ARSENALISM©

  In my last post, dear reader, I said- "Every team has an off day but the time for poor performances is not now, especially not now that Arsenal are in the thick of a title race. "Cometh the hour" they say, but then again 'they' say a lot of things, but there is no sense or feeling that any one player is looking to grab the title race by the proverbial horns and lead this team to glory" I know thing it's fair to consider Eberechi Eze as possibly being that man.  Injuries and fixture pile ups have contributed to a drop in form. Possibly away teams arriving at the Emirates being more proactive has also had an impact, but the logical conclusion for the down turn is fatigue and loss of form. But Eze, here is a player who has looked to get on the front foot, has tried to actively affect the oppositions defence and has been able to add a dash of unpredictability. Yes, his challenge against The Oil Club was poor but he remains a bright spot for a nervous fanba...

And lo, there was a great wailing and gnashing of teeth as Arsenal football club lost, deservedly, a game against Bournemouth. It is not just that Bournemouth were better and had just had a three-week rest while Arsenal played a number of games, its the fact that Arsenal were terrible. I am not one for hyperbole, but it has to be said that the performance from the home team was awful. Passes didn't reach their intended targets, balls were run out of play, players were indecisive on the ball and a general feeling if ennui prevailed. The accumulation of points of the last nine months that have put the club at the top of the Premier League table and the superb form in the Champions League cannot, rationally disappear over the course of a week without some scrutiny. Every team has an off day but the time for poor performances is not now, especially not now that Arsenal are in the thick of a title race. "Cometh the hour" they say, but then again 'they' say a lot of thi...

"The future has not been written. There is no fate but what we make for ourselves. I wish I could believe that."-John Connor To overcome Skynet was not easy, it involved time, belief and an indomitable human spirit. To beat a machine equipped with superior weaponry and a ruthless access to resources to increase its arsenal took ingenuity and a "never say die" attitude. Abu Dhabi is the ground zero of Skynet and Manchester CXV are the Terminators. The thing about Skynet is that there are no qualms about what their aim is, there are no notions of fairness.  "Listen, and understand! Manchester CX are out there! They can't be bargained with. They can't be reasoned with. They doesn't feel pity, or remorse, or fear. And they absolutely will not stop... ever, until someone stops them flagrantly breaking rules"-Kyle Reese In a landscape where one team dominates it is up to a resistance to topple them, this is made hard when using resources that were ga...

  Liverpool and Manchester CXV are the ones to beat in this season's chase for the Premier League title. One, a club grown organically, the other created in an Oil State laboratory. Having taken 4 points from Liverpool and 3 points from Manchester CXV so far, you would think that our status in the challenge would be reasonably good. But there is an underdog mentality among many and a defeatist attitude from some. A lot of this is directly influenced by those voices of wisdom, the media pundits. The likes of Chris (Heaven knows I'm miserable now) Sutton, Gary (Man of the people) Neville, Jamie (Sour grapes) Carragher and Robbie (I'm a character I am) Savage set the agenda for many a football fan. The reality that it's all about creating content often gets lost on people, but it shouldn't. It's important to view comments, analysis, think pieces and the like in that context. Can the Arsenal win the league? Yes. Will the Arsenal win the league? I don't know. It...

  Football is a simple game really. All you need is a pitch, 22 players and a referee. But of course that is simplistic as football, particularly in the Premier League is a multi million pound industry where fortunes are made and reputations built, however, the game is in the hands of incompetents at best and corrupt individuals at worst. I prefer to view it as incompetence personally. Yes the referees and match officials of the PGMOL, having been given the power of life or death, much like the Roman Emperors in the gladiatorial stadiums, are holding sway. The upwards or downwards thumb has been replaced by VAR and the vagaries of interpretation.  Apologies have been given for incorrect decisions, cards have been brandished and rescinded and Refs have been banned from officiating against certain teams but it's not good enough.  When, pre VAR, a Ref made an error it was just that; human error and that, to me is acceptable, but when mistakes are still being made despite of ...

