Firstly, apologies for the lateness of this report. My original, very angry report was written and despatched in an hour but seems to have been lost in cyberspace. This will be a different account with less match detail, more reflection and with the benefit of being able to cool down after over twelve hours following the final whistle.
Last night saw what may be a pivotal moment in our season. Wolves began the match two points behind and with clear and realistic designs on at least a European place. They concede very few goals and their record against the better clubs this season is far from shabby. Our team was nearly at full strength although the absence of Tomayisu was exacerbated by the presence of Cedric. To be fair, on the night he was part of a resilient and courageous back four which ultimately morphed to a back five and then to a back nine. ESR began on the bench and our two central midfielders emerged from the naughty step after recent red cards. Leno was an absentee after a positive Covid test.
The first half was competitive, relatively sterile and very even. Neither side was able to impose themselves for any length of time. Arsenal built mainly on the left with Martinelli exhibiting combativeness and clearly increased body strength. Early observations that I made were that Tierney lacks some of the dynamism of previous seasons but none of his commitment which was still admirable and Lacazette is not a satisfactory focal point especially when pushed into the most forward offensive position. He could rarely retain the ball. Few early chances materialised. Partey got lucky when he miscued an attempted clearance which rebounded off Jimenez to Ramsdale. We had two sides with enviable discipline and a coherent shape. Arsenal were effective out of possession with a 4-4-1-1 and worked extremely hard in a high press. Wolves are not high scorers and looked as if they lacked a cutting edge too. Where was a goal to come from?
It took 25 minutes to find out. Arsenal had a left-wing corner blocked, White returned it into the danger area. Lacazette challenged Sa entirely legitimately and the ball fell to Gabriel a yard from goal where he turned the ball home. Despite protests from both players and fans Michael Oliver found no reason to disallow the goal.
Wolves 0 Arsenal 1 – Gabriel 25
Wolves retaliated and Xhaka did exceptionally well to steer a fierce left-wing cross away from Jimenez. Wolves piled in crosses (all game in fact) but our central defenders dealt with them admirably and Ramsdale claimed crosses whenever he could. Shortly before half-time we produced our best move of the match. Saka combined with Ødegaard, showed superb control and pulled the ball back for Lacazette to hit a fierce half-volley, sadly straight at Sa.
Michael Oliver had begun in indulgent mood allowing several bookable tackles to go unpunished but changed tack to book Partey, Saiss and inevitably Xhaka before the interval. Xhaka’s naive shirt pull allowed Neves, arguably the equal of Ward-Prowse with a dead ball, a free kick on the edge of the box on the cusp of the interval. Fortunately, he screwed it wide. We led at the interval after a decent, committed performance.
Half-time – Wolves 0 Arsenal 1
The second half swung into action with play following a similar pattern to the first half. Arsenal pressed effectively, Wolves were able to feed their wingers who put several dangerous crosses into the box but we held firm. We were not at our best as an attacking force largely because Lacazette for all his admirable qualities can’t hold the ball up well enough. He is far more effective dropping deep but that leaves us short in central attacking positions. The tempo of the game increased and then exploded around ten minutes into the second half. Martinelli was piqued by the non-award of a free kick out on the left. He tried to prevent a quick throw (which was actually a foul throw) but didn’t and Oliver played on. Martinelli raced after the substitute Chiquinho and clearly pushed him. To everyone’s surprise the referee decided that these two fouls constituted a red card as both merited a yellow card. I will give my feelings later on the referee’s approach to the game. At refereeing school (if they have one) pedants could pat him on the back for enforcing the letter of the law. But a game poised delicately and with a decent and reasonably controlled cut and thrust was totally disfigured by the sending-off. The worst foul of the game by Neves on Lacazette just before was shown a yellow. Oliver in his best jobsworth mode could have punished it with a red. But he didn’t and Arsenal conspiracy theorists will have their own thoughts about it.
Arsenal had replaced Ødegaard with ESR and brought on the quite admirable Rob Holding, scruz’s best mate, in place of Saka. Shortly thereafter, we saw a great chance to increase the buffer in the scoreline when Lacazette got in on the left but curled a loose shot wide. It was a poor effort and he was ultimately withdrawn for Nketiah. He had run his legs off as he always does but he is not the answer in that position.
Things appeared likely to go pear-shaped very quickly when Xhaka turned the ball into his own net after Jimenez had challenged for a free kick. Thankfully the offside flag was raised and we – and Granit – escaped. The rest of the game was an exercise in Arsenal resilience with Wolves bringing on an extra striker and ESR on occasions trying to dribble the length of the field with no support. Our three centre backs played admirably. Holding made nine clearances in his 19 minutes on the field. Ramsdale made a couple of fine saves, most notably a fine tip over from Saiss and after five added minutes, Michael Oliver had no option but to blow time. It was a great rearguard action with the whole team totally committed and our organisational qualities in defence were amply illustrated on numerous occasions. It is invidious to pick heroes on the night but I was incredibly impressed with Gabriel whose presence and intelligent defending enabled us to repel the amber wave.
