It’s hard being a contrarian on Arsenal Twitter these days. Like any strict, self-regulated community, there is a stridency among a majority of posters that demands and enforces conformity. It punishes dissent via the block, unfollow and mute buttons for committing any of the following heresies:
- Not vocally supporting the new manager
- Criticizing any of the mooted new signings
Instead of summer hostilities between the former WOBs and AKBs, which usually reach boiling point during transfer season, both sides for their own reasons are currently wishing and hoping for the new manager, Unai Emery, to succeed, bigly. Obviously the ex-WOBs are delighted that their bête noir, the cheapskate, deluded, out of touch, omnipotent (choose your epithet) Arsene Wenger is now gone. Should Emery succeed, it will be a ringing endorsement of their long-held claim that the club was being held back by the former manager.
On the other hand, it seems to me, the so-called AKBs are on the defensive, not wanting to be seen as mindless acolytes of the old gaffer, fearing they will give credence to the years of repeated taunts by the anti-Wenger crowd that they support Arsene FC rather than Arsenal FC. They too are just as wishful and hopeful that the new manager, who seems to be as modern and progressive as the old, will be able to overcome all the external and internal obstacles that held the club back.
WOBs, AKBs and the Middle-Of-the-Roaders
Strange and as incongruous as it may seem, former WOBs and AKBs are now locked together, singing the same tune; leave Emery alone and he will succeed.
Let us not fool ourselves. While there appears to be two extremist camps in the Arsenal fanbase, there is definitely a large, if not larger, middle-of-the-road contingent which often takes one side or the other depending on results. It wasn’t that long ago, for example, we had the experience on the opening day of a new season at the Arsenal stadium, with the transfer window still open, that a majority were in uproar demanding the club spend some “facking” money as the club was losing to Aston Villa. The fact that Arsenal eventually came 3rd or 4th that year, qualifying for the Champion’s League, at a time when it was still struggling under the stadium-related austerity, stands in sharp contrast to the £200 million spent on transfers these past two years while coming 5th and lately 6th in the Premier League.
So conventional thinking has concluded that leaving Emery alone, rather than the relentless attention to the every move and statement made by Arsene Wenger, is now a guarantor of success. The underlying assumption is the belief that the Wenger years, particularly the most recent, were a failure which Emery must avoid. The problem is this hypothesis is not fully supported by the facts.
Note the “unbiased data”, on which we should rely, is diligently avoided by the mainstream media and most of its cohorts on twitter and in the blogsphere, who are now bloviating with optimism and goodwill towards Emery.
Take a gander, below, on some key performance metrics for the last 11 years of the Wenger era.
| Year | Played | Won | Drawn | Lost | GF | GA | Win % | Loss % |
| 07/08 | 58 | 36 | 15 | 7 | 113 | 52 | 62.1% | 12% |
| 08/09 | 61 | 33 | 16 | 12 | 113 | 55 | 54.1% | 20% |
| 09/10 | 55 | 33 | 8 | 14 | 116 | 63 | 60.0% | 25% |
| 10/11 | 58 | 31 | 13 | 14 | 113 | 55 | 53.5% | 24% |
| 11/12 | 54 | 31 | 9 | 14 | 96 | 67 | 57.4% | 26% |
| 12/13 | 53 | 29 | 12 | 12 | 105 | 60 | 54.7% | 23% |
| 13/14 | 56 | 37 | 8 | 11 | 99 | 57 | 66.1% | 20% |
| 14/15 | 56 | 35 | 11 | 10 | 109 | 53 | 62.5% | 18% |
| 15/16 | 54 | 28 | 12 | 14 | 91 | 59 | 51.9% | 26% |
| 16/17 | 55 | 35 | 8 | 12 | 121 | 65 | 63.4% | 22% |
| 17/18 | 57 | 30 | 10 | 17 | 108 | 70 | 52.6% | 30% |
| Mean | 56 | 33 | 11 | 12 | 108 | 60 | 58.0% | 22% |
Main points:
- Wenger achieved an average win percentage of 58% across all competitions never falling below 51.9% and going as high as 66.1%.
- 52% was good enough to qualify for the champions league up to 15/16. But in 16-17 a 63.4% win rate and a FA cup was apparently not good enough for some in the club hierarchy as evident in Wenger’s 2-year contract, which in retrospect was putting him on notice.
