Happy Friday! Well done for making it through another week.
Is that it for Liverpool? Not long ago I spoke about how it felt they were in a similar position to us last season – just getting through games, looking like they had run out of steam and about to drop off.
Now I am not saying I am right, but last night against Atalanta they were shocking. A 3-nil home defeat coming off the back of the weekend draw at Manchester United.
In their last 5 games in all competitions, they have won just twice against Brighton (2-1) and Sheffield United (3-1). Before this run, they also needed a 95th minute goal to beat Nottingham Forest.
Now I am not saying they will not win the league. They are clearly still in the title race and things can change quickly. But as we saw with us last season, momentum is a huge thing in football.
I expect them to win this weekend. Then they have those 3 Premier League away games in a row, followed by Spurs at Anfield. Sandwiched in between is the return journey to Atalanta.
The wheels can come off quickly, and they might find themselves out of the title race in a blink of an eye.
There is not much real Arsenal news floating about. Press conferences are today ahead of this weekend’s football, so we will blog about them tomorrow.
There is talk that Charlie Patino has decided to leave the club this summer. Not a huge surprise.
Patino was supposed to be the next big thing, in a long line of next big things. But like most of those before him, he has shown how hard it is to go from dominant youth team football to having an impact in the man’s game.
As a 15-year-old, Patino was part of the England youth set up alongside Jude Bellingham and Jamal Musiala. Whilst they have kicked on, he simple has not.
I have watched him on loan at Swansea City and he still looks lightweight. He has not really bulked him since that performance against Nottingham Forest in the FA Cup back in 2022 which showed he was not ready for men’s football.
He has had two OK loan spells at Blackpool and Swansea, but has not dominated. The reports are he wants to see more first team football, but his performances over the last 2-years would not be good enough for The Arsenal.
We are at a different stage of our evolution compared to where we were 3-years ago. The level you need to be playing at if you want to be part of our first team squad is much higher; as seen with the reduced game time of Eddie Nketiah, Emile Smith Rowe and Reiss Nelson.
Smith Rowe is clearly superior to Patino, and if he is not seeing much game time, there is not much hope for the younger man.
Football at a youth level is very fast moving. One day you are the biggest prospect at the club, and within a blink of an eye you are in your 20s and there are other 17-year-olds everyone is talking about.
Ethan Nwaneri & Myles Lewis-Skelly are the pair looking to usurp Patino.
If the club think these lads have a higher ceiling, then they are better off investing time in them rather than Patino. A bit like when we cast aside Henri Lansbury to give Jack Wilshere more opportunity.
One thing you always have to remember is Arsenal’s coaches would have seen a lot more of Patino, and other youngsters, than anyone else. Whilst fans might cry on Twitter about them not getting a chance, they are basing their opinion on very little evidence.
Patino is clearly technically gifted. Someone will take a punt on him and we should get above £5m cash money!
Enjoy your Friday. Grab yourself a beer at 4pm! You deserve it.
I was already not really looking forward to the trip due Brighton due to the Central Line being suspended from Leyton into Central London. That meant replacement bus services to Stratford, before jumping on the Elizabeth Line to Farringdon, to catch the Thameslink down to Brighton.
Not a huge issue, the replacement bus would be fairly quick. And I decided to use my time on the bus to write the blog.
Then about half an hour ago someone stuck in the WhatsApp group about Brighton train cancellations.
Since this update at 4am, it looks like things have cleared up a little and some trains are running from St Pancras / Farringon / London Bridge. But it does look like a lot of the Victoria trains are cancelled.
Brighton is just an hour train journey, so the reported additional hour is not a huge delay. It will just mean a couple of extra beers on the train, and a couple less in Yates in Brighton.
This is just what away fans have to deal with on a regular. Especially in this current age where there are strikes and overtime bans! This time the delay is caused by a landslide (out of the train companies control).
I often see online about how “dedicated” foreign fans are, getting up at 2am to watch a game. But setting an alarm, rolling over and turning your laptop on is not tough. Try being stuck in Birmingham for 5 hours waiting for replacement busses due to train cancellations and getting home at 5am!
Hopefully by the time we embark on our return journey in about 10 hours time, the situation has further improved. I really do not want to be scrapping around brighten looking for a cab that will take us back into London.
I will continue my journey. Should be into Stratford soon and then it is onto Farringdon. Couple of beer in the John Oldcastle. They we will continue our journey to the South Coast.
UTA.
Keenos
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Those Everton, Nottingham Forest and Leicester City fans complaining should actually drive their anger towards those in-charge of their clubs for running them so poorly. The rules are their, they all signed up to them, and the losses they made would have put their existence in danger had it not been for the rules.
Everton have been one of the worst run clubs in the league since Farhad Moshiri took over. He acted like a Russian Oligarch but he didn’t have those Ruble’s.
So keen to impress when he first bought the club (and show Arsenal what we were missing out in), he quickly made Everton one of the highest spending teams in the league. But it was recruitment without thought and almost all the big money signings flopped.
As Everton tumbled down the table, they could not finance the huge wages and, with the Moshiri money drying up, lost £373m from 2018-21. They tried to blame Covid but in reality the issue was they were spending uncontrollably.
