Untold Arsenal: Supporting the club, the manager and the team
"I believe the target of anything in life should be to do it so well that it becomes an art." A Wenger
By Tony Attwood Topping the group in the pre-Christmas Champions League is something that a lot of fuss was made about, until Arsenal did it this year, when the story suddenly changed to one in which it was pointed out that we could be drawn against opposition that was just as tough as if we …
Read More “What are the actual benefits of topping the Champions League group this season?”
By Tony Attwood Over the last couple of days I have been asking my colleagues on Untold who work on the referee reports whether overall referee decisions have been improving during the course of the season. I had hoped that with our exposure of referee ineptitude and with the news that there might soon be …
Read More “Over half the important decisions made by Premier League referees are wrong.”
By Tony Attwood First, sorry I am late this morning. After the match yesterday, the underground system was in total chaos, with the gates closed against the crowds at both Arsenal and Finsbury Park stations. No one knew what was going on, no one bothered with announcements. And why should the authorities bother? We …
Read More “The most grotesque appalling display by a referee; the most disgraceful awful fans.”
By Walter Broeckx Again a lot of changes compared to our last match in the CL. But no changes compared to our last PL match. So we started with the same team that won at West Ham United. A change on the bench though as Bellerin took place on the bench after being out for …
Read More “Arsenal – Stoke 3-1: Theo, Özil and Iwobi cancell out Lee’s opener”
By Bulldog Drummond Arsène Wenger perhaps mindful of the contract negotiations with Alexis decided to make Alexis the key part to his interviews yesterday – particularly speaking about converting Alexis from a winger to a forward and how long it has taken. “I think he has found a good mixture,” Mr Wenger said. “He knows …
Read More “Arsenal v team whose supporters think it is cool to boo a player their man crippled”
by Andrew Crawshaw Referee – Lee Mason. Age 44 from Lancashire Assistant 1 – Simon Beck. From Bedfordshire and FIFA Accredited Assistant 2 – Mick McDonnough. From Tyne and Wear Fourth Official – P Tierney. Age 35 from Lancashire This will be the first time this year that Lee Mason has been in charge of …
Read More “Arsenal v Stoke Sat 10 December 2016 – The Match Officials”
By Tony Attwood The Guardian has the story, although it is tucked away as the 17th item down on the home page of its football coverage website. The Telegraph covered it as a possibility back in October but has had nothing since. The Independent has not touched it. CNN has a short piece. Sputnik …
Read More “At long last; legal action against Fifa over maltreatment of workers in Qatar begins”
By Tony Attwood This season there appears to have been a bit of an upsurge in goal scoring with the top six having knocked in 173 goals so far. The difference between the top club and the sixth club is 13 points. P W D L F A GD Pts 1 Chelsea 14 11 1 …
Read More “We can we learn after the first 14 games? A comparison with past years.”
By Tony Attwood In my little piece on the 36 passes that led to the second Arsenal goal on Tuesday I tentatively mentioned the psychological factors involved in making a good team become great, and then greater still. “Tentatively mentioned” because psychological factors are the exact antithesis of the “evidence of my own eyes” approach, …
Read More “The psychology index: how the way players feel influences how they play”
By Sir Hardly Anyone It must be difficult for sports editors when Arsenal win games, and doubly so when they start knocking in lots and lots of goals. Six against Ludogorets, five against West Ham, four against Basel, Sunderland and Hull… What makes it even tougher to take is when a few of these editors’ …
Read More “Arsenal to lose Özil and Alexis this summer as journalists ordered back on the job”
by the Referee Review Team 1: Referee Appointments and Results matchweek 12 Manchester United vs. Arsenal [1-1] Referee – Andre Marriner 1st Assistant Referee – Simon Beck 2nd Assistant Referee – Andy Garratt Fourth Official – Michael Oliver Crystal Palace vs. Manchester City [1-2] Referee – Robert Madley 1st Assistant Referee – Mick McDonough 2nd …
Read More “Referee Appointments and Results Matchweek #12 complete with video evidence”
by Andrew Crawshaw Edward Nketiah was born on May 30 1999 and is a 17 year old Striker. A lifetime Gooner, he joined Arsenal three years ago as a 14 year old schoolboy after being released by Chelsea. At the start of last season he became a first year scholar in our academy and is …
By Tony Attwood Can you imagine what the response would have been if it had all gone wrong last night? Arsene Wenger had the choice: go with a full blooded first team selection and not only aim for a win but hope that PSG stumbled, or put more back up players into the team and …
Read More “36 consecutive passes leading up to the second goal and the feelgood factor rises”
By Walter Broeckx A number of changes before the match. With our destiny to finish top of the group not in our own hands something that I really think can be done. A few players getting some rest and some player getting the chance to play at the highest level is something that I surely …
Read More “CL Basel – Arsenal1-4 : A Lucas hattrick and top of the group!”