- In 17-18, the win percentage was 52.6, not the lowest historically, but it was marked by the highest ever GA, a total of 70, compared to an average of 60 GA over the 11-year period.
- Wenger’s loss percentage while averaging 22% increased by a dramatic 8 percentage points between 16-17 and 17-18 coinciding with the highest ever GA of 70 in the latter year.
The GA seems to be the key. As Finsbury, a long-standing and frequent contributor to Positively Arsenal has repeatedly argued, Wenger’s biggest challenge in 17/18 was maintaining or recreating the defensive stability he had achieved during the four year reign of Mertsacker-Koscielny, which was one of the premier central defensive partnerships in club football. The 2016-17 season-long loss of the BFG and his subsequent relegation in 17-18 to a mere squad player combined with Koscielny’s well publicized chronic Achilles injury coincided with a growth in GAs from 59 in 15-16 to an unheard of 70 last season and the dramatic increase in losses from the average of 22% to 30% over the last two seasons.
Based on the facts as presented, surely it is reasonable and necessary for us to ask Mr. Gazidis and his rising number of busy-bodies (Mislintat, Sanllehi and a Marcel Lucassen who is to become Director of Football Operations on August 1st) the following questions:
- How will the signing of Lichsteiner, a 34 year-old injury-prone right back, improve and stabilize Arsenal’s central defensive partnership?
- In a world where a Virgil Van Dijk costs £70 million, how do Arsenal plan to replace the retired Mertsacker and an ageing injury-prone Koscielny?
At a time when mainstream media, Twitter, Facebook and Google are doing their best to censor and block non-conforming points of view, it is frightening the level to which Arsenal-twitter has engaged in self-censorship to not rock the boat during this transition to new management. Apparently Ivan and his team are now omniscient and omnipotent. They have free reign, without any challenge by fans, to give Emery any players they deem necessary, because, to paraphrase managerial genius Tony Adams, coaching is over-rated, what matters is the director of football and those who do player recruitment.
So “keep schtum”. Don’t rock the boat. It will all work out in the end. Hmm.
Positively Arsenal 
I’m Toni ‘Fucking’ Kroos!
LikeLike
Kamikaze defending by Germany there!
LikeLiked by 2 people
Ref letting Mexico get away with quite a bit
LikeLike
Germany need to take some of the pace out of this game and start dictating with their passing. If the commentators mention how Sane should be there and how he would be the saviour for Germany one more time…
LikeLiked by 1 person
Really Shard ! So where does this trained to manage games strategy come from ? And if it was such a “problem” why was Webb refereeing the World Cup Final?
Best referee in the world gets the World Cup Final as long as their own country is not playing.
Game management indeed
LikeLike
Per Mertesacker’s Arsenal Academy overhaul continues with new goalkeeper coach
by James Benge
Arsenal have swooped to appoint goalkeeping coach Chris Terpcou from Newcastle to work in their youth setup.
The Australian, credited in the North-East with playing an influential role in the development of England Under-21 goalkeeper Freddie Woodman, will join the youth setup, which has been the subject of a significant overhaul in recent months.
Freddie Woodman’s father Andy was appointed as a goalkeeping coach for the U18 and U23 squads last year, and Terpcou will work under him.
Terpcou’s appointment is the latest in a raft of changes made since Per Mertesacker stepped up to his role as head of the Arsenal Academy following his retirement from first-team football at the end of the season.
Former German FA coach Marcel Lucassen and Lee Herron – the latter highly regarded for his work at Reading – were added to Mertesacker’s team earlier this month as respective heads of coach and player development and academy football operations.
Freddie Ljungberg, who played more than 200 games for Arsenal and won two Premier League titles over nine years, was appointed head coach of the U23s.
The Swede may have picked an auspicious time to return to north London as the Gunners’ youth side won the Premier League 2 last season, and their group of second year scholars are considered one of best young cadres to come out of Hale End in recent years
LikeLiked by 1 person
I can say it is a pattern Andy, because Clattenburg said he decided to quit his role as a referee to ‘allow Spurs to self destruct’ and the Pgmo and PL got away with a no comment. If organisations choose not to confirm or deny it is generally a confirmation without the noise. They also got away with calling ‘misguided’ that a ref got caught asking his assistant if they’d heard something from tv. So yes. Game management. And that’s not a term I came up with.