Full time – Wolves 0 Arsenal 1
However, this game will be dominated by the debate over the red card. Martin Keown, God bless him, called Oliver a pedant. It was the perfect word. No other team in England would have had a player sent off in those circumstances. The two offences were scarcely violent and any reasonable referee would have been content that a yellow card would suffice for Martinelli. No Wolves fan could surely believe their luck. Referees have a duty to uphold the laws of the game but they need to leaven this with an understanding that it is a spectator sport, a competitive spectacle and before you unbalance a game in that way you need to consider proportionality. Allowing lots of potentially bookable fouls to go unpunished raises the temperature of a game and leads inevitably to flashpoints although the Martinelli situation was a very muted flashpoint. Arsenal’s red card record is nothing to be proud of but it is also ridiculously harsh. They are a team that tackle less than almost anyone in the league. They are paying the ultimate penalty far too often for infringements for which almost all other sides are not being punished. Does anyone believe that a Liverpool, United or City player would have been shown that red card? Arteta’s bemusement at the final whistle was understandable. He has not produced a team of thugs and they are being very harshly dealt with by the wretched PGMOL – an organisation that I contend is not fit for purpose.
But let that grouse not mar a potentially huge victory and a springboard for a real crack at attaining a Champions League place!
Thanks TTG for a fine report.
Mikel Arteta said post match that to give a red card in those circumstances is something he has never seen before and, to do it, the referee had to be “very, very willing.”
Almost as willing as he appeared, I think, to give Xhaka a red card in lightning fast fashion for the waist high foot that Jota ran into, from the side, a couple of weeks ago.
The standard of refereeing and VAR – one and the same thing – is regularly ruining games, amplifying bias, and completely spoiling fans enjoyment of trying to watch their teams.
We have deserved some of our red cards for silly and petulant reactions to situations but we are not a dirty side. The red and yellow card statistics against us bear no relation to reality.
A cool-headed assessment, TTG. We saw the same game (although I missed the second goal at full-time :).
And what you and Trev say about the refereeing.
One goal – Three points
and two SSYs in one nanosecond
That’s style
actually only one SSY
I’m confused
Thanks for an excellent report TTG, especially as you had to write it twice! My son and I were at the game last night and what a thriller it proved to be. I managed to find someone’s drive to park on, an easy 10 minute walk to the stadium, for just £6.60. As a consequence, rather than eat in the city, we decided to take a risk on stadium catering. Well that proved to be an excellent decision, as Molineaux is surrounded by stalls selling high quality stuff. In particular they must like their roasts in Wolverhampton, because every other stall was selling roast pork roll with apple sauce, stuffing and chips. Compared to say, the hockey puck burgers at West Brom earlier this season, this was top class scran.
Into the stadium as the doors opened and a chance for a beer with Clockendrider and 21st Century Gooner, reprising their trip to Anfield. We started off chatting easily, but soon couldn’t hear ourselves as the volume in the concourse went up and up. Songs galore, beer flying, there’s an energy to an away crowd that just isn’t there at home, probably due to the supporters being much younger. It made for a great pre match atmosphere.
At Wolves, they put the away support all along one side, lower tier. We had 3000 fans but were spread long and thin. We had the standard Molineaux light show then their song (Hi ho, Wolverhampton) and we were off.
We struggled a bit in the first 15, but then got more and more into the match as the half progressed. Martinelli was making great breaks and was chopped down a time or two. I didn’t celebrate our goal because I thought it would be chalked off, although I had an unclear view. As it became clear that the goal stood cue belated joy.
We played well after this. Laca was working hard as he always does, but he missed three good chances. Either he hits a hot streak soon or he’ll have to be benched. He also can’t keep up with Martinelli when he breaks.
The Martinelli red card has been well described above and was on the other side to us, so I’ll say no more, other to say that it totally changed the game. Saka was hooked for Holding, a sub which caused grumbling all around us. In hindsight it proved to be brilliant tactically. We were planning to hold on, George Graham style, for the last 25 minutes. Wolves kept pumping in crosses and either Rob Holding, Ben White or Gabriel just headed them away. The back five were excellent in this period, as was Ramsdale. Wolves missed Traore, sold in January, who would have given us different problems, as he’s done before.
As you know, we held on. It wasn’t pretty, it was tense but my word when the final whistle went everybody in the away support went ballistic. The team came over and accepted our ecstatic applause and then we walked out through that same concourse to deafening chants of one nil to the Arsenal.
This was such an important game and all Gooners knew it. Some away games we get thumped (City). Some away games we thump them (Norwich). But the games that give you the biggest buzz is when we overcome adversity and win like last night. One nil to the Arsenal indeed.
Thanks for your away report, C100, as atmospheric as ever. The support for the team came through loud and clear on the stream I was watching, especially in the final back-to-the-wall 25 minutes. Terrific stuff.
