As we await the new season I think back to the last moments of the old one. Martin Ødegaard snatching a late winner at Southampton and it was over. And I’m going to confess I was relieved. I wasn’t ‘footballed out’, but I was glad of the break from putting my hopes and fears on the line in supporting Arsenal. When people on the blog cursed the interlulls last season I embraced them as a break from the pressure.
Now if my wife was reading this article she would be saying to herself, as she says to me continually, “It’s only a game for goodness sake, don’t let it dictate your life”. Of course she doesn’t understand that it’s not only a game, supporting Arsenal is part of my identity – a big part – and it has provided some of the most memorable moments of what has been a memorable life. Arsenal is ingrained in my soul like it was in my father’s soul and his Dad’s before him. When my Dad was cremated we draped his coffin in red and white because that would have been what he would have chosen. But we didn’t burn his Arsenal scarf.
“My!” you might say, this is a downbeat beginning to a preview of Arsenal’s 2025/6 season but the point I am making is that I seem to invest more and more into my supporting as the time I have left to support inevitably dwindles. I must confess that I am conflicted between the visceral support, much in evidence on this blog, that supports the club through thick and thin and the attempt to employ honest recognition of where the club is and what we can achieve. I desperately want us to win the Champions League and the Premier League but at the same time I recognise three successive second places as a huge improvement on where we were five seasons ago – which while it wasn’t nowhere, was a pretty mundane and unexciting place.
Most of our readers will have supported Arsenal in some very good times, after all it doesn’t come much better than the Invincible season, but younger readers will have a real frustration of the sort that I had through the 1960’s as far as Arsenal was concerned. Our recent history hasn’t been turbulent in other club’s terms. Even after Arsene Wenger’s performance started to decline we still won FA Cups and qualified for Europe and although at the end of Unai Emery’s tenure the club was a pig’s breakfast, he had taken us to a European final the season before. You may have expunged that game from your memory because our performance was execrable. So were all the performances of Emery’s side just before his departure.
But that’s history, history we all know and this is a preview of the season so why mention the past? A fair question but one I would answer with the one word – context. The club was in a mess when Mikel Arteta took over and five years later we are one of the strongest sides in Europe. Those second places have only been second places because twice a club owned by a nation state and one that is accused of gross irregularities ( they deny the charges) accumulated more points. On one occasion that side was undoubtedly the best in Europe and on another we took them to the last minutes of the last game of the season before their title was confirmed. They might still be stripped of both those titles.
Last season we came up against a club who were both superbly consistent and able to field the same team consistently. Our second place was earned despite a catalogue of serious injury to most of our best players at different times and what seemed like a refereeing approach that persecuted Arsenal in a way no other top, or for that matter bottom clubs seemed to suffer. As a handy adjunct we finished third in the new league stage of the Champions League, reached the semi finals of the competition, outplayed the holders home and away and won our first knockout game 7-1 away from home. The reaction to this result was for many to complain that Arsenal did not reduce prices for the return leg! That spoke to me of an element of our fanbase who feel outrageously entitled. Who might have wrought that change in attitude?
In the last five years we have seen a wonderful connection (Arteta’s word) build between the majority of our fans and the team. C100’s wonderful reports behind enemy lines illustrate how loyal and passionate that following is. But Arteta apparently begins this season under pressure but I don’t personally know an Arsenal fan who wants him removed as coach (and I know a lot of Arsenal fans). Yet pressure builds on wretched social media sites, in some of what Keenos calls ‘bottom tier’ blogs and in some of the more sensationalist papers. It creates noise but little in the way of informed debate. If there is a coach in world football, working with Arteta’s resources who could have guaranteed at least one league title in the last few years I’d be anxious to know his name. It might be Guardiola, Klopp, Luis Enrique, Slot or Ancelotti but the list would end about there and I would challenge some of those names. So if we lose Arteta with whom would we replace him that can immediately do better? If progress is not almost immediate you lose the momentum built up in the last few years. Shock Jock sports broadcasters are good at slinging mud but less gifted at credible suggestions for improvement.
All this has been a long, but I would contend necessary preamble into a look at the upcoming season. One that I would like to defer for several weeks! Arsenal face the season as second favourites to win the title in the majority of peoples’ eyes and are probably in most peoples’ top six for the Champions League. That’s not a bad starting point but after so many near misses we crave serious silverware.
I’ve focused quite a bit on Arteta because he is the fulcrum of our club, the person who drives everything. Arteta is secured on a long contract and would appear to be obsessively determined to bring success to Arsenal. He might be feeling great pressure if he listens to idiots on Sky or TalkShite or if he scans through the bottom-tier blogs (I love that phrase!) However, it is very clear that he enjoys significant support in the Arsenal boardroom. They have provided him with a war chest of almost £200m net so far this window and with the rate at which we seem to sell players that figure may not be heavily reduced by outgoings.
The big difference this year is a new Sporting Director Andrea Berta who has attained a very big reputation for his efficient purchasing of top players. So far we have signed six and we can all probably recite their names in our sleep. They used to say that Harry Redknapp always wanted one more signing, however many new players he had, and I would love us to make a seventh signing in Eberechi Eze. More about him later but what of those we have signed?
The New Boys
Viktor Gyökeres
Do you remember years ago you had to be either Blur or Oasis? VHS or Betamax, Remainer or Brexiteer ? Earlier in this window Arsenal fans seemed to need to be Sesko or Gyökeres. Frankly, I would have taken either but I was much more convinced by the incredible recent goalscoring record of Gyökeres than the future potential of Sesko. So I was glad we did the deal that we did. Gyökeres is already being written off by morons after 72 minutes of football coming on the back of a fragmented pre- season for the lad. He is a Goal Monster and will be our Goal Monster but, like those two incredible failures Bergkamp and Henry, he will need time and some patience. Adaptation on both sides is necessary but this boy eats defences for breakfast and he is very hungry. If he gets 25 goals this season we will have a very good chance of winning the league. No pressure Viktor!
Martin Zubimendi
I have been quietly warning people in the blog that this was a deal that may very well falter at the last minute as shy Basque lad Martin couldn’t face winters in N5 and the far north. He, of course, did join us and in his interview impressed as a very well balanced personality who was sold on the Arsenal project. That he might be one of the best holding midfielders in the world is not in doubt and great credit should go to Edu/Ayto for tying him up so tightly. He also relieves us of the need to employ Thomas Partey any more. His interaction with Rice, Merino and Ødegaard will be hugely significant next season.
Christian Nørgaard
I didn’t expect this signing but always thought he looked a very decent player for Brentford and as a replacement for Jorginho he fills the bill well and for a reasonable price. His aerial ability will add to our armoury at corners and he has extensive Premier League experience.
Kepa Arrizabalaga
If one was being critical of last season’s transfer activity it would have been in the goalkeeping position. Fortunately, Raya didn’t get injured but prolonged exposure to Neto in goal would have been very bad for our health based on Neto’s one outing in Girona. Accusations that Edu might be transferring his barbecue to the East Midlands were fuelled by the Neto deal. One pre- requisite of a back-up keeper deal is that he can relieve the principal keeper in the cups. Neto had already been cup- tied for the Carabao Cup and was presumably not deemed good enough to replace Raya for our FA Cup tie with ManUre. Kepa for £5million looks a snip. He was solid last season for Bournemouth, is vastly experienced , a good distributor and unlikely to try to make saves with his hands forty yards from goal. If Neto had been a better keeper he would probably have left us with ten men in Girona!
Christhian Mosquera
It will ultimately be revealed that Mosquera’s godfather or the priest at his christening was dyslexic. I suspect he may be a Kiwior replacement. I’ve never seen him play but I trust those who have and he looks a big, strong athlete. I will try not to lisp when disscutthing him on the blog. We must have guaranteed him reasonable game time which may suggest he could ultimately be a potential long-term replacement for Saliba. But let’s not think about that!
Noni Madueke
A few seasons ago I was lucky enough to meet Scruz en route to a Europa League game against PSV. He arrived late in an attempt to minimise the time he had to spend with me. (His wife is delightful and far too nice for him.) At that game which was won by Arsenal with a goal from my favourite player, Granit Xhaka (always loved him :0/). PSV brought on a very lively winger who caused the left side of our defence serious problems. That man was Jan Van Eyck! No seriously, it was Noni Madueke and he went into the famous TTG notebook then and there. I noted he had been a Spud. He arrives as the biggest surprise signing of the summer at the Home of Football but has been assailed pre- signing by bottom-tier criticism by those who suggest a current England winger is a waste of money at £48m, or thereabouts. Can I also make it clear that when I refer to bottom-tier in this respect there is no smear intended of CER, 21CG and C100, who all sit in the bottom tier at Arsenal, but are fine and respected judges with whom I have watched matches. Anyway, I think Madueke may prove to be a conspicuous success, relieving the pressure on Bukayo.
That covers our inwards movement at the time of writing and there has not yet been any outwards movement of note but that should alter and needs to. It’s becoming a cliché that we aren’t a good selling club ……probably, because we aren’t a good selling club. I used to blame Edu but it may be a curse that afflicts anyone trying to dispose of playing assets. We must hope to realise at least £60m in sales with a consequent reduction in our wage bill. If Kiwior is sold or we get a very big bid for Martinelli we may realise more in sales and this might enable us to arrange a loan as well as buying the exciting Eberechi Eze from Palace.
Priorities
We have got an extraordinarily strong squad now. It appears that we have targeted players with good fitness records which will almost certainly result in hitherto boisterous and healthy players breaking down in droves. We have cover in all the key positions except possibly our left sided attacking positions (that’s a matter for debate). Last season, one major criticism was that we lacked creativity. We scored 69 goals compared to 91 the year before. If my maths is correct that’s a drop of 31% and that’s very significant. That suggests a lot of low blocks foiled us. The Everton and West Ham games come to mind particularly. We had excuses – the absences through injury at various times of Saka, Jesús, Ødegaard, Havertz and Martinelli. Even Gabriel’s absence for the last few months denuded our attack of its main set- piece threat.
There are those who feel that the early success of our set-pieces which brought specialist coach Nicholas Jover into the limelight led us to be too reliant on them. I wouldn’t agree with that but our play last season appeared formulaic on many occasions, with much more emphasis on the right side of the attack. We certainly appeared less creative and it was impossible not to notice how Ødegaard struggled to be as effective as hitherto he had been. In his defence it seemed to a number of us that his ankle injury sustained early in the season while on international duty with Norway hindered him all season. This was a more credible explanation than the impact of fatherhood on his level of fitness.
It often seemed last season that we were intent on walking the ball into the net. We had few players who shot from distance and we tended to start games very slowly. My feeling is that we need to lift some of the responsibility for the creative burden from Ødegaard and the acquisition of Eze would give us a creative player who could play off the left, someone who is not primarily dextropedal and who is a goal threat from thirty yards from goal. Gyökeres is a frequent shooter from distance and so is Madueke who could play as a non-inverting winger on the left running in behind or could relieve Saka by playing wide on the right.
Our friendlies at the time of writing haven’t been much more than a public runout for the squad with wholesale substitutions but one of those substitutions has been extraordinarily interesting.
Young Stars of the Future
A couple of years ago I began to hear whispers about a prodigiously talented young winger who was creating huge waves at Hale End. I was told he came from very sound Arsenal stock and was amazingly good for his age. Gradually everyone got to hear about Max Dowman. He played outstandingly in the UEFA Youth League becoming the youngest ever scorer in that competition. He showed to huge effect in the Youth Cup, my neighbour at Arsenal texting me from the ground to say that Dowman was incredible. We’ve seen his impact from the bench against first team players on this tour and it was particularly sweet to see Joelinton turned inside out. In his first moments at the Emirates in a first team shirt he looked immediately at home and earned a penalty within minutes of coming on – the second he has earned this pre- season. Arteta’s dilemma is how much to use him in the first team. At his age he needs to play full matches. A season coming off the bench without starting won’t give him the experience he needs but with a boy this good it is hard to imagine how Arteta can resist the clamour to play him especially if our start to the season doesn’t go particularly well.
Dowman will be walking a well-trodden path. Bukayo Saka went straight into the first team, albeit at left back and last season we saw the delightful emergence of MLS and Nwaneri who both contributed enormously and who are both going to be contracted to us for the next four years. Young Marli Salmon, a young centre back, went on tour to Asia despite also being only fifteen and acquitted himself well. Back home Kyran Thompson, a fourteen year old winger, is getting rave reviews. While it is wonderful to have a host of brilliant youngsters coming through their pathway to and through the first team requires careful charting. Last year’s positive experience with MLS and Nwaneri suggests this is an area we will monitor very carefully .
What’s different this season?
