ARSENALISM©

  It's all go in mid table! Big week this. First we take on a  team that many so called experts are billing as a cross between The Harlem Globetrotters and Brazil '71. Now don't get me wrong, Manchester City are currently an excellent team on a roll, but if the 20/21 season has taught us anything, it's that nothing is a certainty. A positive result would do wonders as would a positive performance. I strongly believe that the days of the Wenger away humiliations is well and truly over so let's see what happens in todays 4:30 Kick Off. Then we have Benfica in our home fixture that takes place away. A positive outcome and we are in the last 16 where, frankly, lord knows what awaits. Benfica are one of world footballs recognised names but they are pretty much a 'not what they once were' team, however they still pose a threat with the away goals rule. I feel that should we get past them we stand as good a chance as any of doing well in the Europa League. After th...

The Europa League is a big trophy. There Iv'e said it. Not every club can win the Champions League, but being in it means a massive amount for a club, both in terms of perception and in financial terms. Being in the Champions League should also act as a hanging carrot come transfer window time.  For two decades Arsenal Football Club took qualification to Europe's  top table for granted, often at the expense of other ambition. There is an argument for saying that for a number of years, in that two decade stretch, we had no chance of winning it, but, you have to be in it to win it. The reality is that trophies are few and far between and there are a finite number of opportunities to win one. Last season the Arsenal were one of only 3 English clubs to win anything and that should not be overlooked. This season our one chance of adding to the trophy cabinet is in the Europa League and the double incentive is the bonus of qualification to theChampions League (something we are unlik...

Played 23, 10 defeats, 4 draws and 9 victories; that's the factual bit out of the way. What does that tell us? I guess it is a set of statistics that reasonably reflect a mid table team. How we got here is something that countless column inches and hours of debate have gone into. How we move forward is the bigger question. Naturally, learning from past mistakes is a key element to moving forward but have Arsenal Football Club done that? Have Arsenal Football Club realised that a clear vision and plan is needed? When you look at the current squad its relatively easy to see where the strenghts are, and the weaknesses. The manager too, has strengths and weaknesses but one thing that is intangible is the personality of the club. Not so much "where are we" as "what are we?" To know what the club is is to know what the upper echelons think, what their plan and philosophy is and how the manager processes  that information. We can assume that the club decision makers wa...

Let's face it, losing 2-1 away with 9 men to a world class finish is no disgrace, but that does not tell the full story of last night's game against Wolverhampton Wanderers. This was a game that Arsenal had under control during the first 45 minutes with a Pepe goal to take into the half time break. But there were an additional 4 minutes on which the game swung. Games can change on small moments and when Jose tripped over his own feet as he ran towards the approaching Bernd Leno, that small moment changed the course of events at Moliynuex. Referee Pawson incredibly decided to award a penalty and send off David Luiz who had, with the most glancing of touches, clipped the Wolves striker unintentionally. The subsequent penalty was converted and we went into the break with the momentum well and truly swung towards the team in gold. The second half was punctuated by two things. A wonder strike by Moutinho that no one could be prepared for, and Arsenal's second red card, rightly g...

  As Bob Dylan so eloquently put it “The times they are a-changing” and at Arsenal Football Club they are a-changing for what seems the a-better. This change is exemplified with the succession of departures from the bloated squad of Özil, Mustaphi, Kolasinac and Sokratis. These four players say a lot about how we arrived, as a club, into the minor leagues from the majors. The arrival of an elite player in Özil, in our case, was all about telling the world that we were still big boys in the playground. The salary handed out initially was commensurate with the profile of the player but what was irksome was the fact that he, seemingly, could pick and choose which games he deigned to play in. The latitude that he was given is reminiscent of that given to Derek Rodman by the Chicago Bulls, but guess what? Rodman delivered.  Özil was perhaps at his best when playing with Alexis Sanchez (for my money the last real elite player to play for us) and when Sanchez angled for a get out the...

A fair bit of what youngsters call "Banter" flying around about the merits of that club on the Seven Sisters Road. Earlier in the season when they were going to win the league, the perception was that they need not concern themselves with the trials and tribulations of Arsenal Football Club, but now that they have slowly slid down the league table they have lazily gone to their default happy place of making comparisons. As we all know, they are perennial victims of premature elation, and when that bubble inevitably bursts they revert to type. With that in mind I thought rather than getting into pointless debate I would just present some facts: Since winning the league Spurs 60 years (2) Arsenal 17 years (13) Since winning the FA Cup Spurs 23 years (8) Arsenal 6 months (14) Since winning a European Trophy Spurs 37 years (3) Arsenal 27 years (2) Since winning a trophy of any kind Spurs 13 years (League Cup) Arsenal 6 months (FA Cup) Head to head Spurs won 60 Arsenal won 77 Comb...