In the midst of all the giddiness and joy among Arsenal fans at the prospect of a brand new, literally shiny, high profile manager taking over the reins of management from that wizened, grizzled old grand-dad we had all gotten used to, something just doesn’t ring true.
Don’t get me wrong. Although am a well known partisan for Arsene Wenger, I have nothing against Unai Emery and wholeheartedly welcome him to the club and truly wish for him all the success possible. He is young and handsome, a very telegenic face, around which the PR people at the club can only drool. Apparently, when unveiled to the media, he said all the right things which had the hacks in rapture as they pounded their keyboards, oiled their tongues for radio or were dabbed with makeup before video recording the usual clichéd segment for TV. Most of all he has a brilliant CV, starting in the boondocks of Spanish football taking a couple of clubs to promotion, excelling at Sevilla with 3 Europa League titles and, prior to Arsenal, managing one of the biggest-moneyed clubs in Europe ending with a quadruple of titles. Surely he is the perfect man for the job.
And that is what triggers my contrarian instinct. The script is just too perfectly written.
By the way, we all have a contrarian streak genetically coded into the deep reptilian recesses of our cranium, the one that tell us: “If it seems too good to be true, it probably is”. But too often, most of us get suckered by our emotions, based on narratives fomented by the mainstream media, and forget to listen to our brains, not our heart.
Something is “too good to be true” with the narrative we are now being sold. According to almost all the usual suspects Emery will save us from the washed-up, stupid, old fool who only managed an Invincible year as part of 3 league titles, 7 FA cups and kept us in the top-4 for 20 out of 22 years:
“Emery will get Arsenal more organised than they have been”. (BBC)
“What they will be getting is a coach who is fully committed and, in his approach to preparation, a startling break from what they have been used to. If Wenger’s twilight years at the club produced a team that often appeared under-coached, then the reign of Emery will be the exact opposite.” (Independent)
“Where Arsène Wenger’s teams may have descended into the painfully one-dimensional, Emery’s outlook is one of nuance and precision, which may well suit Arsenal’s developing team rather more than the entrenched, haughty collection of Parisian stars.” (Guardian)
Disorganized, Under-coached and One-dimensional
So less than two weeks after Wenger’s final game the football media takes off the gloves; no more of the hypocrisy, flattery and lofty odes to one of the greatest managers in English football. His teams, in their own words, were disorganized, under-coached and one-dimensional. Thus the need to hire Unai Emery who it is predicted will bring glory to north London, apparently the type experienced by Sevilla and PSG. Mark you Sevilla last won the Spanish league title in 1945-46 and PSG has not even made the Champions league final since gobbling up hundreds of millions of the best oil money the sheiks of Qatar could throw at the club over the past 7 years.
Apparently things were so bad under Wenger, Arsenal’s last trophy of worth was the FA cup as far back as May 2017. Moreover, things were so bad in the 17-18 season, they had a mere 14 home-wins, the second highest in the league.
This is the same media (as well as most bloggers and podcasters) who choose to ignore the fact that since 2005, Wenger has progressively been outspent by three clubs in the premier league. In fact one news media, in their effort to downplay the magnitude of the disparity, characterized Arsenal as the 3rd strongest club financially in England. In other words, this liar and misleader, was suggesting Arsene should be consistently averaging 3rd in the league because of the financial resources available.
Clearly the new manager, who is currently being feted and glad handled, is already being setup. He is expected to outperform Wenger’s average 4th place finish over the past 12 years at a time when United and Chelsea are desperate to make up the difference with City, there being a gap of 19 points between 1st and 2nd at the end of last season. Moreover as was reported in sputniknews.com, Abramovich recently had his Tier I visa held up by the UK government, a privilege to freely travel back and forth which is tied to volume of his investments in the country. It doesn’t take an expert to predict he will make another handy investment in Chelsea in the next transfer window to prove his bona-fides.
Why this elaborate set up?
Why are we being sold such a grand story of failure by Arsene, so much so that the club needs a savior, a metaphoric David to rescue Arsenal from the Philistines? Isn’t it amazing that in 2 years, Arsene moved from being the most powerful man at Arsenal to being a has-been. Be reminded that the 16-17 season started with great optimism, the club having acquired Mustafi, Xhaka and Lucas Perez to supplement the group who came 2nd to Leicester the prior year. But at the start of the season and Mertersacker, one of the cornerstones of the central defensive partnership, suffers a season-ending injury. The new Koscielny-Mustafi or Koscielny-Gabriel partnership is unable to replicate the level of the old-firm. In October, Santi Sazorla, the mastermind of prior year victories over United, City and Chelsea also suffers a season-ender. To this day the combined ‘expertiste’ of the media makes no connection between the injuries to two of Arsenal’s best players and the club coming 5th that season. Instead there is a massive blame-game on Wenger. When he was offered only a two year contract, it was self-evident his future was in doubt.