The exodus of Carlos Cuesta to Parma was a blow as was the loss of Mehmet Ali as the Under 21 coach. Gabriel Heinze has been added to the coaching staff and is apparently creating a strong impression. LJW is rumoured to be returning to coach our U21’s which is a very circuitous way of moving up a level in the hierarchy. Arteta as we know is constantly trying to evolve and innovate and it is fervently to be hoped that we can develop a silkier passing rhythm and much more pace and verticality than we showed last season and in some of our friendlies so far. We must be able to harness the power and directness of Gyökeres as optimally as possible. We also need to re-erect the defensive wall that has served us so well in recent seasons. Gabriel’s return can’t come soon enough.
Our Rivals
The transfer window burst into life early and is showing no signs of slowing down. Liverpool’s investment looks particularly ominous with the captures of Wirtz and Ekitike, two flying full- backs and very possibly Isak giving them a remarkable squad. Whether the tragic death of Diogo Jota will have an effect cannot be predicted but the new arrivals will certainly create a buzz that may electrify the club. Manchester City have recruited strongly but have lost De Bruyne and Walker and don’t carry the aura that they used to particularly since we beat then 5-1 last season. World club champions Chelsea might mount a charge but their squad, though heavy with exciting wide players hasn’t got the defensive depth of Champions. The Saudi Arabian project is falling apart on Tyneside which leaves two other possible contenders. Manure have created a forward line that looks certain to be potent. They were incredibly inconsistent last season though Amorim will have had time to school his team in his favoured three at the back formation. The dear old Spuds are champions of Europe with a much more credible manager, a playmaker out for the season and Kudus added to their forward line as Son leaves. Frank is a much better coach than Big Ange and we might expect them to be a top six contender this season rather than a side struggling just above the relegation zone .
In just a week’s time another season will begin. It will be way too early for me, unless we hit the ground running, in which case I won’t be able to wait to get to the Leeds game. Arsenal fans who care for the club are very much behind Arteta and I hope we can create the momentum we need to drown out the naysayers. A slow start, especially for Gyökeres will see a media frenzy that will be unhelpful and unnecessary but will delight the many enemies that Mikel Arteta seems to have made. But if we win at the Toilet and Gyökeres looks a much better buy than Sesko we will hopefully develop a momentum that will help us cope with a challenging start. By way of comparison, Chelsea who have just returned from the Club World Cup don’t meet a top six side until October. That’s one for the conspiracy theorists who will no doubt be examining our experience with referees in the early games. We mustn’t go in with a victim mentality but it is to be hoped that we are not on the receiving end of the sort of horrendous refereeing decisions we experienced last season. Keep Michael Oliver well away!
Seasons roll round quickly and each one seems to be more intense and controversial than the last. I still find it remarkable that there could be any speculation about Arteta’s position but we don’t live in a rational world and negative noises will start to emanate from more militant fans if we drop behind the leaders too early. The Premier League is a marathon not a sprint but it will do us no harm at all if we can shoot out of the blocks very quickly.
Come on you Gunners!
Two short notices for your attention:
HOLICS ROPEYLEAGUE IS OPEN FOR BUSINESS
Could I take this opportunity to remind one and all that the prestigious HolicsRopeyLeague will once again be open to any and all Holics who would like to join and test your team selection skills. Who will challenge that Masked Man from, er Kent? Or will it be a two-peat for the Terror of Tonbridge? Come and join us to find out!!!
Any new players just let us know in the ‘Drinks’ if you’d like to join and I will send you our league code pronto.
Only two rules as ever – there must be at least one Arsenal player in your squad at all times – there must be No Spuds in your squad at any time.
JOIN THE 2025-26 PREDICTATHON
A quick reminder that the clock is ticking down on getting your entries in for the 2025-26 Predictathon. Next Friday is the deadline.
Past players should have received an entry blank by email. Check your spam/junk folder if you haven’t seen it.
New players, come and join us. All you have to do is predict the final PL table for the coming season. Easy peasy, lemon squeezy. How to enter, entry blanks and details of the scoring system are to be found under the GHF Contests tab above.
As always, your entry fee to the Predictathon will support Bob Wilson’s Willow Foundation.
Arsenal wrapped up preseason with an Emirates Cup Game against Athletic Club of Bilbao and Arteta started with the XI that is arguably his strongest team albeit he has recently declared that his old tier system of selection has been abandoned:
Raya
Timber Saliba Gabriel Calafiori
Ødegaard Zubimendi Rice
Saka Gyökeres Martinelli.
It was reassuring to see that Gabriel was fit enough to start, given that his recovery from surgery had been interrupted by a set back that ruled him out of all but the late stages of the Villareal game and moreover because of how how error prone our defence has looked without him.
We started reasonably briskly but stray passes as we built up initially gave us an undercooked look. After only 2 minutes, Gyökeres was welcomed to his second Emirates appearance by being wrestled to the ground on the halfway line as he took the ball down and turned his defender for which the defender received an early yellow card. It was an early preview of Gyökeres’ ability to win the ball in midfield and hold off the defender, later examples seeing lay-off to team mates.
A feature of the first half was the long high ball out of defence to Saka on the wide right only one of several of which he failed to trap and beat the covering defender. On two occasions he burst through towards the near post but his low hard shots were blocked by the keeper. When he cut it back it was cut out before reaching Martinelli or Gyökeres.
On the other wing a busy and motivated Martinelli made several driving runs into the box, laying it off to Gyökeres to his left or shooting low and hard for the near post but finding only the side netting. Calafiori, another gratifying returnee from injury, was elegantly gliding up the left wing to support Martinelli in a manner from which the flying Brazilian has not recently been accustomed to benefit.
We had a couple of jittery moments in defence at this early stage of the game with Timber carelessly losing possession outside Arsenal’s box, a mistake that ended in a weak shot from an otherwise anonymous Williams. Five minutes later a pass inside Arsenal’s box from Calafiori to Martinelli was cut out by a Bilbao forward who should really have scored but his shot was weak and comfortably saved by Raya.
By 20 minutes, we were looking much more in sync, moving the ball swiftly from back to front and nice interplay on the right between Saka and Zubimendi saw Gyökeres connect with a cut back from Saka to send the ball towards the far post but the Swede didn’t get strong enough contact and the shot was saved by the keeper. After a period of pressure, a lovely move with one touch passes involving nearly every outfield player sadly then came to naught.
Calafiori continued to link well with Martinelli and after a neat flick from the Italian, the flying Brazilian released Gyökeres who drove forward, cutting the ball back from the byeline to Calafiori who side footed it over the bar when a goal looked a possibility.
Bilbao were making no headway against our midfield, let alone our defence and Arsenal’s pressure at the other end was beginning to tell. Zubimendi was looking imperious in midfield and his sweet pass to Ødegaard saw the Norwegian’s clever forward pass into the box lofted over the bar by a panicking defender to prevent an Arsenal runner connecting.
On 35 minutes, Saka collected a cleared corner wide on the right, cut the ball back to Zubimendi who struck a curling cross first time into the centre of the box. Gyökeres’ leapt like a salmon and his head connected perfectly to send the ball powerfully past the keeper’s flailing right hand. The lad doesn’t score with his head, eh ? Red and White account opened.
Arsenal 1 – 0 Athletic Club – Gyökeres, 34 minutes
Only 3 minutes later, a lovely chip over the defence by Ødegaard on the halfway line found Martinelli and Saka running towards the goalkeeper. Martinelli took the ball down perfectly and as the keeper approached him laid it delicately to Saka on his right and our Starman stroked it into the net past a desperately backtracking defender.
Arsenal 2 – 0 Athletic Club – Saka, 37 minutes
Before halftime, Martinelli made a couple more darting runs down the left to the byeline only to see the first low cross cut out by the keeper and the second deflected for a corner. He then connected with a layoff from Gyökeres but his hard drive was blocked for a corner.
Half Time: Arsenal 2 – 0 Athletic Club
Madueke replaced Martinelli and White replaced Calafiori with Timber switching flanks to left back.
The second half saw more of the same with Arsenal dominating possession, Gyökeres running the channels and Ødegaard and Zubimendi, in particular, putting vertical balls through towards him. Madueke was lively on the left, repeatedly driving directly at his fullback and one lofted cross aimed for Gyökeres was headed clear before the Swede could connect. From the corner, Rice found Gabriel at the far post but though his lofted header back towards the near post found Timber, the Dutchman was underneath the dropping ball and couldn’t direct it towards goal.
Gyökeres then demonstrated close control and strength to retain the ball at the left touchline – the lad doesn’t have close control, eh ?
There then followed a sequence of crosses vaulting across the Bilbao goal from either side. The first, from White that a diving Timber just missed at the near post, then Madueke clipped it back from the left towards the same post and Saka just failed to connect. All this in the first 11 minutes of the second half !
At this point, Bilbao woke up and made a couple of forays upfield but they got nowhere near Raya or his goal. Out of possession, Rice was dropping between the centre backs to allow the fullbacks to remain upfield. However, when we had possession, he was still galloping upfield to assist in attack and he was unfortunate to be knocked to the ground on the edge of the box after a run inside by Madueke ended with a square pass to Gyökeres that he delicately slipped on to the incoming Rice. The lad can’t link up play, eh ?
A silky dribble by Zubimendi up the middle allowed him to find Madueke on the left and his cross was met by a diving header by Gyökeres that struck the keeper’s right hand post and rebounded to safety. No comment!
On 63 minutes, MLS replaced Timber, Mosquera replaced Gabriel and Williams, who got nothing out of Timber on either flank was also replaced. On this evenings showing, Madueke was the better acquisition.
This time Mosquera played left centre back with Saliba staying on his right unlike last time out when the Frenchman switched to allow the new boy to play on his right. They looked as safe as houses and at one point Mosquera displayed Saliba-esque calmness, confidence, poise and footwork to evade opposition forwards in the Arsenal box and slide the ball up to MLS.
At this phase of the match (65 minutes in), Gyökeres was still darting into channels on the left, right and up the centre with Ødegaard, in particular, regularly looking to play him in. White committed a cynical trip as a Basque broke out of defence and was fortunate not to get booked but almost immediately afterwards MLS was unlucky to receive Ben’s card for a robust challenge on the halfway line.
On 70 minutes, Havertz replaced Gyökeres.
Madueke continued to look threatening with the ball but also worked hard off the ball to close down ball carriers in midfield.
By the 75th minute the intensity had dropped and Nige, today’s co-commentator suggested that the game had become walking football. That was a tad unfair as White was still overlapping with gusto, supporting Saka as in days of yore and one cross from the byeline that was pushed out by the keeper was deftly back-heeled by Zubimendi to Havertz whose clipped effort was saved. A feature of this game continued to be the elegant control of Zubimendi who let little past him and always looked to pass forward when he gained possession. Our build-ups already look swifter and more vertical as a result of this lad.
Rice has clearly had a good rest over the summer and should start the forthcoming season much better than he did last season (because he was knackered by the Euros). On 81 minutes he tried to take a short corner, passed directly to an opponent who belted up the line into the space vacated by MLS. Rice hared after him, closed down on him just after the halfway line and stifled the breakaway.
Just a minute later, Havertz ran onto a lofted ball over the Bilbao defence by Saka from the middle of Arsenal’s half and he ran from the centre circle into the opposition box outpacing one defender and holding off another (with his new, improved, upper body strength?) to slide the ball from the left across the keeper into the far side of his goal.
Arsenal 3 – 0 Athletic Club – Havertz, 82 minutes.
On 83 minutes, Merino replaced Rice and Nwaneri replaced Ødegaard.
The game wound to a close but not without a comical ball to Saka’s face from White that poleaxed our Starman, but they both laughed it off, a dribbling vignette or two from Nwaneri and a neat series of 1-2’s at the edge of the box executed by Madueke but his chip to Havertz was blocked. However our new signing demonstrated that he has bought into Arteta’s ethos as he chased down the attacker forcing him to run the ball out of play. The game finished with Zubimendi intercepting a forward ball and making a beautiful pass over the Bilbao defence to the onrushing Saka that, in itself, would have been worthy of a fourth goal but sadly not this time.
Full Time: Arsenal 3 – 0 Athletic Club
Like all the other preseason games, the point of this exercise was to increase our fitness and match sharpness while building on-field relationships between our old and new players. The 3-0 scoreline was thoroughly deserved and is very gratifying but much more satisfying was the increased sense of a smooth-running machine that displays urgency, focus and increased readiness for the forthcoming fray.
There was a post-match penalty shoot out that saw some superb penalties from both sides, one miss each and one save by Raya to win bragging rights 6-5.
A man by man analysis is worth consideration at this last public showing before the new season starts in earnest.
Raya: he didn’t have much to do, in truth, and didn’t have to make a serious save but he displayed urgency in getting the ball forward quickly and his long passes to a teammate at halfway were unerringly accurate; in the penalties, where he made one good save, he dived the correct way most times and was unlucky not to reach a couple more but most of the shots he faced were quite unstoppable.
