Support

49 comments

1. Well, yes, its your blog and you have every right to say what you want.
   Now, we, who follow the blog and read your posts, may not always agree. But thats fair and fine.

   I dont agree with many things in football. Though I cant stop watching or following Arsenal. Its like a life long disease or something. Why is bad good?

   Fair play to you adressing issues. Though I dont care really. I want us to compete, being a top team again, being a team that other teams fear, going to anfield and not hoping for a draw.

2. Missing Henry is not good for your mental well being 😉 He was a one-off.

   We were blessed for gold standard goal scorers during Wenger’s reign. He inherited Wrighty who is right at the very top of my faves. All charisma, passion and graft. The he re-purposed the French winger to be the best of his generation in the Premier League era. Who’d have thought that shy kid would bully Europe’s best? Would anyone have bet big that RVP would become so prolific? What technique and single-handedly kept Arsenal relevant. Not many of us really knew Barcelona’s Sanchez but at his Arsenal best he was a Catherine Wheel of energy and dynamism and punched well above his weight. Then his parting gift (who arrived many years too late – sigh) was Auba, the fastest to 50.

   So I guess what I’m saying is if you look at the long game we’re due another superstar soon. Could even be here already?

   1. Martinelli!

      1. Under a great attacking coach!

      2. I too have high hopes for Martinelli, but having high hope on things Arsenal-related had often proven to be bad for my mood.

   2. My memory is fuzzy but RvP was only prolific for Arsenal for about 1.5 seasons?

      1. Dude was a slow burner 😉

         His stats stand up better than his fitness!

3. THESE ARE NOT MY SHOES!!!

   1. I don’;t know what this means!

      1. My 85 year old Uncle writes his emails in a caps and I HEAR IT A CONSISTENT YELL. I think he would yell at anyone if he found himself wearing someone else’s shoes.

4. I’m not necessarily opposed to shouty coaches. Fergie was certainly that way, but got results. Same with Klopp, and maybe to a lesser degree Pep. Arteta just hasn’t shown that his shouting is helping matters.

   1. Pep is well known to burn out players because yeah, he’s frenetic.

      Klopp doesn’t direct his players from the sideline constantly. They are well known for working on plans in training instead and their plans are very detailed.

      Fergie would shout at his players but he wasn’t a sideline guy, that was usually at half time and after.

      Arteta is just unusual in how much he’s directing players.

      1. I think in defense of Arteta he did it a lot more at the beginning of his arsenal reign and it was so obvious due to the empty stadium. I also think that having the crowd back is helping the players to block out the constant coaching during the game.
         But in general I agree, work during the week and let the players express themselves in the match. That was definitely the AW way and though some times frustrating (like when gervinho would dribble down to the corner flag rather than pass the ball ten times in a row) it was such a nurturing image.

5. “And I support Mikel Arteta. In that I mean that I want him to succeed. That’s literally all I want!”

   And that’s the rub. No matter how critical one of is of the coach, you want the team to win or get something every time it steps onto the field. When the whistle goes, we are all the same. If the team succeeds, it entrenches the coach. And you know what? That’s fine. If Arteta is there long enough, he will win over a significant proportion of his skeptics. Heck, he’s doing that already. Nothing succeeds like success, though, having said that, he hasnt accomplished that as yet.

   We’re not entitled to this thing called “positivity” from an Arsenal blog. Or to gloss over or overly magnify its negatives. The ones who like to park themselves in pro and anti camps will reveal themselves. My beefs with the club and coach I wont rehash… but I will say I dont ever want to see them do another Wellington Silva.

   The club’s owners are there to make money first; not for romance. But romance will always be there for us fans, and in the end, it’s like our marriage vows… “through thick and thin”. We should be able to work through the thin without ignoring it.

   1. At the height of “Wenger out”, I heard some gooners saying they want the team to lose a match to hasten that.

      No way a fan should ever want their team to lose. Or boo them in their own stadium.

6. “I support the United States of America because I believe in the values it is supposed to hold: equality, freedom, opportunity. When my country strays from those values I will speak up because I feel like as a supporter it’s my responsibility to support those values.”

   You left out the /s, or do you still support a fascist, racial superiority complex built around nationalism that promotes genocide to fuel a war machine that is the worst humanity has to offer?

