“If you can’t handle me at my worst, then you sure as hell don’t deserve me at my best.”
We’ll perhaps never truly know whether Marilyn Monroe was thinking about the 21st century low points of the 20 current Premier League clubs when she uttered those famous words. But let’s just imagine she was. Here, then, are the Marilyn-at-her-worst seasons you had to handle to enjoy the glorious title-winning campaigns or that time you nearly qualified for the Europa or finished comfortable and stress-free in mid-table. Are we only doing this because Liverpool are currently a bit rubbish? We prefer not to speak.
And we’re not getting into the whole ‘Actually, the year 2000 is in the 20th century’ nerd-off. We’re starting from the 2000/01 season here because we are. Okay? Good. Let’s crack on.
Arsenal
The season: 2020/21, 8th in the Premier League.
What’s the story? Arsenal hadn’t finished outside the top six since 1994/95, the season when the George Graham bungs scandal broke. It became a banter in the end, but Arsenal finished inside the top four every season from 1996/97 until 2016/17; that Wenger top-four run really was something, but he did also leave a mess in his wake. His final season they were sixth and a bit poo and things continued generally downhill for a few years after that as first Unai Emery came in and didn’t last long in what appears to be a necessary sacrifice after any legendary long-term manager shuffles off. Then came the Mikel Arteta Process, which is both the name of a shit nauseatingly self-referential and knowing indie band circa 2006 and also, for a couple of years, quite a shit football team. Arsenal finished a lowly eighth two years running, but the second of those gets the nod here because in 2019/20 they did win the FA Cup.
What happened next? Arsenal started making good signings instead of bad ones, a bold strategy which they’ve stuck with and which seems to be working. Ben White and Aaron Ramsdale have been key members of the renaissance, while current captain Martin Odegaard is still getting better and better after his initial loan was made permanent in the summer of 2021.
The next season: 5th in the Premier League, self-bantered out of the Champions League places by their own cunning and, particularly gallingly, Spurs. But it was already clearly, much, much better.
Aston Villa
The season: 2016/17, 13th in the Championship
What’s the story? Having lost their ever-present Premier League status…
Click Here to Read the Full Original Article at Football365…