It’s about time! Arsenal finally got an enjoyable, almost complain free, win.
I’m not going to belabor the complaints, the only thing that was “bad” about the match was a pretty glaring miss by Aubameyang. But if you’ve been following me for any amount of time you’ll know that Auba misses a lot of big chances because I mention it after every one of these big misses. But the trick with Auba is not to get upset about the big misses and instead get upset that he’s not getting more chances. Or don’t worry about it at all because in the end it didn’t really matter that much, we won the game and won it pretty handily.
I say “don’t worry” and I know that there will be someone who bemoans the miss and says that “we might need that goal difference at the end of the season! It could be the difference between 4th and 5th.” But that’s just not how football works. We could have scored that chance by Auba and then they could have won a penalty and Ramsdale could have gotten beaten by one of those shots by Shelvey and lost the match 2-1. I’ve seen that happen too.
You never know what might have happened in an alternate universe. In this universe, we won 2-0 and Auba hit the upright. It nearly went in but just didn’t. As Arsene Wenger says, football is about millimeters. The whole Invincibles season could have been lost, had Ruud van Nistelrooy not hit the crossbar. It’s also true that we lost the 50th game because Wayne Rooney dived.
Football is about millimeters. Except when it’s measured in yards.
Overall, it was a complete performance from Arsenal. It was our best defensive display of the season, holding them to just 0.2 xG on 8 shots. Which is a fancy way of saying “all their shots were from outside the box”.
It was also our most progressive display of the season. We had a whopping 92 progressive carries and just to put that in context, Man City lead the League in progressive carries with 82 per game. And we carried the ball 1890 yards, which again is more than League leaders Man City who blow everyone away with a little less than 1700 per game. We also made 48 progressive passes (2nd most this season behind the match against Brentford) for a total of 2816 progressive yards (our best this season). We completed 92% of our passes, our 2nd best this season. 50 final third passes, 18 key passes, 24 shots, 6 big chances (depending on which service you use for this), and somewhere between 2-2.8 xG (again, depends on which outlet you look at).
An absolutely dominant attacking performance.
We also won 14/17 tackles (our best this season) and had 44 pressure regains (our 2nd most in a game this season).
Lokonga was imperious in this match. He made 12 progressive passes (to lead everyone) and passed for 401 progressive yards (3rd behind Ben White and Tomiyasu). He also made 6 key passes to lead all players. He was also just behind Ø and White with 11 progressive carries (the other two had 12) for 226 yards. He also had one of the best passes of the game when he picked out Saka for a shot from close range.
White had his best game in an Arsenal shirt, doing what he was advertised to do this summer: pass the ball forward, carry the ball forward, and so on. He led all players with 474 progressive yards passing, made 9 progressive passes, had 11 passes in the final third, led all player with 5 carries into the final third, led all players with 369 progressive yards carried, led all players with 12 progressive carries, and was dispossessed just twice. Really great game from him, he made it look so easy, almost like a training game.
For those who have been worried about Bukayo Saka not scoring enough, he got himself a goal and what a goal! Saka came out in that 2nd half with all guns blazing. He had one moment on the right side where he dribbled through two defenders and had a shot that was comfortably saves. Perhaps he should have passed the ball to Auba in the box but I like it when he takes over games like that. He looked like a man on a mission. For his goal, Arsenal were just picking them apart with intricate little passes in the 18 yard box when he decided to make a run – this time on the left. Smith Rowe passed to Tavares in the box, Willock gave half pressure but Tavares was allowed to turn and play a nice pass to Bukayo who crushed the ball into the back of the net.
And let’s not forget that Saka was the one who set up Smith Rowe for the header that was palmed away for the big Auba miss. Overall, he was our star man yesterday. The only hope I have is that he didn’t hurt himself too much. We need him for Thursday against Man U.
And for those worried about Martinelli getting into the game boy did he get into the game! He curled his run perfectly, pointed where he wanted the ball, and Tomiyasu delivered a lovely chip over the defense. Gabriel still had work to do but he conjured up the ghost of Crozilians past and volleyed over the keeper for what could be a goal of the season candidate. It’s certainly my goal of the season right now.
