I know most of you readers on JustArsenal will think I am crazy, but if you actually stand back and look at the facts you will find that Arsenal are NOT having a worse season than last year. In fact we are much better off considering we have also made it to the FA Cup Final, after losing in the Quarter-Finals last season.
Why do I say this? Okay well here is the Top Five in the Premiership at this point last season.
Position Team P W D L GF GA GD Pts
1 Leicester…… 33 21 9 3 57 31 +26 72
2 Tottenham…… 33 18 11 4 60 25 +35 65
3 Arsenal…….. 32 17 8 7 55 33 +22 59
4 Manchester City 32 17 6 9 58 33 +25 57
5 Manchester Utd 32 15 8 9 39 30 +9 53
Now here is this season’s Top Six (to accomodate Arsenal)
Position Team PL W D L GF GA GD PTS
1 Chelsea…….. 33 25 3 5 69 29 +40 78
2 Tottenham…… 33 22 8 3 69 22 +47 74
3 Liverpool…… 34 19 9 6 70 42 +28 66
4 Manchester City 33 19 8 6 63 35 +28 65
5 Manchester Utd 33 17 13 3 50 24 +26 64
6 Arsenal……. 32 18 6 8 64 40 +24 60
As you can see, currently we are one point better off than the last campaign, and we also have a better Goal Difference than at this stage.
Last year we were 6 points behind Tottenham, but still caught them. The problem now is that Spurs are 9 points better off than last year, in fact they would have been top if they had gained that amount of points, but of course they bottled it at this stage, which is what we want to see again, starting on Sunday!
The problem is not that Arsenal have got worse, it is that every single team above us has got exponentially better, which is what we expected with the arrival of all these top-class managers in the last couple of years…
So look at the facts, and stop picking on Wenger. We are actually improving!
Sam P
I’ll have what you’re drinking!!
It’s beyond drinking,me thinks it’s more like smoking but then again Theres evidence of Crack and needles involved here! ?
Guys, we’re gonna need that stuff sams been using, NLD .
Yeah. But all our rivals have improved more than Us too ??
And just imagine, if we would have played like this improved ?? last season, we might have actually won the league ?
Give up Sam, we are still ??
And you’re still intent on giving us cancer with those emojis, Kartman.
It’s okay mate, they are not made in Japan ?
Breath easy ?
Yeah but… but… but…
Other teams are doing better and some are not as good as you would think.
Peps City is 1 game more while 5 points above us, if we win our game in hand then they are only 2 points above us and we knocked them out of the FA cup.
Everyone was begging to suck Peps c*ck if he came to us and look now.
We have no way to tell the future, we could of had Pep and he could be doing worse as AFC wouldn’t release the funds he wants to buy who he believes he needs.
Thinking isn’t your strong point though.
This is really amateur. This is not how statistically analysis works. You’re comparing data(and just one measure) from two different times and hence you’ve to taken into account other variables which CHANGE with time. Some examples are budget, players, manager(which we don’t change), income, etc(you get the idea). This is just the start, after you choose a measure of performance, returns, etc. After this you need to gauge your estimates for bias, and then carry out a hypothesis test.
Also, choosing and even describing measures in itself is a very difficult and complicate task.
Therefore, all we can say from the data you’ve presented is that Arsenal have 1 point more than last season(which doesn’t really seem significant on the surface level, but it maybe if we carry out a time series analysis on the points earned each season). It doesn’t give credence to your assertion that Arsenal are improving.
I think you may have been thinking of a controlled variable rather than a statistic.
1 is a controlled measure while the other is a piece of data from a study of large quantity of data.
The OP was right with the statistics and you was thinking about controlled variables.
However statistics are used by politicians and there is the saying of “Lies, Damned lies and Statistics”.
Hey Sam, I’m too hoping that we see Koss & Co celebrating wildly after beating Everton on the last day of the season and watching them doing a dozen or so laps of honour, whilst lofting that World Cup high above their heads, to the cheering of the fans.??
Oops,Sorry, that should have been the Wenger Trophy, even though our celebrations could be compared to winning a World Cup.?
We are better than last season
but other clubs have improved and better their performances for last season as well…
Lol ?? I’m guessing that you didn’t read the article properly either?
Yeah, I made that mistake too. ?
You don’t say Ty? Sorry, I mean Sam P.
So let’s see. We lost 8 games so far. Last season we lost 7. How do you explain that in the improvement department?
