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An Unexpected Trajectory

Mar 25th, 2025 by

It is always interesting to me to canvass the views of regular  readers of this blog. As time goes by I find myself less and less interested in vox pops from AFTV or the  tabloid media or the comments section on other websites. Toxic might be too strong a word to apply to a lot of the content that gets posted about Arsenal but much is neither helpful nor constructive and represents a fairly warped view of where the club stands now. Perhaps it might seem  too cosy a practice to elicit comments from regular readers but the reality is that what we have just seen in the last posting was proportionate and balanced but was nevertheless critical in some respects .

When Dave Faber set up the Goonerholic website that mindset is exactly  what he was aiming to provide for an intelligent but overwhelmingly constructive readership of Arsenal fans  . The areas we covered in the last mini survey were intended to provide a temperature check around the most contentious challenges facing the club at the moment.

Let us examine some of them and try to find some sort of consensus on what our situation looks like at the end of March.

Firstly , what sort of season are we having? In reality  the only English team who wouldn’t swap places with us is Liverpool. While there are signs that the  wheels might be coming off the  Anfield jalopy they have had a dream League campaign so far and as befits a team from the city that houses the Grand National they only have to stand up to win. 

We must be careful not to lose perspective. Three years go we were hugely excited by a tilt at top four that was ended by our deadly rivals, the Spuds. Two years ago we were playing in Europe’s secondary competition on Thursday evenings and casting envious glances at the glamorous ties on offer in the Champions League and the financial bonanza that represents. Progress was made three seasons ago and it has been handsomely backed up in the following two seasons to the extent that at at the start of this campaign  many  entrants for the GHF Predictathon would, I suspect, have put Arsenal down as prospective title winners and not just out of loyalty. There was a very strong case to believe that we would prevail this season in the title race. We still could but it would require a mega-collapse from Liverpool for that to happen. But lest we forget we are second and we  finished third in the inaugural Champions League table losing only once and then in extremely unlucky circumstances to Inter Milan. We are now in the last 8 of the Champions League for the second successive year having won the away leg of our last 16 tie 7-1 ! We are welcoming Real Madrid in a tie which shows we are close to the summit of European football. How close, we will learn in mid-April.  So we are not in too shabby a position as we move towards the climax of the season. We have also overseen the emergence of two of the  most exciting young players that anyone can remember at Arsenal. However, it is not the trajectory that we envisaged back in August when the season began and that revised trajectory is creating the angst that appears to be the natural reaction of many modern football fans. 

So where did it all go so terribly wrong as the hotel porter said to  George Best lounging on a four poster with Miss World surrounded by champagne and bundles of cash?  

The answer is that it looks like another season without the league title. Media expectations are a poor way to judge achievement and brook no leeway for an incredible injury toll  on key players. They also take little note of a rash of bizarre red cards. The old joke says that just because you’re paranoid it doesn’t mean they aren’t out to get you and as our interviewees showed there is a huge sense of injustice and  a widespread  feeling that Arsenal really do get discriminatory treatment from PGMOL. Depressed Gooner’s description of ‘only us’ red cards is a very apt way of describing a litany of marginal decisions that have all gone against Arsenal and cost us  a host of points. 

That is not to say that Arteta has had a perfect season. Recruitment wasn’t extensive or good enough in the summer and that much anticipated striker never arrived and the wide forward who did arrive has been woefully inadequate. I think our play has been undertaken with the handbrake on  for a large part of  the season. A personal bugbear is that we take enormous passing risks in our own area but will transfer a cleared corner back to Raya eighty yards away if we can’t find a straightforward crossing angle. 

And I think our reaction to red cards has been too supine other than at Manchester City where we were magnificent. I well remember the early years of Arsene Wenger when he was regularly criticised for the Arsenal’s disciplinary record. What was notable about that spate of games when we went down to ten men was that we rarely if ever lost, very often won and always tried to play on the front foot however unlikely the circumstances. Remember Christmas 2001 at Anfield when we won 2-1 after being reduced to ten men at 0-0? Or the 1996 game at Newcastle when Shearer dived to get his England team-mate, Tony Adams,  sent off but Wrighty still helped us come away with all three points? Contrast that with this season when the only time we have been reduced to ten men and won was at Wolves where we clinched the game after they were reduced to ten men too. Our football has lacked something of the flow and panache which has characterised the last two seasons. However, our injury crisis has been deep and brutal and it has restricted our options enormously. 

Arteta is a generational coach and in my view it would be absolute folly to consider jettisoning him as manager and I’m convinced that is what the owners and senior management at Arsenal think too. In the boardroom it is not even an issue. I hope that this season is extremely instructive to Arteta because it clearly hasn’t worked out completely as he has planned. But the idea that in the words of the phone-in participants, “he has taken the club as far as he can!”  is ridiculous when last season he had us two points behind a Manchester City team completing a title hat-trick. 

