There is something strange going on with football defences and it might be worth noting what it is.

I am aware that some correspondents are finding their comments put into moderation, even though they have been commenting unhindered on Untold for a long time.  I think it might be something to do with the new arrangements put in place as a result of the advent of GDPR in Europe, and I am trying …

Why are Arsenal suddenly getting interested in the older generation of players?

By Sir Hardly Anyone. So now we know.    Or at least we think we know.  Or at least some people are saying, the first transfer of the New Era will be Sokratis Papastathopoulos and he will cost £16m from Borussia Dortmund.   He’s 29.  Quite why Sven Mislintat, the head of recruitment, likes old men we’re …

To What Extent Should Malicious Tackles Be Accepted As Part Of The Game.

By Rich Ade-Alao    If I may answer the question in the headline, they are not acceptable. A malicious tackle is crude, classless, and an untrue reflection of the game the fans or neutral fans would wish to watch. If real football with true talents and full passion is going to be salvaged from the imminent …

That question of negative runs: Klopp, Tottenham and who has won what

By Tony Attwood I was fascinated by a newspaper comment today that read “Klopp who has over-achieved. But he has also now lost six successive finals,” as it took me back to an issue we recently debated. Wenger in his 22 years at Arsenal lost three League Cup, one FA Cup and Champions League final.  …

Can Arsenal Regain Their Momentum Under Emery?

GUEST ARTICLE Accident Claims for Untold Arsenal Can Arsenal Regain Their Momentum Under Emery? Arsenal have just had one of their worst seasons for many years ending up in sixth place. Although they made it to the final of the League Cup they missed out on all the domestic trophies apart from the Community Shield …

Arsenal’s squad for next season, including home grown and under 21 status.

Figures by Andrew Crawshaw.  Interpretation and vague meanderings by Tony Attwood Below is the list of the 28 players currently logged as being in Arsenal’s first team who will count as over 21 for next season. Because it always brings a bit of debate each summer, the detail of the “over 21” malarkey is that …

Can Unai Emery Reinvigorate Arsenal?

GUEST ARTICLE Legal Expert for Untold Arsenal Can Unai Emery Reinvigorate Arsenal? There is no denying that Arsenal have had a pretty dismal season with the Community Shield the only silverware they have managed to claim. It’s been a long time since the glory days under Arsene Wenger. Although European triumph has eluded him, under …

How far do repeated negative appraisals of a team by the media affect players and fans?

By Sir Hardly Anyone My little job on Untold, as you may have noticed over the past few years, is to write about what the media say about Arsenal.   Some people then write to the site saying we have far too much coverage of the media here, and others suggest I am an idiot, but …

Arsenal women: the players and what can we expect next season?

A review of the women’s league season, by Andrew Crawshaw This is part four of our major review of Arsenal Women’s season; the final part of the series.  Previously we have published Part one: the review of the league season Part two: Two cup finals in one season Part three: Arsenal women in the FA Cup …

Is Arsenal really going to bring Lucas Perez back into the first team?

By Tony Attwood The first time I heard the story that Lucas Perez could be brought back from his series of loans to be part of the first team squad for 2018/9 I really couldn’t believe it.   But that tale has started popping up all over the place – which either means an awful lot …

Arsenal women in the FA Cup 2018, from Yeovil to Wembley

This is part three of our major review of Arsenal Women’s season. Previously we have published Part one: the review of the league season Part two: Two cup finals in one season So onto our review of the Women’s FA Cup This was played as a straight knockout competition open to all Women’s clubs in …

Ramsey, Wilshere and Lacazette to leave in huge Arsenal shake up?

