Leicester came to a rain-soaked Grove sitting in fourth place 3 places, 9 points and 24 goals better off than Arsenal. It was our second consecutive match against one of the teams with aspirations to take our place at the top table. On the other hand, Leicester were winless on their travels since New Year’s Day and Arsenal were unbeaten at home in 2021, taking 16 points out of 18 available and keeping 4 clean sheets in the last 6 home games. A classic 6-pointer with lots to play for.
Mikel decided to stick largely with the team that beat Wolves, changing only two players. He recalled Bellerin to replace Soarez at right wing back and Lacazette to replace Nketiah at centre forward exactly as predicted by bt8. Rogers decided to match our line up with three at the back and despite my suspicion that he was indulging in pre-match misinformation, there was no sign of either Maddison or Cresswell in the squad. Of course, there was no sign of Özil (‘bad back’) or Guendouzi (bruised ego and hissy fit) in our squad either as our coach establishes his dominance in the dressing room.
Early on, both teams pressed high and Tierney overlapped repeatedly on our left flank. His high ball found Saka in the box but his first touch allowed a Söyüncü interception. Then Bellerin worked Schmeichel with a good shot from an offside position. An early shot by Vardy after turning through a Luiz ‘challenge’ was fortunately straight at Martinez. The keeper then stretched to make an excellent stop with his foot to an Iheanacho shot through a crowd-scene from Leicester’s first corner. From 10 to 20 minutes we struggled to get out of our own half as Leicester closed us down aggressively and we found it hard to find our rhythm and were frequently dispossessed in midfield.
Lovely interplay between Saka and Bellerin led to a cutback being blocked by a Leicester defender for a corner that culminated in a superb 30-yard strike by Tierney that Schemeichel had to parry. On 21 minutes a superb forward ball by Ceballos from just inside our half, found Saka running through on the right. Saka’s shimmy dumped Evans on his backside and his right footed pass across the box found Aubameyang running into the 6-yard box from the left. Aubameyang passed it into the net.
Arsenal 1 Leicester 0
After the water-break, Laca found Auba running through on the left and he tried to return the compliment to Saka but Söyünkü cut out the pass. Our goal had clearly shaken Leicester and we began to dominate midfield and possession. Kolasinac fed his interception of a long ball to Aubameyang who passed to Lacazette. He found Saka on the right but his shot was turned for a corner by Schmeichel. Leicester persisted with balls over the top to Vardy. Saka set up an opportunity for Lacazette to turn in the box and force a good stop from Schmeichel then Bellerin forced the Leicester keeper to touch his cross-shot over the bar for a corner. By 33 minutes the corner count was 7-1 in Arsenal’s favour. We really should have scored a second.
After making a good interception outside our box, Saka was dispossessed dribbling out of our half leading to a Vardy cross for Iheanacho to score but this was disallowed for a foul on Kolasinac in the build-up. A timely reminder that this Leicester team remained dangerous and a lesson for young Saka. For 15 minutes after our goal, the pace and movement of the Arsenal forwards had shaken the Leicester defence but as half-time approached the opposition seemed to be forcing their way back into the game. A fine ball from Bellerin found Lacazette in the 6-yard box but his diving header failed to stretch Schmeichel when he should really have scored.
In addition to Tierney’s excellent crossing from the left, Ceballos caught the eye with yet another influential display (a masterclass according to Jaimie Redknapp at half-time), making key interceptions and distributing the ball forward from midfield. As 45 minutes came up a frustrated Vardy kicked out as he fell with Mustafi and caught the German in the face. There then followed a clash of heads between Kolasinac and Iheanacho. A Leicester break on the left led to a cross met by the RWB Justin but his header flashed wide seconds before the half-time whistle.
HT Arsenal 1 Leicester 0
Arsenal had scored against the run of play on 21 minutes after Leicester’s confident start made it difficult for us to find our rhythm but we had dominated the game thereafter with 6 shots on target (equalling our best 45 minutes record this season). On pressure and chances we should have been further ahead at half-time. Would we come to regret missing those chances?
There were no half time substitutions. Leicester started with energy and as too often recently we started slowly. A Vardy overlap on our right flank found Justin at the near post but Arsenal bodies blocked his shot. After 5 minutes we seemed to wake up. A neat threaded ball from Xhaka found Lacazette on the edge of the Leicester box only for him to be bumped off the ball for a free kick. Luiz’s free kick found Schmeichel’s left corner but the keeper tipped it wide. Then Ceballos’ shot from the edge of the box was deflected for a corner from which Mustafi fell awkwardly liying in a heap in the box. Schmeichel saw an opportunity and sent a long ball to Vardy but fortunately Tierney snuffed it out.