Football is barricaded inside a shopping centre with dwindling supplies but lots of product, and is surrounded by zombies hammering at the shuttered shop fronts with malicious intent. The zombies are intent on feeding on the vertebrate organs that have developed axially from the midline dorsal nerve cord as a vesicular enlargement at the rostral end of the neural tube, with centralised control over all body segments. Yes, they want to eat football's brains! The Zombies are sub divided. There are the VAR zombies, shambling with inevitability towards their intended target, then there are the media content creators looking for perceived structural weaknesses to exploit. The Sky/TNT/Amazon zombies fight amongst themselves for supremacy, to see who will get the first juicy mouthful, while the Oil money zombies have gained the upper hand over the oligarch zombies. The FA zombies are reliant on the Premier League zombies for their leftovers but all of these parts of a whole bow to the alp...

It looks as if every pundit is assuming that Manchester City* are guaranteed the Champions League before a ball is kicked, thus insuring that they achieve The Treble*. All well and good. In football terms they are pretty much the best team in Europe, and if, as foretold, they do in fact, prove the so called experts right, will anyone really care? The inevitability of Manchester City* winning stuff is like the inevitability of that meteorite that wiped out the dinosaurs. It was always coming and when it did, the Dinosaurs couldn't do anything about it; nor did they worry about it. Sport is all about jeopardy, expecting the unexpected, drama and, let's be honest, romance. It's all about meeting triumph and disaster and treating those imposters just the same, except when triumph is par for the course. A club whose currency is success at any cost, including fair play is hard to care about. Manchester City* are that club. Producing some of the best teams that most have us have s...

Man City are being positioned as the greatest  Premier league team of all time.  Obviously any sane person knows that there was life before the premier league but let’s look at teams that have won it. Man United and Arsenal had a joie de vivre and intense rivalry that has not been equaled. Blackburn was a rags to riches story. Chelsea at least, were great villains. Liverpool were electric. Leicester was a fairy tale. Even City’s Aguero moment when reflected upon wasn’t a big deal; at home against a struggling 10 man QPR was hardly Anfield 89. Pepe Guardiola is clearly a great thinker in footballing terms, an innovator to be sure, but he’s ultimately the architect of sterility. His end product is that of a cold winning machine rather than a team clothed in endeavour.  It’s the intangible that his product struggles with; the glory, and that ultimately defines sporting achievement. I always say the best team wins the league and that’s fair enough but context is important. Ri...

The return of Knee-Jerkism. Here we go again, Arsenal have lost a European game, yet still stay on top of our Europa League Group, and the hysterical (over) reactions have started. A bit like they did when Arsenal Drew a league game, yet still stayed on top of the League table. Some are only happy when they are unhappy, only take joy in negativity, thrive with the glass half empty. Social media does provide the soil for perversity to grow in, and some of the comments I've seen about the 2-1 loss to PSV can only be viewed in that context. Losing is as much about context as winning. If the team plays poorly and loses that provides an explanation but the opposition's performance has to be factored in at all times. PSV deserved the win, Arsenal didn't. It's as simple as that and all the hand wringing in the world won't change that. If we lose another two or three games in a row then it's only reasonable to be critical, but right now it seems fanciful to suggest that...

Football, and the premier League in particular, is on something of a high, and by definition The Arsenal are on a high. I have been fortunate enough to get over to the Emirates this season (courtesy of 'Good friend Ticketmaster') and being there articulates something that is harder to get across via the on line fan base. It's not over egging the pudding to say that love is in the air, because it is. The overwhelming feeling of connection and positivity in and around the ground is palpable and it feels good, very good. Yes the Arsenal are riding high and one would be naive to underestimate this as a factor but its more than that, it's like a new stadium and a new connectivity that you might expect from a club that has just been promoted to the big time, and that's how it feels; that we are taking steps back to the big time and the stadium feels like the right place at the right time. I think it's fair to say that Arsenal supporters don't indulge in repulsive ...

  THIS IS VAR

  Back In Black I'm saying it right here and right now and I may, at a later date, be hoist by my own petard, but I predict that The Arsenal will reach 78 points this season. What we lacked last season was the ability to take points from teams that, somehow, some expert or another said that Arsenal "should be beating". The team did not grasp the nettle of games against so called lesser teams and in that respect the final league placing was probably right, and was after all a return to Europe to a tournament that I feel we can win. There is an elite of two in this league and the rest. I feel that there are no teams better than Arsenal in the 18 that makes up the rest. That is not to say that Arsenal are better than the other seventeen, it's just that no one is better. On a given day Arsenal can beat Manchester United, Chelsea, West Ham and Tottenham: as was proven last season, but so too can be said conversely for those teams just mentioned. The key to success is the a...