Shhh
Statistics are meant to fool people by leaving out less desirable statistics ;P
It would have been a better article if it had talked about areas we may have improved upon and areas which haven’t improved.
Also as others have pointed out, other teams have improved, so if we didn’t improve in an area then relatively to the other teams, we have gotten worse as a team in those areas.
A bit like if living costs increased by 20% but wages only increased by 5% then although it is a better wage, relative to the buying power… it has dropped although statistically it has increased.
There are lies, damn lies and statistics XD
Jesus Sam get from up wengers a### it’s about winning you can remember that can’t you
Stop picking on him waaa grow up for god sake I’m guessing your between 12 years of age and 26
Wenger is on 8 million a year 8 fecking millionaire a year. Everyone should have a boss that demands success and your saying we’ve achieved it
You are the reason mediocrity flows through the club
Wow! Arguably the most delusional article I have ever had the misfortune to read. Stop picking on Wenger? Seriously? So we’re a whopping ONE point better off at the same stage last season, and apparently, we’re improving overall…now that’s a lie!
I will now tear this drivel apart with REAL, and more importantly, RELEVANT facts!
1) Yes we’re a whole single point better off, but that’s in correlation with an £88 million net spend. So that’s £88 million net, for an extra point.
2) We’re currently three places further down the table at the same stage.
3) We’re currently 18pts off the top, compared to 13pts, at the same stage.
4) We’ve lost eight games, compared to seven the previous season, so we’re easier to beat at the same stage.
5) We lost 10-2 on aggregate in Europe, which was worse than last season.
6) We’ve only won TWO big games ALL season, only one of them in the league. Worse than last season.
7) Now my final point is more open to interpretation, but have you actually been watching Arsenal this season? The performances have been shocking (even in victory), and there is no progression whatsoever, only regression, which leaves Arsenal’s future looking fairly bleak.
Arsenal are not improving. This has to have been written by a troll, or an absolute hardcore AKB. Please look at the facts before you’re next article, and open your eyes to the truth!
Wages can increase by 5%, that is an improvement right?
What if the cost of living increased by 20%?
AFC have improved in some areas but the overall improvement wasn’t equal to the other teams around us and as such the appearance is we got worse, the reality is we didn’t improve ENOUGH.
As for Wenger… Care to look at the board when he came in?
Care to look at who left the board and we stopped winning stuff while also becoming a bargain buy club?
AFC should have replaced Dein the day he left with someone else equally passionate about football, instead we got Gazidis who knows very little about the sport but has experience in the business side…
Wenger has too much power? Maybe.
Who else on the board has a clue about football though?
Does Real Madrid leave it to the manager to get transfers done? PMSL!!!!!
If I need evidence of AFC lacking in this department then I will not look at buying but sales… We have how many players who could do with being sold? Who is going to do them all? How many people do AFC have to not only make all those sales but to do it while trying to make as much as possible so it could be reinvested… I wouldn’t be sad to see at least 10 players sold, if Wenger is to do all that then what time will he have on buying players? It is a lose/lose situation.
How is it fair to blame Wenger when AFC are failing with the infrastructure? Wenger isn’t great at getting targets? IT SHOULDN’T BE HIS JOB!!!
Wengers wage structure hurting the club? IT SHOULDN’T BE HIS JOB!!!
Why not blame the area which is really failing us? The area which hasn’t got the right staff in?
This though would mean admitting that not everything is Wengers fault and we do need a SD type of role filled with someone like Overmars who has a understanding of the sport and not just the business side.
Once you admit not everything is Wenger fault then your own argument will start to show cracks and you will deny this like people refused to think the world was round. Block that train of thought and go back to blaming Wenger for everything as it is easier to do that.
Doh!
@Midkemma
I’ve said this maybe a hundred times now, but Wenger IS to blame for the failing infrastructure at Arsenal because he is directly involved in it. Arsenal are a complete mess on the pitch (which 100% down to Wenger), but he has to take plenty of blame for what’s going on off the pitch as well.
I have never said it’s all Wenger’s fault, but he is certainly the main player in our downfall. I agree with you that Wenger’s doing a lot of things behind the scenes that he shouldn’t. His main focus should be on the coaching side, but who’s really to blame for this?
