A season like 2025/26 doesn’t come around very often, and we are keen to know what it meant to a variety of ‘Holics near and far, scattered across the globe but bound by a love of Arsenal. We’ve asked a lot of different posters to give us their views on some of the key moments and questions of the season. Three sets of questions were mailed out, not quite identical but close…and they cover a lot of the most important issues that came up during this amazing season.
First up, BtM, Scruzgooner, and Sancho Panza.
What was the highlight of last season for you ?
BtM: The season was a very deeply satisfying one because The Arsenal won the Premier League and came very close to making it a double with a Champions League win over PSG in Budapest.
Having said that, it was not a season in which our team played their best football ever. Home games in particular often became, nerve mangling, turgid encounters, decided by a single goal. This was primarily because most opponents (apart from the Spuds, bless ‘em) came to the Emirates with a “Don’t lose” mindset and adopted a low-block approach which didn’t inspire fast flowing open football and quite frequently resulted in the ball semi-circling sideways across our visitors’ penalty box, packed with eleven defenders, as we sought creativity and inspiration to rupture their wall.
So, in that context, truly magical moments were relatively few for me but I can muster four favourites that will linger long in my memory box (he wrote hopefully while asking himself “what day of the week is it again?”).
The first, at the Emirates, was Eze’s ball to Martinelli and then our young Brazilian’s fabulous, high, side footed chip over Man Cheaty’s keeper, under the bar and into the right side of the net. We’d been the better team for most of the game but a momentary lapse hade resulted in a Harlaand opener for 0-1 to the bad guys in blue. Time was running out and it was beginning to look to me like we’d hand Guardiola’s team an early advantage in the title race before Brazilian flair and technique resulted in this beautiful, superb and well-deserved equaliser. 1-1 and cue pandemonium in the stadium.
The second, at the Emirates again, was the second goal in our home game against Everton. The Toffees had pushed us really hard and had several good chances to score before Gyokores put us 1-0 up. With David Moyes urging them on, Everton continued to create danger and there was every chance that they might equalise. They won a late corner, England’s goalkeeper sprinted up for a Hail Mary header. In came the ball, we headed clear and there was Max Dowman, spinning past some lad in blue before running the length of the pitch to slot the ball home. Again, cue pandemonium, particularly on the home bench, where Arteta’s and the coaching team’s delight was a joy to behold.
The third was driven by an event that occurred nowhere near North London. On England’s south coast, Man Cheaty, the blue bottlers, lost at Bournemouth meaning that the Arsenal were Premier League winners. An Estimated 100,000 Gooners descended on Emirates Stadium and the surrounding area invoking memories of Fever Pitch and 1989.
The best, without a shadow of a doubt was our fairly straightforward 3-0 home win against Sunderland. That outing was made supremely special for me because of the presence in the stadium of granddaughter Stella, enjoying her first ever Premier League match (courtesy of Bath Jnr). Stella’s a signed-up Young Gunner now and we’re hopeful that more such visits may be in the wind.
SP: Full time at the Bournemouth v Manchester City game. We would still have won the league at Palace but it was great to see the spontaneous celebrations that night.
Scruz: I have two. Unsurprisingly, one is (as with many people, not least those who voted it as Arsenal’s 2025/6 goal of the season) Max scoring on his breakaway against Everton. Using his head to advance the ball past the flailing Mykolenko, then juking Dewsbury-Hall onto his backside, and being aware at the end they were coming fast…all such hallmarks of a skilled, intelligent player (not to mention young and quick and joyous). Kudos to Gabi for getting him the ball after Everton’s corner, as well.
The one that resonates most strongly with me, though is Leo’s goal against West Ham to win that game at such a crucial moment in our season (“After review, West Ham #19 commits a foul…” notwithstanding). Mø’s movement and exchanges with Dec, then his patience for the defense to collapse away from Leo…and the pass…all so much what we are and can be more as a club on offense. I lost my voice screaming with joy. We were going to win the league.
When did you believe we were going to win the title?
SP: Did you mean NOT going to become Champions? I admit to flipping my lid during and after the Bournemouth game, but we put it right i the next game. I didn’t think City were going to win all their games as their defence wasn’t up to much.
