Arsenal will only be serious title contenders if they prove themselves this week
THE big question after this weekend is when we start genuinely taking Arsenal seriously as title contenders.
Soccer
Their result against Liverpool put the defeat to a largely second string Chelsea in the League Cup and a defeat to the 2013 Champions League finalists Borussia Dortmund to bed for a few days at least.
Liverpool went to the Emirates to take the game to Arsenal and ended up being treated to something of a midfield masterclass.
I think come this Sunday night we will have a much better answer to the question about Arsenal. If last week looked big - this week looks HUGE.
They have to go to Germany to take on Borussia Dortmund - and then it’s onto Manchester United at Old Trafford next Sunday.
I have two questions about Arsenal’s title credentials. Do they have enough depth to keep this up? - and - do they have the tenacity to fight if things start to take a down turn?
If the answer is yes and yes then they can indeed win the league this season. Keeping it in their own hands by staying ahead of the chasing pack is all they need to do after all.
I’ve looked at the stats and tried to use numbers to previous Premier League form after 10 games to see whether I can predict whether Arsenal can hold onto their lofty position.
In 20 years of the Premier League, the team top of the table after 10 games has gone on to win the league 50% of the time. That tells us absolutely nothing.
That is providing of course that Manchester City, Chelsea, Arsenal and all the other teams currently above them drop more points then they do between now and May to allow them to claw some ground back.
Put it this way, United will need to win every game between now and the end of the season and only drop points in games against their top of the table rivals (Arsenal twice, Chelsea and City say) in order to be there or there abouts.
It’s been done but it’s quite an ask.
I get people on twitter bashing me for being a Manchester United hater - (actually I also get accused of being a Chelsea hater and Arsenal, and Liverpool - I can’t win at all it seems) but what I saw in the second half at Fulham yesterday was quite intriguing to say the least.
United were good in the first-half against a woeful Fulham side. Rooney and RVP worked well together, Adnan Januzaj is a great prospect and as expected they dominated.
Three goals in 12 minutes broke Fulham before half time, but United didn’t come to town in the second-half at all. They knew they’d win, but surely a clean sheet should have been a priority for David Moyes’ men.
They’ve only managed two in the Premier League this season - one against the worst team in the league Crystal Palace and the other in a cagey goalless draw against Chelsea.
Surely at half-time that was the aim. Fulham improved in the second-half and brought one back and were unlucky I thought not to get two to give the game a bit more edge.
It’s a Ferguson standard I am applying here - win and win in style - but I can’t believe the way United switched down the gears and failed to keep their sheet clean.
Occasionally on talkSPORT one topic in particular lights the switchboard and the debate doesn’t dissolve for days.
This week it was AVB’s comments about the Spurs fans not being supportive enough at home.
Risky business criticising fans.
It’s been the kiss of death of many a manager in football history but I do think that teams coming to White Hart Lane over the last few years come with a different game plan to three or four seasons ago.
I love the game that Spurs play. I loved them under Harry and last season too - but teams are arriving at White Hart Lane with the aim of not dropping points or not getting thrashed and that doesn’t always make it easy for the home team to do their thing.
I understand Spurs’ fans frustration though. Not only have they had a great couple of seasons where the benchmark at Spurs in terms of expectations has been raised, they’ve also seen a lot of money spent last summer on some serious talent and not all of it is working out.
It doesn’t matter how much we all preach patience to supporters of any team when your team spends, fans want results and fast!
The only thing that I think is being slightly overlooked is that the lynchpin, the glue that made Spurs so good, particularly last season, is missing.
This sounds like another exercise in state-the-bleeding-obvious from me but it’s easy to forget on how many occasions Gareth Bale was the difference last season for them.
By May end, Gareth Bale had made a personal contribution of 29 points to Spurs’ eventual total of 72. No I know, he didn’t do it on his own, one man does not make a team and all that - but his goals that WON games or salvaged points were the difference and there’s no instant replacement for that.
The answer isn’t clear to anyone, not least AVB.
He has a huge ask on his hands this season, he has to integrate seven high profile signings into an already good team (often with foreign imports a season is needed for new recruits) and re-mould the team into something equally as successful as last campaign.
Spurs fans calling in last week are split. The fans who want more, who don’t like what AVB is serving up week in week out and the fans who plead patience and point out that the last time Spurs started a season like this was under Bill Nicholson.
Points for on the board or points for style? It’s one of the great things about football, give fans more and they want that return doubled the following season. Who’d be a football manager?!
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