There is a narrative out there that we have been poor this season. That Mikel Arteta has been found out. It is baffling.
Level on points with top of the league, we have played 12, won 8 and lost just once across all competitions.
We have already lifted the Community Shield, are through to the 4th round of the League Cup and have won 66.6666666666666% of our games.
Yes, there have been disappointments – the draws against Fulham and Tottenham, the defeat against Lens – but that is football. If teams “won all the games they should”, football would not be the most watched, exciting game in the world.
We are a better side than last season following the acquisition of Declan Rice, Kai Havertz, Jurrien Timber and David Raya.
Whilst Havertz is yet to fully get into his stride and Timber is our long term, Declan Rice is a signing that takes us to the next level.
In recent years, our challenge (whether that be for the title, 4th or 7th) has been derailed by injuries to Thomas Partey.
The Ghanaian has not started a league game since August (with just 1 substitute apeparance) and we won 4 out of 5 games in that period. Rice has been well worth every penny of the £105million.
Now some will point out “how are we better than last season when we have 2 points less”, and that is true. But just 8 games in, that statistic does not mean we are worse.
Infact, as pointed out by regular contributor Johnno, we “are actually 2 points better of this season than we were last against the same opposition“.
So we have 2 points more in the same games, although we have scored 2 loss and conceded 1 more. The goals scored difference is basically because we spanked Nottingham Forest 5-0 last season.
What is also interesting that last season, it needed an 86th minute winner to turn Fulham from 1 point to 3, and a 90th minute Eddie Nketiah goal to secure all 3-points against Manchester United.
I will concede that we do not look as free flowing this season as last, but I see that as a good sign.
Last year, we were so aggressive at the start of the season, building a lead ahead of Manchester City. But this fast start contributed to us running out of steam towards the end of the season.
This campaign, it feels like we are holding a little back, playing with the hand break on, trying our best not to get out of 3rd gear to win games. That tactic will leave us with more in the tank at the end of the year. And it is a tactic that is clearly working.
Now High Standards FC fans will be saying “well if we are better than last year, we shpould win the league”. No. That is not how football works.
You firstly need to assume that other teams around us have not improved – and I think it is clear and obvious that both Liverpool and Tottenham have improved. Manchester City, meanwhile, have certainly not gone backwards.
Secondly, you need to assume that our improvements are enough to make up the difference against how far behind we were last season.
Whilst the 2022/23 league table might show that we finished just 5 points behind Man City, it is easily forgotten that they secured the league title with them still having 2 games to play – and they only got 1 point from those 2 games.
I am sure that if they needed to win their final 2 matches of the season (Brighton and Brentford away), they would have done. Afterall, they were on a run of 12 league wins in a row when they secured the title. That would have seen them finish 11 points ahead of us.
If you buy in to the fact that Manchester City are no worse than last season, and they will not be throwing the last two games of the season due to FA Cup and Champions League finals, you have to think over 94 points is what will be needed to win the title this season.
Last season we got 84 points. So we need an extra 10 points. We basically need to average around 2.5 points a game – exactly what we are currently averaging. And again, that does not take into account that Manchester City or Liverpool might get even more than that.
This could be 2018/19 all over again when Liverpool finished 1 point behind City despite getting a huge 97 points!
I did not go into this season expecting us to win the league, despite the money spent in the summer and improvements I think we have made. What I expected was for us to back up what we did last season.
Liverpool showed that you beat Manchester City by “putting the pressure on” over a number of seasons, and position yourselves to lift the title if they ever have an off-season. We need to show that last year was not a “Spurs” season, a one-off. We need to back it up with another season where we push Man City.
And then next season we go again. Eventually Man City will get key injuries, wrong out of spun blood, and we will be in position to be crowned champions.
Even finishing 3rd this season behind Man City and a resurgent Liverpool will not be a step back. We just need to ensure we continue pushing them all the way to the end.
We are better than last year. The coresponding games prove that. We go again Saturday against Chelsea…
Keenos
She Wore A Yellow Ribbon 
Early days but think we`re looking a better outfit this season. We were probably a bit more exciting to watch last season but there were far too many, what I call, Kamikaze games.
This season, I`d say the Fulham game is the only one to fall into that category. Fulham was a game we should have ended up winning comfortably but there was no pattern to our play and we lost all our shape. Even when they went down to 10, I never felt confident.
Every other game, we`ve either dominated or controlled for large parts. Even against Spurs, thought we were the better side but lost a bit of focus and didn`t manage the key moments well.
This season is all about top 4 (hopefully a bit of Silverware as well) again and trying to put ourselves in a position to mount another title challenge. When you`re up against a juggernaut like Guardiola`s City team, you might fall short but as you say, we`ve got to be there to pick up the pieces if they have a slight off season.
All we can do is keep applying the pressure and improve our game. The good news for us is that there should be plenty of improvement to come from this group.
Up The Arse.
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