Scruz: It was all hope through the City game, when the first actual glimmer of belief (at least, a glimmer that I could allow myself to feel, for fear of helping jinx the end result) lit the darkness. But when Leo scored at West Ham, heavenly light of my belief burst forth and the angels sang hosannahs…
BtM: Mikel’s call to arms when he announced the “Very beautiful opportunity of the five game League that we have to play to end the season and win the League”. He encouraged everyone to get in the boat with the team and carry the enterprise to the winning endpoint that we all wanted and even craved. Arteta is an excellent leader. He uses verbal imagery highly effectively to encourage and stimulate everyone, vested or only interested, toward collective purpose, sense of accomplishment and eventual achievement. Once I’d heard that particular speech, I was sold on our title prospects and very confident that we’d be Champions.
Who was your player of the season?
Scruz: Declan or David Raya. Nothing to measure between them, both had moments that saved our season and led us to the title. Maybe Declan shades it by a hair because he just.never.stops.running…and “It’s not over.” But Raya’s saves against West Ham and Atlético Madrid…wow. So, a tossup. Give it to them both.
BtM: If asked for a prediction in pre-season, I suspect Ødegaard and Saka’s names would have been at the forefront of my mind. However, although he was run very close by Declan Rice in front of him and William Saliba alongside him my POTS was Gabriel Magalhães. The quality of our defending as a team was critically important to our title win. Almost equally important was the potency of our set piece play and our ability to hit the back of the net with powerful headers from corners and free kicks, thereby negating low block tactics. Big Gabi lead by example. A true warrior, he was the cornerstone of a never-say-die defensive effort and an inspiration as our ‘wall at the back’ to all ten other players. At the same time he was superbly potent in set piece attacks, either by scoring himself or by creating such a distraction for opposing defenders that other (Kai Havertz take a bow) were able to cruise in unmarked to score. Fantastic season. One of (if not THE) best central defenders in the game.
SP: David Raya. He won us so many points this season. Arteta was so right to change keepers when he did.
Who would you most like us to buy?
BtM: Forwards: Alvarez, Rogers and Jeremy Monga appear to be in the frame. I like all three.
Midfield: I’d love to see Bouaddi in our midfield pool. He looks like a superb, versatile talent.
Defence: I think we need a new right back. White/Timber combo doesn’t appear future viable because of injury.
SP: Alvarez if he wants to come here. We need better up top.
Scruz: I don’t know. Everyone wants Alvarez, but the combination of his relative light weight and £430 million buyout clause make my interest minimal. Especially if Gyökeres were to go to Atletico as part of the deal. I don’t know whom we’ll get (I trust in Berta), but if Nørgaard isn’t going to play (and is dealt) I’d like to see someone in who can spell Dec without as much drop-off. I’d like to see Ethan back, and play him in certain situations as a backup for Saka and Noni (especially at the start of the season), but also as a second striker in the God role.
Do you believe we had fair media coverage last season in general?
SP: Our style of play reflected the players we had available and the form of those players. We played some nice football at times. Other teams may have played nicer football in patches but did they finish top? No! They finished 2nd to 20th. Criticism came from people who support other teams so who cares.
Scruz: I have but eight letters to say to the jealous snipers, but as this is a family-friendly blog I won’t write them here…but they rhyme with “duck them”. There are certainly critiques to be made about our incessant need for control, our lack of so-called beautiful football, and the behind-the-couch watching position into which it puts supporters, but my ultimate response is…would we have won the league playing any differently *this year* with *this squad* with *these injuries*? That usually shuts people up right quick.
BtM: Our style of play was predicated primarily upon Mikel Arteta’s single-minded goal of registering more points than any other team in the English Premier League by scoring more and conceding fewer goals than any other team. A secondary imperative was the equivalent in the Champions League.
Arsenal scored more goals than all but one team (6 less than the blue Mancs) and conceded less than everyone else (8 fewer than their closest competitor) winning the title with a seven point advantage. What more justification is required than ending the season as League Champions having accomplished the primary objective and coming extremely close in the other – being the only team to score in open play against the Qatar funded team that the majority rate as the best in Europe?
Arsenal were not at their very entertaining, swashbuckling best. The supreme quality, teamwork and skillset that had been the hallmark of the prior three seasons was diminished this time around. However, in those prior three seasons we came second. This time we came first. A big difference justifying fully the tactical approach and style of play pursued.
And all of this was accomplished despite Brazil’s centre forward being unavailable for the whole season, Germany’s centre forward suffering huge injury set backs, Saka and Ødegaard, absolutely key contributors, underperforming because of injury and unavailability as well as injuries to Timber, Merino and Calafiori which significantly curtailed their availability. Incredible – and testament to the importance of the recruitment work completed in last summer’s window.
