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 We used to have lots of people writing in saying that the start of one season was the worst start ever for Arsenal. In the end it went on and on so much, and I started to be accused of “not facing facts” and “trying to cover up Wenger’s failings” so much, …
by Tony Attwood Jack’s pass to Alexis last night was a moment to behold; a moment of sublime football which can be viewed over and over again (at least by me, even if by no one else); an utter delight. To my mind (and of course it is just my view) it is the sort …
Read More “Back from the palace and its the same old same old: Knock, knock, knock, kncko, konck”
by Bulldog Drummond Continuing our review of the stats from games this season, Palace have 38 yellow cards this season (Arsenal have 27) and neither club has had a player sent off yet. But they are third in the table when it comes to tackles – they undertake 18.1 tackles per game – only Chelsea and …
Read More “Palace due for a long wait before beating Arsenal again”
By Bulldog Drummond In the last eight games (all in the League) Palace have pulled themselves together under Roy Hodgson… Date Game Res Score Competition 18 Nov 2017 Crystal Palace v Everton D 2-2 Premier League 25 Nov 2017 Crystal Palace v Stoke City W 2-1 Premier League 28 Nov 2017 Brighton and Hove v …
Read More “Crystal Palace v Arsenal; what the stats of this season predict for the result”
By Tony Attwood Very sorry for lack of anything on Untold today, and delay in clearing comments held in moderation. If you’ve followed us for a while you might recall I live in the East Midlands, where not only have we had a tiddly bit of snow but also a total snarl up on the …
by Tony Attwood Rumour mongering used to be a world of shadows – suggestions, ideas, half-hidden notions. But now, not only is everything out in the open but also we have a hierarchy of rumours. All the journalists and bloggetta scribblers know how this works, but they like to keep it quiet from their readership so …
Read More “There are no more shadows: your guide to the ways in which journalists predict transfers”
By Sir Hardly Anyone And what a fabulous night at the Sweet FA it was. As the representative of Oakham and Rutland Football Association, one of the oldest FAs in the country I was delighted to join in the big bash at Wembley Stadium. The speeches, although largely incoherent were spectacular. And the entertainment supplied …
Read More “A report from the FA’s Christmas Eve party at Wembley Stadium”
By Tony Attwood You might know that aside from publishing Untold Arsenal I also publish the website of the AISA Arsenal History Society. That site began in 2009, and it has over time worked to correct some of the errors and omissions that appear in various books and websites that deal with Arsenal’s history. Indeed …
Read More “Perhaps this a moment to pause and contemplate where we have come from”
By Tony Attwood Every few months the media does its thing about which is the most expensive team to support. Arsenal usually come out on top and then for a few months we have readers writing in claiming that Arsenal has the most expensive entrance prices in world football. It’s a favourite filler of the …
Read More “Football is built on a feudal state and we need to be aware of what that means”
by Tony Attwood There is a headline that I saw on Yahoo! Sport today which reads, “Arsenal 3-3 Liverpool: Both sides showcase obvious flaws in a classic” which intrigued me. If, as the writer says, the flaws in each side were “obvious”, the question arises: why don’t the two managers correct these obvious flaws? That …
Read More “Revealed: the secretive group who could build a perfect team, but refuse to do so”
By Tony Attwood Just having a quick scout around the interblogwebnet thing this morning I found this little gem on a Liverpolo site “The shot that led to Granit Xhaka’s goal had a xG of 0.02. Which means that it had a one in 50 chance of going in. One. In. Fifty. And instead of …
Read More “Why being at a football match makes it all so very different”
By Bulldog Drummond I’ve just been told that my new glasses are available at the opticians, which means if I leave for the match in good time (like 2pm) I can pick them up before driving through the undoubtedly solid motorway system to London for tonight’s game. What a totally stupid night for a football …
Read More “Ox in the box. Arsenal v Liverpool, Arsenal never change except when they change”
By Bulldog Drummond To begin with the Dennis news, as you may have heard, Ajax have sacked Dennis Bergkamp as assistant to Marcel Keizer (who has also been given the shove) after a cup defeat to FC Twente. Dennis had been a coach at Ajax since August 2011. Ajax are second in the Eredivisie and were …
TOO MUCH OF A GOOD THING byDon McMahon What is a referee’s authority and what are his or her checks and balances that ensure he/she will do the job with integrity, firmness and fairness? Law 5 provides the framework for the referee’s limits of authority and gives the restraints concerning the application of the laws …
Read More “Too much of a good thing? Why referees need the final say in any decision, even with VAR”
By Bulldog Drummond. When I speak of “fortune telling” I mean of course my regular attempts to predict what will happen in each Arsenal game as it comes along. And aside from just wanting to win, I think the system we’ve been looking at this season is doing quite well. By this I mean something …
Read More “Arsenal v Liverpool! The fortune telling programme that predicts results quite well.”
