Fifa is attempting to reign in the wild loaning system exploited by some clubs

By Tony Attwood FIFA has announced that it is going to reform the loan system of players from next summer and suggests that this could have quite an impact on some clubs. We are used to stories about Chelsea having several teams of young players out on loan each season, and then discarding those they …

Arsenal are still in selling mode. So why are there no purchaces?

By Sir Hardly Anyone So the situation continues.  We have now either sold, given away or loaned a total of ten players Ryan Alebiosu, Calum Chambers. Tyreece John-Jules, Karl Hein, Pablo Marí, Sead Kolasinac, Brooke Norton-Cuffy, Folarin Balogun, Ainsley Maitland-Niles, Harry Clarke.   On the other hand we seem to have brought in no one. The …

As Europe, China and the Americas turn on Fifa, England is left isolated

By Tony Attwood As we know, (although the English media refuse to mention it) Gianni Infantino, the President of Fifa, has moved himself and his family to Qatar.  One of the interesting points is that when the rumours of the move started, Infantino publicly denied the story.   Now, when asked, a Fifa spokesman pretends Fifa …

Of last year’s top spending clubs, only 1 has reached a higher league position.

By Sir Hardly Anyone Please note following consultation with readers over problems with blank spaces within the text we’ve made some changes.  If you still have a problem with layout please can you leave a comment with details. Last summer Arsenal spent quite a bit of money.  To be precise it was Nuno Tavares: £6.8m …

Aubameyang woe plus Infantino and the bonkers comments

By Tony Attwood According to the Telegraph Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang has been “left out of Arsenal’s mid-season trip to Dubai as the club attempt to offload him before the transfer window shuts.”  They contrast this with the fate of Jack Wilshere who they say is going to Dubai with Arsenal. The story is the Aubameyang doesn’t want …

When winning the league becomes a foregone conclusion

By Tony Attwood This article continues from our previous piece: The transfer window is nearly over, so why ain’t we signed no one? If you are a regular reader you might recall how there was a time when Untold would predict the outcome of various leagues in Europe at the start of the season.  And …

The transfer window is nearly over, so why ain’t we signed no one?

By Sir Hardly Anyone Four players, as you will well know, have gone – at least for a while.   Ainsley Maitland-Niles, Folarin Balogun, Pablo Mari and Sead Kolasinac. And in return no one has come in.  Which sounds pretty odd when put like that. But then, when we look at the rest of the league, …

Is there a way to stop negativity in the Premier League?

We knew what it would be like from the very start: Burnley were certain to play 11 behind the ball from the off.  With 16 goals scored this season they are bottom of the league in every sense.  They came for a draw and got it. OK it was up to Arsenal to beat them …

How often are Arsenal getting the same referee this season?

By Tony Attwood Apologies if you were unable to get onto Untold for a while on 25 January.  There was a technical fault, but it’s all sorted now. Our desire, so often expressed on this site, is that no referee should ever oversee more than two games per club in a season.  So we thought …

Arsenal’s 19 players on loan, and the new Fifa loan regulations

by Tony Attwood We have often commented on this blog about the way the loan system has been manipulated by certain clubs.    And now, years and years after we really started picking up on the story Fifa have said they are going to do something about it! It was our much missed correspondent Anne …

Are Arsenal making progress? Are all our transfer targets the wrong players?

By Tony Attwood Occasionally this season I’ve tried to compare Arsenal at different times in the campaign, with where we were in recent years. This is done by taking our league position after a set number of games – today obviously after 21 games. And it turns out that our position after 21 games has …

Arsenal v Burnley: Burnley’s problems, Arsenal’s team

by Bulldog Drummond The oldest team in the Premier League meets the youngest today, as the game today celebrates the anniversary of the purchase of Burnley for £170m.  Thus showing new owners don’t always mean new money.  ALK Capital have a lot to answer for, but seemingly no money of their own to invest and …

Arsenal v Burnley: the visitors look to be in real trouble.

by Bulldog Drummond As we have seen (links to past articles are below), everything points to a solid Arsenal win today.  History and form are with us, whether it involves looking back across the years, the current season, the last ten games or the last six games.  Our one problem might be the lack of …

Arsenal v Burnley: recent and historical form between the clubs

By Bulldog Drummond The key issue for Burnley is that they have sold Chris Wood to Newcastle.  Although he has only scored three league goals for the club this season, that actually represents almost one fifth of Burnley’s goals.  In terms of the league only Maxwell Cornet has scored more in the league for Burnley …

Arsenal v Burnley absentees, recent form and managerial success.