Martinez pulled off an excellent save from Iheanacho’s fine shot from a Vardy chip from the right. Tierney was then blatantly blocked off by Bennett without any sanction. He had done the same to Kolasinac in the first half, likewise without sanction. The free kick from Ceballos sailed past the far post. Iheanacho and Albrighton were replaced by Barnes and Fuchs as Rogers tried to change the dynamic. Barnes who had won on all his three previous matches against Arsenal then fired over the bar from distance. A Ndidi shot from distance then struck Luiz in the midriff. Good block resulting in a winding! At 60 minutes Leicester were pushing for an equaliser and we looked in need of some extra vigour as we struggled to win and retain the ball. Saka had faded out of the game. We got lucky with a Vardy turn and miss in our box. Finally, we responded and a beautiful Tierney ball across the goal was cut out by Evans. The corner was headed on by Luiz for Lacazette to turn into the net but the flag went up for offside and VAR didn’t disagree.
After the drinks break, Lacazette was replaced by Nketiah and Saka by Willock. Within minutes Nketiah stretched for the ball on a break-out and was given a yellow card for catching Justin. VAR then took an age to review whether it should be a red card and clearly couldn’t decide. The referee, Chris Kavanagh, went over to see for himself and then waved a red card for serious foul play. A harsh decision in these conditions in my opinion! Rogers then sent Gray on for Bennett to apply more pressure with 15 minutes left.
We sat deep, cleared long and challenged Leicester to break us down. A punt over our defence on 70 minutes found the marginally offside Vardy one on one with Martinez whom he rounded to put the ball into the side netting. As 80 minutes clocked up Torreira replaced Ceballos. Aubameyang ploughed a lonely furrow up front, trying to retain possession as long clearances came his way. Ndidi was then replaced by Praet. On 84 minutes a curling ball from the right by Gray escaped our entire defence but found Vardy on the far side of our box. Vardy slotted the ball under Martinez. A prolonged VAR analysis rested on whether Perez had touched the ball on the way across. He certainly moved towards the ball but the goal stood.
Arsenal 1 Leicester 1
With 3 minutes plus stoppage time to go, it was 11 against 10 and Leicester were in the ascendency. Could we hold out for a point? Eight minutes were added! Leicester were matching their solitary previous Premier League point away to Arsenal some 25 years ago and were pushing to match their last win at our place in 1973. An exhausted Aubameyang was replaced by AMN with 6 minutes to go. AMN went into the right side of midfield and Willock moved to centre forward. Everyone worked hard to close the channels and we made only occasional forays forward but added time was pretty much all Leicester. Praet fired over from the edge of our box just before the whistle called an end to the game.
The result: we stay in 7th place, 5 points adrift of 5th and a possible CL position (dream on!) though United now have a game in hand. Aubameyang remains two goals behind Vardy for the Golden Boot. Nketiah is suspended for the NLD and probably also for the two games after that. Our options up front are now extremely limited for the next few games.
We didn’t take our chances during the first half when Leicester were rocking and we had several opportunities to extend our lead. Leicester dominated the second half but Nketiah’s red card definitely changed the game. At the end of the day, we did well to save a point as Leicester pressed us persistently thereafter.
Martinez made several good saves and had no chance with Vardy’s goal; Bellerin was more like his pre-ACL self both with and without the ball; the back-three were pretty solid until the pressure told; Tierney was outstanding and deserved the Man of the Match award; Ceballos was very influential in the first half but faded later in the second while Xhaka was quietly competent; Saka was lively in the first half but faded in the second; Lacazette linked up well in the first half and worked hard but failed to finish two opportunities to kill the game; Aubameyang worked his socks off throughout, was imperious in the first half, and took his goal well. The substitutions were less influential on the course of this match than Saturday’s were, if you ignore Eddie’s unfortunate red card.
In his post-match interview, a clearly frustrated Mikel Arteta said he was extremely proud of the team and felt that we should have been well ahead at half time, observing that we have to learn to kill the game when we are on top. Mikel added that if Eddie deserved a red card, Leicester should have been down to 10 men for Vardy’s challenge on Mustafi after 40 minutes. A fair point.
We have work to do before the NLD. Onwards.
thirst. now to read, though the painting is a great touch.
Nice stuff Bath. I agree with a lot of that.
As I’ve already said, I do think the red was sadly a correct call. What disappointed me more was from that mime on we seemed to go into we keep what we have mode. I honestly think that if we had carried on playing then we would have had far more chance of coming away with 3 points.
Over the last few weeks I think there have definitely been positive signs. Tierney is really starting to loom a player. Saka is brimming with talent and Ceballos is having more effect on every game he plays.
The game should have been put to bed by half time. Hopefully we will be more ruthless at the weekend.
Thanks Steve. I do find the red card hard to take after the Vardy kick out at Mustafi which looks deliberate – his leg moved against gravity to hit him and the lack of sanction for Evans.
I agree that we retreated into our defensive formation too much after the card. One of Arsene’s strategies after a red card was to get the team to play even more offensively for at least the first 5-10 minutes after a red card so that the opposition don’t get a sense of dominating the game. That’s one reason why his record with ten men was so good. We did get a lot of practice at it for a few years though.
Very enjoyable and balanced report Bath . Nothing to disagree and I concur that it was frustrating to see us struggle to control the game from half time. We need more strength mobility and dynamism in midfield .
We’ve debated the red card to death. Interesting that Leicester fan Gary Lineker thought it was a shocking decision . I hope S***s have a very arduous night at the Vitality and Harry Kane mistimes a tackle on a greasy pitch by a split second ending in a three match ban . The game is disappearing up its own backside
This might explain the red.
