Arsenal – C
Declan Rice as a sole DM, Partey at right back planning when to step into midfield, dropping Ramsdale, etc. There has always been that feeling that maybe Arteta has over thought his tactics this season, trying to fix what wasn’t broken.
Even when top of the table at Xmas there has been that sense that the Gunners were not individually or collectively performing to the levels of the previous campaign.
Winning without playing well isn’t a bad quality to have and is a skillset that might yet be crucial.
Aston Villa – A
Earnt an incredible 85 points in 2023.
Unai Emery would gamble by playing a high line knowing he has the pace to hurt opposition the moment they win back possession.
Yet their manager showed in wins over us and Man City his ability to adapt, both games in the space of a few days where Villa conceded few chances.
1-0 victory over Champions remains one of the few times Pep Guardiola has been beaten on nearly all stats since arriving in England.
Dropped silly points over Xmas to suggest might struggle with newfound expectations.
Bournemouth – B
New owners harshly rewarded Gary O’Neil keeping the Cherries in the division by sacking him.
Implementing their vision, Bill Foley showed bravery by keeping faith in Iraola where others may have panicked when his manager managed one League win in his first 9.
Refreshingly there seemed to be understanding that a boss would need time to settle into a new culture and implement his ethos.
In last couple of months have been rewarded.
Winning 3-0 at Old Trafford is a moment that will live forever.
Brentford – E
Muembo and Wissa originally were able to cover the void left by Toney’s ban.
The issue actually has been Brentford are too easy to score against and recently their desire and spirit questioned, unheard of under Frank.
Toney’s return should be enough of a lift to keep them up.
That’s why I understand why they would only consider crazy money for their striker as it could be compensation for relegation.
Brighton – B
They remain the envy of most sides in the country given how they are run.
Another summer where they sold star names such as Mac Allister and Caicedo yet didn’t miss a beat. One day their business model will catch up with them, but for now they continue to play attractive football with every player understanding their roles. De Zerbi might be in line for the next available top 6 job. Small squad have struggled with balancing their UEFA schedule, so they get some strange results after playing Thursday nights, but if that means a European adventure it’s worth it.
Burnley – E
Maybe harsh on a newly promoted side but such was Kompany’s glowing reputation that many thought his tactics would bring energy to the top flight.
He might now regret last year turning down the chance to interview for the Spurs job because convincing the youngest squad in the division they can implement his ethos at this level has been harder than he assumed. It remains to be seen if the step up from the Championship was just too soon for his youngsters or that was simply their standard.
Too many times this season we have written how Burnley have played well without getting a result.
On and off the pitch their principles are noble yet maybe naive. The club have invested in their manager for the long term and the business model is the group will get better through the experience of relegation.
Chelsea – E
Only don’t get a lower score because of injuries and acceptance that they are in transition. Chelsea fans seemed to accept that Pochettino was inheriting a mess because of decisions made by Todd Boehly ,but are increasingly getting tired of not knowing which version of their team show up each week. Meanwhile there’s been nothing about their tactics that has made them warm to a manager so strongly in Spurs colours. Excuses for losing to a Championship team were bizarre and smacked of a man feeling the pressure.
Gooners can relate. An acceptance that youngsters like Palmer are learning on the job and that they have to go through the hard times. Yet flashes on their day they can compete with the best in the country.
Crystal Palace D
Steve Parrish long term has a decision to make.
Under Roy Hodgson he knows he has a man whose experience ensures survival (why he rehired him).
Yet the owner can’t think about changing the ethos while coached by a 75-year-old.
The Eagles are hard to play against and have individuals who can produce moments of magic to get the odd shock result.
Yet there’s a sense at Selhurst Park they could be more positives at times?
Everton – D
I was worried about them earlier in the campaign. Even for Sean Dyche their tactics were too negative. Against us they made zero attempt to win, they simply parked the bus with Goodison Park quiet.
A 10-point deduction bizarrely gave Toffees something to be emotional about, the city creating an ‘us against the world’ mentality. In reality their grievance was a small one. They openly acknowledged they were breaking FFP rules and seemed to think being honest would take away any sanctions. Would be mid table without the punishment.
Fulham -B
Marco Silva remains underrated for the job he’s done at Craven Cottage. Having got them promoted and avoided a relegation fight last season, I thought in the summer he would be in trouble this campaign.
Their top scorer went to Saudi Arabia, and it’s believed their manager wanted to make the same move. Yet with a mixture of youngsters and experience Silva hasn’t sacrificed his ethos.
For them to have 24 points at the halfway stage and be in their first ever League Cup Semi Final without a goal scorer is some achievement.
Liverpool – A
Having got close to the Quadruple two years ago Liverpool understandably mentally had a hangover last season.
I did doubt if Jürgen Klopp had the energy to get himself to the level required to compete again with Pep Guardiola.?