Newcastle had a legitimate complaint about a penalty not given (Arsene Wenger’s millimeters) but so too did Arsenal when Lascelles shouldered Martinelli off the ball (Tim Todd’s yards). In fact, it was pointed out to me that that exact tackle is a red card in Rugby. I’m not sure about that but I am sure that the way games are being refereed in England right now is going to seriously hurt someone. I know that they wanted to stop players falling over dramatically to win penalties but we’ve swung 270 degrees the wrong way on this and we are now just allowing defenders to wreck people. That’s not right and honestly some player should sue the League because this is intentional on the referees’ part.
Anyway, this is it for today. I’m not going to do a preview of the Man U match because you all know by now what Man U are like and who they have in their team. I might write about whole wheat English muffins this week and how I’m trying to eat better to get my body back in shape after two years of depression. We’ll see!
I wish you all the best on your journey out of depression. I also hope Arsenal win to give you a boost!
I thought the Lascelles one was way worse. At first glance it’s a similar type of challenge to what Tavares did but because he’s so much taller, the shoulder/arm goes into Martinelli’s face. Maybe he doesn’t mean mean to hit the face but I don’t see why that matters. That’s a foul anywhere anytime. Reminded me a bit of when Deeney was sent off for elbowing Torreira in the face. It was a swim motion designed to shrug him off and not maim, but when you strike another player in the face, it’s a foul.
I thought NC competed hard in this game, so that makes the relative ease of victory that much better. Saka was phenomenal but so was his replacement. That goal by Martinelli was as sublime as they come. And how about the delicately weighted pass from Tomiyasu? Not just a defender then. It was also pleasing to see green shoots from Odegaard who has been out of sorts for a while now.
My main concern from this match was not the miss but that I feel like both Auba and Lacazette look a bit gassed lately. They are so important we can’t really do without them but risk injury and loss of form if they don’t get a break here and there. Maybe that’s partly why Auba’s been suffering in front of goal lately.
That was fun, thanks for the write-up Tim.
At -2 our goal difference is rubbish. But only the top 4 have a positive goal difference. What’s that about? Is that normal?
It’s just variation right now. I wouldn’t worry about it.
Cleanest win in a while. Still, good to see the manager complain about not getting a third and fourth – probably some mix of goal difference concern and wanting to put the Liverpool 4-0 behind us. But also seemed a bit of raising the bar, which is overdue.
Saka looked a lot better when he started drifting out to the left. With Martinelli having a good 30 minutes on the right, may be worth starting him there and Saka left. Also difficult to sit either ESR or Odegaard. 433 with Partey as the lone deep midfielder? Risky at Old Trafford, but I’d love to see it.
I complained about it on Twitter! But after a few days off, I realized I was being petty.
Yeah, I’m happy to leave the grousing on this one to the manager. Win, goals, clean sheet, good Saturday for a fan.
THW14 – Seems so painfully obvious that ESR and Saka combine so well, I’ve been wondering why Arteta doesn’t find a way to get them on the same side. Saturday was one option – maybe your suggested change will be something we see more regularly.
I think (*think*) he wants to get Saka more comfortable cutting inside and shooting (which is a weakness in his game and a strength of Pepe’s). Also, to challenge Pepe.
Depending on the day and officiating crew in the NHL the Lascelles shoulder into Martinelli’s head could be a 5 minute major penalty and game ejection with suspension to follow. Of course it could also be seen and treated as nothing with no supplemtary discipline as well. The NHL is kinda ‘good’ like that. Just hope Gabriel is 100% alright and if Saka isn’t fully fit that Arteta doesn’t risk him and blow out that hammy/thigh muscle just in time for the bust Christmas fixtures.
I realized at some point during this game that I’m no longer in mortal fear every time the opponent starts a counterattack. That was a very pleasant feeling.