The Vardy challenge? I think the problem with that is that the only one who knows for sure if it’s deliberate is Vardy. He may well have got away with one but the trouble is that I don’t think any of the officials could have been sure that it was anything other than an accident. He was clever with the way he fell and rolled. As I said, only Vardy will know the truth and I doubt he is going to come out and say it was a deliberate act?
Great stuff Baff.
We was robbed. End of.
I don’t care what anyone else says or claims to have seen. The ref screwed us. I could not be more sympathetic to Eddie, more disgusted by Vardy, or more proud of our players who put in a shift and had earned more than a proper VARing. I’m not one to repost drinks so I’ll leave my opinions in the previous bar for anyone who is interested.
I haven’t been so wound up all season.
Steve.
What?
Watch Eddie from the other angle and it is clear he cannot see the bloke he ends up fouling. Except his foot is in a natural position to intercept the ball.
Vardy’s foot is nowhere near the ball. It is a dangerous swipe at a fellow professional. But even if we were to grant it (with exceptional generosity) as accidental, then it is still dangerous.
How is this different from Eddie’s foul?
Or do you think Eddie deliberately went for the man?
I honestly cannot see the same thing you seem to be watching.
Right. I’m utterly disgusted by what I saw tonight. Apart from everything the people wearing Arsenal shirts did. They were all class. To a man.
Screw football.
I’m tucking into the Cardhu Gold Reserve.
GSD
I’ve watched it loads of times now. Sadly, I can’t see anything other than a red of Eddie. Over enthusiastic and definitely no malice. But you can’t tackle like that.
The Vardy incident. Both players are falling and as I’ve said, if Vardy meant it then he’s been clever. Only he will know that and I can’t for the life of me see him admitting it if he did.
The gaffer brought only three hounds with him and his mount to lead the line (pictorial evidence above). No wonder we didn’t snag any more foxes. An honor to be mentioned in your excellent match report, Bath. The secret in this case was to consider MA’s team selection history as prologue. Was Pepe still on paternity duty, or an unused substitute?
Great report in impressively fast time, bath!
Vardy’s was a dangerous play for raising his feet that high. Red card.
Deliberate or not.
Eddie by the same rule red card. Unfortunately.
All the referees need to learn to do is be consistent in applying the rules. It’s the “interpretations” that raise eyebrows.
We played very well especially in the first half. Some excellent moves that deserved more goal.
All in the process of learning.
What GSD said @7.
Well, the whisky has been soothing.
Steve, the Doc nails it. I don’t understand your point about whether Vardy’s challenge was deliberate or not. (Although I think it was). We agree that Eddie’s foul was not deliberate. Yet you think it is a red card. Yet you think Vardy kicking Mustafi in the face from an unnatural position is not a red card unless it was deliberate.
Please explain why you think different rules apply?
What bt8 said @12.😉
Great report on a frustrating
result Bath.
Vardy has been doing shit like
that for several seasons but
usually gets away with it – some
bollocks about Jamie’s committed
approach is the standard excuse.
Having seen him play many times,
I’m satisfied he meant it and should
have gone.
Eddie’s red was the only outcome
for that tackle unfortunately for
him and us.
GDD
We are talking about the same Vardy incident aren’t we? The one where they both fall to the floor? I’m not confusing that with something else am I???
Every single ‘I’ has been dotted and every single ‘T’ crossed in that report, Bath. Great job, young man.
There’s little more to add on a game that should have been won by half-time.
My hopes when MA8 took over the reigns were that he would extricate us from the Emery death spiral, instil some character and determination to perform, and develop a tactical framework enabling a talented squad (with notable and obvious limitations) to compete with better all-round play. I’m really pleased with progress on all of those counts and the fact that we’re all so hacked off by a draw last night, instead of bemoaning yet another defeat, is a direct reflection of the progress achieved.
I have had no expectation of CL qualification and I’m neutral on entry to the Ropey League. Yes, it brings in extra cash and yes, it provides young players with extra opportunities to impress audiences in Azerbaijan. It’s Thursday nighters don’t enhance our chances of winning the trophy that is a top four place next season which is the goal the club should be setting and single-mindedly planning for, even right now.
Enjoy your day. I’m off to see Kamila the Chiro 🙁
And never forget. It is written in Sun stone and therefore cannot be disputed.
https://bit.ly/2O8shnr
A fine report Bath, delivered in ‘holic like double quick time. Although a frustrating outcome, I am very inclined to take the positives. We are better at the back and now showing signs of increasing verve up front. Our young manager is impressing everybody. Our incredible crop of youngsters mean the future is bright. The competition is fierce but I believe we’ll be up there and competing in the next few years. I believe we will play great football. I’m excited for the future.
As if last night was not bad enough we have been royally screwed by the authorities today.
Yes Eric Dier has been banned for four matches. The slowest, most lumbering centre back in the country has been banned. Can we VAR that one?
