One of the biggest advantages of missing out on European football when you are a well-funded team is that you get a week between games whilst teams in European competition do not. Players are fresher, better coached, and less mentally fatigued.
Arsenal didn’t make Europe last season, one of the big advantages we hoped for is that our brand new young squad would get all of the above advantages, and hopefully, play some of the bigger more established teams after tiring European exploits.
We’ve seen the benefits of rest all season. The last big game that really had an impact on the title race was Liverpool coming back from an away game at Villareal to play a Spurs side that had a week to prepare. Liverpool were average, Spurs controlled the game, and they took an unlikely point. I don’t think it’s outrageous to suggest fatigue played a part in that result.
Now let’s talk about Premier League fixtures. They are programmed by the Premier League in partnership with a ‘digital transformation’ company called ATOS. They’ve been doing it for 25 years. This blog here is probably the most publicity the company has had, they sit so under the radar, no one I follow on Twitter follows them.
Their approach is not a totally random affair. Here are some interview snippets from Glen Thompson who is the Technical Architect at ATOS and the main person responsible for programming almost 60,000 fixtures over the years.
When does the work start?
Glenn Thompson: For me it begins at the start of the year; that’s when I get the playing dates from the Premier League. The whole thing is built up putting in the international dates from FIFA, then the European club competitions, then the Football Association adds in the dates for its competitions and what you are left with are the dates when you can play league and League Cup matches.
What is “sequencing”?
That’s the methodology we use which is all about breaking the season down into a number of constituent parts, which are called sets. We break it down into five sets, which are reversed in the second half of the season.
Are there any rules you have to adhere to?
There are the “golden rules” of sequencing. In any five matches there should be a split of three home fixtures, two away or the other way around. A team will never have more than two home or away matches in a row, and, wherever possible, you will be home and away around FA Cup ties.
A club will never start or finish the season with two home or two away matches because it would be unfair for a team to finish with two aways, especially if they are looking for points.
Around the Christmas period, if you are at home on Boxing Day you will be away on New Year’s Day or the equivalent date and we will also try to maintain a Saturday home-away sequence throughout the season wherever possible.
So what have we learned here?
The fixtures list is not totally random. The algorithm has to be tailored to specific needs. There is no ‘pureness’ when it comes to how the fixtures are compiled. For mostly good reasons.
You don’t want a pile-up of away games at the end of a season, so there’s code to evenly distribute home and away games.
You don’t want Arsenal and Spurs fans meeting on the tube at 530pm on a hot sunny Saturday because they will fight each other, so there’s a piece of code for that.
You also want to be fair to fans on Boxing Day and New Years, so there’s a piece of code that makes sure one is home and one is away.
These tweaks are called ‘conditions’ and they are pre-programmed. Once you put these in, you are affecting the outcome of the fixtures.
The idea of a fair algorithm (assuming ‘advanced programming technology’ of their website means that) is hotly contested, there are culture wars raging in America over the way content is served up in social media feeds, because both right and left wing politicians think they are being screwed. There are papers written about how algorithms end up creating racist outputs. Even Twitter’s photo cropping algorithm was found to prefer able-bodied white people over people in wheelchairs or those that were black or brown. My point here is that when there’s a human involved in coding something, the idea of fairness can be contested, even if intentions are pure.
Now let’s look at the basics with regard to European and non-European clubs.
There are 7 Premier League teams in Europe.
There are 12 that are not in Europe.
There are 6 fixtures Between September and November where you have the chance to play one of the European teams after a midweek game.
So, how many teams with European exploits did we play during that period?
ZERO.
In our first year out of European competition in 25 years, we didn’t match with a big team in Europe after a midweek game once.
That sort of fact seemed like an anomaly. So I wanted to find out what the actual probability of this sort of event happening was. So I found a world-class statistical expert with a PHD to help me.
Here’s what I found out.
There are 27,132 combinations of fixtures that could occur.
The probabilities for Arsenal’s Premier League fixtures involving a team that played in Europe the previous midweek from September to November are as follows:
Probability of playing:
- 0 teams – 3.4%
- 1 team – 20.4%
- 2 teams – 38.3%
- 3 teams – 28.3%
- 4 teams – 8.5%
- 5 teams – 0.9%
- 6 teams – <0.1%
So for every 100 times you run this ‘random’ process for fixtures that have a manual input between the Premier League and experts in randomness, Atos, the probability of Arsenal facing ZERO teams after a European day out is just 3.4%.
Striking.
If there was a 3.4% chance of rain, would you take an umbrella? If there was a delicious cream cake in the work fridge and it was NOT your own and someone said the chances of getting caught were only 3.4%, would you eat it? Of course you would you greedy dessert rustler.
There was a 96.6% chance that we would NOT face zero teams after a European game.
I know what you are thinking, who else had luck like that out of the non-European football teams in the Premier League?