Very pleased with the performance overall. I have been an Odegaard supporter since the beginning. I’m nowhere near the point of giving up on him, but I have noticed something pretty regularly that has me concerned. His first step is not great. He seems to lack a burst to separate, even momentarily, from defenders. Combined with the fact that he can be muscled/pushed around, I’m beginning to wonder if he’s up to the PL physically. Could easily be him just showing some rust after not playing, or working himself back into form, but I’ve started to have doubts for the first time. No question about his technical ability. Just not sure if he can execute quickly enough. If he weren’t so one-footed it would be less worrying, but combined with the other issues, it’s a little troubling. Anyone else noticed this? Am I looking a gift horse in the mouth?
That’s because we are used to Ozil’s shoulder drop and burst, Cesc’s receive-and-turn in our number 10s. Odegaard receives, dribbles BACKWARDS away from the goal and marker, finds space, turns and throughballs.
Its really just a different style of playmaking.
I get this – thanks for calming my irrational fears. Can you think of a good analog as a player for Odegaard? Who’s an amazing version of Odegaard?
i agree with gehlomar. it’s just how he plays. nothing to worry about here.
Physicality is definitely MO’s biggest challenge. He’s young and can still bulk up. But I think he will struggle in this league. Next time he plays watch his pressing. Not sure he’s too effective a presser. Seems to run around a lot but not convinced yet he’s effective.
Not to deny you your observation (because I agree that he falls over easily) but he’s our 4th most active presser and 5th in pressure regains and 7th in successful pressure percentage.
He is incredibly weak in winning tackles, however, which I think supports your observations. He rarely even tries a tackle and when he does he’s very ineffective.
We have at least 4 active pressers? (Lol).
Thanks for sharing these stats. If it’s not too much of ask how does MO compare with TP on these metrics?
Partey isn’t great. He’s one of the worst DMs in the League.
I can’t tell if that’s just because he’s really bad at defense, because he’s in atrocious shape (which is a theory widely held by a lot of folks on Twitter), or if it’s about Arteta and his odd way of playing non-defense.
Personally think it could be a bit of all three
Nice write up, Tim … but I have to address the elephant in the room … it was JUST Newcastle who are currently sitting dead last in the table without a single win to their name. Did I enjoy the game? Sure (even though we didn’t quite show up for the first half). But I’d like to see these kinds of performances on a more consistent basis and against teams that are in the upper half of the table. Other than that, I thought that the whole team played well but I thought Saka and Tomiyasu were above the rest. And what a goal by Martinelli! Thing of beauty, indeed. P.S. Ramsdale with yet another worldie of a save that could’ve easily changed the outcome of the game if he hadn’t gotten to it.
You could go further negative if you really want: they also don’t have a real midfield and no DM which left them open to Odegaard playing too easily through the middle and Lokonga having a whale of a game.
Jonjo Shelvey is a shockingly bad player. He’s a cut rate Xhaka and if their new owners have a lick of sense he’s the first one they will replace. I’m not even kidding that almost any decent to good midfielder would be a huge upgrade for them.
I didn’t mention that explicitly but the reason I highlighted Lokonga’s numbers was exactly that.
Tim, glad you’re keeping an even keel on Auba, because gooners are freaking out all over the place. Sometime people carry on as if they’re new to football. I didnt see the game live (only short clips), and therefore I cant comment much.
I will say though that I like to see players demanding the ball… taking responsibility. Tomi took a page out of the Cesc book by asking for the ball, knowing what he was going to do with it and using it productively*. He had a tough time against Liverpool… it was good to see him bounce back.
As did Tavares. I like that Arteta showed faith in him by keeping him the starting XI, despite his mistake. The hold-up triangle he did with Saka and ESR was delicious football. Im OK with the coach’s message to Tierney that he’ll have to earn his way back.
White and Gabriel were a defensive and organisational mess against Liverpool, but on Saturday, they were superb. Those are some exceptional numbers by White. He did Rinus Michels proud.
Saka is a gem. Hope he’s fine for United. I dont like facing club with new management, particularly one as strong as United. Everyone wants to impress. Let the 4th place trophy competition begin!