What is most striking is how this was the opening for the chief executive, Mr Gazidis, to seize power away from Mr. Wenger. In the summer of 2017 we are informed the CEO has moved his offices from Arsenal House to London Colney, the training ground. In relatively short order Mislintat becomes chief scout and Sanllehi as head of football relations. As a famous denizen of this blog tweeted there are now 5 people doing the job Wenger performed by himself.
But while the corporate office has grown bigger and surely more expensive, Arsenal suffered on the field with points lost not only due to player inconsistency (at least 8 first team players from 2016-17 are gone) but also from a pattern of poor and biased refereeing by the PGMO. If the CEO and his team were campaigning for VAR in the executive suites of the Premier League it was a “silence of the lambs”.
The Coup
What convinced me that the Emery appointment may be just one big show is a piece in the Guardian by one David Hynter which suggests he was ordered to do a PR piece on behalf of Mr Gazidis. They are quick to highlight the following:
- Gazidis is responsible for signing Ozil
- Gazidis is, first and foremost, a football lover.
- Gazidis has long advocated a management structure that does not rest on a single point or employee because, when it fails, there is the potential for the whole thing to collapse. He has wanted a broader coalition of talented specialists greater than the sum of its parts and, for so long, his efforts were frustrated by Wenger, to whom the club’s majority shareholder, Stan Kroenke, was in thrall. Wenger had a hotline to Kroenke and he could shape or veto Gazidis’s ideas.
- Gazidis wanted a director of football but Wenger pushed his friend Dick Law into a position of executive-level authority.
- Gazidis wanted greater expertise in data and contracts and hired Hendrik Almstadt only for Wenger to say he did not want him.
- Gazidis oversaw the purchase of the data analytics company, StatDNA, but Wenger was not a fan.
Hynter concludes with a flourish:
“It was a meticulously orchestrated coup and Gazidis carried it off while showing all the respect in the world to Wenger, who has watched virtually all of his people leave the club. It has felt like a plot-line from Gomorrah, the Neapolitan mafia drama. Gazidis was not always the favourite to outlast Wenger. Now, his position looks stronger than ever.”
I could not have said it better than Mr Hynter. The evidence clearly points to a coup. He says it in triumph but I am disgusted by the lowball tactics that have been employed.
As an aside, while I arrived at a similar conclusion, by taking the available facts to their logical conclusion, because yours truly does not write for a big mainstream newspaper, I would be accused by the charlatans in the media (as well as the bloggers and podcasters) of being a conspiracy theorist for calling out Mr Gazidis for being Wenger’s Brutus.
Unfortunately, most coups fail because they are based on lies and the golpistas (Spanish) rule without the consent of the people. That is why I fear for Emery. He may think he is a big-time Charlie but he is just a chump in a giant con being played on Arsenal fans. The new manager will find the Premier League is made up of several merciless sharks; mainly the three clubs with giant financial teeth whom he cannot compete in the transfer market, the other big one being the PGMO whose job is to protect the big boys from being upset as the PL needs the external money to keep flowing.
I wish Emery all the best but the signs aren’t good. He is on 2 year plus one contract suggesting he is a placeholder, a short-term appointment. Does this mean Arsenal has ended its tradition of managers being long-term appointees with time to build a team that can compete for titles without busting the bank?
Am not predicting the future, but as much as most fans are optimistic that under his management it could get better for Arsenal, I am duty bound to warn my readers that odds are even and it could get worse. Be afraid, be very afraid.
Positively Arsenal 
Sergio Ramos
For that Elite mentality
That is so hard to beat
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The stars were not aligned for Liverpool in this game it seems. I thought they could, at their best cause Madrid problems, but Losing Mo was a big blow, Sane did his best but their talisman was gone. Seemed a bit naughty from Ramos, but that’s what he does. A keeper who made an error living on nerves, it happens.
Ultimately, a game where I wanted neither to win, for different reasons. But the state funded EUFA loved Behemoth Royal Madrid goes on. Beats the Mousers love in I guess, but a close run thing.
A summary of the season, City and Chelsea in the cup come out on top in England, R Madrid in Europe, Bayern in Germany, Barca in Spain, PSG in France, Juve in Italy
Some say you never know what can happen in football, luckily it is not predictable at the elite levels, or people could start getting bored.
Brazil for the World Cup anyone?