   1. The US is more than it’s governments. It’s also more than its actual history. Any country can be. It can be the set of ideals we hold it to, that we fight for. The ideals Tim upholds are what the US means to him, and to many of us. Not all Americans though! And it’s okay to say that, and to fight like hell to make those ideals come true.

      When you get right down to it all countries are shit, built on murderous, racist histories, land stolen by conquest and blood. The US is just one of the most obvious and recent.

      I do agree with you though, the whole war machine thing is true. I lived a stones throw from the pentagon for half a decade, and made friends with many people who work within those walls every day. Good people, honest people, who have families and help the poor and all that, who believe, truly believe, that they are working in service to their country, to protect it and it – and the world! – a better place. And I’m not just talking soldiers who get put in the line of fire, but analysts, consultants, strategists, intelligence officers. Friends and neighbors and all.

      It’s horrifying enough to think of the Pentagon as some Boogeyman thing that knows it is evil and does evil anyway. It’s downright depressing knowing it is comprised of many good and honest people who think their work is in service of something greater. It is something I grappled with my entire time living there.

      (I never worked for the pentagon, DoD, or intelligence. I worked for a govt consultancy and had many colleagues who worked directly or indirectly in those places, who were ex military or ex DoD or ex Intel. Many friends from school in the same boat:, dedicated their lives to ‘service’, who I knew were good people, but couldn’t tell me exactly who they worked for and what they did. DC is a crazy place)

      1. (I worked strictly in the civilian sector, refusing projects in those spaces because of my principles… Not that I could say that though, without becoming a pariah. So I’d have to say stuff about it not being my skill set etc)

         1. I’m curious – are the caveats for us or for the Spooks monitoring you? 😂

            1. Haha for y’all. Although I’m sure there are definitely at least a couple of spooks!

7. I agree with about half of this! But I always love you saying it. One quick point I’d like to make:

   “One thing, however, that I am pretty miffed at is the whole fan token scam. I love the way that Philippe Auclair distilled these things down to their essence. They are a way to get fans to pay to have a voice at their own club! I shouldn’t have to pay. I already pay to watch the club through four different streaming services. I also pay for merch. And (you’re probably sick of me saying this) I also pay my attention to the club both on Twitter and on here. So, I shouldn’t have to pay again to have a say. I’m paying plenty.”

   I don’t know much about the tokens, it sounds silly. But actually, what entitles you or me or anyone to a voice? Because we love the club? You pay to watch the club, and for that you get to… Watch the club. You pay for a shirt, and for that you… Get a shirt. It’s transactional, and nowhere does having a say come up. You are getting what you’re paying for. It’s cold and unromantic, but that’s how it is.

8. I just want to say, I love you Tim!

9. Agree with (almost) everything here, and so very well put.

   I’m not really bothered by being sponsored by an Emirati airline or by Rwandan tourism. But apart from that I think I share all your misgivings.

   I’ve read Greg’s comments on the criticism of Arteta going overboard and have given it some thought. First of all, I agree that it is emotional for me. I’m almost like Obi-Wan shouting you were the chosen one to Arteta’s Anakin. But I don’t believe that emotion is blinding me here. I genuinely dislike how we play. It’s boring. I also dislike how he behaves with his players (or should that be not his players) But I especially dislike being told everything is great and you’re not a fan if you don’t think so. It’s not just other fans who say it, Arteta said it too when he created the fan vs supporter distinction. It’s not just that statement alone. It’s his and the club’s constant attempt at pushing a narrative and seeing if it works that feels manipulative.

   I don’t buy into the faux project youth we have, and the fact that the club doesn’t put forth a target for the season (or beyond) except for vague ‘proud’ statements gives me cause for concern because it seems like a way to avoid accountability. I believe they’ve made it all more complicated and difficult than it needed to be. But really all of that wouldn’t matter so much if we had great results, and even less so if we had fun performances.

   Gazidis set out the following targets for Emery and I believe we need to hold the club and any managerial successor to the same standard.

   Success, which means top 4 minimum.
   Play attacking football.
   Focus on playing and developing the youth.
   Don’t rely overwhelmingly on the transfer market.
   Represent the club in a manner consistent with the club’s values.

   I accept some things may need to be modified slightly but I don’t feel like Arteta and the club have even been striving to meet this.

