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Gunners Show Who They Are, What They are, And Who They Represent

Apr 1st, 2024 by

23 years ago yesterday, we lost the footballing great that was David Rocastle. He was famous for his wonderful skill, his indomitable spirit, his boundless tenacity. It was somehow fitting that Arsenal should be playing one of the biggest games of the season, in which we would need to exhibit all these qualities, on the anniversary of his passing.

Pre-match I must confess to being surprised at seeing Stones on the bench and Walker completely missing. Football managers can tend to be economical with the actualité and I had assumed that their early removal from England games and statement of their lack of fitness had been part of the well-known City approach to a certain amount of, shall we say, obfuscation. Conspiracy theories be damned…. For our part it was a surprise to see Martinelli on the bench rather than the pitch.

The game started as expected with City dominating both ball and territory. It was immediately noticeable that Arsenal were quite willing not to press and be moved out of their shape when the City keeper in particular had the ball. This was clearly a planned approach on the part of Arteta. And it began to reap rewards as we were beginning to win the ball back high up the field as a result of not being a man down through not pressing the keeper, when in the 7th minute we broke their possession in the final third as they attempted to play out from the back, resulting in a super cross from Ben White to find Jesùs who chested down and got his shot off, just pass the post. In response on 15 minutes a City corner resulted in Ake managing to misconnect with a header and the ball dribbling to Raya. Replays clearly show Ake pushing his marker, Jorginho, in the back in order to win the space needed but as we know from the other petro-financed club, some pushes are more equal than others so I wouldn’t have expected any resulting goal to have been overturned. 

Having weathered the initial 25-minute onslaught, Arsenal began to grow more into the game, still from the security of the compact, disciplined tactical approach. The game slowed down to the extent that it rather more closely resembled a Serie A game than the usual blood and thunder of the Premiership. Arsenal were winning the psychological battle and the noise from the home fans was noticeably diminished.

The second half began and it immediately became apparent that Arsenal had decided that they could now put the press into effect. Arteta had clearly figured out that you can’t press City for 90 minutes and so, in true George Graham-Anfield ‘89 style, elected to keep it tight until half time and expend the energy in the second half. On 51 minutes, the change in approach nearly yielded a reward when the pressing from Havertz, Odegaard and Saka resulted in a loose pass played into the midfield from Dias. Finally, the ball was won back by White and Saliba, who had run as far as the edge of the City defensive third in order to press Gvardiol and Foden respectively. Saliba’s immediate pass forward to Ødegaard allowed the Norwegian to slip in Saka, who had made an excellent run in between Foden and Dias in the inside right channel. Saka hit a low first time cross towards the far post and Jesùs slid in but was a couple of feet from putting the ball into the net. Slick, quick, crisp passing. From the quick goal kick City tried to break but first Jorginho, twice, and then Ødegaard made tactical fouls to ensure that the forward momentum which had resulted in us being momentarily out of shape could not be pounced upon by City. Unsurprisingly, the City players complained in unison in the petulant manner one might expect employees of a club with 115 financial irregularity charges hanging over it to do. But the referee, probably inured to seeing City perform the same trick many times over recent years, took no further action than awarding a free kick.

On 60 minutes, Guardiola brought off Kovacic and Foden and replaced them with Grealish and Doku in a signal of attacking intent. Normally we are used to seeing Doku deployed on the left, where his lack of faith in his left foot noticeably results in him having to cut inside. Today he was positioned on the right and it very much looked as though the Arsenal defenders had been given detailed instructions to try to show him inside onto his left, as, one magical shimmy aside, he was shepherded expertly by the Arsenal defence,.

In response to these changes, Arteta acted quickly and on 65 minutes replaced Kiwior, who to my mind had been very good, especially bearing in mind he had played 120 mins for his country in midweek, with Tomiyasu in order to assist with keeping Doku quiet, and Jorginho with Partey.  Earlier in the season there was some disquiet around the perceived unwillingness of Arteta to make substitutions in a timely manner. Here he acted calmly and decisively, spotting exactly what was needed. Jesùs was booked for stupidity shortly after and again Arteta acted promptly by substituting him with Trossard, a clearly tiring Saka also being replaced by Martinelli minutes later. Saka had bust a gut in acting as back up for Ben White to ensure City could not overload down his wing, as indeed had Jesùs on the opposite flank. Attention to detail is a cornerstone of Arteta’s management and we are all the better for it.

