Ref Review : Arsenal – Leicester

Ref for this match was Mike Jones Mr. Jones certainly wasn’t at his best in this match. After two early fouls not much happened till Upson pulled Alexis down with a holding offence around the neck when he could have gone one on one with the last defender in the middle of the goal was …

QPR and Everton, looking back at some good wins

By Walter Broeckx Before the match some people might have said that we should beat QPR with our fingers in our nose (as the expression is in my mother language). Meaning it should be an easy win.  One you don’t have to make any effort, just turn up and you will get the 3 points. …

The Lies the Media Fabricate and The Gullible Fans Who Spread Them

By Bootoomee I chuckled as I read Tony’s epiphany giving up on engaging the AAA in debates about the running of our beloved Arsenal Football Club. I have always gone with the less conciliatory approach of mocking when necessary because as an avid Internet comments reader and poster, I know for a fact that people who …

QPR – Arsenal, a story of two halves

By Walter Broeckx A few changes as one could expect but maybe not the changes one expected. Per Mertesacker comes back in the team in the place of Koscielny and so Gabriel stays in the team. I wonder if it has something to do with the tendonitis that Koscielny has and that maybe makes it …

All tonight’s results before they happen and QPR v Arsenal.

By Bulldog Drummond So here we are, nine points behind Chelsea with 11 games to play.  On the same date in 1998 we were 11 points behind with 12 to play.  And just like now, still in the FA Cup. In 1998 we’d had a fairly awful late autumn, winning two and drawing two league …

1984: it is forbidden to talk about referees. Part 2 – why it is wrong to stay silent

By Walter Broeckx First article on this can be found here In the previous article I looked at how one journalist in the Guardian was arguing that no one should be criticising referees. Continuing to look at that article I have to go to his words on saying that referees are needed just as crossbars …

QPR v Arsenal 4/03/15 – The Match Officials. “Pathetic one sided refereeing”

QPR v Arsenal 4th March 2015 – The Match Officials   by Andrew Crawshaw With this game so soon after the weekend, I have not been able to update the table of shame so it remains the same as for Sunday. Wrong Important Decisions Favouring Arsenal Favouring Opponents 2nd Yellow Cards 0 15 Red Cards …

1984: It is forbidden to talk about….referees – part 1

By Walter Broeckx I think I have mentioned the book 1984 before. As Tony has done many times.  It is not the best book I have ever read. But it is a very intriguing book. One that makes you want to look further than what the mass media are shoving down our throat. And one …

The evolution of Alexis and the evolution of the team

By Tony Attwood Is it all over for Alexis Sanchez?   He scored 12 goals in 24 Premier League games – but none in the last six.  Why’s that? It is worth looking at because there are early signs in the pubs outside the offices of our national daily papers that Sanchez has had it, he’s …

Beware this story about Arsenal support is boring and you’ve probably heard it before.

By Tony Attwood “That facts that nowadays the manager clearly hasn’t got a clue about how to set up a team tactically, that his ability to motivate his players is conspicuously lacking and that his Midas touch has gone into reverse, when it comes to developing talent, count for nothing when you consider his stellar …

Arsenal fans at home and away.

Arsenal fans at home and away.by pararealist. . Arsenal fans are a strange bunch. . First there are the away fans.  . They sing their hearts out for the team and give vocal support whatever is happening on the field. . Then there are the home fans. . Now, the home fans expect to be entertained …

Arsenal’s win ratio, two assists from Ozil, and the trick of body language

By Tony Attwood One of the things the children who run the mass media and lead their little camp of followers never quite understand is the essence of support.  It is emotional, tied to one’s tribe.  But us fans also tend to know our statistics.  And some of us have actually read a book or …

Arsenal – Everton, the match we had to win

By Walter Broeckx A few changes compared to our last match. Gabriel comes in the team and Mertesacker drops to the bend and Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain comes in the place of Danny Welbeck. Cazorla will be the captain for this match today. So the team was : Ospina, Bellerin, Gabriel, Koscielny, Gibbs, Coquelin, Cazorla, Oxlade-Chamberlain, Ozil, …