   Anyway, rant over. Tl;dr Play some fun football and win.

   1. Overboard in criticism? If anything, Arteta’s actions and words are not examined enough. The folks who demonstrate genuine inquiry or skepticism are few. For many on the reporting side, the price of that lack of inquiry is access. The need for access has turned them into cowards. Supporters move from showering Ozil with love when he was loved by the Arsenal establishment; to showering him with hate when he fell out of favour. All or nothing is not how we should roll. My basic criticism is going from playing all matches to no matches — while playing Willian — made no footballing sense, and MA needed to make it make sense. He didn’t. He was an explanatory mess.

      Some fans prefer to invent all kinds of unfounded, bizarre speculation for the treatment of Saliba, rather than even admit that it is strange and questionable. He goes from not kicking a ball for us, to looking France squad class for someone else, and constantly featuring in Team of the Week. Nothing Mikel has said passes the smell test, and the last time he was asked about the lad’s performance against Messi, Neymar and Mbappe, his body language was distinctly uncomfortable. He made a big deal in the same presscon about personally “liking” Ben White at their first meeting.

      When we fail to question things, we abet the creation of dictatorships… or at the very least, bad, unaccountable leadership. It is very important that we question things, particularly that which does not make sense. We do not do it enough, in my view. I love and support the club. Just not enough to go along with everything said and done by its government of the day.

      1. Yeah, he definitely gets an easy ride from the media. In fact I think their softball questions and not challenging any of Arteta’s statements feeds the anti-Arteta feeling among the fans because it works to make him unaccountable. If he did have convincing, sensible answers I think most people would forgive mistakes made along the way.

         My favourite bit was everyone at the club and in the media being lined up to label him a genius last season, only for it to be replaced this season with a young manager to learn and grow with a young team.

         Much of the Arteta prop is reminiscent of how everyone sang Raul’s praises while he was here. Still, I do envy that sometimes. I was a fan of Arteta in his playing days and I wanted him as the coach before Emery. I felt like Freddie should’ve been given a chance after, but was still happy to welcome him here. He can be very charming and I really want to believe in what he’s doing. I just…. can’t.

         1. These comments are approved lol.

            It’s always good for me to remember that we are all struggling to express strong emotions in a rational style, and basically you can’t argue with emotions you can only feel them.

            Carry on.

            By the way, I blame Arteta for that loss this evening, I haven’t seen any post match interviews but he set us up to be timid and to lose imo.

10. What they did to the Dinosaur was unforgivable…Wenger didn’t deserve that…

    1. *slow clap* heh

11. this will be a post from both the previous thread and the current one.

    while i understand that you can only play the opposition in front of you, i’m not going to be over the moon because of a 2-0 result at home against the still winless bottom team. i wasn’t impressed with the arsenal performance as you are but i’m happy with the win.

    as for the lacelles challenge on martinelli, i saw nothing wrong with it. martinelli lost out because he’s shorter than lacelles and got a shoulder to the jaw; it’s football. i made those sorts of challenges all the time. all lacelles did was stand his ground and, as a former coaching mentor would say, “separate the player from the ball.”

    my concern going into today’s match is still with this impotent arsenal attack. once again, they needed brilliance from individuals to score the goals against newcastle; it wasn’t down to good, repeatable football and that’s a recurring theme with this arteta side. i think he needs some help with the attack but his ego…

    lastly, i’ve asked the question a bunch of times but still don’t have a proper answer; what does aubameyang at center forward provide to the arsenal attack? i’d play emile as a 10, auba as an 11, and laca as a 9. the precipitous lack of productivity from auba over the past two seasons is incredible. it’s not as if he’s lost the ability to finish. the manager has to find a way to get arsenal scoring chances. when arsenal don’t look likely to score, they are boring. tim highlighted the stats from newcastle and was happy but i was not because arsenal relied on individual brilliance, not good football.

12. Anyway, Shard et al, it’s game day. Time to wave the flag. Im cheering the team to a win. And if we do that, after we big up the players, we can and will all shower Mikel with praise for his brilliant tactics.

    Come on you gunners!