Timber: it was good to see him fit again; he got forward to support Saka well in the first half and slotted in seamlessly at left back in the second half; he’s raring to go.
Saliba: at his silky best; utterly unruffled; plays his best football with Gabby alongside (he should remember that); he smashed his penalty into the top right corner.
Gabriel: it was great to have him back; unsurprisingly, he doesn’t yet look 100% but his calmness helps the rest of the defence to do their best work.
Calafiori: looks the business with and without the ball; elegant and creative going forward; adds more to our offence than MLS has done recently and would be my first choice left back.
Ødegaard: looks to be closer to his best than he did for most of last season though perhaps not quite there yet; perhaps showing early signs of an understanding of Gyökeres’ movements.
Zubimendi: class act; imperious; great assist – he will get more; love him; took a short run up to his penalty sending the ball into the net with a crisp shot; what a signing!
Rice: relatively quiet first half but showed his stamina and athleticism; encouraging early signs of symbiosis with Zubimendi.
Saka: looks fully fit; energetic and dynamic throughout; had his full-back on toast and was unlucky with his first half efforts; not sure why he played 90 minutes; took a cool penalty right in the bottom right corner.
Gyökeres: he looks like the number 9 we’ve been missing since RvP; worked hard throughout and took his chances well; and they said he doesn’t score with his head!
Martinelli: he played like he had read some of the over the top criticism and was unlucky not to score and have more assists; worked hard throughout; benefitted from Calafiori and Gyökeres alongside him; 100% a keeper.
White: solid defending; looks back to his mischievous, overlapping best.
Madueke: dynamic, hard-working and committed both with and without the ball; he will be an asset on both wings and will get his share of assists and goals; took a good penalty with a chip down the middle after the keeper dived when he paused his run up.
MLS: solid and unruffled; less prominent offensively than Calafiori.
Mosquera: a very impressive defender; big, strong, athletic and skillful; reminds me of Saliba – quite the compliment!
Havertz: looks bigger, fit and ready to go (and compete for his place and playing time); he took his goal very well indeed; also took a good penalty, sending the keeper the wrong way with a stuttered run up.
Merino: only got 10 minutes; a valuable midfield back-up and third choice centre forward; took an excellent penalty with a confident strike to the left corner.
Nwaneri: likewise only got 10 minutes; showed some nice dribbling and passing skills in Ødegaard’s role; too clever by half with his penalty which he clipped over the bar.
We look better than we did in the last few games both with and without the ball. We are almost ready. Another week in the training ground should increase familiarity and embed some automatisms. Bring it on!
COYG !
Predictathon 2025-26
Enjoy the new season playing the Goonerholicsforever Prediction Contest, in aid of the Willow Foundation!
Again, the contest’s purpose is twofold. First, to enhance the enjoyment of the upcoming season by providing a degree of light-hearted competitive rivalry as the season progresses. Second, to support Bob Wilson’s Willow Foundation with another generous collective donation.
The rules of the game are straightforward:
1. The object of the contest is to predict the final 2025-26 Premier League table.
2. The winner will be the player whose predictions are closest to the table at the end of Matchweek 38.
3. This will be determined by a points score using the Difference Squared system. The lowest total score wins. The reward for winning is a full year’s bragging rights as the bar’s top know-it-all.
For full details and how the scoring works, check out the Contests tab at the top of this page.
To enter, download the entry blank. Email your completed entry form to ghfpredict@yahoo.com. We must receive your completed entry no later than one hour before the new season kicks off, i.e., by 1900 UK time on Friday, August 15. No changes to entries or new players are permitted after that deadline.
Contestants are honour-bound to donate to the Willow Foundation (link here) at least £25. This covers entry into the League Positions contest and the three bonus predictions (first manager to get the tin tack, and the winners of the two domestic cups). You can donate more to Willow — we encourage you to do so — but it will not guarantee a higher placing!
After a nice jaunt round the Far East, Arsenal returned to N5 to play another in a difficult set of pre-season friendlies, this time against Villareal. The ground looked full of youngsters and their parents with the pitch of the crowd a couple of octaves higher than usual as a result. A good opportunity for those who can’t get to league games to see their heroes.
Starting XI: Raya, White, Saliba, Kiwior, MLS, Nørgaard, Merino, Nwaneri, Gyökeres, Saka Martinelli. The good news was that Timber and Gabriel were on the bench, along with Madueke, Zubimendi, Rice and Dowman. Missing were Trossard, Havertz and Calafiori.
Villareal started with Pépé, who left 2 years ago and Foyth, formerly of the East Middlesex Swampdwellers. with Danjuma on the bench, another who managed to pull himself from the primordial gloop of N17. Merino was the one to give the pre-match speech in the huddle, perhaps unsurprisingly being arguably the most senior player in terms of achievement on the Arsenal side.
Arsenal showed intent straight away and pressed the opposition back. Interestingly, at times in possession, Martinelli and Gyökeres were playing noticeably closer than any recent front pair, perhaps something we may look to build on as the season gets going. On 4 minutes, we had a good break after a fantastic turn in midfield from Nwaneri, who was bright throughout the first half, playing directly with zip, with both Martinelli, as noted before and often Saka taking narrow positions to support the attack. Arguably Saka could have opened the scoring in the 5th minute when a good piece of play saw Martinelli get some support from an overlapping Merino, who crossed well to the back post, only for Saka seemingly to get up too early and skew his header wide.
The pattern continued, with Villareal barely getting out of their own third, let alone half, until on 16 minutes, inevitably, they scored with their first attempt,. This was a feature of life under late-era Arsene, and in pre-season it has become a feature this season. This needs to be ironed out. It was Pépé who scored and respectfully didn’t overly celebrate. Fair play, Sir. You perhaps didn’t get the fairest shake of the stick at Arsenal, so you didn’t owe us anything.
Arsenal 0 Villareal 1.
We continued to apply pressure, forcing them back and actually put together some good moves, with Nwaneri and Saka in particular looking bright. However it was the visitors who scored next. After a break occasioned by the expedient of a ball over the right midfield channel into space, they manufactured a good shot, well saved by Raya. The ball looped up and a Villareal player was first to react and knock it in as it descended 2 yards out. It was well executed but I hope it gives Arteta and the defence reason to think and work on this as sloppy goals have become the norm in this pre-season.
Arsenal 0 Villareal 2
The ground appeared somewhat shell-shocked. This was not what the youngsters in the crowd didn’t pay their money for. However, there was a measure of recompense 3 minutes later when, from an excellently delivered corner on the left, following a well drilled series of runs and blocks, the ball dropped onto the head of the unmarked Nørgaard at the back post for him to nod home. That was more like it.
Arsenal 1 Villareal 2
Towards half time saw the first real glimpse of what we hope Gyökeres will do, when he jinked past a couple of defenders on the left of the box and crossed but to no avail. That was his best involvement of the half.
Halftime: Arsenal 1 Villareal 2
Second Half
Arsenal subs: off White, Nørgaard. On Mosquera, Zubimendi.
The second half started pretty much the way the first had, with Arsenal owning the ball and playing some good attacking stuff. On 49, Nwaneri slaughtered the right back on the outside and hit a low cross. Gyökeres, however, was stationary rather than looking to get across the keeper. Not terribly impressive from an expensive centre forward, but at this stage of the season, let’s put it down to players developing new relationships. This was somewhat counterbalanced in the 60th minute when Gyökeres had a good effort saved, immediately followed by another from Merino. This was the cue for another raft of substitutions, with Raya, Saliba, Kiwior, Nwaneri, Saka and Gyökeres off, replaced by Kepa, Timber, Gabriel, Ødegaard, Rice and Dowman.
Merino immediately went up front, in the absence of Havertz, and linked up well, showing the benefit of time in building relationships with teammates. Immediately noticeable was the pep added by Dowman. However, once again, this was undone by a single Villareal pass from their own third, the kind which we hope to see often from Zubimendi as the season progresses, which cut our defence apart. We seemed to be following the Postecoglou Defensive Playbook – few defenders, up around the half way line. Villareal’s single attacker received the ball with no Arsenal player within 10 yards and stroked home past an isolated Kepa. Yet again, pee-poor defending, reminiscent of many, many games under Arsene in the first 2 decades of this century, notably against Chelsea and Man U. Not good enough.
Arsenal 1 Villareal 3
We caught Villareal dallying in the box in the 75th minute and a nice trick from Dowman, again, resulted in him being clearly upended and the referee gave the penalty, duly despatched by Ødegaard.
Arsenal 2 Villareal 3
And that was that really. The game played out with Dowman continuing to look the best player on the pitch and the whistle finally blew.
There was a penalty competition for a bit of fun after, which we lost.
Lessons to be learned?
We are undercooked and as a result we underwhelmed.
Gyökeres has only been with his new teammates for a week so understandably they are still working on those “automatisms”.
We absolutely have to cut out the ludicrous defensive mistakes if we are to have any chance.
Dowman looks great, but let’s remember he’s 15 and therefore needs to be used sparingly, for his own long-term benefit.
Mosquera looks a physical presence.
There is much work to do on the training ground in order to be ready, but there is also time.
Two more things, Holics ….
Firstly, it’s time to sharpen your pencil, get your thinking cap on and enter the new season’s Predictathon ….
Predictathon 2025-26
Enjoy the new season playing the Goonerholicsforever Prediction Contest, in aid of the Willow Foundation!
Again, the contest’s purpose is twofold. First, to enhance the enjoyment of the upcoming season by providing a degree of light-hearted competitive rivalry as the season progresses. Second, to support Bob Wilson’s Willow Foundation with another generous collective donation.
The rules of the game are straightforward:
1. The object of the contest is to predict the final 2025-26 Premier League table.
2. The winner will be the player whose predictions are closest to the table at the end of Matchweek 38.
3. This will be determined by a points score using the Difference Squared system. The lowest total score wins. The reward for winning is a full year’s bragging rights as the bar’s top know-it-all.
For full details and how the scoring works, check out the Contests tab at the top of this page.
To enter, download the entry blank. Email your completed entry form to ghfpredict@yahoo.com. We must receive your completed entry no later than one hour before the new season kicks off, i.e., by 1900 UK time on Friday, August 15. No changes to entries or new players are permitted after that deadline.
Contestants are honour-bound to donate to the Willow Foundation (link here) at least £25. This covers entry into the League Positions contest and the three bonus predictions (first manager to get the tin tack, and the winners of the two domestic cups). You can donate more to Willow — we encourage you to do so — but it will not guarantee a higher placing!
We are pleased to publicise a plea from Layth, the Editor of The Goonerand a very good friendofGHF to help save the Gooner fanzine, a publication well worth your support.
Layth’s Take: Help Save The Gooner Fanzine
It’s been sad to note the recent demise of more printed football fanzines, in Manchester City’s long-running King of the Kippax as well as Watford’s Yellow Pages, not to mention the continuing shrinkage of print media in general. Among other titles closing I’ve noted recently is ‘The Lady’. Not that I’ve ever read it – but if an incredibly well-established magazine that can date its history back nearly 200 years is closing due to lack of print readers, then you know the print industry is struggling, badly.
Yet, while I was flicking through the pages of a glossy, well-known magazine recently, I also noted there were 17 members of staff, including, a grandly named “subscription executive”.
Well, unfortunately our humble labour of love doesn’t have such numbers, or riches (Oh, how I’d wish for a “subscription executive”…)
However, we’re quite proud in a humble way that everything everyone associated with the Gooner does for our humble publication actually comes on top of their day jobs. Which is actually kind of staggering when you think about it. And it has to be said for no reward other than producing what we think is a half decent fanzine that has been standing on the shoulders of giants of those who came before us over the last four decades.
In an age where avarice is rife among certain kinds of ‘fans’ – those who drum up hysteria, hate and toxicity simply for cash – we’re really proud such heartening altruism is associated with the Gooner, and hope you are too.
Just another reason to help us Save the Gooner.
By the way, one promise I will make right now, is that if we do manage to save our humble labour of love, I will once again run a half marathon next spring to raise as many funds as possible for the brilliant Willow Foundation again. It nearly killed me to do the last one, so that’s how much I want us survive…)
If you have already taken out a subscription (and thank you so much to each and everyone who has already, you all qualify for a free hug, or firm handshake, next time I see you on a matchday…) then have you considered buying a £30 subscription for a pal?
Or even buying a Gooner t-shirt, or one of our back copies such as our souvenir 300th issue, definitely the best-selling edition over the last five years, for example. Anything to boost our coffers and help us get to our first target of 1,000 subscribers by the end of August.
A massive thank you to everyone who has already signed up, we simply wouldn’t be here without you – we just wish there were more like you…. …….
Help Us Reach Our Target
The reason we need to reach at least 1,000 to continue is threefold.
Firstly, and most importantly, it means that our postage costs are substantially cheaper when we hit 1,000 mailings to subscribers. If we fail to reach that number, it really is a serious threat to our existence because of the vastly increased costs of postage.