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One miracle + 2 cock-ups + no Ox + 70 mins no Mo = bloody sad for L’pool.
I have to sympathise but admit, that for neutrals, it was a bloody good game.
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Would’ve been a better contest if Salah had stayed on or Ramos had played the seventy at least on a yellow.
Very sly from Ramos, hard for the ref but you’d hope the other four officials might have spotted it. Would Ramos have survived an open hockey or cricket style VARs call? Probably not.
Madrid apparently changed shape after Salah came off.
Probably not a spur of the moment call or gamesmanship from the Madrid captain gbut a plan. Klopp’s Liverpool and their repetitive hackings of Ramsey spring to mind.
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Mandy
I know this kind of study of a squad has been an unfashionable observation this season but Brazil’s squad this season is weakened at CB? Luiz their only senior CB (I have no idea of their squadso that’s a guess!) isn’t giving me the confidence to take a punt on them. Who else will lead their defence?
France who can leave Benzema at home. Varane showing they have the depth at the back unlike Brazil to cover for a player like Koscielny. Along with Germany & Spain they are the favourites with the stronger or strongest squads.
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Hypothetically:
If there was a VARs official involved last night and they felt confident if calling a red and not a yellow on Ramos (red would’ve been unlikely call but we are hypothesising!) would you think it would’ve worked if the call had been made by:
a) a hapless individual strapped to Busacca’s knee in a dark and damp basement hundreds if not thousands of miles away
b) a professional ref acting dare I say it again professionally alongside his team (of officials), as a team, together, professionally, doing their job where it is required and fulfilling all their obligations as officials to their colleagues and lest anyone forget to the players and coaches and finally fans too.
The off site VARs control centre model collapses in on itself when you apply it to a European final or an international tournament. With this consideration we can dismiss the concept entirely.
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I thought Milner played well till his legs went.
Gareth Southgate. He’s another funny one. England must’ve been blessed with some serious Midfielders in recent times to ignore players like Carrick, Wilshere and yes even Milner too.
In spite of the mildly insane squad selection (there are other oddities, too many to mention) i still feel England will do ok at this tournament. Not sure if they’ll be that great to watch…
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Best angle on the Bale goal I’ve been sent so far:
https://mobile.twitter.com/cjzer0/status/1000476475487731712
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Shard
I’d say a slightly younger Ramos would be the ideal transfer from Madrid in a fantasy alternative reality but then again he’d probably get the Xhaka treatement and get sent off in his second game for blowing upon someone’s shoulder.
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Third umpire sipping his tea at Lord’s as he announces and explains in technical detail his call to the crowd and viewers over the loudspeakers.
Paul Reiffel. Was a good bowler, and has good respect as an official.
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Choosing to bat first in a test match in England in May?
Someone people like to run backwards and that’s certainly a right but personally I feel that there’s not much to be gained by ignoring the conditions and common sense in sport.
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<
One valid critique made by Tim of Arsenal's football this season was a failure to adapt to conditions in one or two matches in particular.
I can't remember who but i think that a wise soul here wrote that their should be a training pitch at Conley with narrow width and long grass probably unwatered too! It's hard to disagree with that.
The new coach/manager is going to need his Arteta/Bould/Rice levels of assistance. Let's hope it's there for him, otherwise Shotta's musings may prove to be too close for comfort.
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Liverpool “moving in the right direction” under Klopp.
Tottenham “putting the pressure on”.
heh.
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Ramos Salah had me thinking about the Vidic knee injury after which he was never the same.
I was convinced at time the guy was naughty in falling heavily onto Vidic’s leg when he could have fallen another way or attempted to avoid it.
I’m certainly not known for any affection for Utd players but it was my strong impression back then it was unnecessary and raised questions of culpability, whether players build up a strong sense of when opposition player is in a vulnerable position and then, if they’ve a bit of nastiness in them, to what extent they are trying to hurt an opposition player.
As it happens, I’ve just watched replay and it is not like I remember it at all. Looks very questionable whether he could have fallen the other way. Few more replays and I’m starting to convince myself maybe he could have.
Anyway, even if it’s a bad example, same issues in play with Ramos. I’ve little doubt he has an exceptional intuitive understanding of both how to protect himself and how to cause some pain to an opponent. I believe he understood in the moment Salah was in a vulnerable position and could be in for some pain from the fall, and instead of choosing to minimise risk near enough maximised it.
It’s in the realms of probability, though, and done largely on instinct, although that instinct is something which has been honed after 15 years of top level football, with all that time to consider and re-consider the game and how to play it.
Proving anything, with whatever method of VAR? Very difficult. Can’t see any ref producing a red for it and don’t really think they could.
