Why Is It Too Early To Decide The Season?

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Boggs has a hard time coming to grips with one of football’s oldest “rules”.

I don’t get it, I just don’t. And I like to think I’m reasonably intelligent, despite what my mum says.

There is a long standing argument from managers, players and supporters that it’s too early in the Premiership season for any of these results to matter.

Liverpool lose to Chelsea this weekend? Who cares! Arsenal get thrashed by Manchester United? Meaningless!

I understand that football is not about being rational and there are plenty of weird beliefs and myths that persist within the sport, but this one just doesn’t add up at all. What’s the difference between losing 3 points now and 3 points at the end of the season? Just because there isn’t the added time pressure at the start of the season doesn’t make them any less valuable, yet managers and supporters continue to delude themselves.

Tottenham and Arsenal message board threads bang on that, despite being down near the relegation zone, it’s early days yet for their respective seasons and they’re sure everything will be just swell. West Ham and Newcastle will say the same.

Of course there is more time to make up ground, but given how close the Champions League and European positions are at the end of the year – should we really be comfortable dropping points like flies?

If struggling clubs pull their season together but again miss out on a Champions League or even UEFA cup position by a few points, why wouldn’t the points lost in these ‘early days’ be just as much to blame?