I celebrate a BIG birthday next year and I have begun to realise that I have been following Arsenal for sixty three years. Reflecting on this it staggers me how much the experience of following a club has changed. We are all familiar with the change in player lifestyles (I remember my father being very upset when he encountered a clearly penniless Jimmy Logie when we were en route to an Arsenal game). The game is fundamentally different in almost every respect from the one many readers of this blog fell in love with as young whippersnappers.
Perhaps the biggest change of all lies in the scrutiny and analysis that we see carried out routinely in the game now. Remembering back to my early days as a Gooner (not a term in use then!) it is salutary to think about how little you might be aware of what happened in the away games that you were unable to attend. I would be sent down to the newsagents to get the results edition which would often have the late scorers in the Stop Press. There was no televised football and often truncated accounts in the Sunday and Monday papers…..and that was it. No online analysis, no OPTA stats, no Sky Sports or Match of the Day or blogs or player ratings proliferating after the game. With this reduced scrutiny and massively reduced noise around the game there was inevitably less pressure. Timeframes were more protracted for struggling managers and off-form players. The painful demise of Billy Wright in 1966 was a very savage moment in Arsenal’s history yet it was played out in a much milder way (in most respects) than the end of Unai Emery’s tenure.
So an examination of Mikel Arteta’s first six weeks in charge of Arsenal and what the immediate future might bring for him and the club is , in a sense, ridiculously premature and inappropriate but at the same time it is interesting to reflect on how things have changed and how the club has developed during his very short period in charge. I claim this because I am already reading wildly differing views on social media about the success (or otherwise- and there is plenty of otherwise) of Arteta as manager.
My intention in this brief assessment will be to look at what he has altered …and not altered… and what he will have to do in the longer term to restore our fortunes. One key point is that he signed a three and a half year contract which is a considerable increase on the duration of the two year contract given to Emery. That suggests a considerable investment of faith in Arteta and an acknowledgment by the Arsenal management that he will need time (and presumably resources) to turn the club around. The decline in the second season under Emery, after an ultimately disappointing but not unpromising first season, left the club in a sorry state and things escalated very quickly.
So in his first six weeks Arteta’s first challenge has been to stabilise the club and impose a style of play that maximises the talents we currently have at our disposal. He has overseen 9 games,7 in the league (won 1, drawn 5 and lost 1) and 2 in the Cup (both won). The draw component might be frustrating but 4 have been away and in 2 of them we have been reduced to 10 men, in the Chelsea game coming back from a goal down twice, at a ground which is not a happy hunting-ground for us. While only one game, the United home victory could be described in anything like wildly enthusiastic terms I have watched all of the games he has overseen. I sense the imposition of a much more structured style which leaves us much less vulnerable defensively (contrast that with the chaos of the home draw with Southampton) although we seem to find it difficult to sustain a high press for ninety minutes. No game illustrated this better than the Chelsea defeat at home where we had been utterly dominant in the first half, led early but fell away significantly and gave up two goals in the last ten minutes.
Artetaball is a high-energy pressing game with emphasis on ball – retention (playing out from the back is a key feature). Attacking down the flanks via the fullbacks is integral with an attempt to overload on the wings but as one full back advances we see a more rigid system of cover operating with Maitland-Niles moving across if we advance on the left and Xhaka settling into a more defensive quarterback role on the left enabling Kolasinac and Saka to get forward to exciting effect . In short we are defending much better but are nowhere near as dangerous in an attacking sense as a team with the forward talent we have should be.
It is amazing to speculate what some fans believe a new manager should be capable of doing. I wasn’t looking for a quick fix but a fundamental reset. That takes time and I believe it is shaping nicely. We’ve drawn too many games but we’ve had terrible luck with injuries, those couple of red cards and we are trying to eradicate several months of the very bad habits we had fallen into. Compare our current form with our performances against Sheffield United, Brighton and Eintracht Frankfurt.