How culpable was Ox that time when, frustrated in game as often was, he ran into Jagielka’s knee when there was zero need for it, and put him out for a bit, weeks at least, maybe a month or two?
It’s rare our players do that, while players like Milner, Henderson, the Spurs midfield and indeed about half the prem make those fouls as a matter of course, tactically, to rough people up, etc. They must know it represents an injury risk but it’s near enough impossible for a ref to give more than a yellow for it.
———————
Vidic vid here. Incident form 6:08. Was I bananas or did the guy, after a bit of typical Vidic manhandling, decide to shift his weight to left and fall on Vidic? If so, had he felt or smelt Vidic was in a vulnerable position there?
As i say, looking back on replays, if it happened, it was bloody subtle, but i was sure of it at time.
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on the Ramos/salah incident, didn’t Salah lock arms with Ramos first, Ramos did maintain the lock, and it was the opposite arm to the one that actually got injured,
I’m sure if it was other way round that the media would not have a bad word to say about Salah.
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the totally one eyed coverage of the final was such a contrast to how the media have covered Arsenal games, even our semi final with AM, not only in the build up to the final, but also the commentary and most of all the after game analysis.
Oddly enough on RTE (irish tv) the only dissenting voice was ex liverpool player Didi Hamann, when he said that Klopp losing 6 finals in a row, with no guarantee of when they might be in another final, it might make it harder for LFC to sign the sort of players they need to improve them, but he was instantly shot down by Liam Brady, in fact Brady would not let Hamann complete his point, of course we must remember that Brady is now one of the head guys in a Football Agency.
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Thanks Rich that’s a much better description of the incident then I could manage.
Unlikely to ever see a red for that but if the officials had half seen it I would hope for a yellow.
Ramos knew exactly what he was doing, I write as my nephew whose father teaches martial arts prepares to take me down in another wrestling move.
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Eddy
I must agree as a follower of The Arsenal that it feels strangely unfamiliar to see an English or British broadcaster supporting an English team!
A different experience to watching the Arsenal games with the broadcast audio on mute and the Arsenal Player in sync. Hehe.
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ΜċGεε
@LaboGoon
2m2 minutes ago
Replying to @jacktruthafc @EhabStan
How many of our players had been knocked out cold, left battered, bruised and broken and the media casually brushed it off as the opposition players “wanted it more”, calling our players “soft”, not liking it “up ’em”?? Alli and Kane escaped straight reds for injuring players.
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P: Eres un asiduo a las redes sociales. ¿Sueles leer todo lo que te escriben? ¿Qué valor le das a esta plataforma?
Q.You are a regular on social networks. Do you usually read everything they write to you? What value do you give to this platform?
R: Acostumbro a leer los tuits que me mandan y respondo todos los que puedo, salvo los ofensivos, maleducados o carentes de sentido, o al menos de sentido para mí.
A.I usually read the tweets that they send me and I answer all I can, except the offensive, rude or meaningless, or at least of meaning to me.
Unai Emery is on Twitter he arrived when I first looked he had somewhere in the region of 17,000 followers (I could be wrong about that exact No.) currently stands at 260.000 approx
What is the bet the length of time he will remain active for .
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He should get a representative to run his Twitter account WWWB – similar to the man himself, suave, sophisticated, articulate, highly knowledgeable about football but with a light, human touch. A thorough knowledge of the ins and outs of social media is a must.
Clearly @arseblagger will be toward the top of the list.
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He’d better call George
I think there is a t.v or Youtube show in there
Banned Smiley Banned oops emoji
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I guess had it been Wengers team GK the Wobs had there knives out in no time.
But since it’s klopps choice the media describe it is bad luck and lack of focus.
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I have actually been watching some of the Blaise Matuidi videos(Helps with the French practise) There are English translation versions , some interesting insights into Big club playes and Big club football vibes . He seems to be able to get the mood right for players to be open or maybe it is a French thing.
Arsene Wenger’s French interviews are so insightful , (Still difficult to watch him and drink Chardonnay) there is definately a ‘Confidential’ type video but someone would have to put some seperate videos together.
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Maybe people here are optimistic for the new season but I have very low expectations after Wenger leaving.
The Wobs have succeeded in getting rid of Wenger but i can bet they will soon find out what comes next.
Unai Emery may have success at Seville and Psg but epl is a different ball game .As we know Arsenal are the most hated club among the top 4 or 6 I don’t see the pigmob or the media will reverse their opinion overnight.
A soft spot may arise after our great French manager has walked away but since Arsenal will not be changing there basic structure with regards to there transfer policy, buying players without involving agents etc, their playing style which will be playing attacking football, the continuation of Wengers model so nothing much will change. The media outlets the ex, players and the Wobs having hatred agenda will continue to malign the club.
