Dear Match of the Day,

I have been watching your programme for the best part of 25 years (apart from the 3 year blip when you lost the rights to ITV, glad you got that sorted out in the end) and I think it would be fair to say Match of the Day should be an impartial show (especially as it is funded by the public).

But last night the “punditry” of Alan Shearer reached a point where enough is enough. As well as pointing out the blatantly obvious on a regular basis, his “expert insights” make Robbie Savage and Jamie Redknapp seem like scholars of the beautiful game.

Yesterday, despite Arsenal having the best form in the Premier League since January 2013 and just convincingly beaten a rejuvenated Liverpool side to go 5 points clear, he failed to even acknowledge that Arsenal could win the league.

Now of course, everyone is entitled to their opinion but the obvious refusal to look at the facts that are right their in front of them is baffling. We are a quarter into the Premier League season and while there is a long way to go and teams like Chelsea, Manchester City, Liverpool and Manchester United could always close the gap, to still dismiss Arsenal as genuine title contenders is ridiculous.

There is a clear bias from his so-called “objective” views and his dismissal of Chelsea’s defeat to Newcastle United as “a bad day at the office” was unsurprising, as you can be sure if Arsenal lost 2-0 at St James’ Park he would be saying Arsenal lack the mental strength and ability to win when they’re not playing well.

Also, he is unprofessional, referring to his mates in the game as “Moyesy”. Even Jamie Redknapp, the weakest link at Sky Sports, is still professional enough to address managers with their actual names.

Match of the Day has been labelled a show that is dated and lacking ideas, and having Alan Shearer as a pundit is certainly one of the reasons why. Gary Lineker even acknowledged Arsenal’s impressive performances of late, labelled us “looking invincible”. Sky Sports have recruited Jamie Carragher and Gary Neville and together they are by far the most insightful, intelligent and often amusing football pundits in the country. They know what they are talking about, have fair and unbiased opinions and don’t churn out the same old dross week in and week out.

You’ve put Mark Lawrenson on the sidelines this season and it’s time to do the same with Shearer.

Yours Sincerely,

Arsenal 4 Life Weblog

The defeat to Chelsea has split the opinion of Arsenal fans – some think it was a nothing game in a competition we have no interest in winning, while others seem to think it could be the start of a downturn in our fortunes.

Since the beginning of the season and the defeat on the opening day, our form has been sensational. But now with a defeat to Borussia Dortmund and Chelsea – the question is can Arsenal actually beat any of the top teams?

We’ve beaten the likes of Crystal Palace, Norwich, Stoke, Sunderland and Fulham but lost against the only real top teams we’ve faced so far – Dortmund and Chelsea. And with Liverpool, Dortmund (again) and Manchester United coming up, are Arsenal up to the task?

There’s no doubt that the next couple of weeks will shape Arsenal’s season but it appears that when against the really top teams, and teams that have excellent tactical managers, then we fall short.

We were to naive against Dortmund, and got hit with two sucker punches. The same happened against Chelsea last night. Do we have the “mental toughness” Arsene Wenger talks about so much? Are we still defensively solid or will we always get found out against the top teams?

Liverpool have Suarez and Sturridge firing on all cylinders, Dortmund have the ultra-clinical Lewandowski and Manchester United for all their failings have Wayne Rooney and Robin van Persie – two world class forwards.

The next three games pose huge tests to Arsenal’s title credentials and unless we get our act together and stop conceding these avoidable (and costly) goals, then it is going to be a long hard November for Arsenal.

As the weekends Premier League action comes to an end for another week, Arsenal are top with 22 points and Manchester United under David Moyes, sit several places behind in 8th place on 14 points.

But things could (and maybe should) be even worse for Manchester United. They’re 8 points behind us in the league but against Sunderland and Stoke City, games which they eventually won, they really should have been 2 or 3 goals down.

And if they lost those matches, then they would be an unbelievable 14 points behind Arsenal already with only 9 games of the season played.

Sunderland and Stoke both managed to get one goal leads, only to surrender them late on by conceding two late goals and end up losing the game. With some luck – usually with poor finishing or with shots straight at De Gea – United were only one goal behind and the opposition end up folding in the final moments of the match.

Most people agree that they really should have lost those two games, and even a draw would have been a fairer result. But somehow, United have managed to win those games and keep in touch with the league leaders.

It’s a long tough season and they’re only 8 points from the top with 29 games to play. Winning games like those where they should have lost is a sign that they will be there or thereabouts. They say the top teams win games where they’ve played badly and even though David Moyes and United are struggling at the moment, they can’t get any worse and they will all begin to click at some point.

