Arsenal Football Club: Premier League Rankings

This article was written by a young man named Lewis Wright who is an Arsenal fan and aspiring sports journalist, who's going to be writing a weekly piece for them at Vital Arsenal.

5 Things We Learned From The Barcelona Match:

Confidence isn`t Everything

Nicklas Bendtner certainly talks a good game. He has claimed that he will be 'amongst the best strikers in the world` within 5 years. He`s also stated on a number of occasions that he 'deserves to start every game.`

On a recent self confidence test he even outscored Thierry Henry, Nicolas Anelka and David Trezeguet. The test showed that 'When Bendtner misses a chance, he is always genuinely convinced that it wasn`t his fault.` It`s difficult to see who the Dane could blame for missing last night`s sitter.

He has pace, height, an excellent first touch and on occasion, an unnerving ability to finish, but if Bendtner wants to make it to the top work needs to be done on his mind not his game. His hat trick against Leyton Orient was appreciated, and superbly taken, but too many times, when he is given the chance to make a real difference, under real pressure, his usually pristine technique lets him down.

Unless he learns to accept that mistakes happen, and aren`t other people`s fault, it`s hard to see him ever making the Arsenal striker`s shirt his own.

The future of Arsenal is English

For all the pre match talk about Fabregas being back in the team, and Song being absent, the midfield held its own. Diaby was strong in the tackle and as effective in distribution as anyone else.

The moment Arsenal did create, such as the corner that led to the goal, came about when Nasri ran at the Barcelona defence with pace. Walcott would have provided an outlet; a straight route into Barcelona territory. His directness offers the team an alternative and a way of moving the ball at a speed no defender in world football can deal with.

If Guardiola has a B team full of Jack Wilsheres, as suggested, one wonders why the Barcelona B side sit 9 points off the play offs in the Segunda Division, having lost 8 times already. Thiago and Dos Santos may well be quality players, but they`re no Wilshere. At just 19 the midfielder ran the first game at The Emirates, outshining both Xavi and Iniesta. At The Nou Camp his game changed to be more defensive, but he was no less effective for it. He showed his tenacity, passion and willingness to run himself into the ground for the team.

Surely it`s a matter of when, not if Wilshere becomes club captain.

Sometimes Wenger can be adaptable

Much was made of the difference in possession, the difference in passes made, but for all their ball retention it took a Fabregas howler to allow Barcelona to score. Until that point, and indeed, until the red card, Barcelona probed but with no real incisiveness.

Arsenal looked solid and were able to adapt their game to accept there would be fewer chances early on, but to hold on for more quality ones later in the game.

Each time Arsenal have faced Barcelona in the last 2 seasons they have finished the game strongly, scoring goals late on in two of them. For all the fanfare about passing 5 yards sideways over and over, Arsenal are a much fitter and stronger side than Barcelona, and 11 vs 11, history shows they could have expected a much greater chance of holding on to the game and coming back later on. Would Van Persie have accepted the gift that Bendtner spurned? The stats would say yes.

The Referee Choked

Much of the fuss about Van Persie`s dismissal centres around whether he heard the whistle or not. It`s irrelevant. One second passed between the whistle and the shot. One second to react and counter an instinct to score.

The bitter irony is that the very reason that RVP couldn`t hear a whistle is the very same reason the decision was made; crowd noise.

Barcelona is not 'more than club,` it`s just another club

Guardiola crowed about a reserve side packed full of young world beaters. Yet at the last European U21 Championship, England beat Spain on route to the final.

The club`s Director of football Raul Sanllehi claimed he was 'shocked` by the transfer spending in England over the winter saying about Torres` move to Chelsea that 'Barcelona would not make that signing. We would not even consider it.` Barcelona had to borrow £125 million just to pay the team`s wages earlier last year, in the main due to the fact that in the last year only Real Madrid and Manchester City spent more than their 113 million Euros outlay. The year before it was 90 million, with the club spending 66 million Euros on Zlatan Ibrahimovich. He made 29 appearances for the Catalans before leaving to head back to Milan, on loan, for free.

The club claimed Arsenal were 'morally wrong` for using the Spanish League as a 'fishing pond`, and that clubs should choose local talent. Messi was 12 when he moved 6,000 miles to Barcelona, and in the fabled B team there are 'local` products of the youth academy from countries including Brazil, Canada, England and The Netherlands.

