By Tony Attwood
As you will know we have won seven League, Europa League and League Cup games in a row. Or just in case you didn’t know here’s the list…
| Date | Game | Res | Score | Competition |
| 25 Aug 2018 | Arsenal v West Ham United | W | 3-1 | Premier League |
| 02 Sep 2018 | Cardiff City v Arsenal | W | 2-3 | Premier League |
| 12 Sep 2018 | Coventry City v Arsenal | W | 0-3 | Football League Trophy |
| 15 Sep 2018 | Newcastle United v Arsenal | W | 1-2 | Premier League |
| 20 Sep 2018 | Arsenal v Vorskla Poltava | W | 4-2 | UEFA Europa League |
| 23 Sep 2018 | Arsenal v Everton | W | 2-0 | Premier League |
| 26 Sep 2018 | Arsenal v Brentford | W | 3-1 | League Cup |
| 29 Sep 2018 | Arsenal v Watford | W | 2-0 | Premier League |
OK, so now you have just seen that this actually shows eight wins because I have included the Checkatrade Trophy game, largely because Ian and I were there with the shaking hands with Tony Adams and Per Mert.
In fact, we are hoping to go to the Leicester under 23 game on Monday and if we win that I might include that as well. (Although if we don’t win I’ll say that was a silly idea and obviously shouldn’t be included.).
Taking out the Trophy game we have scored 19 goals in seven games. And conceded seven.
Not bad going, so I am sure you expect the media to be fully appreciative of this upturn and expect also this change in newspaper and bloggetta bot attitude to continue in the weeks to come. But no, that would be silly. The Guardian for example says…
“The feeling persists that Arsenal’s attacking groove still needed some polishing, with most of their recent results dependent on flashes of forward play rather than a clearly defined strategy.”
That is of course just their feeling, but cleverly presented in a way that makes it look like established fact, as they continue, “Blending the talents of Alexandre Lacazette and Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang – with Aaron Ramsey and Özil playmaking behind them – sometimes feels a bit too freeform.”
So no strategy then. Except signing creative geniuses who make this happen. But whoever heard of that??? No it must be just pure chance.
And they were not alone in putting down Arsenal’s seven in a row. As the Telegraph chimed in with “Unlucky Watford undone by two late goals as Arsenal continue winning streak”. And a mention perhaps of the penalty that Arsenal should have had right near the start.
Actually yes, although the Guardian, resolute in its utter anti-Arsenal style and approach ignores that penalty claim, yet as the Telegraph says, “The game would surely have been very different if Lacazette had been awarded the fifth minute penalty he deserved. The Arsenal striker had run beyond Christian Kabalese and clearly been impeded by the Watford centre-back but, having stayed on his feet and attempted still to run down the ball, did not have his honesty rewarded by referee Anthony Taylor.”
Well no, of course not. Had he done so it would have been headline news for a month.
The Mail focuses on the flop that is (in their view) Ramsey announcing, “The game developed around him and, for the most part, without him entirely.
“Granit Xhaka and Lucas Torreira pulled the strings, and Alexandre Lacazette, Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang and Mesut Ozil tried to unpick Watford’s tight backline, Ramsey occupied the centre of the pitch yet operated almost exclusively on the game’s periphery.”
That isn’t a bad review, but less we get carried away there is the Daily “baby’s toy spotted on Mars” Express with the headline, “Mustafi and Ramsey infuriating, Holding and Leno shine.” They do however have another word of praise for Rob Holding saying that he, “Took his chance with both hands, providing a calming presence in central defence alongside the erratic Mustafi.”
(That would have been handball, so best not take it literally).
Of Xhaka, the man who was so successful with his number of passes last season, they added, “Showed a much better range of passing than has been on display recently, and brought the best out of Ben Foster with a fierce drive. Kept trying to push Arsenal forward as the game drifted and one of the Gunners’ better performers on the day.”