Secondly, and this is where our ultimate target of 1,100 comes into play, it not only allows us to peg our matchday cover price at £5, and our standard subscription rate of £30 for a fifth successive year under my editorship, it also allows for any bumps in the road – such as the Royal Mail increasing their postage costs (again) in the near future.
It also covers any future hikes in printing costs, such as an increase in the price of paper for our publishers.
And thirdly, it allows for items that are lost in the post. Which has been the bane of my life for the last few years, certainly since the Royal Mail’s service fell off a cliff after the pandemic.
It is not unknown for us to have to send out two or three replacement copies to cover issues lost in the post. My record is sending four replacements to an overseas address – which actually cost us far more in total than the person’s year’s subscription.
The simple fact is, if we don’t reach 1,000 for starters, there will be no Gooner after our next issue, which will be out for Arsenal vs Leeds, because the postage costs will be prohibitive, and we’ll simply refund everyone, and I can go back to sleeping soundly and not worrying about paying Gooner bills.
I don’t want that to happen – well, the sleeping soundly bit would be nice – but you know what I mean.
So, if you know of anyone you would benefit from a standard £30 subscription (or a Gold sub of course) to the Gooner Fanzine in their lives, then please do send them our way – and help keep the Gooner Fanzine alive.
Our £30 UK subscription details can be found on our ‘Shop’ tab here on our website onlinegooner.com.
Editor’s note: this is the historical record of the 2024-25 Predictathon. The commencement of the 2025-26 edition is now available at the GHF Contests tab above. Get your entry in and let’s make another big donation to the Willow Foundation!
GHF Predictathon 2024-25: Season review in seven easy charts, or Who needs Opta when we’ve got Potsticker? By North Bank Ned & TTG
For a 38-match week season that ran from August to May, the 2024-25 GHF Predictathon was damned close-run. Four players – bt8, Dr F. Jnr, GSD and Potsticker – entered the final round of matches with a shot at glory. All four hit the front at some point on the final day. The lead had changed six times when, with barely 15 minutes of the season left, Potsticker made the decisive move. He held on to cross the line just eight points clear of the level-pegging GSD and Dr F Jnr. Dino shaded silver on the tiebreakers.
Congratulations to all three who made the podium. A special mention in dispatches to bt8 and Boff for rounding out the fabulous five that beat the Crowd. The rest of us were below average. Collectively, though, we weren’t too shabby. More than half of the consensus predictions were within a place of the actual outcome. Impressive.
I’ve been keeping track of the preseason predictions of a handful of press pundits who offered a full 1-20 (most do just a top and/or bottom three. Wimps!). The best of the set, The Athletic’s John Mackenzie, would have come in fourth in the Predictathon. Most of the rest would have been midtable. The worst, Goal magazine, would have barely escaped the relegation zone.
Opta’s computers running thousands of Monte Carlo simulations would have beaten all the human pundits. But not Potsticker. He and Opta would have been tied in a dead heat on 380 points. Really impressive.
Kudos, too, to the joint winners of the TinTack Award: Bath, BtM and Steveyhyperdee.
No one correctly predicted the FA or League Cup winners. A Close-But-No-Cigar commendation goes to 21st Century Gooner, Boff, CER, Dr F., Dr F. Jnr, GSD, Pangloss, Sancho Panza, Scruz, Trev and Uply, who had all picked one, other or both of the losing finalists. Fine margins, and all that.
The difference squared scoring system of the Predictathon, by design, piles on the points the more wayward the prediction. Pangloss’s runaway success last season was built on not getting anything terribly wrong. This season, that wasn’t an option for most players. As the second of our charts shows, three clubs wildly defied their predictions: Nottingham Forest, the Red Mancs and the neighbours.
The three bad boys increased the median overall score by 254 points from last year and made players’ predictions for those three teams critical to their final ranking. Our third chart shows a count of each player’s predictions by the number of places they were off the actual final position in the PL table.
Remember, 13 places off, which was what the worst predictions were, amounts to 169 points. Last season, Pangloss, Steveyhyderdee and BtM’s total scores were lower than that. This season, unsurprisingly, those players whose counts show the fewest bars to the right side of their individual charts tended to end up ranking higher overall.
The top three’s aggregate points from the bad boys – 264 for Potsticker, 281 for GSD and 321 for Dr F. Jnr —was better than the average 330 points. Yet beyond that, it isn’t easy to pick out a winning pattern from the trio’s other predictions.
A large number of almost correct predictions served Potsticker well. GSD benefited by being this year’s Prince of Precision with a competition-high six spot-on predictions. Dr F. Jnr was nearly carried over the line by his uncommonly prescient prediction of a lowly finish for West Ham. Only Lonestar was as bearish.
Had Ipswich managed even a point off the Hammers in the final game, our young, long-time frontrunner would have won the whole kielbasa. Fine margins, yet again.
This next chart shows how our champion stacked up against the consensus predictions. His places-off are the numbers in the white circles and those of the corresponding consensus prediction are the underlying bars. Perhaps you can see a cunning tactical plan in there. Or perhaps Potsticker just channelled his inner Carlo Ancelotti: his tactics were to have no tactics.
The monks will send you a copy of your version of that chart as soon as they can find a passing pilgrim going your way.
The middle of the pack ended as tightly as it had been for most of the season—a measly 28 points separating your correspondent in seventh and Trev in 15th, with C100, Scruz, Bath, Uply, Lonestar, BtM and CER the distinguished filling in the sandwich.
That is not to say the final day was not as frantic in the middle as it was at the top. Even the only two players to end the day in the same position they started it, Boff and OM, swung up and down the rankings during the frenzied, final dash for the line.
At the bottom of the table, the weight of the Bad Boys hung heavy. Several escapes from the relegation zone were threatened, but none materialised after Dr F in matchweek 23 and Pangloss in matchweek 27. In the end, Ollie was left holding the wooden spoon, with Sancho Panza and TTG looking sheepish.
Here is how the rankings ebbed and flowed across the season. Thirty-eight match weeks are a lot to cram into one chart and still be legible, so it’s split into two this year. It also makes it easier to see some of the dramatic swings that took place on the final day.
The final chart shows how your score this season (the red dot) changed from last (the grey one). The gold dot is your average score over the two years. The Predicta-ultra is on!
Thank you all so much for participating in the 2024-25 GHF Predictathon. If you didn’t, TTG & I encourage you to join the third edition next season, once again supporting the Willow Foundation. Entry details will be posted on the blog approximately two weeks before the new season kicks off on August 16.
Let us know in the drinks or via email at ghfpredict@yahoo.com if you have suggestions for improvements or any new tiebreaker predictions that could lead to more winners throughout the season.
Finally, thanks to Scruz and Bath for their tireless production support, and to all players for raising more than £500 for the Willow Foundation. Congratulations, again, to our champion, Potsticker, the Opta equal, and whose win gives him the coveted bragging rights to being the bar’s biggest know-it-all for the next year.
We have a winner By North Bank Ned & TTG
What a day of drama to bring the 2024-25 GHF Predictathon to its conclusion, with Potsticker reeling in Dr F. Jnr and holding off GSD to grab gold at the death.
The narrow margin of victory sent the monks to their abacuses to confirm the result. GSD and Dr F. Jnr were tied eight points in arrears of Potsticker. GSD shaded silver on the tiebreakers.
Three deserved occupiers of the podium places: Gold: Potsticker; Silver: GSD; and Bronze: Dr F. Jnr.
The West Ham, Brentford and Bournemouth results did for our long-time young front-runner, the first two helping Potsticker and GSD more and the Bournemouth result hurting them less.
bt8 and Boff round out the elite quintet that beat the Crowd.
All but two players improved their scores in the frantic, final dash for the line, largely thanks to the Red Mancs unexpectedly winning a game. 21st Century Gooner and Uply improved their scores the most, followed by our new champion, Steveyhyperdee, Sancho Panza and your correspondent, who, like Uply, got a week’s best five-place bump in the rankings out of it.
The middle of the field ended as tightly packed as it had been for most of the season. Just 28 points separating seventh and Trev in 15th, and there were two pairs of tiebreakers within that, Scruz and Bath, and Lonestar and BtM.
In the relegation zone, Sancho Panza’s strong final week let him return the wooden spoon to Ollie, but only four points separated the bottom three.
As well as honouring our three medalists, we should commend Bath, BtM and Steveyhyperdee for winning the Tin Tack award, having correctly predicted EtH’s head would be the first to roll.
No one correctly predicted the winner of the FA or League Cups. A Close-But-No-Cigar commendation goes to 21st Century Gooner, Dr F, Dr F Jnr, GSD and Uply, who had all forecast that Man City would lift the FA Cup, not end up being beaten finalists, and to 21st Century Gooner, Boff, CER, Pangloss, Sancho Panza, Scruz and Trev, who had all forecast the League Cup would be Liverpool’s.
A special award goes to GSD for making more exactly correct predictions –six — than any other player. No one correctly predicted the league champions.
Four players share the prize for the most spectacularly wrong prediction — 13 places awry. The prize is awarded anonymously, but you probably know who you are.
Thanks to all who participated this year. I hope you enjoyed it, and thank you for your generosity to the Willow Foundation, for which we raised well over £500.
With the editors’ indulgence, there will be a full competition review in the close season, but for now, for the final time this season, your Leaderboard and five-week form guide:
Heading for the line, and it’s going to be down to fine margins By North Bank Ned & TTG
One week left, and the GHF Predictathon is building to a nail-biting climax.
Every player’s score improved in Match Week 37, thanks mainly to Brentford’s defeat. Yet, at the end of it, Dr F Jnr, with an additional, if unlikely, boost from Leicester, had managed to eke out his lead to 14 points.
Will it be enough to get him over the line next week?
Not only is Potsticker breathing down his neck, but also bt8 and GSD. Those three are level on points with only the tiebreakers separating them.
Any of them could snatch victory at the death, depending on the results of the final matchweek.
Behind the front four, Boff and C100 flipped places and completed a select sextet beating the Crowd.
In the middle of the pack, there was upward movement in the rankings for Lonestar, who had the most improved score of the week, Scruz and your correspondent. The senior members of the Scottish contingent slipped in the opposite direction.
Dr F put some daylight between himself and the relegation zone, flipping places with 21st Century Gooner.
And could Ollie be poised to pull off the Great Escape?
The Red Mancs are the baddest of the bad boys for a second successive week. Forest and the neighbours share the naughty step with them.
Your penultimate leaderboard and five-week form guide of the season:
Two weeks to go, and it’s tight at the top and tight at the bottom By North Bank Ned & TTG
Potsticker reined in three-quarters of Dr F. Jnr’s lead in Match Week 36, and GSD more than kept pace. West Ham’s win suited the pursuing pair more than the front runner: only six points separate first and second now, and another six second and third.
The leading trio eased away slightly from bt8, who still has a comfortable lead over C100 and Boff. Lonestar took a tumble this week —an unusually high eight results went against him — so it is now just a sextet beating the Crowd.
The middle of the pack is congested with just 22 points separating the ascendant Bath in eighth place from your correspondent in 15th. That cluster now includes defending champion Pangloss, who had the most improved score of the week thanks mainly to the West Ham, Bournemouth and Forest results.
It is as tense at the bottom as it is at the top. With Ollie and TTG showing the week’s second and third-largest score improvements, respectively, just 12 points separate the bottom three in the fight to avoid the wooden spoon.
Yet, Dr F’s improved score this week stretched the gap between him and the bottom three to 44 points. Too large to be closed in the final two match weeks?
For the first time in a long time, Forest isn’t the baddest of the bad boys. That dishonour goes to the Red Mancs, while Brentford joins those two and the neighbours on the naughty step.
Your Match Week 36 leaderboard, the latest five-week form guide, and, because there was more impact than usual from this weekend’s results, a bonus Game Changers chart, showing that:
Three weeks to go, the pace takes a toll By North Bank Ned & TTG
The Bournemouth, Brentford and Man U results wreaked havoc on scores in Match Week 35. All three added an average of at least 18 points. All players’ scores deteriorated.
Nonetheless, Potsticker cut Dr F. Jnr’s lead by two-thirds, eking out some fine margins of advantage from the Fulham and Barcodes results.
GSD and bt8 again flipped places in third and fourth, with Lonestar closing in fifth. C100 and Boff completed the septet beating the Crowd.
Bath bounced back from last week’s reverse, better served by the Fulham result than most. His recovery was not quite enough to displace BtM in ninth, but it did push CER, Scruz, your correspondent and Trev down a place.
OM’s recent ascendency plateaued. Behind him, Uply and Steveyhyperdee were level on points, with Uply ahead on the tiebreakers.
Pangloss continued his climb away from the relegation zone, and 21st Century Gooner, who had the least deterioration in his score of any this week, broke his recent decline. Dr F slipped two places as a result.