And no, I do not think the ‘best’ refs get the World Cup. I think it is political primarily. Ability secondary.
Howard Webb was a terrible referee according to my untrained eye. He did exude authority with his big frame but he even gave that up when he came up against Ferguson’s ManU. He might’ve been the best referee in England though. Won’t deny that. The whole world saw what that was worth in 2010 and they were distinctly unimpressed.
LikeLiked by 2 people
Good result for Mexico, but the commentators do get a bit carried away! You would think they had won the actual cup the way they are going on. Tournament football always throws up a few surprises.
LikeLiked by 3 people
Halsey also said he was pressured to change match reports. That refs received trips from Abramovich, or was it Mourinho?That he called Ferguson to rally support for a ref accused of racism. And he’s one of the few refs who turned down ‘pension’ because it carries a non disclosure condition and so can even talk about his time as a ref. Presumably both he and Clattenburg don’t even say anything they consider self ‘incriminating’. Come on Andy, all this comes out despite the secrecy they try to enforce. Professionalism seems to beyond these refs.
LikeLiked by 2 people
Gawd I loathe Neymar – it must be a chemical thing – every time he loses the ball he chucks himself on the turf clutching his knee, ankle, face, head etc.
What a piece of shite the Brazilian is.
Come on you Swiss.
LikeLiked by 3 people
I thought Halsey and the other referees hated one another – bit like Stewart Robson and Arsenal ?
LikeLike
Are we keeping the hatefest against English referees up throughout the World Cup ?
I’m up for it !!
LikeLike
No hate. But truth can be a bitter pill.
LikeLiked by 2 people
Agree on Neymar, He seems like a difficult guy off the field too.
LikeLiked by 2 people
BBC going full wankfest about the 1-0 half time score in Rostov – the World Cup is over – no point in anyone else turning out according to Roy Keane/Slavan Bilic
Ho Ho Ho
LikeLiked by 2 people
Oh no – some referee on ITV said the Swiss equaliser should not have been given – push on Miranda – total failure of VAR – referee is clearly anti Brazil
LikeLiked by 1 person
Neymar and the brazilians appealing for VAR on that goal has almost made me reconsider the desire to have an option to appeal. Nonsense.
LikeLiked by 3 people
This Akanji kid looks a bit special. No wonder Dortmund are willing to let Sokratis leave.
LikeLiked by 2 people
These commentators are such hypocrites suggesting that the World Cup referees are being lenient about things that would definitely be a booking normally. Do they actually watch the PL? Have they seen how much the spuds and Leicester before them have got away with? Do they wonder why there are no EPL referees at this showpiece tournament?
LikeLiked by 3 people
Well played Switzerland. That was a good point given that the commentators were convinced they were in for a pasting after that Coutinho goal
LikeLiked by 1 person
Well well well Brazil entirely average and Swiss well deserved point. Spain and Portugal best teams so far.
LikeLiked by 1 person
media call it a “Lichtsteiner horror show”, its almost as if he has signed for Arsenal has influenced how they view his performance
LikeLiked by 3 people
Fully deserved point, and I thought the Arsenal boys did well. Licht does not play like an old man, even if he went off after 86 mins.
LikeLiked by 1 person
Really ed? The commentators I had were praising how well he’s locked down and marshalled his side of the pitch.
LikeLiked by 1 person
yeah shard its how its been described on newsnow
LikeLiked by 1 person
Amazing.
LikeLiked by 1 person
so who dived the most so far in the world cup, Moses or Neymar
LikeLiked by 1 person
thing is shard, its not amazing at all, its fully expected, its how the narrative works, and is promoted, just cos they are on international duty, is no reason for the bull to stop as far as the media and big afc twitter accounts and blogs are concerned. The narrative of Arsenal in crisis is all that matters to them.
LikeLiked by 2 people
Moses. Neymar was at least also getting fouled rotationally in addition to his diving. Moses decided to just go down even when he had a chance to actually get through. It was so annoying.
