Why Arsenal winning this Community Shield REALLY matters…
What do you do when you’ve won the Treble? How do you motivate yourself to set yourself apart from the other Manchester team that has won the Treble? How do you step outside the shadow of the Premier League’s greatest team – Arsenal’s Invincibles – and their unrivaled accomplishment of going unbeaten for an entire […]
Bigger than the Shield: Arsenal’s onfield shield was the true prize [Positives, Needs & Hopes]
Bigger than the Shield An Arsenal blog from a coach’s perspective I had Max’s soccer team over to my house last week. They need to watch the game. Some of the parents did not send their kids because they didn’t see the value and others complained. This reminded me of how sport can be looked […]
The Summer Diaries – an Arsenal Women special
Hello Arsenal Women aficionados!The traditional Arsenal Women Journal might well be in holidays mode but that’s no reason to rest. Sorry for the lack of updates, recently, but I took a break and travelled a bit, while keeping an eye on the Arsenal Women world – of course. Obviously, everyone’s attention is on the ongoing […]
Arsenal and the castle
Arsenal and the castle An Arsenal blog from a coach’s perspective Have you ever had to go South in order to go North? Have you ever had to try to explain this to a child? I’d say that I’m a pretty calm and lucid guy. At least my kids tell me that I am. A […]
Tranquilo – Relax Gooners, Arsenal have upgraded, but have our rivals?
The Arsenal fanbase have gone through various states of losing our collective mind over the course of this pre-season. First when we completed the signing of Declan Rice, having already secured the signatures of Havertz and Timber and extended Saliba’s contract. At this point everyone was OTT on optimism because we were going to […]
Breaking lines, breaking moulds: how Arteta’s Arsenal might line up for the new season
Total Chaos I’ve seen a lot of talk about who’s going to start and in what position. Is Timber going to start in place of White? Is Havertz replacing Xhaka or is that what Rice is coming in to do? Will ESR be rotation for Odegaard or Martinelli? I don’t think that question is enough, […]
Declan ‘Beyonce’ Rice: He’s Here and he’s Beautiful!
In the midst of anticipation and media speculation, Arsenal fans can now breathe a sigh of relief as the club’s new £100m signing, Declan Rice has finally arrived. The doubts created by the press about the deal’s completion were merely fleeting obstacles on the path to what was always destined to happen – a significant […]
A Few Surprises and some lessons to be learned – What I want to see in pre-season
The previous pre-season was the most interesting in a long while. There we got first glimpses of the inverted fullback, the high line, pressing from the front, the lone 6 and our new exciting signings, especially Jesus, Zinchenko and Saliba. We saw several impressive performances and results against top European opposition. This time around there […]
Got n’syncing feeling in your gut? This one’s for you: “Granit, Bye Bye Bye”
Bayern LeverHey, hey Granit bye, bye bye Bye bye You’re doing this tonight You’re probably gonna start a fight You know that the time is right Hey Granit come on We loved you endlessly Always there for the team Now it’s your time to leave and and find a new home I know you […]
Saying Goodbye Ainʻt Easy: the three Arsenal players whose departures broke my heart
It can be tough seeing Arsenal players leave. Not always… there are definitely players who overstay their welcome – [INSERT NAME HERE] – but occasionally a player has wormed his way into your heart, for whatever reason, and saying goodbye can be tough. Granit Xhakaʻs goodbye made me think about some of the other players […]