Unlike their last title challenge I don’t actually think the Reds have played that well. Yet that’s a strength. Liverpool have perfected the art of not playing great but finding a way to win.
Luton – C
Out of the three promoted sides Luton are the ones who seem to be playing like they believe they can stay up.
The other two don’t seem to be enjoying the experience, whereas the Hatters seem to have hope.
A lot of that comes down to Rob Edwards who every week is positive and at least is trying to convince his squad they can compete at this level. Very few times have they been blown away with top 6 sides having to work hard to get results at Kenilworth Road.
Are in the bottom three with just the 4 wins so why the generous grade?
This is a club not in the football league a decade ago who most predicted would struggle to be competitive at all.
Fact they are in with a chance of survival at this stage is an achievement.
Man United – E
I’m given then an E because I grew up with a perception of Man United. Clearly those in power at Old Trafford don’t have the same standards.
It reminds me of the dark days of Unai Emery’s tenure with us where someone has to say enough. Bournemouth for example shouldn’t be winning 3-0 at Old Trafford. United shouldn’t be finishing bottom of their Champions’ League Group.
The club have been unlucky with off field the issues far more serious than sport.
Perhaps worst of all though is it’s still not clear what Ten Hag’s identity is.
Man City- B
You sense the Champions haven’t quite hit the heights of last season yet in many ways that’s a compliment. We were saying the same this time last year and they went on to win a treble!
To be only two points off the top without getting out of second gear is impressive. You sense Pep Guardiola now has Sir Alex Ferguson theory that as long as his team are within distance by March and April, he trusts them to have the superior mentality in the run in.
Arteta and Unai Emery did produce tactics that suggest City are being worked out, yet they have barely had a settled team this campaign.
Perhaps Liverpool’s and Arsenal’s only hope has happened with KDB and Haaland now injured.
Rodri has been the one player they simply can’t replace when suspended and another would be Ederson.
Newcastle -E
They are below a terrible Man United and Chelsea, so you have to give them this grade.
Eddie Howe started the season as one of the best at getting every player to know their jobs and understand his principles, even if at times negative.
Then though the injuries started to creep in for a small squad not used to juggling European commitments. The only issue being that their manager referenced the issue over and over again to the point I think his team started to believe in this ready make excuse.
Trippier even went to the away fans and used this as context for a pathetic display at Bournemouth.
For the first time since their takeover you feel the Toon Army need an injection of excitement to lift the mood.
Because they beat PSG, they seem to have escaped any judgement for finishing bottom of their Champions’ League group and domestically have lost 6 out of their last 7. That’s 1 win in 10 in all completions.
Oh, and FFP rules mean they have to sell if they want to buy.
Some Geordies want us to sympathise with them.
Forest – E
Struggled to have too much sympathy for Steve Cooper!
Like last season transfer policy was scattered and they never seemed to have known his best team.
Improved under Nuno who seems to know his best team (includes Chris Wood), but have they broken FFP rules.
Sheffield United – F
There is zero disgrace to find yourself out of depth at this level, but you sense that Sheffield United never truly prepared for this season like safety was a possibility.
They won’t be the first promoted side whose business model is to accept relegation, taking a year of the TV money but they haven’t even embraced the top flight.
They bizarrely started the season with a weaker one then the one they had in the Championship.
Paul Heckingbottom either wasn’t told his owners action plan or didn’t agree, with each press conference depressing.
While Luton and Burnley have been competitive the Blades have been on their receiving end of drubbings. Brammall Lane hasn’t been the hard place to visit like years previous.
Chris Wilder only has a job at this level due to who he knows.
Spurs – C
Not letting being a Gooner sway my judgement, but I do think some of the media reaction to Ange Postecoglou has been patronising.
Yes, his ethos mean Spurs are entertaining to watch but he’s equally lost points based on his principles.
When Van De got injured Spurs lost the one defender who had the pace to play a high line yet without him, they keep pressing high costing them goals / points.
West Ham – B
I will admit that I thought it would be smart if David Moyes left on the high of lifting West Ham a rare trophy because the only way is backwards. Yet this season he’s kept the Irons in the top half and advanced in Europe.
You sense he will never win over Hammers fans though due to his style of football.
Wolves – A
It’s worth remembering Wolves lost their manager on the eve of the season and fans were not exactly thrilled by the choice of Gary O’Neill. Yet ,having kept Bournemouth in the division the young coach deserved another job in the top flight.
Considering he met the job specification on the South Coast and is now getting every player to understand their roles at Molineux you could make an argument for him being the best manager of 2023.
To have 29 points at the halfway stage is an achievement. Would have been more if not for some dodgy decisions.