(*I am absolutely not comparing Tomiyasu to Fabregas, or equating their skills)
Greg, to your reply to my comment on the last post…
Nicklas Bendtner spent 9 years under the tutelage of Arsene Wenger, and David Bentley 5.
I think that rather undermines the rebuttal.
Greg: “If Wenger is your measure of character, I think literally any other manager would come off second best.”
Yes, Greg. I want Arsenal to have a manager of Wenger’s quality. I’m not sure why anyone wouldn’t. And yeah, our current manager is no where near Wenger level. Maybe he will be one day, he does say the right thing about prioritizing the club and culture but it remains to be seen if he has the tactical nous in addition to the business speak.
Also, I will say that Wenger almost never yelled at the players and that it’s super common for managers to yell at the players in the dressing room. Arteta has had about a dozen “clear the air” conversations and given his antics on the sidelines I’ve no doubt that he’s an old yeller. The problem with that approach is that it stops working after a while. I’ve mentioned it many times before, I just think Arteta is incredibly unlikeable (to me). I wouldn’t want to work with him ever.
Quality was not the question, it was character. Yes, I would like to have a manager of Wenger’s quality too.
I think Arteta is second to Wenger on both counts, but Wenger is an extraordinary man and that’s no reason to attack Arteta’s character.
And there’s a difference between finding his personality difficult and believing him to be unprincipled, intolerant or vindictive.
Based on all the evidence from the last two years I think he’s highly intolerant and vindictive but I do think that he’s principled.
Bendtner was in the first team set up under Wenger’s tutelage for 5 years max. Bentley was in the first team set up for about 2 years. The rest of their time with us was youth team and loans (Yes, Wenger also often loaned out players when he wanted them to grow up).
Doesn’t matter. Either way my point was that even Wenger, who of all managers famously loved to believe in players and gave them every chance, did indeed move them on if he couldn’t discipline them, couldn’t manage them, couldn’t meet their demands or lost faith in them. All the time.
That he sometimes did it too late, is not relevant and also not a point in his favour so no, I don’t think it undermines my argument.
I made this argument because you chose to turn a thread about Wenger into a personal attack on Arteta, explaining how a man with values and principles has been replaced by a man with few or none.
I think denouncing someone’s character like that, someone who is clearly trying to do the best job they can, is both unnecessary and extraordinary.
Tim says Arteta is unlikeable and shouts too much – fine, nobody has to like a person. It’s also fine to say if you think he’s making mistakes, or you think he’s a terrible manager, or you don’t like certain decisions.
But it’s never “I don’t like this decision”, it’s “I don’t like this decision and here’s why that makes Arteta a c#nt. Also here are some of the other ways he’s a c#nt.”
Last time I said this to someone I was basically told, “yes, and he is a c#nt, so shut up.” Which I guess is fair enough.
I agree with you, Greg. Wenger was a generational manager. A guy that could have been an artist, philosopher, politician on top of his day job as a football coach.
Holding a young manager like Arteta to those lofty standards is unreasonable. At the end of the day, Arteta is a football manager and coach. Part of this job revolves around imposing authority and ego over narcissistic overpaid young sportsmen.
In the absence of Wenger’s aura and experience, I would hope that Arteta is a bit of a hard ass. It’s not dictatorial, it’s what he should be doing. Football coaches SHOULD coach.
We all want another Wenger, but we aren’t getting one. Because there isn’t another one. He was generational.
It’s absolutely not unreasonable to expect that Arsenal football club hire the very best and to hold our players and club to high standards. After all, it’s a sport team, a club that makes money for a very wealthy man and at the end of the day the only thing that matters is that the club brings joy to me, a fan. I’m paying for it with my eyeballs and time and I’ll go ahead and set the price for what that’s worth. You also can set the price for what your time is worth, that’s none of my business. If you’re a fan of Arteta, that’s on you. I’m not a fan and honestly I don’t have to be.
We can both agree however that we just want the team to win and that we get joy from that.
I am not and will never be doing the whole “telling you how to be a fan” shtick, Tim. I have plenty of respect for you as a supporter and a deep thinker of all things Arsenal to do that.
