Untold Arsenal: Supporting the club, the manager and the team
"I believe the target of anything in life should be to do it so well that it becomes an art." A Wenger
by Tony Attwood It might seem a long time ago, but there was a time when every week – often several times a week – when we were told that Arsenal got more injuries than any other team. Indeed more than that, we were told that Arsenal’s injuries were self-inflicted, caused by the prehistoric training …
Read More “Arsenal back at the top of the injury list. But why?”
by Tony Attwood Imagine a criminal justice system in which people who commit a crime get a wrap over the knuckles but get to keep the benefits of their crime. We might think that is not much of a system, because in the end the crime is rewarded. But it seems to be what is …
Read More “Now we can see exactly what a club must do to win the Premier League”
By Tony Attwood And so it has begun. The Express is running a story in which it talks about the need to get rid of Mikel Arteta as manager. This might seem a bit early to run, but as is often noted by criminologists that crimes tend to be committed by people who regularly commit …
Read More “What is it that the recent serial League winners in England have in common?”
By Tony Attwood For reasons which have never quite become clear to me I receive notifications from an app known as AFC live on my phone. And being the sort of service it is, immediately upon the conclusion of the Brighton v Arsenal game the arguing started among other subscribers about what should be done. …
Read More “If Arsenal want to win the League they should break the financial fair play rules”
By Tony Attwood Changing the manager rarely works at Arsenal Nothing is ever certain in football, and there certainly is no way to guarantee success, but it does appear that having an expectation of an immediate upturn in form following the appointment of a new manager (at Arsenal or any other club), is generally going …
Read More “What can Arsenal realistically expect from Arteta’s first season?”
By Bulldog Drummond According to the Daily Mail, the PGMO is “baffled by the explanation from Hawk-Eye after their technology failed to spot a ball going over the line in the recent Sheffield United game. However the claim is that the technology did not malfunction. Hawk-Eye said the Goal Decision System’s seven cameras were obscured …
by Bulldog Drummond Brighton have been on a very poor run since the start of the year, and although they might have been expected to lose to Chelsea, a home cup defeat to Sheffield Wednesday, and home draws with Aston Villa and Watford show a decline in confidence as well as form. Date Game Res …
Read More “Brighton v Arsenal: what past results and form tell us about this afternoon”
By Tony Attwood The headline in the Daily Mail announces, “Saudi Arabia should have no role in the future of UK sport’: Newcastle’s proposed £300m takeover must be BLOCKED, MP tells government over breaches of international piracy laws.” Maybe so, maybe not. But whatever happened to an MP saying, “England should have no role to …
Read More “MP stance on football should fill us all with disgust”
The Slavery Files Sepp Blatter hit with new corruption charges as Fifa condone slave labour If all lives matter, if slavery is unacceptable, what is the FA doing about Qatar? Uefa has suggested that the transfer window should close on October 5 and not at the end of August as planned, because of the coronavirus …
Read More “Transfer chart reaches 110 played tipped to be coming to Arsenal!”
by Tony Attwood One of the main effects of football commentary on radio, TV and in newspapers has been to make football seem simple. Anyone can see at once what is wrong and how it needs to be put right. And everyone can – except the manager. As a result of this view, every mistake …
Read More “Will any player ever want to sign for Arsenal after headlines like this?”
By Tony Attwood A story which has appeared in the New York Times, and many other publications is saying that a trusted adviser to the owner of Manchester City is a key person in discussions relating to the take over of Newcastle United by Saudi Arabia’s sovereign wealth fund. Now Manchester City is involved as …
Read More “Who is suing whom over the Newcastle / Saudi affair? Answer: everyone”
By Tony Attwood It is strange how the discussions that go on in the media in Europe can be so very different from those in England. For example, at the moment there is a discussion going on about the morality of asking players to have their salaries cut during the current crisis. Into this debate …
Read More “The transfer paradox: how expert knowledge in football became worthless”
By Tony Attwood Last night I saw a comment saying that Arsenal would not get anywhere under the Kroenke ownership because the Kroenke’s would not spend any money. My immediate reaction to this was that it was quite untrue, and that the current owners had in fact exceeded expectations (or certainly my expectations) in terms …
Read More “Just how wasteful has Arsenal’s transfer policy been? Here’s the answer.”