2019-20 has been a bit of a Groundhog Day season if you can extend a day into a season. It certainly feels like it. Change will be incremental not dramatic and I think I prefer it that way because for it to be otherwise would suggest the players were deliberately playing below their natural level and I would find that utterly unacceptable. At least we can believe that the reason for their mediocrity this season has been a combination of coaching deficiencies and individual performance blips rather than a can’t be arsed attitude. We also lack sustained quality in some areas.
For me our priority this season has to be the Europa League as qualification for the Champions League via the League looks unlikely although tantalisingly it remains just within reach. It would be exciting to have a tilt at Wembley in the FA Cup too but a salutary concern is that we are still only seven points off the relegation zone despite a mid-table position. Alleviating that concern as soon as possible would help us all sleep more easily.
But what might lie beyond this season, especially if we aren’t able to secure European let alone Champions League football? Manchester United and Chelsea have survived similar fates in the past but they are not owned by Stan Kroenke! Our options for next season in terms of building the side would be restricted, but by the same token Arsenal still remains a highly attractive destination for good players just not perhaps the world-class players we might have aspired to in the past.
We will need to be pragmatic, imaginative in our scouting and prioritise the absolutely key areas of the team. That means that if they are fit we have adequate goalkeepers, full-backs and with Saliba joining we may not need to strengthen too much at centre back if Marí settles in well and Luiz continues his improvement under Arteta.
For me it is time to reshape the midfield. Creatively we have struggled this season, the recent statistics on Ozil’s lamentable away form underlining perhaps our greatest need. I think it is time to jettison Ozil (perhaps for Grealish?), to sell Xhaka to gain more mobility in midfield and to hope that we note a continued improvement from Guendouzi, Torreira and the returning Smith- Rowe.
Whilst underwhelmed by Pepe who appears a one-trick pony, it is at least a dynamic and explosive trick and his deadball delivery is excellent. We have quality out wide in Saka and Nelson but we also need to rethink our striking options. Neither Aubameyang or Lacazette is in the first flush of youth and hard though it may be to do it, the sale of both might refinance our teambuilding especially if Martinelli can assume the mantle of striker in the way he has this season. West Ham’s recent purchase of young Bowen was an interesting one. He is a goal machine who will thrive in the Premier League (but perhaps not there). We may find ourselves fishing in a less than elite pool of strikers but we hope Nketiah can step up to the mark and as with almost every position our ability to spot uncut ( but almost ready) gems who can be transformed by an exceptional coach is the hope that we cling to. I am relatively positive about the off-field team who have tidied up most of the mess Gazidis left behind.
Arsenal fans are going to require patience, intelligence and a degree of faith, exactly the sort of qualities I associate with Goonerholics! My faith in Arteta is strongly grounded but he will need the support of quality scouting and a management team that give him as much financial support as is feasible given our relatively straitened circumstances. I hope the progress we make will quieten the inane banter on social media. But that is very hard to envisage in these bizarre times we live in.
Thirst.
Now to quench it with a good read!
An excellent review of Arteta’s early progress and a very good read too. I agree with your analysis and your plans for the next window. IF the Daily Heil can be believed, though as pointed out elsewhere without direct quotes or named sources, MA8 aims to make the acquisition of a ‘number 10’, ‘number 8’ and centre back his early in the summer transfer window.
An excellent read, TTG.
I admire your optimism, which I share. I believe I join you in sincerely hoping that our optimism is well-founded and that Arteta is afforded sufficient time for his vision to bloom. I’m reasonably sure of the patience of the local barflies, but there are an awful lot of, err, shit-stirrers out there, and I fear that many who claim to be Arsenal fans are willing, and some eager, to be stirred.
The best way for Mikel to earn the time he needs is for the team to put together a run of wins. That’s a very difficult trick to pull off during a gap in the fixture list, but looking a little further forward, home games with Newcastle United and Everton and a double-header against Olympiakos offer an opportunity that the team we wish we were supporting would grasp firmly. Here’s hoping that the Arsenal of February 2020 is indeed, that team.
