The EPL is the worst league in the world. After Arsenal/Fulham it must be « Untold Arsenal: Arsenal News, supporting the club, the players and the manager

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By Walter Broeckx and Tony Attwood

Just look at the facts.

We are supposed to be team that according to the pundits is really a bad team. We don’t know how to defend, we don’t know how to score, we don’t know how to deal with set pieces, we don’t know how to deal with the physical game. Those are all facts as most of you will know.

As the UK Sunday newspaper the Observer said this morning (5 December 2010)

“If Arsenal are top of the table despite another demonstration of defensive ineptitude, the Premier League may well be succumbing to a form of “leadership by the worst”.  It is difficult to remember when the title has ever been won by a team with a defence as ramshackle as Arsenal’s again showed itself to be, at least in the continued absence of Thomas Vermaelen…”

These “facts” are confirmed by a lot of Arsenal fans. They tell us how bad we are each day. They tell us how our manager should have been sacked 5 years ago. They repeat the mantras that are being said day and night by the pundits. Those pundits who we know cannot stand Arsenal, their manager and their lightweight players.

But in passing we might note that the same edition of the same British paper today says this of Chelsea’s game:

“The London club have slipped to third in the table and, judging by today’s performance, may falter further as the December fixtures pit them against a series of high-calibre opposition: Tottenham, Manchester United, Arsenal and Bolton.”

And yet  this team, our beloved Arsenal is top of the league. So the only explanation can be that the EPL is the worst league in the world. How can such a bad team be first after 16 games?  How on earth can this be possible. Are the pundits that bad? And are some of our fans so blind? No, we must acknowledge that the pundits and their repeating fans know it all. After all, it is what they tell us whenever you even dare to question them.

We must ignore the fact that we have let in two more goals than Manchester United who sit in second place in the league.  Yes they have a game in hand – a chance to leapfrog us again – but also a chance to let in two more goals.  In fact the only team that has a notably better defence than us is Chelsea who have let in 11 goals – that is half a goal a game less than us (and we are after all two points ahead of them).

But if they are right and we are a weak team it can only mean that the EPL has turned in to the worst league on earth. I think just slightly better than the Jamaican league (sorry Jamaican Gooners but really no pun intended – we could have taken the Belgium league). How else can this bunch of losers, lightweight players be top of the league?

Well maybe we are not as bad as they try to make us believe?  Maybe we can defend set pieces just that bit better than they make us believe. (Another goal in open play yesterday if I may add). As  yesterday again we defended 7 corners and some free kicks successfully. And if the collision between Koscielny and Squillaci hadn’t happened Fulham would not have scored a goal. But when you see the replay you can see that Koscielny didn’t know what was going on around him in those first seconds. You could see the typical person who gets a knock on the head who still knows what he should be doing and trying to do it but who in fact doesn’t know what he is doing and where he is standing.

Let us just hope that his injury is not too bad and that he recovers quickly and well. And for those moaners out there who are focusing on this incident and are using this to “prove” that both players are not good enough I would just suggest to moan about the weather but please do stop moaning about our players.

It was great to see both our defenders being so eager to win the ball that the collided. How long has it been that those same people were questioning them because they were too passive and didn’t attack the ball enough. Ah, this is just another example of how people will say anything as long as they can moan about something.

For me things look clear, and on this we can note one point from the Observer report.   We have been for long periods of the season without our main defender, Vermaelen.

We have been for long periods of the season without our most important and probably best player, Fabregas.

We have been for most of the season without our main striker, Van Persie.

We had one player who was tearing defences apart at the start of the season, who went to play an international, got injured and has never been the same since: Theo.

When any other team faces these problems they also have troubles.  Just look at Chelsea who even have their best strikers available most of the time. And yet we face these problems and we find ourselves top of the league now. Just imagine if we would have had these players fit the whole season?

And now let us turn an eye at our manager who has lost if for some 5 years. Let us just look and admire that he brought Nasri to the Emirates. Another young and unproven player was the cry from some quarters.  New Zidane?  Rubbish!  Worse, Wenger put him in places where he was not accustomed to play.  He showed glimpses of huge talent but not on a constant level.  And then he got his leg broken on training and lost half a season. And then we saw the first glimpses of his talent when he scored that amazing goal against Porto.

And then came the best moment of his career, for us Arsenal fans anyway: he was left out the French squad for the world cup. A big blow for Samir but a blessing in disguise for Arsenal and us Gooners.

And now we see the amazing step he has made since the start of this season. 16 competitive  games started this season and 11 goals. He was out to prove something and my God, has he proven something!

So we should be grateful to our manager for getting Nasri to Arsenal and to work with him and turn him in to the player he is right now. So here is one who is sitting back, enjoying what is going on and thankful for the manager for doing it his way. Be thankful for Samir Nasri to prove the world what France had been missing in the world cup. But most of all, be thankful for Arsenal, the players and the manager for giving us this wonderful ride on the waves.

Fourteen days ago we were doomed and now we are top of the league and we are going to defend this league in Manchester in some 9 days.

Now isn’t that something to look forward too? And hey, who knows even by then maybe Cesc could be back.

The facts:

• Arsenal had 13 attempts at goal to Fulham’s 10, 7 attempts on target, Fulham 4  (Chelsea had 10 goal attempts to Everton’s 14, four each on target).  Birmingham and Tottenham drew 4-4 in terms of goal attempts on target.
• Manchester City yesterday scored their first home goal in two months.  In the Man City report the Observer says, “Like one of Tevez’s goal attempts, the title could go anywhere.”
• Arsenal are the first team in the league to have got to ten wins
• Arsenal have now reached more league cup semi-finals than any other team
• Before this game Arsenal had won 9 and drawn 2, Fulham had won 2 and drawn 9 (which must say something about Fulham)
• M Schwarzer took around 14 seconds to take each goal kick (apart from during the period after Arsenal scored the second)
• Theirry Henry was at the match (although didn’t play)
• The price for a ticket at Arsenal for the cup semi final against Ipswich is £20 throughout the ground.  Season tickets don’t apply so all  the tickets will be on sale.

And all that proves what?  Well, that we have scored four more goals than Chelsea this season, and that in an era of high ticket prices there is still a chance to see Arsenal at a discount.

Buy an Arsenal fan a unique Xmas present.

One of the great early shocks in FA Cup History

If you want something that no one else would ever dream of publishing, then just maybe it is here.  Or perhaps not.