ARSENALISM©

Have the Arsenal stumbled upon a way in which being risk averse has been consigned to the dustbin? Possibly, but what allows a more offensive style is having some experience and stability where it counts and the return of Elneny typifies that as has Dhaka's Indian summer of behaving himself and generally doing what needs to be done. The young players have needed this support structure to enable them to be proactive in the areas that can cause the most damage. It’s shit or bust time in the race for that 4 th  spot and this may be perfect opportunity for a bit of jeopardy. What you often get with young players, and don’t forget the Arsenal have the youngest squad in the league, is a lack of fear. By solidifying the midfield Arteta seems to be unleashing the talent as we are now in the serious business of points gathering.   The fixtures ahead not only represent an opportunity to secure a return to Europe’s premier competition, with the obvious advantages that brings, but fo...

Stamford bridge is not so much Mos Eisley these days but rather it's a hive of achievement at the cost of personality. I don't like Chelsea FC, never have, I've always thought of them as all mouth and trousers but then they started winning stuff, and winning stuff. Yes, the foundations of the modern Chelsea are questionable and for a while they had the triumvirate of terrible wretches. Their captain; a loathsome piece of work with a rap sheet as long as your arm. Their manager; a narcissist who made Mussolini look like David Attenborough. Their owner; a man whose fortune consists of dirty money, in fact, absolutely filthy money. Add to that the combination of Wine Merchants named Ollie and casual racists and it's no wonder Elvis Costello wrote 'I don't want to go to Chelsea'. And tonight the Arsenal have to turn up at  the home of the European Champions and get a result. And yes, a result that isn't a defeat is what is needed (by any means necessary).  T...

It's easy to pile in on the manager when the team get a couple of poor results at a critical point in the season and, on this most recent occasion, Michael Arteta has left himself open to criticism. The team selection was illogical in that it threw the whole team off balance and the changes made throughout the 90 minutes against Brighton smacked of hubris. Young players are good, young players bring energy and generally allow the fans to have players to get behind but, young players need to be mentored and taken care of. By placing Xhaka at left back it not only exposed Lokonga but sent a message to Tavares, as did the placing of Martinelli and then Pepe into the left sided defensive position, that the manager has no faith in him. Young players need senior players to step up; something Lacazette is not doing, something that Elneny is not able to do from the bench. Young players need to play and when they play well, retain their place, but when they don't, another young player n...

  Three games played, zero wins, nine goals against, zero goals scored. That was the perilous situation at the start of the current campaign and it was open season on taking the piss out of the Arsenal, memes were flying and pundits were rubbing their hands together with barely concealed glee. The Arsenal now sit fifth in the table on 54 points, fourth place separated by goal difference. The Arsenal have also played one less game than Sp*rs & Man Utd and two less than West Ham and after a pretty successful 2022 (only losing to the two teams that are head and shoulders above everyone else) we crashed and burned at Selhurst Park. Let's get it right; Crystal Palace were much better and thoroughly deserved the win and this victory by the Eagles has unleashed the vultures of opinion. Optimism turns to doom and gloom over the space of ninety minutes, particularly in this social media age, and I have heard cries of "Fourth place is gone", "Get rid of Arteta", ...