As is usual after a win, and a resounding win at that, there is a mood of positivity in the fanbase after the 5-1 thrashing of Everton as the two new boys, Auba and Mhki made impressive joint debuts in the red of Arsenal instead of the yellow of BVB-Dortmund when they last played together. Mhkitaryan had three assists, more than Alexis, his counterweight in the swap with United, had for Arsenal in his prior four months this season. One of his assists was for Aubameyang who scored a classy goal, albeit offside in the build-up.
But moods change rapidly in football. Most fan-bases in the premier league, and I daresay in most of the big European leagues, are dominated by fickle, emotional supporters who, after a win, regard their team and manager as invincible and untouchable versus being the most useless, spineless, lickspittles after a loss. Auba, Mikhi and the hat-trick hero Ramsey may have been the toast of the town over the weekend but dare they fail to do the business in next weekend’s NLD and almost all said same fans will demand that heads roll starting with the manager.
It is a fact that professional football is a “results business” and, as we at PA always stress, no other club has been as consistently successful as Arsenal under Arsene Wenger over the past 21 years despite lacking the financial firepower of its rivals. Manchester United has always been a commercial heavyweight able to consistently outspend Arsenal on players but over recent years they have been joined and even surpassed by Chelsea and Manchester City whose oligarchic owners have invested massive outside money to make them formidable contenders; the three have monopolized the premier league title over the past 13 years with the Leicester City year being the notable exception.
Despite the financial shackles of paying for the stadium, which really took hold in the 05-6 season as big, experienced players were beginning to be sold and replaced by youthful prospects or second tier talent, up to 2016 Wenger was successful in keeping Arsenal in the top-four. But the latter season, after 20 years, was Arsenal’s premier league apogee, finishing 5th.
In the face of a relatively studious silence by the mainstream media as well as the so-called Arsenal bloggers and podcasters since last summer, there has been a massive reaction from the club to its 16/17 failure. Last summer there was the acquisition of Lacazette for what was then the new Arsenal transfer record of £47.70 million. Most people have quickly forgotten how in that window Lucas Perez, Gabriel and Oxlade-Chamberlain were sold or loaned. The latter deal was a typical piece of transfer poker by Wenger, extolling the virtues of the Englishman and playing hardball up to the deadline, eventually rinsing Liverpool for £40 million. (I can’t stop laughing.)
In the blog I did after the 2017 summer window titled Arsenal Annihaliates The Agents & Speculators In The Window, while describing how City and Chelsea were forking over massive profits to the selling clubs and the agents involved, I made the following point:
Conspicuously absent from this excessive consumption is Arsenal which paid a mere £2.7 million surplus for the acquisition of Alexander Lacazette. Arsenal is 3rd only to Swansea and West Brom who through smart pricing and use of the loan system were able to generate value in excess of price from their acquisitions.
This is not to say Arsenal was afraid to pay big money for a special player. It emerged on deadline day the club was willing to pay up to £100 million for Thomas Lemar, a talented midfielder needed to fill a gaping vacancy that currently exists. Arsene Wenger disclosed publicly the deal fell through because the player was not ready for the move but pledged he would, when the opportunity next arise, make another attempt to do the deal.
Meanwhile the financial geniuses who dominate Arsenal twitter, blogs and podcasts post August 31st attacked the club for having the financial discipline and resoluteness to not fall for the agents hyping players of modest value for inflated prices. Adding to the din and hysteria was certain so-called Arsenal legends who seem more interested in giving credence to agent talk than protecting the club’s long term financial strength. It begs the question who is in bed with these agents, whether as friends or business partners. Why would a blogger mock the club for making a £30 million profit on deadline day with the capacity to go back in the market to make a £100 million acquisition in the future?
Today I feel a bit like a prophet but only just. I simply followed the data and let it lead me to the logical conclusion. Within five months the club was able to:
- Exchange with United, what the media imagined to be its biggest star, in return for a world class midfielder who is less wasteful and less selfish with the football.
- Sell two under-used 100 goal strikers for a combined sum of approximately £30 million.
- Able to acquire for a new Arsenal transfer record a world class striker for £57.38 million.
- Resign its greatest asset for an additional three years, arguably the best midfielder in the world, for what is unheard of at Arsenal, a princely but competitive salary of £350,000 per week.