Going into the final 15 minutes, the game opened up as both teams somewhat released the handbrake. Space started to appear as the dominant defences tired. On 83 minutes, Haaland somehow failed to capitalise on a corner which resulted in him being free at the far post, looking to knock the ball back for the onrushing Dias to put into an empty net. However, he miraculously missed his kick, showing fine motor skills resembling those of a newborn deer. Perhaps it was as a result of him struggling to get accustomed to the bright light shining down in the spring sun, having spent much of the previous 80 odd minutes in the inside pockets of Saliba and Gabriel.

Almost immediately Arsenal had a wonderful opportunity to score. Partey received the ball facing the Arsenal goal in our final third, turned smartly, shaking off the attentions of the possibly still blinking Haaland, and played a delightful through ball to Ødegaard who passed it smartly on down the outside left channel to Trossard. The Belgian had timed his run to perfection to break the high line but needed to pass immediately to the far post where Martinelli was running in. Having not taken this option, Trossard managed to retrieve the situation partially and got a shot off, but in truth the save was comfortable for Ortega.

The referee blew and I imagine the deep breaths from the Arsenal fans felt like the first they had taken all match. Competitive spirit was still high and Gabriel, who was having none of the Norwegian T-1000 cyborg’s nonsense walked off still arguing the toss him. It was good to see.

Conclusions

The performance yesterday was full of the qualities so familiar to those us who had the pleasure of watching that great No. 7 of days gone by. – skill, spirit, tenacity. David Rocastle would not have been out of place on the pitch in this game. Look at the way in which Jesus and Saka sublimated much of their forward ambition in order to provide extra security for the full backs. Look at the way Foden and de Bruyne were shackled by a midfield which was resolute in understanding and sticking to a compact, disciplined approach. Above all, look at the way Saliba and Gabriel refused to be bullied by the huge physical presence of Haaland. City had not failed to score at home for two and a half years, a remarkable feat. We restricted them to a grand total of a single effort on goal and at the same time, to my mind at least, we had the better chances. For me, yesterday was the day that this manager and team truly came of age. We may not win anything this year, but even the most purblind pundit can’t fail to see the progress we have made and the inexorable upward trajectory of the club as a whole. David Rocastle would, I am sure, have been proud of the team and the manager and the way in which they refused to be cowed into submission against the team which is current holder of the Premier League and Champions League titles. We have a team once again capable of living up to that famous quote.

Posted in Match Report | 39 Drinks »

Learning to Fly

Mar 30th, 2024 by

It has been more than 12 years since Arsène Wenger had publicly raised certain concerns about the financial mechanics of squad building of our opponent this weekend. A lot has happened in the world of football since then, but his questions have remained unanswered. And true to the profound capacity of the human race to become complacently well adjusted to any new reality, we all seem to have become inured to a kind of unfairness that should strike as deeply antagonistic to what is considered to be the inviolable spirit of all sporting competitions. 

Against such a backdrop of heavily tilted landscape, this young Arsenal team’s assured march – characterized by a joyful élan that carries within itself the promises of a memorable future – into the center stage is all the more impressive. Since the start of the new year, Arsenal’s Premier League results have been nearly as eye catching as the performances: 5-0 (h), 1-2 (a), 3-1 (h), 0-6 (a), 0-5 (a), 4-1 (h), 0-6 (a), 2-1 (h) – eight consecutive victories, with a positive goal difference of 29 (33-4).  In the four away games the goal difference is 18 (19-1).  

Statisticians – or Ned’s monks, if they feel like spending a minute or two away from their scholarly pursuits in the lesser pleasures of remembrance – will be able to confirm or refute my claim, but I feel that no team in PL history has ever gone through an eight game streak quite like that. I won’t say in the history of English football, for I have learnt over the years (again, thanks often to those aforementioned monks and their flawless memories) that however outrageous a piece of footballing statistics might appear, English football in its rich history has already seen everything. :–) 

Historically unmatched or not, these results have propelled Arsenal to the top of the premier league table, with ten games to go, helping them to recover from their Christmas time malaise, and maybe equally importantly have inculcated a degree of self-belief and confidence that are as important an ingredient for success as the quality of football in this final stretch of the seasonal marathon. Last season, around these days of early Spring Arsenal’s title challenge started to collapse as an injury depleted, inexperienced squad could no longer keep up with the physical and emotional rigors, while a more generously lubricated machine sprinted expectedly away to the finish line.   

Manchester City, contrary to what some football commentators have been saying, I find is no less of a team compared to last season. There have been some changes in their squad, but the overall quality, depth, variety are as strong as ever, and if anything there is just a bit more nous about when and how to time the season defining performances. The fact that both Arsenal and Liverpool are fighting with them in such a tight race to the top says a lot more about those two teams’ unique strengths – different though those are from each other’s – and I think whatever the league table may end up looking like at the end of the season, Arteta’s Arsenal is on an upward trajectory and is on a journey that we fans find it a privilege to be part of. 

