Mourinho record means Arsenal must beat Liverpool and keep Man Utd close

Arsenal fans have seen our own team at the top of the Premier League table plenty of times in recent years, although never when it really matters at the end of the long campaign. Just a couple of years ago we spent more time on the top than any of our rivals and more than most of them put together but ended up having to see Man City lift the EPL trophy having enjoyed a late surge.

Most of the big boys have spent time at the top of the table and missed out, of course, so you might not be too concerned to see Manchester United in pole position after the first two games. The problem is not just that they are looking strong all over the pitch, because you could say the same for plenty of sides at certain times, but the fact that Jose Mourinho tends to be a hard man to stop when he gets in front.

As Daily Mail journalist Martin Samuels explains, the last time the Portuguese won the Premier League was with Chelsea in 2015 and they led from the very first game and were never off the top all season. That also came after the same team struggled the previous season and they were even worse the year after.

Give the guy a lead, though, and he becomes a different animal and so do his players. The same thing happened in his first stint at Stamford Bridge, so Arsenal need to make sure that daylight does not appear between us and that means we have to go all out for the victory over Liverpool at Anfield. Playing safe and taking a point will not be enough.

United’s next two games are the same as our first two, home to Leicester and away to Stoke but do not expect them to struggle as we did. Can the Gunners keep United in our sights long enough to make the pressure count?

Bob.

20 Comments

  1. Arsenal cant do that at the moment, I believe city, chelsea and totten are well placed to do that. We have not added any quality to our squard infacy everton might just finish above arsenal, beautiful football but the end product is bad, better we have 20% possesion and win games.

    1. The fabled ‘sexy or beautiful football’ is no longer available in Arsenal. It’s moved over to Man City.
      We are not bullish either…that’s with Man Utd.
      I really don’t know what we do now.

  2. I think it’s United’s year.
    They already have an excellent team. Pogba, Mata, Matic, Mktharyan, Martial, Lukaku etc. Also Ibrahimovich will sign for another year. He isn’t bad backup to Lukaku. Also they may sign Lemar or Draxler.

    Spurs haven’t had a good start but I rate them highly. I see them coming 2nd.

    Not very impressed with City and Chelsea this season. I think Chelsea 3rd and Liverpool will fight City for 4th.

    The only way Arsenal will be in the mix is if we sign a couple more players. We need to sort out our defense and Central midfield. We need more creativity and toughness in our central midfield.

    1. just like it was city’s year last season after 5 games with no losses. what happened after that. make no mistake and don’t be fooled by Chelsea’s early form. to me they are the most dangerous team with all their players fit!

    2. Do you see the similarities between Pogba, Matic, Martial, Lukaku, Lindelof, Bailly, Fellaini, Goretzka and Draxler? They all tall, fast, strong and have good skills.

      Mourinho will keep using his pragmatic approach to Manchester United’s games. He will rely a lot on set pieces and his players’ physical attributes.

      It might work so far against mid-table Premier League teams, but they will struggle against other top teams. They also have to divide their focus on Champions League.

      I still believe in Arsenal’s chance in challenging for the title, as long as they could have a real playmaker in the field. If Arsenal doesn’t get a new playmaker, we will need Cazorla and Sanchez fit in this season.

  3. Off topic : i guess transfer window is closed for us. I hope not but there is no talk or rumours going around and guessing it’s Arsene Wenger he won’t be buying anymore as he is not feeling any pressure.

    1. I think last year he bought Mustafi just because Per got a long time injury, Xhaka because he knew that Arteta and Flamini will leave the club, Holding because he was cheap (although we already had a young british CB) and Perez because…

  4. just like it was city’s year last season after 5 games with no losses. what happened after that. make no mistake and don’t be fooled by Chelsea’s early form. to me they are the most dangerous team with all their players fit!

  5. Eventhough am not a big fan & all i feel if he’s able to buy Lemar & a centre without selling Alexis we might end up in the top 4 or even steal the title from the favourites this season because AW said he’ll prioritize the EPL over the UEL that means he might be using a second string side for the Europa League while the favourites lose their players to injuries & fatigue because of the Champs League.

    Just maybe

  6. We know Wenger will not make a team, which can prevent Liverpool from scoring. Rather, it is most likely they will score at least a couple.
    So it will be something like a miracle, we need.

  7. Think I’ll just watch the under 23s from now on. Great goals from Nelson and Nketah, both look really good talents and a great assist from Jack for the Nigerian strikers 2nd.

  8. when the suggestion was made for arsene to be aided by a “director of football” he ridiculed the idea claiming to not know what one was. well to me its someone in place to manage our football affairs and work in line with clearly defined time-scale so as our priorities are met one-by-one with nothing left to chance: our transfer activities are poorly managed and appear left open to chance

    indeed, the very idea of a “director” implies someone with clear vision who will be open and share what that vision is. wenger said ‘I never understand what it means, director of football’. end quote. well at this point (arsene) you’re really expected to know because its time we had some direction.

    At this point in time arsenal team should be past the improvisation stage we should be “ready” and we are not. when arsenals’ chief executive ivan gazidiz faced the fans he claimed changes were in place and these changes included transfers concluded early, he misinformed fans. in real terms we needed a new ‘manifesto’ and total clear out from top to bottom. im seeing nothing of the sort…

  9. It’s painful but true imo ; AFC is a permanent dwarf under AW’s management. It will bear no consequence even if Liverpool lose the next PL match[ highly unlikely] to Arsenal. The players and the manager are at peace and relaxed at their game. Look! Have you observed the body language of both the players and the manager when a game is on? Laziness is so generic through and through! AW gets super glued to his sit while the players show no fighting spirit to win a game. Just for elaboration, look at the fighting spirit in Chelsea for example. They exhibit a never say die attitude till the last wistle. Konte has no tine to sit down even when his team are literally winning a match. We who love AFC better be honest absorb the pain of our club going down hill till AW, the Board and ownership change.

  10. The PL is not a realistic target for us and it is clear to me that most fans realize that. So forget about Man U.

    A realistic target is to hope we can manage to make it back into the top 4. IMO our most likely competition for that 4th place will come from Liverpool and Everton. That is why it is crucial to beat Liverpool in our direct confrontations not because of what Man U does or did.

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