13. I agree with all your views on Arteta. I attribute that to him being a new manager. Things like trying to overcoach, outsmart opponent managers, continuously playing players in a position — I take these as a sign of a new coach. Also, I think he gets too emotional in defeat — which should go away once he has had a few more. The 2 games – United and Everton away– for me are the litmus tests. If he gets 6 out of 6 I will strongly believe that we will finish 4. If he gets 3,4 out of 6 I will believe that we will finish top 6. If he gets less than 3 then I would attribute the good run of form to others being bad and hence a top 8 finish. I hope we do well.

    All in all I do think that he has taken responsibility. Something that the club badly needed.

14. Thank you Timothy.
    You have a great perspective, and I love the way it generates all these responses.
    Keep thinking, we are all beneficiaries of your outputs!
    COYG

15. Halftime

    That was a really difficult shot from Emile, y’know. With his left too (isn’t he right-footed?). Good technique, good awareness. And good reffing from Atkinson. Be honest gooners… how many of you thought that he was going to find a way to disallow it?

    After that, they outplayed us and had most of the ball. What their pressure and persistence deserved. We’ll have to adjust. Martinelli on the right gives us goal threat but little defending. Most of United’s attacks came down his and Tomi’s side. On 39 minutes he should have played in Auba who was relatively unmarked near the penalty spot, but got greedy and shot wide. That would have been 2-nil. Guess that’s what happens with selection pressure. He also didnt pick us his head.

    Elneny has justified his surprise selection, showing for the ball and recycling well. His screening has allowed Pary to play slightly more forward. We started with a ferocious press, but didnt or couldnt sustain it. Let’s see how we do in Part 2.

    1. Again we dropped in intensity after taking the lead. That’s on both the players and Arteta.
       And both Elneny and Partey weren’t great. At this point, Partey is no better than Xhaka. Maybe worse since at least Xhaka seemed to care. And Elneny wasn’t bad, he’s just too conservative. If we needed to rest Lokonga, we should have played AMN. This was a winnable match, not something vs Liverpool where we need to be defensive.
       And the Arteta and striker dilemma continues. Auba is running a lot in the press, but that’s it. But we don’t have great other options. That said, can’t understand why he’d bring on Nketiah instead of Pepe, given Nketiah just said he’s leaving.
       We weren’t terrible. But that was frustrating, as it was a winnable match and a chance to make a statement.

       1. Completely agree, SLC. That’s exactly how I saw it.

16. I love this post and the comments. I don’t have a very thoughtful response yet, I’m sure things will come in dribs and drabs.

    1. But fundamentally I agree with all of Tim’s critique.

       There’s no real mystery to it.

       Back before Kroenke we had a board that ran the club almost like a community-based organisation instead of a billion dollar corporation. Values counted for much more.

       But that’s capitalism and the international order for you, it was guaranteed someone was going to buy us and just a question of who. At least we are a pawn of the soft power of the US and not of a Middle Eastern dictatorship, our owners are still ruthless but in a different way.

17. Old Ronaldo scored two goals without breaking a sweat, and my social media timelines are filled with gloating United fans. Ugh. In truth, we made the old boy seem better than he actually played. Did we sit back after scoring, or did they make their luck by running at us? I cant decide. But after we scored, it seemed to me that we were content to let them have the ball way too much.

    I loved Emile’s strike and quick thinking. Seen United fans suggesting that he should have done a Paolo di Canio and not take advantage of a downed de Gea; but I see nothing wrong with his taking that shot. In the hurly burly and partially unsighted by the ref, he was entitled to go for that. And it was a more difficult strike than it looked.

    Apart from that, ESR was anonymous. He faded from the game after his goal, as looked gassed after an hour. An obvious first substitution. PEA is going to get slaughtered for a point-blank miss, but he had to watch the drop of the ball. Situation read well by de Gea, who took up a great position. Auba might have had a goal if only Martinelli cutting in form the right had looked up. Mikel must have pointed it out to Martinelli, because he found MO with a first time cutback (which is what he should have supplied Auba) and Odegaard with his first time finish made it some sweet football. I liked Martinelli’s engine. He ran hard all match. Contrast that with Emile, who could barely raise a jog after an hour.

    Tavares – unfortunately as this stage of his young career – seems to have a big mistake in him. His blind pass into dangerous congestion in his own third and run forward was similar to his error against Liverpool, his second big one in a big game that led to a goal. On both occasions he was out of position after the error. He spoiled an otherwise sound display with the mistake. He loves a give and go.He needs to judge that better in his own third.