Upon totting up the figures, one big blogger was moved to complain to his followers that the club was being deceptive with its spending as it ended with a £7.5 million surplus on transfers. It betrayed an abject understanding of the real cost of running a football club. It is not the transfers, it is the wages. Any money saved on transfers goes into paying the escalating salaries for the quality players need by a club, such as Arsenal, if it is to return to the top echelons of the Premier league and eventually compete for the title.
In retrospect there has been a massive rebuild. The first team squad is less in quantity but arguably greater in quality. Yet as Arsene explained the club would have loved to sign a defender but the quality was not available at the right price. Wenger pointed to the massive price City had to pay for their defensive reinforcement as an example of the difficulty facing buying clubs. That may explain why Arsenal’s reported interest in Johnny Evans ran aground.
Seemingly the club and Arsene Wenger have decided to grab the nettle and make a strong run over the remaining 12 games in the season while strategically preparing for a title run in 2018/19. As the graph at the start illustrates the club has so far this season earned a measly 1.73 points per game (ppg), substantially below the prior 21-year mean of 1.98 ppg. In contrast City is currently cruising at a 2.65 ppg, emphasizing the magnitude of the gap between 1st and 6th. This is the challenge that awaits Messers Anbameyang and Mikhitaryan as part of a streamlined, upgraded squad.
Arsene Wenger has been a model of consistency. History and the laws of probability predict his teams usually revert to and, if they are good enough, exceed the mean. Time will tell.
Positively Arsenal 
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Akpom: It’s in my interest to succeed in Belgium
By
Arseblog News Hound –
February 2, 2018
8
Chuba Akpom says it was his decision to move on loan to Belgian side STVV and that he’s determined to make a good impression knowing that he has only 18 months left on his current Arsenal contract.
A fringe player at the Emirates this season, the England under-21 international made the surprise move across the Channel on transfer deadline day in search of regular game time and first team experience.
Speaking to regional publication Het Balenag van Limburg (translated by Sport Witness), Akpom underlined how much he’s looking forward to the new challenge.
“I already have a good feeling about this move,” he said.
“For the sake of clarity, I have chosen STVV myself, Arsenal didn’t force this club on me. When I heard of the interest from Sint-Truiden, I did some research.
“If I ever want to become a real Gunner, I have to take the last step. So I will do everything to get STVV to the play-off 1.
“I need top matches, I realise that very well. In 18 months my contract with Arsenal ends so I have every interest in doing well here.
“Arsene Wenger recently told me that he has all the confidence in me and that I am sharp.”
This is Akpom’s sixth loan in five years and comes after spells at Brentford, Coventry, Nottingham Forest, Hull City and Brighton.
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Did Scudamore import the wrong kind of influence from Italian Football? Not Judges with any care for the foot “cojones”.
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Sod Brexit this country needs Scudzit.
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/football/2018/02/05/referee-jon-moss-misguided-ask-tv-help-awarding-penalty/amp/?__twitter_impression=true
“Misguided” eh?
Sounds like his federation just described him as a disgrace!
“Misguided” “Theatre”
-pgMOB
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This is so good. Thanks Shotta.
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I knew it would not take long before ‘they’ came after Mossy.
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I find myself more and more in Andy Nic’s camp. The refs are doing their best and its the players and managers that are deceiving them. Where I differ is that I believe te refs are applying the rules to suit the PL brand.
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We’re all entitled to our beliefs and opinions George but there isn’t any doubt that the pgMOB are applying the rules differently becasue the pgMOB have said so themselves directly.
“Game management”.
(please don’t shoot the messanger for simply quoting Them).
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Hackett was certainly a pgMOB employee once.
Once he was one of Them.
The dirty rotten scoundral eh?
Any chance and he digs his oar in. This is unacceptable.
He’s acting like he is the the officials’ own incarnation of Andrew Jennings. This s outrageous behaviour.
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I watched Richarlison get his third PL opponent sent of this season at Vicarage Road last night. Debatable if it was even a foul but the cheating Brazilian shitrag rolled round on the floor screaming after the end of is toe had been touched.
No doubt his agent is on to Watford about a new contract this morning.