By Bulldog Drummond This article continues our match preview series following on from Arsenal v Burnley: tackles, fouls, yellows and home/away form. When it comes to injuries it might feel like we are top of the league, but in fact that is not the case.  Figures as always come from Premier Injuries. It is interesting …

Arsenal v Burnley: tackles, fouls, yellows and home/away form

By Bulldog Drummond The Telegraph is still headlining its utterly misleading notion Why Arsenal’s red cards are a black mark against Mikel Arteta’s management by Sam Dean; an article that deliberately aims at misleading the reader into the notion that Arsenal are a dirty side. In fact as we saw in Red card plague blights …

How football has turned into a tax free process of unregulated self-aggrandisement

by Tony Attwood This article continues from Red card plague blights Arsenal, the plague of blindness blights the media In my last piece I noted the Uefa Convention on the Future of European Football and the chaos in football in which lots of separate organisations fight for control, and no one group particularly seems to listen …

Red card plague blights Arsenal, plague of blindness blights the media

by Tony Attwood Diogo Jota double sends Liverpool to Wembley as red card plague blights Arsenal again That’s the headline in the Telegraph today in an article by Sam Wallace, their “Chief Football Writer”.   So “red card plague” – the new disease – is hitting Arsenal.  OK let’s look for some evidence to back up …

Covid certifcate, car insurance, empty seats at £10 each… another Arsenal night

By Tony Attwood There are euphemisms and euphemisms.   The Guardian today says, “Jürgen Klopp’s side mustered all their street-fighting experience to hold them [Arsenal] at bay.” That’s one way to describe it.  Looking at the team many would probably say that the return to the squad of a 20 a season centre forward could help …

Arsenal v Liverpool: Arsenal’s team and the strange issue of Liverpool’s fouls

By Bulldog Drummond According to the BBC, “Arsenal manager Mikel Arteta praised his side’s “fight, determination and brotherhood” after the 10-man Gunners frustrated Liverpool in the first leg of their Carabao Cup semi-final at Anfield.”   Of course it wasn’t a fair battle, according to the Corporation’s headline because “Liverpool miss Salah & Mane”.  Ah, of …

Arsenal v Liverpool. Comparisons over the last few games give us hope

By Bulldog Drummond Despite all the negatives about Arsenal of late we are still up there when it comes to current form Pos Team P W D L F A GD Pts 1 Manchester City 6 6 0 0 21 4 17 18 2 Tottenham Hots 6 4 2 0 13 5 8 14 3 …

Arsenal v Liverpool: why do clubs not want to tackle Liverpool players?

By Bulldog Drummond These are indeed the craziest of football times.  With Infantino, head of Fifa, packing his bags and moving to Qatar with his family, seemingly to escape the investigation of his activities by the Swiss authorities who are looking into corrupt and illicit meetings with  their most senior lawman, and with the British …

7 Greatest Moments in Arsenal History

By Lizzie Howard Arsenal FC is a club that is steeped deep in history. The club has gone through many iconic phases in the 135 years since it was established. These phases have produced some of the most exhilarating moments of triumph. Here are the seven greatest moments in Arsenal history.   The Invincibles Few …

Arsenal Women v Manchester United Continental Tyres Cup Quarter Final – Match Preview

by Andrew Crawshaw On Wednesday evening 19 January, Covid permitting, our Women’s team enter the Continental Tyres Cup at the quarter final stage.  Due to our involvement in the Champions League group stage we were exempt from the earlier group stage of the competition.  Our opponents are Manchester United so I expect this to be …

Head of Fifa quits Europe and moves to Qatar and escapes Swiss investigation

By Tony Attwood You will know if you are a regular reader that G. Infantino, the head of Fifa, is under investigation in Switzerland for colluding with the head of the Swiss legal system in a series of illicit, private and unrecorded meetings while he (Infantino) was under investigation. Now the rest of Europe (but …