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 …
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 …
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 …
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 …
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 …
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 …
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 …
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 …
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 …
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 …
By Tony Attwood You don’t need me to remind you where Tottenham and Arsenal finished in the league last season, but to be fair and reasonable, I’ll print it anyway: Pos Team P W D L F A GD Pts 1 Chelsea 38 30 3 5 85 33 52 93 2 Tottenham Hotspur 38 26 …
by Tony Attwood It is always interesting in the final week before the season starts to see how the journalists who have made such an absolute and total mess of predicting everything from how the last season will pan out to which team is buying which player, deal with the return of the real thing. …
By Walter Broeckx Arsenal with a few absentees in this match and certainly Ramsey and Özil will be a big miss. But Wenger taking no chances with them and letting them rest for the season opener against Leicester next week. Also no Mustafi and Alexis yet. Both have only started training this week and again …
By Bulldog Drummond It is a sign of the times, undoubtedly, that the Guardian’s web site does not have one single mention at all of the Community Shield match today. No preview, not even the statutory slagging off of Arsenal. Just total and absolute silence other than an article headed, “Arsène Wenger unsure if Chelsea’s …
By Bulldog Drummond Just as a taster for what is to come, try this in the warm up to the season Arsenal’s FA Cup final victory that denied Conte’s team the domestic double … does beg the question of how Wenger is going to make up the ground with the gruelling added extra of Thursday …
By Tony Attwood A bit of idle curiosity arose after reading a piece telling me that a good start to the season is essential for any team wanting to win the league, as I wasn’t sure that this was the case last season. Indeed a quick flip back to 1 October 2016 – a date …
by Ian Brookes I was at the Emirates Cup this weekend with my 2 sons and has been the recent tradition, I treated them to a new shirt for the season. Of the 3 on offer both opted for the Home kit in short sleeve with Lacazette and number 9 on the back. The cost …
By Tony Attwood Very very little transfer action by the clubs that ended up in the top ten during the past couple of weeks. Top spenders are still Manchester City with £217m spent followed by Man U who have overtaken Chelsea into second position having spent £146m. Chelsea third with £126m. Everton have now …
By the Very Bold, Sir Hardly Anyone. Actually I didn’t mean to be in bold, it just happened, so I paid Tony £1m for it to stay like that. Typesetting correction fees have escalated in the past year apparently, and although I expressed surprise, he did tell me that they are index linked to transfer …
By Tony Attwood So say Arsène Wenger, reaching the same conclusion as we did. When you let a country own a club, all chaos is bound to cut loose. Likewise when you let a country like Qatar hold the World Cup then all chaos is bound to cut loose. When that country then suffers a …
By Tony Attwood Suddenly people are talking about FFP rules not being legal – all over again. Just after we’ve had two peaceful years of thinking that was all settled, Neymar comes along and some people get all excited thinking that FFP will be torn up by the European Court of Justice. So first the …
