Very clear, very complicated Positives, Needs and Hopes Some games get lost in the joy of the win or dejection of loss. Others give such clarity as to what needs to change. This season it seems that we’ve been part of three results…. a few wins, a few losses and a bucket load of clarity. […]
Maybe Crayola should sponsor us – since we’re being drawn as much as their crayons. The vibe in some quarters was that we were poor here. I agree it wasn’t stellar. But then – without any real bias attached – I don’t’ think Sheffield United had many major chances. They did get behind […]
The Players, The Club, but not The Coach Positives, Needs and Hopes At the beginning of the Arteta reign I wrote a blog about where the improvement would take us. I felt and still feel that although the improvement gives us great hope, a decent portion of it is simply taking us back to neutral. […]
When bad is perfect Positives, Needs and Hopes I have two hopes when going into the first few games of a season with the team I coach. I want to be exposed and I want to win. I want to be exposed so I know what needs to change and be fixed before the bigger […]
Arsenal in February Part One: The Players I’ve had this theory for months that Arsenal will run out of energy in February onwards, as Emery had us playing end-to-end basketball for 4 months. As with most everything I’ve feared would happen, I’ve either dialed that back or believe the opposite now due to everything Mikel […]
BETTER WITH ARTETA Arsene Wenger once said “Confidence goes down by the lift and up by the stairs.” It’s fair to say before Arteta’s arrival confidence was down in the deepest, darkest basement with no stairs even visible. The players were arguing and seemed not to care. Fans were angry – which showed they cared, but […]
I see special My son is 9. He knows far more about football than I did at his age. He is currently baffled at how Arsenal are changing though. Whenever I tell him that the improvement he is seeing is mainly because of the coach he doesn’t understand. He doesn’t understand because he has yet […]
COACHES vs FANS Positives, Needs and Hopes Part of me wondered if I was reaching a little with this thought. After dialing back the emotion of watching Arsenal trying to attack, I realized that these thoughts have validity….. Fans want defensive solidity and Arsenal fans would sacrifice their Granny for it. When it shows up […]
Sometimes, the fans are right Positives, Needs and Hopes Over the years I’ve wavered as to how I feel about how the impatient modern culture has infected football and fans in particular. I find it true that most people talk in extremes. Arsenal were brilliant. Arsenal are awful. Extreme views are much like sweeping statements, […]
With Unai Emery gone, at least caretaker manager Freddie Ljungberg knows what a winning Arsenal team looks like. The Swede made over 200 appearances for the Gunners in a nine-year spell at the club and was part of the ‘Invincibles’ team that won the Premier League title without losing a match in the 2003-04 season. […]