COYG
A killer first two paragraphs from the days when Dixon of Dock Green drew 20 million viewers followed by an erudite and forensic analysis of our Catalan’s early days. A masterclass by the artist formerly known as Thunder T, this article must be reprised when we have a much wider audience. Just the ticket after my first day glowing in the Egyptian sun.
Oops! Philip Schofield isn’t the only person to come out of the closet today, Alan!
CM100, I hope that you had lashings of Factor 50 on that pale northern skin, CM100.
No, I am Spartacus.
Pangloss @ 7, 🤣
Bathgooner. I am not from the north, unlike your good self. I am from London. Temperature today was a very pleasant 25 degrees. Mrs Countryman advised that factor 20 was sufficient. I certainly have a nice glow as I take my light, preprandial, whisky and water.
Great work, TTG, and a very enjoyable companion to my morning cuppa in the California sunshine where I am visiting my father whose age if it were revealed would leave you feeling very young indeed!
Arteta has given us that complete reset, and despite the plethora of draws we have seen, we have a much more positive approach with players tackling all over the field. The feel-good factor is on the way back. Confidence in Arteta.
I find myself combined to bed in the Cotswolds and much envying those in warmer climes but very grateful for your kind feedback ( whoever you are ) .Alan / Pangloss is exactly right about the shit-stirrers it is had to look at the comments section of most Arsenal blogs as they are a litany of insults and aggressive intent towards each other .
Referring back to our mate and mentor we have managed to preserve a sense of proportion and decency in our dealings which I know he would approve of. Our initiative taken just a few days after Arteta assumed control to keep a blog going is one that I feel delighted by. The range of articles so far and the intelligent and collegiate nature of the comments make this a very nice place to be…if you can’t be in Egypt with Mrs. Countryman 😃😃😃
palangloss? who hangs out at the palandrome? but only when vacationing in italy?
ttg, well said, and you made me go look up jimmy logie…68 goals from the midfield in 269 games (or so), plus two titles with the arsenal. sad he ended up at a newsagents on picadilly circus, and then peniless.
and we could use him in midfield, too. agreed we need a 10 and an 8, how about cesc redux and another nasri, though the former with a bit more of the bastard in him and the latter with less of a weak chin and drug need. grealish ticks a couple boxes, but i wonder if we will see him with the step up if he were to arrive timely. i like the idea of willock and esr stepping up and into the positions; esr could be a #8 or a #10, perhaps. joe’s a ramsey-like player more than mesut, but if he develops those late runs into the box they could aid in us getting wins from draws.
i think pepe gets too much stick. yes, he’s not come on gangbusters since he arrived, but given the uncertainty he’s been dropped into i can’t imagine he’ll get any worse. he’s more than a one-trick pony: he has not only the freekicks (oh, yes, as i got to see with you), but is our best dribbler and certainly has the stickiest feet we’ve seen since beloved santi. (and maybe santi is someone we ought to think to bring back for a year contract if we get rid of ozil.) i’d hope pepe is given time to adjust to the speed and physicality of the prem, and that slings and arrows are directed elsewhere until he’s had time to prove himself, or to really show his failings.
i suppose the same could be said of arteta, in fact, bringing us back to center.
some music for egypt, c1000…all sorts of mosaic and pharaonic connectivities. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KeC68qpIq6s
TTG – sorry to hear you are under the weather. I hope you recover soon. I have shared your comment with Mrs Countryman who has declared you to be an old smoothy. I’m not sure if the pink in her cheeks is from the sun, the wine or your comments. Probably a combo of all three!
Scruz – top stuff!
Being a half glass three quarters full kind of fellow myself, I agree with pretty much all of that, TTG. I suspect the fact that you didn’t mention Saka, Willock and Maitland-Miles in despatches was for fear of a breach of your self imposed 1600 word constraint. I know all three were close to the front of your mind as talents who will have an important role to play in ensuring that Arteta achieves the vision state he aspires to.
From day one i’ve had no expectation of a top four finish this season. My hopes have been threefold:
1. Stop the rot that had overwhelmed everything Arsenal and stave off the very real threat of relegation that Emery’s tenure had introduced.