Xavi gave an interview to The Guardian where he professed to be a 'football romantic,` and that 'Some youth academies worry about winning, we worry about education.` That education saw Abidal and Valdes see fit to grab RVP round his throat. That education regularly see its players fall to the ground after little to minimal contact and then wave imaginary cards when a foul is given.

Next season the 'more than a club` will be sponsored by the Qatar Foundation, from a country where homosexuality is illegal, dissident bloggers are arrested and Amnesty International have released several warnings about human rights violations.

They may have lost last night, but Arsenal have no reason to believe that Barcelona are superior in anything other than results.

Go Gunnners

Another crazy weekend, all throughout the Premier League, culminates in Chelsea, possibly, maybe, rejoining the title race, Arsenal blowing a chance to really make their mark and Manchester United suddenly looking more shaky than they have all season.

And don't even get us started on the foot of the table ... that's getting really interesting.

The 2010-11 season always had the potential to be one of the most memorable in EPL history and, with a couple of months to go, it does not look as though it is going to disappoint.

All of which, of course, means the FanHouse Rankings have been as manic as ever.

FanHouse UK has used the latest, most in-depth objective statistical data, balanced with the purely subjective views of our expert staff, to bring you an alternative Premier League table.

1. Arsenal | Previous: 1 | Form: W-W-D-W-W-D
Points: 57 | Goals For: 57 | Goals Against: 27
It was a tough call to make this week, whether or not the Gunners were worthy of holding onto top spot. After all, on the face of it, a goalless home draw with out-of-touch Sunderland is hardly the sort of stuff to be shouting about. But ... and you knew there was a "but" ... Arsenal were denied a perfectly good offside "goal" and they did manage to close Manchester United's lead at the top by a solitary point. We're taking the glass-half-full approach, therefore, and allowing them to remain first. And, let's remember, exit from the Champions League is one less thing to distract them from chasing United in the league.

2. Chelsea | Previous: 3 | Form: W-W-L-D-W-W
Points: 51 | Goals For: 51 | Goals Against: 24
Manchester United's staggering loss of form coincides with the defending champions possibly, and at long last, re-discovering theirs. Carlo Ancelotti certainly thinks the blip is behind them although he refuses to accept the Blues are back in the hunt for the title. Normally, we would agree with him but in this most unpredictable of all Premier League seasons, we're not prepared to put our money there quite yet. Nine points behind United with a game in hand and a game with the leaders to come ... interesting ... very interesting.

3. Manchester City | Previous: 4 | Form: L-D-W-L-D-W
Points: 53 | Goals For: 45 | Goals Against: 25
City rise one place in our Rankings but we do so grudgingly. When Sheikh Mansour invested £1 billion of his hard-earned money (okay, somebody's hard-earned money) in City, he probably wasn't dreaming of scraping a home win by a solitary goal against the worst team in the division ... and that thanks only to the keeper throwing one in. Still, it keeps City on course for a Champions League finish and that, apparently, is all that matters this season.

4. Manchester United | Previous: 2 | Form: W-L-W-W-L-L
Points: 60 | Goals For: 63 | Goals Against: 30
The slide continues and, let's be honest, the manner in which United were downed at the old enemy Liverpool was fairly spectacular. There is an argument that the Reds are not playing that much worse than they have been for large chunks of the season but that their luck has finally run out for them. There is possibly an element of truth in that but what Anfield showed is what happens to this team if both Rio Ferdinand and Nemanja Vidic are taken out of its heart. United fans can only hope that one or either of them - preferably both - is in their defence for the remainder of the season.

5. Liverpool | Previous: 6 | Form: W-W-W-D-L-W
Points: 42 | Goals For: 39 | Goals Against: 36
Had it not been for that shoddy outings at home to Wigan and at West Ham immediately prior, the home humbling of Manchester United would have had Liverpool pressing for top spot in our Rankings. As it is, they edge up one place after the most enjoyable victory for home fans in many a month, maybe year. Of course, the question still remains as to how largely the same group of players could have been so awful under Roy Hodgson but the Kenny Dalglish love-in is so overwhelming and unconditional that nobody even remembers his name any more. A club heading in only one direction between now and season's end.