In the relegation zone, the wooden spoon returned to Ollie.
The bad boys — Forest, United, neighbours and West Ham — remain on autodial.
Your latest Leaderboard and five-week form guide update:
Felled Forest confers divergent largess By North Bank Ned and TTG
Brentford did GHF Predictathon players a whole lot of good by beating Forest, which knocked the season’s Bad Boys nonpareil down to sixth and reduced scores by an average of 51 points.
Bournemouth took off another 19. Yet, half a dozen other teams added small numbers of points. Hence, the overall impact of Match Week 34 was highly divergent, with several players plunging down the leaderboard regardless of their improved scores.
At the front, Dr F Jnr extended his lead over Potsticker. Behind them, bt8 and GSD are level on points but swapped places on the tiebreakers.
Lonestar and C100, who had the second-most and the most improved scores of the week, respectively, moved up to join the pursuit group at the expense of Boff.
That septet are beating the Crowd.
BtM and CER moved up two places in lockstep and are level on points, pushing Scruz down. All the aforementioned are now breaking under 500. Your correspondent and Trev are also level on points and moved ahead of Bath by two points. OM continued his revival, and Steveyhyperdee started one, which cost Uply three places.
21st Century Gooner benefited less than those around him from Bournemouth’s result and slipped four places, moving Dr F and Pangloss further away from the relegation zone, where Ollie handed off the wooden spoon he has been carrying since Match Week 13 to TTG.
Forest’s slide has made more room on the naughty step for the neighbours and the Red Mancs, as well as creating space for Wet Spam.
Your Match Week 34 leaderboard and five-week form update.
Heading for the final five By North Bank Ned & TTG
Mixed fortunes attended players in Match Week 33. Newcastle, Man City and Wolves were all modest bestowers of lower scores. The neighbours, true to form, were the ill wind.
With only five match weeks left, Dr F. Jnr. is still out front, but Potsticker has cut the lead by almost half to 26 points, with a hefty assist from West Ham. Potsticker also widened the gap with GSD in third. Meanwhile, fourth-placed bt8 closed in on Dino.
Only that quartet is beating the crowd.
Boff moved up a place, and Lonestar rose three as he recovered some of the ground lost last week. Lonestar had the biggest score improvement of the week, for which he can largely thank the Barcodes and West Ham.
C100 and Bath both slipped a couple of places and now sandwich Scruz. BtM and CER were Steady Eddies. Your correspondent and Uply each moved up one place at the expense of Trev.
21st Century Gooner separates Trev from OM, who flipped places with Dr F to advance above Steveyhyperdee. Things are unchanged from there on down.
There is no change either to the bad boys — Forest, the Red Mancs, the neighbours and Wet Spam.
Your Match Week 33 leaderboard and five-week form update:
That was unexpected! By North Bank Ned & TTG
With Forest finally knocked down a place in the PL table, I expected to see an across-the-board improvement in Predictathon scores.
Yet, no! While Forest’s fall to fourth took an average of 29 points off players’ scores, that was offset — and then some — by results elsewhere.
There were more changes in the PL table than usual this week. There is a bonus ‘Game Changers’ chart this week illustrating the impact that had on scores.
With the dust settled, no one had improved their scores. TTG and Bath were the least scathed. Only they, CER, Dr F Jnr and Pangloss kept the damage to single figures. As the latest leaderboard shows, Steveyhyperdee and Lonestar took a paddlin’.
Dr F. Jnr made it an eighth successive week at the front, but Potsticker reclaimed second place from GSD. That trio and bt8 are the only ones ahead of the Crowd.
C100, up three places, skipped ahead of Boff, with Bath rising four spots to close in on both. Scruz moved up one as Lonestar and BtM both fell back three.
CER was another four-spot riser, crossing paths with Uply going in the opposite direction. CER is level on points with Trev but edged ahead on the tiebreakers.
Dr F. extended his recovery for a second week, passing the descending Steveyhyperdee.
In the relegation zone, TTG and SP flipped places.
Forest is taking up a bit less room on the naughty step, so there is room for West Ham to join the Red Mancs and the neighbours.
Your Match Week 32 leaderboard, five-week form guide, but first the bonus chart:
Seven up for Dr F. Jnr by North Bank Ned & TTG
Match Week 31 has come around lickety-split. The Brentford and Brighton results, dropping both clubs down the table, improved nearly all scores by more than Fulham moving up the table and Man City moving down weighed on them.
The Newcastle result was a mixed bag, hurting two players for each one it helped.
One of those who benefited was Dr F. Jnr, who remains at the head of the pack for a seventh successive week. He is the only player with a score under 400.
GSD eased ahead of Potsticker to claim second place, with bt8 holding behind them in fourth. Boff moved up into fifth, to complete the quintet beating the Crowd.
The Newcastle, Man City and Palace results did Lonestar no favours. They helped push him down two places to seventh, four points ahead of BtM, who leapfrogged C100.
Behind him, Scruz, Uply and Bath comprised a tight-knit group that is starting to ease away from Trev and your correspondent, who had nearly as deficient a week as Lonestar, allowing Steveyhyperdee, CER and TFCG to close in.
Benefiting from the Newcastle and Palace results, and even more from those of Brentford and Brighton, Dr F had the best points improvement of the week.
Thus, he moved up two at the expense of OM and Pangloss. Within that, OM put more daylight between himself and the bottom four, but Pangloss slipped to within two points of the unchanged relegation zone.
Forest, the Red Mancs and the neighbours are now on cut-and-paste as the bad boys.
Your Match Week 31 leader board and five-week form guide:
We’re back! By North Bank Ned & TTG
It has been a while. These interlulls do drag. But the Predictathon is back for Match Week 30—just eight rounds to go.
Everyone save for Lonestar picked up the pace. The Villa and Brighton results were generally favourable for players.
Dr F Jnr held his lead, but it is now slightly narrower and over Potsticker, who moved back into second place, level on points with GSD but ahead on the tiebreakers. bt8 moved up one spot as Lonestar slipped back whence he came two weeks ago.
Boff advanced two places to join the sextet beating the crowd.
C100 slipped a place. BtM held steady while Uply snuck up two places behind him to round out the top ten.
With Scruz also holding steady, your correspondent was unceremoniously pushed down two places. Bath and Trev flipped spots immediately below.
Nothing changed after that until Pangloss’s spectacular leap out of the relegation zone to go 19th with the joint biggest score improvement of the week, pushing OM to match it to stay ahead.
Sancho Panza joined TTG and Ollie in biding their time for the final sprint. Forest and the Red Mancs are still the bad boys. Ho-hum!
Your Match Week 30 leaderboard and five-week form guide:
We have no winner but seven runners-up By North Bank Ned & TTG
A consolation GHF Predictathon Close-But-No-Cigar commendation goes to 21st Century Gooner, Boff, CER, Pangloss, Sancho Panza, Scruz and Trev, who had all forecast a Liverpool triumph in the League Cup. Howe very unfortunate.
In the main competition, despite the Red Mancs knocking an average of 17 points off every player’s score and Bournemouth another eight, only four players improved their overall tally in Match Week 29: Dr F Jnr, Lonestar, Trev and Ollie. Blame the hapless neighbours (adding an average of 14 points), with Brentford (seven), Fulham (six) and Villa (five) accessories after the fact.
Lonestar’s improvement had the most impact, with the Fulham and Palace results propelling him past GSD, Potsticker and bt8 into second place. Nonetheless, once the dust had settled, Dr F Jr. had eked out his lead by a couple more points.
Those mentioned above are the quintet beating the Crowd.
C100, deploying the cunning ruse of standing still, saw Boff and BtM fall behind him. Your correspondent, deploying a close-to-similar approach, moved up three places. Scruz was up one to go level on points with Uply and ahead on the tiebreakers.
Trev was up three, at the expense of Bath, for whom Fulham did even fewer favours than the neighbours.
The relegation zone did not change for a second successive week, but only ten points now separate OM and Dr F, who are level on points, from Pangloss at the top of the bottom three.
Forest, the Red Mancs and the neighbours remain the savagers of soothsaying, but you already knew that.
Your Match Week 29 leaderboard and latest five-week form guide:
Onwards By North Bank Ned & TTG
There was improvement nearly all around in Match Week 28. The Bournemouth, Villa and Brentford results more than offset the damage done by West Ham and Brighton.
With ten weeks to go, Dr F. Jnr remains out front, but GSD is bearing down, cutting the lead to 18 points.
The leaders are pulling away from Potsticker in third. bt8, a big Bournemouth beneficiary, is now breathing down his neck, having racked up the most improved points score of the week, and leapfrogged Lonestar, who completes the quintet beating the Crowd.
Boff and BtM break under 500. C100 and Bath complete the top 10. Just eight points separate the distinguished group of Uply, Scruz and your correspondent. 21st Century Gooner arrested his recent slide. Steveyhyperdee drew level with him on points at the expense of Trev.
There was no change in the relegation zone, although Pangloss was only six points short of escaping it. Ollie found some spring in his new heel, with the second most improved score of the week. He broke under 700, thanks mainly to the Cherries and the Toffees. Must be better food in the French health service.
Yet again, it was Forest and the Red Mancs that left a bad taste in the mouth. Swilling out the neighbours wouldn’t go amiss, either.
Your Match Week 28 leaderboard and five-week form update:
Advances, retreats and yo-yos By North Bank Ned & TTG
Match Week 27 brought mixed fortunes, but the head of the field pulled away from the rest of the pack.
Dr F. Jnr is still front-running, ahead of Potsticker, who trimmed the lead but found GSD level with him on points. Lonestar bounced back big time. A Texas-sized surge took him to within two points of the joint seconds.
BtM did a passable impression of a yo-yo, going from 5th to 11th to 5th in successive weeks. He completed the quintet beating the Crowd.
Bath did an inverted yo-yo, returning to where he was four weeks ago. Yet, it is desperately tight in that part of the table—a mere 12 points separate Boff in ninth from 21st Century Gooner in 14th.
Dr F. escaped the relegation zone at the expense of TTG.
The Man U and Bournemouth results had the most impact on lowering scores, whereas the Villa and Sp*rz results moved scores in the opposite direction. An unusually high number of results impacted players’ scores this week, which is why fortunes were so mixed.
No prizes for guessing that Forest, still costing players 230 points each on average, remain the big-time bad boys, but the neighbours (38 points) and Bournemouth (50 points) have joined them and the Red Mancs (83 points) on the naughty step.
Your Match Week 27 leaderboard and five-match form guide:
Getting going again By North Bank Ned & TTG
Match Week 26 brought modest improvements in scores for nearly all players after two weeks of reverses.
Bournemouth and Fulham’s defeats and Villa’s last-minute win were helpful overall, improving scores by an average of 28 points.
Dr F. Jnr retained the lead over Potsticker for a second successive week, widening his lead to 30 points. GSD, in third, closed in on both of them. That trio alone were beating the Crowd.
Bath advanced four places to move into fifth, with Lonestar level on points but behind on the tiebreakers. Lonestar is one place ahead of C100, who leapfrogged Scruz.
bt8 and 21st Century Gooner both advanced into the top ten.
BtM came a bit of a cropper, falling six places. Like Lonestar, he was done no favours by the Barcodes or West London’s bluest.
In the bottom half of the table, CER and Superhyperdee traded places, as did OM and TTG. There was no change in the relegation zone despite Pangloss having the most improved points score of the week.
Forest and the Red Mancs remain the bad boys.
Your Match Week 26 leaderboard and latest form guide:
EEK! By North Bank Ned & TTG
Match Week 25 makes ugly reading. TTG alone improved his score. Everyone else went backwards, with seven players adding more than 50 points to their Match Week 24 score. The new leaderboard turned on who did the least worse.
Man U’s defeat by the neighbours netted out to adding an average of nine points to scores. Some gains resulting from Chelsea’s loss and Citeh and Everton’s wins were broadly cancelled out by losses from the Palace, Fulham and Villa results. There was no such mitigation of the Bournemouth win that lifted the Cherries into fifth. It added an average of 30 points to scores.
Dr F. Jnr held his 24-point lead over Potsticker, but Lonestar slipped into third ahead of GSD. BtM remained in fifth to complete the quintet beating The Crowd.
Scruz was on the up, again, drawing level with C100 on points and ahead on the tiebreakers. Bath and Boff round out the top ten.
21st Century Gooner jumped the most places for the week, five, leapfrogging bt8, Uply and your correspondent, who are level on points and tiebroken in that order. Breathing down our necks is Trev followed by Steveyhyperdee, CER and Sancho Panza.
TTG’s contrarian performance got him out of the relegation zone, to which Dr. F returned, and OM barely escaped.
Forest and the Red Mancs remain the bad boys par excellence. No surprise there.
