Playing Song further forwards? Just how many points has that cost us?

Arsenal on Twitter @UntoldArsenal Untold Arsenal on Facebook here By Corley After the Fulham game, Arsene Wenger indicated that he had instructed Alex Song to play further forwards this season in an effort to open up more room in midfield. General reaction around the blog-o-net seems to be that Wenger must be crazy.  ‘He’s a …

If we are so bad why are we being copied ?

Arsenal on Twitter @UntoldArsenal Untold Arsenal on Facebook here By Ibrahima Fode NDIAYE If we are so bad why are we being copied ? I hear Arsenal are so bad they can’t win a cup in God only knows how many years.  Some say it’s five other six but the general consensus seems to be …

Ten things that Wenger should consider: a personal opinion

Arsenal History on Twitter @UntoldArsenal Untold Arsenal on Facebook here ————————– Akhil Nair I am a gooner from India.  I really like your posts and thought of sharing my personal views to you and to our readers. In our country it is said that cricket is religion and every single person has his or her …

One third of the season gone, and Arsenal prepare to win everything

Arsenal on Twitter @UntoldArsenal Untold Arsenal on Facebook here by Tony Attwood Where are we?   We have the usual crop of injuries but thus far we cope – and we are coping far better than before.  Cesc running on half throttle, Vermaelen not running at all, Van Persie out for virtually the whole season and …

In a few years time our north eastern trip could be to see Bedlington Terriers

By Tony Attwood Of course in the coming days there will be the usual half dozen or so articles on everything to do with Arsenal vs the Kingdom of Kev.  Already I am sitting on a bizarre and eccentric review of the Kingdom by Billy the Dog, not to mention Dogface’s remarkable review of the …

8 out of 10 or could it be 10/10 for The ARSENAL

By Sean Welch I’m writing this to give you some facts that you could use for a soon to be a rainy/slow day.  Or maybe remember as we near the end of the season, and you think, “didn’t that guy on Untold write something about this, back in early November?” We are, I believe, going …

Is the tide turning against thuggish football?

Celebrating the remarkable honesty of Danny Murphy. By Ian Trevett It doesn’t need me to point out that Arsenal have been kicked around a fair bit over the last few years. Three smashed legs in five years isn’t a co-incidence, as everyone knows that ‘the only way to play Arsenal is to get in their …

From the 10th biggest football blog… What should be Arsenal’s target this season and what we have to do

A little note from the Ed before you start. Last time around the Wikio rankings of blogs of a footballing nature had Untold at number 88 in the world.  A derisory number and one that caused much gnashing of the teeth. This time (in figures about to be released) we have risen to number 10 …

Team Chemistry – what is it, how do you make it

Arsenal and Team Chemistry – Something that money cant buy. By Dark Prince Team Chemistry – What is it?? It’s something we cannot touch, something we cannot artificially make and most importantly, something which teams like Man C or Real Mad cannot buy. It cannot be quantified or be measured by any man-made machine. But …

Why do Chelsea only have 19 players? How to manipulate the 25 rule

By Tony Attwood No one quite knows the best way to react to the new 25 rule, and looking at the official data to emerge from the EPL it is clear that the clubs have simply made occasional adjustments to their squads to fit the new rules. What I haven’t seen elsewhere is an analysis …

Royal Madness: how one team spent 280m euros and got absolutely nothing

By Walter Broeckx We all have read about the madness that has gone in to football when it comes to spending money. The likes of Chelsea and Manchester City with their financial doping is already well documented on this site in many articles. And let us not forget it is a force which Arsenal have …

Man City was 40% of the transfer window this year. What the hell happens now?