LikeLiked by 3 people
“so who dived the most so far in the world cup, Moses or Neymar”
Suarez!
LikeLiked by 2 people
We have seen for years throughout World Football some awful free-kicks given because of deception of the players.
Perhaps VAR and good training has taken away the insentive for players dive because the Refsare not calling the really ‘soft’ ones, treating the players like adults the players are getting on with the game.
Lets hope the Refs can keep up the standard as the pressure increases.
LikeLiked by 3 people
Wwwb
The Pavon penalty shout, and the Gabriel Jesus appeal yesterday are good examples of refs not even looking to VAR if you go down theatrically. Regardless of the merits of the case that studio pundits like to argue over and conclude depending on their script, I think this way of enforcing the rules is correct. It can be both a foul and a dive. But if you dive, you lose the right to get the call.
Incentivizes forwards staying on their feet rather than going down (unlike the situation now), and VAR ensures actual fouls are called. May the refs always apply it as such. It would help clean up the game.
Not in England next season though. And maybe not even beyond that because it will be Riley and co. applying it (Sorry Andy, had to be said)
LikeLiked by 3 people
It seems to me that one of the key differences between ‘top’ players and the rest appears to be the ability to ‘earn the foul’. Sadly it’s a ‘skill’ that is progressively making the game less enjoyable to watch. Together with time wasting (from minute one) it is proving to be a real challenge to fans’ love of the game.
LikeLiked by 1 person
Shard
As i said before The Pundits it seems are trying to justify their pay-cheques.
Some of the contrarianisms are so ridiculous that Bilic said he did not care (Because Bilic is an actual manager and this is a free way to get to Russia and watch football0.
The cabals (I’m getting good a the conspiracy crew speak) created by these pundits with their echo chamber , may well be muffelled .
It’s funny it is mainly English pundits who are being such dicks
LikeLiked by 3 people
There won’t be much focus on how much Germany will miss big leaders like Mertesacker or Schwiney or Lahm (epic players!) from that squad. But there’ll be reams written about poor defensive coaching. People have to eat I suppose.
Little consideration on the German manager’s switch from three CMs locking up the midfield as they did so efficiently during the group games at the last WC, and playing another forward, but lots of fluff on whether that attacker should’ve been Draxler or Sane. Probably won’t be much mention of the new German striker ignoring the opportunity to set Draxler up for a tap in, and let’s be fair to Draxler he’s no Paulinho* and he would’ve scored. hehe. A goal then for the Germans would’ve changed a few Narratives.
There might be some focus by those brave hacks on Mertescaker’s replacement crying to the press about the manager’s change from the last tournament.
Kroos didn’t or couldn’t keep his cool from open play, from set pieces, and with only two in CM that contributed to the lack of clear chances for the Germans. the fantastic save from the keeper off his free kick and the headed chance for Gomez late on being the stand out chances alongside the one mentioned above.
Kroos and Hummels so far in this tournament not exhibiting the leadership that they’ve been tasked with. On or off the pitch. That is clear.
Yeah, that Mertesacker, he was quite a big player. A great player. Alongside his partner during his peak at AFC, Koscielny, who was also missed by the France team in their own match as one of his replacements so helpfully showcased.
These two (Arsenal) players were not good, they were two of the great centre backs of their time.
* Brazil look to be copying the German system from the last World Cup, their problem being that they don’t even have two comparable CMs let alone three who can excel in their midfield though Casimero has the credentials and the skills he’s alongside Paulinho didn’t exactly impress during the 7-1 humiliation, he didn’t even impress when playing opposite chamberlain in midfield…but Brazil do have the squad to be playing that extra attacker, whilst the Germans are experimenting to see if they can. and this for me is one interesting tactical pattern to follow as the tournament evolves: will the Brazil manager only use the talents at his disposal when desperate and only drop his German (2014) fetish (they must’ve been traumatised by that defeat) when losing a knockout game? Will Germany find the right mix and balance in their midfield, at FB, at CF, and in the dressing room?
LikeLiked by 2 people
Arsenal U21’s will be taking part in the Checktrade Trophy this coming season, it was formerly the English Football League Trophy, and they will play all games away, and will have 3 group games, 3pts for a win, 1pt for a draw, and an extra pt for winner of penalty shootout of any drawn game.
