Podcast: The start of a new season is when fans of Arsenal Football Club are most optimistic with visions of grandeur and infinite possibilities. But after coming a disappointing 8th place last year, will Arsenal finish Top-4 or Top-6 this upcoming Premier League season? If not, why not? Shotta and Blackburn George aka @Arseblagger share their usual outspoken, no-nonsense opinion.
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New podcast: Reading the tea leaves and connecting the dots, me and the Arseblagger explore whether the Community Shield was a shop window for the Arsenal. Who is on the chopping block? Maitland Niles, Martinez, Bellerin, even Aubameyand? Does Mesut Ozil have a future at the football club?
We refuse to fall for the narrative being spun by the club and its usual mouthpieces in both mainstream and social-media. (They shall remain nameless.) We believe salable assets will be sold regardless of what Arteta and Edu say or do.
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Just four weeks after bringing the curtain down on a rather peculiar 2019/20 English football season, we raise it back up again to kick off the 2020/21 campaign with Arsenal facing Liverpool in the Community Shield at Wembley Stadium.
Good day one and all.
It’s a quick turnaround but with both sides still on such a high from winning the FA Cup and Premier League respectively, they will be filled with optimism and renewed energy.
The Gunners can take confidence from their victory over The Reds at the back-end of last season, which they followed up with wins against Man City and Chelsea on route to lifting the FA Cup. However, Mikel Arteta will be well aware that there’s still a lot of work to be done if we are to bridge the massive 43-point gap which separated these two sides in last term’s final league standings.
With the signing of Willian, who had an impressive spell for Chelsea in Eden Hazard’s absence with 11 goals and 9 assists, and appearing as if we have managed to keep hold of Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang, it should be a good first few steps if Arsenal are to improve their record against the “top-six” sides.
What is there to say about this Liverpool side that hasn’t already been said. Having finished the last two league campaigns with 97 and 99 points respectively, they will no doubt go down as one of the best in their rich history. If they want to be amongst the very best in English football history though, Jurgen Klopp will know all about the difference between achieving success and maintaining success. Be that as it may, the Merseysiders are still the team to beat.
Both sides come into this encounter having played two and one friendly games respectively. The Reds recorded a 3-0 win over Stuttgart before coming back from two goals down to draw with Red Bull Salzburg. Whilst the Gunners have beaten MK Dons 4-1. Today’s match will be the last chance for both coaches to have a look at their squads, as numerous players will leave for international duty shortly after.
Team news
Arsenal have quite a few players carrying injury issues over from last season, but we have new boys Willian and William Saliba whom many fans are excited about.
With uncertainty over the futures of Ainsley Maitland-Niles, Dani Ceballos and even Matteo Guendouzi, although Arteta seem to have offered him a chance to redeem himself, we welcome back forgotten man Mohamed Elneny, who scored from 35-yards on Tuesday night.
Bernd Leno has recovered from his injury and is likely to start despite Emi Martinez’s solid claim for the number one jersey at the end of last season.
Prediction
It’s only the first competitive match, but it is an early chance at silverware. Going on squad depth The Reds should be favourites, but the Gunners won’t be short of belief and this could actually be a cracking start to the new domestic season. COYG!
— @LaboGoon
In this latest podcast, Shotta, yours truly, and the Arseblagger analyze the dramatic news of the Kroenkes firing The Don, Raul Sanllehi, and ponder what has really changed at Arsenal Football Club. The Don Is Dead, Long Live The Don?
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Arsenal executives announce the sacking of 55 employees within 3 days of winning the FA Cup. In the opinion of yours truly and George this is another ominous sign of the future of the football club.
In our opinion most fans have been swept up in the optimism of new signings that coincided with the redundancies, ignoring the the betrayal of the traditional values of the club. This is exactly as the owners and the executives planned, just as they did in the 2019 summer transfer window. But the consequences are far more ominous as explained in the podcast.
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https://www.spreaker.com/user/10802980/podcast-2020-08-09-08-11-51
If The Arsenal is the only club making redundancies I’ll be surprised, and if it remains at 55 then they will have done well. Yesterday’s announcement was a timely reminder of reality, not just for this club, but for football in general – and, although it pains to say it, for the world beyond. Since the return of televised football and the attendant drama of league seasons ending and promotion and relegation issues finalised, it has been easy to turn a blind eye to the lack of crowds (tv production teams quickly learnt to avoid shots of empty stands, became better at piping in crowd noise) and to pretend that everything was OK. For us, with glorious victory over City and then Chelsea to win our 14th FA Cup, it seemed that the age of Arteta could well be ushering in success of Wengerian proportions.
