Arsenal, Spurs, Chelsea, Manchester United – how do the top four rivals compare? So with the PL season upon us, how does Arsenal shape up versus the other top four contenders? The title is unlikely, though naturally not impossible. Liverpool battered Norwich City 4-1, and West Ham got tanked 5-0 by Man City. They […]
Arsenal’s record-breaking acquisition of Lille forward Nicolas Pepe ahead of some top European clubs stunned many. It looked for a long time as if Wilfried Zaha would be the man making the move to the Emirates before news broke on the 27th July that Arsenal had agreed an €80m fee for Pepe. So what does […]
‘Arsenal and the ideal summer scenario’ Talent and impatience. A difficult concoction. Amidst the frustration of not having the budget of those we are trying to catch, Arsenal need credit for their work in the Academy. This is the hope for progress and the chance to catch up. Thankfully, the Ljungberg promotion will have given […]
THE FRUSTRATION OF MOTIVATION Positives, Needs and Hopes Sometimes a moment or a performance can sum up a whole season. Sometimes it’s a player. I’ve watched Aubameyang the last two games play with literally double the motivation that he normally does. I’ve felt excited by this, on the edge of my seat when he’s around […]
Arsenal 1-1 Brighton and Hove Albion Premier League review Top four has gone, and given the recent state of affairs, this won’t be a very positive review. We have made some progress this season, both on and off the pitch, but we still hold some major issues that need rectification. Most of us […]
WERE SUMMER DECISIONS TOLD IN SPRING? Positives, Needs and Hopes Were Summer transfer decisions told to the players in Spring? This is an educated guess, not knowledge…… What happened after the Napoli tie? Such an impressive result against a very good opponent and then a total 3 game collapse. I don’t think it’s too far […]
‘WHO STOLE THE JUMPERS?’ Positives, Needs and Hopes One of Unai Emery’s very first soundbites was, “We want to be protagonists!” I’m glad he wants to be as all fans love attacking football but we are protagonists only every once in a while. Personally, I would not have made this statement without the individual […]
Did I see Intent, Rhythm and Fun? POSITIVES, NEEDS and HOPES As the season was about to start I remember wondering what I was going to see. I remember thinking that we would quickly try to impress our new coach with a fluid, typical Arsenal rhythm combined with the obvious initial need of a more […]
Should’ve been easy, but just too difficult! POSITIVES, NEEDS and HOPES One of the most impactful pre-game team talks I can remember came when I was a teenager. My coach was a man called Roy Butler and I was playing for St.Albans. It was a big game. We were the better team on paper but […]
Intensity or Exhaustion… The clear Arsenal style POSITIVES, NEEDS and HOPES That was absolutely maddening. Almost embarrassing. I’ll get on to that (see first point in ‘NEEDS section), but for now I want to talk about a theme that I see. There has been much talk recently about what Emery’s style is. Almost all of […]