I would also  like to reflect on two points raised in our latest piece and touched on by Ned in the drinks and to pose a serious question about what level of personnel sacrifice we would be prepared to accept to go into next season with our best possible chance of success. Inevitably any keen fan will toy with the fantasy options available to our new Sporting Director who everyone seems to accept will be Andrea Berta who spent many years in a similar role at Atletico Madrid. Rather than try to construct a wish-list of signings I’d like to pose a question that was raised on Le Grove recently as well. Would we countenance the sale of, say, Gabriel to Saudi Arabia if it meant we could afford to buy Isak from Newcastle? We will have a high turnover of players next summer and may see the departure of Kiwior, Tierney, Zinchenko, Jorginho, Partey, Tavares, Sambi Lokonga , Vieira and Nelson. These would all be expected but none are likely to raise huge sums and will leave us needing some replacements as Sterling will leave as well, Neto will go back to Bournemouth and Gabriel Jesús will not be fit until well into next season. Max Dowman may join the first team squad but will still be only fifteen! 

Who else could  we countenance parting company with? Would Trossard or Martinelli be transferable if the terms were right? Going back to Gabriel, would  a huge (circa £100m) bid for him or, perish the thought, a huge bid from Real Madrid for Saliba persuade us to sell either in order to strengthen other parts of the team? My own view is that if we get outstanding bids for Trossard or Martinelli (in his case circa £60m) we should certainly consider selling. But to break up the Gabriel/Saliba partnership would be folly as it is very much key to the impregnability of the Arsenal defence and Gabriel is the  best goalscoring centre back in the league and terrifies so many of our opponents at corner kicks. That partnership has at least one more season to run and in many senses represents the backbone of the club. 

I’d like to see a much better second keeper than we currently have although whether Garcia of Espanyol wants to move to  England to understudy one of the very few Spanish keepers better than he is I personally doubt. Perhaps Karl Hein is ready to take a bigger role in goalkeeping affairs at the Arsenal. Let us debate over the summer for whom we should spend the considerable sum that should be available although ‘ITK’ journalists are already strongly suggesting that we will see Zubimendi, Williams, Sesko and Nypan wearing red and white next season. 

In our recent interviews with Holics, BtM made a very cogent plea for us to develop a feeder club and several Holics backed him. I back that idea too. It would enable us to test players in a realistic first team environment and might  have helped us to hold on to promising players like Cozier Duberry, Norton-Cuffy,  Heaven, Sagoe Jr and Biereth while we monitor their progress. It may even have persuaded Chido Obi to stay if that represented  part of a clear pathway to eventual first team football at the Arsenal. It was a point of apparent contention when Edu left. It appears that he was in favour of building a relationship with a club in South America but ‘the Arsenal’ did not want to take that step at that time. I think they should reconsider without getting into the unwieldy mess that  Chelsea seem to have created with their huge roster of players. It is likely to be another item in Berta’s in-tray when (if) he arrives. 

The other subject which threatens to occupy a lot of our thinking going forward is the stadium. In 1997 I received a phone call from Ken Friar at the Arsenal. We had booked a corporate box at Highbury and there had been an administrative cock-up on the Arsenal’s part. He phoned to apologise and as our conversation developed he shared his concern about taking the huge step of committing to a much bigger stadium. “Can we regularly pull crowds of 60,000?’ he asked. Wenger was beginning to weave his magic and create a following for the club that has generated untold wealth. We bit the Ashburton Grove bullet and moved to our new stadium almost a decade later. 

It  seems inconceivable that we could be thinking about substantially modifying the stadium only  twenty years after opening it. Ned made a suggestion in the Drinks that we would actually be moving to a new stadium in the next ten years. That would be a huge decision and a massive commitment. Certainly expansion of the current  stadium would require a huge improvement in the transport infrastructure if we hope to house another 20,000 spectators but moving Arsenal away from our heartland in Islington to find a site capable of housing such huge crowds, with the necessary infrastructure of transport, eateries and other businesses would be both controversial and very hard to achieve. Certainly a prolonged spell playing at Wembley or the London Stadium while a new ground is built would not be welcomed by many Gooners — and the unthinkable option of playing at the Toilet Bowl for two years would be even less popular. However, the Government’s apparent desire to help Manchester United build a new stadium at Salford might be matched by similar support for a new London super stadium if a suitable site can be found. Yet it is hard to sing ‘North London Forever‘ with any sincerity if you are playing in Shepherds Bush, Romford or Tooting! 

Let us hope rereading this article in a few weeks time we will be able to have a wry smile as we celebrate a glorious title/ Champions league double at the end of the most glorious season in Arsenal’s history. It seems unlikely now that a season that has been benighted by injuries and refereeing discrimination could end so gloriously. Let us not lose sight of the bigger picture – a picture that is overwhelmingly positive and one that almost every team in Europe would love to mirror. A more spectacular trajectory would have made it even better but as this season has shown not only us, but a host of other teams, in football  you cannot always have what you wish for.

Let’s hope that we can! 

Posted in Interlull, Opinions, Waffle | 3 Drinks »

Some Holics Review the Season … so far!

Mar 20th, 2025 by

The latest Interlull has given us an opportunity to invite a number of those who post occasionally in the ‘Drinks’ to give their views on aspects of the season so far. We are lucky in having a degree of geographical diversity among Holics who post in the blog and a range of life experiences. This gives us a broad and very valuable range of views.

We asked a number of these Holics for their thoughts and we are most grateful for their comments and ideas. Our correspondents were Depressed Gooner, BtM, Noosa Gooner, Sancho Panza and Ollie so their views span a range of different situations and vantage points. 

 What do you think of the season from an Arsenal perspective ?