In fact, #EFC £373m losses over the last three years are by far the worst in the Premier League, around £150m more than the next highest losses, which were made by #CFC £222m. All clubs have been adversely impacted by the COVID pandemic, but Everton’s deficit is striking. pic.twitter.com/siBtqSH1yI
Covid or PSR is not the reason Everton are financially screwed. It is all because they are poorly run. Their fans should be grateful for PSR as the rules curtailed their uncontrolled spending. If it was not for PSR, I am sure Everton would have entered administration.
Nottingham Forest are another club that are poorly run.
Since gaining promotion back to the Premier League in 2022, they have signed 47 players.
Forest fans will point to out that they lost of a lot of players when gaining promotion to the Premier League. This just highlights how poor they were run.
Their promotion was secured by having a squad of loan players and others on short-term contracts. The management of the club were not looking long-term.
And since returning to the Premier League, the transfer philosophy has been the same – 12 of the 47 players have been loan deals, and many others (Lingard, Shelvey) came in on huge money and short term deals.
Compare the way Nottingham Forest have acted on promotion to the likes of Brighton and Brentford. The later two have solid recruitment plans in place and are not looking to fast-track themselves based on overspending in the short-term.
And this is my biggest issue about fans who criticise PSR.
Forest and Everton fans make claims such as “PSR exists to protect the top 6”. This is simply not true.
The real beneficiaries of PSR are all clubs who are run well, and spend within their means. Aston Villa, West Ham, Brentford, Brighton and others. All of these are very well run clubs who have had some level of success in recent years (with 3 of the 4 having European football as a reward).
PSR also exists to give an advantage to someone like Luton Town who, upon promotion, have kept a tight reign on their finances. Why should Nottingham Forest gain an advantage over those teams around them purely because they have an owner who is happy putting the future of the club at risk?
Leicester City were once one of the best run clubs in England.
They recruited well, buying players from across Europe that no-one else was looking at, and were rewarded in 2016 with the league title. But since the death of Vichai Srivaddhanaprabha and the impact of Covid on the King Power International Group, they have struggled financially.
For those that do not know, King Power International Group are a Thai travel retail group whose main business is operated duty free shops. When Covid hit, air travel dramatically dropped which hit the company hard.
Leicester’s biggest issue is that after winning the league, Leicester dramatically increased their spending with an expectation that they would remain a top 8 team, and continue to reap the rewards of European football and finishing in that position.
From 2019/20 – 2021/22, Leicester lost £191m, including a huge £92.5m in 2021/22. They have still not yet published their 2022/23 accounts (when they finished 18th in the Premier League).
It is quite clear that they were spending too much and were in an unsustainable situation. I expect their 2022/23 loss to be north of £100m. Again, their fans will blame PSR but it is not the rules’ fault that they were making huge losses.
One thing I find hilarious is fans blaming PSR for their clubs not spending.,
I see West Ham fans saying PSR is the reason they are not spending big. But 2-years ago that blame was on their owners. Literally nothing has changed in that time, they have just decided to direct their anger elsewhere.
West Ham do not spend as much as someone like Arsenal because they are not as big. They do not have our revenues. And they have owners that run a tight ship to ensure their is a club for the future.
Another to pipe up is Newcastle United.
After one season finishing top 4, their fans got arrogant and thought they have made it. They have since tumbled to 10th and are pointing the fingers at the Premier League.
Restrictions on spending is not why Newcastle have struggled this season.
Since coming under new ownership and under the guise of Eddie Howe, Newcastle have spent in excess of £300m on new players. The problem is not that they have not spent a lot of money, but they have bought some very average players.
They have over £150m spent on Anthony Gordon, Harvey Barnes, Tino Livramento, Chris Wood and Matt Target. These are all mid-table Premier League players. None would get a look in at a “Big 6” club.
Their fans will claim that “they have bought poorly but they should be allowed to spend to get out of the trouble they created”. And this is how poorly run clubs behave – instead of trying to improve how you spend, you just continue spending poorly in the hope you get it right.
As for Manchester City, certain fans do not seem to get their head around the fact that Everton and Nottingham Forest have plead guilty to their charges, whilst Manchester City are appealing them. That is why City have not yet been handed a punishment.
Think in the real world. You are caught speeding once. You accept you are speeding, pay your fine and take the points.
I have been caught speeding 115 times, but I have challenged each and every single charge. I have not pled guilty and am appealing my punishment.
You do not have a case to be heard as you have pled guilty, I am awaiting my day in court as I have appealed. I am still going through the process, whilst your process is over.
It is not unfair that I have not yet been punished and you have, despite less charges. You pled guilty, I did not. It really is this simple.
A final thought on this is when fans point out clubs net spend. It is not obvious that the more you generate in income, the more you can spend (and the less reliant you are on having to make a profit in transfer windows?)
The best run clubs do not rely on having to sell players to fund their next batch of transfers. That is done through the difference between revenue and expenditure. Poorly run clubs need to sell to buy because they are not making enough revenue outside of players sales to buy new players organically.
Fans need to upskill themselves in how process works, and stop blaming the Premier League and “Big 6” for their owners running their clubs into the ground.
She Wore A Yellow Ribbon 