6. Fulham | Previous: 7 | Form: L-W-D-D-D-W
Points: 35 | Goals For: 32 | Goals Against: 31
The league table says that, technically, the Cottagers still need have some degree of concern about relegation but we're not quite so certain. A win over Blackburn, controversial as it may have been, was the proverbial six-pointer - lifted Fulham up the table while dropping Rovers deeper than ever into it. Five games without defeat, but a run that includes a couple of wins, hints at the sort of season Mark Hughes might have delivered if he had enjoyed more luck with injuries.

7. Tottenham Hotspur | Previous: 5 | Form: D-W-W-W-L-D
Points: 48 | Goals For: 41 | Goals Against: 34
A loss at Blackpool is followed by a 3-3 draw at Wolves which further dents Spurs' hopes of a fourth placed finish. A sum total of one point from visits to two clubs who may well be kicking off next season in the Championship is hardly what Harry Redknapp would have been looking for and, as we feared all along, maybe the Champions League is a distraction with which his team can't cope. Spurs are the anti-Man City - incredibly gung-ho and entertaining, but nowhere as efficient as the Manchester club. That's why we demote them two places in the standings and expect them to end the season in fifth.

8. Bolton Wanderers | Previous: 11 | Form: L-W-L-W-D-W
Points: 40 | Goals For: 42 | Goals Against: 40
A season in which Bolton have struggled for consistency for long periods - who hasn't? - but one in which they are still on course for a possible place in the Europa League. All of that has to be considered a positive as does their current involvement in the FA Cup, although cups are not factored into our League Rankings. A 3-2 home win over Villa was edgy but saw them come from behind twice - always the sign of a good team. Whatever the final few weeks of the season hold for the Trotters, this has been a good campaign.

9. West Ham United | Previous: 13 | Form: D-W-L-D-W-W
Points: 31 | Goals For: 36 | Goals Against: 49
And so West Ham's thoroughly bizarre season continues. This time, in the form of a 3-0 thrashing of Stoke which has people now looking at the Potters as potential relegation candidates. This may be hard to believe but a run of 11 points from the last six games is bettered only by three clubs currently - Arsenal, Chelsea and Liverpool - which tells you everything about the vein of form the Hammers are in. Still, they remain hovering dangerously near last place and it will take more of the same to keep them up. The return of fit-again Thomas Hitzlsperger may yet prove to have been the turning point in their season.

10. Newcastle United | Previous: 8 | Form: L-D-D-W-D-L
Points: 36 | Goals For: 44 | Goals Against: 41
That wasn't pretty. The Geordies have enough points in the bag from their early season purple patch for relegation not to be a concern this season but losing at home to an Everton side on a barren run was not awe-inspring. It would be nice for Alan Pardew to be able to go into what will surely be a crucial summer of personnel decisions on a rich vein of form, but there is no evidence here that he will be able to do so.

11. Wolverhampton | Previous: 12 | Form: L-W-L-D-W-D
Points: 29 | Goals For: 34 | Goals Against: 49
Wolves might actually deserve to be higher in our standings - after all, they have the same number of points (eight) over the last half dozen games as Manchester City whom we rank third! Yet, for all those efforts, Wanderers are still one place off the foot of the table as none of the relegation contenders - not even Wigan - look completely doomed yet. This is the season when a couple of more than half-decent teams might go down and there is a real chance that Wolves will be one of them. For now, they showed in the 3-3 draw with Spurs that whatever qualities are missing at Molineux, spirit is not one of them.

12. Aston Villa | Previous: 9 | Form: W-L-D-D-W-L
Points: 33 | Goals For: 37 | Goals Against: 50
The great Gerard Houllier debate continues. Misunderstood genius or bloke whose time has past him by and doesn't really know what he's doing any more? Here's exhibit A for the latter camp. Having sent out his reserves at Man City in the FA Cup - on the grounds Villa had no chance of beating the blue billionaires and that the weekend trip to Bolton was more important than a quarter-final place - Villa duly lost at the Reebok, having led twice and having missed a penalty through Ashley Young. Not impressive - they are lucky we only demote them three places in our table.

