Arsenal v Burnley. “English football is losing a beautiful mind”. Jonathan Pearce

Posted on by Tony Attwood

By Bulldog Drummond

A few of us are lucky and we’re going to at least one of the away games – in our case Leicester City.  But for most today is the end of the era, and it is pleasing to note that not every journalist has lost it, themselves, and everything else at this moment, although some do feel a little lost.

I’d like to quote the entire column from Jonathan Pearce (a writer with whom I don’t always agree) which comes from the BBC’s website this weekend:

“The realisation dawned on my teenagers this week. ‘We’ve never known any other Arsenal manager. We feel lost.’

“They’ve met Arsene. He’s played a big part in their lives – just as he has mine.

“I commentated on his first game in charge at Blackburn in October 1996 and was at Old Trafford for the two wins that sealed titles; I saw cup finals and was there for the end of Highbury and the start of the Emirates. Great memories.

“One hour-long interview was set up with Arsenal. Arsene didn’t know. He said he could give me the normal five minutes. We started talking politics, global warming, his work in Japan. He gave me a 75-minute interview! Highly intelligent, he is also a caring, remarkable man.

“He once said of Japan: ‘It has beautiful things that we have lost in Europe, beautiful things that make life good.’   English football is losing a beautiful mind. We will not see the like again.”

And yes I am with Mr Pearce on that, as with so much else.  And it all seems a bit prosaic to think of Burnley, but of Burnley, today, think we must.  So here’s the last part of the preview series…

We’ve beaten them 50 times but lost 33.   That high number of defeats includes a couple of periods (one in the 1920s, which you will know if you are following the series “Henry Norris at the Arsenal” and another around the time Tottenham won the league, when Burnley and the Tots were fighting it out at the top, and we weren’t.

In the period immediately pre-Chapman we won one against them in nine attempts.  In the late 1950s we lost five against them in a row.   But we have more recently only lost one in the last 14 and that was nearly 10 years ago…

Here are the last 10 meetings…

Date Game Res Score Competition
02 Dec 2008 Burnley v Arsenal L 2-0 League Cup
08 Mar 2009 Arsenal v Burnley W 3-0 FA Cup
16 Dec 2009 Burnley v Arsenal D 1-1 Premier League
06 Mar 2010 Arsenal v Burnley W 3-1 Premier League
01 Nov 2014 Arsenal v Burnley W 3-0 Premier League
11 Apr 2015 Burnley v Arsenal W 0-1 Premier League
30 Jan 2016 Arsenal v Burnley W 2-1 FA Cup
02 Oct 2016 Burnley v Arsenal W 0-1 Premier League
22 Jan 2017 Arsenal v Burnley W 2-1 Premier League
26 Nov 2017 Burnley v Arsenal W 0-1 Premier League

On the other hand the last three games have all been decided by a 90th-minute winner.

As we know, this will be Arsene Wenger’s 606th home match with Arsenal. His first home game was a 0-0 draw against Coventry in October 1996.   On that day, the Burnley manager of today, a Mr Sean Dyche, played in a 1-0 win for Chesterfield against Crewe in a league match.  (The BBC found that one for me – good on their research team).

As for today, we can also note that we have won all 13 home PL games against teams below us in the table this season.    And so for the last home game this season, and the last home game for Mr Wenger ever, we come to the teams.  I will go for

Cech

Bellerin Chambers Mustafi Monreal

Ramsey Xhaka

Mkhitaryan Ozil Aubameyang

Lacazette

The thinking is that Jack still needs a space between games and so is to be saved for one or both of the upcoming away games.  Lacazette has scored seven goals in his last eight appearances for Arsenal in all competitions and thus needs to be playing from the start.

Mavropanos I would expect to get another game this season, but this one is going to be very emotional and it would not be a bad thing to try him further in another away game – probably against Leicester.   Likewise Holding ought to have another outing in at least one of the away games.