I am highlighting the point that there is simply no other active manager on the planet currently who tries and succeeds to transcend to that Philosopher-Manager level that Arsene Wenger was at.
Brendan Rodgers tried faking it. And promptly got laughed off. Pellegrini was Arsene-lite, he is considered a failure. Because you will need a combination of gravitas, intelligence, experience and yes, a few consistent title wins.
Unfortunately, there will also be a certain level of idealism needed that is at odds with modern football’s pragmatism and cut throat competitiveness, that we now in hindsight know was AW’s undoing.
And that is why a manager like AW will never appear again for Arsenal to hire. Because now they are all in the Klopp/Pep mould.
Sorry Claude, my comment above is a bit fierce.
Please let me preface my further comments below by stating that (1) I am not against statistics, and in fact, I very much enjoy’s Tim’s statistical analysis, and (2) am not stating that football is better or worse than American football; I just don’t have the time or schedule to watch the latter.
That said, this being “real” football and not American football (which really would be more aptly denoted as American rugby), I am not sure that progressive carries and passes correlate to a complete offensive performance as much as the analogous rushing and passing yard numbers in American football. In my rose-tinted and fuzzy memories both of the 3-1 wins earlier this season (respectively against Tottenham and Aston Villa) were better (vague, non-defined term) attacking performances.
Or maybe this is just the effect of Tavares’ wild shots sticking in recent short term memory.
You’re really getting out all the cliches!
First, what one country called football another country calls soccer. It’s just like how Brits call the trunk the boot. Languages evolve.
Second.. there is actually a strong correlation between progressive ball movement (carries + passes) and xG. This season it’s a 0.69. And this actually passes the smell test: expected goals are a really strong descriptor of shot quality, to get shots at all you need to move the ball forward, the more often you move the ball forward the better your chances of getting a shot and the better the shot quality.
I would even go so high as to say that this is even a causal relationship.
In short, ball progression really matters.
Thank you for further educating me on the correlation between progressive ball movement (both carries and passes) and xG. But how is a progressive pass measured? If White has the ball 10 yards behind Lokonga and passes the ball to Lokonga, who knocks it back to White, who then passes the ball over Lokonga’s head to Partey who is 5 yards further up the field than Lokonga, does that count as 25 yards (or only 15 yards) of progressive passing? And let’s say it takes two or three knock backs from Lokonga to White until a better passing lane opens up; then what?
It depends on which stats outfit is collecting the data and which outfit is publishing the data. FBREF has a glossary for every one of their stats categories and I recommend checking that out if you’re really interested.
https://fbref.com/en/comps/9/Premier-League-Stats
PrgDist — Progressive Distance
Total distance, in yards, a player moved the ball while controlling it with their feet towards the opponent’s goal
Prog — Carries that move the ball towards the opponent’s goal at least 5 yards, or any carry into the penalty area. Excludes carries from the defending 40% of the pitch
PrgDist — Progressive Distance
Total distance, in yards, that completed passes have traveled towards the opponent’s goal. Note: Passes away from opponent’s goal are counted as zero progressive yards.
In your scenario, yes, Ben White would be credited with 25 yards of progressive passing.
Not sure why but I’m getting a whiff of agitation from you. It’s just data, man, it doesn’t tell the whole story.
No agitation here. Seriously. Sorry if I had come across that way above. Really just curiosity. Also, maybe slight professional handicap; in my line of work I frequently look at rules, the definitions of terms used to state the rules, and both express and implied exceptions to rules.
I apologize, I think I’m just having a cranky day.
Also, just to finish this up. The match against Villa was our third best total progressive ball movement performance (it goes: Nuke, Brent, Villa, Watford).
Spurs was our 8th most progressive match this season (so, not great) and it was also our 8th most shots in a match this season, and our 9th in xG. The three goals we scored overperformed xG by +2.2, in essence it was our luckiest match of the season. Now, you might say that part of the reason why it was one of our worst progressive games is because we were already 3-0 up at half time. I would agree with that. That’s also why the correlation between progressive movement and xG isn’t higher.