Not sure of the dates for this trophy, but last season we did not accept an invite to play in it as it was same week as EL games, which its again likely to be, so we might not see as many youths in the EL this season.
LikeLiked by 1 person
interesting point Finsbury, as on RTE yesterday Didi Hamann said that Per Mertesacker was the biggest loss to the German squad, even if he was not in starting team, that he would have calmed a few of the players down at half time, would have told them what they needed to change in second half, that he was crucial to their World Cup win four years ago.
I see Hummells had a right go at the German fullbacks and the two CM’s for yesterday’s defeat, he basically said that these four players abandoned their positions and left him and Boateng as the only players defending.
LikeLiked by 2 people
https://www.arsenal.com/news/under-21s-enter-checkatrade-trophy
LikeLiked by 1 person
He’s right, but I think Hummels should keep those comments for the dressing room. Publicly criticising your team mates sounds like covering your own back and I would not think it’s conducive to team spirit, which you need in a tournament competition where you could be with each other 24/7 for up to 4 weeks.
LikeLiked by 2 people
Have to agree Passenal. Hummels public comments are not going to help his team.
Brazil opted to drop their safe three man midfield that saw them through qualification for their opening game, and got a draw.
We haven’t heard Neymar or Thiago Silva calling out their manager (yet).
Will we see Brazil start with four forwards/attackers again? It will be interesting to see how the two managers and squads of Brazil and Germany react to setbacks following decisions by both managers to be play more attackers?
LikeLiked by 1 person
“Self Censorship at The Arsenal?”
Very good article Shotta. Superb responses, all.
Good comments about the WC.
Keep talking about the Fkng refs pls (even though there’s no hEnglish uns there.
I went along to Grenfell at 00:45 on the 14th, one year after the fire. Whilst I’ve been very close a few times during the year (and sometimes forgotten to sit on the correct side of the Tarim so I didn’t see the tower), I was surprised to see a silent march happening (as it was scheduled and happened, with much larger numbers of people later that day).
It appears this earlier march was mainly victims. They gathered at the place you may have seen on TV the following evening, and read out the names of people who’d lost their lives. I shed some more tears. I think attending this event (uninvited), has helped me move on just a touch from this disaster. I want to thank all here who allowed me to express my feelings at the time.
I’ve watched bits of the WC and all I’ve seen has been spoiled by commentary. ALL.
For example, references to current or ex Arsenal players continue to be negative and/or disparaging. Then there’s the usual lies as to whether something was or wasn’t a foul (though one sees many more replays of dodgy incidents than are shown via PL coverages). When I win the lottery one of the first things I’ll get is Direct TV. IN THE 90’s whilst abroad I had a neighbour who had this service and you could see any sport without commentary. It was heaven, even though I wasn’t aware of any deep shenanigans Thems folk produced as I only saw highlights during those times.
So, England later. I don’t know what to think or expect. (Well, I ain’t telling – smiley thingy).
COYG
LikeLiked by 3 people
tarim = Train
LikeLiked by 1 person
Shard good post at 7.36
The dream would be all refs being on same page and being very reluctant, even if there is an infringement, to reward any theatrical falls.
If they stuck to that, players would undoubtedly change, and also the onus would increase on refs to blow the whistle when there’s a foul but the player stays on their feet. That would be a hard thing to implement and would mean another radical change to the game.
But in comparison with the first part- being extremely reluctant to reward theatrical falls- it’s surely the smaller of the two and no more difficult.
The dream remains a very long way away ,however, and i wouldn’t bet on it.
I have hope that there can be some improvements,though.
LikeLiked by 1 person
I’m a bit suspicious of myself in terms of just how impressed I’ve been with VAR so far. It’s very possible my desire for it to succeed could be interfering with my judgement.
For instance, I’ve been in favour of the big two which surely have involved fouls in the build up- Costa and the push for Swiss goal. That is undoubtedly iffy on my part and yet in both cases I felt that, fractionally, the fouls weren’t strong enough to rule out the goals and overturn on field call.
(Part of it is tactical thinking on my part- I want VAR to be a success and feel that justifies them erring with caution in terms of what to overturn at this stage. The threshold needs to be high, perhaps higher than it will eventually become.)
