ByBulldog Drummond
The constant attempts at undermining Arsene Wenger have now geared up to another level as the bloggettas and their feeder newspapers are now tending to ignore the fact there is a game coming up and instead focus on attacking the manager. The Guardian has been doing this for months, and now others are joining in.
The Express has “Arsenal stars must tell Arsene Wenger they want to leave the club” reporting a comment apparently said by Charlie Nicholas. Meanwhile in a rather desperate reinterpretation of an everyday commentary on how the new members of the transfer team are settling in, we get the Daily Mail’s puppet site saying, “Wenger bristles at the Colney power shift, here’s what’s happening,” in a story that rather looks as if it were nicked from “Wenger takes subtle swipe at Arsenal’s new head of recruitment” in the Teamtalk bloggetta.
Meanwhile (again) the increasingly odd Daily Canon are still complaining about the sale of Szczesny. And apparently Arsenal fans are still crying about his departure, forgetting perhaps the reason why.
Oh yes and Theo wants to go to Italy but Arsenal are asking £30m for him.
On a more positive front Gooner Daily says, “I feel that something needs to be done about these referees and their terrible officiating in the Premier League”. Every thought in that direction is welcome.
As a result of all this there is little focus on the fact that Arsenal still have games to play including a match in the FA Cup thing that we often seem to win.
The current injury news ahead of the game against Forest shows not much change from midweek, and although physioroom is not showing anything for Xhaka there are some reports to the effect that Xhaka also is injured (not that he would necessarily have played even if fit.
Here’s the list
| Man down | What happened | When’s he back | Available? |
| S Kolasinac | Ankle Injury | January 14, 2018 | No |
| L Koscielny | Achilles Injury | January 10, 2018 | Slight Doubt |
| N Monreal | Ankle Injury | January 20, 2018 | No |
| O Giroud | Hamstring Injury | January 14, 2018 | No |
| A Ramsey | Hamstring Injury | January 10, 2018 | No |
| S Cazorla | Plantaris Injury | No Return Date | No |
Of that list Santi (as always) is illegible whether fit or not, and the only one from the list who would have played if fit is Giroud. So when it comes down to it, one man is out.
We saw in the earlier post that Forest are struggling in the league generally. When we look at their home form we find a singular lack of interest in drawing. It’s seven wins and six defeats, with the same number of goals scored as conceded.
| Pos | Team (home form only) | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Wolverhampton Wanderers | 13 | 10 | 2 | 1 | 28 | 10 | 18 | 32 |
| 2 | Cardiff City | 13 | 8 | 3 | 2 | 22 | 10 | 12 | 27 |
| 3 | Derby County | 13 | 8 | 2 | 3 | 22 | 9 | 13 | 26 |
| 4 | Aston Villa | 13 | 7 | 5 | 1 | 22 | 10 | 12 | 26 |
| 5 | Sheffield United | 13 | 8 | 1 | 4 | 23 | 13 | 10 | 25 |
| 6 | Millwall | 13 | 7 | 3 | 3 | 22 | 14 | 8 | 24 |
| 7 | Bristol City | 13 | 7 | 3 | 3 | 20 | 13 | 7 | 24 |
| 8 | Ipswich Town | 13 | 7 | 2 | 4 | 23 | 14 | 9 | 23 |
| 9 | Middlesbrough | 13 | 7 | 2 | 4 | 15 | 10 | 5 | 23 |
| 10 | Leeds United | 13 | 6 | 4 | 3 | 17 | 9 | 8 | 22 |
| 11 | Brentford | 13 | 5 | 7 | 1 | 22 | 15 | 7 | 22 |
| 12 | Queens Park Rangers | 13 | 6 | 4 | 3 | 19 | 16 | 3 | 22 |
| 13 | Fulham | 13 | 5 | 6 | 2 | 17 | 13 | 4 | 21 |
| 14 | Nottingham Forest | 13 | 7 | 0 | 6 | 17 | 17 | 0 | 21 |
Forest have in fact lost both of their last two games at home and what’s worse lost both of them without scoring (0-3 to Sheffield Wednesday and 0-1 to Sunderland).