We know Wenger is more or less the only knowledgeable football person within the hierarchy at the club, so why doesn’t he ask for help then? Yes the board should be more forceful, and tell Wenger their bringing in a director of football, and maybe some other people with footballing knowledge. They obviously need to take more responsibility, but all we know they more or less follow what Wenger says. And Wenger loves the power, he’s clearly a dictator, because I cannot think of any reason as to why he wouldn’t ask for help? His reputation, and legacy, have been taking a beating over the years, so why doesn’t Wenger say to the board “I want to bring Vieira in” or some other ex-players, look what happened with Henry! Why doesn’t Wright have more of a role at the club? And so on…
Serious question: With the same net spend this season (£88 million), and with the same squad, and with the same inactive board, do think Arsenal would have done better, worse, or the same, with Allegri or Simeone in charge?
“Serious question: With the same net spend this season (£88 million), and with the same squad, and with the same inactive board, do think Arsenal would have done better, worse, or the same, with Allegri or Simeone in charge?”
Guardiola and Klup were the flavour a couple of seasons ago as coaches that would do better than Wenger if handed Arsenal. 88 million is nothing compared to what City, Man and Liverpool spent individually yet they are not faring any better than us (we can still win the FA cup and it’s certain they will end the season trophyless). What a coach will achieve in this or that club can never be known in advance. They can emerge incredibily as Conte is doing or fare terribly as Guardiola is doing. For all his failings, Wenger has proven that he is in the 95% of IQ, football and otherwise.
Look at what 90 million got us!!! 1 point that’s great.
In sports relative improvement is more important than absolute improvement and I guess your stats show that better than anything.
For the avoidance of doubt, your stats show clearly that relative to our competition we have gone backward.
Spot on IMO.
I do want to point out though that the rumors of a Sporting Director, if true, is a step in the right direction and should be recognised still.
We have missed Dein and no manager should have to give up his time to manage the players to instead deal with transfer negotiations.
It will be easier to accept this ‘improvement’ if I believed that we are building the foundations, good foundation can lead to a better build. For me this is getting the infrastructure at the club improved and at a level to compete with the best.
Can’t argue with that Midkemma. Having said that, improving our organization and operations doesn’t exclude improving our manager. I believe Wenger could have Dein back and would still not know what to takes to win the PL.
He said Ramsey is the future of this club and he said he wants to keep Giroud. Is there any more evidence we need that he will learn? Neither of these two players would make it into the starting 11 for any of the top 7 teams IMO, yet Wenger will stick to his pets and demotivate all others who realize their performances don’t matter if they are not one of the pets (Campbell, Perez, Podolski etc).
This squad needs a breath of fresh air and a modern aproach.
Winning, Wenger trophy, and relegation are determined by different points totals in different seasons. Therefore our points total relative to last season is completely irrelevant when it comes to measuring success. If we win the FA Cup and get top-four then you may have an argument, but as things stand things look much worse than last season by any measure that counts IE. League position and trophies won.
You could say that, but saying I’ll give the top six to accommodate Arsenal sort of defeats the purpose a little. I don’t think it’s as much about the points we’re on as it’s more about not taking our chances of making ground on teams or staying above them. We made ground and stayed above more last season, some will say it’s because they the others were worse last season, but for me every winning team you can say either that they were better than everyone else or that everyone else was just poorer than they were. It might be a bit of a combination, but there are moments when making the ground can instill pressure onto another side and if that had happened we could be looking at a different league table despite overall points being so similar to last season. It might have allot to do with who and when we dropped our points against. If you showed that that too was very eerily similar well then I might agree that we haven’t gotten any worse as instead it seems to be others who are improving allot quicker than we.
It is not enough to simply try to be 4th. I think this is what Wenger does. He tries to calculate how poor the squad can be and still finish 4th. This year he misjudged how competitive the other top 6 were going to be. I call BS on that though. There is no reason why we shouldn’t be trying to win the league. I am sick of Wenger, Kroenke, and the modern Arsenal. It is like they are keeping our dear club hostage.
Even if we beat Spurs, I don’t really care until our club shows some ambition.
are you drunk or just plain dumb ? last season was a shit season, 71 pts for 2nd really. a club like arsenal should be aiming for at least 80 pts each season. most fans are pissed not because we dont win enough titles but because we dont compete. if we’d actually finished close to the champions in at least half of these 12 last season and competed till april, most fans would be content.
why is the board and arsene happy to think it is a success to finish fourth in the league each year? all our rivals want to win the league which is why they appoint a new manager who has a winning mentality and ambition to be the best,they buy world class players and pay them the going rate for world class players. So unless there are changes from the top down then we will still be also- rans.