Our recent results against City in the league have been wretched to say the least, especially since Guardiola took over. Arteta – since he left Pep’s coaching team to return to his beloved club – has not kept it a secret how much he considers the level of City as the bar his young squad must aspire to, calling the current City even ‘best of all times’. Somewhere in that mixture of true admiration and hyperbole meant as inspiration to the team, there is also a detectable hint of his fiercely competitive spirit. One of his most admirable qualities – at least to this scribe – is his relentless pursuit of excellence, and not settling for being second best to any one. And, however respectful he might be to his friend and mentor, one suspects that defeating the most decorated manager in football history to the league championship will bring him an extra measure of satisfaction. 

Arsenal has already beaten City twice this season already – at the curtain raiser of Community Shield in August, albeit on penalties, and then in a fiercely competitive 1-0 home win in the league in October – and a victory away at City this Sunday will bring us our first league double against them since the 2007-08 season, when a solitary Fabregas goal gave us a 1-0 home win in August, and later in February Eduardo and Adebayor combined for a 1-3 win away. Our last away win at City came in the January of the 2014/15 season, when a Santi Cazorla masterclass earned us a memorable 2-0 victory with Giroud adding to Santi’s early goal scored from penalty. Arteta, the new club captain for the season, was absent from the matchday squad due to the injuries which plagued his last couple of seasons at Arsenal.

It appears that we have been able to avoid any injury scares in the last international break – and let us hope it remains so for the rest of the season. However, it is not clear if any of the three injury-enforced absentees from their respective national teams – Saka, Martinelli, and Gabriel – are fit enough to play this weekend. Mikel, as is his wont, gave nothing away in his pre-match interview.  All three are, when fully fit, guaranteed starters in a match of this importance, and one suspects not all of them will start this match on the bench. Before the international break Martinelli’s injury was likely the most severe one, and his position is also likely the one that can be most effectively compensated by either Jesùs or Trossard. 

Zinchenko and Kiwior – our two first choice left backs – both must have returned energized from the internationals by their respective nation’s successful qualification play-off campaigns to participate in this summer’s Euros. Whereas Kiwior played each minute of Poland’s two matches, the Ukrainian captain was substituted after 76 minutes in their first match against Bosnia and Herzegovina, whereas he didn’t even appear until the 64th minute against Iceland in the second match – Ukraine winning both by 2-1 after conceding the first goal.  The fact that in a match of that importance Zinchenko was not considered fit enough to start, indicates that he will likely not be risked by Arteta this weekend, especially given Kiwior’s good form for both club and country, and given the packed schedule ahead.   

Another key decision for Arteta about the starting eleven would be whether to play Rice – joining over the international break the ranks of great Arsenal luminaries who have also captained the English national team –  in a deeper #6 role, or start Jorginho there and play Rice as the left sided #8, a position where he has really started to flourish on both sides of the game. Jorginho’s technical savvy and ability to control the tempo may be a great asset in an away match of this importance. 

Kai Havertz carried his superb goalscoring form for Arsenal to his national team, and I think his clever hybrid positioning, physicality and his rediscovered calmness in front of goal makes him a more natural starter in the center of the forward line in this match. Especially so if Martinelli is not fit enough to start, with Jesùs bringing more of the full-throttle relentlessness on the left. If Tomiyasu and White are both fit and ready, Ben is likely to start on the right, and the versatile Tomi can be relied upon to sub any of the four defensive roles later in the game if necessary or, if we are winning comfortably, even to offer an extra presence to see out the match.  

My predicted starting line-up:

Raya

White – Saliba – Gabriel – Kiwior 

Ødegaard – Jorginho – Rice

Saka – Havertz – Jesùs     

This does feel like one of those season defining matches that brings with it the weight of expectations as much as anxieties of imponderables. However, pragmatically speaking, whatever the result of this match, we will still be very well placed in the league table, with nine more games to go. A win will of course be fantastic, but a draw would be a very good result as well. A loss on the scoreline may feel unrecoverable, especially immediately after the match when easy narratives of foregone conclusions are bandied about liberally in the punditry saturated media, but I think as long as the team plays to its true potential and learns from the experience, this is a match from which we can only grow forward.  

Enjoy the game everyone! 

Come on Arsenal!

Posted in Match Preview | 53 Drinks »

Europe – Still to be Conquered!

