Daily Bits and Bobs

Table looks worse than it is.

Posted on by rico

Morning all.

As tempting as it is for me to ridicule Chelsea for celebrating their Club World Cup victory as if it was something special, I’d love to be waking up this morning knowing Arsenal’s name had been engraved on the trophy. Just to be taking part in the competition means so much to football fans I’m sure because for English clubs, only the Champions League winners participate.

The closest Arsenal have ever been to winning the Champions League was way back in 2006 and funny enough, it was a lack of discipline which scuppered our chances. Or perhaps just a moment of madness from Jens Lehmann.

The number of red cards is now 101 red cards since the Premier League was set up after Gabriel Martinelli was sent off in our last match against Wolves.

The media, football writers, whoever, like to make a big deal of our numbers but in all honesty, I don’t think we’re a dirty team. Naive, yes, but not dirty. I’ve not seen Arsenal players stamp on another player’s face, lead with his elbow when challenging for an ariel ball and subsequently catching him in the face with force or intent and it’s been a long long time since any player bar has looked as if he’s deliberately stamped on another player’s ankle. Well, other than Granit Xhaka against Leeds and even he escaped punishment for that one which was a miracle in itself.

The bad red cards have been dished out to:

Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang in January 2020 when Arsenal played Crystal Palace. VAR were wide awake and watching closely Aubameyang  ploughed his studs into the standing ankle of Palace midfielder Max Meyer in the process.

November 2020 it was Pepe who was shown a straight red card in our match against Leeds. It was the ever alert VAR who spotted an off the ball incident with our winger head butting Ezgjan Alioski.

Even Eddie Nketiah has picked up a red card during recent years which I find hard to believe but it’s true. He’d only been on the pitch for a few minutes when he committed a studs up lunging challenge.

Then there’s Mr Marmite, Granit Xhaka.

It was easy to put the YouTube clip up that write about all of his misdemeanours. Same could be said about David Luiz, another player who I think divided Arsenal fans opinion. Both players though, when they kept their game under control by not challenging for a ball which they were/is never going to get, could/can be an asset to the team.

Remember the Totts game earlier in the season when Xhaka nicked the ball off a Totts player just outside our own box and what happened next? Of course you do, just as you no doubt remember his involvement in the rest of the game. He was at his best that day but the problem is, those days and those games are rare. He’s a mature and experienced player who hasn’t learned how to control his game or his temper and when his lack of pace or positioning let’s him down, he resorts to fouling, shirt pulling, or any other means to stop the opposing player getting away from him. Refs don’t like that, certainly not when its Arsenal.

David Luiz was the same but thankfully, he’s no longer at Arsenal. Always playing on the edge, often not far away from doing something which will let his team down.

This isn’t meant to be a Granit Xhaka assassination article, far from it, it’s about Arsenal players in general and a lack of ability to keep their emotions in check. If a player loses the ball, track back to where he’s heading but don’t go on a long run in anger to stop him when he’s already got a few yards advantage. Unless that player has the speed of Usain Bolt. Don’t stick a leg out in hope when the opposition player’s legs are closer than the ball and don’t, under any circumstances react to a bad challenge or a booking in anger because invariably, it’s only going to end one way. Especially all the time Mike Riley is pulling the strings.

The stupid red cards can be prevented, like Gabriel’s and Gabriel Martinelli’s just by being more emotionally controlled. Play with passion but not anger. As said, Xhaka isn’t going to change his ways now but the younger players, of which we have many, can learn. Look at how many times Bukayo Saka, Emile Smith Rowe, Martin Odegaard and Gabriel Martinelli himself get kicked during a game but 9 times out of 10, they don’t react in a way which will give an official a decision to make. Take that decision making away and it’s likely we’ll finish a game with the same numbers as we started. Unless Xhaka has one of his mad moments that is…..

See you in the comments.

 

 

 

 

 

rico

65 thoughts on “Table looks worse than it is.”

  2. Aussie Geoff says:

    Morning Rico and all
    Fond memories of Xhaka and Luiz playing together, it was the only time I wondered how long before both received a red card in the same match. The final whistle couldn’t come quick enough. 😀

  3. Aussie Geoff says:

    Rico one good thing about the ladder is we have 2 games up our sleeves so still plenty of chances to pinch 4 or 5 spot back

  4. Cicero says:

    Good morning Rico. I for one would be over the moon if Arsenal even reached the final of the World Club Championship, let alone winning it.

    Someone else I knew would have been ecstatic, my late uncle Artie. My mother had five sisters and two brothers one of which, John, died in infancy. My mother and all but one of her sisters were either Arsenal supporters or were married to Arsenal fans. The other sister, whilst not particularly interested in football, married a Spurs supporter, Artie supported Chelsea and took an enormous amount of stick from his siblings, their spouses and his nephews and nieces he was always good natured about this and would ruefully agree that his team lacked the charisma of the North London duo. How he would have loved to give us all a bit of stick back.

