- Fifa warns the FA: Shut up or be thrown out of the world cup
- In football, a lack of information doesn’t stop confident decisions and opinions
By Tony Attwood
The curious fact that Arsenal are playing Crystal Palace twice in four days takes the very, very much older supporters back to the days when clubs used to play each other home and away on Christmas Day and Boxing Day. That didn’t happen with Palace however as they didn’t join the elite until 1969.
That journey to the top league was, in itself, quite something – from the fourth division to the first in ten seasons from 1960/61 when they won Division IV. They revisited Division III in 1974/85 and have bobbled up and down between the top two leagues this century but have been in the top league for ten consecutive years, now. And to me, they certainly looked like a team that felt the League Cup was something they could have a pop at.
Liverpool and Newcastle also went through, and tonight the tiny totts play ManU in the battle of the also-rans. Well 10th against 13th to be exact.
I guess the question for Arsenal is can Gabriel Jesus keep up his refound form? His record across all competitions has never been that of a sparkling centre forward, although last night suggested otherwise. And his yellow card record this season is worryingly above that of past seasons, but he is certainly a helpful player to have in the squad – as long as he has his confidence firing on all cylinders.
Here are his figures.
| Season | Starts | Subs | Goals | Yellows |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2024/5 | 8 | 13 | 4 | 5 |
| 2023/4 | 21 | 15 | 8 | 8 |
| 2022/3 | 27 | 6 | 11 | 7 |
But let’s not forget this was really something of a goal-scoring performance – not a set of tap-ins by a number nine after others have done the hard work. Plus although Palace are 15th in the league and with only three wins in the league to their name this season, they certainly looked as if they had been holding everything in readiness for this match. It will indeed be interesting to see if they can play the same game again at the weekend, for in this form he is a most important member of the squad.
But what was also interesting was how Palace gave up possession to Arsenal: it was 70 percent Arsenal and 30 percent Palace at the end.
Across the season so far the club with the highest possession is Manchester City with 62.7% (figures from FBRef). Tottenham are second with 58.2%. Arsenal are fifth with 54.4%. Crystal Palace are 17th with 43.5%.
Meanwhile it is interesting that while the Telegraph brings a decent enough report overall they can’t resist a knock at supporters with the constant media allegation that us fans don’t really understand football, and so need the media to interpret it for them.
Thus the paper adds the note that “while it [the League Cup] is not a priority this year, there is no doubt that the fans want glory at Wembley.”
This suggests a disconnect between Arsenal FC and the fans. We the fans want a trophy no matter what but the club is able to see a broader picture. We the fans, who have been to Wembley know how badly we can be treated there and what a grotty ground it is in many regards (cramped seats, atrocious catering, poor safety etc). Yet the journalists who know nothing of such things set out the implication that we are so stupid that we can only see one thing at a time (in this case going to Wembley). And it needs the journalist to see the broader picture.
In fact the opposite is true. For it is journalists who tend to see the moment and report on it, rather than draw broader understandings and implications.
But what we could all see once again is what a difference Ødegaard makes, and indeed what a brilliant purchase he was. Indeed if you ever want an example of a player at a bargain price, or of Arsenal’s ability to see potential which others could not, Ødegaard is surely the example to pick. Arsenal paid £30m for the player with a subsequent £4m bonus payment because of his appearances.
TransferMarkt quote his current value at around £100m.
But there is another point here – Arsenal did not play well against Everton, and yet with a number of changes to the team were able to pick themselves up and deliver a game of real quality and class. That is an ability that is hard to develop and it can be invaluable. Plus of course, there was an addition to the squad depth in Kieran Tierney and what seems to be very rare games for Sterling too.
The Palace manager after the match made the point that there was no VAR in this game and claimed that harmed his side. So he should be feeling very comfortable for the weekend when Palace get a second chance… with VAR. And the League must be pleased that someone out there does indeed ike VAR.
Even if we do win the league Cup, and assuming nothing else, it will only be used as a stick with which to beat us, and in no way something to celebrate.
Winning ‘trophies’ is all that matters. Right up until we do, then of course it means nothing.
Well done to our ladies last night who beay Bayern Munich by 3 goals to 2 winning our Champions League group and (hopefully) getting a slightly easier opponent in the quarter finals. Mind with our possible opponents being Man City, Vfl Wolfsburg or Real Madrid the tie won’t be easy.
That makes ten wins and a draw out of eleven matches for our interim heah coach Renee Sledgers. The supporters last night were singing her version of the Arteta chant. It would be incredible to me if she isn’t confirmed in post (at least till the end of the season) bofore the ladies resume after their Christmas break.
Andrew
Yep, did well against tough opponents in atrocious conditions.
Mixed feelings at seeing Eddie score. Pleased for him, but ……….
