Arsenal lack of striker will ‘bite them on the backside’ this season

As the dust settles on the weekend, we ask whether Man Utd expectations should be lower and Arsenal can win anything without a top-class striker.

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Man Utd expectations should be top four

I’ve thought this for a long time, so I’m glad I finally got around to writing it after a win so it looks less knee-jerky.

But really, at what point do we stop judging United by their ability to win titles and start judging them by a fairer yardstick?

Not sure who said it, and I’m only paraphrasing, but there is a saying “we are what we repeatedly do. Excellence is not an act, but a habit”.

Ignoring the “excellence” part because, let’s be fair, nothing has been excellent in the 11 seasons (Jesus Christ…) since Sir Alex retired, let’s focus on the “we are what we repeatedly do” part.

United have finished in the Top 4 in five out of 11 seasons. José did write off one of those league campaigns (Tuanzebe in midfield, etc.) and focused on Europa League as a means of reaching the Champions League, and he actually won it, but still…

Realistically, United have been a 50/50 team when it comes to even getting in the Top 4, so why are we judging Ten Hag and a new United team by their ability to compete with City and Arsenal for the title?

United haven’t been within an arse’s roar of a league title since they won it in 2013. Sure, we finished second twice, but City were over the hill and far away in both of those seasons.

A lot of money has been spent (wasted) by the Glazers in the post-Sir Alex years, and a lot of money has already been spent by INEOS and a new regime put in upstairs, but honestly, apart from click bait and engagement, why does anyone actually think United can compete for the title in the next three years even?

This is a team that finished two of the last three seasons outside of the Top 4 with a goal difference of 0 and -1 (only one of those under Ten Hag before you start).

It’s time that we all realise and accept that finishing in the Top 4 this season would represent progress. And a proper goal difference wouldn’t hurt either!

Without getting too “Moneyball” about it all, 76 points has been good enough for 4th place or higher in each of the last 10 seasons. This 2 points per game tally is a far more reasonable target for Ten Hag and United this season than trying to bridge a 31-point gap to Manchester City in one season.

It’s not a given (nothing is with this squad), but beat Crystal Palace and a struggling Spurs team in the next two league games, and United will be on 12 points from six games. Not glamorous by any means, and I’m sure people will still be calling for Ten Hag’s head, but bang on target for a Top 4 finish.

Cristiano Ronaldo, the media, and the fans, are correct to say United should be challenging for the biggest trophies, but for the last ten years, this has been “Manchester United” in name only.

Quite a few of the United teams in that time have failed to cross a bar I didn’t even realise existed most of my life – actually being likeable to the fans!

Sir Jim and his mates can’t snap their fingers and undo ten years of decline with one signing or some new equipment in Carrington. It’s going to take a long time – regardless of whether Erik ten Hag, Ruud van Nistelrooy, Zinedine Zidane or whoever else you fancy is going to be the manager when they get back to the big time.

INEOS and United had a very good transfer window this year. They will need at least 2-3 more very good transfer windows to be truly competitive again. If United stay relatively injury-free, I’m convinced they’re good enough to finish ahead of Spurs, Newcastle, Chelsea, and Aston Villa with Champions League distractions (the Top 2, in whatever order, plus Liverpool is settled for me).

Finishing in the Top 4, ideally adding another trophy, and playing some decent football along the way – that would be real progress this season. It’s time we all admitted it.

James, MUFC

MORE ON MAN UTD FROM F365:

👉 Andre Onana among Premier League winners this week

👉 Ten Hag reveals Man Utd star is ‘impatient’ over first-team chances as ‘chemistry’ sees him miss out

👉 ‘Pressure’ ramps up in Man Utd, Liverpool battle for Bundesliga star ready to ‘leap’ to Prem

The Arsenal reality check

Lot of very excited Arsenal fans out there after the NLD win.

Not at all surprising. They were excellent on Sunday. In the absence of Rice and Odegaard, and the lack of a recognised top class centre forward, Arteta set up to nick a 1-0 and executed it perfectly. It was a masterclass in setting a team up in the midst of adversity to win a one off game. They remain the best organised defensive unit in the PL. They will always be a top 3 side because of that alone.

But. BUT.

For starters, it was only Spurs. They haven’t started calling Ange “Aussie Ardiles” for nothing. Also, try parking the bus at a decent team and offering nothing apart from the odd set piece, and see what happens.

Now we come to that lack of a top notch centre forward. That will bite you on the arse. It bit you last season, and the season before. You still haven’t rectified it, so you cannot expect to do better than you did before.