It was also a match in which Nuno admitted he got the tactics wrong in the first half, changed them in the 2nd, and I thought we were badly outplayed in that 2nd half.
Hi Tim,
Off topic but on the subject of Newcastle and following on from a conversation from a month or two back, I’m just finishing the book Vision or Mirage by David Rundell (Kissinger-acclaimed amongst numerous others).
I’m sure your Saudi-knowledgeable friend will have come across it; if not would strongly recommend it to him. In particular Chapter 16 “Leading gradual Social Change” is likely both eye-opening and fundamental reading to anyone who looks at the world only through western eyes.
Kissinger-acclaimed is a compliment? That sociopath?
Fair point.
However the fact remains that we in the west see no inherent hypocrisy that we judge others by our values but make no attempt to understand theirs.
Ours are the right ones and that is that. Or as Mr Wenger put it, everyone thinks they have the prettiest wife at home.
Great post Tim. Superb review.
It’s been the same for a couple seasons. We are able to get results consistently against most of the teams who are well below us in the table. Same thing with Europa league group stage games last couple seasons. Artetas tactics work well against teams that we are able to execute his game plan against but we obviously struggle against teams that out execute us such as Liverpool.
With regard to Auba I agree that all strikers miss easy chances on occasion and that in itself is not concerning. However his scoring is clearly on the decline over the last couple seasons and that is concerning but certainly not unexpected in a player in his age 31 and 32 seasons.
Tim, I’ve been reading for years never commented till now But I just want to say thanks for all you do.
Here’s a link for the Arsene documentary on YouTube https://youtu.be/J_XC89UQK5s
i enjoyed the film and left London for California in 1999….god I miss Highbury so much. Season ticket holder 1983 to 1999.
Nice game indeed! The transferring was really inspired during the last window. Ramsdale surprises everyone with his talent and assurance. Tavares much more than an able deputy to Tierney. Tomi solving our problem at right back. And Sambi doing fine in the absence of Xakha. I really wonder what Arteta will do with the Swiss when he will be back to full fitness… I like what Sambi does: covers a lot of ground, hardly ever misplaces a pass, looks forward constantly, calm even surrounded by players of the other team. Good vision, good timing. But possibly too comfortable, never takes on an opposing player. Hardly ever shits gear and sprints. Happy in the role of the discreet, dependable and talented team mate. Xakha has more personality but is weaker in most other departments. I hope the Belgian keeps his place in the team..
I think we were lucky, for once, with the refereeing. The Tavares intervention was 50/50. Strong shoulder to shoulder play but not with the intention of challenging for the ball. Happy with the call! There was clear handball on a cross. Left hand side cross, a sliding player (forgot who) took the ball with his hand raised. Looked like a pen. And then this foul from Odegaard during a corner, where he wrestled down a Newcastle player. Another clear penalty but one that is, admittedly, seldom given. Still, what a silly risk to take.
Thursday worries me though. Man U is tightening the bolts and every player feels scrutinised by the new coach. They will make it hard.
Depression is hard work, a year on the meds and two years of therapy later that’s about all I can say. Except it’s super important to be compassionate towards yourself.
I think this is partly why I get frustrated about the Arteta business. Real compassion and respect have nothing to do with being nice. Some of the best people I’ve met were really nice, but so were some of the worst. Some of the most challenging people have turned out to be the most
Anyway I don’t want to stink the place up any more, especially not below such a positive write-up. I’ll give it a rest, enjoy your week folks, looking forward to the Big Red United.
Greg, you have to learn the difference between, to quote you “attacking X’s character”, and criticising specific actions of theirs.
And you dont have to apologise… one is allowed to sometimes be intemperate and not seem reasonable and lucid 🙂
If you weigh the totality of comments on Arteta from myself and Tim, you’d see that overall there is a balance. I have nothing against Mikel. I haven’t even said that I dislike him, as you incorrectly suggest. I’ve actually praised specific actions of his quite a bit. He’s been doing some things that I like (in this very post, I referenced his handling of Tavares), and I have said so. Tim can speak for himself, but neither of us who criticised Arteta on this specific issue is a relentless, all-the-time critic of his.