Your Matchweek 25 leaderboard and latest five-week form guide:
Worth the wait for Dr F Jnr By North Bank Ned & TTG
Dr F Jnr finally broke Potsticker’s seven-week grip on the lead. Thanks to the Tottenham, Everton and Brighton results in the elongated Match Week 24, he returned to the head of the pack for the first time since Match Week 5.
The defeats of West Ham and the Red Mancs did damage to almost everyone else. Only Lonestar (top points improver of the week), BtM and Steveyhyperdee bucked the trend of deteriorating scores. GSD held third, but Lonestar and BtM closed in and got ahead of The Crowd.
bt8 and Both dropped two places to accommodate them. C100 was down one, but Bath moved up four spots and into the top 10.
Scruz continued his upwards trajectory, as, lower down the table, did Dr F. The relegation zone remained unchanged.
Forest, now costing players an average of 220 points, still takes up the most room on the naughty seat. Amorin’s ‘apless army (65 points), Ange’s blameless boys (63 points) and Iraola’s cherry pops (50 points) are crammed into what little space is left.
Your Match Week 24 leaderboard and the latest five-week form guide:
Neck and neck By North Bank Ned & TTG
Nearly all GHF Predictathon players improved their scores in Match Week 23, thanks to Martinez’s late deflected winner for the Red Mancs and Citeh beating the mob from the Bus Stop on Saturday.
The most significant changes came at the top and bottom of the table. Dr F Jnr had the third-best improvement of the week. That took him neck and neck with Potsticker at the front, with just the tiebreakers keeping Potsticker in the lead.
GSD remained third and the only other one ahead of the Crowd.
bt8 again moved up — by one place this week. Boff and Lonestar now trail him by 20 points; Boff is ahead of Lonestar on the tiebreakers.
At the other end of the table, Dr F improved his score by more than anybody, skipping ahead of Pangloss, who slipped back into the relegation zone for the first time since Match Week 19. There are only two points between them, and then another two to Sancho Panza immediately above.
Ollie had the second biggest points improvement of the week and is now almost within touching distance of TTG.
For a second week, there was churn in mid-table, with Trev and Scruz notching the biggest places gains of the week, both up four. They are level on points, with Trev ahead on the tiebreakers.
It is still mighty tight in there. Only 20 points separate C100 in eighth and 21st Century Gooner in sixteenth. 21CG is level on points with CER but is filially respectful in the tiebreakers.
Forest still takes up by far the most room on the naughty seat. However, Ange’s Vegemite vagrants have interjected themselves between Nuno’s ne’er-do-wells and Amorin’s forlorn flock, with Bournemouth now hanging off the end.
Your Match Week 23 leaderboard and form guide:
Turn and Turn About By North Bank Ned & TTG
Many results broke against GHF Predictathon players in Match Week 22, notably those involving Tottnumb, the Red Mancs, Bournemouth and West Ham, which overwhelmed the points reduction from Palace’s win.
Everyone’s scores swelled. Pangloss added the most points, Steveyhyperdee the least. Potsticker remains at the front, but his lead is cut by a third. Yet again, Dr F. Jnr and GSD flip places immediately behind him.
Those three remain the elite trio beating the Crowd. Lonestar moves up to fourth, with bt8, still on an upward trajectory, now in fifth and BtM, up two places, in sixth. Boff and C100 fell back.
Uply moves into the top ten, displacing Scruz, who recorded the steepest places drop of the week, sliding to 16th, with Bath and Steveyhyperdee moving up four. There was much jostling for position in that tightly packed part of the table.
Serenity persists in the relegation zone, however, for a second successive week.
No surprise, Forest and the neighbours remain the pre-eminent bad boys with the Red Mancs and Bournemouth close at hand.
Your Match Week 22 leaderboard and the latest five-week form guide:
Better Late than Never By North Bank Ned & TTG
Match Week 21 witnessed an improvement in scores for most Predictathon players, largely due to the Red Mancs’s dramatic last-minute acts of self-salvation against Southampton and Chelsea’s equally late equaliser denying Bournemouth a win.
As a result, Potsticker extends his lead to 34 points over GSD, who flips places with Dr F. Jnr for a second successive week.
That trio now constitutes a very elite group beating the Crowd.
C100 and Boff moved up one place, and bt8, who had the second-best points improvement of the week, was up three. As the form guide shows, bt8 has snaked his way up nine places since Match Week 18.
Lonestar and BtM’s scores deteriorated the most, so they slipped four places in lockstep. Both can blame the neighbours.
Scruz leads a group of distinguished elders/old codgers separated by just 2 points, comprising your correspondent, Uply, Trev and CER, the last skipping ahead of 21st Century Goomer and a tumbling Bath, another one spurzd.
Rumbling around the nether regions (Matron!), Pangloss notched the most improved score of the week, but it lifted him only one place at the expense of OM. They both put more daylight between themselves and the relegation zone.
All scores improved there, with Dr F. and TTG breaking under 600, but no change in the order.
The neighbours kick Bournemouth off the naughty step, but Forest still takes up by far the most room.
Your Match Week 21 leaderboard and form guide:
Tiptoeing into the Twenties By North Bank Ned & TTG
Baby steps in Match Week 20, both forward and back. Just under half the players improved their scores, and just over half worsened them, but by barely a smidgen either way.
Potsticker held his lead for a third consecutive week and lengthened it a tad, with Dr F Jnr moving into second and GSD retreating one. Lonestar and BtM were unchanged. However, the elite group beating the Crowd is now down to those five.
C100 returns to the below-average pack, where Boff and Scruz flip places and bt8, with the biggest places gain of the week and hitting a bit of form, leaps above your correspondent, whose declining form may require Amorin-like measures if the slide towards the relegation zone is to be halted.
Uply and Trev are level on points — Uply ahead on the tiebreakers. They both move up a place in lockstep at the expense of bath and 21st Century Gooner.
It’s as you were for Sancho Panza, CER, Steveyhyperdee and OM, while Pangloss (the biggest points gainer of the week) and TTG dance their relegation zone pas-de-deux for a second successive week.
Man U were the big help in this week’s round of results, improving scores by an average of 17 points, with assists from Villa (5) and Fulham (4). Brentford (7 points), West Ham (7) and the neighbours (10) were the spoilers — although what would you expect from that lot?
There is barely any need to add that Forest remain the bad boys sans pareils, accounting for 230 points of each player’s score on average.
Your Match Week 20 leaderboard and the latest form guide:
At the turn By North Bank Ned & TTG
We have reached the turn of the year and the halfway point in the GHF Predictathon.
Match Week 19 improved every player’s score, including Ollie’s. It did not change the top five, but it did the bottom three.
Potsticker held his lead for a second successive week. GSD remained second but narrowed the gap by another four points to twelve. Dr F. Jnr, level on points with Dino last week, slipped ten points behind, only two ahead of Lonestar, who is twelve clear of BtM. C100 joins them to make it a sextet beating the Crowd.
Below them, Scruz, Boff and your correspondent (just) are as they were. Bath advanced one to ease into the top half of the table for the first time.
Below them, it gets a bit topsy-turvy. 21st Century Gooner and bt8, who had the most improved points score of the week, make the biggest places jump, both up three. Despite improving his score by 22 points, Trev gave up two-thirds of last week’s advance up the table, slipping behind Uply but staying ahead of Sancho Panza. A mere six points separates 10th and 16th.
CER, Steveyhyperdee and OM remained unmoved. TTG leapfrogged Dr F. to escape the relegation zone at the expense of Pangloss.
By moving up to third in the PL table, Nottingham Forest added an average of nearly 30 points to players’ scores this week, requiring multiple results to go players’ way to offset that. There is a bonus chart showing that and another illustrating the carnage Forest is wreaking on players’ scores overall. It works out to an average of 230 points a player.
Your Match Week 19 leaderboard plus the bonus charts on the Bad Boys:
Potsticker holds off ascendent Dino By North Bank Ned & TTG
Potsticker remains out front after Match Week 18, but his lead has been halved by GSD’s two-place advance into second on the back of Bournemouth’s draw. Dr F Jnr. is level on points but is pushed into third on the tiebreakers.
Lonestar recovers a place to go fourth, ahead of BtM, who eased off the gas. Those five comprise the elite group beating the Crowd.
C100, another beneficiary of the Bournemouth result, had the most improved score of the week, propelling him up four places into seventh. Scruz, Boff and your correspondent, no longer able to hold off Boff, complete the top 10.
Trev soars into the top half of the table, with the biggest places gain of the week — up six — and second biggest points gain. CER had the third biggest points gain, but that only elevated him one place.
The relegation zone remains unchanged, as indeed do the bottom five. Overall, only eight players improved their scores this week, with the Man U, Spurs, Villa, Brentford and Fulham results adding more points than those of Bournemouth, Chelsea, West Ham, Wolves, ourselves, Newcastle and Leicester took away.
The out-and-out bad boys have a familiar if rudy look: Forest, the Red Mancs and the Cherries.
Your Match Week 18 leaderboard and five-week form guide:
Seventeen and swirl By North Bank Ned & TTG
Potsticker’s relentless pressure on Lonestar pays off in Match Week 17. He takes the lead, with Dr F. Jnr moving into second, leapfrogging BtM. GSD moves up one to fourth, and Lonestar drops to fifth after six weeks at the top. Scruz completes what has now been reduced to a sextet beating the Crowd.
Your correspondent, one of only five players whose scores worsened this week, reverts to being below average and barely keeps Boff at bay. Uply and C100 round out the top half of the table.
Down below, Bath has the biggest places gain of the week and Pangloss moves smartly out of the relegation zone, to which TTG returns. With improved scores for most players this week, Ollie breaks back under 700, CER and OM, who had the most improved score of the week, are back under 600 and Scruz under 500.
At this point, the defending champion has more spot-on predictions than any other player but is disproportionately weighed down by Bournemouth and the Red Mancs.
Forest continues to hold everyone’s head underwater. Santo’s surprises are costing players an average of 200 points. That compares to an average of 82 points for Bournemouth and 65 points for Man U, the other two bad boys.
Your Match Week 17 leaderboard and, as there was so much churn this week, a bonus updated form guide:
No escape from the Forest by North Bank Ned & TTG
Another week of mixed fortunes saw Potsticker chip away more of Lonestar’s lead, which is now down to eight points. BtM surged into third with the best points improvement of the week.
That pushed Dr F. Jnr into fourth. Dino held fifth, but your correspondent slid back to sixth. Uply and Scruz completed the octet ahead of the Crowd.
However, the shock move of the week was Pangloss’s slide into the relegation zone, hammered by the Forest, Bournemouth and ManU results. That trio of bad boys accounts for 396 — or almost two-thirds — of his total score. That has torpedoed his achievement of having, at this point, more spot-on predictions than any other player.
TTG was finally able to move out of the relegation zone, leapfrogging OM in advancing two. Steveyhyperdee and 21st Century Gooner both advanced three.
Forest’s performance is so far out of kilter with expectations that it is costing players 200 points on average. Brutal.
Your Match Week 16 leaderboard:
Blood on the Tracks by North Bank Ned & TTG
Another quickfire match week has come and gone. It was hell in there, as Major Denis Bloodnok used to say (Google him, younger ‘holics). Forest’s win at the Old Toilet caused carnage.
Five players are over 600. Even our frontrunner, still Lonestar for a fifth consecutive week, is above 400. But his lead is down to 20 points after cranking up the biggest points gain of the week.
Potsticker, who was eighth two weeks ago, is now second, followed by Dr F. Jnr and your correspondent, who each drop one place to accommodate him. GSD and BtM advance one, pushing Scruz down two to seventh despite tying with Boff for the most correct predictions at this point.
Uply holds fast in eighth to complete the octet beating the Crowd.
Below the fold, Pangloss gets the accolade for best performance of the week, keeping his score unchanged while everyone else did worse. He advances two places to 16th and is breathing down Trev’s neck.
OM escapes the relegation zone, swapping places with Dr F., on whom Geordie Arabia weighs heavily.
Forest and the Mancs are irredeemably bad boys. Forest adds an average of 172 points to players’ scores, and the Red Mancs 66 points. Those two teams account for 46% of players’ points on average. No shelter from the storm.
Your Match Week 15 leaderboard and the latest Form Guide as a bonus:
Now the match weeks come thick and fast by North Bank Ned & TTG
A quickfire match week brought mixed fortune. But it smiled on Potsticker, Scruz and Steveyhyperdee, who all moved up four places.
Lonestar is still front-running, but Dr F. Jnr pegged his lead back to 78 points. Your correspondent edged up a place into third, with the ascendent Potsticker and Scruz in close pursuit.
That pushed GSD down to sixth, BtM to seventh and Uply to eighth. Sancho Panza advanced two places to complete the novenary beating the Crowd. Below the fold, as well as the aforementioned Steveyhyperdee, Boff was on the rise, as was CER, who escaped the relegation zone.