Arsenal away is no better – although of course in a more demanding league, and we are in the top half of the table – just.
| Pos | Team | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Manchester City | 11 | 10 | 1 | 0 | 25 | 5 | 20 | 31 |
| 2 | Chelsea | 11 | 6 | 3 | 2 | 20 | 9 | 11 | 21 |
| 3 | Manchester United | 11 | 6 | 3 | 2 | 21 | 11 | 10 | 21 |
| 4 | Liverpool | 11 | 6 | 3 | 2 | 29 | 21 | 8 | 21 |
| 5 | Tottenham Hotspur | 11 | 6 | 1 | 4 | 20 | 12 | 8 | 19 |
| 6 | Burnley | 11 | 4 | 5 | 2 | 11 | 11 | 0 | 17 |
| 7 | Leicester City | 11 | 3 | 4 | 4 | 18 | 18 | 0 | 13 |
| 8 | Watford | 11 | 4 | 1 | 6 | 17 | 17 | 0 | 13 |
| 9 | Arsenal | 11 | 3 | 4 | 4 | 13 | 16 | -3 | 13 |
Nevertheless the fact is that Forest have not won any of their last five while Arsenal are now nine games unbeaten in all competitions:
| Date | Match | Result | Score | Competition |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 07 Dec 2017 | Arsenal v FC BATE Borisov | W | 6-0 | Europa League |
| 10 Dec 2017 | Southampton v Arsenal | D | 1-1 | Premier League |
| 13 Dec 2017 | West Ham United v Arsenal | D | 0-0 | Premier League |
| 16 Dec 2017 | Arsenal v Newcastle United | W | 1-0 | Premier League |
| 19 Dec 2017 | Arsenal v West Ham United | W | 1-0 | League Cup |
| 22 Dec 2017 | Arsenal v Liverpool | D | 3-3 | Premier League |
| 28 Dec 2017 | Crystal Palace v Arsenal | W | 2-3 | Premier League |
| 31 Dec 2017 | West Brom v Arsenal | D | 1-1 | Premier League |
| 03 Jan 2018 | Arsenal v Chelsea | D | 2-2 | Premier League |
Overall we’ve played Forest 98 times. Arsenal have won 50, Forest 26 and 22 have ended in draws. In the last 14 games Forest have just won once – a 2-1 win at the City ground on 21 December 1996. Since then we have had four games with them:
| Date | Game | Res | Score | Competition |
| 08 Mar 1997 | Arsenal v Nottingham Forest | W | 2-0 | Premier League |
| 17 Aug 1998 | Arsenal v Nottingham Forest | W | 2-1 | Premier League |
| 16 Jan 1999 | Nottingham Forest v Arsenal | W | 0-1 | Premier League |
| 20 Sep 2016 | Nottingham Forest v Arsenal | W | 0-4 | League Cup |
So the prognostications look ok. We’ll look at the teams and some the rather interesting way that the FA (who after all run the cup) treat Arsenal.
- Nottingham Forest v Arsenal and an altercation with a fox
- 10 years of Untold Arsenal: pondering the question of 3 types of match fixing
- Arsenal in danger of ending right back where they started as transfer chaos deepens
- The notion that refereeing in the Premier League is balanced and fair is itself a conspiracy theory
I believe the constant anti Wenger moaning has become completely over the top and boring. Am really disappointed the guardian has jumped on that particular bandwagon. Wenger is working with the new arrivals in securing a good future for the club when he has left. A part of that is including players like Ainsley, Nelson, and j willock. There are (some) very positive things going on let’s have some content about that.
It has been said that Premier League status and form can go out of the window quickly in an FA Cup match against the Championship club side opposition teams if the PL clubs playing against them did not take propper care in playing against them, they could be knocked out.
However, Arsenal will not be knocked out by Nottingham Forest in the FA Cup 3rd round match that will be played at their City ground Stadium tomorrow. Rather, I am confident it’s Arsenal that will knock them out from the competition to qualify for the 4th round.