  5. Sue says:

    Hi Rico.. Great article! We’ve always been partial to a brain fart; even back in the good old days!
    I don’t think the theatrics from the opposition helps, I’m not saying we’re completely innocent because we’re not – a lot of the cards have been deserved, but the way some of them go down, roll around for about 20 minutes is laughable! And don’t start me on the officials inconsistencies 🤪

    Maybe we should consider a red card of the month award 🤣 If we end up with one against Brentford, I swear I’ll lose the will to live!!!

    Tonight’s the night for Stan and his Rams. Honestly, I’m more excited about the half time entertainment – Dr Dre, Eminem and Snoop dog – wow!!! 👌 Bring it on!

  7. Adam says:

    Morning Rico. Looking at that pair of challenges from Davey Proper and watching what Oliver did is absolutely infuriating.
    I’ve said it before but there is a massive story about what’s happening in the PL to be written. How can Oliver take part in the refereeing (including VAR) of over a third of Arsenal games when there are 24 refs available? There’s something very, very wrong here. Whether you believe there is something like the Italian scandal unfolding or not, the figures just don’t add up.

  10. rico says:

    I agree Adam, with the number of officials on the books, there is absolutely no need for one individual to be involved in any one club’s games as much as Oliver has been ours. It’s ridiculous and throws more weight towards the Riley hand picking officials for certain fixtures argument.

    But no one cares, not those who could make a big name for themselves and a big difference to the game by doing a bit of investigation.

  12. pbarany says:

    I don’t think I made an impression as a hardcore Arteta supporter, but I can’t/don’t blame him for the increment in red cards. As Untold properly stated it’s not the case that the players behave particularly vile – if anything it’s the opposite -, we don’t lung at opponents when jumping for the ball, we don’t tackle with the intention of inflicting pain. Even those examples Rico listed (Auba, Nketiah) were timing deficiencies without any purpose to fault the opponent. And I cannot blame Arteta for the boys playing with much passion, because they don’t. (I am not romanticizing it; I prefer playing from the head, and resorting to playing from the heart in extreme circumstances.) If there is any change since Arteta’s appointment is that the team playing with more discipline. Of which I’m not supporting at all, as I honestly believe it directly resulted in arrested creativity and reduced number of key passes thus chances created, but it also resulted in reduced number of yellow cards, even though the dismissals have increased.

    My possible explanations are:
    A: series of bad luck
    B: PMGOs are a bunch of incompetent bastards
    C: PMGOs know their craft, but are clearly biased against Arsenal
    D: Only some officials fall into category C/D, but they are over-represented in our games
    E: there is a single element missing from the boys preparation (let’s call it tackle timing for the sake of simplification), therefore while the boys don’t play aggressive or unfair at all, this one aspect of their game inadvertently results in an increased red-card-risk

    Did I miss something? If you could only pick 2 from the list above, which would be your explanation?

  14. Adam says:

    Rico. I think some probably do care, but they will be in danger of killing the goose that lays their golden eggs and they would be ostracised. Having said that I think that Rio sees what’s happening and is doing rather well in showing the football world what a twat Peter Walton is.
    It really needs a non-football, proper investigative journo to get stuck into it. Perhaps someone from abroad. He or she will need good connections though.

  15. rico says:

    Good point on Rio Adam, Richards too has his moments.

    Admittedly these reporters might shoot themselves in the foot but if any expose was based on facts, with examples of double standards etc etc, they’re more likely to open a can of worms which will spark more interest.

    Look at the Propper one which you mentioned and that’s within a few days. It’s all out there, someone just needs to look.

  17. Pete the Thirst says:

    Chelsea…what a horrible club.

    I remember going to Stamford Bridge in the late 80s. What a dump! The tube line was closer to the away fans than the pitch. On the way to the ground you’d be treated to a mob of Chelsea ‘fans’ Seig-Heiling from the local boozers.

    And now they have the Russian government laundering money through their London outlet – Chelsea FC. The UK government postures over Ukraine but let’s this go on under their noses. Money talks.

    Horrible club. Horrible fans.

  21. Pete the Thirst says:

    @Rico I was fortunate to be in the Stade de France for the CL Final. Yes sure Jens cocked up and got sent off. But We were holding out at 1-0 with 15 minutes to play. Then Calamity Almunia displayed all of his shortcomings to let in 2 soft goals.

    The same Almunia that was our No1 keeper for the next 4 seasons.