Finally, your bench, guys. Your bench. On Sunday, 5 of your 9 were A. Heaven, I. Kabia, M. Kacurri, M. Lewis-Skelly, and E. Nwaneri. That’s not a bench, that’s a random collection of Pro Evo Master League regens, after you’re about 15 seasons in. Sorry, but you can’t win a league title or a CL with that as your “bench”. It’s laughably weak.

So, by all means – enjoy your derby day, you were brilliant, you deserved it. But temper your expectations. Everything else still points to bridesmaid status once again.

Andy H, Swansea

Spurs are old-fashioned

Something I note about Spurs is how out of date they look. The two dominant styles of play in the prem in the last 10 years have been Guardiola’s possession-at-all-costs approach, and Klopp’s hardcore pressing.

In the last few years, we’ve started to see tactics shift to counter these: either assembling your midfield as a chunky 5 man pentagon (as it were) to force the possession onto the flanks, against the former; or letting your back 5 stand still with the ball in a ‘come on then!’ stance, before ideally zipping through the press gang with a few quick passes (that De Zerbi was big on).

And now teams are countering those counters: 4-4-2 is basically coming back, with teams either shaping it as 4-1-1-2-2 to give more ‘vertical’ levels to get through; and/or using more direct players – 3 centre backs in a back 4 to help at set pieces; Doku-ish wingers to take the ball on when teams are forced out wide; sepia centre forwards allowing teams go back to front quickly when it’s on.

But where in this progression are Ange’s Tottenham at the moment? When he no-mate-ed the media for asking if he would try and get better at set pieces, a lot of people thought this was bluff; that in reality, he would obviously be correcting a mad gap in his team’s defence. Apparently not.

And have they got a real chalk-on-boots number 7/11 to stretch teams out and get round the sides? Is their perma-possession approach leading to anything? Is Maddison given a defined job description, or just given the ball and told to fix a wet attack? Has £60m bought them a champions league standard striker?

Spurs have just hired Ange because he was the opposite of Conte. They are still trying to win 2021’s football matches. Someone at the club with a brain would have seen a 0-0 was on offer on Sunday, from an Arsenal who need to pick their battles right now; and a less kamikaze manager would happily have taken it to put a bad start to the season behind them.

Neil Raines

READ: 16 Conclusions on Tottenham 0-1 Arsenal

Are Liverpool one more defeat away from a crisis?

This might merely be a symptom of me giving less f***s about what is basically a bunch of men chasing a bag of wind around a pitch whilst another bunch of men (mainly) shout at them, but Liverpool’s defeat at the weekend sums up the intrigue of football and why it maintains my interest.

Before the Forest game (kudos to them and the goal was a thing of beauty), everything in Liverpool’s garden was rosy, but they are off to Italy to play Milan in a game that is extremely losable, and it is entirely possible that should they indeed lose that the word crisis will be mooted and they will go into next weekend’s game against Bournemouth very nervously, with Slot under a lot of pressure (and then we will really find out what he is all about).

Now, if only City could have a crisis, well, then the intrigue would ramp up. I’d rather they had one on the pitch, but at this point I will take all I can get.

Mat (it’s only a game fellas)

PGMOL making an Arse of things

It seems like every season the PGMOL start off with some new directive, some new way for the fastidious little gnomes to control and ridicule the game whilst chanting “the letter of the law” like the Sandford Neighbourhood Watch Alliance.

Its usually something fairly innocuous that has little impact but riles the type of person who sits quietly during a group discussion until they can pipe up with smug glee “well actually I think you’ll find…”.

Invariably the refs take to their master’s new orders with gusto and in the first few games we get one decision so scrupulous and pious in its application it results in weeks of discussion and argument amongst fans and the media. Alan Shearer does his fence straddling scrunchy face calling out the new law as ridiculous whilst shaming the player as daft for breaking it, and Football Twitter has a slightly larger than usual meltdown under the weight of all the ‘game’s gone’ posts.

What happens next though it what really bugs me. The refs double down. As if to take pressure off their hyperactive and subsequently hassled colleague they then take his faux par as the new standard and we get months of jobsworth behaviour. They overwhelm us with pettiness to justify their position then when players complain they shrug like they have no part in how the rules are enforced.

A few years back it was a handball in the box, which resulted in months of penalties anytime the ball grazed a defenders arm which wasn’t gorilla glued to their waist or clasped behind their back like and OAP at an art gallery.

This time it’s Declan Rice and the slightest nudge of a ball that was rolling past his foot, the daft idiot. So now, regardless of context or common sense, there is a yellow card for any player who touches the ball after the whistle is blown against their team. This is stupid enough in itself but the knock on effect of such a harmless offence being dealt with so harshly is that even run of the mill infractions are then treated with increased severity.