2. Establish a clear game plan which the players buy into, wherein they understand their individual roles and commit to a level of collective endeavour.
3. Lay the foundations for top 4 competitiveness next season, comprehending squad enhancement (keep the winners and jettison the losers).
I’m very pleased with what I’ve seen so far. I’ve never felt that the squad is horribly deficient (whereas I grew to believe that Unai was) but, no doubt, there is scope for improvement, particularly in the areas you highlight..
“Evening all” nod to Countryman’s Sergeant George Dixon mention. I never took to that bloke although I quite liked the show. ‘Call the Midwife’ now takes me back down through many of those same years gone down.
Blood beautiful day for golf today. I could/should have worn my shorts.
C100
I’m delighted to bring a little bit of pink to Mrs Countryman ‘s cheeks and wish I were an old smooths. I tend to only conform to the ‘old’ bit. Thankyou for your good wishes – a fierce Indian meal has sent me packing. Another sign of advancing age .
Scruz
Some great insights . Re Logie his pitch was not a newsagents in Piccadilly Circus but the steps of Eros selling the evening papers. Dad rated him marginally behind Brady and Eastham and a little further still behind Alex James but then he regarded James as almost a deity . My comments on Pepe were in the hope he can develop his game after the first season. I would have been writing something similar about Bobby Pires in 2001 after his first season and he certainly stepped up to be one of the finest attacking players I’ve ever seen
Btm
Your three point plan is spot on and I think very capable of being achieved with Arteta at the helm . All three of the lads you mention are very promising. I think Saka has the highest ceiling but they are all very much part of the plan.
As for George Dixon he never had the pace or durability of Lee Dixon and was a closet Marshman like his creator Lord Willis.
In a nod to him I will close with a ‘ jaunty ‘ evening all’ 👮♂️
Apologies please substitute Arteta for Saka in the last drinks. [Done, says the mystery editor.] Young Saka has much to prove on the field first .
feel better, ttg. have some of auntie beecham’s finest and you’ll rest easy. of course, c1000 is working some of egypt’s beach’ams finest, pink tint and all. btm, c1000’s probably in shorts, too, nodding in the general agreement with your 3-point plan (if he’s not nodding off from too much beach’ams…).
ttg, as for logie, better correct his wikipedia entry, then!
Scruz, shorts for daytime, but long trousers for dinner. There is a code old boy.
of course there is. white linen, i expect, for both. and white leather brogues, or greek fisherman sandals. 🙂
TTG, I’m sorry to hear that you’ve succumbed to Delhi belly in the Cotswolds. Better out than in, sir. Get well soon.
A good summation of where we are under Mikel Arteta, TTG. He has started the reset, it looks promising at this early stage, and your view that repopulating our midfield will be the next key part of the project is correct to my mind. Like you, I hope he gets the time to complete what will be a not inconsiderable task.
As you allude, he will get that from the club. However, he will especially need the patience of supporters. The expectation today is of insta-success. We know how, thanks to social media, fans can turn on a sixpence (you will remember those) from arse-kissing to arse-kicking. In that vein, we should remind ourselves that Emery was well-received when he first arrived, only to end up being booted out the door to the sound of the baying masses.
Older Gooners will also remember that in the past the trophy-winning seasons tended to be interspersed with lengthy periods of mid-table mediocrity; the first half of the Wenger era was an aberration in that regard. Again, patience will be needed. It is also worth pointing out to the impatient that Herbert Chapman and Arsene Wenger both lost a higher number of their first nine games than Arteta did.
On a historical note, your mention of the Billy Wright era reminds that the first edition of Match of the Day was in 1964, featuring our trip to Anfield as it happened. We lost 3-2. Perhaps the arrival of televised football, albeit not live, marked the day when the game became fundamentally different. Maybe it was the abolition of the maximum wage in 1961.
C100@4: Is Arteta not Basque rather than Catalan? He was born in San Sebastian, which is in the Basque country, his given (Mikel) and family names (Arteta Amatriain) sound more Basque than Catalan.