Blimey. Mind you they gave Ramsey 3 out of 10. And no one mentioned that we were playing a side that was currently in the top six, and who had themselves gone on a five match winning run, including beating the unbeatable Tiny totts who as we know from the media cannot be beaten because they are the Tiny Totts.
So how does this leave the table? Here’s the top ten.
| Pos | Team | P | W | D | L | F | A | GD | Pts |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Manchester Money | 7 | 6 | 1 | 0 | 21 | 3 | 18 | 19 |
| 2 | Liverpool! | 7 | 6 | 1 | 0 | 15 | 3 | 12 | 19 |
| 3 | Chelsea | 7 | 5 | 2 | 0 | 15 | 5 | 10 | 17 |
| 4 | Tottenham Nomads | 7 | 5 | 0 | 2 | 14 | 7 | 7 | 15 |
| 5 | Arsenal | 7 | 5 | 0 | 2 | 14 | 9 | 5 | 15 |
| 6 | Watford | 7 | 4 | 1 | 2 | 11 | 8 | 3 | 13 |
| 7 | Leicester City | 7 | 4 | 0 | 3 | 13 | 10 | 3 | 12 |
| 8 | Wolverhampton Wanderers | 7 | 3 | 3 | 1 | 8 | 6 | 2 | 12 |
| 9 | AFC Bournemouth | 6 | 3 | 1 | 2 | 10 | 11 | -1 | 10 |
| 10 | Manchester Untidy | 7 | 3 | 1 | 3 | 10 | 12 | -2 | 10 |
Two goals behind the Tiny Totts in fourth. Not too bad as we were being written off after two games with some people publishing league tables at that point.
Mind you the Nomads have only played two home games, and have won one and lost one. And no one is mentioning the wholly false promises made to the League about the completion date of wonderful New WHL. Their punishment for not meeting their obligations? Nuffink.
Of course the Tinies are top of the away game league because they have played so many away games. But more to the point, in three games away from Arsenal Stadium we have won two, which is half the number won last season.
Now if you recall, Untold’s prediction was that we would enter the top four if we could return to our average away performance of previous years. And we are sure on the way to doing that…
Away matches only
| Pos | Team | P | W | D | L | F | A | GD | Pts |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Tottenham Hotspur | 5 | 4 | 0 | 1 | 10 | 4 | 6 | 12 |
| 2 | Liverpool | 4 | 3 | 1 | 0 | 7 | 3 | 4 | 10 |
| 3 | Manchester City | 3 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 8 | 1 | 7 | 7 |
| 4 | Chelsea | 3 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 5 | 1 | 4 | 7 |
| 5 | Crystal Palace | 3 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 4 | 2 | 2 | 6 |
| 6 | Arsenal | 3 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 7 | 6 | 1 | 6 |
As for Ramsey, Caught offside (a web site) writes that, “This certainly does seem like poor organisation from Arsenal, who have a habit in recent times of allowing players to get into the final year of their contracts, thus harming their negotiating position significantly.”
Well, what examples do you have, and how do they compare with the transfer of shall we say Robin van P? In the real world, not the make-believe fantasy of Caught offside, the situation is fluid. We got Bellerin and Fabregas from Barcelona for nothing because of the way the system works. We exchanged Alexis for Mkhitaryan and got by far the better of that deal. What makes them think we won’t do the same again?
But of course there are always multiple worries about Arsenal. Foot Lond, bot users supreme with their 40 posts a day, state that, “With the wage bill at over £200 million a year and without Champions League football, Arsenal are struggling to be a profit making business right now – unless they sell players.”
And the evidence? Oh, they seem to have forgotten to print that bit. Much be a technical blip.
Let’s try another one. “Morgan reacts to Arsenal’s 2-0 win over Watford on Twitter”. That is an actual headline in Red London. And what did the old farrago P Morgan say? “Seven consecutive League/Cup wins for Arsenal. Nice work.” Wow. I am so glad they made an entire story out of that. (Actually guys, you need to re-program those bots of yours, they have a mind of their own.)