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He’ll be on the phone to Spuds for sure, he’s made of the right stuff for them for sure
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Anthony Taylor against the Spuds?
If so, hope he realises one team practices rotational diving to instruction on an industrial scale, and referees the game accordingly, or thats my hope, at least
They need to stop pandering to and rewarding serial cheats
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Last time Mr Taylor had the whistle at Wembley in charge of AFC he seemed to do OK – sent Moses off for diving – the scallywag. I see he has also refereed Tottingham twice this season, and they lost both games.
Our last game with him in charge was rather spoiled by Hazard diving. Still I can understand why the game is being put in his hands.
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We still remember Villa on the opening day a few seasons ago. He had a shocker.
“The North Remembers”
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A valuable learning experience for the young referee;
The quality of mercy is not strain’d,
It droppeth as the gentle rain from heaven
Upon the place beneath: it is twice blest;
It blesseth him that gives and him that takes.
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quote
anicoll5
February 6, 2018 at 11:14 am
I watched Richarlison get his third PL opponent sent of this season at Vicarage Road last night. Debatable if it was even a foul but the cheating Brazilian shitrag rolled round on the floor screaming after the end of is toe had been touched.
so why if he has cheated, has the PGMOL not seen to that the FA charge him with deceiving the Ref, what reason could they have for not using either the Dive Panel, or the retrospective panel, or even Bringing the game into dispute. Is the pretense that Refs get 98% of decisions correct more important to them than actually punishing the guys who have cheated. If it not that then what could it be. They have all the rules the need to punish these cheats, but just don’t have any will to do so. Is the Brand bigger than justice.
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Possibly because they take a different view to me on the incident eddy, as apparently did Wazza, Carra and the various halfwits who did not appear to notice it last night or in the MSM this morning.
What do you think ?
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No doubt the usual toffee would come out “there was contact” blah blah blah – the excuse for every incredible human contortion on a football field these days.
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John Cross @JohnCrosspaper
I’m told that now the board have the right people in place they are eager for Arsene Wenger to sign a 2 year extension which will take him through to summer 2021 Thoughts ?
been saying this for a while now, said all along that bringing in the new guys was for the purpose of helping Wenger and not to force him out.
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sorry guys just noticed that the above tweet was from a fake account,
but my point still stands, I actually think that there is as much if not better chance of AW signing a longer contract this summer, than there is of him leaving.
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Arsenal will play Reading away in the quarter finals of the Fa youth Cup
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pg that has not gone down well with his haters on twitter, and of course the jack fan boys who for some reason seem to really dislike Rambo, and will spout any old bollocks about what Ramsey can’t or does not do, the one I really liked was the muppet who claimed Ramsey is an awful finisher. Imagine a wilshere fan boy bringing up goal scoring to try and down play Ramsey.
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AFCPressWatch
@AFCPressWatch2
9h9 hours ago
Eddie Nketiah hit a hat-trick as Arsenal beat Everton 4-0 to go second in Division 1, only a point behind Liverpool. The 18-year-old now has nine PL2 goals from 51 shots this season. He’s made 48 PL2 appearances overall – scored 32 goals. #AFC
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Ramsey, if that’s true, will be most pleased. Wonderful player, strong character.
As for Wenger extending, fake account or not, far from sure , but always happy to be proved wrong. What I am certain, the club are moving forward together to improve things in the short, medium and long term, just don’t buy this board civil war thing , I am sure they are getting, and will continue to bring the best people in
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Poch has at least half-admitted before that he’s ok with a little diving, and has done so again
———–
Twenty years ago, 30 years ago, it was like “all congratulate the player when he tricks the referee”,’ Pochettino said. ‘In Argentina but in England too.
‘You believe that in England you were honest and always perfect. That is the football that I was in love with when I was a child. Football is about trying to trick your opponent. Yes or no?
‘What does tactic mean? You do some tactics to try to trick the opponent. You say, “Oh I play on the right but I’m going to finish on the left”. It’s a mix that I am worried that maybe we are going to kill the game.
‘The problem now is that we are so sensitive about the situation. And then we are so focused on Dele Alli.
‘If you try to run on the pitch, sometimes you go down and you say, “Oh, because I was focusing on the ball…”
“But in the end, it was clear. It was a yellow card, the referee was right and perfect. It’s too much sometimes. There is such a focus on this type of situation that I think is a minimal issue.”
