By Bulldog Drummond
There is much talk now about this being our worst start to a season since… and there you can fill in the year of your choice. But it is worth noting that Arsene Wenger himself had several bad starts to seasons over the years – and recovered.
Each of these led to the anti-Wengerians in the media and the blogs to call for the manager to be removed, but eventually the team pulled itself around and the plan for playing out of the situation gradually got sorted, and results improved.
Just to remind you, in case you needed reminding, our situation currently is
| Team | P | W | D | L | F | A | GD | Pts | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Leicester City | 8 | 6 | 0 | 2 | 18 | 9 | 9 | 18 |
| 2 | Tottenham Hotspur | 8 | 5 | 2 | 1 | 19 | 9 | 10 | 17 |
| 3 | Liverpool | 8 | 5 | 2 | 1 | 18 | 16 | 2 | 17 |
| 4 | Southampton | 8 | 5 | 1 | 2 | 16 | 12 | 4 | 16 |
| 5 | Chelsea | 8 | 4 | 3 | 1 | 20 | 10 | 10 | 15 |
| 6 | Aston Villa | 7 | 5 | 0 | 2 | 18 | 9 | 9 | 15 |
| 7 | Everton | 8 | 4 | 1 | 3 | 16 | 14 | 2 | 13 |
| 8 | Crystal Palace | 8 | 4 | 1 | 3 | 12 | 12 | 0 | 13 |
| 9 | Wolverhampton Wanderers | 8 | 4 | 1 | 3 | 8 | 9 | -1 | 13 |
| 10 | Manchester City | 7 | 3 | 3 | 1 | 10 | 9 | 1 | 12 |
| 11 | Arsenal | 8 | 4 | 0 | 4 | 9 | 10 | -1 | 12 |
But we are only two wins below from second place with 30 games to play – although of course those clubs above us will also be winning as well.
But take a look at 1998 – which was the last time that we had an opening run nearly as bad as this. Then we had played eight but had 13 rather than 12 points.
| Pos | Team | P | W | D | L | F | A | GD | Pts |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Aston Villa | 8 | 6 | 2 | 0 | 10 | 2 | 8 | 20 |
| 2 | Manchester United | 7 | 4 | 2 | 1 | 13 | 6 | 7 | 14 |
| 3 | Arsenal | 8 | 3 | 4 | 1 | 9 | 3 | 6 | 13 |
| 4 | Middlesbrough | 8 | 3 | 3 | 2 | 12 | 8 | 4 | 12 |
| 5 | Liverpool | 8 | 3 | 3 | 2 | 13 | 10 | 3 | 12 |
| 6 | Chelsea | 7 | 3 | 3 | 1 | 11 | 8 | 3 | 12 |
| 7 | Derby County | 8 | 3 | 3 | 2 | 6 | 4 | 2 | 12 |
| 8 | Wimbledon | 8 | 3 | 3 | 2 | 12 | 11 | 1 | 12 |
| 9 | West Ham United | 8 | 3 | 3 | 2 | 7 | 8 | -1 | 12 |
Then as now Villa were charging ahead of us. But what is particularly interesting however was that in 1998 we had once again only scored nine goals by this stage of the season.
This is one of those moment where it is tempting to place a bet on what can happen to Arsenal this season as time progresses. But it is of course difficult to be sure how things will develop, and that’s why some free bets can help. Details of these are given on GPC.
The results that we had in 1998 at the start of the season make interesting reading today
| Date | Match | Result | Score | Competition |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 09 Aug 1998 | Arsenal v Manchester United | W | 3-0 | FA Charity Shield |
| 17 Aug 1998 | Arsenal v Nottingham Forest | W | 2-1 | Premier League |
| 22 Aug 1998 | Liverpool v Arsenal | D | 0-0 | Premier League |
| 29 Aug 1998 | Arsenal v Charlton Athletic | D | 0-0 | Premier League |
| 09 Sep 1998 | Chelsea v Arsenal | D | 0-0 | Premier League |
| 12 Sep 1998 | Leicester City v Arsenal | D | 1-1 | Premier League |
| 16 Sep 1998 | RC Lens v Arsenal | D | 1-1 | UEFA Champions League |
| 20 Sep 1998 | Arsenal v Manchester United | W | 3-0 | Premier League |
| 26 Sep 1998 | Sheffield Wednesday v Arsenal | L | 1-0 | Premier League |
| 30 Sep 1998 | Arsenal v Panathinaikos | W | 2-1 | UEFA Champions League |
| 04 Oct 1998 | Arsenal v Newcastle United | W | 3-0 | Premier League |
| 17 Oct 1998 | Arsenal v Southampton | D | 1-1 | Premier League |
| 21 Oct 1998 | Arsenal v Dynamo Kiev | D | 1-1 | UEFA Champions League |
We can see we were doing quite well in the Champions League and had won the Community Shield, and indeed only lost once, just as this season we are doing fine in Europe, and had won the FA Cup at the end of last season. But what was holding us back were those draws.
