by Tony Attwood
And so it is a top four game on Sunday at 4.30pm…
Club P W D L F A GD Pts
1 Manchester City 2 2 0 0 6 2 4 6
2 Arsenal 2 2 0 0 4 0 4 6
3 Hull City 2 2 0 0 3 0 3 6
4 Chelsea 2 2 0 0 7 5 2 6
5 Brentford 2 1 1 0 4 1 3 4
6 Newcastle United 2 1 1 0 4 2 2 4
7 Everton 2 1 1 0 3 1 2 4
8 Leeds United 2 1 1 0 2 1 1 4
9 Brighton & Hove 2 1 0 1 7 4 3 3
10 Manchester Utd 2 1 0 1 5 4 1 3
11 Sunderland 2 1 0 1 2 2 0 3
12 Ipswich Town 2 1 0 1 4 6 -2 3
13 Liverpool 2 0 2 0 4 4 0 2
14 AFC Bournemouth 2 0 1 1 2 3 -1 1
15 Nottingham m For 2 0 1 1 2 3 -1 1
16 Fulham 2 0 0 2 2 4 -2 0
17 Coventry 2 0 0 2 0 4 -4 0
18 Palace 2 0 0 2 1 6 -5 0
19 Tottenham Hots 2 0 0 2 0 5 -5 0
20 Aston Villa 2 0 0 2 0 5 -5 0
… not that means too much at this stage of the season, although we’ve not only won those two league games but also done ok in the community shield as I recall. And Tottenham are 19th.
And yet, and yet, the Chelsea victories over Fulham and Brighton were just by one goal, so maybe we should not worry too much.
But perhaps we might look at the list of Chelsea managers since 22 December 2019 – the day that Mikel Arteta joined Arsenal and we have Frank Lampard who joined that club some five and a half months before Mikel, followed by Thomas Tuchel, Graham Potter, Bruno Sator, Frank Lampard, Mauricio Pochettino, Enzo Maresca, Calum McFarlane, Liam Rosienor, Calum McFarlane for a second time and Xabi Alonso.
And yes they won the Champions League and the Conference League in that spell, so maybe having ten (or whatever the number is, I may have miscounted) managers actually works. But for me it doesn’t feel right – I am happier with just the one and winning the Premier League.
Still each to their own. – and if I am remembering aright, and reading the charts ok, the recent results in Arsenal matches at home against Chelsea have been rather satisfactory…
2 May 2023 3–1
23 April 2024 5–0
16 March 2025 1–0
1 March 2026 2–1
What is interesting for me at the moment is that with the media have been slagging off Arsenal all the way through the transfer window, telling us all the players Arsenal need, we now have the headline from News Now that reads
Arsenal latest: Mikel Arteta ‘unhappy’ with transfer as three January targets emerge.
So why do we get all this negativity? Is it because Arsenal as a club is always constantly miserable, or is it because making Arsenal appear unhappy, allows the media to project themselves as the people who know what the club should have done, and the club is miserable because it didn’t follow their advice?
Probably that latter view, but then in that case why are these journalists not working in football, perhaps as recruiters, advisers or even managers? That we are never told, but I suspect it might be because they went to the interviews and never got the job.
But there is amazingly some positive news around, and it comes under the blazing headline….
Arsenal handed big injury boost as Champions League squad confirmed.
And I must admit it took me totally by surprise for the article says,