by Bulldog Drummond
The knocking copy continues day after day, hour after hour, and the effect on the club, its players, its supporters and its manager can only be negative – I find it hard to see how any of the stuff written say how useless the players are, how out of his depth the manager is, and how it will be a total disaster if we bring in this or that specific new manager, can do anyone in the club any good.
Nor can it encourage any outsiders to come to the club. They must be thinking, “if that is what it is all about at Arsenal, what is the point of getting involved?” I am sure they will be thinking it would be better simply to wait until a more stable, less fractious and above all less angry club comes along with a vacancy.
Indeed I suspect many managers who are looking for a new club would sooner go to a club further down the league than come into this sort of negativity.
Of course those who perpetrate the negative stories by repeating them add to the problem and this is the issue that so many writers fail to appreciate. For example Football365 said recently “Whatever faith is placed in idle, media room chit-chat is secondary, though. What matters is that Arsenal’s performances seem to confirm those suspicions.” They won’t consider the possibility that the “idle media room chit-chat” is a cause of Arsenal’s problems. Virtually no writers and publishers ever do.
But then that site, looking at our opponents today, Manchester City, say of that club, “What’s wrong with them? Who knows,” which doesn’t take us much further forward in our quest for understanding.
Well, maybe it is our job as commentators to try and come up with an answer to questions like that, rather than just say that this team has this problem and that team has that problem.
Indeed the question “Why?” is one of the most important in the language, and has been at the heart of most of the progress our civilisation has made across the last 500 years – at least when people answer it and come up with evidence or theory to support their answer.
But meanwhile the games go on and have to be played, and the reality is that not too much is wrong with Manchester City. To assume otherwise could be dangerous. Here are their recent results.
| Date | Game | Res |
Score | Competition |
| 06 Nov | Atalanta v Manchester City | D | 1-1 | Champions League |
| 10 Nov | Liverpool v Manchester City | L | 3-1 | Premier League |
| 23 Nov | Manchester City v Chelsea | W | 2-1 | Premier League |
| 26 Nov | Manchester City v Shakhtar Donetsk | D | 1-1 | Champions League |
| 30 Nov | Newcastle United v Manchester City | D | 2-2 | Premier League |
| 03 Dec | Burnley v Manchester City | W | 1-4 | Premier League |
| 03 Dec | Shrewsbury Town v Manchester City | W | 1-1 (5-6) | FL Trophy |
| 07 Dec | Manchester City v Manchester United | L | 1-2 | Premier League |
| 11 Dec | Dinamo Zagreb v Manchester City | W | 1-4 | Champions League |
Actually the results don’t look very bad to me – yes a home defeat to Manchester United and away to Liverpool, but otherwise, it looks very solid.
Our concern of course is their away form and this record is good by any standards – five wins out of eight and a goal difference of plus 11 – that is no mean away performance. Here is the top of the league table with away games only.
| Team | P | W | D | L | F | A | GD | Pts | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Liverpool | 8 | 7 | 1 | 0 | 16 | 5 | 11 | 22 |
| 2 | Leicester City | 8 | 5 | 1 | 2 | 21 | 6 | 15 | 16 |
| 3 | Manchester City | 8 | 5 | 1 | 2 | 22 | 11 | 11 | 16 |
| 4 | Chelsea | 8 | 5 | 0 | 3 | 20 | 17 | 3 | 15 |
| 5 | Sheffield United | 8 | 2 | 6 | 0 | 10 | 7 | 3 | 12 |
Our home record has of course slipped, not helped by the dismissal of the manager, and the ceaseless sniping of the media and alleged “supporters”. Here is Arsenal (and the rest) with thee league table for home games only…
| Team | P | W | D | L | F | A | GD | Pts | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Liverpool | 8 | 8 | 0 | 0 | 24 | 9 | 15 | 24 |
| 2 | Leicester City | 8 | 7 | 1 | 0 | 18 | 4 | 14 | 22 |
| 3 | Tottenham Hotspur | 8 | 5 | 2 | 1 | 19 | 7 | 12 | 17 |
| 4 | Manchester City | 8 | 5 | 1 | 2 | 22 | 8 | 14 | 16 |
| 5 | Manchester United | 8 | 4 | 3 | 1 | 15 | 8 | 7 | 15 |
| 6 | Chelsea | 8 | 4 | 2 | 2 | 11 | 7 | 4 | 14 |
| 7 | Arsenal | 8 | 3 | 4 | 1 | 14 | 12 | 2 | 13 |
The four draws is just what one would expect from a team that is nervous playing in front of its own supporters, as the players increasingly worry about getting booed and jeered by their own fans.
Players can of course avoid watching or reading the media, but the one thing you can’t avoid is the sound of the crowd.
Indeed a goal difference at home of +2 at home shows just how nervous Arsenal now are at home. In this regard (goal difference) we are equal with the likes of Newcastle United and Brighton and Hove Albion.
WE approach this game with two players out for lengthy periods. Tierney for a dislocated shoulder that was almost a deliberate assault by Antonio on his arm. I saw it on live TV. Why did VAR not see it or review it after Tierney wen down? It is a shameful lack of sporting conduct by the PGMOL and their manning of the VAR station.
The Cresswell scissor tackle on Pepe was another red card offence that was not even seen as a yellow card offence. Pepe has a twisted knee with ligament damage. Yes it is Mike Dean the dancing diva with the PGMOL that didn’t see anything wrong with those career threatening tackles.
How can Arsenal allow this kind of officiating to gom without comment and public outcry. The PGMOL must not be allowed the freedom to drive the game into disrepute aided and abetted by a corrupt media.
I’d just like to say that if you try, if you really, really try you can make direct contact with Mike Riley & PGMO via a back door route that isn’t illegal but one which requires a bit of skilled work.
So if any of you bleeding hearts have hacking skills give it a try.
@Menace,
right on. The deafening silence of Arsenal management/owners is something I do not understand
A little detail on the negativity and its spread, Following the last round of the Women’s Continental cup the BBC did a round up of results article. Having beaten Brentford 9 – 0, the highest score of the round Arsenal did not feature in bold text as every other club did in the article. It could well have been the time to review our incredible scoring in the competition with an 11 – 1 in the previous round but no. Not even our women’s team get equal treatment from the media.
How would you expect any debate about the pigmob? Dean is clearly seen live on tv singing “I’m forever blowing bubbles” prior to the handshakes pre- game and not an eyebrow was raised never mind the obvious question of neutrality that comes with singing the home club’s anthem. It was clear what would and did take place as he tried to eliminate Pepe from the Cit- eh match. Move along said the cheque receivers, move along. I want to keep my pretty free entry press pass, move along. I wish to remain spineless, please let me kiss the correct body part and will not report on the game without an agenda. We must start calling these low life idiots what they truly are.