And this is the problem with your responses of late. You come across to me as a reflexive defender of everything Arteta, every time. You’re all in. You shouldn’t be. You absolutely bristle at the merest criticism of the head coach. My advice to you is to not be a fanboy of anything or anyone, but take each thing as it comes. Your cardiologist, for one, will thank you (I say this hopefully with humour and love).
And dammit man, come with better examples than The Greatest Striker Who Ever Lived. If you really want an example of someone who didnt stick around for long under Arsene, I offer you Emmanuel Adebayor, who would go on to commit mild violence on Robin van Persie while playing against the gunners for another team. But even then, it was taking silly money for a player, rather than destroying value as Mikel as done.
So at the risk of making you mad again, I’ll repeat. Mikel has shown us that he does not have the managerial temperament to manage a variety of characters in a dressing room. He may develop it, but he hasn’t. And we can slander players all we like by guessing that they were the most horrible people on earth, it won’t change what is clear to see.
And I’ll add to what I said about players like RVP that he would likely have cast out from Day 1 (and not Year 9 as was the case you offered with Bendtner)… I don’t think the hard drinking back 4 that Arsene inherited would have survived him either. Arteta makes a big deal about his “liking” a player. He wouldnt have liked that version of Tony Adams. And look what patient handling and coaching achieved.
By the way, I loved Arsene to pieces. But in his last years, he was doing my head in, and I wanted him gone. How’s that for not being all in?
Sorry to hear about your struggles, old chap. Glad you’re battling through them. It can touch any of us. A tear in the orderly fabric of our lives, and who knows.
This isn’t my forte, so I’ll leave it to our brother in this community who better understands it to say more — but as I said to you one time when I noticed that you hadnt been around, you were missed, and you are appreciated. Dunno if that’ll be a psychological boost of any kind 🙂
Enough from me today. Be well.
Anyone who has the courage to raise their hand and acknowledge personal struggle and offer self reflection is someone I’m personally glad to see in the comments. Tim has given us an incredible example and safe space for this. Here’s hoping you find some respite from depression in our group therapy/life lessons disguised as Arsenal discussion.
As a former reporter I’ve covered both politics and sport, something I saw a lot is politicians (and their supporters) conflating specific criticism and personal attack. They’re not the same, and we’ve got to respect the inherent subtleties. Saying that the minister of health is supplying vague numbers on the pandemic or managing vaccine rollout badly, is not a personal attack on the minister. This is a real example.
More widely, I see this dug-in thing across both politics and sport. One of the reasons that Trump still has a hold on section of the American electorate is that many — particularly on the right — see politics as sport. They’re all in with Team Trump, notwithstanding his well-documented venality, dishonesty and corruption. Notwithstanding his attempts to steal an election in plain sight. With him all the way.
This blog, thankfully, has been a refuge from that.
I shouldn’t feel the need to say it, but I fear I must… I am not comparing Mikel Arteta to Donald Trump. I’m warning against the dangers of being all-in. On anything.
Finito. I think I deserve props for not once mentioning the BS detector…
Hey Claude, thanks for the support, I’m well thankfully.
Thanks for the thoughtful response. In this comment you pretty much nail what it is that concerns me, which is exactly the conflation you talk about. Criticism of what’s pertinent v gratuitous criticism of the person, ad rem v ad hominem.
I am not an Arteta fanboy, I am not remotely “all in” on him, and I have tried to make that very clear over many months. I have repeatedly expressed reservations and said that I’m not convinced he has what it takes. Anyone who thinks I’m a fanboy has not read any of my comments.
All of my own reservations, I hope, are limited to the things I am seeing on the pitch and the impact of management decisions, and that’s where I try to stop. I don’t guess at the decisions we can’t see, and I don’t speculate about motivation. If there’s a decision that I don’t agree with, I don’t go on and attribute this to an assumed personality flaw or defect in the man.
