When it’s the Coach POSITIVES, NEEDS and HOPES Every game can be won or lost by a coach. Something they do or don’t do. Often it’s plural. Yesterday, Mikel Arteta and Ralph Hassenhuttl got to show themselves. Two games, same opponents, back to back. A real coaches game. Just played each other so we were […]
The Swiss Army Knife POSITIVES, NEEDS and HOPES There’s a groove developing. A little swagger. Beyond the natural boost of confidence earned when you start winning and keeping clean sheets, what are the details? 1) INDIVIDUAL IMPROVEMENT Have you noticed? We have 11 players that we can pick who are either on a run of […]
Sometimes the Solution is the Winner POSITIVES, NEEDS and HOPES So, we didn’t get 3 points but….. what did we get? We got returning players, Partey in particular. We got a better performance from our central midfielders. Our backline looked solid and we defended against two of the trickiest players in the league, admirably. A […]
January 2 December 0 POSITIVES, NEEDS and HOPES I kid you not, I wrote that headline on my notepad before the game. I looked at the line up and wasn’t entirely disappointed as the key players needed to be rested, but I saw Willian and some of his buddies and predicted that the ‘December crew’ […]
FA Cup final, 2017. The match was barely underway when Rob Holding was already hustling and hounding Diego Costa – Chelsea’s ‘A’ class shithouse. As the two tangled together, the Spaniard brought him down and wildly flailed a leg, just missing the defender. Holding, having been warned by Per Mertesacker of Costa’s antics before the […]
A Necessary Chaos POSITIVES, NEEDS and HOPES Watching Aaron Ramsey at Arsenal was a frustrating experience for me. I know I wasn’t the only one that felt that Arsenal wasted his best years. A potentially world class player who was never played consistently as a box to box midfielder in a midfield three. What happened […]
Match Preview Arsenal travel to Manchester United on Sunday afternoon in the hope of not only turning around their wretched record away record at Old Trafford, but also steadying the ship after losing three of their last four matches in the Premier League. Arteta will be looking for a much needed reaction after last week’s […]
Arsenal vs Manchester United Matchday 7 • 1/10/2020 Two big giants of the game face off at Old Trafford on Matchday 7. Arsenal vs Manchester United, North vs South. Winner gets bragging rights. Manchester United come into this game in 15th place with Arsenal in 12th, with both sides looking to move closer […]
What we are seeing under Mikel Arteta is a man who has a clear vision/style of football that he is looking to install. Despite the lack of managerial experience, we have seen countless examples of how he has tactically outsmarted top level coaches by drilling his team effectively in and out of possession. Patterns of […]
Very few people know more about the French league than Robin Bairner of goal.com @Rbairner. His information and analysis of Arsenal latest Brazilian acquisition; Gabriel Magalhaès can thus be regarded as valuable and reliable. This and many others were the reasons why I had an interview with him to get the lowdown on the Brazilian centre […]