Was there criticism then? Didn’t listen, didn’t hear it.
Is this the start of a golden era for the club or will our rivals catch us up very quickly?
Scruz: I think both. Mikel is pretty much exactly where he expected to be in his “process”, and we have a relatively young squad that very clearly love each other and enjoy playing together. Judicious exits and signings this Summer should enable us to challenge again, and as champions (did you hear?) we’ll be both the team that everyone wants to beat, and the team that is most likely to succeed. But there are no guarantees (see: Liverpool this year). I don’t know *which* of our rivals will catch us, but someone will make a hard push (I think United, even with Carrick at the helm, might make some noise). City, Liverpool, and Chelsea are all in transition, one way or another, so they have to prove themselves at least as much as we do in our battle to retain our title. Should we prevail again, or at least make a good fist of it (and win a cup or two), I believe the momentum will continue to grow and our rivals find it tough to make up groud. So long as KSE continues to back the squad (re)building, Berta continues to weave his magic transfer rug, and Mikel doesn’t overcommit to the type of football we played for a lot of this year, we could be in for a golden age of wonderful football and success at The Arsenal.
BtM: The Premier League, Champions League, World Cup have all contributed to making the global game a money machine. Far sighted nation states and successful ‘businessmen’ proffering apparently unlimited amounts of roubles, dirham, baht, dollars, euros and Turkish lira have focused their efforts on England and Paris in an effort to achieve legitimacy for national behavioural characteristics and customs or to enrich their already burgeoning estates. This is the backcloth against which a golden era for The Arsenal has to be considered.
In the very simplest analysis, the richest team attracts the best players and the best players form a team that wins stuff. There are nuances on this, but that the underlying thesis is correct isn’t disputable. I think Arsenal are fortunate to have, in the Kroenkes, the owners that we do. While I don’t doubt that the income stream generated by all of their sports brands are at front of mind, it is very apparent that they appreciate that nourishing a winning habits at all of them benefits their estate, generates a huge feel good factor for themselves and great admiration and applause from the multitudes. Unlike, say, the Glazers, they have a sound appreciation and understanding of the teams that their wealth underpins.
Only just over a decade ago Arsenal’s income was approximately £300M (coming almost equally in £100M increments from Matchday, Broadcasting and Commercial). That figure has ballooned on the back of the money machine and better PL/CL performance to nearer £750M this season past. This new level, coupled with the very much improved global status of the Arsenal brand as a winner, positions Arsenal’s board to endorse a spending programme to bring a mix of the best and most promising talents on the planet to Emirates stadium. While all of our players are multi-millionaires already, collectively player wages are well below those available in Paris, Madrid and Manchester. If a golden era is to emerge, managing player and coach remuneration will need to be managed forward carefully (we don’t want situations like Casemiro at £600k; Alexis Sanchez at £500k pw).
I believe the owners are motivated to achieve more glory and wealth by supporting Mikel Arteta’s effort to build a stronger, more potent, technically skilled squad. Judicious procurement, continued tactical innovation, huge dollops of good fortune on the injury front and there is no reason why Arsenal and its growing global fan base cannot indeed enjoy a golden era. Other brands are available however, will have very similar motivations and some, underpinned by hydrocarbon revenues, will have even deeper pockets than the Kroenkes.
SP: I think a bit of both. We won’t dominate because all the top teams will strengthen and it will become even harder. If we buy well this Summer we can look forward to more success next season.
Has Mikel Arteta done enough to warrant a statue at the Emirates yet?
BtM: No. He’d find it embarrassing at this stage f the project and would rail against any such proposal. Once the Golden Era is firmly embedded, however, a statue will most certainly be up for consideration.
SP: No.
Scruz: Oh, god no. Way too early to consider it. Tom Whittaker, Don Howe, or Bertie Mee would deserve one on that basis well before Mikel. But wouldn’t it be nice to ask that same question in a score of years and have it be an emphatic “Yes!”, due to his successes on and off the pitch? See the ‘golden era” discussion.
What other comments do you have on last season?
SP: I think on reflection some of our purchases last summer, whilst improving depth and negating the panic of the guaranteed injuries, weren’t necessarily the game changers we needed. I hope they all improve next season.
