Frustratingly delightful POSITIVES, NEEDS and HOPES What a delightful reminder that Arsenal can be fun! Not just the score but the attacking performance. As soon as the game was over I sit back to write this and get my analytical head on and start to feel frustrated. I feel frustrated not because I feel we […]
Preparing for the absent POSITIVES, NEEDS and HOPES I’m normally not in the camp of folk who say pre-season is just for fitness and rhythm. I’m still not. As a coach it is pivotal, not just for players to get in the groove but to try out the most important tactics/strategies that you want to […]
The Conductor and his part time Rock Band POSITIVES, NEEDS and HOPES End of season review This is a tale of the unnecessary. There once was a really good music teacher. He had been given the opportunity to work with a fairly talented but unbalanced rock band called ‘Unexpected.’ The music teacher had taken […]
Whilst it’s been a very poor season for Mikel Arteta as Arsenal manager, he can certainly be encouraged by his side’s form since Christmas and the way his players have finished the league campaign on a high. In this piece, an analysis of Arsenal’s victory against Brighton is discussed. In possession On the final […]
Small happy, bigger frustration POSITIVES, NEEDS and HOPES Perhaps I’m overthinking this as the answer to my frustrations could be so very simple. It’s the last game and the pressures off, right? The players would rather have not played in the Conference league, I’m sure. But…. Why were so many of our season long problems […]
Arsenal don’t but Arteta does POSITIVES, NEEDS and HOPES Mikel Arteta won’t feel like he walked away with a win yesterday. He didn’t. Yet, did he personally get a win? As the coach of the team he may never know or feel this personal victory but I’d imagine when he pauses he will realize, if […]
The Either/Or Conundrum Mistakes happen everywhere and football is no exception. No big drama, we chin up and move on. What makes it particularly difficult to process is its repetition, over time, as the concept of learning through experience doesn’t apply. We can accept the odd mistake, the brain fart that bears unpleasant consequences but […]
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 […]
There are two statements that appeared on my feed recently that sum up a depressingly, growing number of our fan base at the moment. Anonymous (supposed Arsenal fan) on Twitter: ‘When you play well you get zero abuse. They deserve everything they get and more” Granit Xhaka: “I’m the guy on the pitch, not my […]
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 […]
