Seria A – Juventus, Napoli still way ahead of others
I was quite optimistic before the season and expected a big battle for Seria A title. Two rounds later I doubt my original opinion. Juventus is still the dominant force in the league. Juve is able to pull win even when they are loosing and need to turn the match in the last minutes. And wait, Ronaldo did not score a goal yet. When he starts scoring, Juventus will be hard to beat. Napoli had tough opponents in Lazio and AC Milan, but they got all 6 points. They were able to win, even with losing 0-1 against Lazio and 0-2 against Milan. That is the way how real title contender plays.
On other hand, other two possible competitors I ranked high are losing from the start. Inter Milan lost in Sassuolo and then did not keep the 2-0 lead over Turin. AS Roma took 3 points in Turin with a late goal in extra time, but their home performance against Atalanta was hopeless. Lazio is pointless after meeting Juventus and Napoli. AC Milan is pointless too after meeting Napoli.
I should correct my optimism about Seria A. I know two rounds are a too small sample, but it looks the last season will repeat. Juventus and Napoli in the title battle. Both teams look a way better than other potential competitors.
The Soccer Column is irregular and biased opinion column written by Soccer Guru about everything soccer related.
Premier League – Arsenal is just an average team
Manchester United and especially Jose Mourinho fate draws a lot of attention in the Premier League these days, but I want to focus on Arsenal.
There was a big relief among Arsenal fans after Arsene Wenger contract was not prolonged. The hope was just as unreasonable as if one man could change everything. However, the problem of Arsenal was not just the person at the manager office.
The team, bad transfer decisions, and unwillingness to spend more has to be addressed too. Unai Emery can try as hard as possible, but the team he has under control is just not good enough.
Arsenal can beat West Ham without problems, but in all respect to the West Ham, it is the team from the lower half of table. All you need is to look at Arsenal first two league matches. They played two teams Arsenal would like to be compared with. They had not a chance against Manchester City and they lost with Chelsea. No chance for Arsenal to keep the pace with the best. City and Liverpool are far away from Arsenal current form. Tottenham and Chelsea are better too. There goes the Champions League place in next season for Arsenal.
More has to be changed in Arsenal than manager name. More time than one season the club will need to return to the position (title contender) they were used to.