Scruz: I love this squad, and this club so much. I am so proud to feel deep in my heart Rocky’s “Remember who you are, what you are, and who you represent”, and see it in every player we’re fielding right now, even if it doesn’t always translate into victory on the pitch. COYG!!
BtM: For the coming season to shine on brightly, Martin Ødegaard and Bukayo Saka need to return to the very peak of their capabilities. We need to be able to think of Saka in the same way that Liverpool at their best looked to Salah. Likewise for Ødegaard, the way that ManCheaty looked to De Bruyne. Martin and Bukayo have come off of a season blighted by injury (and more, apparently, in Martin’s case). Prime Saka and Ødegaard make CL success next season feasible, in a sub-prime set of both that likelihood is diminished.
Eber Eze is a talent that Mikel has not been completely able to coach to his absolute best in a red and white shirt. Prime Eze would be a wonderful thing to behold and I’m hoping Arteta has that on his list of goals and objectives for the coming season.
Nice work, All.
Thanks fellas. An excellent jog to the memories of a season in which most of the matches had merged into a melange of angst and tension which thankfully ended in cataclysm of joy, delight and relief. Nothing to disagree with there.
These posts are about enjoying the feeling of winning a title and identifying the special moments that made this a remarkable season. So don’t be shy and don’t worry if your high points are unique to you.
I thought the Dowman moment was very special , particularly as it was followed by C130y dropping two points at West Ham as we were driving home that evening . But the moment that also stood out for me was in the Bournemouth game when behind me an entitled idiot started to wail about how he ‘ couldn’t take it anymore and that Arteta had to go . ‘ I won’t recount exactly what I said to him but in a spirit of perversity I said ‘ Mate, we are going to win the league and you and all the snowflakes like you who don’t ever expect to lose are going to look stupid ‘. His response was to bite his trembling lip and say ‘ No way mate we always do this ‘. I wonder where he was when C130y drew at Bournemouth . Probably running around the Emirates saying ‘ Never in doubt ‘ . But that moment was when I realised I was a believer and that belief was not misplaced .
Still reading so thanks to all who take their time to entertain and inform in equal measure with memories and future desires, still cannot believe we are the Champion and not bothered in the least by the most corrupt WC ever.
Saddened to lose Trossard as his attitude was never in doubt with only a slight wobble during understandably tough times personally, I would not be sad to lose Jesus even though he and Zinny were at the spearhead of what we now know was dreamland but I am not as troubled by the potential loss of Martinelli as I was a few weeks ago, I think I wear rose tinted spectacles for some players and I remembered him being much better than his end of season stats suggested, I’m looking forward with no trepidation at all to a new season of wonders and delights and yes finally I believe in Mikel Arteta
Appreciation to all my fellow gooners both here and worldwide.
Some splendid answers and thanks to TTG for asking.
The whole defence would be my player of the season.
Good to see you in, DG, and delighted that the Arsenal has bought you some of the joy we all share. i am with you about the character of this World Cup.
DG
You are a welcome visitor and we are so pleased you enjoyed the season . Hopefully it gave you great satisfaction . Your point about Jesus and Zinchenko joining is well made . There were a vital building block but much greater additions were to be made .We are League Champions !
Good to see you in this fine hostelry, DG. I hope that this season has lifted your spirits and that next season will lift them further.
Lots of interesting recollections & hopes for the coming season – thanks for all those participating up front and behind the scenes.
Good to see you in good form DG. It all starts again next month 😳
…and so, my lords, ladies and gentlemen, does the GHF Predictathon! Get your prognostication hats on….
Thanks BtM, SP, scruz, lots of nice memory joggers in there 😃
And much else to think about, as well as three different picks
for player of the season.
And in the drinks, wot DG said about the World Cup, though I must admit I
was finally fully invested for the Belgium / US game!
Also the Guimaraes move seems to be, well, moving ahead.
It appears he told the Barcodes that although he previously
said he was very happy there and loved Newcastle deeply,
that was yesterday and today he loves us instead.
Blogs offers a nice analysis of the Guimaraes situation and the likely hurdles to a smooth transfer. If it’s not to be Guimaraes then who else would be our midfield option providing a seamless replacement/alternative for an exhausted Declan Rice? Alex Scott? The Moroccan kid, Bouaddi?
In defence, I would look seriously at getting John Stones on a free to fill the gap that seems likely if Saliba does need spinal surgery. I hear rumours of Wan-Bissaka. Surely not? Konsa I can understand but AWB??? Good band though.