    United deserved that. They had more the game. I see Elneny being criticised, but Im looking forward to what the stats say about how he played. I thought he did well.

    Top 4 trophy? We have to hope that European involvement saps the energy of United and West Ham. That’s 0-4 against the big boys. 14F 2A, and a GD of -12. Yikes.

    1. Yes, another bad mistake from Tavares. The thing is he is an adventurous player, who takes up unusual and interesting positions up front, for a left full back. Difficult to criticise the kid, as the last thing you want to do is drum that out of him.

18. I thought Elneny did OK, certainly early on. In contrast, Partey was pretty average throughout. Gave the ball away far too often and defensively was absolutely nowhere for their first goal. Watch it again. He’s marking fresh air, throughout. He doesn’t look in any way fit.

    Another disappointing game from Auba. The centre forward position is going to be a problem this season. I’ve yet to see anyone really make the slot their own. Martinelli would be the perfect solution, but that is still work in progress.

    Partey and Auba are our “senior players”, but on current form, you wouldn’t think so to watch them.

    ESR’s goal was a good finish and totally justified. Outfield players continually “go down injured”, when it suits them, normally to break up a counter attack. I must admit I’ve never seen a keeper try that little trick and am really glad he got found out. Fred basically trod on his foot. Anyone will tell you that that happens all the time in a game of football. The fact that he went down like he’d been shot and had his back to play was laughable. Even funnier was that he rose like Lazarus a couple of minutes, seemingly unhurt.

    You got your just desserts, Mr de Gea. The ref got it completely right.

    1. Partey hasn’t looked right since after the international break. We held him back from playing for the Black Stars, but Im not sure he’s fully there yet. He seems to lack that explosiveness over 5 yards that players in his position need. Elneny was clearly the more effective midfielder yesterday.

       Let’s be honest… Emile was pretty poor yesterday apart from his goal. United arent a great team, yet Carrick (Ragnarick?) found a formula to dominate possession after our goal. We had a wonderful start, pressing them to death, three corners in the first 2 minutes. And then… poof.

       Let’s come back to this thing about support. Im not a fan of Elneny’s, but I liked his effort yesterday. I’m a fan of Emile’s, but I didnt like HIS overall play yesterday. There was a game — against Liverpool I think — in which Xhaka played really well. Im not a fan, but I was happy to praise him on the day. I see support as yelling your lungs out for all 14 players during the 2 hours, and then assessing, without bias or preconception, how they played afterwards. I see criticism of Elneny, but I think that is muscle memory. Maybe Tim’s stats will show something different.

19. Great post Tim.. I completely agree with the basic sentiment of your post. There is no instruction manual that tells everyone how to be fans and how to support the club. To each his own. Some fans want to be completely optimists who believe every player on the club is great and every youth player in the academy is going to develop into a superstar and the manager and coaches are always right and that is their choice. Myself I prefer to call it like I see it and accept the fact that historical data and clear cut trends can’t be ignored and those trends are the most accurate way to predict future events.

    I agree with you that age is catching up with Auba. No one wanted to accept the reality when Bill said it but Its not meant as a criticism of Auba because Father Time catches us with every player at some point and there nothing the player or his manager can do. There are some variations on what age it happens but history clearly tells us the majority of attacking players production decreases and the end of the career decline starts around age 31/32.

20. partey played a great ball out to martinelli for the odegaard goal. likewise, you have to give aubameyang credit for stretching the defense and making space for odegaard. however, i agree that both were pretty poor on the day. partey is a senior guy but he’s not really a leader; can’t be mad at him for being what he is. likewise, i hate seeing forward players given the leadership responsibility on the field. the hardest thing to do in football is to score goals. the idea of having a goal scorer distracted from scoring by doing stuff like trying to lead the team is foolish. but hey, that’s just my take.

    you need experienced leaders to win tough games. the only tough game arsenal have won this season was against crystal palace and that was a last minute goal from lacazette. arsenal has lost every other tough game they played this season and it’s because they don’t have experienced leadership on the field; guys that know how to win tough games and can show the young gunners how to get it done against the likes of man city and liverpool. you don’t need a lot of leadership to beat newcastle.