On a more positive note I’d like to echo Btm’s point about Arteta . In very difficult circumstances he has done more than we could reasonably have expected with a very uneven squad that had been wildly mismanaged by Unai Emery . With more time and hopefully the opportunity to bring in more quality I remain ridiculously optimistic for next season. I just hope Xhaka loses those pictures of Mrs Arteta and has no more leverage over the manager . My car remains available to drive him to the airport at a moment’s notice . Can you imagine a foot race between Eric Dier and Xhaka? You wouldn’t need a stopwatch you could do it with a calendar 😃
Apologies for that Sun blot. I will refrain from copying and pasting in future. Maybe ATG can remove that dark cloud that is the Sun?
BtM I don’t believe it’s your fault one bit it’s bizarre why it quoted though…
Thanks, Bath – comprehensive indeed.
Differing opinions above on the red card. My two penneth – if the referee can honestly see “serious foul play” in that challenge – that was the offence VAR was desperately searching for – then I need to get myself to Specsavers. A young lad had just come on, was not up to the speed of the ball on a soaked surface, mistimed his challenge and to me, was trying to withdraw his foot – it was on a downwards trajectory – when he made contact with a player rushing in from the opposite direction.
The referee must have agreed to an extent, as he initially gave a yellow card for a challenge that Nketiah must learn not to make. It made contact and was a foul but “serious foul play” ? Pffttt !
VAR clearly wasn’t sure either as we all saw countless replays trying to establish what they thought had happened. So where exactly was the “clear and obvious error” made by the referee ? Or was that not the point of VAR after all ?
I presume VAR eventually gave up as we saw another first – the referee going to the pitch side monitor for another, decisive look at the incident. RED card ! The ref needs to join me at Specsavers.
The decision left us a man short and under pressure from Leicester who, with yet more help from the f§$~_^\…¥ VAR, inevitably equalised with an offside goal from the free backwards kicking into people’s heads, Jamie Vardy, who looked like he had escaped from the sewers for another evening out.
Did Vardy intend to kick Mustafi ? Ask Mikel Arteta. He was far, far closer to the incident than any of us and was clearly livid in his post match interview.
So romantic little title winners Leicester City roll on. While I quite liked Claudio Ranieri for his public deportment in their title winning season, he coached Leicester in the dark arts which they still practice with relish. Sly digs, rotational fouling, tackles from behind and diving – although that task has now fallen solely to Vardy since Mahrez moved on.
Good report, Bath. Nothing much more to be said beyond we should have killed the game before half time but in the end did well to salvage a point. Both are signs that Arteta has got the team moving in the right direction even if there is still a way to go. I agree with TTG that the way Arteta is repairing the damage caused by Emery bodes well for the future.
Re the Eddie challenge. All the ref has to decide is did it endanger the safety of the player. If the answer is yes then according to the FA, it’s classed as serious foul play.
BtM – can you check your WhatsApp DMs? You have a message from me.
On his cartilagefreecaptain blog a forlorn Tottnum fan writes “I’m resigning myself to having to be content with boring 1-0 wins until he’s gone.“ I can only imagine the reviews when they lose. Which apparently is increasingly often.
The he in “until he’s gone” being Jose Mourinho, who seems to have resounding support. 😉
Steve @25 – firstly, hello mate – hope you and yours are all staying safe and well.
I’ve just read the rule in that panel. So why did the referee initially give a yellow card – he didn’t think it merited a red – and was that a clear and obvious error?
Anyhow, it’s done. We should have won the game by then. I’m increasingly mystified as to who is controlling the game these days.
Cheers Bath!
All happy news on the BtM front at 17 where it could be said the sun has reappeared from behind the clouds. Hopefully the results at Kamila the Chiro were equally if not even more happy.
The Dier incident occurred on 4 March. Why it take so long to ban him Dennis only knows. The powers that be should have been doing nothing during lockdown but discussing proper punishment for his antics of rampaging through the stand to threaten and attack money paying football supporters. If Covid didn’t make the fans go away his antics could’ve done the job nearly as effectively. Nearly.
Hi Trev. It’s been a very busy period for me and my lot, hence my lack of involvement on here in the last few months. All fit and well though I’m pleased to report. I hope you are all good?
With Eddie, my understand is that VAR can suggest that the ref has a second look. It is then down to him. Personally, I think that with regards to decisions like this where they may be open to interpretation or opinion then it should always be the ref that views a pitch side monitor and makes the final decision.
I agree totally that we should have won the game earlier. I’m also still at a loss to try and understand why, when we lose a central striker, that we then decide to just go on the defensive? We made playing with 10 men far more of a problem than it already was.
bath@3’s note about AW having his teams play offensively for 5-10 minutes following a red card so as not to immediately hand the opposition the initiative is something for Arteta to ponder. It is a lot easier to do, of course, when you have a Vieira, Petite, Gilberto midfield to deal with the 11 v 10 overload.
Ned@34, it wasn’t an original thought of mine. A died in the wool Gooner, called Glenn who rarely visits blogs reminded me of that last night on WhatsApp. He’s right. As of course are you that you have to have players with the right steel and skill. I still miss Petit.