Up front, Junior Kroupi seems to be the target of the world’s soccer elite, but we do seem to be Rogers’ heart’s desire. If we could only winkle one player out of Villa, I would prefer him to Konsa. Barcola would be a nice addition too, mind.
I’ve always liked Wan-Bissaka myself and would rather him than Stones,
but maybe Konsa in preference to either.
Konsa can play full-back as well as centre-back. Arteta likes that sort of positional versatility in his defenders (see Hincapié, Calafiori, White, Timber, Salmon, et al.).
As for Wan-Bissaka, he is a decent full-back defensively, especially one-to-one. However, he is pretty average offensively. Particularly, his passing-quality numbers look poor by Arsenal standards. Perhaps they could be coached higher, but he turns 29 in November, so he should be regarded as a stopgap at best. He has a decent availability record and could cover for White and Timber next season if that is necessary, but shouldn’t stand in the way of developing Mosquera and Salmon. At his age, I would guess he would want a multi-year contract to sign for us, and I doubt that West Ham would let us have him on a season-long loan.
I’m very comfortable with AWB as a back up to Timber . As Ned says he is a great one to one defender and those with memories of our relatively recent 5-2 win over Wet Spam might remember him getting forward to good effect and scoring against us . He’s a tight marker and has a good availability record . Jurrien Timber he ain’t but for the likely price I think he’d do .
I will leave the rest to Andrea Berta and hope we have added real quality to the mix.
For what it’s worth I’d like to see Ortega , Meslier ( I really wouldn’t like to see him but it’s a done deal) , Konsa ( but would he join? ) . Stones is a sick note and we have good cover at centre back, Kone and Rogers . We might have room for Junior Kroupi too.
Out would go Kepa, White, Norgaard, Vieira , Jesus and Trossard .
TTG@17: That goal against us accounts for 25% of his career goals. As you say, he would be good enough as backup to Timber for the duration, especially if Benny Blance is gone, whether permanently or in the fetlock — but no more than that. I still think that, at his age, Wan-Bissaka would want to go to a club where he would get a three- or four-year contract (we would be daft to offer that) and likely play regularly like Everton, Sunderland or Newcastle, all of whom need a starting right-back. He has also been linked to a move to Turkey (but then, who hasn’t?)
Ned
I can’t disagree with your logic . But the chance to be part of the reigning League champions squad is enticing as is the chance to possibly play CL football especially as Timber has a history of some nasty injuries . I was very impressed with him in the Congo game and remember when Manchester United signed him as a very real prospect. That didn’t work out but my Wet Spam mates rate him pretty highly . A lot depends on how driven and ambitious he is still
The stutter step penalty fails again!
I hope Eze was watching.
Saliba must be trussed up to the nines and stuffed full of painkillers. He is moving with all the flexibility of an ironing board.
This does not bode well for us.
Ned, with all due respect, Saliba has been brilliant in this game. I don’t recognise the ironing board reference.
Morocco made no impression on the French defence at all. I thought Willie was excellent as he has been all tournament . I didn’t notice huge discomfort for our French defensive rock .
I didn’t say he played badly, but he carried himself stiffly. His positioning and anticipation are so good, he needs to run less than other defenders anyway, plus Deschamps has had him playing much deeper than he plays for us, so he hasn’t had to man-mark. But he was walking, where you would have expected at least a jog if he was 100% fit, eased into a jog when he did run and generally played well within himself — lots of short, easy passes in the directon he was playing that put little stress on the body and certainly none of those surging runs where he suddenly pops up up somewhere on the edge of the opposition penalty area. It also appeared — on the admittedly not very clear evidence of watching a TV screen — that he was wearing some sort of lower back support under his shirt. The second hydration break gave the clearest shot of it, but it was only for a fleeting second.
I’d trade Ethan, Eze and Martin for Olise.
Bouaddi was invisible against France.
O’Reilly is the best fullback I’ve seen since Timber.
The best players want to join the most successful team – not the richest (..and if they do, we don’t want them)
We need to get bigger and faster.
Pep left because he knows the hammer is coming down.
We need a bigger stadium.
Darn! Why couldn’t AW persuade Mbappé to join our club!?
All good calls, Boff.
I thought Koné completely eclipsed Bouaddi as a number 6 and as a real alternative to Guimaraes.