An Untold History in the Making   Historians on occasion report all-art war on the battlefield or through the missiles being dropped as being preceded by a phoney war in which each side launches its vast array of propaganda and bluster, but no one gets killed.  The name became a particularly common expression for the …

Arsenal women: two cup finals in one season

Part two of our review of the women’s league season, by Andrew Crawshaw Part one can be found here. So as we saw in the earlier part of this summary we had three managers during the season – here is a summary of their league results:- Played Won Drawn Lost For Against Pedro Losa 3 1 …

The 70 players now tipped join Arsenal and the transfer window isn’t even open

By Sir Hardly Anyone This is the third summer in which we have kept a record of many of the players who are tipped to join Arsenal when the transfer window opens. Several interesting pointers of late.  First, although there was a little bit of a slow down once while we waited to find out …

How Arsenal will line up under Emery and the ten players he is going to sign

By Sir Hardly Anyone New names new tactics, that is always the promise of the new manager, but of course it never makes sense to undertake a total revolution all at once.   So the suggestion in the Express that Mr Emery is going to build his Arsenal team around Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang and Aaron Ramsey is interesting …

Why people who argue for a new defence at Arsenal are missing the point

By Tony Attwood There has been some commentary recently about why Arsenal had their worst season in 20+ years in the League and FA Cup last season.   A few people argue it was down to an individual player or two, some cite the entire defence and some cite the management. I personally find all such …

How Emery fits into the tradition of appointing Arsenal managers

By Tony Attwood So Manuel Pellegrini is the new West Ham manager and Arsenal have done their usual trick of keeping everyone guessing.  In fact Arsenal do it so well that even those people trying to write stories about how Arsenal often do the unexpected find themselves stumbling around the club’s history grasping at straws. In …

Emery dismissed as useless, Santi Caz a traitor, Pochettino’s managerial triumphs

Untold Media: how the different “outlets” reported the decision to appoint Emery Seeing what the media did in response to the news that they had been quite wrong in suggesting Arteta’s move to Arsenal was done and dusted is quite illuminating, as the media has immediately divided into camps. But interestingly, none of the drainpipes, …

So not Arteta after all. It looks like Dick Emery, or maybe that’s just my poor eyesight.

By the Untold Arsenal Managerial Executive Committee & Bif the dog. . And if you don’t get the headline don’t worry.  It’s a very English joke that Blacksheep came up with. . Anyway. the man from PSG is apparently coming to Arsenal after Arteta blew his chances by demanding total control of transfers in the …

Mr Abramovich, the new stadium, Wembley, and stuff.

By The Arsenal Speculator You will of course have heard about Mr Abramovich and his trouble with getting a visa which would allow him to live in England.   The general consensus seems to be for the moment that this could be part of a broader process of checking by UK banks to see if they …

Total control and total dominance can work, but in the end innovation in football suffers

by The Arsenal Philosopher. When Arsenal invited Arsene Wenger to manage the club, they knew what they were getting – a man who exercised total control over everything in the club, from the menus to the transfers, from the design of the academy to who to give young player contracts to. And now there is …

Arsenal is full of people who really don’t want to be there, and there’s nothing I can do about it.

By Tony Attwood I see that Arsenal Fan TV won an award at the Football Blogging Awards, which I suppose might just tell us something about where we are. I suppose for me it is a bit like giving an advertising award to a company that make daily, “hello I believe you were involved in …

Mikel Arteta resigns as Arsenal manager

By Tony Attwood In a move that has taken the football world by surprise Mikel Arteta has resigned as Arsenal manager only days before he (or possibly Thierry Henry) was due to be announced as the new manager. In a statement the man who played 110 games for Arsenal said, “A certain expert football analyst …

Arsenal are said to be trying to find new defenders. Why age could be an issue.

By Tony Attwood You can’t read a transfer rumour about Arsenal without the issue of defenders coming up.   One is retiring, one is out injured for the rest of the year and one (or is that two?) are useless.  So we desperately need defenders by the shed load. I’m not sure what the general opinion …

Fifa aims for greater control of football with new summer club competition

by Tony Attwood It was only a few weeks ago that Arsène Wenger suggested that a European Super League was on the way.  In saying that he made the point that one way for the Premier League to respond might be to cut itself to 16 teams. That would leave Manchester City as champions for …