After 5 games of the campaign so far, and that horrific opening day of the season against Aston Villa, Arsenal find themselves top of the Premier League with 12 points.

Tottenham Hotspur are second on goal difference, Manchester City, Chelsea and Liverpool are on 10 points and Manchester United find themselves in 8^th position, on 7 points.

So 5 games in, who are the favourites for the Premier League?

Before the season began, Chelsea were installed as favourites with the bookies and Manchester City second. Manchester United were third favourites while Arsenal were well down in fourth, being around 14/1 if I remember correctly (which I thought was fair at the time but I’m sure those odds have gone down a little with the signing of Mesut Ozil).

At the time of writing, the current odds for the Premier League title are as follows:

Manchester City – 7/4
Chelsea – 3/1
Manchester United – 9/2
Arsenal – 6/1
Tottenham Hotspur – 10/1
Liverpool – 14/1

And they all seem fair enough at this moment in time.

Manchester City have the strongest squad in the Premier League and look determined to win the title back after losing out to Manchester United last season. And their performance on Sunday was one of hunger and intent, and it was clear they really wanted to send out a message to the rest of the Premier League.

Chelsea were the easy season favourites but their form has dipped recently and their performances have been less than convincing. They lost against Everton last week, and made tough work of Fulham at the weekend. There seems to be a bit of funny business with the striker situation as well, with some not convinced that Samuel Eto’o or WIllian were actually Jose Mourinho signings. It was obvious Mourinho wanted Rooney as the spearhead of his new Chelsea attack and with Juan Mata out in the cold, there seems to be a small amount of discontent at the Bridge. Of course, Jose Mourinho is a born winner and his track record is the best in the business, so underestimating Chelsea would be extremely foolish. If Chelsea are struggling now, then what will they be like once they start firing on all cylinders?

Then we have Manchester United. David Moyes has had a tough run in already this season, having played Chelsea, Liverpool and Manchester City in his first 5 games. While some rate David Moyes and the job he did at Everton, I completely disagree with that. I know Everton supporters who were glad he left because his brand of football was boring and tactically he was very limited. It is interesting to note that he has never won a big game. He failed to win a single Merseyside Derby in his 11 year career at Everton, and last season I remember this vividly, he failed to beat Wigan Athletic at home in the FA Cup. Victory would have seen a clear path to the final as the next opponents were Millwall in the semi-finals. And then he had the Champions League Qualifier against Villarreal in the 2005-2006 season and lost that too.

So it was hardly surprising he has failed to win any of the “big” games this season. Against Chelsea he ran out of ideas, against Liverpool he had no answer and the Manchester City game was a shambles. Like Chelsea, if they go a goal down then they don’t know how to respond. A lot was made about the absence of Robin van Persie yesterday but with a powerful midfield with Yaya Toure and Fernandinho, playing with Carrick and Fellaini and not with a midfield three was suicidal. But then again maybe I’m being too simplistic.

And we have Tottenham Hotspur. They sold Gareth Bale and brought in a lot of quality players. They have yet to gel but once they do then they will be a very good side. Do they have the mental capacity to mount a real title challenge? AVB was disastrous at Chelsea and bottled 4^th place last season, but he has had success with Porto – although the merits of that success are under dispute as his road to Europa League success was relatively easy (he didn’t have to face a single side from Germany, Italy, France, England or Holland). I think they best that can hope for is a Top 4 finish, and that is being optimistic.

Liverpool are an interesting side. They bought a lot of players over the summer and they have been solid (Southampton aside) this season. They have definitely improved on last season but I can’t see them finishing in the Top 4. They have Suarez to come back and he will improve the team, but will he be as effective as he was last season? If he’s looking for a move away in the January Transfer Window then who knows.

Then our beloved Arsenal. How will they fair this season? Since losing to Tottenham Hotspur last season (when AVB famously said we were in a “negative spiral of results”) we have played 18 games, won 15, drawn 2 and lost 1 – which puts the Aston Villa result into perspective. Like it or not, our form has been excellent and is that of a title challenging team.

But the $64,000 question is can we do it?

At the moment, the signs look positive. We have a settled squad and have only a couple of new players (and even then one of them used to play for us) to get used to the “Arsenal way”. Defensively we look better than we have for a long time (with Sagna an excellent deputy centre back) and cover in the full back positions. In midfield we have a lot of top quality options, when everyone is fit (Arteta, Wilshere, Ramsey, Rosicky, Santi, Flamini, Diaby, Oxlade-Chamberlain) and in terms of attackers we have Ozil, Theo, Ryo and Oxlade-Chamberlain. The only position where we are a “little light” is upfront, with Giroud and Podolski our only recognised strikers (I don’t even want to think about having to use TGSTEL).