Mar 21st, 2024 by

Confession time – on a recent trip to Liverpool I took the opportunity to visit Anfield. I took the stadium tour and found myself envying one particular feature of their history – their achievements in Europe. For the record they have won six Champions Leagues (or European Cups) and three  UEFA Cups. They’ve also won four Super Cups and the World Club Cup once. That’s some European pedigree!

Manchester United bemoan their record in Europe. They’ve won the Champions League or equivalent three times, four other European trophies and one World Club Cup. Chelsea have eight European trophies including the Cup with big ears (on two occasions) and one World Club trophy. Even our noisy neighbours over at the Toilet Bowl whom we rightly deride for their lack of silverware have won one more European trophies than we have. Just after the 2015 FA Cup Final as we wended our way back to Marylebone a rather pathetic Villa fan gloated (if you can gloat after losing 4-0!) that we hadn’t won the European Cup and they had. 

Arsenal won the Fairs Cup in 1970 and the Cup Winners Cup in 1994. We came an agonising twelve minutes away from winning the big one in 2006 in Paris, a night that was about as excruciating as any I have ever known supporting this great club and we’ve lost four other European finals. I was at most of them. Somehow, it’s harder to take defeat in a foreign final than anywhere else in my experience and the beer is usually MUCH more expensive! 

You get the idea? We support one of the true giants of English football, a club with a massive global fan base and an illustrious record of trophy gathering in our home country. But in Europe we languish way behind not only a lot of otherwise much less successful English clubs but also a lot of Europe’s relative minnows. The likes of Schalke, Villarreal, Hamburg and even West Ham, for goodness sake, have a better record! 

This article posits some ideas about why this may be and it is to be hoped that the general  angst we all experience when we contemplate Europe will dissipate in a few weeks time at Wembley when we eventually triumph to win our first Champions League. But we have a lot of work to do before we secure that very special landmark.

A History Lesson 

Of course, statistics can be deceptive. Firstly, until 1993 only the Champions of each country could enter what was known as the European Cup. When it became the Champions League in 1993 runners-up and leading clubs from the major European leagues could also enter. A logical person might feel it should have started off as the Champions  League and then morph into the European Cup. In fact it did the opposite! 

So, until thirty years ago you only got a shot at the big prize if you won the league. We only won the league three times in that period and when we won it in 1989 English clubs were banned from Europe because of  the problems at Heysel before the Juventus/ Liverpool final. Thanks Scousers…. we had an extremely good team then. 

Our first attempt in 1971-72 saw us eliminated by a fine Ajax side in the quarter final. Ironically it was a very similar Ajax  side to the one we had eliminated two years earlier in the Fairs Cup. I still remember Peter  Marinello clean through in the first minute of the second leg and failing to score. George Graham got the winner in the second leg but unfortunately it was for Ajax!

We had to wait until 1991 for a second shot at the prize. We started the competition as favourites and thrashed the Austrian champions 6-0 at Highbury in the first leg of our first game. We then met Benfica and drew at the Stadium of Light. Back at Highbury we saw a collectors item when Colin Pates scored first for us but Benfica came back to score three goals which delighted their manager … one Sven Göran Eriksson. I had the opportunity to discuss the game with George Graham a couple of years later. He felt that he learnt valuable lessons about controlling European ties that night. A few months after he told me that, we triumphed 1-0 against Parma in the Cup Winners Cup Final in Copenhagen. That was George’s last tilt at a European crown with us as he was not in charge a year later when we lost to Real Zaragoza in the Nayim (from the halfway line) final. 

The Wenger Years 

Even before Arsene Wenger arrived officially at Arsenal he flew from Japan to take charge of a (losing) UEFA Cup tie in Germany. The following year when we won the title we had dropped out of the UEFA Cup very early losing to PAOK Salonika. Had the Premier League had four qualifiers for the Champions League at the end of Wenger’s first season, we would have entered that but in 1998-99 we qualified as PL champions and because of restrictions on capacity at Highbury we played our first two seasons in the Champions League at Wembley. How I loved the 5 am starts to drive to Wembley, park around the local residential roads which closed pre-match and the long drive home after the match. It really wasn’t a good experience in many ways. We failed to qualify from the knockout stages and lost to among others Barcelona, Lens and Fiorentina. In 1999-2000 we dropped  into the UEFA Cup and reached the final in Copenhagen against Galatasaray. Copenhagen held very happy memories from 1994 but these were obliterated against the Turks. It was the single most unpleasant day I have ever spent watching football – and I lived through the seventies and eighties. Lunching with friends my daughter was sending messages about where the rioting was currently taking place so that we could navigate our way around the city. The game was a huge disappointment ending defeat in a penalty shootout after a goalless 120 minutes. And then, my return flight was delayed four hours! 