Hope you are shot of your Delhi belly soon, TTG.
a lovely article about mikel’s youth and his abiding friendship with xabi alonso. both basque.
Many thanks TTG for a very thoughtful & accurate summary of where we are at this moment. I, along with many members of this fine establishment, believe MA8 has already achieved his first task – stopping the ship sinking any lower. In his short time at the helm the team has already changed direction as his charts a safe passage through stormy waters. We indeed have some bright young talents ready to establish a new era at the NHOF & have every confidence that our new head coach will be leading them forward for many years to come.
Times have certainly changed from when I first became a regular visitor to Highbury in the 1950s. The clock end had no roof whatsoever and we were open to the elements. It was normal for men to work 5 1/2 day weeks ( inc Saturday mornings ) and many would come straight to the match still dressed in their work clothes – suit, collared shirt & tie, even an odd bowler hat could be spotted. The media coverage was minimal with saturday’s results published in the “stop press” section of special pink editions of the London evening papers. Vendors would be on the streets of London selling these less than an hour after the matches ended ( all matches 3 pm kick offs without exception). No other media coverage prevailed.
You referred to the Billy Wright era – it was an unmitigated disaster, He was England’s most capped player at the time ( 105 caps when the amount of internationals was much lower ) and presumed ideal to be a great manager. Sadly, like many others of similar ilk, he never made the grade from top captain to manager. Things got so bad after a few years of dire football & results ( think Emery ) I joined a post match mass protest outside the famed marble halls entrance of the east stand. It was serious enough for the police on horses to aggressively disperse the crowd. Not soon after Wright was given the tin tack and the left field appointment of the club’s physiotherapist Bertie Mee was made – the rest is history.
Hope you are recovering well from Ganghi’s revenge TTG.
A code? Why didn’t anybody tell me?
(Imagines Mr. and Mrs. Countryman after several hours in the sun with nothing stronger than SPF20 beginning to resemble Antony and Cleopatra.)
the pharaonic code, bt8, of course!
A cracking piece TTG.
Well thought through and
succinctly put.
Over the next 6 weeks (as the game
away at Man City has been put back)
we have 3 games in a row at home
in the PL before the away trips
to Brighton and Southampton.
With the cup games against
Olympiakos and Portsmouth
that will take us through to
the end of March.
We could either string a few wins
together move up the league and
be through in both cups or slip
further down the league and be
out both cups.
Oh and of course I completely
agree that people having a dig
at Arteta already is just weird.
CM100 @9, I recognise that as a Laaandinnah, norrrfff means the countryside immediately north of the ‘Midlands’ containing urban conurbations that include Hull, Leeds, Mankchester, Burnley, Bolton and Liverpoo. Whilst I recognise that you have no wish to be associated with such cess pits, my use of the term northern would have more clearly referred to your ancestral gifts should I perhaps have followed it with the recently somewhat politicised and inaccurately cited term ‘European’ to clarify my observation that your fair complexion might render you susceptible to skin damage from even the winter sun in the climes you currently frequent, no doubt divested of your usual garments. At least you’ll make a fair amount of Vitamin D to compensate for the British winter. Enjoy! I recommend Egyptian Stella – a very refreshing drink whilst you toast your dermis and degrade its DNA. 🍻🍻
I think I’ll watch Theo and Iwobi.
Everton and Palace are our rivals
for mid table mediocrity
Uply
Some lovely memories . Times were simpler but your recollection of the end of the Wright era is spot-on . I loved to go to Highbury with my Dad then and saw some great matches but we had to score three to be certain of a point ! I also wonder what happened to Percy Dalton’s Peanuts and whether the seller had to pay admission to see the match ?
NBN
I remember the first Match of the Day . It was on BBC2 which we didn’t receive! That game was a classical performance where we were incisive in attack and chaotic in defence and I think Liverpool got a pen and a lucky late goal. Nothing changes😀
no iwobi?
Iwobi on the bench.
