Arsenal to transform the entire squad for next season. Plus a very funny quote from Mr Quote.

By Sir Hardly Anyone First, the comment of the week, possibly the month, maybe the decade.  I am grateful to the Daily Canon for this one. “People that understand football very well know that this project is a project that is very exciting because we are not a club that are going to buy trophies, …

Fifa’s war with Manchester City is deepening but much depends on how CAS react.

By Tony Attwood, currently 35 miles from North Korea.  (A first for Untold!) You may recall that over the years Untold has regularly reported on issues relating to the transfer of youngsters between clubs and the issues surrounding child exploitation.  We also did a lot to cover the technicalities and legalities of the FFP regulations …

Stop this messing around with the fixtures

By Walter Broeckx As most of you regulars know I am since some 4 years the president of the official Arsenal supporters club Arsenal Belgium. People who know a bit of geography know that we probably will be the second closest foreign supporters club of Arsenal. Only beaten by the French one. So we are …

The hierarchy of debating the Arsenal; why some arguments work and others don’t.

Stories are only appearing occasionally at the moment as I am travelling.  A more regular service should be established by mid-week   By Tony Attwood Florian recently provided us with an example of how real debate and argument works.   In case you missed it, I have reproduced the illustration at the end of this piece.  …

Now that us spectators are the product, we actually do have some power.

By Tony Attwood “The omnipotent broadcasters who bestride English football often seem to reserve as much regard for match-going supporters as McDonald’s do for their cows.” I like that comment. The fact is that in Spain if clubs allow TV cameras to show empty seats the club is fined – so it is encouraged to …

Wenger to journalists: “Your job is to get everybody to suffer.”

By Tony Attwood As a simple one liner I thought it was brilliant.   I don’t know what the journalists did in response but the follow up line from Mr Wenger wasn’t really needed.  He’d made his point. “Your job is to get everybody to suffer,” he said, adding, “Our job is to get as few …

Europa League: Arsenal – Milan 3-1

By Walter Broeckx Arsenal starting line up : Ospina, Bellerin, Mustafi, Koscielny, Monreal, Xhaka, Ramsey, Wilshere, Ozil, Mkhitaryan, Welbeck Beach: Cech, Iwobi, Chambers, Maitland-Niles, Kolasinac, Elneny, Nketiah Milan starting the best with a chance in the opening minute. A cross from the left finds an unmarked Milan player but he hits the side net. Arsenal trying …

Milan at home. An empty stadium? But is the media finally changing its tune?

By Bulldog Drummond. Who would have thought it?   Instead of being seen as a dire warning as to where a club should not go, the anti-Arsenal attacks on the club and Mr Wenger are being seen as a model that can be transferred to other clubs.   Likewise the mainstream media’s constant attacks on Arsenal are …

Three Arsenal Players who Could Light up the World Cup this Summer

By Jacko Jones Germany, Switzerland and France. Three European teams with lofty ambitions ahead of the World Cup in Russia this summer. While Switzerland have considerable opposition with the likes of Brazil and Serbia in Group E, France and Germany will be looking further ahead in the tournament. Both countries have groups they are expected …

Fake News: Extraordinary Stories surround Arsenal and the bonkers headline of the day

By Tony Attwood Let’s start with headline of the day: Arsenal vs. AC Milan: Be Weary of These Rossoneri AC Milan Offside Now you do need to know the difference between “weary” and “wary” to get this one, but once you do, it is rather amusing. However let’s move on… Fake News is odd.  I mean …

The pressures of being a footballer and the unremitting fear of getting it wrong

by Tony Attwood Had Per Mertesacker been English I doubt very much whether he would have done the interview that he recently gave concerning the pressure he felt during career.  Indeed he said he was glad that his playing days were coming to an end.  Exactly the sort of thing that people who have never …

Continental Cup Final Wednesday March 14 Arsenal v Manchester City Preview

By Andrew Crawshaw The second cup final this year between these two clubs, this time featuring the Women.  The Continental Tyres cup is the Women’s equivalent of the Men’s Carabao Cup and is a competition open to the 18 teams in the two divisions of the WSL.  Arsenal has traditionally done well in this competition …

