I posted a way too early team tiers ranking of Premier League teams and it generated some good discussion and I want to dig a little deeper into the Arsenal vs Manchester City
I think this is helpful but going position by position doesn't tell the full story, because City rotates so much and their depth of quality is much greater than ours. There's nothing wrong with the youngest team in the league still being a level or two behind a $2B, 115 charge cheating behemoth. What probably matters more right now is if we are better than the rest of the league. And if we are, then the home-at-home round robin tournament format of the PL means we can beat City to the title.
And of course you're looking at metrics and positions and I'm talking about points. But obviously we can win the league while not being the statistically best team in the league. Had we beat ManCity once this season & nothing else changed, we'd have won the league while being the 2nd best team statistically.
I mostly agree with this. I would argue that there will probably be a noticeable gap between us and Liverpool as I don’t think they’ll have their midfield problems licked and between us and Newcastle because they will have to contend with twice a week football.
I think we can beat City in the league if we have done enough to have equal cover for injuries and we get a bit of luck. What I will be looking for is how much Arteta will rotate the personnel to keep them fresh physically and mentally.
I think this is helpful but going position by position doesn't tell the full story, because City rotates so much and their depth of quality is much greater than ours. There's nothing wrong with the youngest team in the league still being a level or two behind a $2B, 115 charge cheating behemoth. What probably matters more right now is if we are better than the rest of the league. And if we are, then the home-at-home round robin tournament format of the PL means we can beat City to the title.
That’s a good point. I think potentially Arsenal are the second best team. That would make it so they are within the margin of variability
And of course you're looking at metrics and positions and I'm talking about points. But obviously we can win the league while not being the statistically best team in the league. Had we beat ManCity once this season & nothing else changed, we'd have won the league while being the 2nd best team statistically.
I mostly agree with this. I would argue that there will probably be a noticeable gap between us and Liverpool as I don’t think they’ll have their midfield problems licked and between us and Newcastle because they will have to contend with twice a week football.
I think we can beat City in the league if we have done enough to have equal cover for injuries and we get a bit of luck. What I will be looking for is how much Arteta will rotate the personnel to keep them fresh physically and mentally.