You can not win the league in the first 10 games, but you can certainly lose it.
Over the years, too much has been read into sides poor starts. Likewise sides have had lightening starts and been crowned champions before the first international break.
Experience shows us that you should really ignore the league table, probably until after that magic 10th game of the season.
Last season was a perfect illustration of this.
Manchester City won their first 6 games of the season. With Pep Guardiola in charge, the Premier League champions crown was already being put on the bald Spaniards head.
The lost their 7th game, before drawing their 8th and 9th. On matchday 11, Chelsea went top of the league, having been as low as 8th 6 games in (the day they lost 3-0 to The Arsenal). They would be the immovable object at the top of the league for the rest of the season.
Manchester City ended up finishing 3rd. 15 points behind the champions.
Already this season we have seen fans and the media ignore the 10 game rule when analysing the season.
Upon beating Arsenal 4-0, Liverpool were crowned Premier League champions by the media. Their fans started to crow about how this year, it was there year.
It was almost forgotten that on the opening day of the season, they drew 3-3 at Watford. A side who Manchester City stuck 6 past at the weekend.
Liverpool were champions. It was written.
A 5-0 defeat to Manchester City, and a poor performance in a 1-1 draw against Burnley has quickly bought them back to earth. The Premier League 2017/18 champions elect slipped from 2nd to 8th. They were being crowned champions when they were 2nd!
They are 5 points behind Manchester City, and just a single point ahead of Arsenal. That crisis ridden team.
At the same time as Liverpool were winning the league, Paul Pogba was being put forward as a guaranteed winner of the PFA Player of the Year. He is now out for at least 12 weeks with a hamstring injury. Well done son!
Since Liverpool’s demise, from champions to 8th in the space of 2 games, the talk now is that the 2 Manchester clubs are going to run away with it. That the title is certain to go to Manchester.
They have been getting excited over Manchester City’s start to the season. 4 wins a 1 draw in the opening 5 games. It is a run of results that is worse than last season. They won the first 6 games remember!
Likewise, Mourinho is leading the Jose Revolution at Manchester United. He always wins the league in his 2nd season. United are currently second on alphabetical order in the league. Both sides have a 3 point lead on Chelsea. 5 on Liverpool and Spurs, and 6 on Arsenal.
But we are just 5 games in, and looking at who each side has played, both Manchester clubs have had the easiest starts.
Manchester United have thus far played (and beaten) West Ham (H), Swansea (A), Leicester (H) and Everton (H). Their only dropped points coming away to Stoke.
It has not exactly been a hard start to the season for Man U. There fans would have been deeply disappointed if they had of dropped any points to the sides they beat. They have also played 3 home games against 2 away.
There comfortable start to the season continues with games at Southampton and then at home to Crystal Palace.
Manchester City have only had a marginally harder start to the season.
They have played Liverpool, but it was at home. There 3 away games were against Brighton, Bournemouth and Watford – 3 sides who are expected to fight relegation. Whilst they dropped points at home to Everton. A disaster of a result taking into account the Blue Noses horrendous start to the season (they have had an incredibly tough start though.)
Tottenham have also had a relatively easy start to the season. Newcastle (A), Burnley (H) and Swansea (H) are 3 games you would have expected them to pick up a full house. 9 points. Instead they won just 5.
Everton away is a toughie on paper, but they are struggling, whilst Chelsea at home could have gone either way. It is not as easy a start as the Manchester clubs, but dropping points at home to Burnley and Swansea will hit them hard as the season go’s on.
Liverpool and Chelsea’s start to the season has been near identical.
Both have played 3 home games and 2 away. Both played Arsenal at home. Both played another top side away (Man City v Liverpool, Spurs v Chelsea). The other games they played – Chelsea: Burnley (H), Everton (H), Leicester (A); Liverpool: Watford (A), Crystal Palace (H), Burnley (H), really are games you would have suspected them to have got 9 from 9.
Arsenal have easily had the hardest start to the season, and results went as expected. Losing away to Stoke City and Liverpool, and grabbing a draw against Chelsea. They beat Leicester and Bournemouth at home – expected victories.
Over the next 5 games, we will see the table take shape.
Arsenal have 5 comfortable fixtures. Any less than 15/15 will be an underachievement.
The Gunners had a tough start to the season, but it is way to early to crown someone as champions yet. Lets see the state of the league at the end of October before judging too much
Keenos
Arsene Wenger has long been an advocate of closing the window before competitive action begins, and that stance is likely to have hardened after Arsenal were engaged in several last-minute deals over recent transfer windows.
The Arsenal manager was recently quoted as saying “That’s why I believe it’s important that we close [the transfer window] before the championship starts. Even in the games, you sit there before the games and even in players’ minds they have no clarity. Are they in? Are they out? Are they half in? Are they half out? Are they tapped up in the afternoon of the game by people who want to get them out?
“It’s not the way to work and it’s uncomfortable. Every single manager in the league would agree that it’s time to kick that out before the season starts and not continue to have players in the dressing room who are half out and half in.”
From next season, the window will close at 17:00 BST on the Thursday before the Premier League season begins.
Premier League clubs have voted to close next summer’s transfer window before the season starts.
Managers have complained that the ability for players to move when the season is under way causes disruption to their squads and preparations.
The vote was not unanimous and clubs will still be able to sell players until the end of the normal window.
The window across Europe runs until 31 August. The Premier League’s move means that while clubs will be able to sell until that date, buying activity will cease on 9 August for the 2018-19 season.
European leagues will still be able to buy and sell until 31 August, while the Football League’s window also remains unaltered.
Football League bosses have indicated they could follow the Premier League’s move but require further dialogue with stakeholders before a decision is made.
The number of Premier League clubs who wanted the change is not yet clear but at least 14 of the 20 must have voted for the move in order for a change to take place.
Keenos
Follow @KeenosAFC
She Wore A Yellow Ribbon 