But Covid 19 is not going anywhere (and Covid 21 and 23 are waiting in the wings no doubt) and normal service won’t be resumed until a vaccine is found, tested and then rolled out world-wide. That is unlikely to be until springtime 2021 at the earliest. The UK government’s hope to have fans back in stadiums this autumn is already dashed, and the imperative to get schools open again will surely mean other freedoms will be curtailed. With a second corona wave feared as autumn turns to winter it will be harder and harder to keep playing squads, coaches, medical teams, referees and linesmen free from the virus. Nobody will be going to the Emirates anytime soon.
Sports that make for easy social distancing have been back on the menu for enthusiastic amateurs for several months now: great news for cricketers and golfers and tennis players, and its encouraging to see that football (training at least) is beginning again. The hope is that competitive matches will start later this month, but so much depends on the virus remaining under (relative) control, and with local lockdowns now happening I cannot see too much football happening outside the professional game this coming season. I strongly suspect that the UK will not be alone in this, and I worry for the development of young players across the world: for all sorts of reasons it’s probably not a great time to be a scout.
So I think that sad though it was to hear of redundancies I fear we will hear of more and more. I wonder how many fans have already renewed their season tickets, or indeed whether the club has even asked them to do so. I probably would not have renewed my Red Membership had I remembered it was on a standing order so I expect that many more savvy than me will not have contributed to the ongoing wealth of KSE Inc. I wonder too how easy it will be for fans to afford expensive TV subscriptions if their own jobs are jeopardised, so I suspect there are some ongoing and quite tense discussions going on between networks, leagues and governments. I would be particularly fearful if I was involved in promoting European Cups and Leagues come September.
Arsenal FC is everybody’s favourite whipping boy right now (and when, to be fair wasn’t it) but although you may find fault with its timing or its PR or even the whole way the club is run I strongly suspect that it is in a far better and more honest situation than many clubs in the Premiership. Heaven alone knows what it looks like in the lower leagues, and although I don’t think it will quite come to this, I do fear for the future of the game itself. In his magnificent poem MCMXIV Philip Larkin talks about the way the outbreak of the First World War was received, picturing the innocent way the men lined up at the recruiting stations as if it were ‘all some Bank Holiday lark’. Never such innocence again, he concludes, and I find myself in similar cast of thought as I hear Prime Ministers and others who ought to know better assure me that everything will be back to normal by Christmas time.
But then what do I know? Easier by far to blame it all on Big Stan or Mesut Ozil while getting ready for a trip to Piebury Corner and The Tollington.
Tim Head, @foreverheady
Latest podcast: Finally Gooners have something to be truly joyful after our worst season in 25 years as Arsenal win their 14th FA Cup. Shotta and Blackburn George aka Arseblagger give their analysis.
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That really couldn’t have gone better, it’s always better when it’s a come back. A come back in a game is great, but when that game makes the season into a come back, ah, that is sweet.
We looked very much second best for the first 20 minutes. They were all over us like a rash, making chances for fun. Or so it seemed to me from behind my sofa. I feared the worst, but seriously, what do I know?
Ceballos, who had been brushed aside in the build up to their goal, and the rock that is Xhaka, got a grip of the midfield and we came back strong. The attitude was perfect, we used the space in behind, with long balls into space at every opportunity, a ploy that saw us draw level when Aubameyang got on the end of one and was hauled down in the box. I’ve seen Liuz sent off for the same offence, but it was just a yellow. The explanation was that he tried to win the ball, he didn’t, it should have been a red. All the same we dominated the game until half-time and could easily have gone in ahead.
Chelsea worked their way into the game in the second half, but just when it looked like we might struggle to hold them, Hector, full of vegan energy, powered through the midfield and the ball ended up at Aubameyang’s feet, a jink and a left-foot chip and it was 2-1.
I never felt we would lose from that point.
No need for me to pap on, you all saw the game, it was a good game and we thoroughly deserved our 14th FA cup victory. It sees us back in Europe and gives more power to Arteta’s elbow.
By the way, some of the performances of our players were epic.
Speak soon.
COYG
Pedantic George
The curtain comes down on the English football season as two familiar London rivals, Arsenal and Chelsea, go head-to-head at Wembley in the FA Cup Final this afternoon.
The Gunners knocked out holders Man City in the semis, whereas the Blues had to get past Liverpool, Leicester and Man United on route to the final.
Good day one and all.
This hasn’t been an easy season for Arsenal at all; winning just four of our first 15 Premier League games had us at a real disadvantage. But since Mikel Arteta’s arrival mid-season, we have seen a steady upturn in performances. However, the lockdown put a real dent in our momentum with results since the restart not completely satisfactory. This saw us finishing just outside the European qualifying spots in 8th-place.
