By Tony Attwood
It is, I suppose, time to think of the record – the one time when Arsenal won more consecutive games than in the current run. For rather curiously it happened last under a manager who is now largely derided in terms of his achievements both at Arsenal and subsequently elsewhere. Here is the run in full of 11 consecutive wins achieved in 2018…
**Date**
**Game**
**Res**
**Score**
**Competition**
25 Aug 2018
Arsenal v West Ham United
W
3-1
Premier League
02 Sep 2018
Cardiff City v Arsenal
W
2-3
Premier League
15 Sep 2018
Newcastle United v Arsenal
W
1-2
Premier League
20 Sep 2018
Arsenal v Vorskla Poltava
W
4-2
Europa League
23 Sep 2018
Arsenal v Everton
W
2-0
Premier League
26 Sep 2018
Arsenal v Brentford
W
3-1
League Cup
29 Sep 2018
Arsenal v Watford
W
2-0
Premier League
04 Oct 2018
FK Qarabağ Agdam v Arsenal
W
0-3
Europa League
07 Oct 2018
Fulham v Arsenal
W
1-5
Premier League
22 Oct 2018
Arsenal v Leicester City
W
3-1
Premier League
25 Oct 2018
Sporting Clube Portugal v Arsenal
W
0-1
Europa League
The manager was of course, Unai Emery, who is not remembered with much fondness, at least not among the Arsenal supporters I talk with – most of whom were very happy indeed to see him go. And as for the 12th game – the one in which the sequence came to an end, that was on 28 October 2018: a 2-2 away draw with Palace.
As for our current run, the next match is Sunderland away, and after that it is Tottenham at home. And while looking back at the run last time, we might perhaps note that the European games were in the Europa League rather than the Champions League.
And it may be a chance for some of the attention to be taken off Max Dowman now that he does have the record of being the first [15-year-old](https://www.theguardian.com/football/live/2025/nov/04/slavia-prague-v-arsenal-champions-league-live?filterKeyEvents=false&page=with%3Ablock-690a51dd8f08fa7fae305b98#block-690a51dd8f08fa7fae305b98) to play in the Champions League, when he came on as a sub against Slavia Prague, thus breaking the record held by Youssoufa Moukoko as the youngest player ever in a Champions League match.
I wonder what they are thinking about all this at Billericay Town, the club from which he came, to join Arsenal.
But it is also a fact that all the publicity going the way of Dowman means far less has been said about Andre Harriman-Annous, who by comparison is an old man – being aged 17. He also came on near the end in the mid-week game, having played in the League Cup game against Brighton. And I wonder if we are going to put two goal keepers on the bench for the next match as we did last time, owing to the lack of players.
Of course, there is a tendency these days to bring players through based on their ability rather than their age, as the old talk of these youngsters “lacking the maturity” to handle the big occasion is now something of the past.
Certainly, it is true that Arsenal are now adopting an approach based on the ability of the player and his maturity on the pitch, an approach that is influenced by the style of coaching the player receives rather than his chronological age, and this seems to be bearing fruit.
But meanwhile, moving on to other matters, I would like to write a few words about Chelsea, who are currently seventh in the league and eight points behind Arsenal. They are the so-called World Club Champions, or so I am told, and seemingly able to spend anything they want to on bringing in players with their enormous levels of wheeling and dealing.
According to [Transfermarkt](https://www.transfermarkt.co.uk/chelsea-fc/transfers/verein/631/plus/?saison_id=2024&pos=&detailpos=&w_s=) the total market value of their arrivals for this season was getting on for half a billion pounds. The previous season it was over £350m. Now of course, the Chelsea model does involve a lot of selling as well – the purchases and sales seem to be a commercial activity as much as for the benefit of going up the league. But even so, we might have expected to see some evolution in their league position.
7
Chelsea 2025
10
5
2
3
18
11
7
17
4
Chelsea 2024
10
5
3
2
20
12
8
18
11
Chelsea 2023
10
3
3
4
13
11
2
12
4
Chelsea 2022
10
6
2
2
15
10
5
20
Chelsea, as we know, have lots of money to spend and don’t seem to be afraid of spending it, and yet the progress is not as great as we might expect. The goals scored this season are total only three more than in 2022 and their defence has let in one more.
I wonder why they can’t get it right, given the amount of wheeling and dealing that they do in the market. True they have six players out with injuries at the moment – but then Arsenal have eight. This may be a case of this being a funny ol game.