This weekend thus saw a new Premier League record for yellow card offences with 65 cards shown over the ten games. Taylor managed fourteen in the Bournemouth Chelsea game and following suit Gillett produced seven in just the first half of the North London derby. One commentator even suggested raising the suspension threshold for yellow card offences to even out the new enforcement as if that would solve anything.

This behaviour from refs will of course settle down like it always does into something closer to sanity but this just magnifies how ridiculous the start of the season has become. These annual directives rarely change player behaviour in the long term, the game and human nature are what they are, but they can have significant impact without any meaningful justification. If Rice hadn’t received that yellow and stayed on the pitch would Arsenal have won the game and be level on points with City?

As long as the PGMOL feel the need for a yearly arse twitch and show of importance we’ll continue to see this kind of foolishness.

Dave, Manchester

Really angry about Kovacic

He can’t keep getting away with it!!!

Got round to seeing football highlights today (Monday). Genuinely didn’t care about anything other than the NLD this weekend. Can someone please explain how Kovačič didn’t get sent off for his reckless, out of control lunging tackle through the back of Wissa? Last season I remember him somehow avoiding red against Arsenal.

After the last couple of weeks of hearing squawking rival fans shriek “Letterofthelaw! Letterofthelaw!” over Rice’s gentle tapping of the ball after the Brighton player rolled the ball into his feet I’ve gone over chat from this weekends fixtures and seen no mention of this. I see Wissa’s out for two months, now. City still have Kovačič available. Maybe Arsenal should start playing in sky blue. I kid! I kid! There’s obviously no such thing as subconscious bias in referees…

Simon, Norf London Gooner

P.S. The referee ALWAYS has a choice. Don’t be gaslit.

Commentary on commentary commentary

First-time mailer here.

I’m writing in response to Steve Gilion’s recent mail on football commentary.

While I understand their perspective, I believe there’s a valuable role for commentary in enhancing the viewing experience.

It’s true that commentary can sometimes feel redundant, especially for experienced fans. However, it’s important to remember that not everyone shares the same level of knowledge or understanding of the game.

For less experienced viewers, commentary can provide essential context, insights, and historical perspective.

Furthermore, commentary can offer a unique perspective that goes beyond what is immediately visible on screen.

Skilled commentators can analyze tactics, formations, and player performances in a way that viewers might not be able to fully appreciate on their own.

They can also share personal anecdotes and stories that bring the game to life.

While it’s understandable to feel frustrated by generic commentary, I believe it’s important to recognize that there are also commentators who offer valuable insights and analysis. By providing a variety of perspectives and styles, broadcasters can cater to different viewers and make the game more enjoyable for everyone.

Ultimately, the value of commentary is subjective. Some viewers may find it unnecessary, while others may appreciate the added depth and context it provides.

Perhaps a solution could be to offer viewers the option to choose between different commentary styles or even mute commentary altogether during certain segments of the game.

Mever The Phenomenon, Nigerian Gooner

…I wouldn’t normally espond to a direct comment in the mailbox. And I mean zero malice. But this one sort of forced me.

I had just spent Saturday afternoon listening to Patrick Boyle’s excellent video about tech bros reinventing things and pretending they are new.

So when I read SC, Belfast: Commentary corner I was reminded of Boyle’s video. It is completely true that commentary on most sports, football included, is laughably silly. It is seldom insightful and often silent for long periods of time. Which is why many of us turn down the audio.

However, let us not forget that they are still commenting on television coverage. Which means virtually everyone is seeing the same thing the commentators are seeing. I often find it ironic when the commentators are describing an event I just witnessed and it is seldom convincing. I fail to see the value in this.

Having said that, there should absolutely be coverage of a footie game or any other sporting event, that describes the action for those not present or incapable of watching the television coverage of said event.

It’s called radio.

This is why so many Leaf fans turn down CBC, TSN or Sportsnet when watching beloved Toronto Maple Leafs. W crank up Joe Bowen on the radio instead because his coverage is better by orders of magnitude.

But there is simply no reason to try and reinvent television as radio. It is already there.

Sean, Roseville, Ontario, LFC (Holy Mackinaw, Joe!)

On that Carlingsmen XI

That was an absolute banger of an email from Craig Bridgeman. Had me remembering a few players I had completely forgotten about. Mails like this one is what keeps me coming back to F365 for more.

Also, Neil Raines, before the second half started, I tweeted that Tielemans would have one of his patented worldies against Everton in minute 72.

I was wrong, it was Duran in minute 75.

TX Bill (maybe I was half right) EFC