Arsenal v Everton. Teams and recent stats compared. (And Chelsea)

By Bulldog Drummond And so it goes.  The world as two groups of people.  Those who understand the notions of context and history, and those who think that the only thing that matters is what has just happened. I’m reminded of a few acquaintances who I had earlier in my life, who on hearing some …

Christmas to be moved to accommodate world cup

  By Tony Attwood I must confess at once that I didn’t write that headline – although I wish I had.  It came from News biscuit – a wonderful satirical site, and one I’d recommend to anyone with an off centre sense of humour. The point of their piece is that Representatives of Europe’s biggest …

More Arsenal purchases this summer, and how Chelsea are getting such high transfer fees

By Tony Attwood So what are the children chattering about today? Well, the Telegraph, having run the story a day or two back that the Arsenal board were fed up with Mr Wenger have now dropped that one and instead gone with the fact that the transfer budget for this summer will be £50 million. …

Arsenal v Everton – 01 March 2015 – The Match Officials

Arsenal v Everton – 01 March 2015 – The Match Officials by Andrew Crawshaw Following Walter’s review of the refereeing of the Tottenham game Ref Review Tottenham – Arsenal here is the updated Table of Shame Wrong Important Decisions Favouring Arsenal Favouring Opponents 2nd Yellow Cards 0 15 Red Cards 3 14 Penalties 3 14 …

PL decline seems to continue, media helps to keep our heads in the sand

By Walter Broeckx In November 2014 I wrote a short series of articles to the effect that the PL was not that superior league that we all think it is. . They can be found here, there and everywhere  if you want to read them first. I linked this to the year of 2009 with …

Arsenal: the lines are now clearly drawn. Time to sort out the children.

By Tony Attwood The highest win rate a club has had in the Premier League, across a complete season is I think, 68%.  In January and February prior to the Monaco match, Arsenal achieved a win rate of 80%.  Including the Monaco match the ratio for the League, FA Cup and the single Champions League …

Ref Review Tottenham – Arsenal

In case you have not come across this series before, we have reviewed hundreds of matches over the past few years – both matches involving Arsenal and those not.  At the end of the seasons we’ve also compared the way referees have handled different teams. Ref for this match was Martin Atkinson A few interesting …

What’s happened this year to our junior teams?

What’s happened this year to our junior teams? Part 2 – U18 team By Andrew Crawshaw In Part 1 I looked at the fortunes of our U21 team, (What has happened this year to our Junior Teams?) in this part I will first try and place the U18 setup into the context of the Youth …

When you’re rubbish there ain’t much you can do

By Tony Attwood Last Friday I attended a modern jive dance in Cambridgeshire, despite having an Achilles injury, that should been keeping me off the dance floor for as long as it takes to repair itself. I went because being at home night after night writing about Arsenal and Bob Dylan is OK but ultimately …

Oh lady Luck, where have you gone to? Missed chances cost us dear

By Walter Broeckx The Arsenal team that started this match against Monaco was Ospina, Bellerin, Mertesacker, Koscielny, Gibbs, Coquelin, Cazorla, Sanchez, Ozil, Welbeck, Giroud. On the bench we had Szczesny, Gabriel, Monreal, Chambers, Rosicky, Oxlade-Chamberlain, Walcott. Arsenal started rather well with an early chance for Welbeck who turned good but his shot sailed over the …

Wenger, Monaco and Arsenal : a strange love story

By Walter Broeckx Yesterday the story was on Arsenal.com about the first time Wenger visited Arsenal.  The article can be found clicking on this link For those who don’t want to click I will tell you that Wenger visited Arsenal at Highbury for the first time in 1989. On 2 January to be exact. As he …

FA Youth Cup – Arsenal v Crewe Alexandra

FA Youth Cup – Arsenal v Crewe Alexandra Meadow Park, Borehamwood Thursday 19th February Match Report by Andrew Crawshaw Crewe Alexandra FC are currently in 18th place in League 1 (third tier of professional football); the club was formed in 1877 and named after Princess Alexandra, they were founding members of the second division in …