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
Facts by Andrew Crawshaw Wild speculation by Tony Attwood First, Andrew’s section: As I write this (lunchtime on Thursday) we currently have 34 players over the age of 21 who are vying for inclusion in our 25 man senior squad which has to be named on 1st September. All but four are currently listed as …
Read More “The Arsenal 25 man Senior Squad – where are we now?”
By Tony Attwood “Why are so many Premier League teams so bad in defence?” You’ll know, if you have read my meanderings across the years, that I rather like evidence. Not “The evidence of my own eyes” but actual numbers. So when someone rages in a bloggetta that “Xhaka is clearly not up to …
Read More “Are Premier League teams really so bad in defence as the media suggest?”
By Tony Attwood There is no doubt things have stalled. The number of new players and new rumours in the last week has been virtually nothing – all we have had is the rehashing of the same old same old. It is by and large a pretty poor show. We’re only on 89 and …
Read More “The 89 players now tipped to be joining Arsenal this summer. The Index vol 9.”
By Don McMahon Once I had digested the entirety of the Arsenal Leicester game, I decided to write a review based on wearing two hats; a referee’s viewpoint and a certified coaches’ viewpoint, so here goes. I will describe or break down the key elements of the game as follows: Team lineup, Fitness levels, Tactical …
Read More “Arsenal’s Opener: The good, the bad and the unpredictable.”
By Sir Hardly Anyone It is really important to stay in touch with the bloggettas these days so that we know exactly where we are. Football London for example today tells us that The end of August is edging ever closer – You can just imagine the panic in and around the training grounds …
By Tony Attwood Arsenal under 23s went two down to Derby County, and then came back to win 3-2. That’s rather gratifying but the basic fact hides a few other interesting details. For a start, Nelson scored two – carrying on where he left off last season when he scored in the home draw …
Read More “Arsenal Under 23s win and make the season’s team options a little clearer”
By Tony Attwood FC Barcelona’s former defender, Rafael Márquez – the man known as “Emperor of Michoacán” is a national hero in Mexico. And a pretty big hero to Barcelona. But now the US authorities are investigating him. And they are doing this for one simple reason: Márquez is said to have been involved …
By Sir Hardly Anyone Just as I think I can have a few days off on a Kroneke hunt across the wild plains of Lower Rutland and along comes the Daily Express telling us that all hell is going to break loose on the transfer front. Consider this for example: “Chelsea are keen on signing …
By Tony Attwood The theme is that Arsenal do everything wrong. We buy our players far too late in the transfer window because Wenger can’t make up his mind and so dithers. Except maybe Chelsea are dithering a bit more and Tottenham have dithered so much they haven’t bought anyone. And here’s another: …
Read More “Why are Arsenal so wasteful in front of goal, and really, does it matter?”
By Tony Attwood We won the opening game – which is all you can ask – although we also did it with a very exciting match which is a nice bonus. But watching the Chelsea defeat to Burnley I began to wonder as the game went on, whether the result would have been possible a …
Read More “Would Arsenal have won, Chelsea have lost and Liverpool only drawn a year ago?”
By Sir Hardly Anyone I have been wondering if we ought not to have a “Laugh of the Week” slot, although as others then point out, what makes people laugh in my country mansion in Rutland might not be the same as in the Toppled Bollard, the Corby pub which the rest of the Untold …
by Sir Hardly Anyone (divorced) They were talking about something being wrong at Chelsea on Sky before the games this afternoon and the chair (Geoff) asked what it (the situation at Chelsea) was about, and they all sat their shaking their heads. And that was before today’s match. Oh dear. Let me explain. The chairman …
Read More “Funny moment on Sky Sport debating Chelsea takes the media spotlight off us for once”
By Tony Attwood One of the great things about the start of each season is the doing of it all over again. The journey in the car with my pal from the Midlands on a Friday night (did anyone actually consider what the traffic is like on the M1 on a Friday night when deciding …
Read More “How sad are the commentators, utterly unable to understand the sheer joy of last night”
By Walter Broeckx Per Mertesacker not fully recovered or risked with maybe the possibility to see his cut go open again so a change at the back. Monreal being the central defender and Kolasinac slotting in at the left central defence position. Özil also back in the starting line up. On the bench we had …
By Bulldog Drummond Moving on from the first part of the preview of the Leicester game we might note that Craig Shakespeare said in July, “I’m not a fan of saying we have to get to the 40-point target – I think we have to aim higher than that.” So maybe they will try and take …
Read More “Arsenal v Leicester: the injuries, the line ups, Leicester tactics, and more videos.”
by Bulldog Drummond. OK before we begin, Leicester at home can only mean one thing – the greatest ever match to have been at, which those of us who were there will never ever forget Ah, the good ol’ days. More video footage anon, but first yes Arsenal are being tipped to end the season …
By Walter Broeckx With Andrew not being around for the moment to write his pre-match referee preview I have taken the task to write about the man we all hate to see appear on an Arsenal pitch. Yes it is not only PL starting time. It is also…. Dean time. Over the years I have …
Arsenal are supposedly in the midst of a summer overhaul after manager Arsene Wenger penned his new two-year deal off the back of one of his worst seasons in the job. After the controversial new deal was announced, signings and change were both promised. Sead Kolasinac and Alexandre Lacazette have since arrived and look …
Read More “Selling Oxlade-Chamberlain could well be the biggest mistake Arsenal make”
The 37 Players leaving Arsenal in this transfer window By Sir Hardly Anyone It is perhaps a little hard for journalists to remember (given that on average they have a mindspan similar to that of your garden pond goldfish), that throughout June and July the leading story of players who were leaving Arsenal was Hector …
Read More “The 37 Players being tipped to leave Arsenal in this transfer window”
1: We are in danger of becoming mainstream. In today’s Telegraph there is an article, “The Premier League’s 3pm blackout is misguided, it is time to show all Saturday games live on TV”. That was one of the key reforms to the game Blacksheep, Walter and I drew up one day before a match – …
by Tony Attwood Think back if you will, to August 2011 when Samir Nasri left Arsenal to go to Manchester City. He announced that he was moving for two reasons. One was because he was utterly fed up with the constant harping and criticism against Arsenal in the media. And because, he said, “Arsenal have good …
Read More “Shock horror: Alexis sneezes proving he will leave. Oh and he’s injured too.”
By Sir Hardly Anyone Here’s the latest from the endless round of in, out, shake it all about, with some of the traditional made up stuff as well. Players in Lucas Moura da Silva Arsenal are “leading the race” to sign Paris Saint-Germain attacker Lucas Moura according to UOL Esporte. He’s Brazilian and plays on …
Read More “Alexis deal with PSG, the latest. And the list of players leaving Arsenal grows”
By Tony Attwood In 2008 Harry Redknapp said, “You can look at stats as much as you want – and we do – but you can have too much of it. You can spend too much time looking at computers rather than looking at the real thing which is out there on the pitch. “I …
Read More “Do we need stats? And what happens when a billionaire divorces his wife?”
By Walter Broeckx Another match at Wembley and another Arsenal win in the end. We are rather building a nice run out on the pitch of the national stadium over the last four years. In this period we’ve always managed to win our matches at Wembley when it mattered. Some wins only after a penalty …
Read More “Another match another win at Wembley. But still, it seems, lots to moan about.”
By Blacksheep For all sorts of reasons, mostly related to still being newly and happily married, I eschewed the pleasure watching Arsenal beat Chelsea to lift the Community Shield at Wembley yesterday. Instead I settled down to watch the highlights on the BBC’s Match of the Day programme before bed. It should have been a …
Read More “Do the BBC think football fans are all that stupid?”