13. Sunderland | Previous: 15 | Form: W-L-L-L-L-D
Points: 38 | Goals For: 33 | Goals Against: 35
A run of four consecutive defeats ended with a visit to Arsenal - hardly the ideal venue in the circumstances - and Steve Bruce got just the response he was looking for. The Black Cats enjoyed their share of luck, via a disallowed Gunners goal, but they defended with great spirit. In this unpredictable season, that run of four games without a point has still only left Sunderland four points off sixth place. Still a lot to play for, then, which is one of the reasons we're promoting the Wearsiders a couple of spots.

14. Everton | Previous: 16 | Form: L-W-L-W-W-D
Points: 37 | Goals For: 38 | Goals Against: 38
Four points from the last two games is probably about par for the course, even if Evertonians might have expected a draw at Newcastle, followed by a home win over Birmingham. In fact, the converse was true as the Toffees played superbly in winning in the north-east and had to come from behind to salvage a point against struggling Birmingham. Tag on another victory in the preceding game against Sunderland and it does appear that a miserable Goodison season might have taken a change for the better.

15. Stoke City | Previous: 10 | Form: L-W-L-L-D-L
Points: 34 | Goals For: 32 | Goals Against: 38
You know how there is a team every year that appears from nowhere to make a last-ditch bid to get themselves relegated? ... Meet Stoke City. A run of four straight games without a win, featuring one point, now includes a 3-0 defeat at West Ham that breathed new life into the Hammers' belief that they can rise out of trouble and leaves the Potters really staring into the abyss. They still have a four-point cushion to the relegation places and they still have the fact that the Britannia Stadium is a place that most clubs will dread playing. But this is going to be a nervy final few weeks of the campaign.

16. Birmingham | Previous: 14 | Form: D-W-W-L-L-D
Points: 31 | Goals For: 27 | Goals Against: 39
That Carling Cup Final glory seems a long way off now, and even longer after they were humbled 3-1 at home by neighbours West Brom at the weekend. In the light of that result, a 1-1 draw at Everton was a solid response and enough to lift the Blues out of the bottom three. But there is still a lot of work to be done and if the season does end with relegation - to go along with that first trophy in nearly half a century - that West Brom defeat will have proved hugely costly.

17. West Brom | Previous: 20 | Form: D-L-D-D-D-W
Points: 32 | Goals For: 39 | Goals Against: 54
That's more like it - and that is worth a rise of three places from the foot of our table in this week's Rankings. A 3-1 victory at Birmingham may well prove to be one of those games that is a turning point in the season. Roy Hodgson had made the Baggies a lot harder to beat without recording a win since taking over the hot seat and ending a sequence of six games without a victory can be no bad thing. Big win.

18. Wigan Athletic | Previous: 17 | Form: L-D-W-D-L-L
Points: 27 | Goals For: 27 | Goals Against: 50
The loss to Man United was followed by a trip across Greater Manchester to take on City, a thoroughly creditable performance but no points after keeper Ali Al-Habsi gifted the hosts the only goal of the game. There is a doomed and resigned air about the Latics and their play. They have not been horrible of late but a chronic lack of goals looks likely to cost them their Premier League status.

19. Blackburn Rovers | Previous: 18 | Form: W-L-L-D-L-L
Points: 32 | Goals For: 37 | Goals Against: 49
Now things are looking really desperate. Defeat by the odd goal in five at Fulham was mildly controversial but took Rovers' tally to one point from the last available 15. It seems only a couple of weeks since Blackburn were seventh; now they're everybody's favourites to be that team that clinches a relegation place from nowhere. Rumours about the security of manager Steve Kean - rumours hotly denied by the club, it should be said - have just added to the gloom around Ewood.

20. Blackpool | Previous: 19 | Form: L-L-D-W-L-L
Points: 32 | Goals For: 43 | Goals Against: 58
No team has a worse record, in terms of points return, over the last half dozen games than the Seasiders although it is fair to point out that Stoke, Sunderland and Blackburn have an equally miserable four from 24 to their name, the same as Blackpool. The win over Spurs two outings ago might have been the swansong in their gallant efforts to stay in the top flight although, that said, it would not be out of character for them to bounce back and scrape survival. For now, we think they look a good bet for relegation.