In fact I can see the AAAs and Wobs will soon be turning against the manager and the team after a few bad results.
Worrying times….
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@fins…you were busy today. have a combined ”like” ….+ banned thing.
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I think we will have a great season, plenty of football, lots of goals and ample excitement. Clearly if we don’t challenge for the PL title or win at least one trophy I shall have to top myself.
Depends how you measure it I suppose ?
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Haha Anicol
Keep dreaming.
I am expecting a poor season.
With Wenger gone there will be a big dip in the clubs performance.
The new model with so many people running things it will be like Too many cooks spoil the broth like situation.
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Late reply but take your points about Brazil Finsbury, in a way, hope you are right, would like to see an Arsenal player lift the WC , but was just making the point that the same top teams are winning everything in a horribly predictable manner this year, and put the Brazil international team in that bracket though Germany, Spain,France I would guess for into,the favourites category. But would be quite happy to see a France triumph, as long as Kos gets a medal, if that’s possible.
As for next season, will miss Wenger, but every reason to be cautiously and realistically optimistic. UE seems to have something about him, he will put his stamp on the team, can only see the club as having made an extremely astute appointment , with what i am sure will be a superb supporting cast backing him up. I am sure the vast majority if not all the players have great respect and love for Wenger, but who knows, they might just thrive and reach new heights under a new regime as they jockey for position in his set up. Bring it on I say.
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Rosicky, that model is the only realistic way the club can replace a man like Wenger who for many years has done the job of many people , Ivan has said as much. They have hired some top people.
Wenger has gone, but as he always said he would, he has left us in a very good position to carry on. Money in the bank despite to buy, brilliant forwards, superb attacking MFs , a manager with an ability to coach and do great things in a budget, quite a tough customer by all accounts as well. One of the worlds top scouts, a smart steetwise and connected DOF or whatever his title is bought from an elite club, improvements in training facilities, the youth /academy getting better and better, Unai will be brave with them. This team needs a little work in certain areas, but has some fantastic players, and is a lot better than this seasons performance suggests, an awful lot better. Hopefully, others will underestimate us. Every reason to be optimistic going forward, but the new man will need some patience.
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Keep hoping Ro
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Anyone else amused by how little ITK activity there is at present.
Papers are churning out plenty of names each day, but I’m not seeing anything of the Horses, Moles, Astronauts, Darrens, B Plugs, Nexus’s, Hippopotami, Insiders, etc. Normally they’d be going wild with the various names to play with.
They’ll be back, must have got something from their weird antics and presumably the old need is still there, but it was one hell of a hurting club put on them last week.
Think we all knew it was almost certainly all bullshit (just maybe someone could sneak among them, but if so they’d surely behave much like GeoffArsenal used to, when I think he had at least some real info), but it’s nonetheless quite surprising that bullshitters of that magnitude have not been able to ride with it at all.
KO’d, it seems.
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Mandy
Brazil are not in the same league as France Spain and Germany as their squad is short of senior top class CBs*.
Last time they were a successful team they had legendary players like Lucio at the back.
(sound or seem familiar this past season?)
As to the Arsenal, as listed with Eds there’s been a high turnover in the squad this season already, so many of them won’t able to match the heights of three cups some finals and good finishes in the league with the new manager as they’ve already moved on. Xhaka we know and hoped has learnt the PL game and been looking Arteta-esque in recent times, so that just leaves our old pal Mustafi who isn’t a youth or young player and hopefully he will make some big strides forward in his game and temprement next season – he’ll have to or UE and the new AFC team will need to be on the look out for more then one senior CB. AW was drooling over Varane before Madrid swooped, it’s going to be hard finding such talent and to get them to come to the Arsenal when they can earn more elsewhere etc. (following on from Ian’s comments and concerns on youth players).
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Thanks GF60!
A morning spent prepping the BBQ with the cricket in the background and some lounging in the sunshine whilst on PA, followed up by more football then wrestling you’ll be pleased to hear. Both nephews in Arsenal colours too!
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< Mustafi plus Kola who had his mid season injury interruptions.
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Rich
Give them time to lick their wounds. I found the following little nugget from Sporting Witness mildly reassuring:
“Maybe now that Wenger is gone, having been replaced by Raul Sanllehi, Sven Mislintat and Unai Emery, perhaps Arsenal will get things done a bit quicker on the transfer market?”