Theo just put a decent cross
for Bernard to give Everton
the lead. Now he’s about to
go off injured after 20 minutes.
I can’t honestly say he was
warmly applauded off by the
Everton faithful.
Reliable only in his unreliability
https://www.jewishlivesproject.com/profiles/percy-dalton
Percy Dalton
The company itself was bought
out by Intersnack, who are
apparently giants in the nut
business, and moved from
their long time home in Bow
to Haverhill. They now make
several new flavours like
sweet chilli and wasabi.
It would seem football is not
the only business to change
a lot since olden times.
I suppose that means Percy
Dalton is just a shell company now
For younger ‘holics who don’t remember when life was in black and white:
https://media.gettyimages.com/photos/percy-daltons-peanut-seller-at-the-dog-track-in-the-east-end-of-picture-id85753391?s=2048×2048
Percy Dalton’s red and white vans could invariably be spotted outside London’s football grounds and dog tracks back then. Percy Dalton himself retired in 1975, with his sons taking over the company. He died in 1983. The company moved out of East London in 2004, relocating to Suffolk. It was sold to KP Nuts in 2009. KP in turn was sold to Intersnack and the Suffolk factory closed in 2013.
http://www.crl.london/a/img/pages/71/4212/0881622337e7c55c3f47520e43b6ca06.jpg
I remember a home game in the 1970s when someone shouted at Liam Brady that ‘if you were playing any deeper, you’d be selling peanuts on the North Bank.’
That peanut has a shapely figure, Ned. Also looks quite tasty although I imagine it may have gone stale by now.
(Sorry for that overly pessimistic last bit.)
Everton’s win against Palace puts them at least temporarily above Manchester United and Wolves, having played one game more. Ancelotti is doing the job he was hired to do, apparently, although Everton’s longer plan must still be up in the air considering his age. Not as old as TTG, mind you. 😉
Next they have staying as high as they are, as well as passing up Sheffield United and Tottenham Shitespurs in their sights. It may be tough for us to get into their general vivitos we don’t start winning soon. Not that finishing 7th or 8th would be that much better than finishing 10th, but it would be a reflection of progress under Arteta, and a confidence builder.
vivitos = vicinity if
(after The spillchucker had it’s way with it)
It’s a bit of a difficult operation, typing on a cellphone in an airport restaurant, where I am only semi-distracted by the German league game they are showing, Schalke 0-0 Paderborn at halftime. Judging by the highlights, American international Weston McKennie had the half’s best chance, with his hard drive tipped over the bar. WM might be one to watch for in the future.
Feistier than Mr Peanut, bt8b.
Schalke are coached by David Wagner, who brought Huddersfield into the Premier League a couple of seasons ago. He looked like a good manager then, and the Germans seem to agree (without knowing really). I would imagine he considers Schalke a step up rather than managing the Terriers in the Championship., and it would be interesting to find out whether Huddersfield today think they did the right thing in giving him the sack when they did.
At first I wasn’t sure whether Wagner was the manager of Schalke or Paderborn, but happily for him he manages Schalke, who are 6th in the table and have one of the largest followings in the country, rather than Paderborn who are fighting relegation, as are Huddersfield one place and four points away from being relegated to the misnamed League One.
Ned, kindest kudos to the particular monk who heads the castle’s photographic archive.
Am I alone in finding that Percy Dalton peanut salesman’s body language and facial expression rather sinister. Maybe I’ve become sensitised by 21st century mores?
ESR mentioned in dispatches as Huddersfield win again today as they claw their way away from the relegation zone. I see also that Joe Willock’s brother, Chris, formerly of this parish before moving to Benfica, is also on loan at Huddersfield and came on as a sub very late on.
bath@50: You can imagine what might happen to you if you didn’t buy a bag…
Matt and Ned
Great work on Percy.
I am slightly concerned that Bt8 seems to find the logo arousing though!
I thought the company was purchased by Kernel Sanders.
I’ll get me coat.
