Man U v Arsenal: the team and the media’s approach

Since being runners-up in 2020/21, Man U have come 6th, 3rd, 8th and 15th and for the last four seasons, they have never once scored above 58 goals (1.53 a game), while only once have they conceded fewer than 54.

Maybe they have found some solutions during the summer; that is what we will find out today.   And that in a club where the boss man has done little other than sack people and tell everyone that money has to be saved, before going out and spending goodness knows how many more million pounds on players.

Man U’s excuse is that they need to cut hundreds of jobs and restructure, but that is their fault for allowing the club to wander into its current state. Indeed, it is not just why they allowed this to happen, but also how they allowed this to happen.

Such questions are not asked; all we get is warnings that if Arsenal get off to a bad start, there will be media and fan demands for Arteta to be sacked.  But we know that.  That is what happens.  Indeed, it happened this summer.

The suggestion Arteta ‘must’ win the title this year to validate his position is gibberish.  Second is amazing given the impunity with which ManC operate, the money spent by Chelsea and the universal media support for Liverpool irrespective of their performances.  Journalists are not club managers because they don’t have the skills to be club managers; let us never forget that.  What they are good at is creating mythical situations and turning them into pressure points, which other journalists then accept as factual, rather than fantasies.  Here’s one: “My observation during pre-season is that one of Arsenal’s biggest threats could be to themselves.”

Yet the same writer said, “It was surprising to hear about a section of fans booing when Arsenal lost a pre-season friendly to Villarreal.”  No, it wasn’t; these people are fed the line by journalists that Arsenal should be winning all matches, not using friendlies to experiment, refine, and explore further.  And so they follow what they read.

We also need to see the multiple signings that the media predicted or reported, which didn’t happen, not as failures of Arsenal, but as grotesque failures of understanding by the media.  Only when that happens will we have a proper grasp of what is going on.

In fact, the media’s hatred of Arsenal reached its boiling point as this summer, the publishers and writers universally jettisoned any thought of our cherished fundamental democratic right to be innocent until proven guilty.  That tells us all we need to know about these journalists.

Whatever the result this afternoon, they will be scribbling their nonsense.  We as supporters, have risen above that in the past and need to do so again.

Given what’s going on, it seems appropriate to start the season with the predicted line up from Al Jazeera  

Raya;

White, Saliba, Gabriel, Lewis-Skelly;

Odegaard, Zubimendi, Rice;

Saka, Gyokeres, Martinelli.

We’d also like to bring a prediction from the Standard but although they give us the Man U line up there is nothing about Arsenal.  Ah well, it is a London paper and they probably think most Londoners support ManU.

The Metro does however manage an Arsenal team…. and it is exactly the same as that from Al Jaz above.  Last Word on Sports does however provide a little reorientation

Raya;

Timber, Saliba, Gabriel, Calafiori,

Zubimendi, Rice

Odegaard,

Saka, Havertz, Martinelli.

That is interesting, keeping Havertz in the forward line and then presumably on the hour making the change.  It could certainly be a powerful way to confuse the opposition.  Mind you, they also tell us how unhappy us Arsenal supporters are.