He’s fast
He’s quick
His name’s a porno flick …
Mind you he’d be pushing 50 now. TTG would say he’d still be quicker than Xhaka.
Cheers Bath for a rapid & fair report of the match. Although the result was disappointing following our very good 1st half performance, the improvements in the team are most encouraging. There is much more of Arteta’s team plan being adhered to by the players all over the pitch. Our new boss is doing a great job overcoming the dismal emery era debacle and, like others in this bar, I’m looking forward to next season more than I thought possible at the start of the year.
Agreed Uply. I think there are many positives that can be taken from this match disappointing though the final result proved – which shows how much MA8 has raised our expectations in a few short weeks.
I watched a 2 hour show on Barcelona called ‘Take the Ball, Give the Ball’ the other day and of course there was a large section on Pep’s methodology and philosophy. There’s a lot of the same conviction and drive in Mikel and I suspect a similar philosophy and methodology.
Although I think we should write off a CL place this season (the Emery handicap was just too big), I think we can look forward to next season with optimism.
On another positive note, the match day programme has arrived.
An Arsenal fan of my acquaintance who is very well connected at the club through some business associates tells me there is a strong likelihood that we will sign a young left sided CB and defender called Malang Sarr. He is out of contract at Nice and is VERY highly rated If this is true ( and we are not the only club involved ) it will increase the competition for defensive places even more . I suspect we may see Mavropanos, Sokratis and possibly Holding leave. Chambers might be off but is still unfit
TTG@40: Interesting. French U-21 international, more than 100 games for Nice in Ligue 1 though still only 21 and ‘he comes from Senegal…’, well his family does, he is French-born. It looks on the face of it that he would be a starter, so where would that leave Mari as he left-sided CB, or would he be the post-Luiz centre CB of a back three with Saliba on the right, where he plays when St Etienne play three at the back.
To add fuel to the flames compare this assault by Tarkowski of Burnley tonight which was only punished with a yellow. If VAR is going to be credible ( and it is nowhere near credible at the moment ) we need to see consistency . This is a much more dangerous challenge than Nketiah’s .
If I was a conspiracy theorist I could believe there is a conspiracy against Arsenal
Other than being free I can’t honestly
see why we would sign Sarr.
Especially after we gave Luiz another
year.
Arsenal may choose to use that reference when they appeal against Nketiah’s three game ban, TTG. I have no expectation that the appeal will be successful – can’t have the FA suffering “loss of face” just for Arsenal.
Agreed, BtM. I fear that even with that timely and clear evidence there is little chance of a successful outcome to our appeal though it’s still worth making the point.
Not only is there the external inconsistency of the decision of another referee in another match but also the internal inconsistency of Kavanagh’s failure to take action against Vardy for his clearly reckless and dangerous kick-out at Mustafi with evident damage to the side of his face (whether intentional or unintentional and I believe the former on the basis of his kick out as he fell and his past behaviour).
The reason I think our appeal against a three match ban will fail is that the PGMOL feel more strongly about ‘face’ than consistency of decision-making.
I have just watched the clip of the Tarkowski tackle. It is different to the one Eddie makes in my opinion. I think it’s worse. Eddie is reckless and does put the other player in danger. The Tarkowski tackle looks awful in comparison. I’m also struggling to see any genuine attempt to play the ball? What annoys me most is that the assistant is right on top of it.
This is where football and VAR get it so wrong. How that was not reviewed is beyond everyone I would suggest.
I don’t think that the appeal will be successful. However, with mitigation, and the evidence from last night I would be very disappointed if the ban is not reduced.
I’m hopeful the ban will be
reduced too. Be nice to have
Eddie back fresh for the semi final
against Shitty.
OM,
I think the reason for signing Sarr would be simply his quality. He is one of the highest rated young defenders in France , he is left-sided and can play two positions and if he does move on he has a significant sell- on value .
Luiz,Mari and Saliba are clearly fixtures but if we play three at the back we’ve need of five CBs and we could sell Kolasinac ( who I’m not a great fan of) for a decent sum . I notice Marca are saying we have offered him a contract . Wenger did a huge amount for our reputation in France and Arteta speaks fluent French so they are reasons for him to come. And we all know Nice is nowhere near as pleasant as Islington!
Steve,
Agree with you on Tarkowski. It’s diabolical and I cannot understand how it escaped scrutiny
TTG,
All good reasons on Sarr. If Kola
is preferred to Rob then I’d assume
Rob must be the one leaving.
My concerns on Sarr would be that
he is unproven in the PL and he does
not appear to have been an automatic
choice for Nice in Ligue One this
season. We already have the unproven
Saliba and Mari for next season.
That leaves us with Luiz and Mus.
I had hoped Sokratis would be reliable
but he’s had a poor season. Though I
expect not many will agree I think we
should move on Papa, Mavro, Rob and
Calum though I like both the latter two.
Then buy an experienced right sided
Centre back as cover for when Mus’s
fragile confidence is lost. Saliba and
Mari are enough CBs with ‘potential’.
The financial argument on Sarr’s resale
value is a good one though.