Ollie: Mostly a frustrating season. Difficult to argue that mistakes weren’t made, namely and obviously, the absence of a top central striker signing. There were a couple of moments of illusions (in particular the City match or PSV recently, and to some extent the faintly ridiculous idea that Merino was THE  solution having scored a late brace after coming in against Leicester), but once Jesùs and then Havertz picked up injuries, there was realistically very little chance of winning the league, Liverpool blip/collapse or not. Not that other aspects of our game (i.e. actual good chance creation) had been all that amazing for the rest of the season so far.

Our share of bad luck? Certainly, between the injuries and the repeated one/off refereeing decisions (do they count as ‘luck’ though?), but there were possibly too many ingredients missing already. You could argue that City being so shit was some unexpected luck coming our way.

On the other hand, you could also say that Liverpool have had a lot of good fortune keeping everyone fit all the time in particular.

The FA Cup exit was a big disappointment, without much of  a mitigating factor, given United played a fair chunk of the game with ten men.

The Champions League, however unrealistic, still offers a glimmer of hope, where we can play more serenely. Who knows?

BtM: Prior to the start of the season, I was super confident that we would win the title this year. City’s ageing midfield and Liverpool’s reliance on the fitness of an ancient Egyptian relic contrasted favourably with our strengthened and youthful squad. What I didn’t anticipate were early injuries to our new acquisitions; a substantial period of play without our captain and most creative midfielder; surgery to our prolific assister Ben White; 4/5 never seen before – never to be seen again red cards and a head clash penalty award that falls into the same never, never category.

These setbacks were followed quickly by injuries to four attacking starters for Brazil’s, Germany’s and England’s national teams that left our attacking destroyer holed below the waterline. That Arsenal are second in the PL and into the last 16 of the CL despite these attack rending injuries and refereeing anomalies is a quite remarkable accomplishment.

City faded as anticipated, but Liverpool enjoyed extreme good fortune on the fitness front and, some would say (and I wouldn’t disagree with them) more favourable PGMOL treatment than Arsenal received and furthermore they enjoyed an astonishing Havertz goal cancellation on their visit to Emirates stadium enabling them to take away a point that their performance didn’t deserve. They’ve played quite well, but had our first team not been so badly depleted by injury, the race for league leadership would still be well underway and a nail biter.

I seem to be one of the few who don’t think the last two transfer windows were disasters. I would have loved Benjamin Sesko or Isak to have joined our squad, but I still think we had a starting pool of players good enough to win the title.

However, I do think that Bukayo Saka was overplayed. There were some matches when it was difficult to believe that he was still on the field, never mind had started.

Depressed Gooner: We’ve been unlucky with ‘only for us’ red cards and a team load of injuries but we’ve also played poorly for far longer than any of us expected and never recovered our swagger of the last two years leading to some hard to watch games and regrettably dropped points.

Sancho Panza: The table doesn’t lie. We have spent the majority of the season in 2nd place, whereas last season, we were first until we got pipped right at the end. We’ve scored fewer goals, won fewer games, and drawn more. I think we have been less entertaining and struggled to break down teams that set themselves up to defend and play on the break. In short, I think we have regressed due to players losing form, injuries to key players, and poor decision-making by officials. We also had poor summer recruitment, although I’m less bothered by the January window. Yes, we have had loads of bad luck, but we have made mistakes on and off the pitch.

Noosa Gooner: I don’t believe it’s an either/or answer but rather a combination of things including both mistakes and bad luck.

We don’t really need hindsight to know that it was a mistake to leave our squad this season without an additional striker. It was said before the summer transfer window closed and despite a number of names and options being canvassed, a striker obviously did not eventuate. Perhaps letting Nketiah leave before a new signing was made was therefore also a mistake.

Were our sequence of concurrent injuries simply bad luck or were mistakes made in the management of playing workloads, rotation and/or training schedules? Some injuries are unavoidable but the number of hamstring injuries may suggest something else other than bad luck.

Despite all this, as noted in recent drinks, the fact that we are still second to an outstanding season from the bin-dippers and in the quarter finals of Big Ears should be celebrated, albeit with a tinge of “what-if” disappointment after the last couple of seasons have raised expectations even further.

Are you happy with Mikel Arteta as manager ?

Noosa Gooner: Absolutely. I loved MA as an Everton player and always wanted him to join Arsenal where I thought he was a wonderful player and captain. To my mind his sojourn at City was always an apprenticeship for Arsenal manager and I was disappointed when he was overlooked for Emery. What he has achieved here has been well canvassed and I do not doubt that more silverware will follow with the right support from the club.

Sancho Panza: I like Arteta a lot, but I do wonder about his inexperience sometimes. He seems quite inflexible, and we are not often shocked by his selections and substitutions. We have a weaker squad this season, which is inexplicable, really.

BtM: Delighted. His leadership, consistency of messaging, tactical nous and ability to motivate are all best in class. He inherited a broken nightmare from Unai Emery and has patiently and methodically improved his inheritance toward a beautiful dream that everyone associated with the Arsenal can and will be proud to share.

The question for me is not does “Arteta Out” have any validity (it doesn’t); rather, in four years, will keeping “Arteta In” be a challenge Arsenal can manage successfully when hard to resist golden carrots are dangled before him from several of Europe’s top clubs.

