Morning all.
Well who’d have thought it, Granit Xhaka has been voted the fans player of the month for April on AFC.com. Mo Elneny came a close second.
I want to say thank you very much for voting me as Player of the Month. It’s very special for me, but I want to say thank you as well for the support. Of course at home, but away as well. We will try to achieve our goals for this season.
What a turnaround for both him and Elneny who just a few months ago, would have probably been top of the list of a “who should Arsenal sell” poll. I’ve always like Elneny and even back in the days of when Aaron Ramsey was at the club, I hoped the Egyptian would be the preferred choice. As for Xhaka, 3rd choice was too high on the list of options. Yet both played a huge part in our victories against Chelsea, Man Utd and West Ham. I know three fixtures don’t make a season but to be fair on Elneny, they are the only three Premier League matches he’s played this year. He’s made 13 appearances in all competitions this season whereas Xhaka has been in the team from the start, barring injury or suspension and on those occasions, he was missed. His strike against Man Utd was a thing of beauty and it’s probably the reason he pipped Elneny to the fans vote but the impact the latter has made on the team in the last three fixtures cannot be underestimated. The ball he played out to Eddie Nketiah against West Ham was inch perfect but his defensive work has been excellent too. If both can continue on this really good run, we’ll have a good chance of finishing 4th. Well, a chance anyway.
Talking of Champions League football, I bet Liverpool fans were having a bit of a meltdown whilst watching Villarreal go 2-0 up. They needn’t have worried though because Klopp’s team fought back hard and fast to secure their place in the final which is in all likelihood, going to be against Real Madrid unless Man City perform a miracle later. Do away goals still count? If not, then the tie could go any way.
But back to Villarreal and Unai Emery. His predecessor at Arsenal, Arsène Wenger was on beIN Sports last night covering their match. Inevitably, he was asked about the Spaniards time in north London and was asked by Richard Keys, if he thought Emery was unfairly treat by the club.
Certainly, yes. Because they didn’t give him a lot of time. But as well, there’s a lot to talk about because, for example, is it right that the teams who are not successful in the group stage can play the Europa League? Because out of ten years, the teams who are not successful in the Champions League were winning the Uefa Cup. So that transformed a non-success into a success.”
Is that rewarding failure? Asked Andy Gray.
It was more to give an importance to the trophy than to reward the sporting quality. But I think Unai Emery’s a great coach – that he has shown it in Spain again and he is constantly there at the top level.
I too think Unai Emery was treated unfairly but football is a results driven game and he wasn’t get the right results and the performances weren’t particularly good either. He just could get Raul’s signings to gel. But, that aside, I do think it’s ridiculous that a club can gets two bites of the European football cherry. The two completions should be kept separate in my opinion and when you’re out, you’re out. Otherwise they’ll soon be a call for those who finish 3rd in the Europa groups to enter the Europa Conference League Cup. It’s bonkers. After all, a club could work hard all through the Europa League rounds, only to come up against a club like Barcelona, Real Madrid, Bayern Munich etc etc.
What do you think?
The European competitions are designed to benefit the big clubs with lots of money. There are lots of chances for them to slip up, but still make progress.
They should call it something like the UEFA Super League.
It’s nice that Wenger is criticising UEFA, they deserve it. But what about FIFA, his current employer? You know the one that put the World Cup in Russia, then in the middle of the desert. From people in the know I heard Arsene had high morals, but also liked cold hard money.
Morning Pete, all.
Happy birthday Rick, enjoy your day.
He certainly did like his money Pete, I wonder how much he earned being a pundit during his Arsenal career. Didn’t like spending it much though..
Morning All, it’s noticeable that Arsene avoided commenting on all the dickheads he left behind when he departed and how they sabotaged Emery in the end…
Noticeable that the team looks a far far tighter unit since Arteta has been able to move all the dickheads on…
Pete I totally agree ,
Back in the day the European cup was a knockout competition and so was the cup winners cup . If you lost you were out end of subject. This didn’t raise enough cash so they bought in the mini league first stage and they increased the number of teams involved meaning more games more cash .
It has always been about the money and it has created a super club class that has only been interrupted by the Billionaire buy ins who saw the potential in returns.