If working for the media always remember: never mention the context

By Tony Attwood Following events from overseas as I shall be for one more week, it is interesting to look out for signs of perspective in the media.   The Guardian did it with “The Manchester City manager’s support for jailed Catalan leaders does not extend to political prisoners in Abu Dhabi, home of City’s owners.” And …

The laziness of the long distance myth maker and beware managers with guns

By Sir Hardly Anyone. Of course on the day when we have the headline that “Greek football match stopped after team owner invades pitch with a gun” things seem to get a bit fuzzy.  OK I don’t go to matches in Greece, but even so.  This is getting a bit unnerving.  First West Ham after …

When Pochettino sees corruption it’s news, when Arsenal see corruption its childish hysteria

By Tony Attwood I wanted to pick up on the story that Mauricio Pochettino claiming that Juventus are “specialists in football’s dark arts” and that they manipulated the refereeing in their Champions League game with Tottenham, when it happened, but being on the other side of the world, having an 11 hour time difference and wanting to …

Arsenal v Watford-Atkinson. It’s going to be tough.

By Bulldog Drummond Watford are tenth in the league overall as I write this, and much of their achievement has come away from home as the away table shows. Pos Team P W D L F A GD Pts 1 Manchester City 14 11 2 1 32 10 22 35 2 Liverpool 14 8 3 …

Arsenal v Watford, trouble at the London, and the home and away comparisons

By Bulldog Drummond Our piece about West Ham fans and the way they were seen by the media as being split, while Arsenal fans are treated as a unity of anti-Wengerianism, seems to have been apposite as the news broke of violence and protest at the so-called London Stadium.   So the story rattles around the …

Arsenal v Watford Sunday 11 March 2018 – The Match Officials

by Andrew Crawshaw Our Officials are :- Referee – Martin Atkinson Age 46 from West Yorkshire Assistant Referee 1 – Lee Betts  from Norfolk and FIFA accredited Assistant Referee 2 – Constantine Hatzidakis  from Kent and FIFA accredited Fourth Official – Chris Kavanagh  Age 42 from Manchester A long standing bette noir of Arsenal for …

How curious that the media reflect a split in the fan base at WHU but not at Arsenal

by Tony Attwood It is interesting to note from afar that West Ham have been having a little local difficulty with different fan groups attacking and fighting each other. True they have had a fairly grotty run of late… Date Game Res Score Competition 27 Jan Wigan Athletic v West Ham United L 2-0 FA …

Arsenal transfer rumours: another 10 unbelievable stories (literally).

by Sir Hardly Anyone The attacks on Arsene Wenger continue of course.  The guy says that he has had a hard time personally over the recent defeats, and the response of The Transfer Tavern web site is to publish a handful of tweets abusing him.  That’s probably par for the course these days.   As Tony …

38 players joining Arsenal, 8 leaving and five new managers. it will be quite a summer!!!

By Sir Hardly Anyone.  Our man who counts the numbers… Here is the update on players coming and going… and we know it is all true because every single one of these stories has been verified by a football journalist. Those who are leaving No Player Going To Source What’s the story  Update Bellering Barcelona …

It’s all too easy to be a fan after a win. It’s being a fan ALWAYS that really counts

By Tony Attwood, still in Australia. Of course they would have to wait until I was in Australia to get back to form, but I’d settle for a fine win against a Milan team that has improved greatly of late, even if I was on the outer moon of Pluto – which incidentally I am …

An away day in Milan: time to pop into the cemetery.

by Bulldog Drummond Milan has multiple attractions: the San Siro stadium, La Scala, and Cimitero Monumentale di Milano – the cemetery.  If I had to nominate which one stays in my memory it would be the latter.  If you have ever been there you will know why.  If you haven’t, you just can’t imagine what it …

Before the (Milan) flood: in defence of Arsène Wenger

By LE GALL Opinion is a flitting thing, But Truth, outlasts the Sun – If then we cannot own them both – Possess the oldest one – On the one hand, you have the never-ending gossip of the dirtymoney-grabbing “pundits”, including some renegades whose statue would well deserve the Lenin treatment. Dear old Woody said …

World Cup 2018 – a focus on the three favourites

World Cup 2018 – a focus on the three favourites After suffering through the regularly frustrating four year wait, another World Cup is almost upon us, and it’s time to consider who looks like the most likely candidate to be crowned tournament winners. The World Cup is such a gigantic competition, where even those who …