Also loved them for not giving that Brazil pen after Jesus’ absurd electrocution act, though there was an infringement there, though that one is in a different category for reasons already mentioned.
Have to be honest enough to consider how I’d feel if any of those calls went against us, and the simple truth is I’d be fuming.
Hopefully,though, my judgement is a bit more reliable on these games as I am closer to impartial and occasionally might have no preference at all- most of the controversial calls have ‘felt’ right to me, and i’m in very little doubt that there’ve been less game changing injustices than there would have been without VAR.
LikeLiked by 2 people
Rantetta, I’m enjoying the games via the judicious use of the ‘mute’ button! When the commentary starts grating on my nerves off it goes!
LikeLiked by 2 people
I’m sure it won’t last, but it’s nice to see Panama not being blown away by Belgium and all their superstars, but Lawro, please STFU!
LikeLiked by 1 person
Germany Mexico game probably most fascinating of tournament for me so far.
Big part of that being how relevant a lot of it was to our team in recent times and, no doubt, for what’s ahead.
That issue of the extra player being in centre of park (in a 3) or further forward (as part of very attacking 4). What would be needed in the 2 if it’s to work, or from some of the four ahead.
It’s not the full story or truth but it was certainly one of those days when the two idea looks a poor one; the whole idea of pushing significant numbers forward as matter of course against a team with a serious counter threat looks suspect, and conversely the defend and counter team is left looking very smart indeed.
A small point, but it irritates me when commentators don’t make distinction clear that despite it being the mexicans who enjoyed the clear and exciting breaks and the Germans struggling for anything similar, it was not the Mexicans who were the attacking team, and those good breaks were in fact dependant on the attacking German outlook.
Full credit to Mexico for a brilliant game with fight and quality, they did the right thing and did it well, but that distinction really matters to me
My belief is if it’s going to be two in mid and attacking four, against a quality defend and counter team with serious threat and quality on breaks, the two need a pretty special skill set, including physical qualities, between them; and, perhaps, the four need to be not only very good players, as the German four were, they probably need an outstanding mix of skills, great passing, dribbling, speed, interplay, co-ordination, movement.
In short, against a very good defend and counter team the team with even better players, two in the middle is hard to justify unless there’s a good plan against the counter threat and/or the attack is so potent as to justify the risk and perhaps take away some of counter threat.
I’m pretty sure Germany will switch to 3 now and just hope our man isn’t the one to miss out. Draxler seems more likely but there’s a chance it’ll be Mesut.
Sweden will be full bus and without such a counter threat. Germany should break that down but, as we know very well, about one in ten times it comes off for the bus.
Would be staggered if South Korea could get a result against them.
LikeLiked by 2 people
passenal
You’re right, mute the blooming volume, it’s just that I like all the other sounds, even the crowd when they’re chanting stuff I don’t like: There goes Arsenal, always cheating.
Indeed, they’ll always try and talk over any controversial barbs but they’d need no excuse.
Funny enough I started seeing the Belgium match when it was about 30 minutes in & without sound. So I contradict myself – the last 15 minutes of that half looked fantastic, almost in silence, as I still had on my headphones, (listening to Eddie palmieri’s Pachanga to Jazz).
Oh balls, whilst writing this and getting my groove on a goal has been scored and of course I didn’t know cos I didn’t have the volume up.
Conflicted.
LikeLiked by 2 people
Rich
Would you be fuming if those decisions went against Arsenal even if you didn’t feel that Arsenal are consistently cheated? If we were reffed the same as everyone else, I don’t think I’d be fuming at those. I kmow because I spent a lot of time accepting far worse decisions against Arsenal without worrying about them
LikeLiked by 2 people
Rantetta, it’s easy to get distracted and miss something when the sound is off, so I usually mute when they start on the Arsenal/ex-Arsenal/rumoured to be coming to Arsenal talk and then turn the sound up again. The crowds have been very loud so far and really adding to the atmosphere, so it’s a shame to miss that completely.
Rich, I really like your analysis of that Germany/Mexico match. However, I don’t see Mesut as the one to miss out as he is the only one who’s really creating for the forwards. I’m sure Low builds the team around him as he always plays when fit.
LikeLiked by 2 people