Depressed Gooner: Not really, I’m not convinced that his arrogance allows him to realise the mistakes he makes as they keep getting repeated with seemingly no learning from them at all, also we still don’t seem to have a Plan B for when teams just block defend against us.

Ollie: Yes, he can be frustrating at times, but I am generally very happy with him as our manager. Next season, provided we get the ‘right’ signings, may be a huge one for him though.

What are the priorities for our new Sporting Director when he begins his role? 

Noosa Gooner: I am uncertain of the job spec’ for this role but would hope that it includes the following priorities:

Extending contracts for those key players that we wish to keep for the long-term, prioritising those with two or less years left on existing contracts. 

Working with MA to identify short and long-term targets to improve/solidify the squad.

Don’t be a discounter! Make sure we pay and receive fair and appropriate fees for our transfer dealings. No fire sales please!

Ollie: Centre forward quite clearly and obviously, possibly or probably a winger depending on outgoing transfers? An extra creative player of sorts anyway, although Nwaneri could take on some of those duties rather than just be Saka cover on the right.

Assuming Partey will depart and Jorginho will also leave or at least doesn’t have the legs to play much, a midfielder or two (Zubimendi obviously mooted). There’s a lot to consider depending where Mikel sees the likes of Nwaneri and Lewis-Skelly playing as they may not be currently playing in their favoured or best position. The central striker/finisher is the only clear absolute priority.

Depressed Gooner: Striker, striker, striker at least that way we’ll have cover when they get sent off or injured.

BtM: 1) Ensure long term retention of Saliba, Saka, Ødegaard and Gabriel;

2) Sign Martin Zubimendi to secure our midfield post Jorginho and Partey;

3) Sign a potent, disruptive striker – Benjamin Sesko would be my choice;

4) Sign a left sided winger (Nico Williams or Semenyo) to replace Trossard.

Sancho Panza:  I would love some creativity in the team more than anything, even more than a striker. There are loads of goals in this team if only we could find that spark.

If you could make changes to the refereeing regime in the UK what would they be (if any?) 

BtM: The 3Cs come to mind. Competent, Consistent and not Corrupt. Almost unbelievably, PGMOL scores extremely lowly on the first two of these and is getting dangerously close to the ragged edge on the third with some of the antics it appears to approve.

Reduced inherent regional bias should be mitigated by the inclusion of the world’s best referees in PL games to achieve best-in-class standards. This will require increased expenditure on salaries (to counter peanuts and monkeys syndrome). Increasing competence and consistency using improved skills development techniques and independent critical, constructive, post-match appraisals – with results available for public scrutiny, would pay dividends by raising standards.

Depressed Gooner: Just be bloody consistent and stop picking on Arsenal as test cases – scratch that! Get rid of all of them and their corruption and start with a true team of professionals and not pally pals!

Sancho Panza: Referees from all over Europe would really improve things. Not changing the rules halfway through a season would also help.

Ollie: Don’t get me started!…..PGMOL out! 🙂

Noosa Gooner: Unlike many observers, I do not think that corruption or other conspiracy theories are prevalent in refereeing ranks. My observation is really that the standards of refereeing are just not very good. In my opinion, as both a former player and referee (purely amateur), the laws of the game are easy to learn but understanding the spirit and application of them is another matter. 

Some of the red card decisions against us this year have been ridiculous, but I believe as a result of poor judgement and poor man management of the game rather than anything sinister – referees showing a lack of control of the game, some of whom have never even played the game.

Organisational change is obviously required to ensure better oversight, better national representation, better training etc. but above all is a need for more transparency and openness from the refereeing bodies. Allowing referees and their masters to explain their decisions after matches if needed, admit where mistakes may have been made, discuss why controversial decisions were made and be more a part of the game rather than a self-governing law unto themselves.

Are you happy with the club ownership? If you could do so, what message would you pass to them? 

Noosa Gooner: Given the anxiety surrounding the early days of the current ownership I am reasonably happy with the way that things have gradually developed and the level of representation in the running of the club.

My one message for the owners would be to respect the history, support the manager and the supporters and continue to invest with an eye to the future.

Ollie: I think these sort of considerations are a bit beyond me, to be honest. I am glad we swerved Usmanov, but after that, the owners now (not just ours) are just big capitalists, and when you see how the ticketing (and online shopping, I had a little brush with that very recently) is handled, we may not just have become ‘customers not fans’, but also not very considered customers, just cash cows.

Depressed Gooner: Very happy with the owners now that they are backing the team to try and win something – hopefully soon. Keep backing us and you will be rewarded.

Sancho Panza: Spend some fuckin’ money! Actually, I think they’re alright as billionaires go.

BtM: Very happy. Pleased to see that the Kroenkes appear interested and willing to facilitate funding without being overly involved in squad tinkering. Delighted to see that they don’t use the Arsenal as an income stream. If I had one message for the owners it would  be to look at investment in a European associate ‘feeder’ team which  appears to be a necessary next step in Arsenal’s move toward best in world performance.

A much higher level of focus and results on commercial/sponsorship income is essential to elevate Arsenal into the top 5 in Europe.

 Should stadium modifications be a priority?

Ollie: Not particularly. More capacity would be welcome to accommodate more fans, but given the system and the outlook, it becomes only about money either way, and I’ll be curious to see what happens when we have another non-competitive period (I was going to write non-successful, but trophies haven’t been too forthcoming either since the COVID FA Cup). Also, unless swiftly done in the summer, any change might mean lowering the capacity temporarily.

