Morning all.
Credit where credit is due….
Over the years, home or away, Arsenal versus Leeds has usually favoured the north London club. How many times during the buildup to Saturday’s fixture did you read or hear about the number of years it’s been since the Yorkshire club had a positive result against Arsenal? Numerous I’m sure. Being the cynic I am, I’m pretty sure the media and pundits alike built the history up in hope that Leeds would cause a shock, the fallout being mighty had they done so.
Leeds were good, more than good really and during the first half it was quite clear to see why they went into the fixture unbeaten, albeit with just a handful of games played so far. Their recovery from attack to defence was speedy, their defensive organisation is to be admired, the progress Daniel Farke has made in a relatively short time, should be praised. Do they use every trick in the book to win challenges or stop other teams playing? Of course they do but why not? Don’t Arsenal do the same sometimes? We would be hypocrites to criticise them really, after all, it’s the referees’ job to punish those who cross the line when they do.
I think it’s great for the Premier League to see clubs like Leeds Utd as strong as they are because it makes English football stronger, better too. More competition equals more upsets which in turn helps to stop a league title being over in March or April. Of course I’d love to see Arsenal confirmed champions in either of those two months but do we really want the top league in England to become something akin to the Bundesliga, La Liga or Ligue 1? I don’t. I would have loved watching the way Brighton battered Arsenal if I wasn’t an Arsenal fan because the team from the south coast, regardless of how Arsenal played, were very good. I just hope they can do the same to a few more clubs this season, especially those “expected” to be challenging for the league title.
As football fans, perhaps we are not appreciative enough of what other clubs and managers are doing, instead preferring to lay the blame for a negative result on our own. It’s either Arteta’s fault for being a poor man’s Guardiola, Saka’s because he’s suddenly lost his pace or direction or indeed any other player who has not played very well. Yet I’m 100% sure that every player in this Arsenal squad will go onto the pitch with nothing else on their mind other than giving their all, doing their best and winning the game. Arteta and his staff will have done their homework before the game better than you or I but sometimes, even the best plans don’t always bear fruit. That’s life! That’s sport too because opposing managers and staff will have done their homework too.
Arsenal should have won the Premier League sooner than they did? They might have had Saliba’s injury not scuppered our season a few years ago. We might have had the officials dealt with other club’s players the way they dealt with ours just the season before last and let’s not forget the huge elephant in the room which is still ongoing because I’m sure that the years mentioned in the Premier League findings were not the beginning or indeed the end of what went on up in Manchester.
Two seasons running Arsenal finished second to Man City. Let that sink in for just one minute. Just five points and then two points divided the two clubs at the end of the 2022/23 and 2023/24 seasons respectively. I know we cannot rewrite history but I can’t help wondering what might have been had the playing field been 100% level. Maybe Mikel Arteta’s Arsenal would have won the Premier League sooner than he/the club did.
Still, let’s not let the truth ruin a good story eh. Let’s not take into consideration what Arsenal were up against in recent seasons either and I don’t just mean injuries. After all, beating him with the “should have won it sooner” stick is a much easier to do, if that suits one’s agenda of course.
Me, well all the time he and the players have The Arsenal crest on their chest, they’ll get my support 100%. Yes, even Kai Havertz and Noni Madueke. 😜
Catch up in the comments.
New post up.
Why are so bad against 1-on-1?
I think Havertz missed two 1-on-1 with goalie saving them.
Latest is Saka who lacked confidence and missed 1-on-1 with Trafford, shooting directly at him.
This season, the best 1-on-1 goal I saw was Odegaard during Community Shield when with a shimmy, he dumped Donammura on his backside to score.
Guess there is low confidence level running thru’ our Forward Line which I hope Arteta will fix with goal galore against Lille.
I saw a report which alleged that Arteta expected Saka “to score 2 or 3 goals per game.”
Then, Arteta will need to transform this “old” Saka who lost his explosiveness after his many hamstring and muscular injuries. This new Saka must use his football brain, guile and experience to beat 2- or 3-man instant press on him.
Odegaard, White (or Timber), Havertz (or Gyokeres) need to play quick give-and-go (old days called wall pass) to beat pressing and closed marking defenders to break clear of them into goal.
And yes, Arteta nailed it when he said he wanted more bodies in the box with midfielders running into it.
“Rice and Bruno can move it quicker but we need forwards that can make intelligent runs and not get offside and most of all we need movement through the middle as well as the wings and the idea of Saka and whoever plays left switching is something that has to happen and Odegaard , Eze , Havertz whoever is playing the number 10 needs to get into the box more often.”
Spot on imo.
In many ways the low block is being phased out and the get in our faces on the edge of our area the following the Brighton pattern
Our system of approaching a wall of two banks of 5 at a slow pace used to give us a difficult option of threading needles.
Now however it seems that our playing out from the back and moving the ball through the lines is being pressured and we are giving away possession more often.
The answer could well be moving the ball quicker into the channels and going over the pressing players and leaving them behind the ball and players running into the spaces that are left could.drag them back and make other teams readjust their tactics putting them on the back foot .
Rice and Bruno can move it quicker but we need forwards that can make intelligent runs and not get offside and most of all we need movement through the middle as well as the wings and the idea of Saka and whoever plays left switching is something that has to happen and Odegaard , Eze , Havertz whoever is playing the number 10 needs to get into the box more often.