A lot has been made of the management changes at Chelsea, Manchester City and Manchester United. Personally, I only believe the team that will suffer from this is Manchester United. They are incapable of winning any big games which can be decisive in the title run in. They won’t have any problems winning the smaller games so they will still be up there or thereabouts. Pellegrini is a manager who likes attacking football and they will entertain this season – they have a formidable squad and will always have an excellent defence marshalled by Vincent Kompany, who is immense. Playing the way they are, they will win most of their games. Chelsea, are a team that could struggle but this is Jose Mourinho that we’re talking about. By hook or by crook, he will find a way to start bulldozing teams and getting the results he needs. Don’t be fooled over the talk of finding a “new style” of playing football – this man is in the results business and is very good at it.

For me, it is a 3 horse race between Manchester City, Chelsea and Arsenal. Manchester United look off the pace to me, and I don’t think Tottenham and Liverpool can sustain any real title challenge.

So what do you think? Leave your opinions in the comments section below.

There are only two things in this world I will never understand; If there is a God, then why does he let bad things happen? And how did Thierry Henry never win the World Player of the Year Award?

My Arsenal bias aside, for me, Thierry Henry is one of the most underrated players ever to play the game and one of the greatest ever as far as I’m concerned.

In terms of pure goalscoring at the top level, Thierry is near on untouchable. He smashed Arsenal’s goalscoring record set by the great Ian Wright, and has won every major international honour going and every league title in every league he’s played in. He’s also won The Champions League, countless FA Cups, Copa del Reys, and even a UEFA Super Cup and Fifa World Club Cup to boot.

Added to that, he’s France’s all time top goalscorer, third in the list of all time Premier League goalscorers (only behind Alan Shearer and Andrew Cole) and the highest scoring foreigner to play in England. He’s also got a shed load of personal awards and accolades, and was voted the greatest foreign player ever to play in the Premier League.

And his goalscoring record for Arsenal is bordering on the unbelievable. His first season in England (the one where players need to “settle” into the league) he notched up 26 goals in all competitions. After that, he scored 22, 32, 32, 39, 30, 33 and 12 in the next 7 campaigns.

On paper then, Henry’s record is flawless.

But it’s not just records where the king excels. His recent comeback to Arsenal has been an emotional roller coaster for Arsenal fans, and something of a fairytale for supporters and the man himself.

Fernando Torres, a man with 18 games and 0 goals (I believe, I can’t be bothered to check) was bought for £50 million only a year ago. Thierry Henry, a man who has been away from England for 6 years has had a total playing time of 96 minutes, and scored 3 goals – 2 of them dramatic match winners.

Have legends like Zidane, Maradona or Pele managed to do this? The simple answer is no.

And besides all that, it is Thierry’s level of consistency at the highest level which makes him the greatest for me. He has played 17 seasons at the top top level – for Monaco, Juventus, Arsenal and Barcelona – and raked up 316 goals in 4 of the best leagues in Europe. This gives him an average of 19 goals per season, which is hugely impressive in itself. Take the goals per season average just for the Arsenal and Barcelona campaigns then the average is even more impressive, giving exactly 25 goals per season. And that includes his injury-ravaged final seasons at both clubs.

You have players like Messi, Maradona, Ronaldo, Pele, Zidane, Platini, Best, etc. who could be considered the greatest ever but have any of them maintained a 17 year consistency like Thierry Henry?

And Henry has lit up so many matches and given the fans so many special moments it’s hard to count how many there have been.

My final argument for Henry being the greatest is that he won the league several times, was part of the team that went unbeaten a whole season and won other honours with Arsenal. Arsenal are a fantastic side with a beautiful history, but it’s not unreasonable to say we are not one of the most, how can I put this, naturally biggest football clubs. We are competing at the top level because of Arsene Wenger but we don’t have the bottomless pit of money other teams such as Real Madrid, Barcelona, Manchester United and others have.

So in that sense, Thierry’s accomplishments are even more outstanding. He didn’t join a massive club when he arrived so to do all he has done is all the more impressive. He didn’t achieve his honours and records with a team such as Barcelona, Real Madrid or Manchester United.

I’m not saying players like Messi, Ronaldinho, Zidane and Ronaldo aren’t great, but it is much easier to achieve honours and accolades with a more prestigious football club with the infrastructure to bring in the worlds best players.

You might think I’m crazy, but Thierry Henry is not just the king of Arsenal, but he is the king of football.

Cue the abuse!

Last Minute Edit: I’ve also just checked and of the all-time greatest goalscorers Thierry Henry has the best goals to goals per game ratio, at 0.68, compared to the next best of Alan Shearer who’s record is 0.59 goals per game.