What C100 says above. A great day/night out and the away support was just jumping.
Illuminating Twitter thread from Swiss Ramble about our recruitment policy following Auba’s release.
The takeaways are that it is not that unusual for top six clubs to lose money on player sales with only two generating gains in the last five years. However, our loss was the second largest and we can ill afford to lose so much money on player trading while others with similar losses can. That, in Swiss Ramble’s judgement, has impaired our ability to
compete.
Good stuff, TTG, cheers! Huge result and we ware now getting results while not playing so well in spite of shit refereeing rather than not getting results and blaming it on shit refereeing. Which hints at better days being back.
Heh, good point Ned@2. I’m guessing typing a second report warranted that second goal.
An excellent match report, TTG with the added perspective of one with experience making judgements with a balanced overview rather than with pedantic venom. Thanks also C100 for adding the eye witnessed or should that be ear deafened atmosphere.
Nothing more to be said. A performance that would have graced our famous backfour.
Some of that atmosphere ..
second goal? what second goal? (sorted, says one of the techies.)
it’s a shame your first was lost in the ether, TTG. but cooler heads do prevail, and it’s a fine report. i’m personally happy capitola rob did so well, but it was an admirable team effort to get the win. i’m hoping my fingers will heal after nearly chewing them off the last 25 minutes!
c100, evocative as hell @5 above. glad you and the lad got to see it live (and continue the tradition of hooking up with fellow bar denizens pre- or post-match).
Excellent match reports TTG! And as atmospheric away day recapitulation as ever by Countryman.
The entire team defended magnificently when needed. Even Cedric was quite good yesterday and handled his limitations cleverly. Clean sheets become a habit as the defensive unit grows in their mutual trust in each other.
Laca at his peak even for us scores at least a couple of goals yesterday, and let us hope he finds some semblance of form in the penalty box for the remaining matches. I had hoped to see Pépé — who had returned from AFCON with a confidence boost — with a cameo appearance yesterday, but that refereeing megalomania put an end to that possibility. He is now the best finisher in the squad in and around the penalty box, and he will be needed to chip in if we are to sustain the top 4 challenge.
Arteta said he will have a discussion with the match officials about some of the decisions. I think it is time to express our concern as no team can really continue to suffer from so much asymmetry in decision making and still remain optimistic.
Thanks for the comments so far .
Doing instaneous reports a la Goonerholic is a good way to reflect the emotions you feel at the time of the match . The comments enable you to reflect on the issues the game generated
I was very angry last night . Delighted that we won but apoplectic that a referee could exercise such bias against us. Frankly although time has passed I still am . I hate silly conspiracies and for instance the idea that dear old Xhaka gets discriminated against is anathema to me . But last night we saw a senior referee decide to punish Arsenal when the appropriate decision was to give a yellow and warn an over enthusiastic player .
Red cards and decisions on fouls for penalties are getting increasingly stupid and this radically affects my love for the game .There is a natural sense of justice that prevails in ordinary fans and Oliver crossed that line last night. He chose to send someone off when he could have avoided that decision and why he did it represents a very interesting question . Is there really institutional bias against Arsenal ( and if so why?) or is there a culture developing in football which unconsciously favours certain teams because of their affiliations , media profile or the personalities of their managers and fans. ? I can’t help but feel that the latter situation is applying . Arsenal are an easy mark to penalise. They gets lots of red cards. Have some more- why because giving them to you enables us to look like we are imposing a strict regime on miscreants.
Certainly a balanced referee who cared for the spirit of the game would not have done what Oliver did last night. His decision was technically justifiable but wildly at odds with what the game is all about. Sadly we have lots of inadequate referees who will follow his path out of self-preservation.
Great report from C100. Our away supporters are magnificent
Thanks for comments all on my musings on an away day. Thus far this year, we’ve seen (from the games I’ve been at) the alpha (Norwich, Leicester) and the omega (Forest, City). But I think I enjoyed yesterday most of all. When the team pulls it out of the fire, at a ground we’ve been second best at for the last few years, and the fans and the team are as one, that’s brilliant. The vocal support went up 50% after Gabi was sent off. The broad grins at the end were unanimous. From teenagers to pensioners like me, we were united in what was a great and gritty victory. Everyone was punching the air and enjoying the moment. A truly great night. Delighted that CER and 21CG were there to enjoy it. I love live football, and know that I am privileged to experience it.
An excellently readable and fair report, TTG and thanks also for your drink 14 that restored some of the venom that was presumably lost in the ether. Thanks also to c100 for capturing the Molineux moment so well. Almost as if we were there. 🙏
… and COYG!!!
I think this is about right
Four red cards in our last six games. Things can only get better from here.
…. Can’t they?
As Blogs described Michael Oliver’s performance, “There was 100% desire to show a red card, and 0% common sense applied.”
