In the aftermath of a fabulous win over our North London rivals, the role and performance of Martin Odegaard is rightly receiving high praise, not just from us fans but from his ‘current’ manager, Mikel Arteta. However, I am keen to highlight how the Norwegian’s place in the team is positively influencing others, notably Emile […]
Pay attention to Arsenal POSITIVES, NEEDS and HOPES When love is present it is hard to be objective. I try to be objective when writing about my team but I have to breathe after the game and wait. I wait at least 4 hours so I can divorce emotion from reality. I hope I’m not […]
The New and the Familiar POSITIVES, NEEDS and HOPES Arsenal are sneaking up on us. As we have seen ourselves as a dominant possession team for the largest part of the last 20 years, I don’t think we give this current group the credit they deserve for their current improvement. For at least the last […]
The Arsenal set up 1) In possession Utilising the familiar 4-2-3-1, Arsenal were building through the thirds in a 2-3-5 shape. Cedric would initially remain deep, with Tierney deployed as an outlet through the left channel, allowing Willian to occupy the half-spaces. The 2-3-5 became a 3-2-5 occasionally with Elneny dropping in between the two […]
…… and the door slides open POSITIVES, NEEDS and HOPES In the 14 months that Mikel Arteta has been at Arsenal he has experienced every curve of the rollercoaster that most managers would enjoy and endure in a decade. I sit here a few hours post game and I wonder if he knows that he […]
The absence of automatic POSITIVES, NEEDS AND HOPES Everyone seems to be dealing with their own level of disappointment after yesterday. Some have gone for fire-face emoji-man. Others are emotional because it just happened and it wasn’t very pretty. There are a batch who see a 0-1 to City as ‘not bad considering.’ Then there […]
Arsenal fans are happier after this weekend than they were after the previous and this is hardly surprising. Despite the later second half blips, the overall dominance of Leeds and the scoring of four goals, quite a rarity these days, should have us smiling. However, many will still be scratching their heads as to how […]
Match Preview Arsenal resume their Europa League campaign on Thursday evening, when they travel to Rome for the first and away-leg of their round of 32 clash against Benfica. Both sides come into the tie having gone through the group stages unbeaten, as well as being amongst the highest-scorers in the competition. The Portuguese side […]
When the Coach got to coach POSITIVES, NEEDS and HOPES I was really looking forward to yesterday’s game. Off the back of two losses and another potential fan meltdown, that may seem a little crazy. My excitement was based on knowing that the game came with a full weeks preparation time. Something our coach hasn’t […]
The Penalty Box Problem POSITIVES, NEEDS and HOPES Well, that wasn’t November and it wasn’t January. It was somewhere in between. The Keeper was very good, defence was uncharacteristically nervous, the midfield dominated but it was the attackers or more to the point, the attacking, that was stuck deep in November. There are multiple layers […]
