Tag Archive | Premier League

Arsenal Versus Hull: It’s Good To Talk

  Dear Stew, Like you I am an Arsenal fan, unlike you I’m really pessimistic about the team and its prospects this season and for as many seasons as I can remember. It confuses me how you remain so positive given our palpable lack of success and the vanishingly small likelihood we will fulfil our […]

Even Tottenham Is As Good As Arsenal

Watching the foul against Bellerin in the 13th minute of Saturday’s match against Chelsea, my initial reaction was surely Atkinson, seeing it in real time, must have gotten it right; after all he is the senior FIFA ref in the PGMO. That was until I saw the young man crumpled on the turf oblivious to […]

Arsenal Versus Chelsea: Avoidance Strategy

So we go again. As the old cliché has it having fallen from a bicycle the best thing to do is leap back into the saddle and start pedalling. I’ve always taken a different approach where cycling mishap is concerned preferring to fling the painful contraption into the shed and sulk for a couple of […]

Arsenal Versus Watford: Back To Reality

As all the excitement and furore of the cup draw fades into yesterdays chip paper and the giddy delight of our unexpected routing of the Saints dissipates, so normal service is resumed this evening. Arsenal in the Premier League, at home, expected to win. The fear of a come down after a big cup victory […]

The Refs Are Biased (Part I)

During the course of last Sunday’s match versus Burnley it struck me how little data is publicly available on the role of the referees in deciding the fate of the Premier League title. Major game-changing decisions were made at key points by Mr. Moss and his officiating crew that significantly tilted the balance against the […]

Arsenal Versus Burnley: Slow and Doubtful

The problem with us football fans is that we will insist on taking sides. Maybe it isn’t just football fans. Perhaps it’s part of the human condition. I was musing on this during a frosty morning dog walk along the trackbed of a now sadly defunct rail line. Don’t get me started on Ernest Marples […]

Arsenal Versus Swansea: On The Tip Of The Tongue Of The Year

When I saw the pictures of the Arsenal training in wintry snow ahead of today’s trip to Swansea I confess to harbouring a certain sympathy for them. As my Scottish uncle used to say to me that snell wind makes everone fair jeelit. The sympathy has evaporated this morning as I sit in my frozen […]

Arsenal Versus West Brom: Paradise Regained

I don’t know about you but Christmas has always been a time out of time for me. Even the days of the week cease to follow their usual pattern. We abstain from the conventions of Monday to Sunday, preferring instead Christmas Eve, Christmas Day and Boxing Day. These will bleed seamlessly into The Day After […]

Arsenal Versus Everton: Crunching The Numbers

One of the things I dislike most about the Christmas period is that there is far too much football compressed into too little time. It distorts the balance of the race for the title which otherwise has a pleasantly steady momentum. Would the world of athletics stand for it if Mo Farrah, 4,000 metres into […]

Arsenal Versus Stoke: Sparky’s Magic Piano

The last time we enjoyed an extravagant midweek score and performance in the Champion’s League we returned to earth with a bump at the weekend. Despatching a Ludogorets side (which has proven to be far better than the naysayers ever suggested) with style and six of the best, we returned to face Middlesbrough at the […]