C100, usual good stuff from behind enemy lines. Our away support is something else.👍🏻
More common sense from Keenos at She Wore:
Martinelli red is “acceptable” if referees apply the laws consistently – no more “that’s your last chance, next one and you’re off”
Manchester United double PR fun today with one story about De Gea saying the club is “cursed”(!); and another story that the club is threatening to ban season ticket holders who do not show up for at least 10 home league games next season.
You can’t really blame those season ticket holders though. Who would want to watch a club that’s actually cursed?
TTG@14: To your point, when Martinelli, on the break, was body checked by Kilman early in the game to prevent him getting a clear run at goal, if anything a more egregious foul than the one that got Martinelli his second yellow, certainly no less, Oliver found it completely appropriate to keep his yellow card in his pocket.
ned, i wondered about that one.
After some fine comments above, I wanted to add my two cents. The issue I have with the red card is that Martinelli does not know he playing on a yellow. And yes, we have several idiots (Xhaka, Partey, etc.) who continue to commit stupid fouls even when they know they have a yellow. But I would like to think that Martinelli would have reconsidered is aggressive play seconds after having received a yellow, if he had known he was on a yellow. We see refs stop play and warn players that if they commit another foul they are going to get a yellow, and Oliver could have stopped play either after the first yellow, or after the next foul and warned Martinelli that another foul will result in a second yellow. I think Oliver really screwed that decision.
Great report, TTG.
I wrote a paper in law school arguing for a sin-bin approach to officiating. One of my justifications was referees were loathe to give a red or a second yellow because of the drastic imbalancing effects on the game (backed by statistical analysis), and, as a result, more technical players were being endangered.
Well, PGMOL has put paid to that idea, as they give Arsenal players their marching orders more efficiently than Putin himself.🙄
I say, screw ‘em. We are The Arsenal, and our lads are gonna take 4th place…it’ll just be 11v15. Easy peasy.
PGMOLMBD
The red card was pathetic.
I used to think that Oliver was a half-decent ref but my mind is now irrevocably changed.
He’s as shite as the rest of them.
UTA.
I sort of think Oliver got it right but the double yellow was against the spirit of the game. The first one he could have let go but had made his mind up in the split second of giving advantage that he’d come back and book him, then when the second one was a definite booking he still proceeded with the first card.
He got it right by the letter of the laws but he didn’t act in the best interests of the game he was reffing.
As for Martinelli not knowing he’d be booked for both challenges that’s not a defence. We see players get second yellows all the time when they DO know, so ignorance of a card coming is not something he can use to justify the second yellow. The first yellow, trying to stop a throw in, was just ridiculous, the second was silly but the guy was on the charge and had to be stopped. The second one is almost what you’d call a clever foul, the issue is he’d already twatted himself with the push.
Cynic@28: Your first sentence makes a fair point. Again, it comes back to consistency.
Yet if refs always went by the letter of the law most Premiership games would end up as seven-a-sida games.
I just saw the referee take out his yellow card upon seeing Harry Maguire’s foul, hold it in his hand for a couple of seconds, then hear Jesse Lingard say something, and turn around and book Lingard for dissent but not book Maguire. Unbelievable.
Great point for Southampton at the old toilet, and a great two points for Arsenal in the bargain.
Two points for Arsenal on United that is. Our match against Southampton is gonna be one to watch though.
Lonestar@26: In 2017, the IAFB laid out guidelines for a couple of sin-bin schemes of punishments that could be used in youth, veterans and grassroots football.
Starts on page 22 of https://downloads.theifab.com/downloads/laws-of-the-game-2021-22?l=en.
They envisage 10-minute temporary dismissals for either some or all yellow card offences with teams prevented from immediately making up the numbers by barring substitution for the player for the duration of the temporary dismissal.
Two temporary dismissals would mean the player took no further part in the match; one version allows for the player to be substituted after the second sin-bin period had been served if the team still had substitutions available; the other version would not. But there would be no further suspension as incurred with a red card.
Thus the proposed hierarchy of yellow card sanctions for a player would be: first offence, caution; second offence, temporary dismissal; third offence, either a straight or a substitutable dismissal depending on the scheme adopted.
Such an arrangement would put in some cushion against two minor infringements turning into a red card and a one-match ban (even with Oliver at his most pedantic, it would have meant Martinelli would just have ended up cooling his heels for 10 mins, which feels like the appropriate punishment for his offences), but would also add another layer of potential controversy around refs’ implementation. It also raises some interesting questions about what teams would do if their keeper got a temporary dismissal, but that might stop keepers timewasting.
Ned@29: One way I see it is that the laws are meant to enforce certain underlying principles. The yellow card rules are meant to implement the idea of “caution”. Yellow card is supposed to tell the player that they have violated the laws seriously enough but not egregiously so to be sent of, but anymore such serious violation they would have lost the privilege of playing.
So a yellow card is meaningful only when it is communicated to a player in a manner that can help that player manage his passions within the limits of the laws afterwards. It’s not an avenue for the referee to get to a red card. The laws are meant to help the game remain competitive and fair and the refereeing decisions are meant to just ensures that the laws are implemented within that spirit.
