Arsenal v Lincoln: the teams, the upsets, the media menace, the man of the match

By Bulldog Drummond. The illness question is the most puzzling part of today’s game: Danny Welbeck and Alex Iwobi are said to be down with it.   Mesuz Ozil (as WhoScored now have him listed) seems to have had it twice, has recovered, but is on the Physioroom sick list and out for weeks.  All …

Arsenal v the rest of the universe. The injuries, the curious case of Ozil’s illness, and the quotes.

By Bulldog Drummond It is interesting that Untold is receiving comments from the occasional reader telling us not to write negative articles. I am not sure that we are that guilty of such an offence; for a truly negative article how about “The 24 most boring Premier League teams ever” which appears today in the …

Lincoln City at the Arsenal: historic coincidences, out of date websites, last minute signings…

By Bulldog Drummond It is, to say the least, interesting to reflect upon the fact that our opponents this weekend were founded two years before Dial Square, who after one match in 1986, then in January 1887 became Royal Arsenal.  Indeed the interesting if occasionally inaccurate official website of the club gives a decent chronology of …

Arsenal in the FA Cup; change of rules, change of name, the heritage, the records

by Bulldog Drummond And so, the FA Cup. Derided by the anti-Arsenal-Arsenal and dismissed by the Arrogant Amnesiacs with Asssumptions, undoubtedly in both cases because Arsenal are rather successsful at it, but still a competition of some merit and worth in my view.(as anyone who has had the pleasure of being at an FA Cup …

How can we get the sort of Arsenal that the Anti-Arsenal and Arrogant Amnesics desire?

By Tony Attwood The desire of some supporters seems to be to have Arsenal getting results akin to those achieved by Manchester United in the 21 seasons between 1993 and 2013.  During that period they won the league 13 times, they came second five times and came third three times.  It came after a period …

Weird News: semi-skimmed stuff about Arsenal and origami for pyromaniacs

By Sir Hardly Anyone. Let me confess that no one in the weird news industry (by which we mean what used to be called Fleet Street, TV, radio and the bloggettas) is, at the moment at least, coming close to the suggestion that Alexis suffers from dissociative identity disorder and has eight different personalities.  That’s still …

Is Alexis really a bad influence? Or just a bad player (some of the time).

By Tony Attwood I can’t think when the last time was that I quoted the Daily Mirror – certainly not quoting the Daily Mirror for doing something innovative and interesting which the rest of the media had not done. But they have done it.  Up to a point. The article in question was by John …

What is the most effective way of bringing about change at Arsenal?

By Tony Attwood OK so you don’t want Mr Wenger to continue in his job.  Maybe you want Ivan Gazidis to go as well.  Perhaps you want Silent Stan to sell – he’s got Mr Usmanov always waiting in the wings so why not. Which raises the question, what are you going to do about …

Why the refs and the media made a mess of the Koscielny decision that cost us this match

By Walter Broeckx Lots of debate last night about Koscielny being given a red card. It was correct the pundits and media screamed. As they always do when an Arsenal player sees a red card. In the aftermath of the discussion people on Untold gave their undoubtedly expert opinion on why it was a red …

Arsenal Managerial Changes: “Is the overall management of the club ‘fit for purpose’?”

by Andrew Crawshaw Before Arsenal consider changing managers there is probably a broader question that Mr Kronke needs to address.  Is the overall management of the club ‘fit for purpose’? Firstly who ‘owns’ the club? Arsenal Football Club is owned by Arsenal Holdings PLC.  According to angryofislington – who keeps an accurate watch on the …

If the anti-Wenger crowd want a total revolution at Arsenal, it would be nice if they explained how they’re going to do it.

By Tony Attwood Anyone with a mind to look at such things would have seen the perfect “before and after” pattern in the game against Bayern. Before the match BBC Radio 5 held a mid-afternoon interview with a man described as an Arsenal fan who spoke about how upset he was about the club’s current …

Arsenal – Bayern and a helping hand from the Greek refs 1-5

By Walter Broeckx Back in action after spending the weekend in Brittany at the end of the world but now sitting comfortable with a good working (I hope) channel to watch this match. A few changes with last weekend match. Alexis back in the starting line up and also Walcott made the starting line up. …

Arsenal v Bayern. The teams, the multiple personalities and the return of Per

By Bulldog Drummond There was one really interesting and barbed comment that most of the media failed to analyse (well actually most of the media fail to analyse most stuff but this was a particular one upon which they faileed to turn their gaze).  Mr Wenger’s statement that, “You have to accept that a team …