By Tony Attwood What would you do if you were running an organisation that was wholly and utterly corrupt at every level, but which was very much in the public gaze? Of course you might have a few clever plans up your sleeve, but I suspect one of your main activities would be the replacement …
by Tony Attwood It was about nine months that the headlines rang out with the news “Premier League and PGMO split over referees’ final say in video rulings” The Telegraph told us “The Premier League and its referees’ organisation are still undecided over whether the introduction of video assistant referees (VARs) will involve the on-field …
Read More “Whatever happened to the idea of having a video referee system in the Premier League?”
By Tony Attwood 7,000 West Ham supporters filled up their allocated places along two thirds of the Clock End and the south east corner – an excellent show of away commitment to their club. Some Arsenal fans, however, seem to have had more than enough of late – or at least until Friday – for …
Read More “What matters most, the crowd or the result? And not being selected match after match”
by Bulldog Drummond Almost time to set off in the car, but before I go, here’s the final instalment of news about the game tonight. In terms of injuries Physioroom shows us this Pos Club Total men down Last man down What happened 1 Watford 8 K Femenia Hamstring Injury 2 Liverpool 6 D Sturridge …
Read More “Arsenal v West Ham. The possible Arsenal line up”
By Bulldog Drummond Our reviews of the possibilities in this match have reached the conclusion that both teams will put out their second XI, although in West Ham’s case, because they don’t have the strength in depth that Arsenal have they will include a modest number of first team players. Looking at the results of …
Read More “It should be Arsenal II v West Ham II. And Arsenal should win, but…”
By Bulldog Drummond Let’s look at West Ham’s under 23 side and its results, as the members of this squad will, I suspect, make up some of the team against Arsenal, although of course there is always the chance that WHAM will simply put their first team out, knowing we will play the Arsenal II …
Read More “Arsenal and WHU could use some of their U23 teams tomorrow. So how have they been doing?”
By Bulldog Drummond Arsenal have of course played just two League Cup games so far this season, beating Doncaster and Norwich. But our second team, the team we have been calling Arsenal II this season has played six other games – in the Europa League. So I thought it might be interesting to put all …
Read More “Arsenal II: how have they done so far – and how we compare with WHU II.”
By Sir Hardly Anyone According to interviews doing the rounds at the moment Arsene Wenger believes Mesut Özil is currently playing his best ever football for Arsenal. Which gives us something to look forward to on Friday night for the game against Liverpool, although I can’t imagine he will even be on the beach for the game tomorrow against West …
By Tony Attwood If it had not been for Satruday’s game against Newcastle, we’d have been expecting Maitland-Niles to play in the match against West Ham in the League Cup quarter final. But AMN did play, and Kolasinac was dropped. So what do we make of that? There are several possibilities. Kolasinac had a slight …
Read More “Arsenal v West Ham United. Do we continue to use the reserves for this game?”
by Tony Attwood I have often made the point that there are two fundamental flaws with the mass media’s coverage of football in England: the first is that they choose what is news and what isn’t, and the second is that they then choose how to interpret that news. Of course that is what newspapers …
Read More “Is the media catching up with the notion something is wrong in football?”