The referee gave Gabi — who until then hadn’t made a single bad tackle or participated in time wasting or anything, have the press noticed how all of our kids are absolutely well behaved on the field even when provoked? — no chance to control his emotions after one moment of non violent excess. That’s not what a yellow card is supposed to be for.
Some Arsenal fans have a tendency to devour our own. As Mikel said that in his 18 years in PL he has never seen any two yellows like that. It doesn’t happen because it completely defeats the purpose of a yellow card.
About our other offenders, Granit is the only one who gives in to petulance to deserve some of his reds (but not all). For a DM Partey is actually remarkably clean tackler who relies more on techniques and body feints and rarely on any crunching physicality. Similarly for all of our defenders where maybe Gabriel now and then leaves a little behind.
Our cards to fouls committed ratio is absurdly high. Inexplicably high. And it is something that the club should make more noise about it if only through the official channels.
So that was Michael Oliver handing out a SINGLE yellow card for those TWO fouls – each one at least as bad as Martinelli’s.
The difference please – when all the debating and justifying is done ?
Oliver used to appear to be a decent referee. My memory of late is that he can’t wait to punish the Arsenal. Or he is at least “very, very willing” to do so, as the manager said.
Very well analyzed, Dr. Faustus. I wish Oliver could le be pressed to address your points.
Ned,
I didn’t acknowledge that very illuminating Swiss Ramble piece on transfer activity which underlines the problems that Arsenal and Man United have in the market especially the losses on player sales . Many thanks for forwarding it . As the writer says United have the commercial clout to withstand weak trading but it hurts us more .
When you look at what Chelsea and Liverpool achieve in fees on player sales it is very falling . The relative silence from the Kroenkes on their attitude and strategic ambition doesn’t enable us to appreciate how much financial pain they are willing to withstand but the danger is that we may be forced to trade Saka or ESR or Martinelli if this will raise significant cash .
This is of course the Dortmund model we have often discussed but it is redolent of the early years after the move to the new stadium when we lost players like Fabregas, Toure, RVP and Nasri , who if we had been able to retain them , could have enabled us to mount a better title challenge . If we sell so poorly – and we have failed lamentably to match the efficiency of some of our rivals – we are going to be under pressure to sell our young gems When your model is to buy players with high resale value it will be very tempting to realise those values on the people we can get huge fees for ( assuming Edu can get huge fees for anybody!)
So much doom and gloom TTG! I need to pour much red wine down you before the Brentford game to cheer you up. We’re in the best position for years and it is this squad that’s got us here.
Come on you gunners!
As we bathe in the glory of 5 clean sheets in our last seven league games it could be informative to observe the Manchester United manager’s prescription (uttered after today’s draw with Southampton) as to how to improve his team’s defensive performances: “just don’t allow the players to go past you.” So simple and yet so ineffective. 🤣
The table is looking tidier from an Arsenal perspective than it has for quite some time, but looking at those games in hand and the midtable opponents we have in the next few games I would say it is time to start making hay while the sun shines, beginning with Brentford. That said, I know this will probably be a very difficult stretch, and particularly if our red card situation doesn’t improve quickly.
TTG@37: as you probably know Swiss Ramble is an accountant so understands the numbers. Liverpool’s sales record would look less impressive without the lucre relieved from Barca for Courtinho. Chelsea makes a business of raising and selling young talent and is more systematic about it than any other Top Six club. If players like Willock or Reiss Nelson had been their youngsters they would probably never got near the first team but loaned out and prepped for sale early on.
Good point Ned .I’m a financial person too and I disassociate what we are doing on the field which is largely positive from the huge amount of money wasted because of incompetence. Liverpool got a ridiculous fee for Rhian Brewster whose been quite awful since he left. Chelsea have sold some terrific players but when they leave pern@nently they get top dollar . It makes a huge difference to what you can achieve over a few years . I’ve pored over too many balance sheets and profit and loss not to be frustrated by poor housekeeping
Nevertheless I like the sound of the wine the ever generous C100 is going to buy me !
Bit late but belated thanks for an excellent summary TTG, as you say we played with great spirit as a team and long may that continue.
ps I’m willing to be gloomy if it means you’ll pour much red wine down my ever willing throat C100😉
For my two penn’orth, the financials don’t lie. We have been poor at extracting value from the market. I think we need to remember though that a P&L is essentially a historical statement describing past financial performance. To my mind, this ties in with the utter lack of financial strategy which has been followed over the last 10 years. I’m afraid I put that down in large part to Wenger, who lost the plot in this period, while the owners for their part allowed him to run the club largely unchecked. At the same time, we did manage to extract grossly over-the-odds revenues from the sales of Oxlade-Chamberlain, Iwobi and Walcott. Unfortunately these are outliers. We can only hope that with a closer interest being taken by Josh Kroenke and the hiring of Tim Lewis and Richard Garlick in particular, we can begin to employ a more sensible financial strategy. Unfortunately what we’ve been witnessing over the last few years in a necessary culling of the dross Wenger was given far too much freedom in accumulating. This has taken a long time to near completion due to the sheer number of surplus players not of sufficient quality. We now have to watch for the way in which resources are husbanded over the next few years to get a picture of whether a corner has been turned.