Dan Smith
Here is the latest DUBLIN ARSENAL video reviewing our battering of Crystal Palace thanks to our Brilliant Brazilians
CALLING ALL ARSENAL FANS! Anyone who would like to contribute an Article or Video opinion piece on JustArsenal, please contact us through this link…
I am convine that almso all Arsenla fans havew become as adept as I am , at being avble to recognise thr writer name ffrom thr headline alone. DAN is probably th single most long trm regular contributor of piece sonJA and I canhonesty say, I struggle to think of ANYTIME AT ALL, he has been positive or praised MA in all that long time.
Dan sees himelf as a JA appointed critic of our club and I suspect more of a critic than a fan.
Fans and supporters of course often whine and bitch about this and that but MOST of us also praise and are positive, or at least hopeful, much of the time.
Not all fans, obviously, as there are other regulars on JA who are also relentlessly negative only. I regard them as having “DAN SMITH DISEASE”!
To give us a”C” on a scale of “A to F”, when we are in third place and were top a mere three weeks ago, IMO says all we need to know about DAN SMITH
Jon most of your comments off late have typo errors. I agree I knew the writer right from the top. I have come to accept that is who he is , critic.
Kenya001, I am unable to understand whatever the point of your post is meant to be.
Please try again, as I DO want to know whatever it is you are trying to say!
I did understand that some of my posts have typo errors and I AGREE THEY DO. Does that really matter to you?
Why do you think your off topic opinions matter so much to others? We come here to read the articles not get front row seats to your insane ramblings. Oh and another thing maybe try reading through your posts before submitting them as its almost unreadable given the amount of careless errors etc.
I do not agree that my posts are off topic. Occasionally, I DO SPECIFY they are , usually when a GAME IS BEING PLAYED, by writing “OT”.
But otherwise there is a point to all my posts. That you cannot see it is not my fault.
They may have A point but as they are rarely about Arsenal then they are OBVIOUSLY off topic.
The title refers to a review for 2023 so that covers parts of 2 seasons
Getting a C under estimates our overall performance for the year which gets a B from me
I’d then have to give City an A because they came first and won the world club championship too. They are now moving steadily up the table
Spurs have been a far better side this season under AP so C is fair so far.
Burnley and SheffU both are on E or F given that both look likely to go down
Chelsea probably deserve an E or F rating based on the whole of 2023
Brentford, Forest and Palace get a D rating although Brentford had a decent last season but are struggling now.
I’m between C and D with Everton who were a big undertaking for Dyche and would have a much healthier league position prior to the points deduction
Aston Villa deserve the A grade
I don’t understand why Newcastle are E rated. The wheel fell off towards the end of the year but getting top 4 was a great achievement
ManU get a D from me especially as they have a respected coach, a fat wallet and so called top players
Wolves get B, so do Bournemouth and Brighton too. They are struggling with being in Europe but they have done brilliantly.
I’m scoring B for West Ham who have won a European trophy and have a decent league position now
Liverpool get B or even C for coming back in the league eventually. They didn’t make top 4.
Luton, compared to the other 2 have been more likely to stay up and have been dogged. D
Fulham and Wolves get B- or C+
Soz Sue it’s my fault
Was meant to be for first half of season
🤦🏻♀️
That now even makes it worse Dan! We are third,. Plus you did mention Villa earned an incredible 85 points in 2023, indicating you partly included the season past. We are higher than a c in general, though I might add performance wise I’ll go with B- and a B+ overall. I tend to agree with most if not all suep ratings
Bless you👍
Fact I gave Liverpool A shows it’s just for first half of season
My grades were
a , B , c D E or F
I posted Villa stat as impressive but everyone else you can see refers to first half of season
I don’t think it’s about “DAN SMITH DISEASE “,,, more like holding HIGH STANDARDS for THE ARSENAL, as DAN SMITH does. Getting knocked out of the FA Cup early again three years running is a piss poor effort. Immediately after that defeat against Liverpool, the players were rewarded a trip to Dubai with wives, girlfriends and children. Should have been made to stay in London to train, instead of goofing around with Rory Mcinroy playing rounds of golf. I think Dan Smith is a little guilty of being too generous in giving Arsenal a ‘C’. I’ve seen no football of Arsenal this season to suggest they will be competitive with the likes of Manchester City and Liverpool. Players have regressed. Arsenal are too predictable. There’s no alternative plan put into place. Mikel Arteta is one track minded. Makes the same fundamental mistakes over and over again. In life, when you make a MISTAKE, the whole idea is, you DON’T repeat that MISTAKE. This guy just doesn’t LEARN. More like, he doesn’t have the ABILITY to LEARN. Four years ago, I copped some flake from certain people on this site for wanting to give Mikel Arteta a chance to manage this CLUB. He has had FOUR YEARS and a hell of alot of money for players. Too many people give Mikel Arteta credit for turning things around at Arsenal. The man who should be given the credit is none other than STEVE ROUND. STEVE ROUND had the balls to tell Arteta “NO”. Had STEVE ROUND been still at Arsenal, there’s no way Kai Havertz would have been signed. Since he’s gone, things are at a stalemate at this club. It’s funny in life, some people have VERY HIGH STANDARDS,,, while others hold STANDARDS down in the bottom of a TOILET BOWL. That’s life unfortunately
pjennings, As you often tell us , you are in the game and I find your post to be especially depressing and unfair from someone within the game, as you are.