Some of you may not be aware that the nuts were sold still in their shell vis the packaging highlighting the shapely figure. There would be 2 nuts in a shell which you crushed with your fingers to release them. It was a cause of much consternation if you only found one nut in a shell. Colloquially they were known as Monkey Nuts.
The sellers would normally walk around the perimeter of the pitch and with the ground often only half full, it was simple to trot down to the front and make your purchase. If the crowds were very sparse then they would wander though selling their wares.
Their factory was only a couple of miles from the ground so they were a local c9mpany of sorts.
Thanks for the many other interesting peanut related posts above, including OM’s link @39 that I missed earlier, and Uply’s @54.
@51
Huddersfield manager on ESR
“he’s a good kid, we’ve just got
to get him playing with a smile on
his face”
Apparently ESR had the hump in
the dressing room after the game
as he didn’t score.
It seems Chris Willock couldn’t get
a game at WBA in the first half of
the season and so Benfica switched
him to Huddersfield.
Perhaps there isn’t a lot to
smile about in Huddersfield.
Though I’ve never been there
so I may be be doing it a
disservice by implying it’s an
utter shithole.
It’s a wee while since I’ve been to Huddersfield, OM, but my last visit was pleasurable. I have fine memories of an excellent Italian meal and the surrounding Yorkshire countryside is beautiful. The fabric of many of the northern towns is excellent. They were built in times of wealth. Like much of the world, city centres have been hit by the advent of the motor car which litter streets with parked rubber, plastic and steel and the ‘retail apocalypse’. I suspect there are a fair number of charity, bookmaker shops and a plethora of cafes. Funnily enough I was thinking I’d go up there to do the Hebden Bridge walk. I’ll let you know what I find in due course.
I last spent any time in Huddersfield on Election Day in 2015 when I delivered a talk for a charity at…the John Smith’s Stadium where ESR is currently plying his trade . The stadium is shared with the rugby league team and I know the gentleman who was Chairman of the Rugby League club a little. When I mentioned I was visiting Huddersfield he suggested that any time I wanted to see the rugby or football teams I only had to ask but I have yet to take him up on his kind offer.
I wouldn’t describe Huddersfield as a shithole . It has a rich history , some very grand architecture but like a lot of towns that flourished in the Industrial Revolution it has seen better days and it shows . But if ESR benefits from his stay there I shall be delighted
‘Seen better days and it shows’ – a situation not unique to the north of England or UK for that matter. There’s money swilling around to make things better, a more equitable distribution would do a world of good, TTG.
Chris Willock played for WBA’s U-23, scoring four goals in ten starts and mostly playing the full 90. He got bench time in some cup games but not a minute of first-team football — which he has improved by precisely one minute in two games at Huddersfield.
Btm
There is the argument for HS2. It is a lot of money but we will see a redistribution of wealth and economic activity in the UK as a result . Northern outposts have become just that as the country has increasingly become London-centric. But not in football terms !
I’m watching Bayern v Leipzig. Upmecano looks like the dominant CB we need (maybe Mari has filled that slot?) and Werner looks a livewire upfront. Haven’t seen our future number 10 yet.
TTG, I hope you and the Mrs. are both doing better today. A walk in the hills can be a great remedy, if you are up to it.
Hi Bt8
Thankyou for your kind wishes.
We are getting better but we decided to leave the Cotswolds yesterday , when I was up to driving because Storm Chiara was moving in and it has wreaked havoc in Kent. I’ve got a very large dove cote which it blew down and I was surprised that my neighbours’ garden fence has tried to reassemble itself in our garden.