TTG stirred. The long-awaited revival, perhaps? Ollie and OM would be sharing the wooden spoon, but Forest treated OM the more kindly, which gave him the tiebreaker advantage.
The Red Mancs join Forest and Brighton in the Dishonorable Company of Bad Boys.
Your Match Week 14 leaderboard:
Unlucky 13 By North Bank Ned & TTG
Matchweek 13 brought reverses to all. Palace’s draw and Man U’s win knocked off points for most, but that was more than offset by Brentford and Forest’s wins, Brighton’s draw and Villa’s defeat piling them back on.
Lonestar backpedalled the least and thus extended his lead to more than 100 points. Dr. F Jnr retook second, followed by GSD, who moved up three places, elbowing your correspondent into fourth.
Then came a tight chasing group comprising Uply (up an impressive five places), BtM (up three), C100, Potsticker, Scruz, bt8, Sancho Panza and Trev (also, up three). That makes for a round dozen beating the Crowd. Yet, a mere 20 points separates Uply from Trev.
Ollie escaped the relegation zone as CER slipped into it for the first time. The Winchmore Hill Wanderer is level on points with OM but ahead on the tiebreakers. TTG continues to keep his powder dry.
Forest remain the uber bad boys, but Brighton and Brentford are right Bs, too.
Your Match Week 13 leaderboard:
Lonestar still rides herd By North Bank Ned and TTG
Nottingham Forest getting put in their place on Saturday lifted the spirits of ‘holics and helped substantially to improve the scores of all Predictathon players.
Bath, Lonestar, Pangloss and 21st Century Gooner each lowered their scores by more than 100 points. Only those in the relegation zone are still above 500.
Lonestar held his lead for a second week, widening it from 12 points to 84, thanks to contributions from Forest, the neighbours and Wolves.
Your correspondent moved into second, no doubt foolishly upping his pace with more than two-thirds of the season still to go. Scruz also advances two places to move into the podium places. Dr F. Jnr slips two to fourth.
C100, who has advanced eight places over the past two weeks, takes over in fifth. GSD drops to sixth while bt8 advances to seventh, ahead of Potsticker, BtM, Uply and Sancho Panza, all tightly packed (matron!) with just six points separating them.
They complete the hendecad beating the Crowd, although Boff was only a couple of points shy of making it a dozen — and saving everyone from having to get their dictionaries down from the shelf.
Pangloss had the biggest score improvement of the week. Fellow centurions Bath and 21st Century Gooner were also on the rise. So was OM, who handed the wooden spoon to TTG, although just a handful of points separated the bottom three.
Despite losing two on the trot, Forest remain the bad boys by a distance, from Palace, Brighton and Man U.
Finally, Steve Cooper’s sacking from Leicester gives us six joint runners-up for the TinTack Award: 21st Century Gooner, C100, Dr F., GSD, OM and Uply. Congratulations, but no cigar.
Your Match Week 12 leaderboard:
Chopped-down Forest props up players By North Bank Ned and TTG
Lonestar returns to the top of the leaderboard after Match Week 11, and Dr F. Jnr moves back into second as Forest’s defeat modestly reverses several weeks of deteriorating scores for most players.
Last week’s leader, Potsticker, slips to sixth behind GSD, your correspondent and Scruz. A surging C100, up five places, and bt8 complete an octet that is beating the Crowd.
Uply slides below the salt — and BtM, Sancho Panza and Boff — to find himself just a place ahead of Trev. PredictaVAR is again on shirt-pull watch.
Pangloss hauled himself another three places clear of the relegation zone to which TTG returns, but Dr F escapes. Ollie returns the wooden spoon to OM.
The Red Mancs and now Palace occupy the small part of the naughty step left open by Nuno’s numpties.
Your Match Week 11 leaderboard:
Potsticker the least bruised By North Bank Ned and TTG
Yet another week of worsening scores all around as Forest continues to defy logic, gravity and expectations.
Nuno Espírito Santo’s team of overperformers is costing Predictathon players an average of more than 200 points each. This week, it added anywhere between 88 (Lonestar) and 120 (Ollie and Sancho Panza) points to scores. Brutal.
21st Century Gooner and Bath came out of Match Week 10 the least bruised and Pangloss the most.
When the dust settled, a new name graced the top of the leaderboard, with Potsticker edging to the font.
It is tight: four points separate the new leader from last week’s leader, Lonestar, and Match Week 5’s leader, Dr F. Jnr. They are level on points, with the ascendant GSD just ten behind.
Your correspondent, Scruz and Uply complete the septet beating the Crowd.
OM’s Italian sojourn lifted him close to the escape hatch from the relegation zone, only to find TTG standing on it. They are level on points, but TTG has the tiebreakers in his favour. There is growing daylight between those four and CER.
Congratulations again to our tartan trio of Tin Tack award winners, Bath, BtM and Steveyhyperdee, for correctly predicting EtH’s demise.
Your latest leader board and a bonus form guide:
All hat, no cattle By North Bank Ned and TTG
Match Week 9 saw no player improve their score as Brentford, of all teams, wreaked the most havoc this week, although Forest, the Red Mancs and the Barcodes won’t be getting any thank-you notes from our prognosticators. It was all a question of who did the least worse.
That was Lonestar, who ended the week at the front of the pack, just ahead of Potsticker, as Scruz, your correspondent and Dr. F Jnr slid back somewhat unceremoniously, recording three of the five biggest points gains of the week.
Uply found himself elevated four places to move into sixth, a smidgen ahead of a tight pack of GSD, bt8 and C100, with Boff advancing two places to round out the set ahead of the Crowd.
Pangloss resumed his escape from his Match Week 6 sojourn in the relegation zone, moving up two places to 14th by limiting his points increase to 32, the same as BtM and Uply. Only Lonestar (+10) and Potsticker (+22) did better.
At the other end of the table, TTG moved out of the relegation zone to be replaced by Dr. F, largely thanks to West Ham’s win, which also kept CER a place ahead of them both.
Your Match Week 9 leaderboard:
A week to forget By North Bank Ned and TTG
It was a bad week at the office for GHF Predictathon players, too. Only 21st Century Gooner managed to improve his score. For everyone else, the interlull rust hung heavy.
Nonetheless, Scruz managed to extend his lead a tad at the top and Dr F. Jnr moved into second place, nudging your correspondent into third and Potsticker into fourth.
Lonestar, who is now level on points with Potsticker, advanced to fifth at the expense of C100, who dropped to sixth, displacing GSD. Dino tumbled to ninth, level on points with Uply, as bt8 nipped ahead of them both.
Bath moved up four places to go level on points with BtM, and 21CG was up three, level on points with SteveyHyperDee, leaving Trev and Pangloss separating the two pairs.
All six have put some daylight between themselves and the relegation zone, where Osaka Matt handed off the wooden spoon to Ollie.
Forest is causing the most havoc to predictions by far; it is adding at least 100 points to the scores of 13 players. Brighton, Man U and Palace aren’t being very helpful, either.
Your Match Week 8 leaderboard:
Seven-up Scruz By North Bank Ned and TTG
One-fifth of the season is almost gone. Match Week 7 brought a reversal in fortunes for most players, some worse than others. Brighton’s win and the Red Mancs draw generally pumped up scores more than the defeats of Fulham and Ipswich brought them down.
Scruz held his lead, despite an unexpected and doubtless premature surge from your correspondent, who is as surprised as anyone to find himself rising four places to second.
A formidable trio of Potsticker, C100 and Dr F Jnr are in hot pursuit. They are neck and neck, just four points in arrears, with Dino a further four behind them. Lonestar and Sancho Panza round out the elite octet beating the Crowd.
Pangloss showed a glimpse of his title-winning form of old. He and bt8 were the only players to improve their scores this week, with Fulham and Bournemouth’s defeats and West Ham’s win rallying to their cause. As a result, Pangloss advanced five places to 16th, level on points with Steveyhyperdee, and bt8 four places to 13th, drawing level with Boff.
No players’ scores suffered more damage from Brighton’s win than BtM and TTG, with the latter slipping back into the relegation zone, joining the O Dears, Ollie and OM.
The Red Mancs and Forest continue to be the under- and over-performers piling the points on predictions. Your Match Week 7 leaderboard:
Scruz and the power of six By North Bank Ned and TTG
Quite a shake-up to the leaderboard in Match Week 6, with a few players making some big moves and causing chaos in the rankings.
Scruz shot to the front of the pack ahead of Dr F. Jnr. Then came Potsticker, the ascendant Sancho Panza, and C100, all level on points but ranked in that order once the tiebreakers were calculated.
GSD did enough to hold off Lonestar’s surge of five places, with BtM rising six in his wake. Lonestar was the more impressive for his Wolves prediction currently being the most off-base single prediction made by any player.
Crystal Palace did bt8 few favours, costing him 12 places. TTG soared from the cellar, leaving the wooden spoon for OM, but Pangloss was dragged down into the relegation zone by the Red Mancs, who, along with Forest, were the week’s red rags.
Your Match Week 6 leaderboard:
Two at the Top By North Bank Ned & TTG
We have two frontrunners level on points for the first time after Match Week 5. Potsticker closed in on Dr F Jnr, who remains ahead only by dint of the tiebreakers.
BtM is the mover of the week, shaving 114 points off his score, two more than Steveyhyperdee, keeping it all in the family. Good weeks, too, for Scruz, who advances seven places to fourth, and TTG, who now look less adrift of everyone else than he did a week ago.
bt8, in third, leads the first chasing pack comprising Scruz, C100, The Crowd, GSD, your correspondent and Boff. Sancho Panza, Uply, Trev, Lonestar and Steveyhyperdee are chasing the chasing group.
A curiously static Pangloss lets ten others go past him this week, no doubt a cunning plan, but OM slips into the relegation zone as BtM soars six places.
Forest remains the seagull pecking at the discarded crisp packet of prognostication.
Your Match Week 5 leaderboard and the first form guide of the season:
Four-ward we go By North Bank Ned & TTG
Big improvements all around in Match Week 4, none more so than by Ollie, who cut 170 points off his score to advance off the bottom of the table. bt8 and Boff also had uplifting weeks, both shedding 150+ points.
Everyone bar Ollie and TTG are now below the 500 mark. Four weeks in, and the pack is starting to evolve a shape. Yet, with Nottingham Forest still on for an Invincibles season, you know there is still a lot of change to come.
At the top, Dr F. Jnr held his lead, making for a week of double celebration in Boston with Faustus senior moving out of the relegation zone.
Potsticker slipped into second, shading the frontrunner’s lead to 10 points and pushing C100 down to fourth, level on points with bt8, but a place lower by dint of the tiebreakers.
Only that elite quartet is beating the Crowd.
Pangloss made a big move from 12th to sixth. He is two points ahead of GSD, who rose from tenth to seventh. Boff and Trev lead the next cluster in pursuit.
Forest and the neighbours are on the naughty step this week, the former for overperforming, the latter for underperforming. I wonder why that would be.
To celebrate North London being both red and black, as any good anarcho-syndicalist will tell you, here is your Match Week 4 leaderboard:
Youth to the fore in a swirl of change By North Bank Ned & TTG
Every player’s score worsened in Match Week 3. By dint of the smallest reverse, Dr F. Jnr regains the lead, followed by C100, who shrugs off any suggestion of altitude sickness to hold second.
Potsticker pops back up to regain the third spot he held in Match Week 1, nudging Sancho Panza down a place from last week. Lonestar drops from frontrunning to fifth, ahead of Steady Eddies Scruz and Trev.
Your correspondent and Dino ease off the pace — tactical moves, we assure you — to round out the top ten. Meanwhile, the defending champion moved up seven places to the middle of the pack.
OM moves out of the relegation zone as Dr F. joins TTG and Ollie.
Brentford’s bright start is the most pernicious for players’ prognostications. Brighton, Forest and the Red Mancs are the other really bad boys.
Your Match Week 3 leaderboard:
Two Down, But Not Yet Settled Down By North Bank Ned and TTG
With Match Week 2 done and dusted, the Predictathon pack is still sorting itself out after last week’s start. Everyone lowered their scores significantly, and everyone has broken under 600.
Lonestar, who reduced his total points by more than anyone else — a spectacular 312 — has now taken up the frontrunning, pursued by Countryman and Sancho Panza. All three are now sub-400. Dino is hard on their heels in fourth on 402.
There is a smidgin of daylight between the top four and a second group, comprising your correspondent, Scruz, Trev, last week’s leader, Dr F. Jnr, and bt8, all within a narrow band of six points.
Below are a lot of wise old heads who know the race is not won or lost in the first two weeks, including BtM, who racked up the second-best improvement in points this week, 274, to move clear of the relegation places.
The sharp-eyed among you may notice the appearance of a new player, Boff, who we welcome to our ranks. His entry and Willow donation were submitted in time but slipped through the administrative cracks. Our fault, not his.