————————-
I say almost fair play for being almost partially honest, and referencing English hypocrisy, but the big untruth is calling it a minimal issue. This isn’t something that crops up only occasionally with Spurs and others, but something they are prepared to do given any opportunity in every game, something they actively seek with great regularity, escalating their efforts dramatically depending on circumstances and need.
Taking one game only, a little dive, cleverness,whatever in a key moment is not a minimal thing, not when football is such a low scoring sport.
Do it systematically every game and profit often, and it is absolutely massive.
He’s an anything-to-win coach, and far from alone in that; anything-to-win including every last element of foul play. Whether they are actually more extreme than many others or it only seems that way as a consequence of how successful they have been with it, I don’t know.
If refs (and media enablers) don’t discourage it and you gain tons of small and not small advantages leading to a huge advantage overall. that anything-to-win mentality, fair and foul, means you push and push the limits.
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http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sport/football/article-5359949/Tottenham-boss-Pochettino-defends-Dele-Alli-diving-row.html?login
We’ve seen how journals try find slightest morsel in anything Wenger says to make a meal out of; let’s see if they get stuck into the feast Poch has potentially given them
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Mandy do you really think that if there was a board room split, with Stan the only one backing Wenger, that Stan would not just replace them. Its another one of those stories that the ASB and WOB put out there, knowing full well its bullshit, but they repeat it over and over, and after a while, a section of our fan base take it as fact. Despite all the evidence to the contrary.
Its like the nonsense that this or that player was bought by Dein or Gazidis over the head of Wenger, when not only AW, but DD and IG have all stated that no senior player is ever signed without the manager’s say so (as it should be, regardless of who the manager is)
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spurs boss claims its tactical to con the refs,
1 2 3 cue media outrage
oh sorry scrap that, what was I thinking, its the spurs boss, so no media uproar, no condemnation, no highlighting of the divers and cheats in the spurs team.
no the journos and pundits by and large are like nodding dogs
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Something fantastic about Spurs doing their norm at Anfield triggering such an unusual response.
We have chief sportswriters- Lieu, Independent- tweeting that ‘morally, I don’t see anything different between a stepover and a dive’
Gets picked up enough, he’ll presumably turn it into something about being abused online, like teaboy
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What have you done Poch, Kane, Alli, Lamela- look what you’ve done to the media boys
https://y.yarn.co/42cea6f8-26a2-4bd9-afcb-6ae2746340ae.mp4?1517963495873
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I am especially worried that the wording of the law is left open to such wide and, to me, obviously erroneous interpretation by the Pgmo in their bid to say ‘move along people, nothing to see here’.
The relevant part of the offside rule is.
•
gaining an advantage by playing the ball or interfering with an opponent
when it has:
•
rebounded or been deflected off the goalpost, crossbar, match official or an
opponent
•
been deliberately saved by any opponent
A player in an offside position receiving the ball from an opponent who
deliberately plays the ball (except from a deliberate save by any opponent) is
not considered to have gained an advantage.
A ‘save’ is when a player stops, or attempts to stop, a ball which is going into or
very close to the goal with any part of the body except the hands/arms (unless
the goalkeeper within the penalty area).
To me it seems clear the Lovren’s hurried attempt at a clearance comes under the category of ‘save’. But apparently not to the Pgmol. At least when it comes to Spurs and protecting their own imagined integrity.
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http://www.independent.co.uk/sport/football/premier-league/tottenham-newport-fa-cup-mauricio-pochettino-dele-alli-diving-killing-the-game-a8197946.html
Well, as a manager whose team are now the clear team of the media, and rarely on the end of adverse decisions from ref, he would say that wouldn’t he.
Because the powers that be, including the spineless Mike Riley don’t bat an eyelid, nothing will be done, kids will copy his players more and more, the job of a ref at Hackney marshes becomes even tougher.
As far as I know, nobody, the league, PGMOL. FA or media are attempting to do anything about diving, other than punish a couple lesser known players retrospectively.
Spurs are cheating to instruction and getting away with it. We know what to expect this weekend. On a level playing field, we can beat them, but the playing field is unlikely to be level
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A couple of Comments by those who are on the outside:
ricky66:
Anbameyang and Mikhitaryan?