By Tony Attwood We’ve often taken a little look at the finances at clubs such as Man IOU, Barca and the like on this site.   Swiss Rambler does the same, often in more detail, and recently did a brilliant piece on Inter Milan, showing how they too are facing an absolute financial crisis, and how …

Premier League trying to ban all loan deals following Man City “squad doping”

By Tony Attwood Just a couple of days after the annual Untold preview of Arsenal’s five squads (the “25”, the cup squad, the reserves, the loanees, and the youth team) the Guardian is reporting that the EPL is looking to ban loans. In the article “One club five squads” we all picked up on the …

Arsenal: one club, five squads, and no Bebé (which is probably our good fortune)

by Tony Attwood Arsenal, as we know, has five squads – all of which are flexible.   And within the system matters are planned and arranged – just as you would expect.  We watch the players come up through the youth team, the reserves and so on.  Isn’t that how it always go? You’d think so, …

Exclusive: Untold Arsenal interview with the owner of Manchester City.

By Roxy Beaujolais, our correspondent in foreign parts. Well, my little Tour Eiffels, my little je ne sais quoi.   Tony advertised for a foreign correspondent, I replied, got the job, and he sent me off to… Manchester. I know it is a foreign country et al, but realmente, I mean.  It’s not even in Europe.  …

The formula for popularity. How Arsenal became the biggest brand in English club football

By Richard Bedwell and Tony Attwood The formula for popularity? Given that football clubs are brands, the start of each season is a chance to re-measure each brand and see how well it is doing. Brands, we should explain, are what all businesses aspire to be.  Being a brand means that your name is recognised …

How Wenger has changed football once again

by Tony Attwood For years there has been a general assumption that there are only three ways of developing a club and two ways of making money out of football. You can make your club grow (so it was always said) by Development Method 1) Buying in those who are already acknowledged to be the …

As poor sad Liverpool prepare to depart to a darker place, things are looking up at the Ems

The Twinkle of a Fading Star By Tony Attwood Trotting off to Italy for a week and a bit is rather an interesting experience.  My Italian verges on the non-existent side of useless, so my attempts to glean footballing information from Corriere dello Sport in its native printed form is limited. Fortunately there is an …

Arsenal prepare for HD Broadband and mastery of the universe

By Tony Attwood Why would anyone want to put money into football?  Why would the Chinese want Liverpool, the Arabs want Manchester City, and anyone want Leeds United? The people who have continuously talked about why (although not directly) are the Glazer family who suggest that all will be ok soon because the new internet …

Liverpool FC are likely to become the first EPL side owned by the state

Liverpool FC are likely to become the first EPL side owned by the state By Tony Attwood A Chinese government fund (China Investment Corp) supposedly represented by Kenny Huang has, apparently, being selling off share assets to raise exactly the amount of money that Liverpool Insolvency is in debt to the banks: £351.4m.  (That’s not …

One of the most depressing things about being an Arsenal fan

By Walter Broeckx If you ask me what is the most depressing on being an Arsenal fan I should have to have a deep thought before answering.  The reason is simple:  I don’t find many things depressing when it comes to Arsenal. Would it be the fact that we haven’t won anything in 5 years? …

Finding and signing world class players is easier said than done

By Walter Broeckx We should buy more world class players. It is a sentence often used by fans who want us to buy more. So maybe we could try to find what is exactly meant by “a world class” player. If I think of world class players I think of players who can turn a …

Season tickets at Arsenal – just how big is the waiting list? At last, an answer.

We’ve debated this issue over and over again – how big is the waiting list at Arsenal for season ticket in the main part of the ground (by which I mean upper and lower tiers, not Club Level and Diamond Geezer Level). The Anti-Arsenal Arsenal (AAA) web sites have suggested since the start of last …

From our correspondent in Spain: Barca and Arsenal – the secret agreement

By Walter Broeckx Our man on the spot. Well another few hot days in Cataluña over here but that is not what you want to here, if you want to hear it. But I have been doing the round of the sporting things they call sports news papers over here. Mind you I don’t buy …

Football’s Guide to How to be Incredibly Stupid

It never used to be like this. In the olden days each season was pretty much the same as the season before.   There’d be two new clubs in the First Division (usually West Ham and Blackburn, if memory serves) and every other year we would have a new centre forward (probably Scottish). If there had …