Arteta will be looking beyond next season, which realistically will be Luiz’s last. But even next season, if we get into Europe and have a decent run in either of the domestic sups, we will have a lot of playing minutes to fill. We’ll need at least five CBs, possibly six to give cover in each of the positions in a back three. I am guessing that what Arteta sees in our current back-ups and the youngsters in the Academy doesn’t overly impress him.
A delightful day for daydreaming to be sure, but I would be derelict not to direct the denizens of the bar to Spurs daunting trip to relegation threatened Bournemouth, a points dropping opportunity if ever there was one. Come on the red cherries, not the white cocks!
OM/ Ned
Valuable points raised by you both and we will definitely need a lot of cover at the back next season . I suspect the effective length of the season next campaign with a very short break will also see more muscle strains and red zone injuries although I bow, as always , to Trev in these matters .
The bloke who tipped me off is a financial adviser who does some work with agents . While a very knowledgeable football man he is not au fait with all of Europe’s young tyros but he did suggest that he had been told the lad is considered a future French international and the reason he has played less this season is because he has made no secret of his desire to run his contract down. His manager is of course PV4 and one hopes he puts in a good word for us .
The two draws in today’s two games are decent outcomes for us, though it would have been better if VAR had not saved the neighbours a point.
Ned,
I agree. Whereas VAR seems always to go against us it always seems to favour Spurs . They aren’t playing well though and let’s hope this game and the 12 minutes of lnjury time knacker them for Sunday . Didn’t see much of the game but did Bournemouth’s goalie make a save?
TTG@52: Sarr looks quick, big and strong with a decent left foot. I can see why Arteta would like to have him.
TTG@54: I didn’t see any of the game but the stats say Spurs had zero shots on target, so I guess he didn’t.
TTG, the highlight of the Spurs game was when Mourinho farted like a ball boy to recover a wayward ball in the first half. After that I took a nap, as most Spurs fans must have done too, so lifeless and lethargic were their team.
*arted = darted but he may well have done both
Nketish three-match red card ban upheld by FA.
So going into Sunday we are one point ahead of the swamp dwellers and level on GD. They are playing dreadfully, we are playing better every game.
We’ve got to win this one.
COYG.
What CM100 said @60. A key test of the reality of our apparent progress.
@59, Now there’s a big surprise, Ned.
KSE have lent money to Arsenal to secure their financial position and to reduce their interest payments on the bonds purchased to finance the building of the stadium .In loaning Arsenal the money to buy their bonds early KSE have removed the financial covenants which required the club to set aside a significant sum in their accounts every year. They will still have to repay the loan from their parent company.
That may relieve a bit of the pressure on club finances but won’t provide a transfer war chest. But it might enable them to keep Aubameyang for instance .,
On behalf of the Auba fan club sub-section I surely hope this does help us to be able to retain the services of Auba and his cutting edge haircuts and flips, TTG. Faustus can comment better but I have a feeling his son agrees.
13 pens to United this season- a PL record !
If you’ve not seen this one it’s a classic. It wasn’t in the area and Fernandes fouled the Villa lad. How did VAR not overturn it. The game has been made a total farce by VAR .
Serious issue is that Jon Moss who gave it also tried to give them a second pen at S***s when it was clearly nothing of the sort. That got overturned but he is clearly channelling Mike Riley – his boss
@57 the pitchside microphones
pick up everything these days
😄
Moss is clearly incompetent and it’s the
eighth wonder of the world that he wasn’t
booted years ago.
Also the FA can stick their 3 game ban
up their arse. The circumstances clearly
warranted a reduction and justice, as
usual, was not done.
Thanks for sharing @52 and @64 TTG!
I hope both will help MA get the players
he wants. Keeping him happy is very
important for us now
Anyway, on to the spuds.
I’m looking forward to the
preview 😁
Headline: “Premier League confirms wrong penalty decisions in all Thursday games”
They could just about delete “Thursday” and be a bit closer to it.
Headline in question actually said “Premier League confirms wrong VAR decisions in all Thursday games” – much more to my point
Two more goals for Santi Cazorla whose Villareal side is doing very well.
http://dailycannon.com/2020/07/santi-cazorla-does-it-again/
The good ship Arsenal has sailed through heavy injury seas, bt8, arguably more than most. Had Santi, Robin, Abu and Jack (in particular) remained injury free, times might have been very different.
I’m not sure from the reaction of some fans on other blogs that they understood that Stan hasn’t just given us a big no- strings cash injection. Effectively instead of owing money to the banks we owe it to KSE. You may remember the Glazers dumping debt on ManUre . This looks much more benign and constructive and will save the club holding deposits and paying such high interest charges ( one assumes) . I’m not sure, and Ned may know if Premier League rules or FFP specify minimum rates of interest to stop owners effectively pumping interest free loans into their clubs but one assumes KSE will lend us money on kinder terms than a consortium of banks .
