By Bulldog Drummond
According to the BBC website the reason that Arsenal have achieved fourth place is because “other teams going for fourth place have all dropped points in recent weeks, but Arsenal keep on winning.” Which seems a trifle churlish when what they could have done is looked at (for example) the league table across the last ten games.
The point of this is that that league table shows Arsenal to be the best club in the league over the last ten games, while the BBC suggest it is “just the teams going for fourth place” that have dropped points.
And this is what Arsenal suffer from all the time – the constant knocking back of anything that Arsenal achieves, to make it appear far less an achievement than it really is.
By the “teams going for fourth place” I guess they mean this little group.
| Team | P | W | D | L | F | A | GD | Pts | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 4 | Manchester United | 29 | 14 | 8 | 7 | 48 | 40 | 8 | 50 |
| 5 | Arsenal | 25 | 15 | 3 | 7 | 41 | 29 | 12 | 48 |
| 6 | West Ham United | 28 | 13 | 6 | 9 | 46 | 35 | 11 | 45 |
| 7 | Tottenham Hotsp | 27 | 14 | 3 | 10 | 42 | 35 | 7 | 45 |
| 8 | Wolverhampton W | 28 | 13 | 4 | 11 | 28 | 23 | 5 | 43 |
But on current form Arsenal are not part of that group at all. Arsenal are way out in front. Besides even if we did look at the group, is there really any chance of a club like West Ham making up a three point gap and an inferior goal difference having already played three games more than Arsenal? Or Manchester United keeping a two point lead having played four more games than Arsenal and having an inferior goal difference?
What of course they abjectly fail to mention are the form guides, such as the one we have been quoting this week of the last ten games. Just in case you missed it, or because some more games have been played, here it is again – although since we last published it Arsenal have slipped a place due to Liverpool winning on Saturday afternoon, and now having conceded two goals fewer. (Mind you this would be so embarrassing for most of the pundits if they ever noticed such things since Arsenal and Liverpool have scored the same number of goals in the last 10 games as each other).
Last team league games table
| Team | P | W | D | L | F | A | GD | Pts | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Liverpool | 10 | 8 | 1 | 1 | 23 | 5 | 18 | 25 |
| 2 | Arsenal | 10 | 8 | 1 | 1 | 23 | 7 | 16 | 25 |
| 3 | Manchester City | 10 | 8 | 1 | 1 | 24 | 9 | 15 | 25 |
| 4 | Newcastle | 10 | 6 | 3 | 1 | 14 | 10 | 4 | 21 |
| 5 | Chelsea | 10 | 5 | 4 | 1 | 17 | 7 | 10 | 19 |
| 6 | Manchester United | 10 | 5 | 4 | 1 | 18 | 13 | 5 | 19 |
| 7 | Wolverhampton Wand | 10 | 6 | 0 | 4 | 15 | 9 | 6 | 18 |
| 8 | West Ham United | 10 | 5 | 2 | 3 | 16 | 11 | 5 | 17 |
| 9 | Tottenham Hotspur | 10 | 5 | 0 | 5 | 20 | 15 | 5 | 15 |
| 10 | Southampton | 10 | 4 | 3 | 3 | 16 | 15 | 1 | 15 |
| 11 | Aston Villa | 10 | 4 | 2 | 4 | 17 | 12 | 5 | 14 |
| 12 | Leicester City | 10 | 4 | 2 | 4 | 17 | 16 | 1 | 14 |
Still the BBC does have the grace to admit of Arsenal that “the whole team looks full of confidence too, and they are playing a system that works.”
Their attempt at talking up Leicester however is a bit of a laugh when they add, “Leicester have won their past two league games”. Leicester are actually 12th in the league table for the season and 12the in the table (above) for the last ten.
They also note that Vardy is injured once again, and give Arsenal a 2-0 victory in their prediction which is of course what happened in the away fixture when Ramsdale so wonderfully made the home support behind him look like a complete bunch of rather foolish fellows.
The BBC also tell us that “Leicester could win back-to-back away league games against the Gunners for the first time. Last season’s 1-0 victory ended their 23-match winless league run away to Arsenal.” The words staws and “clutching at” seem to spring to mind.
And yes I must be fair for although the BBC would never ever publish a league table such as the last ten they do say on their website, “Arsenal have won eight of their past 10 games in the Premier League (D1, L1).”
And here is the amazing bit. They can’t actually say that at the moment that article was put up Arsenal were top of the league, but do concede that “The 25 points they have accrued during that period is the joint-most in the division, alongside Manchester City.”
I wonder, did they spot that on Untold Arsenal?
We keep highlighting the last 10 games as an example of how good we have been recently, which is fine, and given how after just 3 matches we were touted as relegation fodder it is important to put that into perspective, but as I have highlighted a couple of times recently, (without much interested it seems but I persevere as I believe it is extremely relevant), if 10 games is a good indicator of a teams form then surely 53 matches is an even better indicator, not just of form, but over all quality ?
Bellow I show a slightly updated version of what I did earlier which shows games played, points we are all actually on since we beat Chelsea in November 2020 to the present day, and a 3rd column showing the points we would all have if we all play 53 and continue the 2 points per game average we are all currently achieving.
As you can see out of all the teams fighting for those other 2 top 4 spots we have the best form of them all, not just over the last 10 games, but over the last 53 games.
I think it shows just how good and consistent we have been for a long time now, as well as revealing just how long it has taken the media to cotton on to just how well we have been playing since Arteta’s massive tactical change.
Team: Played – Points – Points plus games in hand points at 2 per match:
Arsenal: 49 – 95: 53 – 103 pts
Chelsea: 51 – 98: 53 – 102 pts
Man Utd: 53 – 97: 53 – 97 pts
West Ha: 53 – 89: 53 – 89 pts
Tottenh: 51 – 82: 53 – 86 pts