As for Unai he might have been the right person but he was at the wrong time . he suffered from a communication lapse and although i believe that he was formulating a similar plan to Arteta he was an easy target for negative reactions and wasn’t given the chance to carry it out..
I am glad he has done well at Villareal , he is doing what he did at Seville being a pain in the backside of Real Madrid and Barcelona and that is all that their fans can really expect.
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Yes, Happy Birthday Rick
BTW :- Rick have a good one., It’s always good to see your posts.
Spot on Kev.
I’m glad Unai is doing well too. Kind of puts to bed the theory that he won things at PSG because of their money. I just wish he’d could have won the CL this time.
Arsene had a very kind of Liberal / Socialist laissez faire approach and allowed too many people too much licence. You only heard of fines being levied when the media exposed the story. If he had excercised a stronger hand that was seen in public he might have carried the fans with him for a bit longer.
As a coach I think he was above average but I think once Dein was removed he became a little out of his depth and took on far tioo much responsibility which eventually reflected on the pitch.
Good day Rico and all.
In case you got up late Rick, and missed my earlier good wishes, have a great birthday. There’s something special about people born in the month of May. 😉
When Wenger went he left behind a mare’s nest of a squad. Over paid, underperforming, egocentric and greedy. Emery stood no chance of success as the club hierarchy were scared of the bad publicity which would arise if certain high profile players were dropped, particularly as the replacements available from within the club were not yet ready.
Imo AW wanted to be everyone’s buddy, especially the players. He was too close to them.
Afternoon Cicero, agree. The squad really was a mix and match rather than dedicated players for their position. Such a contrast to his early years.
He needed someone that he respected to talk to him and disagree , He had it with Dein but latterly Pat Rice for whatever reason wasn’t able to keep him sharp.
There are parallels with Arteta if you don’t agree with him you go .
Evening, good post rico. UEFA abolished the away goals rule in all two-legged European ties last summer, thankfully. Always confusing whether it included extra time or not. Glad it’s gone.
Could we be in for another Scottish left back? According to MSN News Arsenal are interested in signing Bologna defender Aaron Hickey with Mikel Arteta keen on bolstering his defensive options.
The young defender joined Bologna from Hearts and has become a mainstay in the Italian club’s starting XI this campaign.
He has made 33 appearances in 2021/22, scoring five goals and providing one assist as Bologna sit 13th in the Serie A table.
Hickey has been linked with numerous clubs with a report last month claiming at least 12 Premier League clubs – including all of the ‘big six’ – are monitoring the 19-year-old.
With interest hotting up, the Scotland international recently commented on his future in Italy. He said: “My goal this season was to play more games than last season. I achieved that aim and that’s something I am very happy about.
“The important thing is to keep my head down and keep improving with a coaching staff that are helping me a lot.
“Now I think about my future only here in Bologna.
“The way we play helps me a lot compared to what I was used to in Scotland. In terms of my progress, I have to keep improving to gain experience and help the team. But personally, I think I still need to improve both in the attacking and defensive parts of my game.”
With Tierney an obvious injury risk and Tavares yet to make a real impression Hickey could be a solution.
Yep, Arteta doesn’t seem to forgive and forget much. Still, I know I was someone who thought there needed to be more discipline within and now we’ve got it so I for one can’t complain too much.
Evening Andrew, thanks. Maybe City have a chance then, albeit pretty slim imo.
Omari Hutchinson tipped to move to Reading on loan. Good move imo.
I think the improved performance is strongly related to the small squad, so I’m not excited to bring a player for a position where we have a clear starter, a talented backup, a promising academy player and a couple of contingency players from the first team to cover. (At LB they are Tierney, Tavares, Lopez/Sousa, Saka, Xhaka.)
Therefore I’m not aroused on the Hickey rumor (which is among the dozens of random gossips every week), albeit his goal scoring statistics are indeed impressive.
The Hutchinson-Reading move would be indeed good news.
A great 3 – 0 win in the WSL NLD keeps the title chase going right down to the wire. We need to get a better result than Chelsea in the final round of games next week when we play away to West Ham and Chelsea host Man U.
New post up
Must admit, I’m not sure a 19 year old is what we need to cover for Tierney, if anything, I think we need a player with more experience. That is if Tavares isn’t going to work but surely, with a bit more coaching, he’ll improve his game and it is his first season.