It does ( probably) confirm the commitment of KSE to continue as owners , it does (probably) mean it will be easier to dump KSE debt on the club but unless revenue increases ( and yesterday the club made some initial arrangements for next season , as much as it is able with all the uncertainties) finances will be very tight for all but Citeh, Chavski( still useful to launder money through a football club ) and ManUre ( and possibly Newcastle if that deal goes ahead ) and the rest will be shopping in the bargain basement. KSE’s next moves will be interesting
TTG, you have rightly identified several positives from this move by KSE. In the short term this may well be beneficial to the club and help us retain/build a good squad. However I remain concerned that this may also facilitate the loading onto the club of the loan that KSE took out to buy Usmanov’s shares to take complete control (some £500m?).
The principle reason for my concern on this point are Kroenke’s words of admiration for how the Glazers did the same to take over Manure, i.e. loaded the purchase cost of the club onto the club itself. Truly a clever finesse! But turning a manageable debt of £140m into a colossal debt of £700m (including a circa £49m early redemption penalty) is not good for either the club or the fans (who will ultimately have to pay it off in one way or another). Just a small concern here. Perhaps I’ll be proved wrong. I certainly hope so.
I can see both positives and negatives here. As Bath says, there is a cost to early pay back of the bonds. That cost is £49m. But the interest rates on those bonds is over 5% which amounts to £20m per year. We don’t know what KSE will charge Arsenal for these loans, but a commercial rate, according to AST, would amount to £5m to £10m per year. So that fee will be repayed in 3-5 years. In addition the covenants on the bond meant that we had to keep a massive £39m back from working capital. So our free cash flow just got freed up massively.
As to the future, there is a real risk of additional debt in the Glazer fashion. But he could have done that without repaying the bonds or indeed just rolled them over. Plus this definitely indicates that Stan is in this for the long term.
Short term I see this as positive. Long term who knows?
Good detail from the AST on the financial change discussed above
https://www.arsenaltrust.org/feed/afc-finances/2020/AST-Debt-Redemption-KSE
Matt, Steve @46, 47
I, like all of us, hope Eddie’s sentence will be reduced as well. I just fear that whoever makes these decisions will see it as too embarrassing though. I mean, what a farce – referee gives a yellow, VAR interferes with a million replays in slow motion to persuade the referee, with the pitch side monitor, to alter the decision to a red card. Arsenal then appeal to who (?) and they change it back to a yellow.
Two minutes of slo-mo replays to spot a ‘clear and obvious error’ that then is rescinded and reverts back to the original decision.
It should happen but I’d be very surprised.
VAR have admitted mistakes in all last night’s games now. Can we not just abandon the whole pathetic nonsense this has become. Is there a single fan who wants it ?
Having read the AST analysis, one question occurs (I am a self confessed financial anti-wizard, if such a thing exists ….
If the original loan matured in August 2020 why did KSE do this now – in July 2020 – at a cost of £40miion in early payment penalties ? Could they not have waited one month and paid it off on time, without penalties ?
Please be gentle when explaining what an idiot I am. Cheers !
The bonds run another 10 years. It is the Deutsch Bank loan that expires in August. 10 more years at these interest rates would have cost another £200m. In addition we’ve removed the £36m hold back covenant each year. It’s a sound financial decision and one I would have made.
Trev@80: August 14 is the call date (first opportunity to redeem the bond) not the maturity date (obligatory last date to repay it). The early redemption, although announced, takes effect on the call date, not immediately.
Also worth noting that the £50 million floating rate bond is being redeemed along with the £140 million fixed rate bond. So £190 million of refinancing in all. Until we get details of the loan terms (if we get the details as there won’t be an obligation to disclose, unlike with a bond) we don’t know what the short or long-term savings will be.
These early redemptions are about managing cash flow, which will be under stress now because of the pandemic. What KSE has done is rather like refinancing your mortgage at a lower rate but for a longer time. You end up paying more in the long run but your monthly outgoing is less. Getting through the now is the financial priority.
Trev@79 : VAR is used and works pretty well in Bundesliga. Video based review systems work very well in Cricket — which used to be fraught with umpiring controversies — and tennis.
I don’t think the problem is with VAR. Problems are with the referees in the English game and their basic inability to be consistent in applying rules methodically. They want to be “seen” in all their f***ing interpretive glories.
A fool with a tool is still a fool. 🙂
TTG@64 makes the other key point. The refinancing relieves the club of the obligation to reserve a wodge of cash (currently around £36 million) against the bond interest payments. That money will now be freed up to be used elsewhere in the business.
Very helpful insights by C100, Ned and Bath on the loan and the AST paper is helpful and asks the right questions( whether we get answers from KSE is a different matter ! )
I thought the financing of the stadium originally was deftly handled. We refinanced or arranged the syndication of the loan at a very iffy time and Edelman got a decent deal out of the banks which enabled us to predict and control our outgoings . Edelman doesn’t get much of a mention in despatches . I started to cross swords with him once when I had a great mate who was terminally ill with a brain tumour. He was desperate to take his daughter to Highbury before he died and I asked Edelman if he could do something . Initially he asked for medical certification but I subsequently received a charming letter explaining that he gets umpteen requests like this each week and a lot of them are bogus. He did arrange for him to attend ( it was the game where Pires and Henry cocked up the penalty ) but he was too ill to travel and died shortly afterwards . Edelman and Dein did not get on well and I don’t think Arsene was his biggest fan either but one can only speak as one finds . He wasn’t a bullshitter like Gazidis .