Well done the ladies, you did us proud! The ‘interim’ manager has remarkable stats, similar to those of the Pudlian manager! How many now want her to stay? 99% or 100%?
For the men, what a treat to see Jesus score a hat-trick, too! That’s better than a poke on the bottom! He invariably exhibits great skill but he had sometimes seemed more interested in doing that than helping the team to win. A ruthless poaching mentality added to his abundance of dribbling skills might just be exactly what we need. Massive respect!
Media suggesting that 2nd goal offside, but not raising any question about a possible foul on Kiwior for Palace first.
Same as usual.
If we are getting stick for getting away with something, Liverpool, or at least their referee should be getting far worse.
2 – 1 up, a Southampton player through on goal is clearly fouled just outside the box with just the keeper to beat. In real time looked a clear foul and red card for being last man. Replays confirmed this without doubt. A terrible decision.
So a clear opportunity for a Southampton equaliser denied. A Liverpool player dodges a red and the one match ban that would follow.
Their should be uproar in the media because there would be if it was us. We are getting it in the ear because a close offside call went our way.
And for a simple example of how the media portray us compared to Liverpool just take a look at this. In the Mail On Line just google Arsenal then Liverpool and scroll down the headlines for each.
The first thing to note is not a mention of the late sending off they got away with, let alone the possibility Southampton could of scored from the resultant free kick or as a result of finishing the match 11 against 10.
Yet an entire article about how ‘fans are outraged’ at how Arsenal apparently got away with an offside goal.
There isn’t a single negative headline relating to Liverpool. Even their manager getting a touchline ban for abusing referees doesn’t get a negative headline, and that despite slot admitting he ‘Does Influence’ referees. All we get is ‘Arne Slot opens up on mistakes….’ Not Dark Arts at all then!!!!! Measure that against the abuse Arteta gets just for celebrating goals.
Despite our win they still manage a variety of negative headlines:
1 – “Arsenal 3-2 Crystal Palace – PLAYER RATINGS: Which starter blew his big chance? Which star immediately made an impact after coming on? And who scored just FIVE out of 10?”
and
2 – “Fans slam ‘clear offside’ after Gabriel Jesus controversially put Arsenal ahead against Crystal Palace in the Carabao Cup – with VAR not used until the semi-finals”
And it gets another mention:
3 – “Arsenal vs Crystal Palace – Carabao Cup RECAP: Live score, team news and updates as Gabriel Jesus ends goal drought in style with a hat-trick – including a very dubious second”
Then a sly pop at our forwards:
4 – “Why Arsenal’s goals have dried up: How opponents wrecked their set-piece tricks and the damning statistics for misfiring forward line”
Then a pop at our ‘lack of trophies’:
5 – “Mikel Arteta defends his Arsenal trophy record by highlighting their TWO Community Shield triumphs – as he insists Carabao Cup silverware can ‘get the momentum going’ for more
Then another pop at our scoring from henry. Thanks mate.
6 – “Thierry Henry delivers damning assessment of Arsenal’s ‘predictable’ attack as the Gunners legend singles out one struggling star for criticism”
Then another article from Henry having another pop:
7 – “Arsenal legend Thierry Henry insists ‘a lot of things need to change’ if his former team are going to beat Liverpool to the Premier League title”
Then this:
8 – “The worrying stats pointing at an Arsenal decline, why the FA’s alarm bells should be ringing and the Fulham star ready for a big step up: PREMIER LEAGUE THINGS WE LEARNED”
And this from Theo:
9 – “Theo Walcott singles out Arsenal star after 0-0 draw with Everton – as Gunners legend claims his opponent ‘won the battle’ at the Emirates”
and
10 – “Man United complain to the FA after Arsenal fail to give them full 9,000 away allocation for next month’s FA Cup third-round tie”
and
11 – “Arsenal look to be hit by December deja vu – and they need to turn it around or will miss out on the title again, writes ISAAN KHAN”
and
12 “Mikel Arteta reveals why he hooked Arsenal captain Martin Odegaard early during the Gunners’ disappointing goalless draw against Everton
I’m not saying any of them are earth shattering, but that is a dozen articles with at least some sort of ‘negative’ connotation within it. I haven’t read one of them by the way, because fundamentally what is in them is irrelevant. The point is The Mails (and the medias in general) agenda, to constantly paint Arsenal in a bad light with this endless stream of negativity. And this is after a win don’t forget.
Measure that against the headlines relating to Liverpool. Not a mention of what they got away with last night, yet you can still read about how they were robbed against Fulham because the ref was ‘nervous’ and failed to send of a Fulham player early on.
The Mails portrayal of Liverpool as compared to Arsenal is a firm indicator as to who they want to win the title this season. And this is just one paper.