What Wenger achieved (and was unfairly pilloried for) was regular qualification for the Champions League. In the first decade of the millennium Arsenal qualified for the latter stages of the competition every time but apart from the solitary Final appearance in 2006 we only progressed beyond the quarter final once, in 2008-09 when we reached the semi-final only to lose to Manchester United. But supporters develop expectations and the feeling was that the club was too preoccupied with simply  qualifying for the Champions League gravy train but not committed to winning it. The outlier in 2006 was remarkable. We lost heavily at home to Inter Milan in the group, looked likely to go out when we were struggling to beat Dinamo Kiev only for Ashley Cole to score late on. We went to the San Siro and outplayed Inter in a glorious 5-1 victory and entered the knockout stage. We drew Real Madrid and in the midst of poor domestic form and an injury crisis played a Real team filled with Galacticos and played them off the park. Henry scored one of the great goals in our history in a 1-0 win . That kickstarted an incredible run which saw us draw with Real at home, comfortably defeat Capello’s Juventus over two legs and then defeat Villarreal in a very nervy semi-final where Lehmann’s wonderful last minute penalty save took us to the final in which, ironically, Mad Jens was sent off after ten minutes. Sol Campbell’s header saw us take an unlikely lead which we held until shortly before the end. On two occasions Henry missed great chances and Ljungberg also missed another great chance to clinch the trophy. 

The amazing thing about that team was its back four of Eboue, Senderos, Toure and Flamini who set a CL record of fourteen successive clean sheets that still stands. Would you believe those four defenders could achieve that?  Much was made of the coaching that Martin Keown gave that unlikely quartet and how effective they became. 

Contrast that with the Invincibles who in 2004 were by common consent the best team in Europe. We were eliminated at home by a Chelsea side we had defeated three times that season and had drawn with at Stamford Bridge. If ever an Arsenal team had the quality and opportunity to take the Champions League crown it was in that year.

Since 2010 we have only been beyond the last sixteen once and have suffered a number of shattering defeats (some facilitated by appalling refereeing) to the likes of Barcelona and Bayern Munich. Our last elimination came at the hands of the Germans in 2017 by an aggregate of 10-2. It was increasingly beginning to be felt that Arsenal were waning as a European power, just a part of the line-up but never real contenders.

We failed to qualify for the first time in 17 years in what proved to be Wenger’s last season and although we have qualified for the Europa League in all but one of the subsequent seasons we have only reached one final, in Baku where we were humiliated by Chelsea. Then in 2021, Arteta received some criticism for being outwitted by Emery at the semi-final stage. But this season our home performances back in the Champions League have been outstanding and the sense is this team is on a sharp and positive upward learning curve.

So, What are the Conclusions ? 

The Champions League is essential!

One of the modern developments in football is the expectation of the top players. These are the players you need to sign if you hope to compete effectively at home … and in Europe. Can you imagine Declan Rice being willing to sign for a club that is not competing in the Champions League? Similarly would Kai Havertz or Jurrien Timber be interested in a side not in that elite competition? If you want to sign the very best and established top players you must offer them Champions League football and you are unlikely to be able to afford them if you don’t qualify. I’m being told that our Champions League campaign so far will bring in about £90 million for the club. If we go further the rewards will be astronomical. Europa League victory is only worth a fraction of that figure.

European football is different!

One of the benefits of playing in Europe, especially in the Champions League, is that aside from the money and the glamour, playing against different teams from different leagues and against top-class players improves your squad. The two Porto games, which a lot of pundits had suggested were a gimme, were in fact extremely challenging and made for compelling entertainment. Their mid-block disconcerted an Arsenal team that was dismembering Premier League sides in between those fixtures. To triumph in Europe you need durability and tactical flexibility and I am sure Arteta has benefitted from the experience he has had against opposition coaches in the Europa League. It takes a while to assimilate the differences in Europe and we saw how improved the side was in Seville after the defeat in Lens.

It is a degree course in tactical awareness!

Wenger’s detractors claimed that he struggled to match the tactical acumen of the top European coaches. That may have become true as his star declined but I can remember many outstanding  Arsenal performances home and away in Europe under Wenger.  If you can recruit the right quality of player, European success,  even in the Champions League, is accessible but when you reach the knockout stages it becomes a postgraduate degree course in tactical sophistication. Although the Premier League is a very strong division, the Champions League is in an entirely different level. A side new to the challenges will take time to adjust to its level. But I believe Arteta and his coaching team are elite and have the capability to enable Arsenal to challenge for the Champions League trophy .

Ambition!

