When Alexandre Lacazette signed for Arsenal in the July of 2017, expectations were high, the frustrations surrounding Oliver Giroud had reached boiling point and many hoped that a more clinical striker would ease the burden on the likes of Mesut Ozil and Alexis Sanchez. The ninety-one goals in his past three seasons did a lot […]
The Initiative Issue POSITIVES, NEEDS and HOPES I think that Mikel Arteta’s greatest success since becoming coach/manager has been defensive intensity and organization. If he were not to remain as coach in the long term I think he has solved arguably the most important need that the club had on the field in 15 years. […]
Like a Panther POSITIVES, NEEDS and HOPES That was one incredibly well coached game. Slavia insisted on playing out from the back and were fine in the first phase. Second phase their midfield couldn’t connect. I watched, paused, re-wound the TV and saw what was happening. Arteta had set us up to tempt them. To […]
Ahead of Thursday, as you would expect I have been tasked with looking at the decisions Arteta needs to make for the second leg against Slavia Prague. Despite a formidable home record, and some notable scalps in Europe, the Czech champions showed little to frighten Arsenal in my view last week. The home draw was […]
It’s 9am Monday morning and Mikel has spent all weekend psyching himself up for this one phone call. Looking in the mirror, MA starts talking to himself: “He’s just a man, he’s like anyone else. Just pick up the phone and talk to him. Just ‘cos he’s Zizou, just ‘cos he’s won the World Cup, […]
I remember being in the concourse of a bustling Liberty Stadium in October 2015, eagerly awaiting team news for Arsenal’s match against Swansea City, hoping for a Joel Campbell start, of all things. As I was waiting in hopeful expectation of the Costa Rican continuing his run in the team, I watched and enjoyed the […]
The road to the Champions League is full of potholes When you are 3-0 down at West Ham on a Sunday afternoon, the Champions League feels a long way away. However, the Gunners fought back superbly to come away with a draw. That fighting spirit is needed if Arsenal are to play in the 2021/22 […]
There was a mixture of emotions for Arsenal fans when news broke last summer of a potential move for Hector Bellerin to PSG, some rejected the prospect out of hand, not entertaining the thought of the Spaniard leaving, but it seemed the majority felt it was a necessary move in order to bring in cash, […]
Start at the End POSITIVES, NEEDS and HOPES How are we going to approach the game? How do we deny them? Defensive structure. Combinations. Passing patterns. Etc… The above is a list of 5 of the most regularly practiced topics at a professional club. All are important. The first three might just be vital. Here’s […]
This time last week I was a nervous wreck, fearing the worst and hoping for the best, fearing that inside a week our season would feel like it was over and hoping that we could navigate ourselves to a couple victories, preferably victories that wouldn’t cause the sort of heart palpitations that the Benfica game […]