Two lessons for Arsenal – how European games can be turned around

by Andrew Crawshaw and Tony Attwood Part 1: Andrew’s memory On 18 March 2010, I was lucky to go with my friend Mark to Craven Cottage to witness one of the best comebacks ever in European Football.  It was an EUROPA League last 16 second leg with Fulham having lost in Juventus by 3 – …

Arsenal v FC Bayern München: Cech frustrated, lucid rage and total commitment

By Bulldog Drummond The injury league still looks completely unbelievable, and so the media are not believing it, by not mentioning it.  Arsenal are showing 3 “injuries” – although we are told that Ozil’s injury is an illness of some sort.  Looking down the list however he is not the only player with an illness …

Arsenal clearly should do better, because the club is so wealthy.

By Tony Attwood   I read the comment that I have put in the headline the other day.   I thought it a strange comment at the time, but knowing how I am not averse to making awful cock-ups when I rely on my memory I decided to look again at the figures. But it turns …

The flaw in Alexis Sanchez’ make up may make this the moment to move him on.

By Tony Attwood The story of Arsenal losing a highly talented player is not new.  It has happened regularly, as the media is now telling us over and over. Robin van Persie, Cesc Fàbregas, Patrick Vieira, Thierry Henry, Samir Nasri, Gael Clichy, Thomas Vermaelen, Bacary Sagna, Alex Song, Emmanuel Eboué, Andrey Arshavin, Emmanuel Adebayor, Aleksandr Hleb, Ashley Cole… But it is interesting that …

The clear lesson from Arsenal and Liverpool as to who the next Arsenal manager should be.

By Tony Attwood Although neither the anti-Arsenal-Arsenal of the bloggettas nor the Arrogance, Amnesia and Assumption approach of the mainstream media ever look back to the past with a sense of insight and understanding, history reveals that there was, and still is an Arsenal Way of doing things. Originally there was the notion that Royal …

The problem is not that the media is biased, but that in football it is all biased in the same direction

By Tony Attwood I see that the current President of the United States has accused the former President of the United States of tapping his telephone.  It has also been suggested that President Obama is attempting a coup against President Trump.   Some media outlets report this as serious news, others are highly sceptical. If …

What will happen when Arsène Wenger leaves Arsenal?

By Tony Attwood In answer to that question, obviously none of us knows.  None of us knows anything of the future.  But we can make a few guesses based on what happens at the moment and what has happened in the past. If we take the “big six” as they have become known in the …

Arsenal beat Tottenham in U23s; Klopp v Rodgers, today’s teams and hiding behind the sofa or crowing with delight.

By Bulldog Drummond As so, our little series of no less than six articles about the Liverpool Arsenal game comes to an end with our inevitably wrong team sheet and list of players larking around on the beach. But first, the under 23s game: Yaya Sanogo and Reiss Nelson scored as we beat the Tinies 2-0.  The …

Liverpool v Arsenal: how the world has changed for Liverpool in recent years

By Bulldog Drummond There is an article in the Daily Telegraph today by Chris Bascombe headlined “The inconvenient truth for Liverpool: world class players no longer want to move to Anfield.” It represents a remarkable shift in media attitudes, for although it is not replicated in every media outlet by any means, it does in …

Liverpool! v Arsenal: the facts, the figures, and the other bits that we made up.

By Bulldog Drummond Shall we begin with the injuries, since Arsenal are always pretty nearly top as you will know if you listen to TalkSport.   And yes it is pretty much still true – if you hold the list upside down. # TEAM TOTAL INJURIES LATEST PLAYER INJURED INJURY 1 Hull City 12 D …

The details of how the crash in English football will happen, and when it will happen.

By Tony Attwood The chief executive of BT has said that the endless price rises for the cost of TV sports rights must come to an end, and he has suggested that the place that this decline should begin is with the Champions League – for which TV bidding has just opened. It is a …

Arrogance, amnesia and assumptions: how the football media deals with Liverpool

An Untold exclusive interview. Jürgen: Hans, Hans, have you heard, I have a new job – a really important football job in England! Hans: Wonderful Jürgen, which TV station are you working for? Jürgen: Don’t be silly!  I’ve got a job as a manager.  Manager of Liverpool! no less. Hans: Sorry I thought you said you …