And lo, it came to pass

So this is the last missive from me as the season has now packed it's bags and had it away on its toes. It's all about the future for the Arsenal. A summer with feet well and truly up awaits as there is the debacle in Qatar mid season, so good opportunities for players to get some rest, and several of our young players had to play far too often last season. What the future holds, only Elsie Partridge might be able to tell us, but a lot will be dependent on comings and goings over the summer. The Manager isn't going anywhere but there are a number of loanees and current squad members whose destiny is unclear. the same can be said about our potential targets as our club has a habit of being quite long winded when it comes to player purchases. I would hope that we can start the new campaign with the right changes and a bit of luck with injuries. The injuries to Tomiyasu, Tierney, White and Partey along with ESR's fitness issues had a significant negative effect last time a...

Another one bites the dust. Another season that is, and I spent a very pleasant sunny afternoon at the Emirates watching the Arsenal breeze through a 5-1 destruction of a very poor Everton team. I also spent a a very pleasant time in the pub with friends having an end of season rendezvous where analysis was mixed in with general catching up and friendly conversation. That the atmosphere in and around the ground was upbeat was telling and would indicate that there is a general consensus. What that consensus is, is hard to quantify, but here goes. I think most fans feel that, while it was disappointing to not finish higher in the league, getting back into europe was this season's challenge and that has been achieved. I think most fans feel more connected to this set of players, who are part of the youngest squad in the league. I think that the atmosphere within the ground is markedly upbeat and the moan and groan brigade are less vociferus. I think that while not everyone thinks that...

  Newcastle United put in an excellent performance at St James' Park last night. They were thoroughly deserving of the win and should have received all the plaudits in the aftermath of Arsenal's defeat, however, the focus was on Arsenal staying in 5th place in the league. So eager are the great and the good to criticise the Arsenal that scant respect has been shown to Eddie Howe and his team. The autopsies into Arsenal's performance are far more important for listening and viewing figures, and of course social media clicks. While we are on the subject of respect, the glorification of Tottenham Hotspur is being thoroughly relished by pundits and the disrespect being shown toward Norwich City is not only vulgar but, frankly, a bit of a liberty. There's a difference in predicting a Tottenham victory on the final day at Norwich and the arrogant assumption that a win for the visitors is a foregone conclusion. Bringing things back to the Arsenal, I would have thought that the...

  Earlier in the season at the Emirates Arsenal secured a 3-1 victory against 11 men Sp*rs, last night was Tottenham's turn to take the spoils from the game at The Armitage Shanks Arena against 10 man Arsenal. A questionable penalty decision and a red card had an impact on the result and I suppose it's convenient to highlight the Referee, Paul Glen Gary Jimmy Jurgen Gareth Jermaine Tierney's performance, or the fact that the 'not fit for impartiality ' Mike Riley maned the VAR desk, but the end result means that Arsenal retain 4th spot in the league with two games to go. I saw a lot of talk about anxiety ahead of the game and lots of outrage after. This is good though isn't it? Having something to play for this deep into the season is where we want to be I would have thought. I am hoping that the sense of injustice has a positive effect on the team ahead of the trip to St James' and that the experience of having to play against an inveterate cheat like Son H...

The Arsenal are back on the european stage; that's now guaranteed for the 2022/23 season. Which competition we will be in is the question and the next few games will decide that. The minimum expectation must have been Europa League qualification as we sat down to watch Brentford v Arsenal back on 13th August. That fixture and the following two were, quite frankly, disastrous and at that time I think the focus was on actually scoring a goal and getting some points on the table. As the season has progressed we've seen a slow ascent into the upper echelons of the league that were exemplified by a great start to 2022 and now following a topsy turvy set of fixtures the Arsenal are now nestled in fourth place daring to dream of a return to Europe's elite contest. How the club would fare in that elite tournament is hard to assess, particularly as a summer spend is required, but you have to be in it to win it. If we "only" qualify for the Europa League it will be our faul...

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...