The starting line up was as below but we made two changes during the first half… Leno Bellerin Mustafi Mari Tierney Xhaka Guendouzi Willock Abuameyang Nketiah Saka No one predicted that! So with Now TV not giving me what they tell me I have paid for I move over to Arsenal TV and what …
Read More “Not a very good first half. Thank goodness for Leno – it could have been worse”
By Bulldog Drummond Additional note: Thought I would watch it on Now TV with a day pass. £9.99. Clicked on the link on their site, credit card at the ready, and what do I get? Oops something went wrong Sorry, something went wrong at our end, please refresh this page to continue. Glad to see …
Read More “Team Predictions for Man City v Arsenal, recent form and a Newcastle bid”
By Bulldog Drummond If the feeling in Europe is right and that home advantage doesn’t really work any more then, the historic home and away form analysis that Untold has run before matches for years, will be of little interest. But I’d like to see a couple of games in the Premier League before agreeing …
Read More “Manchester City v Arsenal. Looking for a 0-3 victory.”
By Bulldog Drummond In a piece yesterday the New York Times revealed that “Since the German league resumed on May 16, there have been only 11 home wins — or 20% — and 28 away wins (50.9%) from 55 games. Home wins accounted for more than 40% of results in the Bundesliga before the break.” Teeth must really have been gritted at the Daily Mail’s football …
Read More “Man City v Arsenal: let the press negativity and referee bias recommence”
By Tony Attwood If you have been with Untold Arsenal for a while, you will know that in my writing I rather like the notion of proof, evidence, logic and data, instead of simple assertion and rumour. Transfer stories are of course the home of rumour, and the stupidity of them is that on average …
Read More “Oh yes he did oh no he didn’t. The statistical discussion about football statistics”
By Sir Hardly Anyone Oh yes, Arsenal are truly on the move now with players coming to the club so fast it is impossible to keep up with them all. Here are the details, roll up roll up, get your new (and old) transfer rumours here). 1: Upamecano This transfer story of the Leipzig centre-back …
Read More “14 Arsenal amazing transfer deals being highlighted this week”
By Tony Attwood Of course you may have missed what is going on if you are in the UK, as British papers don’t like reporting the difficulties Fifa are in, in case someone wakes up to the fact that the stadia in Qatar are being built using slave labour. A bit embarrassing when the streets …
Read More “Sepp Blatter hit with new corruption charges as Fifa condone slave labour”
TODAY: An audience with Mark Pougatch – live I have been mentioning the Arsenal Independent Supporters Association (AISA) on line meeting with journalist Mark Pougatch for a couple of days. And now we’ve arrived at the event… it is happening tonight, and is open to all AISA members. If you are an AISA member you …
Read More “Who in the PL spends more on wages than they earn from all sources?”
By Tony Attwood Qatar was awarded the World cup in 2010. Evidence that has emerged since then suggests very strongly indeed that the award was rigged. One suggestion among many is that al-Jazeera (since then renamed beIN Sports) had signed a TV contract that included a $100m fee to be paid to Fifa if it …
Read More “If all lives matter, if slavery is unacceptable, what is the FA doing about Qatar?”
By Tony Attwood As you might have noticed, of late Untold has been focusing quite a lot on how ghost games (or games “behind closed doors” as the English media love to call them) produce different results from those played in front of crowds. In short away teams do much better without a crowd. …
Read More “Without crowds, away teams do much better. So what will the ref do to Arsenal?”
By Tony Attwood Here is a very simple contrast. Statues of men who made their money out of the slave trade many many years ago are being pulled down. But football playing nations are continuing to work towards a world cup in which the stadia are still being built by men who are effectively slaves. …
Read More “British media universally continues to support modern slavery”
By Sir Hardly Anyone The Prelims:… An audience with Mark Pougatch – live Arsenal Independent Supporters Association (AISA), which I have mentioned many a time before, as I am a member, is inviting all its members to an audience with Mark Pougatch. Mark Pougatch, the TV and radio football broadcast journalist is also an Arsenal …
Read More “Arsenal try to sign the player who replaced Pepe at Lille as hysteria strikes.”