Revisiting the past brings pleasure and pain but it is increasingly clear to me that with greater ambition Arsenal could have retained their best players and added to them. We could have seen more success in the League in the early 80s and with that success we could have attained greater European success. At that time, it was arguably harder to win the other European trophies than the European Cup. Similarly George Graham was held back relatively speaking and Wenger was naturally prudent in his expenditure but was superb at recognising unpolished gems. The establishment of a wider qualification model has changed the balance of power and created a gravy train that ambitious clubs have to clamber aboard.

Arsenal now seem to have a very intelligent management team and above all owners who have experienced equivalent success in the USA. The impression that they were satisfied with mediocrity has been dispelled. But it is still extremely difficult to compete with clubs financed by nation states. 

Serendipity! 

I hate Wayne Bridge! He was responsible for eliminating a far superior Arsenal team in 2004. His Chelsea team stumbled against an average Monaco side in the semi-final and one had to feel we would have had a wonderful chance of crowning that special season with the Champions League if we had just got past Chelsea. Nobody could  claim Ranieri was a superior tactician to Wenger but on the night and given that we had played an intense FA Cup semi-final the weekend before we came up short. 

Squad diversity helps in Europe! 

Some excellent players shine more in Europe than in the Premier League. Gabriel Jesùs is a case in point. Some players cope well with the intensity of the Premier League but struggle in  a more cerebral environment in the Champions League. A top club needs to encompass both competitions … and that doesn’t come cheap !

Ashburton Grove is a hard place to visit! 

We have played four games at home this season and won them by an aggregate of 13-0. We defeated a PSV side carrying all before them in Holland by a 4-0 scoreline and a resurgent Lens by 6-0. Porto players visibly melted faced by a passionate North Bank during the penalty shootout. Don’t underestimate how forbidding it may be to visit North London with the crowd and support we have now.

So how do you succeed in Europe? 

If you look at the last ten winners, Real Madrid have won five times and Bayern Munich,  Barcelona, Chelsea, Liverpool and Manchester City have one victory each. It took Guardiola, one of the greatest coaches of all time, a long time to win it. 

Financial muscle is very important but Liverpool have a great record without being one of the richest clubs. Tradition is important. All of those clubs have a number of appearances in the final. They have the fan base, the quality of squad and, with the exception of Chelsea, the aura of serial winners. That aura takes time to acquire and needs to be supported by a clear process to develop and continually strengthen the club.

Three Premier League  clubs have won the competition in the last decade but only one has won both the Premier League and Champions League double in the same season. Looking across the whole span of the European Cup and Champions League competition, although an English club has won the European Cup/Champions League on 14 occasions, the English domestic league and European Cup double has been achieved on only 5 occasions: Liverpool (1976-77 & 1983-84), Manchester United (1998-99 & 2007-08) and Manchester City (2022-23). Meanwhile, Barcelona alone have achieved that double on five occasions, Real Madrid, Bayern Munich and Ajax three times each and Inter Milan twice, whilst eight other European clubs have won that European/domestic double on one occasion. The intensity of our league may stretch resources more than their domestic league does those of clubs in other countries … but it is possible, and the impact of European success creates a virtuous circle of success with league progression that sustains the attempts to win both competitions. 

Runners up in the last decade include Atletico Madrid, Juventus and Liverpool (all twice), Manchester City, Inter Milan, PSG and Tottenham although the latter’s attempt to win expired with a whimper. My conclusions would be that stability of coaches matters, ambition of the club is important and to a degree, so does the belief of the fans. At Anfield they expect to win the Champions League but their resources are no greater than ours. Their success suggests that belief is amply justified.

And, the Champions League winner 2024 is …..

I firmly believe that we are on a very positive path to success and that over the next few seasons we will become ever more credible contenders for the biggest prize of all. I don’t believe that we can win it this season because of the lack of elite squad depth and the inexperience of the squad but I believe we will win it in the next five years if we retain Mikel Arteta. I want to see a trophy wall developing at Ashburton Grove to rival that one at Anfield!

Posted in Interlull, Review | 115 Drinks »

Through to the CL Quarters at an Emotional Emirates

Mar 13th, 2024 by

Picture taken by your correspondent

I had been nervous about this game. The late kick in the teeth from the winner in Porto deep into added on time had changed the mind-set completely. Suddenly we had to score twice to win during the game, with the possibility of extra time and even penalties. And all against a side with Champions League pedigree and nous. Whereas it was many years since we had been in the competition regularly and even more since we’d progressed in the knock out stages.