Nevermind two of three have already been at AFC for a season or more. Nevermind…
I can’t quite put my finger on it but something tells me that a fair few agents would like to get a bigger cut in their dealings with Arsenal FC. Maybe it’s the constant attacks on how AFC conduct transfers, of players and managers (that has and had nothing to do with the manager!)? That crowd must’ve been gutted at the Allegri “news” too?
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Rich, the ITKs have had a bad time, Allegri, Arteta, Ancelotti all went a bit tits up.
It was our own A Nic who has out done the lot of them , saying from the start the club would go for an experienced manager, he was right and they chose well.
But reading the tweets of club photographer, Stuart macfarlane, he suggests someone has been leaking things, implies he knows who it is, I wonder if some of these so called ITKs have been fed info from the same source, and wrong info, not by malice but by mistake. Some of these ITKs are kids, how would they know the workings of the most secretive of clubs? Also wonder if the club have used classic Arsenal smoke and mirror deflection tactics. All I do know, there are a lot of discredited ITKs out there , and we have landed a very decent manager none of them predicted.
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Mandy
I was surprised by that from club photographer. Implied more credibility for them- or that one account he was responding to at least- than I’d assumed, as I believed ‘sources’ were completely imaginary.
Anyway, discredited indeed, big time. Delightfully so.
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As for the debate yesterday about whether we ought to be fearful or optimistic, it’s the second for me at the minute.
Feel that while we could have a difficult season or seasons, it could also go well for us.
Don’t have any particular sense of the respective likelihoods or odds of either. More a case that the future feels fairly open, though within the old parameters of their being bigger spending clubs, the pgmol handicap,etc.
Anyway, feelings, especially about the future, aren’t reality, though hopefully there’s a decent connection, so I’ll just have to wait and see how it actually goes.
Also in the mix is a lot of curiosity- how we’ll play,etc- with not a little of that related to pgmol, media and how Emery will deal with any issues there.
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Thought the champions league final was an excellent entry point into thinking of our future: with a team full of technical prowess, who play all through pitch, with two outstanding passers and technicians in central midfield, versus a team of more technically limited pressers, workers and, in most stages, safety-firsters, with, crucially, a dynamite front three who all possess speed.
Which direction will we go? Almost without fail, across all leagues, only the richest teams in any league end up playing the first way, though occasionally it might not be their true identity, and only the product of their strength relative to their domestic competition (Celtic in Scotland for instance).
In the same way, Liverpool may take on the role of a possession, and building from deeper, team when up against modest prem teams, but at heart they are surely a different animal- mistake hunters, geared towards safety first and numbers most of time in own half, waiting, waiting, or pressing pressing, to win the ball in opposition half and spring forward.
Real Madrid the year they won under Mourinho were a similar thing. They broke records for points and goals but were not a truly attacking team. Any time they played a team with anything resembling a similar amount of quality, let alone a team like Barca with more, they would tighten up and become mistake hunters.
I’ve always felt in recent times we were trying to do something unusual- play like the biggest team in league when, because of financial resources, we are not- and I believe the odds marginally favour us moving closer towards the typical model, which, if you aren’t the biggest club, includes more emphasis on how opposition play, more risk aversion, less football in own half, more hunting of mistakes.
I’m ambivalent about that. If I could remove any allegiances and antipathy towards clubs and individuals, I’d always strongly favour the team trying to play more football, as Madrid were the other day. It’s bolder, better on the eye, nobler, more difficult, allows for the highest levels in the game, and what’s more it’s essential to football as sport and spectacle that some teams are prepared to play that way.
The other way is less beautiful and strikes me in essence as parasitic and even an abrogation of any duty to entertain (sure, we can have an entertaining game- if you try playing and we capitalise on that with our breaks). Though it applies less when, like Liverpool, you have highly talented front players.
So, where will we go now? While watching Madrid often play around the press with a number of sharp passes they had to get right and almost without fail did, it was hard to escape the notion that it is only a great option when your team is full of extremely talented, smart, confident technical players, but what beauty and satisfaction (‘not today, mistake-hunters!’) when you can.
Football wins (or at least it would be if it wasn’t bloody Madrid, though thankfully it was bloody Liverpool, so it was fine this time). Also evident, not for first time, is that centre backs in a team who don’t sit need not only to be ballers but to have serious athleticism. Ramos and Varane made two vital last-ditch full-stretch interceptions that simply wouldn’t be possible for less athletically blessed players.
Much to ponder, much to find out in due course.
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Optimism for me.. Because otherwise..What’s the point?
But even in less existential terms. I do not think the players will just forget what they’ve learned from Wenger. I think we’ll still see Wengerball in the attacking phase. I think we’ll still see our players being brave in playing the ball out. We’re a better team than is generally considered, in no small part to the media playing up any errors and denying any mitigating factors – such as referees.