As for safe-standing areas, from what the club had said at some point when communicating over the subject for a survey, oddly I think it meant a small reduction too? Not to mention that a big part of the North Bank and Clock End lower tiers are already de facto safe-standing areas so I don’t see much point in any alteration when it comes to that particular topic.

As a side-point, I have seriously been considering stopping match attendance over the last two seasons (mostly due to the ballot system and huge reduction in the number of tickets available to Silver members), but somehow so far, reasonable success at getting tickets, and the social side (possibly combined with a little Eurostar addiction to keep my frequent traveller status) has kept me going.

Depressed Gooner: Nope, priority needs to be performance led first with success on the pitch leading to increased profitability with stadium reinvigoration to follow.

Sancho Panza: The stadium is going to look really tired in the not too distant future if it doesn’t already. I’m not really on top of any proposed modifications.

BtM: Increased seating (+10k) would result in increased matchday revenue of the order of £15M pa and might increase home support “noise”. I suspect London planners may block any such increase on the basis that local infrastructure is barely adequate for current capacity. Not a big deal for me.

Noosa Gooner: I’ve never been to the stadium so wouldn’t know what modifications are required.

What I would say is that continued building of the club’s playing strengths should always come first and that a huge waiting list for season tickets suggests that other issues like stadium modifications are still some way down the list of overall priorities.

May I reiterate my thanks for these prompt and extremely valuable responses. Going back to the days of the Goonerholic site one of the key features of this precious space was the balance and sense of proportion that was exhibited in most of the views expressed. As most teams have experienced, Arsenal went through a fractious period in the later Wenger and brief Emery years but, on Goonerholic’s Drinks, we have always been able to interact with civility and with an ultimate focus on the interests of the club. These insights carry on this tradition and indicate that even in a relatively disappointing season (in that many of us hoped to win the title) there is much to celebrate in what we have at Arsenal. We face a potentially exciting end to the season that could, at the time of writing, still end in a remarkable way. 

Posted in Interlull, Opinions, Review, Waffle | 39 Drinks »

Solidity Through Solidarity

Mar 17th, 2025 by

Arsenal’s recent record against our traditional heavyweight opponents has been extraordinarily impressive, and I think it is one of those areas where the upward trajectory of Arsenal’s evolution under Arteta has been most steadfast and yet, somewhat underappreciated, underappreciated maybe not so much by the astute among the Arsenal fanbase, but by the populace outside of those cognoscenti.  

The solidity of our recent performances and results against Chelsea have been particularly pleasing in that respect. In the second half of Arsène’s time with us, we have suffered painfully in matches against Chelsea. In between some notable wins – 5-3 away at Chelsea being a particular high point – we were dominated by an (unlawfully) expensively assembled squad who more often than not won by the virtue of their physical strength, defensive solidity and tactical know-how against a group of technically talented young players not quite up for the boxing ring match-ups. Since Arteta took over, we have been steadily becoming a team that relishes the muscular and tactical battles of football as much as its technical and creative sides. Our recent run against Chelsea is a clear demonstration of this growing solidity – only wins and draws in matches in PL since 2022,  2-4 away, 4-0 home, 0-1 away, 3-1 home, 2-2 away, 5-0 home, 1-1 away. 

Despite the run of positive results, we approached the 29th matchday against Chelsea last Sunday with a sense of uncertainty primarily because of our recent dip in league form, caused mostly by the vicious circle of injuries causing fatigue to overworked players causing injuries, and a decimated forward line that has lately been relying on the intelligence, hard work and heading ability of a midfielder who most likely hasn’t even dreamt of playing as a central striker since he was six years old.  One loss and two draws in the last three matches before the weekend had seen us falling behind significantly in the title chase, and if the experts are to be believed we have no chance of catching up, and the league might as well hand over the trophy to the great quadruple-chasing Liverpool side managed by a generational managerial genius. I myself believe nothing is certain until it actually is certain, and just because something hasn’t happened before is not a reason for it to not ever happen in the future. But keeping all that aside, we needed to approach the match simply focusing on the match itself, and with all thoughts of league positions or recent form wiped away from our thought process. Every match is its own universe, and deserves its own laws of physics to be discovered. 

Arteta chose a side that carried the promise of rediscovering our league form, and to ensure we retain all three valuable points against the west Londoners. 

Raya 

Timber – Saliba – Gabriel – Lewis-Skelly 

Partey

Ødegaard- Rice

Martinelli – Merino – Trossard 

I myself would have preferred a slightly different team. Leo has been blowing hot and cold all season, especially when he starts, and I think going back to his original model of contributions coming off the bench might help him to refocus. I would have preferred Gabi on his more natural left side, Ethan on the right, and Merino retaining his central role given his moderately effective impressions of Kai Havertz over the last few weeks. 

We started well, with purpose and a characteristic high press. The deers-in-the-headlight frozenness of the Chelsea backline helped us too, and Martinelli almost benefitted from the press as the Chelsea keeper Sanchez passed straight to him. I am sure that the confident Gabi of a season or so back would have put away that chance. His shot this time was too easy for Sanchez. 

