I was thinking about doing a season review but I’m not sure if I will. It’s not for lack of things to write about this season, plenty happened. And it’s not because I have writer’s block (there’s no such thing) because with just a few moment’s thought (literally 15 minutes before I walked the dog) I jotted down some thoughts about how I could approach a season review.
Generic: good, bad, ugly kind of review. You know, what went well, what didn’t, what could be improve, best players, best moments, worst moments, complain about Willian, have a sideswipe at someone. You’ve read these before. Every newspaper prints one of these, usually they are written from a fan perspective. After over 13 years of doing these every season, I’m not really feeling it.
Player review: do you really care? We all like Bukayo Saka and Emile Smith Rowe, that’s a given. And I think we all saw which players excelled and which ones didn’t. We all know the squad needs major overhaul to compete for anything. I guess there could be a few small things to argue about here (which would be blown up into Jerry Springer fights in the comments, ugh) but for the most part I can’t imagine that we disagree on much. And I guess for me, very few of the players in this squad interest me (apart from Saka and Smith Rowe) and I’ve written exhaustively about the players this season (not directly but through the normal stuff I write about I think you can get the jist) and frankly, the last thing I want to do is spend any more of my life essence on Willian or Granit Xhaka.
Sidebar: I just jotted down a note that maybe I should only write about the guys I like. I might do that.
Tactics: mmm… yes, the really juicy stuff – me pretending to understand what Arteta was REALLY doing for half the season and including all kinds of neat graphics with circles on players. I’m being a jerk. The people who do this work are awesome and I like a lot of the content they create. If you’re at all tactically minded (maybe you want to be a coach, or are a coach?) you should follow Carlon Carpenter on twitter. Carlon offers a ton of free resources for video and data analysis through his various web sites and githubs. Me? Not my forte.
Stats!!!! A wacky season got wackier mid-way through when the coach suddenly decided to play his best players (hint: not Willian). When I broke that down for people, using the last 19 games (you know, 1 match against each opponent) as the yard stick people got angry that the data didn’t match their narrative because while we looked better playing, and the points were definitely better, the underlying data wasn’t. So, that’s been done, I’ve ticked off a lot of people, people got mad at each other, and you know what? None of it really matters. This season was weird from start to finish. No sense in drawing any conclusions (good or bad) or scrying some projected playing style for next season out of this season’s oddness. Plus who knows what will change this off season.
Transfers: that reminds me of a line from Caddyshack where D’Annunzio wants to buy a Coke but Danny tells him that the Coke costs 50 cents now because Lou’s been losing at the track and Tony says “Well, I ain’t payin no 50 cents for no Coke” and Danny says “well then you ain’t gettin no Coke. Know what I’m talkin about?” Then he drinks the Coke and then Lou comes back and there’s a small scuffle and then there’s no resolution to the Coke, the 50 cents, and Lou’s gambling problem seems to just get worse. I hope Lou got some help.
Match-by-match review: I have all the notes from the season in a book (I’ve started keeping paper copies of matchday notes). I suppose I could go back through and see what pops up. Maybe re-watch some of the highlight matches. Oddly this is my favorite idea and it probably appeals to you all the least!
So there are a few ideas. But the point here is that I just wanted to let you all know that I have taken a few days off but I don’t have writer’s block, I have writer’s ennui.
Obviously that would be Thierry Ennui 🙂 stay well Tim!
hahahahah
man, we’ve survived this long, might as well keep going.
Take it easy fourcandles.
I hear you on writer’s block ands writer’s ennui. But I have had that condition where you sit in front of the computer for a week trying to start the darned assignment (you already have a subject outline), and you cant finish a single sentence. It’s killing you. You stay up till 3am on multiple nights, but do everything else except write. Then a small spark is lit, and you hammer out 1000 words in 2 hours. What do you call THAT?
For next season, I wonder which 18 to 20 year old player from out next level will break through? Who, as they say in basketball, will be the next man up? That intrigues me more than expensive, big name transfers, tbh.
“Writer’s splooge”
“You stay up till 3am on multiple nights, but do everything else except write. Then a small spark is lit, and you hammer out 1000 words in 2 hours. What do you call THAT?”
Being a writer!
I love the review of key matches idea. Watching with distance can really change your perspective. Or just harden your opinion. Like Dani Onions is really good! or We should have re-signed David Luiz!
Not likely. But maybe we see more clearly how Pepe developed. Or what the hell Arteta was trying to do without a #10 until Boxing Day.
I’d be curious. There must be something that will pop out. Maybe assign us all a particular game and we can all rewatch and discuss?
I’m in for whatever you decide, as always.
LA, I like the idea of sliding doors moments or matches. What are 3 or 5 things that made the most difference to the 6 points that we fell short of fourth? Key moments (not even matches… moments), that could have transformed the season.
p.s., and forgive the off-topic… I dont know whether youre Lakers or Clips, but my boys, the defending champs, stank to heaven last night in Phoenix.
Since you brought up Caddyshack, I think an appropriate quote for the season might be from Judge Smails when he tells Spalding “You’ll get NOTHING…and LIKE IT!”…
“Spaulding, get your foot off the boat.”
I had a bit of relatively good news today. At this time of year, I get the annual email from Arsenal asking if I want to renew my season ticket. Normally this is something I actually look forward to, but this year it sat in my inbox unopened for a week. I had visions of throwing yet another 6k down the toilet, for absolutely no apparent reason, other than force of habit.
