This may go against the tide, but I do feel a bit sorry for Arsenal manager Mikel Arteta and many of their supporters.
Why?
Well, even if the Gunners finally end their 22-year wait to win the English league title they won’t be able to celebrate it fully.
Why not?
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Well, remember when Arteta and many Arsenal fans churlishly belittled Liverpool’s title triumph last year?
Arne Slot
Arne Slot guided Liverpool to the Premier League title in his first season at the Anfield helm.(Peter Byrne/PA)
The Arsenal boss basically implied that the Reds’ comfortable success wasn’t all that impressive because they won the title with ‘only’ 82 points.
In fact Liverpool ended up with 84 points, despite taking only two points from their last four games, losing as many matches after securing the trophy as they had done in winning it so impressively.
As the late, great Bob Paisley once quipped about a similar previous Liverpool coast to the finish, the Reds had ended ‘on the crest of a slump’.
That didn’t matter way back then, nor did it matter last year.
Arsenal boss Mikel Arteta has another injury problem to deal with
Arsenal boss Mikel Arteta (second from right) at a training session.(John Walton/PA)
All that matters is winning, as Arteta knows – and knew – all too well.
It was politely – and impolitely - pointed out to him that that is not how an annual league works.
Arsenal may have collected more points than Liverpool’s total of 84 in one of the previous two seasons – but Manchester City won more than the Gunners in both of those campaigns.
Besides, as many pointed out, Liverpool had lost out on two titles to City despite winning more points than Arteta’s Arsenal have ever done – 97 and 92, to be precise.
Indeed even ‘the Invincibles’ only collected 90 points…
Now, I’m no mathematical expert, but Arsenal will do very well to exceed 84 points this season.
To do that they’ll need to win at least five of their remaining six matches.
In addition, the only way they’ll reach 80 points from 34 games will be if they win their next two matches – and also receive four bonus points.
Gabriel headed Arsenal in front from a corner
Gabriel headed Arsenal in front from a corner(Martin Rickett/PA)
They certainly won’t be receiving any points for ‘artistic impression’, not that any side ever does.
Yet Arsenal supporters were the most vocal last year in questioning how much Liverpool ‘deserved’ to win the league.
Manchester City fans by and large graciously accepted that their unprecedented run of four consecutive titles had come to an end, had to come to an end.
The juice had been extracted from the legs of a few previously key players, such as Kevin de Bruyne and Kyle Walker, while brilliant defensive midfielder Rodri missed almost all the season due to injury, meaning a re-build was required.
Funnily enough, Arsenal haven’t been enjoying the chorus of people saying that they are effective yet dull this season.
Arteta even claimed a while back that many people were telling him that Arsenal are ‘the most exciting team in Europe’.
Are any of those people in the room with you now, Mikel?
Equally, are any of those people not from north London and clad in red and white, Mikel?
Arsenal are currently on course for…83 points.
It won’t matter a jot if they win the league with 83 points, 80 points, 88 points or whatever – as long as they win it.
Equally, even if they get to 85 points but lose out to City on goal difference, they still lose out on the title.
The criticism of their tactics, their approach, the amount of goals they get from set pieces and own goals is all…hot air.
None of it really matters.
All that counts is the points tally and having the most at the end of the campaign.
As it stands, Arsenal are the best team in England and one of the leading contenders in Europe – just as Liverpool were the best team in England and Europe last season… up until the round of 16.
Paris Saint-Germain subsequently showed THEY were the best team in Europe, recovering from a sluggish start to their Champions League campaign to win it in style.
The side based in the French capital deservedly defeated Liverpool, then Aston Villa and Arsenal en route to destroying Inter Milan in the decider.
PSG are at least as good as last season – Arsenal may still win the Premier League, but taking the Big Cup away from the Parisian club will be a much tougher task.
Referee Maurizio Mariani overturns his initial decision to award a penalty to Liverpool against PSG at Anfield.
Referee Maurizio Mariani overturns his initial decision to award a penalty to Liverpool against PSG at Anfield.(Peter Byrne)
On the subject of PSG, the debate over whether or not Liverpool’s ‘penalty’ initially awarded at Anfield against the European champions should have stood can be explained by the differences between the English and French justice systems.
The former is adversarial, basically trying to decide right or wrong, black or white.
The latter is more aimed at getting to the truth, what actually happened.
Admittedly my knowledge of the French judicial system is largely informed by the TV series ‘Spiral’ – and I didn’t even watch that to the end.
‘Witnesses’ was excellent too, and ‘Astrid’ is brilliant… but I digress.
With the second leg still goalless, and the hosts trailing 2-0 on aggregate, Liverpool midfielder Alexis Mac Allister went down under a challenge from PSG defender Willian Pacho.
Referee Maurizio Mariani immediately pointed to the spot.
He happens to be Italian, but let’s not get into the Italian system of justice….
However, the VAR Marco di Bello asked the ref to look again at the incident and he, correctly IMNSHO, cancelled the penalty award.
Cue online debate.
There was contact!
Yes, there was, but probably not enough to send the Argentinian to the ground. In any case, Mac Allister initiated that contact by racing to place himself in front of his opponent. He wasn’t really trying to bring the ball under his control but rather aiming to ‘draw’ a foul.
That would have been a foul anywhere else on the pitch!!
Probably true, but everyone knows there is (usually) a higher threshold for awarding penalty kicks, giving the 75 per cent likelihood of them resulting in a goal.
Besides, the awarding of soft free kicks all over the pitch is a blight on the game.
For the umpteenth time, I write this: it is a contact sport.
It wasn’t a ‘clear and obvious error’ by the referee, so it shouldn’t have been over-turned!!!
Well, it was clearly and obviously an extremely soft penalty award, so that’s an error in my view.
VAR shouldn’t be re-refereeing the game!!!!
Yes. It. Should.
That’s precisely the point of it, to correct mistakes made by the referee or his assistants.
Wednesday marks 37 years since the Hillsborough disaster that killed 97 Liverpool fans
Wednesday marks 37 years since the Hillsborough disaster that killed 97 Liverpool fans(Peter Byrne/PA)
One final point: people take sport far too seriously.
It shouldn’t need this to be the 37th anniversary of the Hillsborough Disaster to remind us of that.
Justice has never been served for those who died that dreadful day, those damaged physically and mentally, and the families of those who lost loved ones or suffer still in other ways.
That’s what really matters.