‘The Absent Solution’ POSITIVES, NEEDS and HOPES I made a prediction back in December that we would fall short this season. I’m not in the slightest bit interested in being right. My thought was based on one big missing link. Arsenal lack ‘individual brilliance’ on the dribble. We are very capable of collective brilliance (last […]
‘The Birth of the Future’ POSITIVES, NEEDS and HOPES I’ve been waiting, wondering and hoping that we were going to get this performance. If you read often you may have got bored of my ‘need’ for Arsenal to play at a quicker tempo in the final third, the need for 1 touch to become a […]
‘Never put bullets in your enemies gun’ POSITIVES, NEEDS and HOPES It must be tempting. You are taught as a professional to give nothing to the media. It seems like most every time a player does or says something to inflame the game, it backfires. Players should not need extra motivation but I’m a guy […]
Arsenal vs. Stade Rennais – Europa League preview (1-3 agg) After the United win, we have another tough task in this 2nd leg of the Round of 16. Rennes bossed us up at their place, though their efforts were boosted by our failings. Some good news here is that Lacazette is available, as […]
Positives, Needs & Hopes from Arsenal 5 Bournemouth 1 The Recipe for Identity POSITIVES, NEEDS and HOPES As a coach I have always held the belief that your identity should be a by product of your ability to find the best system for your best players enabling them to play […]
Did I see Intent, Rhythm and Fun? POSITIVES, NEEDS and HOPES As the season was about to start I remember wondering what I was going to see. I remember thinking that we would quickly try to impress our new coach with a fluid, typical Arsenal rhythm combined with the obvious initial need of a more […]
Should’ve been easy, but just too difficult! POSITIVES, NEEDS and HOPES One of the most impactful pre-game team talks I can remember came when I was a teenager. My coach was a man called Roy Butler and I was playing for St.Albans. It was a big game. We were the better team on paper but […]
The Spectacular Unspectacular POSITIVES, NEEDS and HOPES Fans need hope but boy, oh boy has society done a number on our levels of patience. Yesterday, was a spectacular display of seriousness. Flicking through Twitter I have started to only pay attention to those who don’t have extreme views. “We are awful”, “So and so is […]
Arsenal 2-0 Chelsea – Premier League Review After the West Ham defeat, we made the Sarri’s side (and himself!) pretty blue. This was a performance of intensity, pressure, pressing, and clinical finishing, and against another top-six side to boot. As a must-win game for our top four hopes, we did win, and how, based on […]
West Ham United 1-0 Arsenal Premier League Review Our trip to the London Stadium didn’t really turn out well, as lost to the Irons via a Rice goal early in the second half. This performance, over both halves, I think can be summed up via these points: Strong defending (for once) The goal we […]