Boff@25: I thought that all Morocco’s midfielders were pretty invisible. France threw the blanket of control over them with Arsenalesque efficiency. Bouaddi had some decent touches, but the fact that he was yanked after 62 minutes says a lot. However, stopping Rabiot and Koné bossing it would have been a big ask for any 18-year-old. Bath’s assessment of Koné is spot on, but it looks as if he is off to the Red Mancs (Koné, not Bath, that is)
Illan Meslier’s signing is now official:
https://www.arsenal.com/news/illan-meslier-signs-arsenal
From our where are they now dept: Cohen Bramall has joined MK Dons from Luton on a free, and Zech Medley has joined York from Fleetwood, also on a free. Bramall has probably found his level, but when Medley was with our academy, he seemed destined for higher-level football than League Two.
Good news for all ‘Holics over 30:
From Luton to Milton Keynes eh, I suppose he doesn’t have to live in either
so could be worse.
Perhaps Medley is taking the long-way round Ned 😃
Football is a simple game. Twenty-two men chase a ball for 90 minutes, and at the end, Mikel Merino always wins.
With a goals per minutes ratio of 1 goal every 3.5 minutes… Is Merino the world’s best striker?
C100- Lies, damn lies and Mikel Merino! The man is a complete under-the-radar goal machine
C100@31: Merino makes it simple. Come on for a few minutes, put the ball in the net for the winner, do that celebration around the corner flag in honour of his father, and home in time for tea.
Luis de la Fuente’s genius is to bring on Merino so late in the game that there isn’t time left for the opposition to equalise.
According to Merino, in the last game against Portugal Fuentes wanted to bring him on earlier and Merino told him to wait!
Ned,
You may have better info than me but I thought ManUre were signing Andrey Santos and Ederson in midfield ? I’d not seen them linked with Kone. Bath and I have been eulogising over Kone for some time. His speed of pass and closing down ability is exceptional . Bouaddi is still very raw and Lille want to retain him for a year anyway .
All the noise here is about Guimaraes but Kone is younger and cheaper . But such is Berta’s methodology I haven’t a clue who his priorities are. We also have a young lad called Merino in midfield who is highly promising !
Ned
I finished my note and then saw the Kone to United story. I hope it doesn’t happen. Let’s hope Sir Jim tightens the purse strings!
He’ll just find the money by dodging his tax that little bit better this year, it’s the incremental gains
TTG/Ned/Matt – Kone looks a much better investment than Bruno. He is already very good, holding down a place in the current French team, quite a bit younger and less money to top it off. (Also it would boil the piss of Manure & their followers as a bonus ball). Get your skates on Berta!
Bruno and Koné are both top draw but different sorts of players. Bruno is more of an offensive threat than Koné, who is not much of an assist or big-chance creator as he plays deeper, but scores over the Brazilian in passing to progress the ball up the pitch and the ‘invisible wall’ aspects of being a DM. In many ways, comparing the two is like comparing Rice and Zubimendi. Blessed would be the team that could have both. Which we would be better off signing depends on what qualities Arteta feels he most wants to add.
Here is a snapshot of Bruno’s performance over the past 365 days:
…and of Koné’s:
Many thanks to all involved in the main piece – and drinks. I’ve been reading bit by bit but my desire to reduce work seems to be running in inverse proportion to my success at achieving it. On that vaguely mathematical theme I’m wondering whether to display my ignorance by admitting I don’t understand the above illustrations …. I would have to say Bruno looks an incredibly industrious player having achieved over 400% of whatever he was doing in his playing time . Those illustrations look like pie charts and I thought Rooney had eaten 100% of them years ago … 🤷♂️
Please explain with your kind words, Ned – as my daughter says to the kids with
behavioural problems she works with – if you can be bothered at all. I’m very aware that maths has never been my interest or strong point.
Very sad news that Dermot Murnaghan , massive Gooner and someone who was great company has died today from prostate cancer . C100 and I appreciate how lucky we were especially as Dermot was a very fit men in his late 60s. Dermot sat in Club Level and had attended the title parade but had admitted to me that his treatment was not going too well . He was keen on the idea of an Arsenal dining club to raise funds for Willow and had agreed to be the main interviewer . Sadly that won’t happen and Guinness sales are liable to take a serious hit
RIP mate . God bless you
On a very sad day I heard this when buying my paper in a Norfolk newsagent this morning
Man: Well I never expected to hear the name Ann Widdecombe in connection with a grisly murder
Woman: Well all I can say is that it made a pleasant change from all that World Cup football on the television. It’s driving me mad .