I’ll believe you Cicero. Lol
That was down to rustiness, just rustiness Rico. 😉
Afternoon Cicero. I thought that too until we played Brighton.. 😂
So long as the banners don’t break the woke laws, for racism, equality and perceived physical danger to other spectators there’s not much the authorities can do about them, Geoff.
G’day Rico and all.
Obviously it’s better for us if teams attack, rather than sit back behind the low block. Even with injuries we still have a very good back four and an inspired ‘keeper, we should certainly be able to cope with whatever is thrown at us but there will inevitably be the odd goal conceded.
As others have said Madueke was better on Saturday but his end product is pretty miserable. Too often running into cul-de-sacs and losing possession and his final ball, whether cross or shot, is mediocre at best.
In the absence of Tzolis, I guess we just have to live with him on a wing, at least until January.
oops left the word OZ out should read news stations in oz
Our news stations in have been showing the Liverpool fans holding up banners – signs and ballons, while some even had t shirts on taking a dig at city, I wonder if the league officials will step in to stop fans showing City that they are cheats
I thought they were really good Kev and they unsettled us. What I took from the game though was the impact the changes made and the three points won. Every club wants to beat the reigning champions and Leeds were no different but in the end, our strength and willingness came through.
Madueke was definitely better but to be honest, that wasn’t hard. Keeping him on the left makes sense, or rather it’s in keeping with Arteta playing left/right footed players on the opposite side.
Hi Dennis, I don’t totally agree, certainly not post the foreign ownership. Once the money came in from Roman then at City etc, plus the debt Utd have had for so long, those who lived within their means were always likely to struggle to truly compete.
Yes Rico I do agree, I thought the 1st half vs Leeds was intriguing because a lot of teams are likely to follow the Brighton and to a lesser degree Sunderland example and it’s how we deal with it that interested me? Also how we responded to going behind?
I see that Alvarez has sacked his agent, therefore I wonder if Atletico will now attempt to bring him back from the cold. Not getting Alvarez means that the coaches have to focus on who we currently have and maybe get more out of them. If Madueke can follow up his performance against Leeds with a few more like that then the need for another left winger goes away.
Seems that not only Hincapie hurt himself in the warm-down yesterday but maybe Zubimendi tweaked something as well, which is just typical of our luck with Zubi set to play vs Lille.
Hi Rico.
From a supporter/fans point of view, you want to believe and dream at the start of every new season that your club can challenge and possibly win the title.
We understand that it is impossible to win it every year, no-one would claim otherwise.
What is unfair on supporters is when your club wilfully removes itself from that competition, and Arsenal have done this to their fans on many occasions from the mid 1950’s into the modern era.
It’s not coincidence that Arsenal were nowhere near the title between ’54 and ’70, between ’72 and ’88, and again between 2005 and 2025.
Seven titles since 1954, 72 years.
After Tom Whittaker, Arsenal made some shocking appointments, effectively taking themselves out of any challenge at the top.
Of course Bertie Mee’s Fairs cup and the ‘Double’ in ’71 were very welcome, but even that title came out of the blue, and after a 2nd place in ’73, we drifted until they brought George Graham in.
There seemed to be a shift in mentality, winning suddenly seemed to be more important.
Sure he deserved his sacking, but he won two titles, he won in Europe, and he left Rioch and Wenger the best defensive back-line in English football.
Wenger wouldn’t have had his success without them, but he added some of the most exciting breath-taking football we as Arsenal fans have ever seen, but they let him stay far too long.
Historically, Arsenal’s success has been very sporadic, and the hierarchy have often been ridiculously patient with under-performing managers.
In hiring Mikel Arteta, they were selling it to the fans as an exciting project and were clearly relying on the goodwill of the fan-base, to move on from the toxicity of Wenger’s latter days.
8th, 8th and 5th.
Steady but unspectacular progress, however four years on and over £1billion spent, he has delivered a title.
It aligns with Arsenal’s history and how they’ve always behaved as a club, so I understand why many Arsenal fans are supportive of him.
We enjoy the feasting because there are far too many years of famine, much of which has been self-inflicted.
Morning Kev, ha ha.
The default setting can be to berate our own when sometimes, perhaps it’s better do give opponents some credit. Leeds deserved credit I think because they really pushed us in the first half.
Great post on Arseblog, Andrew Mangan describing Sham City’s 0-3 win at Anfield perfectly and the media’s disgraceful attempts to downplay the 114 guilty charges.
Morning Rico, a chest thumping post, the dentist obviously did a great job. 😁
Couldn’t agree with you more btw, my son who was at the game even had to admit that Madueke had a good game and he doesn’t rate him at all – it’s that Chelsea thing…
It seems that Arteta spent most of the Interlull working on Noni and maybe straightening out some of his rough edges, Viktor also looked engaged so maybe the discontent among a couple of our players over playing time has gone for now. It makes me wonder if Mikel is currently working with Zubimendi and trying to regain the player we saw for 5 months following his arrival just over a year ago?
Geoff, if Arteta continues to pick Saka then he must trust him, we maybe have to accept that the Saka we used to know prior to his hamstring operation has gone and that Bakayo has had to adapt his game to protect his hamstring, you know a bit like Gabriel who also doesn’t sprint around so much anymore more.
Morning Geoff, all
Sometimes I just think perspective helps.
Morning Rico and all, nice write up.
On the whole I am enjoying this season so far, not because we second but the fact that the difference between 13 and 20 place after 6 games is only 4 points, and 4th to 12 place is only 3 points, this still giving the bottom team hope of making the top half.