Arsenal v Sevilla: recent form and squad values
Past meetings and home / away comparisons
By Bulldog Drummond
My apologies for the technical glitch today. We lost control of Untold Arsenal at this end, and the fault was beyond the technical capabilities of me, which is not surprising since I have none.
Anyway during our absence, we were able to observe the major work still being undertaken by the media to keep the anti-Arsenal propaganda rolling, and it is now giving overt support to Tottenham as with the Telegraph’s piece… Ange Postecoglou class shows up petty Mikel Arteta.
That is particularly interesting since, as we have noted before, Arsenal are bottom of the yellow card table (something no one in the media seems to want to admit) with under half of the number of yellow cards that Chelsea (with 35) have. The much lauded and praised Newcastle United and Tottenham Hotspur are also chasing Chelsea hard with 32 and 31 cards respectively. Class? Well, with Tottenham and Chelsea, not when it comes to playing the game fairly.
Arsenal have 16 yellow cards, and although it is not that this statistic is the be and end all of what football is about, it is a significant component, and yet it is utterly ignored while the media constantly talk about a supposed “rant” from the Arsenal manager. If ever an example of biased reporting was required as an example to anyone interested, this is as good as any.
So the media follow their traditional route by continuing to focus on one theme and one theme only: and as ever, not being willing to run one article on their theme when they can publish two. Thus they also have “FA demand explanation from Mikel Arteta and Arsenal over Var tirade” from the Telegraph.
Is a tirade more or less than a rant? I am not sure, but at least one journalist has found one alternative word to the ceaseless, ceaseless use of “rant”.
According to the paper Arteta’s comments have been labelled “embarrassing” by Ref Support UK, which is hardly original. Especially as a careful reading of their report shows that quite why they were embarrassed is not explained. And I guess they realise this since they then return to the popular phrase “post-match rant”.
But then I suppose one could ask, is the use of the word “rant” all the time “embarrassing” when undertaken by people whose job is words? Well, yes, it could be, although I think I would just call that sort of writing “inept”. Although perhaps if I kept on using the same word over and over again to describe a complex situation I would indeed be embarrassed at my own lack of writing skills.
According to the Standard Eddie Nketiah today faces a late fitness test ahead of the game having missed training yesterday.
The paper, and others also tell us that Martin Odegaard is expected to miss the game today. Although utterly bizarrely it appears according to their “report” that “Gabriel Jesus is still out, despite being called up by Brazil for international duty on Monday.”
Which leaves us with a team from the Standard that reads
Raya;
White, Saliba, Gabriel, Zinchenko;
Vieira, Jorginho, Rice;
Saka, Havertz, Martinelli
The chief Arsenal writer of Football.London says “Ben White needs a rest after so many consecutive starts and Zinchenko can help unlock a tight Sevilla defence.”
However Football.London offer the thought that Sevilla are also suffering from injuries with the report that “As confirmed via the La Liga outfit’s official website, goalkeeper Orjan Nyland, legendary defender Sergio Ramos and Argentina World Cup winner Marcos Acuna are not part of the 24-man travelling party to London, as well as Marcao and Adnan Januzaj, who have not been registered for the competition.”
FoLo also have an article in which they say that Eddie’s knock is not serious enough to keep him out of tonight’s game
Pain in the Arsenal have a line up of
Raya;
Tomiyasu, Saliba, Gabriel, Zinchenko;
Rice, Vieira, Havertz;
Saka, Trossard, Martinelli.
The BBC has an interesting stat: Arsenal have won just three of their 11 Champions League group games against Spanish sides. However, two of those victories have come in their three games against Sevilla, including a 3-0 home win in September 2007.
And there is one other positive point they make
“Arsenal have only failed to score in one of their past 26 Champions League matches, a 2-0 home loss to Barcelona in the 2015-16 knockout stages.”
It’s quite ironic really when one thinks back to the days when reporters clearly kept a note of how many players were booked or sent off under Wenger because the total was mentioned each and every time we go another one (irrespective of whether or not it was justified). It’s very odd they never do that for any other team and, as you say, now we get far fewer nobody says a bloody dickybird about it!
I trust that in tonights’s game, we will have less to worry about from the referee – not a PGMOL person.
However, I fear for our game on Saturday for the following reasons:
Arsenal have criticised referees, so they will be looking for payback
Burnley are a north-west team. They are in desperate need of points.
Even post-Dyche, they are likely to rely on kicking Arsenal to bits, as the only way to counter superior skills.
The media will love a big upset, along the lines of “Arsenal bottlers humbled by plucky Burnley – especially after Spurs got a stuffing this week.
Because of the fake “controversy” surrounding Arteta, I have seen a report that the PGMOL have appointed their “best” referee to the game – Michael Oliver – the man who must hold the record for the fastest ever successive yellow cards – ( to an Arsenal player, of course).
I hope that I will be proved wrong, but I fear for the revenge of PGMOL – what better opportunity to stuff Arsenal will they have?
The only ranting I’ve heard is from the media.
John L
” I have seen a report that the PGMOL have appointed their “best” referee to the game – Michael Oliver – the man who must hold the record for the fastest ever successive yellow cards – ( to an Arsenal player, of course)”.
So Howard Webb has (let’s say possibly for now) appointed a referee who recently failed to send a Man City player off against us, a decision of which Howard Webb said:
“Howard Webb admits Mateo Kovacic should have been sent off vs Arsenal in Man City controversy. Referees’ chief Howard Webb has admitted that Michael Oliver was wrong not to send off Manchester City midfielder Mateo Kovacic at Arsenal on Sunday”.
So, it just so happens that their ‘best’ referee cant wait to send an Arsenal player off for 2 innocuous fouls but refuses to send off a Man City player against Arsenal for 2 clear yellow/red fouls.
You simply couldn’t make this shit up.
We only had Oliver a couple of weeks ago in the Man City match and he stitched us up then by not sending off Kovasic for a red card tackle and then compounding his ineptitude by not producing what should have been a second yellow for Kovasic for a two footed lunge on Rice. A decision which received universal approval from the pundits and media alike.
I expect Oliver to come down hard on the slightest excuse and will not be surprised if we see the severest interpretation of the laws applied to Arsenal in our game against Burnley. Not that he needs any extra encouragement to stitch us up!
There could be easy money to made at the bookies this coming weekend.
Oliver is a Newcastle supporter, unlikely to do us any favours. Can he really be trusted to give an honest performance in a game where one if the teams is a direct competitor for his favourite. I still don’t think the PGMO is an honest organisation when so ofter they display all the candour of an American professional wrestling match.