Ann figured in Goonerholic a long time ago as she was patron of a charity my wife supported and her name came up in a discussion with Holic who was most amused to see her figuring in discussions in the drinks ! It will be back in the archives somewhere. RIP Ann too. I don’t think she was a Gooner
Trev@43: They are spider charts. Rooney did indeed eat all the pie charts, then the doughnut charts and then bellied up to the bar charts.
Spider charts highlight a player’s statistical strengths and weaknesses compared to similar players (defined as positional peers in similar leagues). A player’s stats on a host of measures (from goals scored to defensive tackles won) from their matches in the past 365 days are adjusted for total minutes played (so everyone is compared on a per 90 minutes basis), and then placed in a percentile ranking, which is not a ranking by raw scores but by the percentage of all the scores for that measure that are less than that player’s score.
For example, Bruno’s 90% ranking for goals means he scored more goals than 90% of players in his position in similar leagues, whereas Koné’s 30% means he scored more goals than only 30% of them; put another way, only 10% of midfielders scored more goals than Bruno but 70% scored more than Koné.
If you ever watch an Adam Clery video where he illustrates a player’s strengths and weaknesses with an image that shows a stack of green, orange and red horizontal bars, those are percentile rankings.
The spider chart just takes half a dozen of the most interesting/relevant/comparable percentile rankings and puts them on a single chart as a snapshot.
Ah, thanks Ned.
I didn’t recognise them as spider charts. I’ve not come across spider charts before so I had no idea what they were comparing the players with.
Revelatory piece in the FT about FIFA’s ‘independent’ disciplinary committee, the one that suspended Balogun’s red card.
https://www.ft.com/content/2f15c24e-4284-42b6-a1d1-834fad62f8bc
For those without access, the first two paragraphs pretty much tell you all you need to know:
Fifa’s 18-person disciplinary committee has a deep bench, including a Tongan nobleman, a Togolese colonel and the boss of a food-to-lighting conglomerate based in Trinidad and Tobago.
Yet the committee’s last 110 published decisions were made by just one person, with the chair — former Emirati lawmaker Mohammad Al Kamali — allowed to make rulings alone or delegate that power to someone else. Not all decisions are made public.
Ned@48- sounds like some kind of star chamber of evil Bond villains. A Togolese colonel? An Emirati “lawmaker”? What could possibly go wrong?
Sneaks through the defence – BANG!
I wonder if Arsene ever considers he is being used to dignify FIFA’s image ? He is very much at odds with most of the people who run it in terms of ethics and standing in the game
Does he think he is furthering the missionary work done by FIFA in his role
Well in Bath
May Harry Kane be as alert tonight
It looks like Madueke is starting as is Rice
Well in for the half-ton, Bath.
TTG@51: In the few glimpses of him I’ve had on TV during the World Cup, he doesn’t look particularly comfortable with the company he is keeping, but equally, he has never struck me as the sort of person who’d work at FIFA if he didn’t want to. But who knows? Perhaps he can self-silo and not worry about the rest. He is, no doubt, handsomely remunerated by FIFA — who there isn’t? — but still seems to make most of his money, if the reports in the public prints are to be believed, from his media work and business ventures, including his wine business and sports technology company.
Togolese colonel – Emmanuel Adebayor: boss of a conglomerate based in Trinidad and Tobago – Jack (?) Warner, surely not – the old crook who made an absolute fortune out of World Cup broadcasting rights – please correct if I’ve made some minor errors with the name – I’m confused between Jack Walker and Jack Warner, but one of them made multimillions out of WC rights – bought them all for a few hundred thousand and sold them for millions.
The quarter final showed what an excellent player a fit Martin Odegaard is. He played really well for Norway
Thanks Ned @48, about what you’d expect from FIFA. Mr Al Kamali declined to answer
any questions from the BBC about the process followed in the Balogun case.
It seems AW was sitting with Cesc at the England, or so I saw in a photo one of
my friends sent me.
@45 TTG
I searched Ann Widdecombe after reading your post and was directed to
a mention in CER’s match report of the C130y game from 2022.
And there in the drinks was a post from you mentioning we should sign
a midfielder from Lyon by the name of Guimaraes! A tip of the hat to your
ball sir!
your crystal ball I meant rather than either of your testicles of course!
An unfortunate word to omit that 😂
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