Your leaderboard for Match Week 2 is below, and Match Week 1’s has been updated to include Boff.
And We Are Off! By North Bank Ned and TTG
The entries are in. The lists are closed. The starting gun has fired.
We have a record number of players this season. We welcome Lonestar Gooner and welcome back everyone who played last year. The artist formerly known as Poosker has morphed into Steveyhyperdee.
The consensus among ‘holics is that it will be a battle between ourselves and the Blue Mancs for the top spot. Only two players forecast lower than second for City, suggesting few see a substantive points deduction in prospect.
The Scousers are considered a shoo-in for third, with the Red Mancs, Villa, the Barcodes, the Neighbours and the squander-bugs at the Bus Stop scrapping it out for the various remaining European slots.
At the other end of the table, it is expected to be a dog-fight between Notts Forest and the newly promoted trio of Leicester, Ipswich and Southampton to avoid the drop. What goes up must come down and all that!
West Ham and Wolves have the broadest range of predictions, seventh to seventeenth and ninth to seventeenth, respectively. There is also much disagreement over where Everton and Chelsea will end up — although probably less over where they should end up.
Steve Cooper is the favourite for the tin-tack, ourselves for the FA Cup and City or Liverpool to win the League Cup.
Best of all, it looks like we have raised more money for Willow than last season—many thanks to everyone for their generosity.
The first leaderboard of the season is below — not that it means much at this point. We would have run only the first 1,100 metres if this were an actual marathon.
Predictathon 2024-25
Enjoy the new season playing the Goonerholicsforever Prediction Contest, in aid of the Willow Foundation!
Can you harness your inner Mystic Meg and out-predict defending champion Pangloss in foreseeing the final Premier League table for the 2024-25 season?
Will you be more clairvoyant than CER and GSD were last season in predicting the FA Cup winner? Or TTG and Uply when it comes to the League Cup?
What’s your bet on the first manager to get the tin tack this season? Have you got a better inside track or insight than Dr F. Jnr?
You can only find out by entering the 2024-25 edition of the GHF Predictathon.
Again, the contest’s purpose is twofold. First, to enhance the enjoyment of the upcoming season by providing a degree of light-hearted competitive rivalry as the season progresses. Second, to support Bob Wilson’s Willow Foundation with another generous collective donation.
The rules of the game are straightforward:
1. The object of the contest is to predict the final 2024-25 Premier League table.
2. The winner will be the player whose predictions are closest to the table at the end of Matchweek 38.
3. This will be determined by a points score using the Difference Squared system. The lowest total score wins (see below for how the scoring works). The reward for winning is a full year’s bragging rights as the bar’s top know-it-all.
4. We shall post weekly updates and a leaderboard here in the Contests tab throughout the season so players can follow their progress. However, the final table at the end of the season determines the contest’s winner, just like the PL itself.
5. If more than one player gets the same score, the tiebreaker will be the most correct predictions. The second tiebreaker will be the most predictions out by one place, then two, and so on.
6. Download the entry blank above. Email your completed entry form to ghfpredict@yahoo.com. We must receive your completed entry no later than one hour before the new season kicks off, i.e., by 1900 UK time on Friday, August 16. No changes to entries or new players are permitted after that deadline.
7. To participate in the contest, contestants are honour-bound to donate to the Willow Foundation (link here) at least £25. This covers entry into the League Positions contest and the three bonus predictions (first manager to get the tin tack, and the winners of the two domestic cups). You can donate more to Willow — we encourage you to do so — but it will not guarantee a higher placing!
8. TTG will confirm with Willow that players are in good standing by the end of Match Week 1. Players who have not donated by then will have 100 points added to Match Week 2, with a further 100 points added for every week of delinquency. If players have not donated their entry fee to Willow by the end of Match Week 4, they will be removed from the competition.
9. In the event of any disputes, TTG’s decision will be final (right or wrong!).
Scoring System
This game will use Difference Squared scoring. This is how it works:
Players’ predictions for each club are awarded points equal to the square of the difference between the club’s predicted and actual place. For example, if a team were predicted to be in sixth place and ended up fourth, the points scored would be 4, i.e., the difference between sixth and fourth is two places, and two times two is four; if a team was predicted to be in fifth place and ended up 15th, the points scored would be 100, i.e., the difference between fifth and 15th is ten places, and ten squared is 100. The worse a prediction, the more the system, by design, penalises it.
Each week, each player’s 20 club scores are then summed. The “winner” of the week is the player with the lowest total that week, but the player with the lowest total relative to the final league table is the winner of the whole contest.
It was a lot of fun to play throughout last season, even though Pangloss strode through to the win nearly post to finish line…that can’t happen again…can it?
Our final opponent in the ‘Arsenal Tour of Asia’ were the mob from the wrong end of the Seven Sisters Road which Arteta welcomed in his pre-match press conference as an opportunity “to bring football tradition, a rivalry” to “a completely different country” and provides a match “that increases the competition level again”. We have adopted a different approach this preseason by playing a familiar and notorious team of troglodytes relying on physicality and a low block and finally a transplanted NLD where we were sure to face the ire and nastiness of neighbours with chips on both shoulders about where they stand in relation to the best team in London. Although it gets us used to the tactics that we will face next season, I’m not convinced that these opponents are the best way of bringing our players to full match fitness without too much risk.
The stadium in which the match was played apparently holds around 50,000 and it was clear that the organisers had segregated the fans as three sides were red and only one end was white. It’s apparent that Hong Kongers know which team to support. It’s also apparent that, as nearly every fan was wearing a replica shirt, the Adidas’ coffers will be filling – although Hong Kong is notorious for its rip-offs: North Fake, Lorex and any designer bag you can name. However, hopefully Levy will have been gutted by the relative income generated by this game.
Preseason is primarily about building fitness and building familiarity between players new and old so the fact that we lost this game 0-1 is the least important element despite the inevitable emotional reaction to losing to That Lot.
However the first thing to observe is that MLS clearly had his heels clipped on 45 minutes by Richarlison causing the turnover that gave Saar the opportunity to launch a lob into our net over Raya who was in his usual advanced position outside his box, having passed the ball directly to a half-turned MLS. Raya is often vulnerable to that kind of strike but has, to date, fortunately, not been punished for it in a big game. However, in Raya’s defence, had MLS not been fouled, the keeper would not have been caught out of position. Adrian Clarke, today’s co-commentator, suggested that if this was a PL game, VAR would have overturned the goal due to that foul – after last season’s series of iniquities, I am not so optimistic.
The second observation is that the officials were execrable. The game was extremely scrappy, especially in the first half where play was frequently broken up by the little scrote with a whistle who blew it every time a Spud fell to the ground, irrespective of whether there had been any contact with an Arsenal player. The irony of him ignoring the foul that led to the goal underlined the question of his competence and, given that Hong Kongers are obsessed with the Premier League, which team he supports. To compound his lack of objectivity the referee had the support of a linesmen who couldn’t wait to flag Saka for offside, gave every 50:50 decision the Spudz’ way and awarded them several throw-ins that should have gone to Arsenal. Rant over! Our players do need a tutorial in how to win games despite the officials’ mistakes!
Arteta made a couple of changes to his starting XI, bringing in Kiwior for the crocked Calafiori, with Gabriel still not available, and starting Nørgaard instead of Zubimendi:
Raya
White, Saliba, Kiwior, MLS
Ødegaard, Nørgaard, Rice
Saka, Havertz, Martinelli
The coach seemed determined to give these players a proper workout as his substitutions were late:
Trossard and Zubimendi replaced Martinelli and Rice on 68 minutes;
Gyökeres, Zinchenko, Mosquera, Merino and Dowman replaced Havertz, MLS, Kiwior, Rice and Saka on 77 minutes.
Rice-Nelson replaced a limping Trossard on 85 minutes.
The first half was particularly scrappy and Saka, to whom we repeatedly played long-balls suffered many heavy challenges but remained busy throughout. On 36 minutes, Betancourt finally received a yellow for his most agricultural foul. Despite 49% possession and 6 shots, we had no shots on target in the first half. The only memorable moments were a looping effort from Ødegaard from a cleared corner that Saliba headed just wide and two late headers from corners, one at the near post and the second at the far post both of which caused panic but were ultimately cleared.
In contrast the opposition had one shot on target from 5 efforts – their spurious ‘goal’ but hit the woodwork three times. The first shot on wood came from Porro’s corner from Raya’s right that went, untouched by anyone, straight across goal to strike the far post and, fortunately, bounce out rather than in. Had we had officials familiar with the Laws of the Game, a foul would have been given for Van de Venn’s grappling with Raya that prevented him dealing with the ball. The second arose from poor management of a bouncing ball which eventually reached Odobert, who gave Ben White a hard time all match, and whose well worked shot kissed the far post and went wide to be deemed deflected by the referee. The third knock on wood came from a corner on Raya’s left that Richarlison met with his head at the far post, from which the ball struck the post then his hand and was cleared. Again the officials ignored Van de Venn’s wrestling with Raya that prevented the goalkeeper from dealing with the cross. Although none of the Spudz’ corners led to goals, our management of opposition corners deteriorated late last season (could Gabriel’s absence be the reason?) and it’s clear that the team needs to work harder on the training ground on these.
So, on the balance we deserved nothing from the first half apart from a better set of officials.
We asserted ourselves slightly more in the second half, adding 10 shots but with only one on target; the rest were blocked and we didn’t really trouble their goalkeeper at all. The memorable moments were a Martinelli shot that he scooped over as he was off balance. However the move began with some fine play from MLS on the right of midfield as he used body strength to retain an intercepted clearance and then drove forward for Havertz to set up Martinelli’s shot. We continued to play occasional long balls and one of these was deftly headed by Havertz into Rice’s path as he ran into the box but his goal-bound shot was blocked by a sliding challenge from Porro. We applied a lot of pressure at this point of the game but didn’t create any clear cut chances.
Ødegaard worked hard and had a couple of shots but these lacked the power needed to beat the keeper. Zubimendi almost scored with a volley from the edge of the box that was deflected upwards and onto the bar then had a couple more efforts from a similar position, the first blocked and the second he screwed wide. The addition of the late subs added a spark but it was Dowman who provided excitement rather than Gjökeres. The youngster proved a major threat on our right, dancing past defenders and on one occasion producing a fine shot that, sadly, was blocked in the 6 yard box. Gjökeres’ major contribution was a fine lay-off inside a crowded box to, I think, Merino whose shot flashed wide. Despite strenuous exertion, the Swede unsurprisingly lacked opportunities to show the talent for which we signed him.
At the other end, Van de Venn missed a clear headed opportunity on one of the Spudz’ rare breakouts when he really should have hit the target. Props to MLS for leaning into him to impair his effort.
Trossard limped off only some 15 minutes after replacing Martinelli. He seemed to overstretch his groin in a challenge and looked unhappy and immobile for several minutes before his substitution.
So, what did we learn from this game?
We looked below par throughout despite starting brightly. We still need a cutting edge up front.
This game was played in 29 degrees and 88% humidity at the end of a couple of weeks of intensive training. So it’s remarkable that White, Saliba and Ødegaard played the full 90 + 7 minutes as well as Raya.
The whole defence is less assured without Big Gabby and his organisational skills especially when defending corners.
We cannot expect Ødegaard to be our only source of midfield creativity. It was noticeable that we turned up the heat on the opposition when Zubimendi replaced Nørgaard. His progressive passing is a notch above what we are used to and he also gets into scoring positions. However, we do need to add a bit more dynamism, chaos and flair going forward – is this where Madueke comes in or even Eze? Neither Trossard nor Reiss-Nelson add this.
Gjökeres needs time on the training pitch. Once match fit, his direct runs and striker instinct will almost certainly help us to finish the chances that we continue to spurn when cut backs and cross balls persistently fail to find a connection.
Dowland is an extraordinary talent. He adds threat to our attack even when replacing our most threatening forward. He thinks about the opposition goal whenever he receives the ball. We have to manage his exposure to the cloggers carefully. Hopefully he has a good strong pair of shinguards.
We do need to improve our left sided threat. Martinelli works hard and has clear talent but without an overlapping fullback his options to beat two defenders are far inferior to Saka’s who has the support of Ødegaard, White and, often, Hazard too (no wonder there’s no-one at the end of his cut backs!).
Mosquera looks handy both with and without the ball. Interestingly, he played RCB with Saliba moving to LCB. He should prove an excellent back-up or alternate for the Frenchman. I think we may be succession planning here.
The wild optimism generated by our unusually early and large expenditure and acquisition of quality players in the positions we actually need needs to be tempered by recognition that the new boys have to bed in and that our opposition will improve as well.
First place and Big Ears are by no means nailed on but we will improve with more work on the training pitch and, from what I’ve seen so far, l expect us to be there or thereabouts at the end of the season.