However by the end of 1998/9 we were a respectable Arsenal, both because of slippage by the ultimate league champions and the gain by Arsenal.
| Pos | Team | P | W | D | L | F | A | GD | Pts |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Manchester United | 38 | 22 | 13 | 3 | 80 | 37 | 43 | 79 |
| 2 | Arsenal | 38 | 22 | 12 | 4 | 59 | 17 | 42 | 78 |
| 3 | Chelsea | 38 | 20 | 15 | 3 | 57 | 30 | 27 | 75 |
| 4 | Leeds United | 38 | 18 | 13 | 7 | 62 | 34 | 28 | 67 |
| 5 | West Ham United | 38 | 16 | 9 | 13 | 46 | 53 | -7 | 57 |
| 6 | Aston Villa | 38 | 15 | 10 | 13 | 51 | 46 | 5 | 55 |
So, if you think you know what is going to happen you can get some free bets here.
But the question is, are we going to see such an improvement by Arsenal, and a slippage by some other teams? Some clear thinking is needed here, as for example the Daily Mail talks about this season’s poor start and says “It is a far cry from the glory days under Arsene Wenger,” forgetting that the last time this happened (1998) we were right in the middle of the “glory days under Arsene Wenger”.
Part of Mr Wenger’s great ability was to introduce new formats and new approaches which sometimes didn’t work well at first, and then grind out the results in the opening stages, until the players got used to the new style of play.
That seems to me to be the key: are the players going to adjust to the new style of play under Arteta as they did several times under Wenger?
The one player they want introduced to the team is Joe Willock – a choice that many people seem to be making at the moment based on the Europa League games with comparisons being made to Aaron Ramsey in terms of his late runs into the penalty area.
What they also suggest is that we have a separate style of line up against the rest of the “Top six” which of course is not a top six at the moment. Here they suggest a 3-4-3 approach, as was deployed in the victory against Man U, with Elneny playing alongside Partey.
They also say Arteta shouldn’t be afraid to deploy a more defensive 3-4-3 line-up similar to the one that dominated United at Old Trafford. That brings back in Elneny playing along side Partey.
These are big calls to make, and the type of call that some managers can make and get right and others not. It’s a moment for bravery and decision making.
There are a number of essential differences between 1998 and now.
The first is that we have lost 4 games, including 2 at home and drawn none.
The second is that we have let in 10 goals, and then we let in 3.
The third is that we have sidelined our only creative midfield player.
The fourth is that we have no attacking intent whatsoever.
The fifth is that we are averaging 3 or so shots on target per game.
Need I go on?
Finally, are you going to plug betting sites twice in each of your future articles, in which case I will not read them?
It s one thing to be surrounded by adverts, but to have them shoved in my face, no thanks.
I appreciate that the site may need the income, but including it in posts is too much.
I come to this site to engage in debate about a subject that I am very fond and do not appreciate being repeatedly encouraged to go to betting sites.
jjgsol –
” are you going to plug betting sites twice in each of your future articles, in which case I will not read them?
It’s one thing to be surrounded by adverts, but to have them shoved in my face, no thanks.
I appreciate that the site may need the income, but including it in posts is too much.
I come to this site to engage in debate about a subject that I am very fond and do not appreciate being repeatedly encouraged to go to betting sites.”
I agree with the above statements and will refrain from participating if adverts are forced into our faces.
Re Adverts
As much as adverts get on my wick I understand their necessity, but come on guys, just ignore them. I find it a bit odd why people find them quite sooooo annoying as to suggest abstaining from this wonderful blogg because of them.
I mean come on, where can you go in this day and age and not have adverts thrown down your throat? And what’s more I pay an absolute fortune to SKY and BT for the privilege. Untold asks no such subscription from me.
And guess what, in the UK we have one TV channel that is advert free, the BBC, and what is the channel that gets more abuse than any other for the way it is funded? That’s right the BBC. The one channel without adverts and that’s the one people want rid of.
So come on lads, give them a break. We get to read and participate in one of the most inciteful platforms around, surely we can cut them a bit of slack when it comes to how they can manage to give it to us absolutely free of charge, even if it is a tad annoying at times. Just saying.
I suspect you miss the point.
Every article is surrounded by adverts, which is fine and I can ignore them.
What I am objecting to are the ones gratuitously inserted to the posts themselves, completely out of context to the subject matter of the post.
By the way, I think you meant “insightful” and not “inciteful”.
I also have a problem with predictive typing.
jjgsol
No I’m not. This is a high quality FREE to access blogg. It has to be paid for.
Ignore them. It’s not difficult.
You are correct.
But there are so many adverts all over the site, why also include them gratuitouslyand out of context in the posts themselves?
Perhaps they make more money from the vetting sites, hence the incentive to include them even in the posts.
We will have to agree to disagree on this.
jjgsol
I do understand where you are comming from. When I saw those ‘inserts’, as when I first saw those entire articles masquerading as proper ‘debates’ that where purely bookies adverts, I thought, WTF !
But I soon reconciled it with the fact that Tony wouldn’t be doing it if he didn’t need to. and to just ignore the articles completely, and lets be honest you knew what it was the second you saw it.
Similarly with these inserts. When you balance those little irritations against Tony’s wonderful series of articles exposing the FA for the incompetent Neanderthals they are, well I’m sure the cutting of a little slack is not beyond all of us ?
Either way it’s just an opinion.
Really hope Untold isn’t becoming another gateway to betting.