Two home defeats in a row for spuds. They were rubbish again first half.
OM, It sounds like it must have been very enjoyable viewing. Not having seen it though, I’m just in it for the result. 😎😎😎
Everywhere they gooooo
Look at this for evidence of bias
Orbinho
@Orbinho
Premier League Discipline since 2 January 2019 (the last time Burnley got a red card)
Games played
Arsenal 115 Burnley 113
Fouls
Arsenal 1148 Burnley 1145
Red cards
Arsenal 15 Burnley 0
CER
I think your post @45 is spot on in pinning down the reasons for our decline. Kroenke was in thrall to Arsene who had generated so much money for the club but clearly lost his way around 2011. That problem wasn’t managed whether it was spotted or not ’. I think your optimism about Lewis and Garlick is well founded based on what we have seen over the summer and this season. Our approach is longer-term and appears to be coherent. Just contrast that with our Marshdwelling friends who have followed anything but a coherent policy . You need realistic and patient fans to achieve that coherence and our fan base has been very positive this season. But I like to have a good moan because C100 then buys me lots of red wine to cheer me up !
Good time for Wolves to bounce back from the disappointment of their defeat on Thursday. 🙂
Well in TTG at the half century with an interesting combination of red wine and Garlick. Makes me hungry for some pasta, matter of fact.
Spurs goal differential now -1
Another indicator of something gone wrong.
@47,
It was top comedy bt8, especially the slapstick defending in the first 20 minutes😃
I watched MOTD2 and I can confirm Matt’s view that the Marshdwellers were awful. The conclusion that they are missing Eric Dier who brings quality to the team might be the most alarming aspect of the performance. Their defence today was quite dreadful. Sanchez and Lloris reprised some of the Marx Brothers finest work.
They have some great attacking quality but frankly that is about all they have . They are a bottom half of the table team . Kane must be seriously considering his future and so must Conte . Agent Levy is still serving us admirably
The 3 phases of Spurs season (homemade table)
Until 10/1 under Nuno: P10 W5 D0 L5 GD-7 Pts15
10/1–1/23 under Conte: P9 W6 D3 L3 GD+11 Pts21
…………… since 1/23: P3 W0 D0 L3 GD-5 Pts0
Wham dropping points too made it a good weekend for The Arsenal.
bt8 was right in an earlier post that we have an easier run over the
next five games than our direct rivals, hopefully we can find the goals
to gather in the points.
From Sky’s report on Newcastle 1-0 Aston Villa: “Just after the half-hour, Newcastle were awarded a penalty when Calum Chambers clumsily tripped Joe Willock as he rampaged towards goal. After a moment’s hesitation, referee Craig Pawson pointed to the spot, though the decision was later downgraded to a free-kick on the edge of the area upon consultation with VAR”
Note to Pawson: Those aren’t Arsenal players anymore so you can play it straight.
A very shrewd and accurate observation there @58, bt8.
And an extremely fruitful weekend for the Arsenal despite our inactivity. As others have observed, entirely the result of our sterling exertions at Molineux. We must now ensure that we build on this position and not fritter it away.
Stan’s Rams win the Super Bowl with a team bought to win it. Lessons there for our owner?
SSY@62: Balogun looks to have bulked up a bit. He held off the defender strongly for that cheeky back heel.
Ned@64. He’s obviously living off the local delicacy, chicken parmos.They’re about ten thousand calories a go!
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Parmo
Good heavens, C100. That is an abomination of a chicken parmi, one of the foods of the gods, or at least of the heavier ones.
A very interesting piece by Peter Wood who was at the Super Bowl on the stadium innovations we might see in North London
Stan’s Rams win the Super Bowl with a team bought to win it. Lessons there for our owner?
Nope, because some of those “buys” cost peanuts. Late season signing Odell Beckham Jnr for example was on a base salary of around $100 000 but had bonuses that meant winning the Superbowl earned him something like $3m. That’s pennies really.
They have a salary cap in place for 2022 of around $217m, which sounds a lot but with 48 players signed to the roster it’s not huge.
As for the Rams stadium, let us not forget that for all its awesomeness (and there’s no denying that it is awesome) they spent something like $5bn on a stadium with a roof that’s not safe to play in when they have some lightning around.
Cynic,
Thanks for those interesting insights . I thought NFL stars were paid way more than that .
I am also ambivalent about stadia that are incredibly expensive to build . C100 mentioned the need to refurbish our stadium as it is now over fifteen years old and of course we need to do this but we can’t take refurbishment too far. Spectacular spending on stadia will lead to even higher admission fees and price large numbers of fans out of regular attendance .