Timber was playing with his trademark confidence on the ball at both ends of the pitch. And he seemed to be relishing the opportunity of combining with Gabi to expose their left side using Martinelli’s drive with the ball. From one such run we should have been awarded a penalty, as the ever irksome Cucurella blatantly leaned on the ball with his arms to defend against Gabi’s attempt to cut back in. I was under no illusion that the VAR would make the correct decision, and they proved me right. I think we Arsenal fans can better enjoy the VAR if we take that as a performance art called “A tragi-comic demonstration of incompetence or a dedicated effort at bias masquerading as inconsistency? You decide!” It becomes significantly more tolerable that way, and you can then preserve your angst for even more heinous things out in the wonder world. 

Leo was playing cleverly, and positioning himself well. From one such position he should have scored as Timber’s excellent cross dropped close to him. He miscued. His pained expression of self-recognition generated an equal mixture of empathy and annoyance in this viewer. After a while Rice had a chance to power a shot through – we all remember his flawless finish against them at the Bus Stop a couple of seasons back – but his attempt flew wide. 

Then the goal came. In the last couple of months Mr. Corner, one of our most potent attackers this season, has lost some of his goalmouth efficacy. Gabriel, Saliba, Timber, Merino – all have lately outjumped their markers only to head the ball wide. But this time Merino – meeting a not-too-extraordinary delivery from our captain – finished with a flicked looping header that would have made Olivier Giroud proud. 

Arsenal 1 (Merino 20’) – Chelsea 0 

The goal should have given us a bit more confidence in scoring one or two more. And in that first half we really should have. There were quite a few opportunities where just the coordination, movement, pass, finish etc. were missing in the final third. In between, Wesley Fofana decided to take out the frustration about his team’s pathetic display on Declan Rice and stamped deliberately on his leg. I applaud Declan for his self-control. How was that not a red card post a VAR review?  I respectfully refer you to my previous suggestion about the performance art on display … 

Late in the first half, David Raya had an Almunia moment, the ball rolling through his arms and just past his far post. “Wow!”, he said. Maybe it was his respectful homage to the first Spanish goalkeeper to have played for Arsenal. Thankfully the ball decided to spare him the blushes of conceding from a Cucurella volley. He would not have survived the teasing from his teammates. 

The second half continued in much the same vein. Enzo Maresca chose to have multiple conversations – especially a suspiciously prolonged one with our young left back – with Arsenal players at every opportunity he could get. I guess he was trying to learn the art of solidarity from players who seem to know how to play for each other. The game was becoming shapeless, tetchy, incoherent. Gabriel and Saliba handled the expensively assembled forward line with the consummate ease that has become the signature of their truly remarkable partnership (young players growing up in different parts of the world now look at these two and think that well, being defender can actually be quite an attractive way to play football). We took an inordinately long time to take a free-kick from a very promising position, only to have Rice hit the ball against the wall. Our recent execution of direct free-kicks has been surprisingly underwhelming given the technical excellence of this team. Now where is Nicolas Pépé when you need him? (Just kidding, no need to hurl such words at me.. :-))  

Merino almost scored another goal. Following a fine run and even a better cross by Martinelli, our Basque midfielder-playing-as-a-striker put in a lovely side footed volley that Sanchez saved acrobatically on the goal line. David Villa would have been proud… (no, I am not sure either). 

Nwaneri came on for 10+ minutes, and so did Kieran Tierney for just the last few minutes. I know KT is going to go back to his beloved Celtic, but I cannot thank him enough for what he represented and how he played for us. A combination of injuries and our tactical shifts have made things difficult for him to flourish in red-and-white, but I think he will always get a warm welcome from all Arsenal supporters. It seems likely that both he and Zinchenko will leave at the end of this season, and we will go into next season with Calafiori and MLS as our two primary left backs, both the Scorsman and the Ukrainian have been exemplary professionals. It would be great if they can leave with a fond memory of this season. 

Which is to say, this season is not over yet. Yesterday’s lacklustre match saw us do just enough to stay on track for finishing the season in top two. The Champions League is still very much to play for. While Real Madrid may feel like a formidable opposition, because they are a formidable opposition, I think it is also fair to say that Real themselves are apprehensive about playing Arsenal. 

We may not yet have the swashbuckling, high octane, goals from all corners, attacking team that we would like to become. But we have a team capable of seeing out results even when things are not going well, a team that knows exactly how to follow a tactical blueprint, and a team where the solidarity and professionalism stand up to lead the way when creativity and flair find it hard to bring their mercurial nature to their command. 

Enjoy the international break everyone! And let us hope everyone returns fit and firing after the break. 

Posted in Match Report | 26 Drinks »

Bonanzas and Aspirins

Mar 15th, 2025 by

David Herd, 1960

And so to the Stadium of Stone, to welcome the Boehly boys early doors Sunday.

With no wins and only two goals in our last three league matches, it is difficult to recall when we scored freely in the league. Thus, this preview’s sojourn on memory lane takes us to March 8, 1958. Some at this esteemed establishment would still have been in short trousers; many would not have been even a twinkle in their father’s eye. However, on that day, we played what was likely our madcapest (is that even a word?) home game against the mob from the Bus Stop.