So as we walked down the steps to Block 7, row 9, in the North Bank, it was with a fluttering in the “tummy” as Mikel likes to call it. The flags were dotted around again and as we got closer to kick off were being waved with enthusiasm. It had absolutely chucked it down for most of the day in London, although it was a mild evening, and as the flags were waved the accumulated raindrops from them formed a fine mist, soaking us. ‘North London Forever’ and the CL theme, all added to the grandeur of the atmosphere. Arteta had gone with the same team as against Brentford, bar swapping Raya in for Ramsdale (and how important was that to be!). 

This isn’t going to be a play by play report. I didn’t get home until 1.30 am and still haven’t watched the game back. But I want to talk about Porto. They are a schizophrenic team. They specialise in the dark arts and showed us in the first leg how they will waste time, collapse without being touched, con the referee and argue incessantly. Why would you want to watch a team like that I hear people asking? Well ask the passionate Portugese in the sold out away section or back at their fortress of a stadium. Because they are a highly skilled team, with a great defence and lightning fast wingers. They were good on the ball and, although they proved not great in the box, outplayed us for portions of the game. Respect. I remember back in the early 90s watching Kevin Keegan’s Newcastle play John Beck’s Cambridge United in what is now the Championship. You could see the Newcastle players being flummoxed by the über long ball tactics and complaining to Keegan. He bawled back at them “Don’t moan about it! Do something about it!” It’s the same with the Portos and Brentfords of this world. If they can make it work they are entitled to play their way.

So how about Arsenal? Remember we were still playing late on Saturday evening in a tough physical game. So it was a short turn around with essentially the same team. So no wonder we didn’t marmalise them as we have many PL teams lately. I thought Ødegaard (who is approaching Berkamp levels for me), Kiwior, Raya (who apart from his penalty heroics made key saves in each half) and Rice were outstanding. Trossard for me had a poor first half. He lost the ball four times out on the left wing, due to a combination of a poor touch and being out-fought and I was terrified that each time it was going to lead to a counter-attack and a goal for Porto. We badly missed Martinelli during that period.  I was among many others calling for Leo to be subbed off for Jesùs at half time. And then of course it happened …. just before half time as the crowd were just starting to get nervous.

Ødegaard picked up the ball in central midfield. He juggled with it, exchanged passes with Leo on his left, manoeuvring the ball to get it just right and (I think he took four touches using both feet) then, as Leo started his run, unleashed a defence splitting pass that took out three men deep in the penalty area, right into Leo’s path. Leo finished beautifully, guiding the ball through Pepe’s legs (ha, ha, ha). We were level, at a key moment in the game. And that, gentle reader, is why your correspondent is third from bottom of the GHF prediction league and Mikel Arteta is paid the big bucks. 

The second half and extra time didn’t produce a great deal of chances. We had the ball in the net, but it was chalked off for a foul called on Havertz’s tug on Pepe. It looked, all the time, as though Porto were playing for extra time and penalties. And so it came to pass. 

The first roar came as our captain won the toss and pointed to the North Bank. He then won the second toss and we got to go first. Afterwards, David Raya said that we spend a lot of time preparing for penalties, both outfielders and goalkeepers (why does this not surprise me?). We looked visibly confident as we stepped forward. Ødegaard, of course, led the way and smashed his penalty home with verve. As the Portuguese players stepped up they were met with a wall of noise and twirling scarves in the North Bank. Their first penalty sent Raya the wrong way. Havertz came up and did his hop skip and a jump to score. The Porto left back, Wendell (who I thought was excellent) went to Raya’s left. Our ‘keeper got a hand on it, pushed it onto the post, and somehow it didn’t go in off him. Next up Saka, who looked the picture of confidence as another great penalty went in to make it 3-1. Raya almost saved the third, getting a hand on it (I loved the fact that afterwards he was visibly disappointed that he didn’t save that as well). 3-2 and here comes Declan Rice. He put the ball down, took a deep, calming breath, gathered himself and smashed home his penalty con brio. Is there anything this man can’t do?

So Porto were now at the point of no return. Ironically their scorer from the first game, Galeno, was the man tasked with keeping them in the game. He struck it again to Raya’s left. Our ‘keeper guessed correctly, got two big hands on the ball and we were in the quarter final. 

Cue huge celebrations. I loved the fact that Ramsdale was one of the first to give Raya a huge bear hug with a huge grin. That tells you all about the spirit of the team and also what a big man, in all ways, Aaron Ramsdale is. Saliba was jumping about like a mad thing, clutching the flags and celebrating with the fans. Lovely to see. This is a very together bunch.  