Anyway, I thought I might as well have a look. To my utter surprise, the page where you actually see your account and the amount owing said £0.00. That’s right, I get next season’s games for nothing. No midweek European games, obviously, but I have to say I wont miss them. Invariably dull affairs and at 11pm I’m still dragging myself across London to get home.
Presumably, that balances out the season just gone. Totally fair of course, but I’ve lost so much faith in Arsenal’s ability to do the “right thing”, it actually took me by surprise. Perhaps somebody in the Highbury House offices has decide that fans actually do matter and that without them, there is no football club. It would be nice to think so.
I think it is PR to avoid a further meltdown with fans. Kroenkes are against the wall in terms of relationship with the fans but we could also argue besides PR they could care less.
This brings me to Tim. As you consider match by match review I’d be interested if we could analyse Arteta’s thoughts and if the outcome matched his strategy. Obviously this may confirm what we already know or may give insight. The thought of trying something new is welcome as a reader.
That’s awesome. I didn’t see any announcement about that but it’s great to hear.
Tim I’m looking forward to any analysis you choose to publish. It’s a good idea to take time off. This is sort of a half job half hobby for you but seeing as it’s not a job… you can write why you want when you want. We will be here and grateful for it when you do.
Thanks Doc!
I suspect that you would be best to leave it alone.
Trying to analyse what Arteta is up to is like trying to walk across the Atlantic.
In truth, I doubt that even Arteta knows.
As far as having an interest in the Academy players, nothing could be further from the truth.
He had no choice with Saka, because he is so good and stumbled on ESR almost by accident.
I’m still not convinced that Arteta really wants him to be part of his plans which is why he brought in Odegard and why he wants to try and keep him even at vast expense.
All the other Academy candidates were shipped off on loan in January and I doubt whether we will see any of them back and certainly not playing regularly.
We will see another group of expensive and highly thought of flops, a la Partey and Pepe, as well as more semi retired oldies like Willian, who promise lots and give nothing
Please excuse my cynicism but after what we have seen in the last year, I see it as being downhill all the way until a genuine manager takes over.
I’d already had thoughts of a similar variety. Having offered ideas on where the club/team are presently– and at least an opinion with an upside as to this Summer and next Fall.
The bickering and griping over things that can’t possibly be changed in the near-term were anathema to the spirit of this place IMO.
Until. I read The Athletic’s post-season reader survey comprised of thousands of responses. And realized that a far greater share of Arsenal fans and supporters– also don’t believe the light-at-the-end-of-the-tunnel is coming at us.
I’m usually prone to retelling things I’ve read elsewhere– but in this case will excerpt a few bits–
“In all three questions regarding senior staff at Arsenal, we felt sufficient time has passed for supporters to be able to make a judgement.
In Arteta’s case, we got one — 79.2 per cent of respondents felt he had done enough to deserve being in charge again next season. ”
…
“With no European distractions, the majority of fans feel Arsenal will be headed for a return to Thursday night football in 2022, predicting either a fifth- or sixth-place finish next season.
Interestingly, however, the next biggest group of agreement is that the club will finish in the top four again. Ending this season just six points off the Champions League places and not having to juggle midweek football throughout the next campaign could improve those chances and prove the more optimistic fans right.”
(These two segments combined for > 86% of respondent’s opinions)
…
The other aspects covered in the survey were not so surprising to me as these. In the comments that followed the survey, there was quite a lot of good give and take on the results. Quite a bit of acknowledgement of the disappointment in the early part of the season. But also credit for Arteta in marshalling the team through what was always going to be a transitional season.
Onward. Upward.
Nothing wrong with strong disagreement, as long as it’s polite. One man’s “griping and bitching” is another man’s debate. Which wise man said, let all ideas bloom? In sport, there’s never going to be universality of opinion on anything. Im one of those who feel that Arteta failed to meet expectations, and there are big holes in his management capability. I also feel he got some things right, and overall am not fussed whether he stayed or went. Long as his board decided to keep him — at least on probation — I think that we should all rally and hope that he hits it out of the park. They made a decision that none of us has the power to change. If we are fans of Arsenal FC, we want our football to succeed, irrespective of any misgivings we may harbour. The Athletic is a solid publication and their poll is worth paying attention to. But unless they went Ipsos-Mori on us and reached a variety of fans beyond their tiny subscriber base, their “survey” isnt that determinative.
Seen any other surveys from reputable sources? Then one with thousands of responses attributable to fans and supporters of Arsenal seems as accurate as one might find. Most political polls are conducted/based on responses of similar-sized likely or registered voter audiences. The Athletic’s lines up fairly well with how political polls are crafted.
BTW, The Athletic has a subscriber base of 600,000 with a retention rate of > 80% year over year. One of the more astute commenting audiences, per Arsenal, I’ve found in my surfing travels.
Your opinion, over years of reading your posts, carries weight Claude. A reasonable discussion of facts is food for thought. What I take issue with are unimaginative and repetitive posts. The audience here is knowledgeable. Wouldn’t be here if not. But I find myself taking days between visits, to avoid the tinny pot-banging calls to oust a manager that’s not going anywhere based on those posts.
There’s more to be discussed. Odegaard, Buendia, Azeez, Bissouma, Guendouzi, Saliba, Arons, Kido-Hart, Nelson, Balogun …
Appreciate the reply!
Correction. That 600k subscriber number was 2019. Despite the pandemic? The Athletic topped 1,000,000 subscribers in mid-2020. Wow. Did not realize!
So, we’re apparently close to signing this Lokonga kid from Anderlecht.
Tim, could you shed some light on what kind of a player he is ? Can he help in filling the gaping hole at the centre of our play ?