It was what the tabloids like to call a nine-goal thriller at Highbury. Jimmy Bloomfield put us 1-0 up, then an 18-year-old Jimmy Greaves struck for the visitors, followed by the equally youthful Micky Block. David Herd equalised, but Greavsie put Chelsea ahead again. Then boom! Goals from Herd, Danny Clapton and Herd again to complete his hat-trick gave us a 5-3 lead before Ron Tindall pulled one back in the 78th minute. 

Hanging on for a 5-4 win, Stan Charlton, one of our right-backs you may never have heard of despite his four seasons at the club, sliced an attempted clearance. The ball shot goalwards, but Jack Kelsey (our greatest keeper? Discuss) pulled off what The People’s man on the terraces, James Samuel, called ‘a save in a million’ to preserve the victory. There was still time for Tindall to hit the bar before the final whistle.

Our defenders had not covered themselves in glory all afternoon:

Atrocious covering from the backs Stan Charlton and unsteady Len Wills, plus an unwieldy display by centre-half Joe Fotheringham, let in the ever-dangerous Jimmy Greaves for smash-and-grab goals in the 12th and 48th minutes.

Samuel ended his report with the curious sentence: So the Bonanza was over, and out came the aspirins.

A couple of historical footnotes on the participants that day: Jimmy Greaves and Micky Block both also played in the Chelsea U-18 team that lost the FA Youth Cup final that season, with Wolves turning around a 5-1 first-leg deficit to win 7-6. Almost Spurzy.

David Herd is one of a handful of players to have played in a league match with his father. In 1951, he made his senior debut in the same Stockport County XI in which Alec Herd was seeing out his career. Herd Snr had won the old Division One and the FA Cup with Manchester City and had been a wartime Scottish international. 

Two years later, another future Arsenal legend would join that select group: George Eastham. He made his debut for Ards in Northern Ireland, where his father, George Snr, was player-manager. 

There is only one other known UK example: Ian and Gary Bowyer at Hereford United in 1989-90. However, Alexei Eremenko, a Russian midfielder who played in Finland, turned out with one of his sons at HJK Helsinki and then with another at FF Jaro.

The opposition

On much the same principle that an infinite number of monkeys given a sufficient number of typewriters (mechanical writing machines, for younger ‘holics) would eventually reproduce the works of Shakespeare, it was inevitable that Boehly’s hoovering up of players on an industrial scale would eventually yield a combination of eleven bodies that would comprise a decent team.

Enzo Maresca arrived from Leicester City last July to take over that Herceulan lottery picking exercise from Graham Potter. He has, however stutteringly, got Chelsea into the top four. 

His team employs a 4-2-3-1 positional system quite conventionally: 3-2-4-1 when in possession and, after losing the ball, a high press and then falling back into a 4-4-2 low block. His team plays out from the back, inverts a full-back to provide the extra man in midfield, allowing five to attack, with wingers hugging the touchlines, the 10s working the half-spaces, and the nine aiming to break the lines. Chelsea likes to counter fast; only Liverpool has had more shots on the break this season.

If Maresca has a magic sauce, it is the combination of centre-back Wesley Fofana and defensive midfielder Roméo Lavia. Together, they provided the physical defensive dominance that lets the rest of the expensively assembled high-tekkers scurry up the pitch and be the PL’s second-highest goalscorers. 

Chelsea has lost only once when the pair has played this season, their opener against Man City. Maresca’s misfortune is that he has only had both simultaneously for seven matches. Lavia has had three spells out with a hamstring injury, and Fofana injured his hamstring in December. Since then, Chelsea has failed to win over half of its games and has only beaten two sides outside the bottom six.

Unfortunately, both will be available on Sunday for the first time since early December. Fofana played 73 minutes last weekend in the 1-0 win against Leicester, his first game back. Lavia was on the bench but stayed there. Both sat out the mid-week game against Copenhagen.

Fofana’s return will relieve some pressure off Levi Colwill in the heart of the defence. The young England centre-back’s form and scope to carry the ball forward deserted him during Fofana and Lavia’s absence. Tosin Adarabioyo will likely find himself on the bench with Trevoh Chalobah, who returned from loan at Crystal Palace in January.

The cloak of hair beneath which lurks Marc Cucurella should start at left-back but continue his recent role as the inverting full-back alongside either Lavia or Moisés Caicedo. Reece James, another who has missed games because of a hamstring injury, may start at right back. He missed the Leicester game because of illness but came off the bench against Copenhagen. The one-cap France international Malo Gusto would come in otherwise, assuming he passes a late fitness test.

Filip Jørgensen or the putative first-choice keeper, Robert Sánchez, will start in goal. The uncertainty explains why acquiring a fresh glove butler is a summer priority for Maresca. 

Up front, Cole Palmer, who is going through a barren spell but is still their leading goal scorer with 14 goals and a club-high six assists, will be in his familiar role as one of the 10s. Argentina international Enzo Fernández will be the other, but deeper, one. However, Maresco has had to juggle the rest of his attack following thigh injuries to Nicholas Jackson and Noni Madueke. Both will be off games until after the international break. Their absence costs Chelsea the speed it relies on for fast breaks.

Two potential replacements, 19-year-old Spaniard Marc Guiu and 22-year-old David Fofana, are also gone in the fetlock. Pedro Neto, a right winger, has been playing as the nine, with Christopher Nkunku, a centre-forward, on the left wing and Jordon Sancho, a left winger on loan from the Red Mancs, playing on the right. Camden-born winger Tyrique George, another 19-year-old, has been getting a few minutes. It’s all a bit makeshift. But needs do as needs must, as we know only too well.