  22. Aussie Geoff says:

    It seems funny that there are restrictions on how many FA Cup final’s a ref can do yet no restrictions when it comes to the home and away season

  26. potter says:

    Pete , Stamford Bridge was always fraught with problems for the away fans . The police used to keep you in for 15 minutes after the match and then force you onto Fulham Broadway station where the Chelsea headhunters had congregated .

    And at the Stade to France , had a great time with the cules before the game and it was a great experience apart from the action on the pitch .Taking Pires off lost us that game as we had no outball and Henry was having a mare and was thinking about his move no doubt.

    Even with a man down we were still in with a chance but keepers let us down that night . Had we been eleven I still think we would have nicked it.

  33. Joaquim Moreira says:

    Commentators are always on the side of M.United, Liverpool, Totts and Wolves.
    Today, they are divided.
    When it was Wolves-Arsenal, they “scored” several goals against Arsenal and constantly praising the Portuguese players + Gimenez (played for Benfica…)

  37. Sue says:

    Adam 🙂👍

    Who needs 11 anyway, Rico? We should be used to it by now!! 🤣 Just had to go on YouTube and rip it out of a few spuds, Rico, hehe! St Totteringham’s Day anyone?!!

  44. allezkev says:

    I understand that Adam is a massive Dr Dre fan and wears his baseball cap back to front in the great Doctors honour when patrolling the hood…

  54. Rick says:

    Evening Rico and the House.
    I gather that in the Newcastle game Jo Linton commited
    3 fouls inside a minute
    Just got a yellow and alot of fans are asking why gabby got a red and
    is it because he is a gunner
    Watch MOD

  55. rico says:

    Pressure is on us to win those games in hand. Won’t be easy.

    Evening Rick. The whole officiating affair has become a farce. Something has to be done soon surely.

  57. Potter says:

    In the words of a true commentator “ it’s up for grabs now “
    It’s in our hands only we can foul it up . Just need to keep things on track . But can we , will we ?

  58. pbarany says:

    Let’s set the bar high.
    Would we manage to beat Chelsea in the postponed fixture, we would be better than them regarding points lost, so we can realistically aim for the 3rd place. And if we cannot make it, we can still act disappointed for finishing 4th. 🙂

  59. rico says:

    It’s a no, and no from me.

    Our run in is really hard and I don’t think we have enough up front to get the goals.

    I think we’ll end up 6th.

  60. pbarany says:

    As we can see from recent results, there are no inferior teams in the PL any more.
    Nevertheless – apart from the 3 postponed games against TOP6 opponents – our schedule cannot get any easier.
    Until mid-April we play against Brentford (H), Wolves (H), Watford (A) – that is expected to be 9 points! – Leicester City (H), Aston Villa (A), Crystal Palace (A), Brighton (H), Southampton (A).
    After a couple of tough fixtures – MU (H), West Ham (A) – we face clubs in the last 3 rounds that shouldn’t make a big fuss about their final standing (assuming Newcastle will be already well above relegation zone): Leeds (H), Newcastle (A), Everton (H). Even if we lose all 3 postponed games against Tottenham (A), Chelsea (A), Liverpool (H) – which is quite likely – we should manage to gather enough points from those teams to hold on to the 4th place.

    I know there are no more easy games here, and I don’t want to make an impression of looking down on opponents, but if we cannot defeat Watford on the road, or Leeds and Brighton at home, then we really shouldn’t be playing against Atalanta or Sevilla…

  61. Aussie Geoff says:

    Thank you Wolves for helping us twice, first the lose to us and then beating Tottenham last night. it’s now down to us to take 4th spot or fail,

  62. allezkev says:

    Every game is as difficult as the next at this stage of the season so we shouldn’t and I’m sure we won’t take anything for granted, therefore the next game vs Brentford is going to be a huge test, not least given that Brentford have a long history in giving Arsenal teams a bloody nose and they haven’t won in 5 games, but neither had Everton when we rocked up at Goodison and look what happened there…

    The referees won’t take kindly to the criticism of Oliver nor will that like Arteta publicly stating that he’s going to see them about refereeing standards this season, so be prepared to see Arsenal being treated as harshly as ever and maybe worse.

    I’d take a very tense, tight and boring 1-0 win over Brentford if you offered it to me now, One Nil to the Arsenal is coming back, winning with 10 men is coming back, it’s like 1987 all over again.

  63. Aussie Geoff says:

    Kev I will take a 1 nil win as well, who knows what the ref’s will do but one thing for sure we have to play smart and not give them a chance to offer any y or r cards.

    I recon half the time these players have a brain fart is because they see Arteta running up and down the side line like an idiot making the players to get frustrated on the field so they react by giving away stupid frees.

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