The astonishing depths to which the Premier League has sunk, and 10 things the next Arsenal manager must sort out

The astonishing depths to which the Premier League has sunk, And 10 things the next Arsenal manager must consider by Tony Attwood English – not to say European – football is at a very low ebb.   Here we have a team that managed to win its Champions League group unbeaten and so qualify for the …

Crooks and thieves have often destroyed football clubs, but fake news is the bigger enemy

by Tony Attwood Remember Portsmouth. Cup winning team with a long proud history? Remember Leeds being torn to shreds?  Or Cardiff?  Or if you really keep your eyes on such things, and to prove it is not just Britain, remember Malaga? Or if you really, really follow football how about Chester City, Darlington, Hereford Utd., …

Football clichés: a game of two halves

By Walter Broeckx Last night I was watching the match on the German TV channel ZDF. This is a channel that is a standard in the packet we get from our cable TV provider. On rare occasions when Germany play and with a few German players on our books over the last years I have …

Bayern – Arsenal 5-1, this looks a lost case…

By Walter Broeckx A few changes in this CL match. Ospina continues to be the keeper in the CL and so far he has done nothing wrong in his CL matches to not give him the starting place. A bit more unexpected maybe was the fact that Gibbs was chosen over Monreal. Maybe because to …

Bayern v Arsenal: the teams – a conundrum.

By Tony Attwood How are Bayern doing this year?  They are of course top of the league as the constitution of the federal republic demands, but the feeling is that they are not the sophisticated team they used to be.   They are seen this year as not stylish, not the Barcelona of the north, …

There is maybe an even bigger problem than referee errors in football – part 2

By Walter Broeckx If you have read the first part a few days ago but not sure about it anymore:  Part 1 can be found here We continue: And that is where I think we might have a chance that the video ref will clean up football from its terrible behaviour of the players. In …

Bayern v Arsenal match preview: should Özil play?

By Tony Attwood, still upside down in the land of Oz… The issue that seems to be circulating is whether Mesut Özil should play given his apparent loss of form (so I am told). What the papers are currently saying is summed up in this comment, “Lose, and the season will end at the very …

The breakthrough moment: we could be on the edge of getting rid of the FA and Fifa in one go.

  by Tony Attwood There is an advert in the Daily Express for jobs in the Department of Media Culture and Sport.  That is the government department that controls the Football Association.  The department’s position in supporting moderation and equality is somewhat undermined as it appears alongside the headline “MIGRATION WARNING: 50 million Muslims are …

When do referee decisions influence a match?

By Walter Broeckx On the Arsenal.com website we could find this from the post match press conference and I must say Arsène Wenger hit the nail on the head there: on the first goal seeming to be a handball… Honestly, I don’t know. I’m responsible for many things, but not for the referee’s decisions. I …

How Arsenal are being forced to advertise for a new manager

By Dr Billy “the dog” McGraw head of Certain Things, Arsenal FC I was recently able to lay my hands on the following confidential memo circulated to members of the board and senior executives at Arsenal.   It reveals the difficulties the club are facing in finding a new manger. Introduction: Recent changes to the …

There is maybe an even bigger problem than referee errors in football – part 1

By Walter Broeckx What seemed impossible and what was laughed away by some when I first wrote about it on Untold is coming closer. Yes video refereeing is more and more likely to become a reality in a few seasons. To be honest it should have been here already but I accept that this takes …

We need some failure for a while in order to make the good times feel good.

by Tony Attwood (observing it all from Australia) For all the years of the Wenger regime the media have been pumping out their anti-Arsenal stories, from shadowy fake news references about the manager’s sordid past when he first came to England, through disparaging remarks about him not being English and so “not understanding” English football, …

Arsenal – Hull : 2-0 a very hard fought win

By Walter Broeckx One change in the team compared to our last match. Gibbs starting at left back and Monreal dropped to the bench  Bellerin had recoverd from his concussion and could start again. On the bench we had Elneny back after his trip to the Africa Cup. Also Welbeck, Lucas and Giroud on the …

Arsenal v Hull – the home/away analysis and the teams

by Bulldog Drummond. Hull have a poor away record as this table shows: one win, one draw, and the rest defeats. Overall Away Pld W D L GF GA GD Pts W D L GF GA GD 24 5 5 14 22 47  −25 20 1 1 9 6 26  −20 This is reminiscent of …

Arsenal v Hull – Saturday 11 February 2017 – The Match Officials

by Andrew Crawshaw If you thought that the PGMO would relax a bit now that we are 12 points behind Chelsea then think again.  Our Officials for Saturday are :- Referee – Mark Clattenburg  41 years old from Durham FIFA Accredited Assistant Referee 1 – Jake Collin  FIFA Accredited Assistant Referee 2 – Adrian Holmes  …

Arsenal v Hull: the preview, and a comparison of Gabriel with Héctor Bellerín

By Bulldog Drummond As the pundits punder on and tell us what to think and what to do (ESPN I see are telling Arsenal supporters that they should rise up against the club and that they – the supporters – are weak for not doing so), so the world turns and those of us not …

Rule changes escalate as sin bins are to be discussed by international rule committee

by Tony Attwood. At the start of the year Untold ran the story Could football learn a thing of two from the way games are refereed in rugby? It was a highly speculative piece which arose from discussions with some friends on the topic of just how football might be improved, and how we might …

A COMPREHENSIVE MEDICAL AND PSYCHOLOGICAL CLASSIFICATION OF ‘them’

by The Brickfields Gunners Having been a very devout reader of UA almost from its inception , I have observed the various characters that come on here to either share observations and/or  contribute in a positive and informative way , or just come here in an attempt to ridicule us and dampened our spirits . …

A Ramble through Europe – Which Managers should we keep an eye on?

by Andrew Crawshaw I have been looking at the TransferMarket squad values in the European Leagues and how the various teams are performing against their positions (ranked in terms of their squad values).  I last did this a couple of years ago and found that, by and large, there was a reasonably good correlation between …

In reply to those who want Mr Wenger out: how much better would this really make Arsenal?

By Tony Attwood Being in Australia as I am now, and slowly feeling the benefits of being here (the jet lag is going, and what appeared on day one to be an 8 mile hike along the road to my breakfast bar of choice turns out in reality to be a pleasant 15 minute stroll) …

The facts and figures that show there is something seriously odd going on with refereeing

This article is based on the numbers that has been given by Vince. So credit must go to him for researching this. Some of the text has been edited by the Untold team to make this an article as it has been taken from the comment section but this deserved more than just a comment. …

Arsenal Ladies FC v Kelly Smith’s All Star 11 – A special game to celebrate a special player

Borehamwood FC Sunday 19 February 14:00 by Andrew Crawshaw At the end of last season Kelly Smith MBE announced that she was retiring from playing professional football.  She was however taking up a permanent coaching position with Arsenal Ladies so the club will continue to be able to call on her experience and expertise. Kelly …

Exactly who could be brought in to end Arsenal’s misery?

By Tony Attwood “The worst Cameroon team in living memory.” I suspect there are people somewhere who are talking about this being worst Arsenal team in living memory.  I only mention Cameroon because they have just won the Africa Cup and I have seen them so called.  Mohamed Elneny scored to put Egypt ahead in …

The U23 Team – Who’s left and who is joining the Academy for next Season?

by Andrew Crawshaw As Tony reported in his article What the top teams did in the transfer window and how deep fake news has seeped. there have been a large number of loan moves for some of the players who we would expect to see in the U23 squad.  There have also been a number …