Meanwhile, Mykhaylo Mudryk is still provisionally suspended after failing a urine drug test. A bullet dodged all-round there.

The Arsenal

With the perfunctory dispatch of PSV Eindhoven from the Champions League completed in midweek, the priority now is to stop the league season from getting away. We still need 24 points from our last 10 games to guarantee a top-four finish (beating the Chavs would make it 19 from nine). Every place we finish higher up the table is worth an extra £3.1 million in merit prize money that can be kicked into the summer transfers pot.

Arteta’s selection turns on whether Ben White and Gabriel Martinelli are ready to start a league game. As we don’t play again until April Fool’s Day and Benny Blanco has had no Tuchel tap-up, my guess is that he will start. Jurien Timber would then switch to left back, and MLS can celebrate his England call-up from the bench. Parsing Arteta’s pre-match press conference — always a fool’s errand — I think Martinelli will come off the bench. Sterling is ineligible against his parent club (curb your enthusiasm, please). 

Thus,

Raya

White, Saliba, Gabriel, Timber

Ødegaard, Partey, Rice

Nwaneri, Merino, Trossard

The gentlemen of the turf have us as firm favourites. However, on Sunday, Chelsea will be battling to hold onto a place in the top four and will be buoyed by their midweek success in Thursday night football. We shall need to keep the ball from Palmer and hope Cucurella’s hair wreaks some terrible vengeance on its owner. Yet, a 3-1 home win has a ring to it. I’ll take any result that brings us the bonanza of three points and leaves the aspirins for them.

Enjoy the game, ‘holics, far and near.

Posted in Match Preview | 39 Drinks »

Not much ado about something

Mar 13th, 2025 by

Arsenal were held to a draw at a subdued Home of Football tonight. It was one of the strangest experiences I’ve ever had at Arsenal.

The game doesn’t warrant detailed coverage as it was played without huge intensity. Zinchenko scored on six minutes curling a left footed shot into the corner after a touch from Sterling. After Kiwior almost gave a goal away with a naive blind pass PSV equalised when that popular Croatian, Ivan Perisic, finished smartly as they moved through a porous midfield. A fine run and cross from Sterling on 37 minutes (possibly his most positive contribution in an Arsenal shirt) enabled Declan Rice to restore our lead with a header that went under Benitez (personally I think Rafa has to retire, he’s past his sell-by date). 

Gunnersaurus failed to appear for the penalty shootout at half-time, presumably prevented by UEFA red tape although there was an unsubstantiated rumour that he was in talks with PSV to replace Rafa Benitez in goal when he takes the Tottenham job (you heard it here first).

After 70 minutes Jorginho lost the ball and Driouech finished superbly over Raya. The rest of the game was relatively uneventful and petered out into a 2-2 draw. But we were dealt a crushing blow in injury time when a yellow card for Sterling ruled him out of our next game in the competition, which I have learned as I am writing will be against Real Madrid. Sterling had a decent game tonight and it was good to see. He has had a really unimpressive year but it is important that his form improves.

The PSV support was incredibly good. There must have been a lot of soul- searching in Eindhoven last Wednesday when they looked at the reality of trailing by six goals after their home leg but they showed a lot more enthusiasm than a lot of Arsenal fans tonight and I’m told that there is quite a lot to do in London after dark. I’ve never been one for pleasure myself.

I suppose it depends upon your point of view as to whether you were at Ashburton Grove tonight, perhaps protesting the excessive sums being charged for a game without any jeopardy or maybe finding it difficult to sum up much enthusiasm for one of the least consequential games Arsenal have ever played. What did I just write? Least consequential? All those years of Thursday night football when we would have killed for a six goal first leg lead away from home in the last 16 of the most glamorous club competition in the world.

I did go, partly because I was writing this report and partly because I wanted to fill at least one of those potentially empty seats that the team had created by selfishly thrashing one of the best sides in Holland last week.

Mikel Arteta understandably rang the changes, picking three left backs in the starting eleven although our starting left back was a midfielder and one of our experienced left backs played in midfield and scored. Another left back came on later and played left back when the original left back moved into midfield to replace the left back who had scored and gone off. Kieran Tierney, who always plays as a left back, played as a left winger throughout. I hope that’s clear.

There will be a certain bafflement that young players on the bench like Butler-Odejeye and Kabia didn’t earn minutes tonight. If not tonight then when might they have a chance to stake a claim? Their prospects might be better if they had a propensity to play left-back, and I hear one of Berta’s first priorities is to sign a left back (that’s serious by the way).

Frankly what matters tonight is that we are in the last 8 of the Champions League playing against Real Madrid. I’ve already heard Arsenal fans saying we will get battered. Shame on you. We won’t, and it’s time to show some faith in a team that is one of the very strongest in Europe. We were nowhere near as good a team when we played that Galactico-laden Madrid side in 2006. Eboue and Flamini were the full backs, Senderos one of the centre backs . If only we had a Thierry Henry upfront. But these are exciting times. I wish a lot of Arsenal fans were enjoying it a bit more.

Tonight was surreal but it’s on to play Real. See what I did there?

Posted in Champions League, Match Report | 32 Drinks »

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