s failure through the centuries.
Likewise ceaseless support of the club by those who attend matches and/or write about them on blogs, really helps. The opposite does not. It is not always true, but appears to be true more often than not, so our hope for the future should be that we have now entered a period of positive stability among both the management, players and supporters.
Our home stats, so often the envy of others in the days of Wenger, have dropped, as the AFTV supporters, the AAA and the media have combined to attack our managers and many of our players.
And thus for this final league game of the season we have to be grateful that we are facing a team with an even worse away record than Arsenal’s. Here’s the away table…
| Team | P | W | D | L | F | A | GD | Pts | |
| 10 | Arsenal | 19 | 4 | 8 | 7 | 20 | 24 | -4 | 20 |
| 11 | Crystal Palace | 19 | 5 | 5 | 9 | 16 | 30 | -14 | 20 |
| 12 | Tottenham Hotspur | 18 | 4 | 7 | 7 | 24 | 29 | -5 | 19 |
| 13 | Everton | 19 | 5 | 3 | 11 | 20 | 35 | -15 | 18 |
| 14 | Newcastle United | 19 | 5 | 3 | 11 | 18 | 37 | -19 | 18 |
| 15 | West Ham United | 19 | 4 | 5 | 10 | 19 | 29 | -10 | 17 |
| 16 | Brighton and Hove Albion | 18 | 3 | 7 | 8 | 17 | 26 | -9 | 16 |
| 17 | Aston Villa | 18 | 2 | 4 | 12 | 18 | 36 | -18 | 10 |
| 18 | AFC Bournemouth | 18 | 3 | 1 | 14 | 15 | 34 | -19 | 10 |
| 19 | Watford | 18 | 2 | 4 | 12 | 12 | 34 | -22 | 10 |
| 20 | Norwich City | 18 | 1 | 3 | 14 | 7 | 33 | -26 | 6 |
At home we are seventh in the league based on those games only…
| Pos | Team | P | W | D | L | F | A | GD | Pts |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Liverpool | 19 | 18 | 1 | 0 | 52 | 16 | 36 | 55 |
| 2 | Manchester City | 18 | 14 | 2 | 2 | 52 | 13 | 39 | 44 |
| 3 | Tottenham Hotspur | 19 | 12 | 3 | 4 | 36 | 17 | 19 | 39 |
| 4 | Manchester United | 19 | 10 | 7 | 2 | 40 | 17 | 23 | 37 |
| 5 | Leicester City | 18 | 11 | 4 | 3 | 35 | 15 | 20 | 37 |
| 6 | Chelsea | 18 | 10 | 3 | 5 | 28 | 16 | 12 | 33 |
| 7 | Arsenal | 18 | 9 | 6 | 3 | 33 | 22 | 11 | 33 |
It is disappointing, but on the other hand, if just three of the draws we have had turned into wins by the scoring of one more goal in each, that would have taken us to sixth in the league overall. It is disappointing but we are not completely lost.
So, why are Arsenal’s so bad?
About bloody time someone asked this question. I sent Arsene a letter Five years ago questioning exactly the same and got a standard reply because now days supporters (even one like me age 78 and a gunner of 70 years)are not worthy of an explanation. We are fodder. No club in my lifetime has had 8 years of non stop major injuries to mor than one star. Whe ever we have an injury it is major as per your list and not it is never second string players either. I would love to see the arrogant Trophy buyers try to survive with 5 plus top players out for half a season every year. although they would just spend another £250 mill. An investigation is urgentand done before next season.
Gunner, Untold has been answering the question of what is wrong in so many articles I’m a little surprised at the question. But in essence, the media in all its forms is packed with people who believe that the way to improve a club is to a) get a new manager and b) get new players.
But the evidence from football this century is that neither offers a quick fix, and when a new manager and/or new players come in, because the media has told the fans that this is the quick fix, the fans blame the manager and the players, and wave placards.
Because this is cheap news to report (no pesky interviews to arrange etc) the media cover it in full. The placard wavers think they are now important so wave their placards some more, and start booing their club’s players. Matters decline further.
The only solution is for the board to hold their nerve, bring in new players at a modest speed, and allow improvement to happen. If you want an example, look at Klopp. 8th in his first season and out of Europe. Start of his second season lost 2-0 to Burnley, but the media leaves him alone. There’s the difference.
i think it was bt sport where a fan was given a voice that it was bad refereeing was the cause.