The absolute priority for a team in our position is to put the best possible team on the pitch . The saddoes down the road got very excited when they built the best stadium in Europe . What good has it done them ? You must sacrifice the team’s development if you introduce the sort of incredible technological innovations that the SOFI stadium features . And did you notice Peter Wood citing the cost of the beer -$46 for two beers! It makes Camden Pale Ale look a bargain ! He also said the food was poor .
A Europe-wide salary cap might ensure a degree of parity . The draft is something that American sport has which we cannot and it does lead to more rotation in terms of the best teams each season . The only way we will see this sort of fluctuating success in the EPL and Champions League is if clubs are bought by increasingly rich nation states or conglomerates. Depressing prospect
Some are paid daft money, the highest paid player being Patrick Mahomes on $45m a year, but salaries are capped per roster. There are ways around it, by restructuring contracts over longer periods of time, paying bonuses and so on but it’s a balancing act deciding which highly paid players are needed and which ones can go, even though you would love to keep them.
This article is four years old but you’ll get the idea.
https://work.chron.com/much-money-nfl-player-make-year-2377.html
Thanks for this information Cynic
Some of the NFL starters are only on the pitch for around 30 minutes and some play a lot less than that . I think basketball players earn a lot more as do baseball players but they work MUCH harder !
Cynic@69: Your point about the NFL’s salary cap is well made, and I certainly would not draw analogies between the economics of the NFL and PL very far at all. My point was more that, for once with his US teams, Stan made an effort to win something.
Here are some 2022 salaries for the top-earning NFL players by position. A couple of Rams on it.
https://duckduckgo.com/?q=top+paid+players+in+the+nfl
That link should have been https://www.azcentral.com/story/sports/nfl/2022/02/14/nfls-highest-paid-players-position-rankings-2022-nfl-season/6770366001/
just to say, auba, at £350k/week is making about what draymond green is making, the 43d highest salary in the nba…4th highest on his team, the warriors. that’s just about $25 million per annum (£18m/yr).
in contrast, stephan curry, the highest paid player in the league , makes north of £650k/week. of course, the expectation here is 82 games, minimum, though not as long or as many km run as in the prem.
Silent Stan is getting old Ned@75.
I wonder if the wish to actually win something he wants is more related to his age than any change in philosophy. Sadly I doubt it will extend to the PL or CL but you never know😉
The issue is surely not that he hasn’t spent money but that he’s given the money to people who have no idea how to spend it.
Cynic@80: Certainly true in the past, but signs are that a corner has been turned in that regard.
Ned @82 🙏🏼
Over on She Wore, there’s a very nice comparison by Keenos of the different systems within which the Arsenal and the Rams have to compete and very sound analysis on how we can best achieve a competitive team again. Unquestionably, the club has been moving in the right direction since Arteta’s appointment despite the Sanllehi detour and having to make some expensive losses. However those departures were all part of the plan.The last two windows suggest that the Arsenal will continue to attempt to sign talented hungry young players and no longer sign ‘stars’ looking for a retirement plan. It is clear that having the correct decision makers is as important as having the dream striker.
https://shewore.com
What? No place for me then??
Antonio Conte quote: “For me it’s very difficult to talk about fourth place, because I am used to playing for other targets.”
No problem Antonio. If you stay with Spurs there will be plenty of opportunities to play for other targets, all of the lower. 🤣
star@84, sure, just up the seven sisters road, after you cross into middlesex, there is a small club who can use an aging, underperforming star on high wages.
It is worth remembering that particular conditions apply to the NFL regarding its salary cap. The most important is that the players have a collective bargaining agreement that (i) guarantees the players a fixed percentage of the game’s annual revenues and (ii) stipulates a minimum wage.
The cap is calculated each year by multiplying the revenue projections for the year by the players’ percentage stipulated in the (multi-year) CBA, subtracting projected benefits such as bonuses and pension payments, then dividing what’s left by the number of teams in the league.
Except for last year because of the pandemic, the cap has increased by around $10 million-12 million a year for many years. It is projected to be $208.2 million for the 2022 season.
Because the cap changes annually, it leads to a constant restructuring of players’ contracts so that teams can keep their wages bill for that year within the cap. Also, to make room for high-paid players on rosters, one-half of all NFL players earn the minimum wage (which rises incrementally according to years of experience topping out at seven). There aren’t a lot of alternative leagues for NFL players to ply their trade, which limits their individual bargaining power outside the CBA.
One other point is that the average career length of an NFL player is 3.3 seasons, so there is plenty of player churn to open up salary-cap space.
An interesting rumour that seems incredible to me but is getting credence from one or two good judges is the return of Serge Gnabry . He apparently has a strong affinity with the club and is close to the end of his contract and apparently ‘ affordable ‘.
