Arsenal won both their opening games and sit second in the table but to the naysayers out there it was against poor opposition, was fully expected and is no great achievement.
Well, I accept that Newcastle United and Burnley should have been beaten but when you look back at the last decade and look at the opening two games for Arsenal you will soon realise that regardless of the quality of the opposition winning both opening games is an improvement, a significant one.
Let’s have a look back at the last ten years
2019 – 6 points
Newcastle United 0–1 Arsenal
Arsenal 2–1 Burnley
2018 – 0 points
Arsenal 0–2 Manchester City
Chelsea 3–2 Arsenal
2017 – 3 points
Arsenal 4–3 Leicester City
Stoke City 1–0 Arsenal
2016 – 1 point
Arsenal 3–4 Liverpool
Leicester City 0–0 Arsenal
2015 – 3 points
Arsenal 0–2 West Ham United
Crystal Palace 1–2 Arsenal
2014 – 4 points
Arsenal 2–1 Crystal Palace
Everton 2–2 Arsenal
2013 – 3 points
Arsenal 1–3 Aston Villa
Fulham 1–3 Arsenal
2012 – 2 points
Arsenal 0–0 Sunderland
Stoke City 0–0 Arsenal
2011 – 1 point
Newcastle United 0–0 Arsenal
Arsenal 0–2 Liverpool
2010 – 4 points
Liverpool 1–1 Arsenal
Arsenal 6–0 Blackpool
So, there you have it, this season as the first in ten years that Arsenal picked up six points from their opening two games and you can see from the list above that there have been some terrible results against teams that we should have beaten.
There are so many variables to take into consideration, what sort of pre-season was had, how have the new signings integrated, how have players departing affected the team, what was the injury list and so on.
Of course, on paper Arsenal should always pick up three points against cannon fodder but that is not how football works and momentum and confidence are just as important as a £50 Million player early on in the campaign.
Arsenal has done very well no matter what the critics have said, we all know that Liverpool and Tottenham will be stern tests but that in no way diminishes the huge improvement on the last ten years when it comes to opening games.
2 games in people, it means absolutely nothing!
Yes it does, it means 6 points from 2 games played ?♂️
I remember those lacklustre years, when Arsenal just bought a few superstars and surrounded them with cheap players
Our squad is worth more than 400 M now, so beating poor teams like Newcastle and Burnley is not a surprise
I wanna see how our team face other rich teams like Liverpool and Tottenham, before branding our start as the perfect beginning
Those you call cheap majority is better than most of this over prized machinery we have
I’m very happy we’ve got 6 points.. because at this stage last season, I was absolutely devastated!!
Mustafi to Roma?
Come on Wolves!
I totally agree with the article. Regardless of the signings brought
in arsenal should be beating the likes of Newcastle and burnley. Good start to the season for AFC
The performances have not been great and the wins are mainly due to the inferior opposition.
Let’s see how they handle the top six teams before we start getting ecstatic.
2010 was good as we actually got a point off of Bindippers……..and it was away !
😆
Each year the gap between the so called big teams and small ones is getting smaller you just have to look at teams like wolves, Leicester only few years ago both were yo-yo teams getting promoted to be relegated the following season look at them now,no longer teams have a divine right to win a game before playing it,”on paper”means nothing it’s what you do on the pitch that counts,just look at Cardiff beating man utd….if it was the case man city should go unbeaten the whole season since they have one if not the best team “on paper”that the pl has ever seen still they lost few games and why nobody has reciplicated the INVINCIBLES ??
the standard between the big 6 and the others are just too wide….
I agree but what I meant is now there is more and more upsets,the big 6 as you call them tend to lose more points against smaller teams don’t you agree?
John are you watching wolves Vs man utd? that’s the point I was trying to make.
We have to go into games now as fans looking for the win, every game. If we as fans think we might not get the points in any game it probably reflects to the players in the stadium atmosphere. I have to admit I’m always nervous especially when we are under attack but I look at every game as winnable this year but we may not hold the consistency to sustain a title challenge. On our day we beat any team, over a season anything less than forth this year Is a disappointment given the teams around us.
I disagree especially when we get back all the injured players and do not lose some then we will have a proper squad with depth in numbers and quality and be able to substain a decent challenge over the whole season may be with a 1 or 2 blips along the way but nothing like last season 5 games without a win!!
I think everyone is getting ahead of themselves. We are two games in, that’s all, and currently third in the league with MU leading at present, but let’s see how the standings are after we’ve all played 4 or 5 games. I’m not being pessimistic, just realistic.
I concur with you on that
Let’s see when we have hit the 10 game mark
It’s great to get the 6.points but the next 2 games will show us what we are made off…
Wait until/if we beat liverpool and end up top of the table 2 points ahead of 2nd ,some fans will be backing a title challenge that will last a full week!!
I wonder what the mood will be after our annual Anfield pummeling.
Well I know I’ll want to jump off the closest bridge I can find ?
Haha then let’s pray it won’t come to that on Saturday!
??
that’s the thing. I hope we don’t automatically become so negative if we do lose. We have new players that have yet to play yet, and players that aren’t fully integrated into the squad. Liverpool, despite looking a bit leaky lately, are far more of a refined team than us at the moment. Our goal this year is still to get top 4. A loss at Anfield should not depress us. If the performance is good and there are signs of progression, I think that is positive. Let’s hope we just win tho and get those three points 🙂
Won’t happen this season my friend!
Goooo wolves! What a goal.
hate manu from the core 1all!?
The premier league being unpredictable as it is, a haul of six out of six points cannot be understated bring on the pools now for a reality check
Our team is still a work in progress and we are optimistic compared to the yester years and that in its very self is a progress
There are many positives from the acquiring of emery services followed by a change in scouting,in came edu and every other aspect went for the bloom the transfer business went better than we expected
Just have to patient and believe that now the winds are behind our sails
I have never seen a more corrupt league than EPL even there VAR is sh?t thou happy united played 1:1
Thank you Rui Patricio!! I waited till now to comment, as I didn’t want to jinx the score!!
I hope Sean Dyche was watching – now that was what a dive looked like!
Well done Wolves! How they retained possession with Manure’s closing down and hustling is impressive. If we can play out like that, Pool’s high press shouldn’t be a big issue this Saturday.
One thing to note about Manure this season is that they sprint around like hounds on steroids when they don’t have the ball, both last week against Chelski and today against Wolves. Haven’t seen a team run so hard to recover the ball for a while. Are their players on pay-as-you-run contracts now?
ManU will not be the only team running like crazy to close down, hopefully UE will find a system that can exploit it because there are several teams that run like that in the EPL and we always struggle against them.
Whatever the result on Saturday let’s be positive.
Am enjoying the moment right now
Don’t want any brick on my toe
Arsenal will be stronger than steel and faster than lightning in the game at Anfield on Saturday to beat Liverpool and beat them.
Wait until/if we beat liverpool and end up top of the table 2 points ahead of 2nd ,some fans will be backing a title challenge that will last a full week!!