Premier League review: Do Arsenal really think their situation is going to get any better?

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Another wild weekend in the Premier League is done and dusted. We get you caught up on the action with the Weekend Review.

JUMP TO: Are Arsenal going to get any better? | Statistic of the weekend | Man United’s unnecessary fightback | Relentless Liverpool | Man City’s costly three points | Leicester couldn’t … could they? | Improved perception of Spurs | Pellegrini’s dangerous decisions | Silva won’t last to Christmas | The start of something for Norwich

Do Arsenal really think this is going to get better?

It’s gotten to the point now that you wonder whether the decision-makers at Arsenal are actually watching the games. The trick to assessing whether a manager should stay is not to react when things are going badly, but the ability to spot when things are not going to improve.

What evidence do they have that good times are ahead under Unai Emery? That they didn’t lose to Southampton? Well, big whoop. Emery set up, at home, against a team who have very recently lost 9-0, with five defenders and two holding midfielders. But it was more the intent that was galling and excessively negative, and indicated that after 18 months at the club, he has yet to instill any sort of method or style of play — or at least any sort of style that anyone wants to watch. Or that wins games.

Arsenal haven’t done that at all in their past six, and only twice in the league since August, and neither of those were especially convincing.

Unai Emery’s Arsenal required stoppage time to snatch a late 2-2 draw against relegation-threatened Southampton. Getty

The team isn’t winning, they’re playing bad football, the crowd have turned and there are a selection of potential replacements out there. Keeping Emery has turned from admirable but misplaced patience to negligence.

Statistic of the weekend

To borrow a statistic from the BBC’s Simon Stone, Liverpool now have more points than Manchester United and Arsenal combined.

United might not have needed their fightback

If you were being generous, you could say there was some logic in Ole Gunnar Solskjaer matching up his Manchester United side’s system with Sheffield United’s. Fight fire with fire and all that. But it was more like watching a man rubbing two sticks together fight another with a flamethrower.

Or, perhaps more accurately, one man who had been using the flamethrower for a few years against another who had just picked it up. Eight of the outfield players who started on Sunday were with Sheffield United last season, when they played 3-5-2 or variants thereof every week. United have used it once in the Premier League this term, against Liverpool’s 4-3-3, and that time for a very specific purpose: to shut down their rivals’ full-backs.

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1:47

Craig Burley says a tactical change helped Man United to come back in a 3-3 draw with Sheffield United.

What did Solskjaer think was going to happen? They, of course, deserve credit for the extraordinary seven minutes in which they pulled back the two-goal deficit and went ahead, but had they not tried to compete with a system that is second nature to their opponents, the comeback might not have been required in the first place.

Liverpool plough on relentlessly

Of course, plenty has been said about Liverpool’s mentality, and Jurgen Klopp never tires of talking about it, but their reaction to in-game adversity really is extraordinary. Wilfried Zaha’s equalising goal — a fabulous, flowing, team effort that deserved better than to be ultimately meaningless — might have put most teams on their backsides. But parity with Crystal Palace lasted two minutes before Roberto Firmino scuffed home the winner, their ninth goal after the 75th minute in all competitions this season, and they’ve collected eight points with goals after the 85th.

They’re relentless, haven’t lost a domestic game since the FA Cup defeat to Wolves in January, and if they avoid defeat against Brighton next weekend, then they will equal their record league unbeaten run of 31 games.

They didn’t play especially well against Palace, but they keep winning with these sort of performances. So often that it’s impossible to think it’s a coincidence.

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1:21

After another dramatic win, Ale Moreno says there’s too many signs Liverpool will win the title.

A victory for City, but at what cost?

Manchester City needed the win against Chelsea: a nine point-gap is already looking pretty tough to close, but 12 would have been edging toward the impossible.

But at what cost did the win come? David Silva’s injury isn’t ideal, but they have adequate cover. Sergio Aguero’s could be longer term, but they have Gabriel Jesus. Oddly, Rodri’s could be the most costly, if it keeps him out for an extended period.

Pep Guardiola seems determined to stick with Fernandinho as a central defender, which means they need someone else to be the reliable screen in front of the back four. Rodri has been performing that role, but if he’s missing, then they will have to rely on Ilkay Gundogan in a position that is not his best.

For a team so expensively assembled, suddenly squad depth is looking like a problem.

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1:10

Ale Moreno says Man City’s comeback win over Chelsea kept the door to the Premier League title slightly open.

They couldn’t … could they?

Leicester’s win over Brighton took them to 29 points from 13 games. It’s worth pointing out that at the same stage of their title-winning season in 2015-16, they had 28 points.

Could perception of winning help Spurs?

Harry Kane’s words after Jose Mourinho’s first game in charge of Tottenham were interesting: “He wants to win, he’s a proven winner,” said Kane of his new manager. “I’ve made it clear that I’m at the stage of my career where I want to win trophies.

“I’ve made it clear I want to win them here, and it’s a big year for this. Realistically, we look at the Champions League and the FA Cup to try to do that. We will see how that goes, and, from my point of view, I will keep doing what I’m doing and keep fighting for this club on the pitch.”

While there are obvious and valid philosophical concerns about Mourinho’s appointment, it could pay off in the short…

Read more at this link (News Source).

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