TTG@75: Both UEFA and the Premier League require any financing from related parties to be booked at ‘fair value’ for the purposes of the calculation of a club’s expenses for financial fair play in UEFA’s case and the submission to the League of its annual accounts for the Premiership. There is nothing in either institution’s documentation that outlaws below market value financial transactions; the rules only require the deals are restated at fair market value for FFP purposes. Also note, UEFA has to all intents and purposes suspended FFP for this season because of the pandemic.
TTG reminds me of the Father of a great friend of mine. My mate and I played University cricket together and when I moved to London I played at his club (Ealing CC). I often stayed over at their house in Ealing, and for several years I was almost part of the family and treated very well. Geoff’s (my Dad’s mate) day job was MD, later deputy chairman, of The Prudential (TTG May well know him). Often, over Sunday lunch or dinner, I would be railing against this or that politician or public figure. Geoff would pick up his glass, take a sip of the usually excellent wine, and then say “you may well be right Paul. But I had lunch with him last week and all I can say is that he really is a very nice chap”. Collapse of outraged young lefty.
A diamond. RIP.
Another look at the cartilagefreecaptain blog yielded this hilarious headline:
Bournemouth 0-0 Tottenham: Player ratings to the theme of managers to replace Jose Mourinho
We best strike now while the special one is still in charge.
Moi…a glass of wine? Never. Two or three glasses maybe!
We did buy a company from the pridential many years ago so it is conceivable I might know him . But I’ve never been invited to lunch with Stan or Josh. I bet I’d have to oa6 anyway !
TTG : Geoff Haslam
Ned, Countryman, thanks for the explanations.
How many will we put past Lloris tomorrow?
1
2
3
4
5
or maybe…
oof. off (with) his head.
C100
The name is known to me but alas I did not know him. He sounds to have been a lovely fellow . I have a friend called Haslam who lives in tax exile in Guernsey and is a Bolton fan. One counterbalances the other!
Well in for the ton, scruz. Nicely worked build-up and assist bt8.
Well in for the ton, Scruz. And five step-overs from bt8b for the assist.
I note a passing reference in this post by Jorge Bird that Cedric hasn’t been included in the match-day squad for the NLD.
Balogun hoping to benefit from Nketiah’s suspension
No new injury doubt reported so something else going on there?
I note a passing reference in this post by Jorge Bird that Cedric is not included in the NLD match-day squad:
Balogun hoping to benefit from Nketiah’s suspension
No new injury reported by the club so something else going on there, or just rotation and rest?
@79 Trev, ‘Is there a single fan who wants it ?’
A few seasons ago, Santo Cazorla in an advanced left wing position cut the ball back to Aaron Ramsey. Ramsey slotted the ball home beautifully from just inside the 18 yard line. I was sitting in line with Ramsey. Beautiful goal, the kind of thing you pay good money to see.
Arsenal 1 – Liverpool 0.
Except that it wasn’t. The goal was incorrectly given offside. The game ended in a draw. We were shorn of two points. The match result was invalid. I’d paid £70 for a seat to see a game with an invalid result and felt very badly cheated of my hard earned dough. Arsenal declined to give me a refund. From that day hence I’ve argued for MUCH better.
Manchest United this season. We’re behind. Aubamayang, from a position two yards onside surges forward and scores an excellent goal. We’ve equalised. Except it isn’t and we haven’t. Unbelievably, although the watching world has seen the ‘two yards on-side’ the linesman give off-side. the goal is cancelled until…….drum roll…..saxophone solo……Eric Clapton lead guitar power chords from Crossroads……along comes VAR and says “Of-course it’s a goal you silly bar steward, Auba was two yards on-side!” We get our point and Manure don’t go three ahead of us.
This year’s FA Cup at Sheffield. Sheffield come on strong. We can’t afford to let them score first. They get the ball in the net. It looks offside to me. The ref gives it. The lino doesn’t put up flag. We’re going out of the cup until…….drum roll…etc etc (you have the idea by now).
So, YES, I want it. But I want it much better than I’m getting it. The technology is superb. The administration is pathetic. Fire the monkeys and employ competence. Yosser Hughs (of ‘Gizza Job, I can do that’ fame) is reportedly still looking for a job. Even he couldn’t do worse than the tossers who are turning out the garbage we’re seeing this season of which the disallowed goal by Sokratis at home to Palace is a classic example. Another two points down the gurgler.
‘Fire the monkeys and employ competence’, BtM? You would be turning the whole business model inside out.
You sum it up perfectly Btm.
It’s impossible to reject the notion of VAR but also impossible to imagine a more ramshackle implementation than we have seen. I was very concerned by the disallowing of the Sokratis ‘ winner’ against Palace in November. I am very concerned that not only were United given a penalty against Villa on Thursday but that it was not overturned by VAR and that Peter Walton in the Times said he thought Moss got it right . He always was a poor ref.
I also think if you have to look at something fifteen times to decide if it’s a correct decision the original decision should stand .
>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>