God help us all if other folk with in the game are SO unfair and even bitter sounding, as you CERATINLY are!
Same here. Very strange!
Very strange indeed
@Jon Fox. It’s not about being bitter or about being depressing. Yes, I’ve been in the game at professional level for 38 years. 22 years at club level in Germany for Hamburger SV and Schalke 04. And 16 years at International Level for Japan’s senior men’s and women’s teams as Goalkeeping Coach and still doing it. I’ve been supporting Arsenal since 1977. I am entitled to forget my role, and act like an unhappy supporter. Football can be rewarding, and it can be very cruel. I’ve experienced both,,, as a player and a Goalkeeping Coach. I’ve worked under coaches that have been unfairly dismissed, and I’ve been associated with players who have had their careers cut short through serious injuries. I learnt very early in my career that Football is not a game for fun, it’s actually a business. I’m only as good as my last coaching session. When things go wrong at Tournaments, we have to explain to the Japanese Football Association what went wrong. If we don’t win the Asian Cup in Qatar, that will be classed as failure with a capital FAILURE. It’s about high standards and high expectations. That is Football Jon. So I don’t know why so many people look at DAN SMITH as being negative. The guy has high standards for the Football Club he loves. I happen to agree with Dan. If you think I’m negative and depressing, so be it. The fact is, I’m very positive. Having helped well over 20, most probably more goalkeepers play at International Level, wether it be for Germany, Australia and Japan,,,, that was not by me being negative. Maybe a fair bit of Tough Love and some Arrogance, I would say yeah. So when it comes to Arsenal, I will speak my mind like any Arsenal Supporter with an opinion, wether it’s right or wrong. Isn’t this Site for all to have an opinion???? I think the Just Arsenal Site is brilliantly run by Admin Pat. A credit to him and his workers. You sometimes forget yourself Jon. I’ve seen you cut people down who have an opinion that doesn’t fit your agenda. And how I spend my free time away from the lads before today’s training session for tonight’s match against Indonesia is my way of relaxing. So if I want to come on to this Just Arsenal Site to say something, I will
Thanks for taking time in your clearly busy schedule for a detailed reply. You make a number of entirely separate points, so let me challenge them one by one, as follows:
You say that football, meaning top level fotball as I have to presume, is a business. I agree with you and never claimed it was not.
I also agree that many fans have high standard ands expectations- fat too unrealistically high , IMO- but fans in general are NOT in the game, apart from the few like you who are, and fans have not the right to treat what to them is a passion and a hobby, as if it is their own living. It is not!
For fans NOT within the game I DISAGREE that we are entitled to project too high expectation sand , it needs to be said, DEMANDS too, upon people who are human only.
. We need to recognise that the Prem contains twenty clubs and only ONE can ever be the winner. That clearly means nineteen do NOT win the title. SOME fans prefer to ignore that FACT, arrogantly, unfairly and foolishly so.
You say that JA is for all to speak their opinion. I agree and it IS ALSO for those who wish to challenge the opinions they deem incorrect and unfair, which sometimes I DO, AS WITH YOUR POST.
I do not think JA is run “brilliantly” by Ad PAT.
I much agree he provides an Arsenal platform for us and we owe him thanks I also think he is very hard working , keen and a passionate fan.
But” BRILLIANCE”, as with our own Invincibles, is a label only earned in TRUTH, by EXCEPTIONAL fare and JA attracts far too many downmarket platitudes , devoid of thought and any semblance of considered thought,
So hard work? Definitely. But “BRILLIANCE”!? Definitely NOT!
You also say I cut people down when their views dont suit my agenda. You know nothing about me and my life or what I hold important pjennings, but my family and close friends KNOW that my only “agenda” is honesty and to speak and seek out truth.
Other than that “agenda”, I AM SIMPLY A NORMAL FAN AND HAVE OPINIONS, AS DO OTHERS.
THAT IS HEALTHY, AS IS TRUTH SEEKING ALSO.
So we come from totally different perspectives on what OUGHT to constitute fanhood.
And I stand by my own and reject yours as being much too demanding and unfair.
Finally, I make the important point that social media encourages and makes easy, a sort of mob mentality to turn against and gang up on individuals who are honestly doing the best they can to their ability. THE INDIVIDUAL I REFER TO OF COURSE IN OUR CASE,IS OUR MANAGER.