    1. Lacazette made 4 straight starts without a goal or an assist. He’s got 1 in 9. You massively overrate the guy. I dont get this constant stanning for him. He’s not made us any more incisive in attack, starting or coming off the bench. I guess it’s all relative… he’s the best pure CF among Auba, Eddie, Balogun, Martinelli and himself. That’s like arguing over who’s the best singer in a bad cover band. You know what that says to me? Get what you can at this stage, and upgrade. January. ASAP.

       I saw Auba make at least one good hold up play yesterday… in combination with Tavares, on the left touchline and far from his goal. He’s working hard, but it’s just not happening for him. Martinelli plays him in when wide open in the 39th, and maybe its a different game for him. He’d certainly made the supporting run. Arteta’s sub looked like one made in fury, when de Gea saved his close range shot. It wasnt a glaring miss. The United goalie anticipated well, I thought.

       I agree with you about leaders who are forwards. Ideally it’s someone who sees the field. There’s nobody at the back who’s senior enough, though. But I have heard good things — from Arteta himself — about Tierney’s leadership presence. So maybe.

       1. bro, i wasn’t even talking about lacazette. i’m talking about arsenal’s impotence in front of goal. likewise, lacazette hasn’t played center forward in those 4 straight starts. he’s been played out of position but managed to be effective because he’s a good player who’s not afraid of the big moments. however, his best position that he’s played since he was a kid is center forward.

          highlighting one good center forward moment in the game is the point. the game is 90 minutes long. with that, i don’t blame auba. he is who he is. it’s the management team that has to understand how to manage his talent.

    2. we drew against Crystal Palace

       1. correction. the equalizer was so late, it almost felt like a win.

21. Bill,

    “Myself I prefer to call it like I see it and accept the fact that historical data and clear cut trends can’t be ignored and those trends are the most accurate way to predict future events.”

    I’m sorry Bill, but that’s where you get it horribly wrong. Football simply doesn’t work like that and thank God it doesn’t. What a dull state of affairs that would be.

    Would anyone have said that both United and Arsenal would turn into mid table non entities a decade ago? Man Utd are possibly the largest club in world football and Arsenal have one of the highest match day takings of anyone.

    That Leicester City would win the Premier League and that a former semi pro from the Conference would end up top scorer (Vardy, who is 34 years old)?

    I could give you numerous examples of where players, teams and events have surprised the football world. The list would be as long as your arm.

    Let me give you just one more, which is nearer to home. You categorically said that there was very little chance of ESR making the grade. Your argument seemed to be that Saka, was a “once in a generation talent” (your words) and that statistically it would be almost impossible for another one to come out of a youth system, which was basically useless at producing players. You also intimated that he couldn’t score goals. Since then he has been selected for the full England side, where he acquitted himself well. He has recently scored 5 times in as many matches. Where was all that in the “data”?

    Football is played on grass and not on spreadsheets. That will always be the case. That’s exactly its appeal. It makes otherwise sane adults on the West Coast of the US get up in the middle of the night to watch it.

22. i want to talk about aubameyang. this isn’t a criticism of auba. in fact, i feel sorry for him. he’s getting so much heat and there’s so much pressure on him to score that he managed to miss what should have been an easy tap-ins in each of the last two games. the pressure is real and these are real human beings. i think the management team could help him a lot. in fact it reminds me of vermaelen.

    in vermaelen’s first season at arsenal, he had become a fan favorite, easily replacing kolo toure. however, i had a looming skepticism. as the season progressed, it became clear that vermaelen was a great technical defender but an incredibly poor tactical defender. not only that but vermaelen had a string of injuries which hurt his development. the worst part was that wenger wasn’t going to help him develop into a great defender. then van persie left and vermaelen was given the duty of leading the team. here is a guy who doesn’t even know how to play his position properly, charged with wearing the armband of one of the biggest teams in world football. you all saw the shitshow that followed; arsenal had a captain who didn’t even play.

    i feel auba’s in a similar predicament as vermaelen. he’s trying to play center forward without a cam, trying to find his scoring form, and trying to lead a team devoid of leadership. every facet of his game is going to suffer, not just the lack of goals. the management team could lighten that load by either playing him where he’s best or taking the armband. the latter would be more controversial and require a very savvy manager, which is not arteta. it’s one of the reasons i’ve always suggested he play as a striker. we’ll monitor this situation collectively as the season progresses.

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