My concern would be if he is on the move there would be plenty of potential takers . And he plays in the position our best player occupies ….and most importantly Tony Pulis thought he was crap
At 26, Gnabry would seem too old for the new recruitment profile, TTG, although of all the young Gunners who left the club I always thought that he was the one whom we shouldn’t have let ‘get away’. But then Tony knows… 🙂
Josh Kroenke speaks!
Fuck the Rams.
Either that or shoot ‘em, roast ‘em on a spit and serve up the pieces as curried goat from fast food trucks.
Gnabry? Seems unlikely. As for affinity, can’t remember him talking much about the Arsenal post-leaving, though I can’t say I have paid much attention to his interviews.
Sending him to Pulis was one of the oddest things Arsène ever did though.
Ollie
I agree with what you say but when Bayern thrashed them – was it 7-2 he ousted a Tweet- North London is Red!
An article on Bloomberg implies that it is the stadium rather than the team that is key to the Kroenkes’ ambitions with their LA franchise because they are developing the surrounding area, the former Hollywood Park horse-racing track, as mixed-use housing, office, entertainment and commercial space on a site that is triple the size of Disneyland and the biggest real estate project in the western United States.
https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2022-02-06/super-bowl-host-and-rams-owner-kroenke-wins-even-before-kickoff
Them being of course the Marshdwellers
The Rams certainly don’t draft and develop, they sacrifice their draft picks to get established players to win today rather than invest in tomorrow.
The last time they drafted a player in the first round, they picked Jared Goff. That was in 2016 and they sacrificed multiple picks in the years since to get the likes of Jalen Ramsey. To get Goff they traded their 2017 first round pick to Tennessee so they could leapfrog them that year and pick him up. They then went on to sign Goff to such a ridiculous salary in 2019 that when they didn’t want him a year and half later, they were pretty much stuck with him until Detroit slit their own throats financially last summer and traded Stafford to them in return for Goff (picking up his salary in the process) and the Rams third round pick last year, plus first round picks in 2022 and 2023.
The salary the Rams agreed to pay Goff in 2019? $134m over four years ($33.5m a year)
If Kroenke is trying to tell us as Arsenal fans that we should be excited about the way they build their teams, I can only say I’m so excited that the shit is running down my leg and my hair’s gone white.
The Rams also signed away their second and third round picks in 2022 to get Von Miller from Denver this year.
That’s the end of NFL Blog, we now return you the usual programming.
Slides a pass across the face of the goal…
Lifts it Arshavin style into the roof of the goal just beyond the keeper’s grasp, and does it in way less time than it took to type this!
Well in for the ton, bt8.
Cynic@98: Josh Kroenke did ask us to look at the family’s US teams. So no harm in being clear-eyed about it and take advantage of the NFL expertise in the bar.
bt8@100, but it took you 44 minutes to run in behind the defender! I think Xhaka moves faster than that! Maybe…
Ah yes, TTG @93, it rings a bell now you mention it!
Well tonned up, bt8.
Heh at ecg, you must have wondered where all the players had gone as the ball lay in the box ready to be tapped in…
Cynic @96, thanks for that info. That sounds like the kind of squad forward planning that Sanllehi would be involved in – I prefer the recent Edu & MA8 approach.
Well in for the ton, bt8. Heh, ecg @102.
To be fair to the Rams they have signed some players in later rounds who have gone on to be important players, most notably Cooper Kupp and Cam Akers, and some of the lesser known starters were drafted but that’s what teams tend to do. The “grunts” come out of the later rounds of the draft and the golden boys are first rounders. Sometimes a late pick will work out extremely well (Tom Brady being a prime example) but they’ve gambled their potential future stars away to pick up proven, but getting on a bit, players.
It worked for them but it was so close to failing.
As for NFL expertise bugger that it’s just flim flam and hot air. A bit like some of the US media types who earn ridiculous money for it!
Well in for the ton bt8, taken like a league leader😉
I see lots of expectation lowering going on down the High Road, starting with Conte. Don’t be suckered in.
Well in for the ton Bt8.
Kit Kats and Durex are going up in price. Great. Can’t afford a shag, can’t afford to have a biscuit as compensation.
BREXIT BRITAIN
C100@107
That was an interesting interview by Conte. I think he suffers from an inability to express himself accurately in a foreign tongue but those who suggested he was a manager who wouldn’t hang around for a long-term project are starting to look as though they are right And above him is good old Daniel Levy, The gift that keeps on giving to Gooner fans . How many mistakes is he allowed to make ?
RIP former coach and scout Steve Burtenshaw. Was caretaker manager just before George came in.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Steve_Burtenshaw
Re C100’s sad news re Steve Burtenshaw it was amusing to hear Tony Adams talk about his time as temporary first-team coach. He said his advice before each game was completely non-technical . He just said ‘ Lads , go out and kick, bollock and bite them.’
After Don Howe they were expecting something a bit more technical! He was very well-liked at the club I understand
Meh
(r)
That picture of Michael Oliver brandishing his red card to Martinelli is getting pretty old, and not in a good way.
>>>>>>>