With Aubameyang, Lacazette, Ozil, Mkhitaryan and Ramsey (new contract please!) all at their peaks this gives us a fearsome attack. Add an experienced CB (or 2), maybe experienced RB in Lichsteiner, and a midfielder, and we should legitimately fear no one. Especially if the young players can keep building on the promise they’ve shown and add depth to the squad.
I feel the players will relish the challenge of adapting to a new coach and winning their place in the team.
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I have seen so many posts correctly praising Madrid’s technical level and much hand wringing and angst about Arsenal inability to replicate such standards in the premier league. To me it is very obvious why Madrid will succeed in Europe and Arsenal struggle in England. RM (and Barca) are UEFA’s flagship, the cash cow that is always oozing copious milk year-in, year-out. They will be allowed to play technical football. The UEFA refs are never going to allow any team to kick them out of their game. Au contraire. RM will kick and foul and get away with it such as Ramos’ take down of Salah without even a yellow card. In fact on Saturday, Mane saw yellow for retaliating against Ramos’ shithousery not the other way round. As for the PL, unless you have been blind and your IQ no higher than room temperature, it should be obvious the PL and the PGMO see United, City and Chelsea as the meal ticket, the teams that bring money to the league and who must be cosseted and protected when push comes to shove..
I am anticipating another round of objections by some on this blog who cannot see the pernicious role of money in influencing the way games are reffed in Engand. But apparently the PL is not the only league that that where the organizers seek to influence results to meet their financial and marketing goals. There has been circumstantial evidence for years that the NBA does everything via its refs to ensure the finalists are from teams in large markets. No different in 2018 according to this piece at https://www.zerohedge.com/news/2018-05-27/nba-rigged which argues “The NBA Is Rigged.” Just to summarize the writer has no intention of watching the finals because as he/she sees it:
“It has long been speculated that the NBA assigns certain refs to officiate games to get outcomes they want for either prolonging a series to get more game and advertising revenue or providing refereeing advantage where necessary to make certain more marketable NBA Finals take place which brings in higher ratings, more media coverage, and thus more money. I always say when in doubt, just follow the money trail.”
Yet they have a court-side video refereeing assistant. Hmm.
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Holy shit, the comments under that article. What kind of community is that, SG?
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OK, quick wikipedia search:
“Zero Hedge’s content has been classified as “alt-right”,[2] anti-establishment, conspiratorial, and economically pessimistic,[3][4] and has been criticized for presenting extreme and sometimes pro-Russian views.”
Ugh, need a shower – even more than usual!
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shotta
You’re right that money has an influence on such things. That isn’t going away. But the key is to see how such influence is exercised and limited, and how transparent the system is.
Now that article starts with the 2002(?) I think it was Kings-Lakers fix.. He says the league wanted the Lakers to win and that’s why it happened. Maybe, except the league accepted that the ref was betting on the spread and was influencing the outcome. I guess it’s possible the ref could have been a patsy (as I recall he was thrown out) but at least they faced up to the problem. Unlike a certain Mike Dean having his own betting scandal in 2001, which was said to be limited to horse racing without ever making it clear how deep it went. Mike Dean as we know, is still going strong today.
As for the Warriors-Rockets game 6 that the guy talks about being fixed. Nonsense. It’s always a bit of an issue about what is or is not a foul, like in football. But even then it was hardly even a contentious game. Unlike in football, the NBA releases videos to explain what the rules are and why certain calls would be made.
There’s always theories about the fix and the manner of it. Some say Michael Jordan had to retire due to gambling issues (and even that is why his father was killed) Some are less bizarre. They talk about scheduling (but this is less of an issue than in football), they talk about fixing the draft order, and of course suspensions and calls on the floor. I’m sure at one point or the other, money power would have pushed some decisions in the direction they wanted. But by and large, the system works. It’s actually less likely to be a fix because the league structure is so different. Owners lobby together to the league, players lobby together against the owners. owners, coaches and players have sporting interests tied up against their peers at other clubs. And there is no ‘transfer’ system in place that allows for pure money power to arrange things. The league is more open with the fans about most things. Including on money guiding their choices, such as the guidelines of TV advertising.
If we start going down the everything is fixed route, you’ll have no choice but to argue for poverty. For me, it isn’t about eliminating the power of money or looking at it as a bad thing. I wouldn’t have known Arsenal if they hadn’t brought in Sky and the money of the PL structure. But I do want there to be a system which is open and is able to adapt, so as to protect against the worst excesses of money power. The NBA satisfies this criteria as far as I’m concerned. Football not only doesn’t, they even refuse to acknowledge it is an issue.