Wallcot going to Italy or Southampton or whichever club side for £30m or more in transfer fee cost won’t be bad but of course hi leaving depends on if he wants to leave Arsenal this winter and if Le Boss too sanctioned his leaving. But despite that he looks to have seemingly slated now to be playing in the Europa Cup, Carabao Cup and FA Cup games for Arsenal team II, but who will Arsenal replace him with in their 1st team squad if he leaves since any of Reiss Nelson and Joe Willock are not yet ready to fill-in the vacuum he’ll leave behind if he does leave this January.
Petr Cech constant failings to save spot kicks for Arsenal in the Premier League is a big problem for us which Arsenal has to address with dispatch if need be this winter to arrest this ugly situation from continuing unabated. For the next Arsenal game in the PL away to AFC Bournemouth, and since the PGMO referees who are referring in Arsenal games are appearing to have now resolved among themselves to be unfairly awarding spot kicks against Arsenal in their PL games of recent. And as Cech is spot kicks player watching instead of to watch the ball as it’s being kicked to get the direction the ball is heading to give him a fair chance at saving the spot kicks, will Le Boss wants to start Matt Macey for our away Bournemouth PL game to see? No chance! But Arsenal will do with a top class goalkeeper signing this winter if possible like Bravo of Man City who does save penalties. Had Cech saved Hazard’s penalty kick at the Ems last Wednesday night in the PL, will Arsenal not have won that match?
It would be nice if Untold just ignored these liespapers completely.
They have nothing to add to football and the world, and it is a waste of time and resources and energy to even pay them any attention.
As i have done this(ignore them among many other things) for the last 15 years and counting, i think it will do wonders for your sanity and health. 🙂
In Side world Football has published this article.
Note the phrase ”sound business model”
Man City top global financial power ranking, Arsenal 2nd, PSG 3rd and Guangzhou Evergrande 4th
4th January 2018
chinese money
January 4 – Runaway English Premier League leaders Manchester City have more financial clout than any other club in world football, according to a new study commissioned by global sports event organisers Soccerex.
English clubs dominate the top ten places in the rankings with Arsenal ranked second, Tottenham Hotspur fifth, Manchester United seventh (somewhat surprisingly) and Chelsea in ninth position.
The so-called The Soccerex Football Finance 100 is based on five criteria: value of players, fixed assets, cash reserves, potential owner investment and net debt.
Soccerex said this methodology explained why Arsenal were ranked above Paris Saint-Germain (PSG) despite PSG paying a record €222 million to sign Brazilian superstar Neymar last summer. The study said Arsenal’s “sound business model” had enabled it to pip PSG even though the Londoners had spent far less in the transfer market.
Similarly to PSG, Chelsea were ranked only ninth despite owner Roman Abramovich’s heavy investment. Soccerex said this was because Abramovich’s investment was listed as a loan, giving the club a large net debt.
The ranking also reflects China’s growing significance in the global football market, with Guangzhou Evergrande surprisingly coming above Spanish giants Real Madrid and Barcelona who the study said were affected by their membership owner structures which restricted investment potential.
Nine of the Chinese Super League clubs are ranked in the top 100 clubs, more than France, Germany and Italy.
Soccerex marketing director David Wright said the aim of the study was to highlight how the “global football landscape has shifted over the past two decades”.
“We wanted to create a broader evaluation of football finances, one that reflected the modern reality of football,” he added.
SOCCEREX FOOTBALL FINANCE 100: TOP 20
Manchester City
Arsenal
PSG
Guangzhou Evergrande
Tottenham
Real Madrid
Manchester United
Juventus
Chelsea
Bayern Munich
Zenit St Petersburg
RB Leipzig
Barcelona
LA Galaxy
Atletico Madrid
Liverpool
Borussia Dortmund
Lyon
Monaco
Leicester
The relationship between the media and AW has gone personal. There is no pretense of being impartial anymore. It is one big media mobbing scene. Curiously, if the past tells us anything, AW will just react in his usual way, infuriate them more, but ultimately leave them powerless.
As long as untold is there, we don’t have to worry about supporting Wenger. The obsession with Wenger has reached to such heights among Tony and his merry men that I seriously believe this site will shut stop when Wenger finally goes. This is not an Arsenal site, this is a “defend-wenger-at-all-costs” propaganda machine. Amusing, tbh.