By Tony Attwood So before we go any further time to look at the goal scorers Rank Player Club Goals 1 Diego Costa Chelsea 11 Alexis Sánchez Arsenal 3 Sergio Agüero Manchester City 10 Alexis has also got a couple of goals in Europe. So as we look forward to tonight’s game it is …
Read More “Basel v Arsenal: the teams, the stats, the preview”
ARSENAL vs. BOURNEMOUTH COMPETITION: English Premier League MATCH NO. 13 DATE: 27th November 2016 VENUE: Emirates Stadium (London, England) MATCH OFFICIALS: REFEREE: Mike Jones 1st LINESMAN: Adrian Holmes 2nd LINESMAN: Mark Scholes 4th OFFICIAL: Graham Scott First Half Fouls, Advantages, Cards, and Penalties Time Foul by Foul For Description & Decision Points 00:17 Adam Smith …
By Tony Attwood Every football journalist and most of the bloggettas have told us throughout November that ARSENAL ALWAYS DO BADLY IN NOVEMBER. I wrote it in capitals just in case you hadn’t caught it before. After all it must be very important to know this because they have told us over and over …
Read More “We all know November is Arsenal’s worst month. But what about December?”
By Walter Broeckx The only thing that is predictable when it comes to football is…that it is unpredictable. Now anyone that follows football a bit knows this but for some strange reason the people who are paid to follow football or who make a living out of following it and writing about it …..tend to …
Consistently wrong but never in doubt by Don McMahon While surfing various Arsenal and Football websites this week I was impressed and astonished by the number of spurious and unsolicited, unsupported and undeniably wrong posts that misnamed supporters feel it is their democratic right to publish. There are numerous memes that filter through the Ethernet …
By Tony Attwood “Did the new stadium force Ogbonna to misplace a pass that handed Arsenal an early lead? Was the new stadium responsible for West Ham’s half-baked recruitment over the summer?” These questions are posed by the Daily Telegraph, and their conclusion (without of course considering any evidence, for that is never their way) …
Read More “Just how much impact did the stadium have in Arsenal’s 5-1 win on Saturday?”
By Tony Attwood The English papers (other than the Sunday Times) are making little of the financial scandal that erupted across Europe yesterday – perhaps because they were not part of the group that put the research together, perhaps because in their superior manner they think their readers won’t be able to follow the details. …
Read More “What exactly is the finance scandal surrounding Mourinho and C Ronaldo?”
By Walter Broeckx No it isn’t my birthday this weekend. But my second oldest son is celebrating his birthday today. And as we were invited with the rest of the family I couldn’t do my match report. My family knows me of course and so they arranged that we would have our meal before the …
Read More “State Aid United – Arsenal 1-5: Oh what a birthday gift”
By Bulldog Drummond. It appears that each UK taxpayer has paid about £27 towards giving the club previously known as West Ham a new home for free. Given the number of taxpayers in the country, that is quite an alarming figure. But of course we just get on with it, and let the government treat …
Read More “WHU v Arsenal. The teams, the tactics, the injuries, the cost.”
By Bulldog Drummond Interesting reports today that even though Héctor Bellerín and Mathieu Debuchy, are out injured Carl Jenkinson won’t play at the Tax Payers Stadium (TPS) because Mr Wenger feels Carl is suffering a crisis of confidence. Traditionally psychological reasons for not playing players have been scorned by the pundits and sneered at by …
Read More “State Aid United v Arsenal: no Jenkinson, no Santi, and the problem of moving home”
By Tony Attwood Arsene Wenger has established his most formidable squad for five years – Arsenal will win honours So says Steve Stammers in the Daily Mirror, and just in case you don’t quite believe it and think it is a spoof he goes on… The Gunners crashed out of the League Cup in midweek …
Read More “When the press start saying Arsenal will win honours it is time to start worrying”