But it has given us an excuse to have a quiet and restful day. The British Winter remains very unpredictable !
glad you and mrs. ttg are better, but i hardly say the neighbor’s fence rearranging itself in your garden could lead to a “quiet and restful day”. 🙂
we’re seeing steady 5 mph winds with 20 mph gusts, which is plenty when you have 150′ trees in your yard…
Must be a winterlull
https://i.ytimg.com/vi/dATZsuPdOnM/maxresdefault.jpg
tumbletumbletumble
@68,
Actual Arsenal-related news appears from beyond the desert sands of Dubai. https://www.dailymail.co.uk/sport/football/article-7988917/Arsenal-stars-head-desert-safari-winter-break-Dubai.html
@69
🙂
For our younger readers Bill &
Ben, the flowerpot men, were
a couple of dubious characters
on a 50s TV series Watch with
Mother, which was aimed primarily
at young children and daytime stoners
I believe. A short skit was enacted
after which younger viewers were asked
to make snap judgments on complex
matters of culpability and justice.
Obviously such judgments would be
far beyond your average pothead so
they just stared blankly.
bt8b: There are a couple of videos and some photos of the team training in the sun in the Emirates on the official site. Mostly fitness stuff and skills exercises that I would imagine most clubs do, but you wouldn’t expect tactical work to be made public.
Just on the Ozil and others criticise
UE and UE criticises some players thing.
Now that I’ve read through what they
actually said I thought that apart from
Leno everyone was quite diplomatic.
Heard far worse slagging off when the
boss leaves at work !
OM@71, that’s the best summary of a BBC programme that I have ever read. 👏👏👏
Bill and Ben spoke incomprehensibly one in a deep voice , one in a squeaky voice a bit like the aforementioned Alan Ball. They would be the subject of widespread concern now with the proximity to a Little Weed , their poor diction and the fact they lounged around all day in flowerpots doing very little . Having said that the slot has probably been taken over by Love Island !
Only one word to be said about Bill and Ben, the Flower Pot men: flobabdob.
OM@73: Emery seems pretty blunt in his interview with France Football: ‘some stars did not have the right attitude and asked for more than they gave’.
A possibly interesting observation by Emery that between his first and second seasons, Koscielny, Cech, Ramsey and Monreal all left the club, leaving the team without leaders.
https://www.francefootball.fr/news/Unai-emery-en-entretien-exclusif-dans-ff-a-paris-j-ai-rate-l-occasion-de-devenir-le-meilleur-entraineur-du-monde/1108294
Ned @76, but was it Bill, or was it Ben?
Ned @77, Thanks for the link but I have no interest whatsoever in what that man says. The extracts are self-serving bullshit. He comes over as weak and venal much as he did in the passport episode when he was coach in Moscow. He should never have got near the Arsenal coaching job. His dig at a new coach’s achievements in his first job trying to clean out the shambles he left shows him up for what he is. A very small man. Contrast that with the silence from his predecessor who, without any doubt, could have made thousands by spilling the beans on the shenanigans that went on behind the scenes at the Arsenal during his final years. Class.
bath@78: What you say about Emery (and AW for that matter) is true. Most of the rest of that Emery interview is concerned with his time at PSG, but the common thread running through it is that everything that went wrong at both clubs was somebody else’s fault, not his.
And it was Ben.
There is far too much space given to self-serving underperformers like Emery. His performance in the first four months of this season was quite awful. I still cringe when I think back to that Southampton game where we made them look like Real Madrid in their pomp and the Frankfurt game which was thankfully his last.
Wenger is not only on a completely different level as a manager he is also a man of great character and integrity who shielded the Board from a lot of criticism by taking flak for many decisions. Chalk and cheese
Flobadobdubdub!
@77 Ned
Funnily enough I did think about
the 4 captains leaving remark
when I read through – my own
thought on reflection was that those
players were all there as the final
quarter of last season disintegrated
and the rot set in.
Probably it was contributory but none
of them wanted to stay and the sad
truth for UE is that by the end almost
no one wanted him to stay – players
or supporters. A very public, complete
and damaging failure.
Winterlull ratio of completeness must have passed 50% by now but I wouldn’t mind being corrected if it is higher.
Winterlull filler: The peripatetic Emmanuel Adebayor, formerly of this parish and who turns 36 in a couple of weeks, has signed for Olimpia Asuncion, Paraguay’s oldest team. Played his last game for us more than a decade ago, in May 2009.
https://www.bbc.com/sport/football/51429039
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