So it all comes down to this; one game that could transform a disappointing campaign into a moderate successful one, with entry to next season’s Europa League. One game that could be the difference between Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang extending his Arsenal stay other not, one game that could be the difference between getting a shiny new toy, or promoting from within.
The Gunners do have pedigree when it comes to reaching the finals in the FA Cup and will hope to continue that trend today. However, the Blues are as prolific when it comes to playing in finals, but hopefully Baku is the furthest from our lads’ minds.
Frank Lampard was appointed at the start of the season with the club under a transfer embargo and having just sold their talisman Eden Hazard. Considering he guided his young side to top-four and reaching the FA Cup Final, he has done remarkably well in his maiden season.
However, that will not be enough, because with this their only chance at silverware, winning the Cup will be as important to them as it is for the Gunners.
Chelsea are unbeaten in their two league meetings with Arsenal this season (W1, D1). Interestingly, both matches were played with Arteta and Lampard in their respective dugouts. The Blues’ 2-1 win at the Emirates was Arteta’s first home game in charge. At Stamford Bridge it was very different with the Gunners showing real grit to come from behind twice after going down to 10 men in their 26th minute, to draw 2-2.
So this is the start of a new chapter in the battle between two rookie managers looking to win their maiden trophy in the Cup they lifted as captains.
Team news
Arteta used a 3-4-3 formation in the 2-0 win over Man City and is likely to go with that again, as well as a similar looking lineup. Though with Mustafi injured, Rob Holding once against get the chance of starting in the final of this competition.
Hector Bellerín missed the Watford game with a calf issue but was back in full training. So too first-choice goalkeeper Bernd Leno; however, Arteta has already confirmed that Emi Martinez will start between the sticks.
Prediction
No two teams have had more success in this famous old trophy than these two since the turn of the century.
This, of course, will be the third time in the last four seasons these sides meet in a finals, with varying success. With Chelsea finishing the league season 10 points better off than the Gunners, one would assume them having the edge, but it is Arsenal that have the love affair with the FA Cup in recent times … so this could be a very closely contested, low-scoring, yet very entertaining match. COYG!
— @LaboGoon
After 11-and-a-half months it’s finally the last round of Premier League fixtures on the 2019/20 calendar, with Arsenal hosting Watford at the Emirates Stadium.
The Hornets are staring down the barrel, needing at least a draw to have an outside chance of avoiding relegation, whereas the Gunners come into this match on the back of a shock 1-0 loss to Aston Villa.
Good day one all.
Arsenal has been very hit and miss in recent weeks; notable wins over Wolves and Liverpool in the league was followed by a superb FA Cup victory against Man City, but defeats either side of The Reds clash have left us 10th-place in the league table.
Of course, it’s disappointing but we also shouldn’t ignore that we are in a period of transition since Mikel Arteta walked through the door mid-season. However, with next weekend’s FA Cup final against Chelsea still offering a shot at redemption, we simply cannot go into that match on the back of successive defeats.
As luck would have it… Watford come into this game having lost each of their last five games on the road across all competitions.
An incredible 3-0 victory over league champions Liverpool on 29 February, ending their then unbeaten league run, hasn’t given the visitors the boost they thought it would, as they won only two of their nine matches since (D1, L5). Nigel Pearson was dismissed just two days prior to their 4-0 trashing at the hands of Man City in midweek because of that failure.
If they are to dodge the relegation trapdoor then simply beating the Gunners may not be good enough, as they would also need the misfortune of Villa who will be equally desperate for a win against a West Ham team, that may already be on the beach. Not a great position for Watford to be in, but caretaker coach Hayden Mullins will be expecting from them to at least hold their end up.
Team news
With six days between today’s game and the FA Cup final, Mikel could field a strong XI, considering he already made six changes for the Villa game. Skhodran Mustafi, of course, is out injured so Rob Holding could come into the side alongside David Luiz and Kieran Tierney.
I think the toughest decision to be made concerns Ainsley Maitland-Niles. He was on the outside of the team but hugely impressed versus City, so whether he would make way for our new number 7, Bukayo Saka, will be telling this afternoon.
Prediction
With Arsenal’s incredible home record since the start of the year, this fixture is perhaps not as daunting on the face. But Watford is such a petty side that if they feel they really are getting relegated, this match has the potential to get real ugly.
Be that as it may, hopefully we remind Troy Deeney just how big our cojones and send them packing to the Championship with a “you’re welcome” parting shot.
COYG!
@LaboGoon
Positively Arsenal 