The Porto manager proved himself a bad loser by claiming Porto were the better team and Arteta had said something about his family in Spanish. He refused to shake hands. He has serial form for this type of antics. Well, cry me a river. As Arseblog said this morning, fuck off back to Portugal and I hope Ryanair lose your luggage. 

I think this game was absolutely critical for the rest of our season. We are top of the league and in the CL quarters. We’ve played 11 games since Bahrain, won ten and only lost at Porto, which we put right last night. We await the draw for the quarters. We now have six days off before the international camps start and 19 days off before our next game (cough, away at City). From that point on March 31 we are playing football twice a week through April and May. Tough on the players and the fans.  During the dark periods of the last 20 years (last year excepted), at Easter, bar the odd FA Cup and trying to get top four, our season was over. We are where we want to be, with a talented young team and an incredible manager. Wherever you are watching, in Asia, Australia, the USA, Africa, various parts of Europe and the UK, or for the lucky few who are going to the games, we are privileged to be Arsenal supporters right now. 

Keep the faith!

Posted in Match Report | 202 Drinks »

Trás os Defensores

Mar 12th, 2024 by

Two hours or so inland from the city of Porto lies the northeastern Portuguese province of Trás-os-Montes, or Behind the Hills.  I drove that route nearly 30 years ago but recalled it this week because Arsenal will have been working on some clever ways of getting in behind the Porto defenders to prevent a recurrence of the away leg when they failed to score a solitary goal.

In that first leg, played in Porto on February 21st, the home side scored in the last minute of stoppage time to take a one goal lead coming into Tuesday night’s deciding game in the Champions League Round of 16. Arsenal struggled to create many attacking opportunities, and the laissez faire referee allowed Porto to frustrate the Gunners with a nearly constant stream of borderline fouls.  The match was Arsenal’s most difficult and disjointed of 2024 to date, but the one goal deficit leaves the Gunners in decent position to score a come-from-behind victory and advance to the quarterfinal round for the first time since 2010.

Mikel Arteta set the stage in his pre-match presser, saying “You can’t wait in these situations, you have to go and make things happen and that’s the approach tomorrow.”  He added, “Now we know (Porto) a bit better. We have played these kind of games many times in the Premier League, we played one two days ago.”

We know that Brentford, who Arsenal defeated over the weekend, were taking a page from the Porto playbook, attempting to prevent Arsenal from playing their free-flowing football. We also know that Arsenal figured out a way to score two goals in that game, and should have had at least one penalty if the referee had gone by the rule against yanking on an opponent’s shirt in the penalty area and pulling them to the ground, so assuming that Porto play similarly (or even if they don’t) the Gunners should be in with a decent shout of overturning their deficit.

Porto

Porto is the most decorated Portuguese team in Europe with seven trophies won, including the 2004 Champions League and the 1987 European Cup.  As one of the big three clubs of Portugal, Porto have been regular participants in UEFA competitions.  They have qualified for European competition in every season since 1974–75, and share second place in the total number of Champions League group stage appearances with Bayern Munich, one less than Barcelona and Real Madrid. Porto are third in the Primeira Liga table with 55 points, trailing Sporting by four points, but sport the league’s stingiest defence having conceded only 17 times, three fewer than the next stingiest club, second placed Benfica.  They last played on Thursday when they defeated Portimonense away by 3-0 in the southern beach town of Portimão.

Arsenal

In the first leg Arsenal had no attempts on target and their last minute sloppiness put them in something of a hole when a draw was looking a certainly. But many a Premier League side has tried to stop them from scoring multiple goals in the last two months and none has succeeded so they have reason to feel confident. But they need to defend staunchly for 90 minutes and every second of time added on.

At left back Zinchenko is back from injury having come off the bench against Brentford, and he is probably the better choice for this match, to deliver some smart balls in behind the defense, although Kiwior has been very good recently as a more traditional left back. Gabriel Jesus also made a successful return recently, but Gabriel Martinelli remains out with a cut foot, so the starting team should look something like this:

Raya
White – Saliba – Gabriel – Zinchenko
Odegaard – Rice – Havertz
Saka – Jesus – Trossard

The ‘holic pound

It’s our moment to shine. This is our home leg and we must play to our potential, and show the Portuguese as little hospitality as Arsenal received in the first leg, but I think we will manage to do all of those things. Arsenal 3 Porto 1 is my prediction, with Bukayo Saka getting in behind os defensores and scoring a late beauty to moot any consideration of extra time and penalties, and send Arsenal to march on to the quarterfinals. This young squad is due for just such a coming of age moment. If so, be sure you have emerged from behind the couch with two eyes open.

Have a good one, ‘holics.

Posted in Champions League, Match Preview | 40 Drinks »

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