I can’t prove it, but…. An Arsenal blog, ruined by PGMOL

‘I can’t prove it, but…’

An Arsenal blog runied by the PGMOL. Again. 

I’m sitting in Tennessee getting ready to watch Max play a soccer game. It’s a lovely day. The kind where the wind is warm and the sun isn’t too hot. It hasn’t kicked off yet so I’m spending my time watching this little guy who is intently watching the game that is currently going on.

His head turns as the ball moves, but he stays spread eagle and sunbathing. His state of being reminds me of how I was a few hours ago watching Arsenal. A strange yet familiar game but I will get onto that. What was interesting was that myself, Max and EllieAnn were all pretty relaxed with the outcome of the game. A little weird when you are second in early April. The relevance of the outcome and the story of the game seem to be very much secondary to the other nonsense that we were provided with by that stellar referee organization. I’ve probably focused on the PGMOL more times this season in my writing than the last three seasons combined.

I’d hope that you know that I’d rather not talk about them. I also feel like I have to get the pulse of the fan base and the story of the game. Ultimately, I want to be interesting.

I want to approach this from a true crime point of view. I do spend way too much time watching Criminal Minds and documentaries on Netflix so I certainly have a lean towards trying to find out ‘whodunit.’ Also, I still to this day think that Miss Marple is the best television series of all time. So to offer a new thought, I don’t want to heavily pursue the possibility that the Premier league want Liverpool to win the league and Arsenal are an inconvenient stumbling block. This theory sits right alongside the theory that the PGMOL do not like Arsenal and Liverpool are just the beneficiaries. Before we move on from these two potential theories, I will say that one of them is the most possible reason. The top of the betting charts. The most likely in the whodunit argument down the pub.

Found down the list is the theory that there are a handful of the referees who for whatever reason do not like Arsenal and simply want to give their opponents favour. This could be a structured thought or just reactionary and it could be a season long plan or just based on how pissed off they are at the time.

But today I offer a brand new theory.

It’s one that I’ve contemplated for a while and I know I’m not alone. This tweet got me thinking again…

I’m going back to start with so I’m gonna hit you with a Bible verse….

1.Timothy 6:10 says “the love of money is the root of all evil”

Whether you are a believer or not, in this day and time, it is very difficult to disagree with this. It’s everywhere. Absolutely everywhere. The ‘murderer’ could be influenced by bias and ego, but I’d say that money is undoubtedly the number one driving force in this ‘whodunit.’ If this West Ham fan rightly states, football has certainly become more predictable and less exciting. The Premier League have so much investment from all over the world and is known as the ‘most exciting league in the world’ that is actually not as exciting as it was. So, they have a vested interest in keeping it ‘exciting.’ It has to be. As soon as that leaves the building then another competitor in the race for people‘s eyeballs will come along and supersede the product and the Premier League will not get the massive television contracts and advertising anymore.

Is it possible that they are being told to intentionally make it exciting by making it more controversial?

I’m willing to state that it’s possible that this could be a ‘Murder on the Orient Express’ situation. If you have never seen that movie and want to watch it then don’t read the next line. Those that have seen it, the person who did it was everybody. So, what’s going on and greatly affecting Arsenal Football Club could be a combination of these theories rather than just one.

To add to this theory, ask yourself why the Premier League are introducing semi automated offside next week? Why would you do that with one month of the season remaining? I’ll concede that they might want to use it as a practice run before next season, but nobody else in the world has done it this way. Why would you need a practice run for something that essentially just gives you the answer to the question? I think it’s more likely that they want everybody talking about the drama of semi automated side than referee decisions. Far more likely.

