We judge a football team on its first 10 games.
Arsenal’s first game is on Saturday, August 15 at Everton.
So that is their target. Win that game, win your second game, win your third game.
We also judge teams on how they perform away from home. Some teams are home-town heroes, like Man City. Away from home, Citeh are a joke.
So my advice to Arsenal is simple : beat Everton ! Don’t be crap again, don’t be stupid again, don’t lose to Fulham, don’t lose to Hull, make a statement, create some momentum.
After Arsenal have played 10 games, and everybody else has played 10 games, we’ll have a rough idea how this season will pan out. We’ll be able to see the contenders for the title, the contenders for relegation, and the also-rans in between.
Obviously, all fans hope their season will last a long time. They cling to hope, although I didn’t last term, as I wrote off Arsenal’s chances of winning anything on October 29, when they were 4-2 up at home to Spurs and could not win the derby. That late collapse confirmed that everything I had feared was correct. Four months in , I gave up. I lowered my expectations, which were already low.
In the end, Arsenal finished fourth in everything. Two semi-finals is NOT success. An unbeaten run of 21 league games, including eight draws, is not success. It’s merely an improvement on their pre-November form. Yes, it was a big improvement. But it’s what I would call : quite good. It was better than losing to Stoke, Fulham, Hull and Man City.
Losing 1-0 at Old Trafford in the first leg and 3-1 to Man United at the Emirates in the Champions League semi-final is not success, or anything close to success in my book.
It’s inevitable that CEO Ivan Gazidis sings from the same hymn-sheet as the manager.
That’s what he was hired to do. But Gazidis also says that fourth is not good enough and this week’s comments from him puts more pressure on the players than the manager ever does. The headlines reflect that angle:
Gazidis: Time for Arsenal to deliver some silverware -Hampstead & Highgate Express – Sport
Gazidis: Few additions will make Arsenal challengers -TribalFootball
Arsenal chief: It is now or never – thelondonpaper – Sport
Young Gunners told: It’s time to end trophy drought – Metro.co.uk – Sport
Arsenal chief: It’s time for youngsters to deliver – FOXSports – Soccer
Gazidis: Big spending doesn’t guarantee success – Sport.co.uk
Gazidis: Young Guns need to deliver – TEAMtalk – Arsenal
You probably read Kevin Whicher’s Online Gooner piece yesterday.
I like Kevin, always have done, and this is one of his best pieces. It’s a bit downbeat. But it’s wise and makes some good points. He is illuminating on the club’s £50 million “operating costs”.
England 22-1. Cook caught in the gulley.