Seriously. Come on. Enable spellcheck.
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Rob:
Hilarious. Keown? Parlour? Adams? Vieira? Winterburn? Wright? Lauren? Freddie bloody Ljundberg – think these players didn’t dish out some fairly unpleasant tackles? I seem to remember one of our silkiest ever players, David Rocastle, able to give as good as he got. Since Wenger started believing in impotent technicians like Hleb, Rosicky and Cazorla, the winning mentality died with it and we were supposed to be able to play our little brand of tikka-takka nonsense without little flowers like Walcott getting touched. I still laugh at the memory of Rosicky pushing people over like a child in a playground when he needed to do something physical. How this mighty club of winners has fallen…
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If Pochettino did say what the quotes list then he is dong no more than voicing what we all know, that players are coached to cheat and gain an advantage and, if they are successful, rewarded by their clubs. I’d hesitate to say every PL manager engages in this dark art, but those who don’t I can count on the digits of a three toed sloth.
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If we all know it and if the officials are happy to use TV since the Zidane sending off in a WC final a decade ago, when the mood takes them (certainly that puts the media “debate” on ‘VARS’ into an irrational bizarre and yes remarkable context), then:
Why have the officials not been banning divers or even trying to ban divers this past decade using the tools at their disposal that they are already (that’s the key bit of information boys and girls!) using?
Unless they play for The Arsenal Football Club?
(not an opinion, just repeating thee record).
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It’s odd how with the greater resources in the NHL that they avoid all this controversy.
Amazing!
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Shotts
When we consider that there is “no moral difference between a stepover and a dive” then those comments make perfect sense!
I.e.:
If you’re shit at football then diving is as fair as attempting a stepover.
If you watch the video of Delli Alli against Iceland, or when in Koscielny’s pocket you won’t see him attempting many stepovers.
Because: he can’t.
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Jonathan Liew
Has never ever played football
If he did he was the last player picked,he would be the last player picked and never passed to during the game.
That could be the only reason for giving that statement.
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When he gets called out he’s telling people to go to bed
another sanctimonious prick journo
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Andrew, we all know that including the referees and the FA, so if they are serious about wanting to stamp it out, they need to stop rewarding that behaviour. They have the power and the responsibility to do something about it, but they are failing to do their job. Players will continue to cheat as long as they are profiting by it. A few more yellow cards for simulation, some high profile divers getting banned by the diving panel and managers like Poch getting fined for bringing the game into disrepute by openly admitting that his team cheats, then things might start to change.
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Let he who is without sin cast the first stone;
https://www.theguardian.com/football/2009/sep/26/robin-van-persie-penalty-diving
“Sometimes when you are in the middle of an ‘action’ and you get a little push, and you know there’s nothing more to take. Basically, the guy pushed you and finished the whole action. Then you’re in the right to show, in a way, to the referee that you’ve been pushed. Know what I mean?”
Yes Robin, I know exactly what you mean.
Should RvP have been honest and said what he did ? Should Poch be punished for saying out loud what we all know goes on ?
Discuss!
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WWB
We are on safe ground to say that such hacks don’t care for the team that couldn’t draw with Iceland, don’t care for grassroots football, don’t care for the sport.
In their own words (please don’t shoot this messenger?).
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But A5, I don’t think anyone here is condoning diving by Arsenal players. Al we are asking for is the fair and equitable application of the rules by the PGMOL and the FA’s so called diving panel. The problem, as the data has established, is that the PGMOL is biased and rewards/punishes certain teams more than most. By the way, I am aware that my data is not a 100% proof but as an attorney you are fully aware of the different standards of proof. Based on the following, I regard my findings as in the region of Preponderance of Evidence to Clear and Convincing Evidence.
A standard of proof refers to the duty of the person responsible for proving the case. There are different standards of proof in different circumstances. The three primary standards of proof are proof beyond a reasonable doubt, preponderance of the evidence and clear and convincing evidence.
Preponderance of the Evidence
This is the lowest standard of proof. It is used primarily in civil proceedings. This standard means that it is more likely than not that the facts are as that which one of the parties claim. In civil cases, the plaintiff bears the burden of proving that all of the legal elements were present in the given case. When deciding whether to rule on behalf of the plaintiff or the defendant, the jury weighs each piece of evidence. Jury instructions often state that the jury can use their own judgment in determining the credibility of each piece of evidence and how much weight to assign to each piece of evidence.