For now, I’m just floating all of this as an idea. I think it’s very possible. If I have learned anything since Covid about how the world works, it’s that some level of corruption/nefarious intent seems to be a part of 9 out of 10 things that we have a vested interest in. The best way to have people accept something nefarious is to do it regularly enough that they start to think that it is normal and then they stop complaining out of fatigue. This is proven when you talk to fans of other teams in regards to Lewis- Skelly. They think that he is a thug because that is what they keep getting told. Those that pay attention watch him and know the details. They know that he is an 18-year-old nice guy who is learning the game faster than anybody else in the country. Never been on loan. Never been to a smaller club first and never been brought into the team gradually. He was introduced into an elite line up and stayed there. The incident itself was simply two players both tussling for a ball outside the box and both equally responsible for pulling on each other. When the action went inside the box, Harrison fouled Lewis-Skelly and fell over. The referee was conned. I understand how he could’ve been. The VAR, well…..everything I said above.

Oh, and just as I finish up writing, Pereira at Fulham is cleaned out by Kelleher in a stonewall penalty incident and gets nothing.

Hmm 

POSITIVES:

Merino:

I need to rewatch the game. I put Merino‘s name here because Tim Stillman said that he thought it was his best game for Arsenal. I didn’t spot this, but I fully trust him. His last third of the season has been beyond admirable. His situation at Arsenal reminds me so much of Tierney’s. Clearly a very impactful footballer, but not always what the game needs, but the game will never not need goals.

A hugely valuable squad player at the very least.

Raya:

Surely there isn’t any goalkeeper in world football that has hands as soft and clean as he does. He’s so confident in his hands, especially under intense pressure and comfortably catches balls that you would strongly advise him not to if you were the goalkeeping coach of any other keeper.

Tierney:

In a perfect world, Arsenal would retain Tierney next season. He’s most certainly somebody that offers great value to the squad. Of anybody that has the opportunity to cross the ball from our left-hand side, he is undoubtedly the most accurate. We all know that he is a consistently solid defender and arguably the best defensive left back that we have. I’m sure that he will leave and go back to Celtic and I’d imagine that the deal is probably largely done. I’d also imagine that Arteta would like to keep him. I might try to persuade him to stay until the end of his contract, but it is hard to deny a player like KT the opportunity to play for his boyhood club again when he is just a bits and pieces player for us and actually in his prime.

Kiwior:

He’s defending was more good than worrying. He still allows defenders to move him when the ball is coming to his head and seems to get a little panicky when having to communicate, therefore allowing the ball to bounce as it did on their goal. It has to be noted that he does add value to Arsenal though. The best club in his bag is better than everybody else’s best. Such a natural ease that he swings that left foot with and I had to rewatch the highlights to notice that he was responsible for two of our best goals scoring situations with delightful vertical passes that our other center backs don’t really try.

Trossard:

Leo is a good lesson in how to strike the middle of the ball whilst running at speed. This sounds elementary but more than half of attacking players hit slightly off center, and therefore cannot hit straight shots under pressure. A larger number would also have transferred that to their favourite foot before shooting.

Martinelli:

He was good against Everton, but he was unstoppable against Fulham.

The first time in well over a year that he has looked like an improved player. I think that has been everybody’s concern. They see that he has value, but everybody around him is improving, and he hasn’t. His performance is what Arsenal need consistently. Constant threat and end product. Regardless of signing Nico Williams, Martinelli has the potential to hold down the left wing spot if he plays like this.

Dowman:

He scored his first hat trick for the academy yesterday. He’s playing many years up and apparently ‘ finding it easy.’ I’m sure he will get a loan or be in the first team squad next season.

NEEDS:

Darren ‘who is unfortunately from’ England:

The easiest yellow card to give in the game of football is when a player deliberately stops a goalkeeper from distributing the ball. No arguments. The single easiest yellow card. Darren wasn’t looking. VAR were obviously doing this again…

Jake O’Brian, who was clearly trying to get sent off, stayed on the field. Wow. Then a free kick given for faking to kick the ball. Wow. Honestly, I was shocked that Leo didn’t get a yellow card. Darren blows the final whistle before the game ends. Wow. Then he starts the game again. Wow. Is any of this actually ’wow’ though? As I said earlier, it is so frequent that it is normal.

David Raya:

I’ve had a few people ask me why David Raya moves earlier than any other goalkeeper on a penalty kick. My best guess is that it’s all about gambling. If he’s right, then he can reach the very corner of the goal, which is impossible to reach unless you take a step or two early. The trouble is that if he does this regularly, then opponents will ensure that their penalty kick taker pauses and waits for Raya to move.

