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
Arsenal desperate for more players (according to reports) By Tony Attwood For this weekend’s game we have as referee Darren England, and this season we are going to try and look at each referee in turn to see what we might expect him to do. You may have seen the full list of officials in …
Read More “What sort of referee is Darren England? The statistics reveal some odd facts.”
Anniversary video index: an Arsenal video for (almost) each day of the year Arsenal Day by Day: the stories Arsenal in August: All the anniversaries day by day 100 Years: 100 Years in the First Division by Andrew Crawshaw What did we learn from Matchweek 1? 1: Granit Xhaka is still being dealt with in a different manner from …
Read More “Premier League 2022/23 – Matchweek 2 Refereeing matters”
By Tony Attwood The players Arsenal do not want hanging around (allegedly) The behaviour of Barcelona over the Frenkie de Jong affair is generally portrayed as being a one-off by a club desperate to dig itself out of the hole it has got itself into. But the lack of serious media investigation into the affair …
Read More “Are we all really sure that no other club behaves like Barcelona?”
The new Arsenal tactic: revealed against Palace in all its glory by Tony Attwood The opening day’s tackles, fouls and yellow cards table has thrown up some unexpected numbers. For a start, and as we have mentioned before, Arsenal have reversed their previous policy and gone for multiple tackling. And so as we have entered …
Read More “Arsenal’s new tactics explored in detail and what it means for the season ahead”
How the media created the myth of the gap between Arsenal and the top four By Tony Attwood There is no doubt that if you are playing at home in the premier league there are certain referees you welcome with open arms and others you think, we might as well pack up now. The home …
Read More “How the Premier League referees are biased: an analysis”
Transfers: the six sources of information feeding the media By Tony Attwood If you follow any football outside of England, you are likely to know that Barcelona are in a financial mess the likes of which football has never seen before. To keep it short, according to the European press, they have been forced to …
Read More “Barcelona’s attempt to fool the financial regulator unravels”
Anniversary video index: an Arsenal video for (almost) each day of the year Arsenal Day by Day: the stories Arsenal in August: All the anniversaries day by day 100 Years: 100 Years in the First Division After our Selhurst disaster last season, what happened, and what does this tell us? by Sir Hardly Anyone Suggesting that the victory over …
Read More “Arsenal desperate for more players (according to reports)”
By Tony Attwood 100,000 words? A million words? No one knows how many words the media has used analysing the Premier League’s opening weekend. And nowhere, at least as far as I can find, did anyone write or say anything about Arsenal’s total change of tactics on the pitch. Maybe it is because they have …
Read More “Media completely misses Arsenal’s astounding tactical change”
It’s time to clear out the deadwood: and I don’t mean the players By Tony Attwood The last time we won away from home in the opening game was 11 August 2019. That season we went through the opening 11 games with just one defeat, although three of the games were cup games. The opening …
by Tony Attwood This article continues from “Arsenal open the season with a remarkable new tactic” The argument put forward in the last piece is that we are now seeing the culmination of a tactical revolution at Arsenal that began when Arteta arrived, and which in essence centres on the reduction of tackling. The point …
Read More “The new Arsenal tactic: revealed against Palace in all its glory”
by Tony Attwood Why do Crystal Palace players get fouled so often? The game against Palace yesterday evening was a staggering success for Arsenal tactically. It hasn’t been mentioned by the media, because, well, they don’t like to give plaudits to Arsenal, being far happier knocking Arsenal, although to be fair in May this year …
Read More “Arsenal open the season with a remarkable new and successful tactic”
Palace v Arsenal. How will the referee handle matters if Arsenal tackle? Here’s a quick reminder of the Arsenal first-team preparations for the new campaign. Date Opponent Location Competition Result July 2 Ipswich Town London Colney Closed-Door Friendly 5-1 July 8 FC Nurnberg Max-Morlock-Stadion Club Friendly 5-3 July 16 Everton M&T Bank Stadium, Baltimore, …
Read More “Palace v Arsenal: the build up, the Arsenal team. the result”
Palace v Arsenal. How will the referee handle matters if Arsenal tackle? By Bulldog Drummond Crystal Palace ended last season with a run of nine league games and one game in the FA Cup. Of these ten games they won four, lost four and drew two. The sequence began with the game against Arsenal at …
Read More “After our Selhurst disaster last season, what happened, and what does this tell us?”