When I see others do this, this is the point where I get defensive – and it’s not about Arteta, it’s about the principle.
Sometimes it’s obvious – some people regularly comment here that they think Arteta’s a d*ck, that he’s arrogant, that he’s deeply insecure, that he’s cruel, that he only cares about his own career – the grand insults flow. I think stuff like that often gets a bit too visceral, that there’s something else going on, something’s been triggered.
Other times it’s more subtle. Take the idea that the manager’s imposed a pretty rigid system, a reasonable conclusion based on what we’re seeing. In many people’s minds it very quickly slips from “Arteta imposed a rigid system” to “Arteta’s a control freak”.
What just happened? Why are we drawing a conclusion about Arteta at all? Why can’t we just talk about what he did, which was that he imposed a rigid system?
And let me be very clear, I’m not disagreeing that his system is too rigid (I think it is!), I’m objecting to the judgement that he’s a control freak – because that’s gratuitous and personal. Defending him against this does not make me a fanboy.
Let me bring it back to the Saliba example, as it explains some of our disagreement. To me, the decision to loan him out is straightforward. Saliba’s young and full of promise, he’s been assessed, there’s a plan for him, and the plan was that he needs to go back out on loan to build up his experience. None of that relies on anybody’s character as an explanation.
It’s possible to just disagree with the plan and argue that it’s a bad idea and in fact Saliba’s ready. You took it further than that and decided not just that it was a bad idea, but that it was Wrong.
But in order for it to be Wrong, for the loan to be some kind of banishment, Arteta has to be a touchy, insecure and stupid man capable of making arbitrary decisions about a player that the club made a massive investment in. Your view requires certain things to be true about his character. This requires lots of gratuitous ad hominem speculation, all boiling up out of the otherwise perfectly legitimate opinion that Saliba’s ready to lead Arsenal’s defence.
Of course on my side I should be more flexible. Speculation about people can be fun. I also have to accept that people have different ways seeing things, of having conversations, of expressing themselves and so on. I can give people more room to do that without jumping on them like a spider from the rafters.
I also know I can be over sensitized to this stuff. For example in your comment on Tim’s lovely post about Wenger, I took you to be implying all kinds of things about Arteta’s character that you probably weren’t implying.
Anyway, I hope this explanation helps you understand me a little better.
With Auba leaving for the African cup of nations and Laca and Pepe gone AWOL there is a real chance that we will not have a single player who scores in double figures this season.
Odegaard was a can’t miss prospect when he first came on the scene but he has been around for about 6-7 years now and never really done enough to become a first 11 regular. Players like him who never live up to their potential are common. Madrid would have kept him if they believed he had a chance to be a first team regular player.
I always associate Ray Kennedy with Liverpool (he joined them in ‘74 when they dominated English football winning 5 league titles and 3 European cups). But he made his name at Arsenal (212 appearances, 71 goals between the age of 18 and 23) and was part of the ‘71 double winning team. One of the best players to ever wear the Arsenal shirt. RIP.
Yes Matt, very sad to hear about Ray Kennedy. A very underrated footballer. Had a great strike partnership with John Radford in the 71 double year. He came from the North East, along with Geordie Armstrong. He had the lot. Incredibly strong and brave, but had a delicate touch on the ball. Excellent in the air. I never quite understood why he was sold to Liverpool. Ended up playing left midfield. That Double side was broken up far too quickly and the club went seriously downhill in the following years.
He was diagnosed with Parkinson’s towards the end of his career, so he had to cope with that for over half his life. Got divorced, had money problems. A tragic story really. Arsenal and Liverpool played a testimonial at Highbury for him many years later. I can’t remember the game, but I’ve a feeling Liverpool won.
That Liverpool midfield of Kennedy, Souness, Terry McDermott and Jimmy Case were famously fierce. Mentally and physically strong doesn’t begin to describe it. They just didn’t understand defeat. Also incredibly talented. You could quite see why they dominated football at that time. You certainly wouldn’t want to play them every week.