HOPES:

Saka:

Those at the game said that he held his hamstring after his first acceleration. Can only hope that he had an unusually placed pimple he was itching.

Nico Williams:

I have a preference for Antoine Semenyo. I will always favour somebody that can play with both feet to the point where it’s hard to tell which foot is their strongest. Nico Williams is capable with both feet, but there’s a difference between being capable and almost always shifting it to your favorite foot before you execute. He is however, a potentially elite player. Somebody may say that he already is having played and started for a successful Spain team that won the Euros.

When you look at the careers of players like Salah and Henry you see Nico’s talent and success has started earlier so their level cannot be ruled out.  There is no doubt that Williams has the potential to be something special. His signing would certainly be very exciting. His electric pace is most certainly needed as we have often lacked this facet in many games this season. It will be interesting to see how Arsenal manage this summer if they have to pay release clauses for Williams and Zubimendi which demand that we pay 100 million in cash rather than payments My assumption is that we could offer to pay a little more but do payments.

Whoever Arsenal gets to play on the wing though will be subconsciously compared to Saka. I feel for them.

Zubimendi:

Like Williams, he is not my personal first choice but again would be a fantastic signing. I’d go for Adam Wharton who has more tools. There are probably 10 players in the positions we need this summer that would be fantastic so the preferences don’t need to be taken too seriously.

He is an elegant, press resistant playmaker with a lovely tendency to be able to intercept and read the play. English football often makes us think that we need the athletic option, but with Declan Rice in the squad, there is always the flexibility to switch and use Rice if you need a taller, stronger and more athletic ball winner.

As Arteta has largely played the same formation during his tenure, we forget that he might have a different formation in mind with his optimal team. With the current rumors, it looks like Arteta might actually get all the pieces he needs to have the squad he always wanted. This might introduce a different formation as the arrival of even just one player can change everything. Specifically, my head is thinking that both Williams and Gyokeres are specialists in transition and so even though we are extremely unlikely to go from a possession team to a counter attacking team, there might be a twist and a willingness to take more offensive risk, therefore giving our opponent more possession and subsequently allowing us to capitalize on transitions.

Hato:

As you will know, Hato at Ajax has been one that the club have been following for a few years. I have a sneaky suspicion that there is a plan for him to come in this summer and either be a Kiwior replacement or even first choice left back. Moving Skelly into midfield. If you haven’t watched him, he is essentially a taller and slightly quicker version of MLS.

Nypan:

As I’ve said in a previous blog, Sverre Nypan might end up being the best signing of all. Even though he would be the cheapest and most low profile. Just a prediction. Where many fantastic Arsenal players have proven to be great memories and huge assets for the club, there are a handful like Henry, Sanchez, Fabregas, Bergkamp and Cazorla that are gifted. I see this in Nypan. Something extraordinary in his decision-making. Something extraordinary in his comfort to go both ways and fool the fans into wondering which foot is his best. Something extraordinary in the weight of his passing and ability to run with the ball with such elegant balance. We will see, I suppose.

Garcia:

The fact that Joann Garcia seems to want to come to Arsenal is either very foolish on his part or a sign of a player who recognizes the value in playing and competing with one of the best in the world knowing that patience is the best virtue for goalkeepers as their career goes five years longer than field players. Even if David Raya is Arsenal‘s goalkeeper for the next five years, then Garcia could comfortably be Arsenal goalkeeper for 10 years. Much like Emi Martinez, he could possibly have loan spells and no doubt he would have the opportunity to prove that he is even a level higher than David Raya. That’s hard to imagine as I think Raya is arguably the best goalkeeper in the world now, but I suppose there’s always somebody better.

He is apparently an extremely confident young man with game-winning abilities. Sounds like a real find if Arsenal can have two top goalkeepers. It would be lovely but for no other reason than simply to feel confident enough to rest your first choice whenever you wanted. Liverpool and possibly City have this but almost nobody else in world football does.