Jurors do not have to be completely convinced of one side. However, the burden requires that the evidence be strong enough that a fair and impartial mind would gravitate toward one side or other other.
Although this standard is primarily used in civil cases, it can be used in some aspects of criminal law. For example, if a defendant wants the court to conclude that he or she is not fit to stand trial, the standard of proof is by the preponderance of the evidence.
Clear and Convincing Evidence
This standard is a step up from the preponderance of the evidence standard. This standard requires that the evidence show that it is highly probable or probably certain that the thing alleged has occurred. This standard may apply to civil cases or some aspects of criminal cases. Some states use this standard to determine whether a search was voluntary.
Proof Beyond a Reasonable Doubt
Proof beyond a reasonable doubt refers to the standard of proof in criminal prosecutions. The prosecutor has the duty to convince the jury by proof beyond a reasonable doubt of each and every element of the crime before a jury should convict a defendant. Because a person’s freedom is on the line, the highest standard of proof is used. The United States Supreme Court has specifically stated that it is much worse to convict an innocent person than to allow a guilty one to go free. This standard of proof is specifically required by the due process clause of the Fifth Amendment to the federal United States Constiution.
Proof beyond a reasonable doubt does not mean that there can be absolutely no doubt of the defendant’s guilt. A jury begins the process of considering a defendant’s guilt or innocence by presuming that the defendant is innocent. This standard is comprised of two equal and important parts: the burden of production and the burden of persuasion. The burden of production requires the prosecution to supply adequate evidence to place a fact in issue. If the prosecution does not aptly satisfy the burden of production, the judge can direct a verdict. The burden of persuasion requires the prosecution to persuade the jury of the veracity of each element.
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TBF
People calling out Tottenham for their diving and clogging ways under Poch a long time before the public comments from Poch following another inept display from the pgMOB that further bought the game into disrepute.
I recall hearing people say that the protected diving cloggers were not going to perform on the international scene because they are:
Protected diving cloggers.
And those people can be observed to have been correct (I don’t really know about such things myself, but I did see those football games, and these players were rubbish at the old Football).
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When I read the comments by Poch, I knew the RVP comment would come up at some point. Maybe if Arsenal were constantly diving and win two dubious penalties in a game (both of which were offside too) to ‘earn’ a draw with great ‘spirit and resilience’, I could accept the comparison with something RVP said half a dozen or more years ago.
Instead I have to face the fact that a PL manager just condoned cheating as not just not abhorrent, but inherent to the game of football. And that the media, the refs, the FA and even some Arsenal fans think this is fair, or deserving of praise. A league of cheats in which cheats prosper to the extent that they don’t even need to hide it anymore, because now openly cheating is considered honest behaviour. Welcome to a BRAND new world. If this is the ‘game’ the fans want to watch, count me out.
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< rubbish relative to the team's that played the better football. In that tournament for example we had Wales for comparison…eg.: Davis (good footballer) for comparison to "best LB in Europe" according to colleagues of the quoted journalist above. (A diving clogger and favourite of the media Who has been dropped for the aforementioned Davis by Poch?)
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I certainly do not find a manager speaking honestly about what goes in in the game and at most clubs any bad thing Shard – why would I ?
I do not have a problem with the proposition you put forward Shotts that the FA ( and in fact FIFA and UEFA) and the PGOML have a role to play in discouraging diving and trying to remove it from the game. However, without a clear and concerted effort from the clubs themselves, from owners, from managers AND FROM PLAYERS, then the situation is most unlikely to alter.
Players cheat. They are getting better and better at cheating imo. If they are encouraged and rewarded for cheating by their employers, and they are, then they will continue to misbehave.
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I thought RVP was wrong then, and so Poch is wrong now. It’s fucking cheating. Oh ,and btw, RVP was a prick. Then and now.
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Would batsmen in cricket have stopped padding up before the officials received the extra help in order to allow them to apply (not change under game management criteria) the existing laws of their sport? And improve the sport itself?
no need for kidding about.
you all know the answer.
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