By Bulldog Drummond Palace v Arsenal. How will the referee handle matters if Arsenal tackle? 2022/23 PL Season – Matchweek 1 – Refereeing matters In 2021/22 Crystal Palace players were fouled 500 times in Premier League matches – more than any other team than Aston Villa. And not just more, but a lot more. In …
Read More “Why do Crystal Palace players get fouled so often?”
By Bulldog Drummond As in previous seasons (see for example here) we will be taking a fulsome look at the referee and his approach to the game and attitude toward the players. Here are the match officials… Match Referee Assistant Referees 4th Official VAR referee Assistant VAR Referee Crystal Palace v Arsenal Anthony Taylor Gary …
Read More “Palace v Arsenal. How will the referee handle matters if Arsenal tackle?”
Where do clubs come from when they break into the top four By Tony Attwood I haven’t seen this analysis done anywhere by journalists – but then to do it does take a little bit of time and some looking up of data, so perhaps that isn’t too surprising. But the issue is an interesting …
Read More “Why do clubs that come 5th in the PL always then sink lower?”
Which clubs are spending the most and how did last year’s spending help? By Bulldog Drummond Crystal Palace have had nine years in the Premier League since their last promotion. During this time they have appeared in the 2015 cup final, and finished on each occason between 10th and 15th in the league. However despite …
Read More “Summer at the Palace and what can we expect on Friday”
Why is the media so certain Arsenal will fail in 2022/23? By Tony Attwood As we have seen, this season a lot of pundits are suggesting that for the first time ever, the top four of the Premier League from one season will be the top four, in the same order, for next season. The …
Read More “Where do clubs come from when they break into the top four”
By Tony Attwood So just as the journalists and their hangers’-on have a new game REPORT: ARSENAL FEAR EDU HAS RUINED THEIR LATEST £50M TRANSFER MASTERPLAN This story comes from the Sun and claims that Edu has “complicated their plans to complete numerous transfer sales in the final month of the transfer window.” In this …
Read More “Edu ruins the entire Arsenal masterplan… according to reports”
The players Arsenal do not want hanging around (allegedly) By Tony Attwood Of course we want to win, but does the first game tell us anything? Is it important to get off to a flying start? That is what the media says and last season they gave Arsenal absolute hell because of the loss of …
Read More “What does Arsenal’s first match actually mean for the rest of the season?”
By Sir Hardly Anyone What happened to the 134 players tipped to be coming to Arsenal last summer Give me Sport are saying that “Arsenal have still not made a bid for Youri Tielemans despite agreeing personal terms with the Leicester City midfielder! The Mirror also has Deal confirmed while Tielemans makes desire clear with personal terms …
Read More “115 players tipped to join Arsenal this summer including 5 new names!”
Previously: Barcelona sell another 15% of its TV rights. According to the Spanish publication, Sport.Es Barcelona will not have problems registering the signings for this season – which comes as a bit of a surprise. For Iván Cabeza, a prominent sports economist, claims that Barcelona is already “in a normal economic situation.” Which given the …
Read More “The final move of Super League, and the losers are going to be in trouble”
By Tony Attwood Why is this transfer window looking so odd? A past manager might be hated, loathed and detested in his day, but the chances are he will get a fulsome round of applause upon his passing. And I know that, whenever called upon so to do, I have tried to show respect for …
Read More “Was Terry Neill a great manager? And doubts remain about Gabriel Jesus”
Transfers: the six sources of information feeding the media By Tony Attwood This season sees a significant change in terms of substitutions and their use. Clubs can name nine substitutes in a league match and makeup to five substitutions in a game, but the changes can only be made on three occasions. This makes the …
Read More “Arsenal’s final friendly: predicted line up and the Sevilla defensive wall”
by Sir Hardly Anyone Which clubs are spending the most and how did last year’s spending help? Thus far this is looking like a transfer window, unlike any other. We have clubs talking about balancing the books, and clubs that we expected to be spending a lot not spending anything – or even making a …