One more to finish? OK here we go:
“WW3 date REVEALED? ‘Time traveller’ makes shock claim about world-changing conflict”
The Daily Star.
You know it makes sense. Or not as the case may be.
New today from the Arsenal History Society…
December 1926: Henry Norris takes on the FA with no holds barred
Though Lacazette did not go down,I have seen penalties given.A less tolerant ref would probably blow for a spot kick.
What this shows is it doesn’t pay to be honest.You never know some of these guys in black delight in penalizing Arsenal.
Some of the gunners were physically bullied. Thats why I believe we shd go back to Veiras time when the gunners were strong,tall and were a match for any bully.
Hopefully the new boss will bear this in mind if he wants to get new players.
Tony
Nice roundup
The big disadvantage of living in Eastern Canada as an Arsenal fanatic is that I obviously had to relinquish my Arsenal season ticket. However, one advantage because the sports channels here use the Premiership as fillers for breakfast and morning offerings is that I actually see every Arsenal game home and away.
I have never (well for a few years) understood what Ramsey offers apart from a great season five or so years ago. He is a poor defender and hardly an imposing presence unlike his games for Wales. Time to say goodbye and use a much stronger looking Iwobi.
Also no doubt Bellerin is a very ‘iffy’ defender although he tends to make up for this by his forward runs. But they do leave great holes that can be exploited.
Very good to see Holding play well, I hope Bould now has the room to do some coaching to young defenders.
Our local library is a hang out for a died in the wool Spurs supporter from Hackney. I often print out points you make about the economics of building a new stadium. Although I thought it was past time that Wenger left the club his greatest triumph could well be not trophies but his stewardship of the club in the transition to the Emirates. For that he really does deserve a statue.
Talking of if the manger wants to get new players, but when? In the next Jan window? If so, what of him getting the pacey Isaac Success from Watford in January and work on him thereafter to improve on his game to become a better player for Arsenal?
On the current Arsenal laudable 7 match winning run which will become much laudable after they’ve extended it to 12 run – Qarabag, Fulham, Liecester, Sporting, Palace and Blackpool. All 5 winnable before hosting Liverpool to further extend it to 13 run which will force the Arsenal Titles win doubters to start having a rethink on their scepticism on Arsenal Titles win this season.
Sorry for the error making in my last comment posting. Actually, it should be 13 match winning run to Arsenal after they’ve beaten Qarabag, Fulham, Liecester, Sporting, Palace and Blackpool in 6 winnable Cup and League matches before extending their run to 14 in all games after beating Liverpool in a big game at the Ems in the PL which will give Arsenal 9 game winning run in the PL at that stage.
Thinking about this run of wins. While we are tied on points with the spuds, and only behind them on goal difference, think back to our game against Chel$ea. Had we of tied that game, we would be ahead of the spuds and Chel$ea on points in 3rd place, 3 points off the lead.
So, things aren’t that bad.
“Had we of tied that game”. Sorry, I don’t understand this English sentence. Perhaps it can be explained to me. I think tie or tied the game means draw game. And to of tied it, should mean not draw it? But anyway Arsenal lost to Chelsea 3-2 at the Bridge in week No. 2 in the PL this season. They did not tie or play a draw match there.
Of course, had Arsenal won the match, they would have been on 18 points by now and 3rd in the table and above Spurs on 15 points who are on 4th. But if wishes are horses, they say, beggars will ride in paradise. Hmmm. Unfortunately they can’t ride in paradise because it’s only wishes. Goals difference counts, that’s the reason Spurs are currently above us in the table. If it were to be PL Title win decider, Spurs will win the Title. Arsenal must endeavour to be scoring many goals in their games in the PL but concede not more than 1 goal on a day they don’t keep a clean sheet in their games this season. For, if it boils down to goals difference to decide who sit in a position in the table, Arsenal should not be caught short missing to sit in the position.
Possibly not English, might be a Canadian or North American definition. To draw a game (same score) is the same (to me) as to tie a game (same score).