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, […]
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 […]
THE BUILD UP Pacing, Drinking, Clenching, and Harry Kane’s Face in a Potato Urgh. You thought the past week was bad. The day of the game is absolutely unbearable isn’t it? I usually prefer a 4.30pm kick off on a Sunday, but for this particular fixture, I would be happy to kick off at 6am, […]
Arsenal build-up shape The two most commonly deployed build-up structures Arteta favours is the 3-2-5 or the 2-3-5. And in yesterday’s derby, the Spaniard opted for the latter. Xhaka and Partey operated in a double pivot, with Cedric staying deep and at times inverting. Lacazette and Odegaard would both offer themselves between the lines, Tierney […]
Since Martin Ødegaard’s move to Emirates Stadium from Los Blancos on January 27 his performances have been repeatedly praised by many. Arsenal manager is among them. Martin’s only 22 years old, playing in one of the most competitive leagues in the world, yet he has adapted so fast that he was trusted to start in […]
A coaches coach POSITIVES, NEEDS and HOPES I wasn’t really ‘Wenger Out.’ I wasn’t ‘Wenger In’, either. I was more ‘Wenger frustrated.’ I spent the post 2010 period largely frustrated. Whether it was the fact that we always seemed 2-3 players short of competing or the more pertinent point, that it became clear that he […]
The Journey and the Scoreboard POSITIVES, NEEDS and HOPES In a strange kind of way I was interested to see Benfica yesterday. I’ve researched many of their players for my transfer blogs but we don’t much get to see the Portuguese league and we all know that there are frequent gems sold from this league. […]
A line-breaking pass from deep, positional rotations and a smart finish; elements that were on display in Arsenal’s first goal against Leeds (described below). In this piece, I provide a review of the game. Formations in and out of possession Arsenal continued to persist with the 4-2-3-1 that has brought greater levels of consistency in […]
It’s been a couple of weeks since I last wrote an article. I had hoped that after our three home fixtures, where we had won two and drawn one, keeping three clean sheets and progressing into the fourth round of the FA Cup in the process, I’d be writing a positive one on my return. […]
