League Cup Arsenal – Southampton 0-2

By Walter Broeckx Lots of changed of course in the starting line up. In fact apart from the man with 3 lungs Elneny we have 10 other players compared to last weekend. So here is the  team that started: Martinez, Jenkinson, Holding, Gabriel, Gibbs, Coquelin, Elneny, Reine-Adelaide, Ramsey, Iwobi, Lucas On the beach today: Macey, …

Arsenal v Southampton: you can prove anything with figures (or not)

By Tony Attwood So for the second match in a row we play the team in 10th position. Here’s the home and away table Home Away W D L F A W D L F A GD Pt 1 Chelsea 6 0 1 20 4 4 1 1 9 6 +19 31 2 Liverpool 5 …

Arsenal v Southampton: the preview, plus Bellerin’s quick recovery

By Tony Attwood Lucas Perez is being tipped to play again in the League Cup quarter-final against Southampton tonight; Olivier Giroud has an injury – either hamstring or groin depending on the source of information.  The Giroud injury is said not to be too serious and that omitting him tonight is just a precaution. Chuba …

How a referee can bend a match to fix the result: the inside story

By Walter Broeckx I think it must have been 7 or 8 years ago I wrote on Untold that if you  appointed me as the ref of a match between let us say Manchester United and a 3rd division team I maybe could force a win for the 3rd division team. I said “maybe” because …

And then suddenly football is not that important anymore

By Walter Broeckx This morning when I drove to work I heard on the radio that in Colombia a plane had crashed and that on this plane was the selection of Chapecoense. A Brazilian team that was on its way to play the final of the Copa Sudamericano. What we would call the Europa League …

Supporting is the name of the game

By Walter Broeckx After a few matches in which we didn’t play that well we managed to get back to winning ways with the 3-1 win over Bournemouth. One would think that everyone would be happy and satisfied in Arsenal circles. But after having had enough sleep I went on the internet and searched for …

Arsenal – Bournemouth: the travels, the catering, the laughter and fun

By Walter Broeckx When our oldest reader and probably oldest Arsenal supporter in the Arsenal internet world kindly asks me a question I cannot but give him what he asks. To say I had a tough 24 hours is a bit of an understatement. Being the president of an official supportersclub in a country is …

Arsenal Bournemouth 3-1: the view from block 110

By Walter Broeckx Sorry to have been keeping you waiting for this match report. But as you know I have been travelling a bit and so was in the stadium and not in my comfortable seat at home. So no seeing things and typing with looking further at the match. So the events may have …

After the victory: Showaddywaddy lives and the football journalist who writes 10 articles a day

By Tony Attwood Of all the many things I have never ever imagined myself doing dancing in a bar with a group of friend at 2am to a Showaddywaddy tribute band must be right up there on the list   But thus it was in the early hours of this morning, and now of course …

Arsenal v Bournemouth: the view from Spain; match details as it happened

By Tony Attwood, sitting by the swimming pool  in Spain, as the rain patters down Watching Sky’s overseas service (Bein Sports) with the awful Richard Keys and Andy Grey is a very dispiriting experience.  They as their independent commentator in the studio Clive Allen – obviously a very balanced middle of the road man when …

Arsenal v Bournemouth: another bit of preview from afar.

By Bulldog Drummond OK I want to make this clear that this lack of preview at the proper time and all the blame being put on technical issues and people being in the wrong country is not my fault.  Well, to be more correct part of it is my fault but I am not going …

Arsenal-Bournemouth, before a ball is kicked

By Walter Broeckx With Tony away to foreign parts and our Bulldog seemingly not barking today it is up to me to write anything that can be regarded as a match preview. A quick look at the league tables shows that Bourmenouth is sitting in 10th position in the league after having gathered 15 points …

The parents of a 17 year old African player sue Fifa over the transfer rules for minors

By Tony Attwood An article on the Swiss news service 24 heures has raised issues which for the moment the media in the UK are ignoring. The original article (in French of course) appears here.  My rough translation is beneath. The Zurich-based firm Nater Dallafior Rechtsanwälte has filed a complaint with the Zurich Commercial Court …

Arsenal v Bournemouth Sunday 27 November 2016 – The Match Officials

by Andrew Crawshaw Our Matchday Officials this week are  :- Referee – Mike Jones Age 48 from Cheshire Assistant 1 – Adrian Holmes from West Yorkshire Assistant 2 – Mark Scholes from Buckinghamshire Fourth Official – Graham Scott Age 48 from Oxfordshire This will be the first time this season that Mike Jones will have …

Every advantage has a disadvantage, Arsenal Belgium on the road

By Walter Broeckx At last. At last. At last. It took me a while this season but finally I can come over to see my beloved Gunners play in the flesh. Okay I have been to Lens in our first pre-season match and have been walking around for hours with a few hundred other Gooners …

The sexual exploitation of young footballers shows we have really deep and serious problems throughout England

By Tony Attwood If you don’t live in the UK there is a chance you might not be aware of the issue that is starting to engulf English football.  If you do live in the UK, then I imagine you can’t but know – but I hope you will allow me a moment to recap. …

According to “M”, Man Utd are the most unlucky team in the PL. Let’s see if that’s right.

By Tony Attwood As we saw in the last article, Mr Mourinho is complaining.  And we are not the only people to have noticed this.   For the Guardian noticed it too, and wondered if “M” was really right to call his team “unlucky”. In an article “Are Manchester United really the unluckiest team in …

While others mature with age Mourinho gets more idiotic.

By Tai Emeka Obasi…   He called himself the special one and ever since has been living in the Utopian world of truly being the best. He still sees himself as not only the best coach in the world but also the most important personality in the business, if not ever created. The ex-Chelsea coach …

Ref Review: MU – Arsenal

MANCHESTER UNITED vs. ARSENAL COMPETITION: English Premier League MATCH NO. 12 DATE: 19th November 2016 VENUE: Old Trafford (Manchester, England) MATCH OFFICIALS: REFEREE: Andre Marriner 1st LINESMAN: Simon Beck 2nd LINESMAN: Andy Garratt 4th OFFICIAL: Michael Oliver First Half Fouls, Advantages, Cards, and Penalties Time Foul by Foul For Description & Decision Points 00:38 Ander …

Arsenal v PSG: the team and the formation, plus other guess work

By Tony Attwood On the injury front we know that Héctor Bellerín and Santi Cazorla are still out along with Perez and the three January returnees, but there are also doubts about Theo Walcott and Aaron Ramsey.  Ramsey has a broken toe it seems, and both could be given a day off. On the Santi …

Are Tottenham just like Arsenal, 18 years ago?

By Tony Attwood The timescales aren’t exactly the same of course, but there is an interesting parallel between Tottenham’s experience in the Champions League and Arsenal’s in 1998 and 1999.  In those years, as I am sure you will recall, Arsenal played Champions League home matches at Wembley, and for what I think were the …