Indeed when one looks at the issue of the beach, it is looking like we do have a lot of options:

Ospina or Macey, Holding, Maitland-Niles, Kolasinac, Mavropanos, Mertesacker, Wilshere, Iwobi, Willock, Nelson, Welbeck.

Obviously we’d only have one of Ospina or Macey, so taking that and adding the rest that gives us ten which we have to reduce to seven.  I can’t see the point in putting Mertesacker in front of Mavropanos, and I am not sure Willock or Nelson will be able to express themselves much against a team like Burnley.  So we get down to eight – and since it is all guesswork I’ll leave it at that.

But it does show that there is a fair old squad here, including some who are just graduating, and Elneny, Koscielny and Santi who are injured.  I know there are those who say the whole squad is useless, but I am not at all convinced by that.  And besides, one can’t change the whole squad at once.

That’s it.  Time to head south just one more time.  And speaking of one more time, I’ve added it after the other links.

Arsenal v Burnley: the end of more than an era

Subs from Ospina, Macey, Iliev, Holding, Maitland-Niles, Kolasinac, Mavropanos, Mertesacker, Wilshere, Iwobi, Willock, Nelson, Welbeck

Doubtful None

Injured Cazorla (achilles, unknown), Elneny (ankle ligament, unknown), Koscielny (achilles, unknown)

Suspended None

Discipline Y53 R1

Form WWWLWL

Leading scorer Lacazette 13

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12 Replies to “Arsenal v Burnley. “English football is losing a beautiful mind”. Jonathan Pearce”

  1. Santi trained with the first team this week.
    Wenger gone, Per gone, Santi going…. this really makes me sick….

    Oh and I will probably not be able to write a match report as I am away at one of my children’s home for a birthday party. I hope I get to see the match as our sports channel will give the match live and will even go earlier and stay longer for the goodbye of Wenger. Talking about giving respect!

  2. Let the boys do to Burnley what they failed to do to Athleti.

    This is the only fitting tribute to a great manager at the stadium he helped so selflessly to build, while sacrificing his own pride and chance for personal glory.

    Nothing short of a good win will do.

    Hope the boys are up for that.

  5. I wonder if we will get a report as to whether the t-shirts were still on the seats, or if scum stole them off seats?

    COYG!

  6. If i go for another coffee refill, will PEA/Lacazette score again?

    COYG!

  8. That’s wonderful! Right before halftime, Lacazette scores from Bellerin.

    COYG!

  9. Stats to half time.

    %Cumulative Arsenal Possession
    _5 65
    10 53
    15 60
    20 62
    25 59
    30 61
    35 61
    40 63
    45 63
    45+5 64
    Shots on target 4:0
    _off target _ _ 1:0
    Corners _ _ _ _ 2:1
    Fouls _ _ _ _ _ 2:4
    Yellow _ _ _ _ _0:1
    Goal kicks _ _ _0:3
    Treatments _ _ _6:5

    COYG!

  11. Gord – in the North Bank upper there were no T shirt grabbers. We all got one and wore it with pride & sadness.

    For me it was to say goodbye to the Master of the Beautiful Game. His legacy of a Training ground, a stadium and a team & staff, a host of beautiful moments on the field of play, despite the tilted fields of play, with players that shone like diamonds that were nothing more than dull carbon when they arrived at Arsenal. What a man. What a role model. What a wonderful life’s experience. I never knew how much I loved you until you’ve had to go.

    Thank you for showing me the love of the Game beyond the passion of love for my club Arsenal. Our game, your last game at the home you helped build, showed us some of the beautiful game you brought to the world and to Arsenal.

    Bless you Arsene Wenger.

  12. Bulldog – you have homed in on the quote of the whole occasion for me, “English Football is losing a beautiful mind” . That is , in one pithy line, the truth. Thank you for bringing it to my attention. Jonathan Pearce deserves real credit for that.

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