Where did it all go wrong?

Good morning! Looks like everyone is already looking forward to next season around Arsenal. Well, not everyone… Wenger has stated that he felt like Arsenal were just one game away from winning the title. Which game? Away to Man-chest Untied at Old Trafford.

Huh.

That’s not how I saw it, hell, that’s not even how you saw it, old man, what the hell are you talking about?

Back in February, I blogged about a comment that Wenger made; he thought the league winner would have to get 90 points. At the time, Arsenal had 60 points and there were 13 matches left and I said:

And yet here they sit, 60 points from 25 matches for an average of 2.4 points per match. They are currently top of the table and Wenger reckons it will take 90 points to win the league. Now, if they stay in their current form (2.4 ppm with 13 matches remaining) they will end the season with 91 points. Exactly where Wenger predicts that they should be to win the title and cast off their underdog label.

So, in 13 matches they either have to get 10 wins and 1 draw or 9 wins and 4 draws. And here’s the schedule for the rest of the season… make up your own mind as to whether it’s possible.

  • Rovers
  • @ Birmingham City
  • Villa
  • @ Wigan
  • Middlesbrough
  • @ Chelsea
  • @ Notlob
  • Liverpool
  • @ Man cUnts
  • Reading
  • @ Derby
  • Everton
  • @ Sunderland

I’m not going to jinx them by predicting positive outcomes in any of these matches. I’ll just leave it up to you to find 30+ points from that schedule.

So far, they have not even come close to the 2.4 ppm that they had averaged up until that point and even IF they win out (no easy task mind you) they will max out at 83 points. Which is 7 shy of Wenger’s prediction and 8 shy of mine.

So where did it go wrong? Here’s what I thought Arsenal would do to get 90+ points.

  • Rovers — 3
  • @ Birmingham City — 3
  • Villa –3
  • @ Wigan — 3
  • Middlesbrough — 3
  • @ Chelsea — 0
  • @ Notlob –1
  • Liverpool — 3
  • @ Man cUnts — 0
  • Reading — 3
  • @ Derby — 3
  • Everton — 3
  • @ Sunderland — 3

You could argue that one or two of those results could have shifted around. Maybe a draw at Wigan instead of three points, but what can’t happen is for 4 of the first 5 games on that list to all end up draws. Which is exactly what happened: Arsenal got 4 points from a possible 12 which left them in the position of having to win out. And no offense to the fans at Wigan, Birmingham, Villa, and Boro… but your team is easier to beat than Man U.

The season didn’t rest on the match at Old Trafford, it had already died at the JJB.

The pitch that day at the JJB was a disgrace too. Remember that? They had played a rugby match just a few days earlier, it was the middle of the harshest part of the season for grass, and what grass was left was covered in mud. The pitch was so bad that when Bendtner had an open look at goal, the ball bobbled up at his feet and his strike found air instead of ball.

And now Man U have to travel there and play in similar conditions, right? [record scratching] Not so fast there Bub, turns out Wigan’s owners have asked the Rugby team that plays there to please do Man U a favor and postpone their Rugby match. Why don’t you just ask the referee to give Ronaldo a few spot kicks while you’re at it?

It’s not all doom and gloom around here though, Teddy Sheringham is retiring. About 10 years too late “Teddy.”

And finally, Wenger has revealed that Adebayor is having his baby. Just look at the picture in the linked article. Irrefutable proof.  No, seriously, Wenger says that Ade hit double the number of goals that he thought he would.  Which is cool.  But even cooler?  There’s a list of players and goals scored for Arsenal since the inception of the Premier League.

Arsenal’s top scorers in the Premier League
Season Player Goals In League
1992/93 Ian Wright 30 15
1993/94 Ian Wright 35 23
1994/95 Ian Wright 30 18
1995/96 Ian Wright 23 15
1996/97 Ian Wright 30 23
1997/98 Dennis Bergkamp 22 16
1998/99 Nicolas Anelka 19 17
1999/00 Thierry Henry 26 17
2000/01 Thierry Henry 22 17
2001/02 Thierry Henry 32 24
2002/03 Thierry Henry 32 24
2003/04 Thierry Henry 39 30
2004/05 Thierry Henry 30 25
2005/06 Thierry Henry 33 27
2006/07 Robin van Persie 13 11
2007/08 Emmanuel Adebayor 30 24

Look at which players Ade is up there with. Ian Wright? Thierry Henry?  Holy crap.  No one has scored 24 league goals for Arsenal since Thierry Henry in 05/06.  I’m not saying Adebayor is the new Henry, NO ONE will ever replace Henry.  But if Ade can score 30 goals a season for a few seasons, he might just make a name for himself.  Plus!  You really do have to give him credit for this outstanding season.  And with that I no longer feel an overwhelming need to defend him, because if you’re still on the Hater-Ade (pun in 10 did) then you’re a chump and your football opinion is useless.

That’s it for today, see you tomorrow.

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