“You make me laugh!”: Inside Mesut Özil’s Fractured Relationship with Emery
This piece is part of a larger work on Unai Emery’s Arsenal tenure, which will soon be released… A magician on the pitch, Özil was an insanely talented Arsenal player but often inconsistent. A World Cup winner, the attacking midfielder possessed a tendency to alternate between incredible performances to then being known for, “going missing […]
Pepe and Willian shine as Arteta tactically outsmarts Rodgers at the KP!
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 […]
A Coaches Coach: how Arteta’s coaching skills ran the Foxes ragged
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 […]
Zaha, Maguire and Partey: Inside Arsenal’s 2019 Transfer Window – Failed Targets and Lost Leaders
This piece is part of a larger work on Unai Emery – soon to be published in its entirety here on Gunners Town. Arsenal’s Champions League aspirations went up in flames. Torched by Wilfred Zaha, the dynamic forward brushed by Shkodran Mustafi with ease. As Zaha sped by, he scored his side’s second goal. On […]
Free speech is a right, not a right to hate
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 […]
Europa League Final Fallout. A Glance Back at Arsenal’s Miserable European Finale
This piece is part of a larger work on the Unai Emery Era – Keep a watchful eye on Gunners Town for the entire upcoming project. Azerbaijan. The Land of Fire. Inside the Baku Olympic Stadium, one final match would make or break Arsenal’s season. Heralded as King of the Europa League, Unai Emery had […]
…. and the door slides open: How these 3 Arsenal players might have saved Arteta’s future…
…… 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 […]
Time for Aubameyang to silence his Critics including Jamie ‘Spurs’ Redknapp
If you had told me in August, on the back of his double two goal FA Cup Wembley heroics that I would be asked to write about Aubameyang losing his edge, I would have laughed. After the striker’s heroics the collective Arsenal fanbase followed the skipper’s social media hints and anxiously took confidence from Arteta’s […]
Thanks for the memories, Heccy – You have not become the player we all believed you would!
Is Héctor the last name on the exhaustive list of players we hang on for too long? Kieran Gibbs, Carl Jenkinson, Joel Campbell, Jack Wilshere, Abou Diaby, Johan Djourou, Nicklas Bendtner and Denílson are the prime examples of players towards whom the Club has been too loyal, despite the evident gaps.“Yeah but on his […]
Measuring Arteta’s progress solely on Premier League losses is bad for your Mental Health!
It is unfair to criticise other Arsenal supporters based on my own fragile state of mind but equally I need to block them out. I find myself at a point in my life, for reasons unrelated to football, that I simply have no place for negativity that is avoidable but also in my own personal […]