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So reading views from an alternate source makes birdkamp go to his birdbath? I’m tempted to make a joke about birdbrain but that would be rude. I don’t intend to be but I think its funny so I’ll still post this comment.
But yeah, there’s nothing wrong with getting to know what the..” alt-right”,[2] anti-establishment, conspiratorial, and economically pessimistic,[3][4] and…. pro-Russian views.” are. In fact, I think we must know, rather than censor, which unfortunately seems to be the accepted path to follow these days.
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Way to go BK! Rather than judge an article by its content, you have joined the censors in the MSM (like those at The Guardian who banned Rich from their comments section), the censors at Twitter and Google by labeling them as “alt-right”,[2] anti-establishment, conspiratorial, and economically pessimistic,[3][4] and has been criticized for presenting extreme and sometimes pro-Russian views.” The plebs will get distracted not knowing they are being lied to by the Powers That Be.
As for that Russian canard; always good for squelching any view opposed to that of the Establishment. I wonder how the Skripals are doing after exposure to “military-grade Novichok. Took the failed BREXIT negotiations by the Tory gov’t right off the headlines, didn’t it? Meanwhile the Skripals have no consular access by their native gov’t in violation of all international laws to which the UK government is a signatory. Facts tend to be inconvenient to the Establishment, not only in politics but in football.
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Shard, I know their protection is so different from ours and there’s certainly no hand wringing on my part (about us not being Barca or Madrid)
My view is that Messi would not be Messi if he had joined us at 16, as was a a possibility. It wouldn’t be safe to develop his skills here as he did there, and he’d be lucky to make it 6 months before someone wrecked his ankle.
While we are by far the worse effected, even a team like Chelsea arguably lost Robben because of inadequate protection. His ankle was broken by a Blackburn hitman, Mokoena, (nickname the Axe) in a similar fashion to Diaby’s
In connection to that, I saw a video yesterday dedicated to Ramos and his fouls on messi over the years. Filthy, a little more that I expected in terms of injury risk, but nothing on there to compare with worst of what we face.
The worst one bore a strong superficial resemblance to the hideous foul on Diaby, which I also saw much of yesterday. Left floor at speed, one straight leg pointing forward, other tucked under…but Ramos grazed Messi’s leg instead of planting his studs and weight squarely on the joint, as only a psychopath or total idiot would.
You could actually see on the Diaby video that at the very last instant the player seems to alter position of his foot and choose his spot to make it as bad as possible. Terrible.
Been a little while since i experienced the emotions connected to that, and to be honest they make enjoying the prospect of football difficult.
The thought it could happen again any time, not see red, be ignored by commentators as a guy screams in agony, be played down by our very own Alan Smith, and not be dealt with afterwards retrospectively! Aargh. Fuck.
But I returned then and suspect I always will, and I have to try hope there can be some small improvements (and that one day- the dream- Riley falls or even better is exposed).
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Lots of people are wearing rose tinted glasses today. Apparently the NBA doesn’t care who makes the finals; small market vs big market teams. According to Wikipedia:
“The highest rated and most watched NBA Final series was 1998 NBA Finals between the Chicago Bulls and Utah Jazz; the series averaged an 18.7 rating / 33 share and 29.04 million viewers on NBC. The lowest rated and least watched NBA Final series was 2007 NBA Finals between the San Antonio Spurs and Cleveland Cavaliers; the series averaged a 6.2 rating / 11 share and 9.29 million viewers on ABC.”
Anybody with a bit of Americana in their veins knows the cities like San Antonio and New Jersey are small television markets compared to LA, New York and Chicago. The NBA prides itself as having one of the best marketing machines in professional sports and we are to believe they don’t care about who makes the finals; one of the biggest televised sports events worldwide? If you do I have a bridge to sell you.
Meanwhile UEFA and the PL are selling one of the biggest sports products internationally and have no idea of their flagship teams. OK then.
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shotta, If you’re talking about me, at least get it right.
I didn’t say they don’t care. I said their ability to effect results is restrained by a system that makes it is less likely for them to be able to do so with impunity. Spurs, despite their small market, by the way, are one of the NBA’s elite teams in terms of title wins and they are well respected for what they do, throughout the country. (It’s ironic that they are named Spurs because so much of what they do is what Arsenal do.) The Spurs – Cleveland series was dull because no one thought Cleveland stood a chance. The East has gotten better but it’s been a problem for years. LeBron is likely favoured as the NBA’s biggest player and the East’s biggest hope, but big players get the close calls is a long accepted fact in the NBA.
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