Here’s a breakdown of fixtures for the 13 teams not in Europe were as follows, with Arsenal the only club not to play a club in Europe:
- 0 teams – Arsenal
- 1 team – Brentford, Newcastle, Watford, Wolves
- 2 teams – Aston Villa, Crystal Palace, Everton, Leeds, Norwich
- 3 teams – Brighton, Burnley, Southampton
Shut the back and front door here… only Arsenal didn’t get the advantage of playing a team after Europe? 66.66% of teams in the non-European pot had 2 or more games against Euro-tired top teams.
Are you kidding me?
To make matters even more intriguing, the original fixtures we had planned had Arsenal playing City, Chelsea and Spurs before European competition resumed on Feb 22nd, with United landing after they were very likely to be out of European competition in late April.
So what has happened here?
Where is the oversight committee from the Premier League or ATOS?
How did no one notice that Arsenal was getting this royally screwed?
Arsenal landing the Premier League Champions, the European Champions, and the newly promoted team in their new stadium in the first three games? How does that happen?
What is the blend of algorithmic randomness and Premier League + Atos human oversight?
When the fixture list comes out this season, what will our 3.4% going to look like?
There’s plenty of evidence out there to support the fact we were poorly treated by the COVID rules at the start of the season. There’s plenty of evidence to suggest VAR hasn’t really worked for Arsenal this season. Arsenal leadership has had enough apologies from refs this season to know we’ve had plenty of very bad decisions go against us.
But the fixtures working miracles against us as well? When does it stop? We can’t keep ignoring all these random occurrences that happen to Arsenal, but not other clubs. This particular nightmare isn’t subjective, it’s just a pure data run, and the chances of our fixtures being this bad is literally 3.4%.
Being on the end of a 3.4% fail is unacceptable and someone needs to explain how that happened. If you were running a company that was supposed to be world-class at delivering impartial fixtures, surely you’d be wanting to know how something this unlikely happened in Arsenal’s first season out of Europe in 25 years, especially as we know it’s not a lottery draw, because the Premier League and ATOS both say there’s a helping hand of a human in this.
Let’s hope the team running ATOS is a little more rigorous about checking the data this season. We don’t want a statistical anomaly to become a pattern, do we?
If you think this work makes sense and you are outraged, share it on the internet and let’s get a conversation going.
P.S. If you are wondering if I really did get a statistics PHD mega geek on this puzzle, take a look at the approach and run the numbers yourself.
_______________________________________
There are 6 Premier League fixtures after European fixtures between September and December. We must choose a combination of 6 opponents from 19 available, without repetition for a possible total of 19C6 = 27,132 combinations of fixtures.Teams are divided into 2 categories; those in Europe, 7 teams, and those that are not, 12 teams.So, for the case where Arsenal would play no team in Europe across the 6 fixtures, there are 12C6 = 924 possible combinations resulting in a probability of 924/27,132 = 3.4%.The general number of combinations for playing r European teams and (6-r) non European teams is given by:12C(6-r) * 7Crwith the associated probabilities calculated by dividing by the total possible combinations of 19C6 = 27,132
raptoraJune 6, 2022 15:59:26
With all due respect to Ode, he has to improve and swiftly.Wanna know an intersting stat:
Odegaard has to improve but how many assists did rosicky, hleb, pires and bergkamp make in their second season? We add finishers to this team, and Odegaard’s umbers will rise
Let’s be clear though, his role is not assist maker, it’s to link the midfield to the wide men
I reiterate, he must improve.
If Odegaard plays in a wenger team his assistant will be higher
Arteta plays round he full backs primarily
Wenger loved to play through the middle
Odegaard is often bypassed
Wow, conspiracy theory like no other. Not unexpected given the authors complete and utter sell out on all things in defence of Arteta and the “project”.
As bush league as it is shameless. Can’t wait to see the next diatribe of conspiracy – it’s like watching a multi-part action series – its an unmitigated disaster but yet you can’t not keep watching it unfold.
“ If there is anyone out there who believes that replacing Odegaard with Eriksen wouldn’t improve our creativity”
Why not just replace Eriksen with Ozil while you are at it, Pierre? Christ but you are useless!
“ Tony Attwood just called. He wants his blog back…..”
Hahahaha!
Partey needs a midfielder who can play with him in a pivot. If we get such a midfielder Arsenal will instantly become a much better side.
Arsenal also need a winger who can be as dangerous as Saka.
In my view Bisoumma and Gnabry signings can push us to a new level altogether. But I don’t trust Arteta to make smart choices in the market because he hasn’t got a sharp eye for talent.
“ If there is anyone out there who believes that replacing Odegaard with Eriksen wouldn’t improve our creativity……”
Moot point. Eriksen life insurance policy has a clause that specifically prohibits him playing for Arteta, for the fear of getting shoved back into play during cardiac arrest.
Don: “We add finishers to this team, and Odegaard’s umbers will rise” That’s what we were lying ourselves regarding Ozil in his last years in our club. That Giroud was holding Ozil back and how if we had a more mobile, clinical finisher, playing on the line of the opponent’s defence Ozil would do much better. What happened? We bought Auba and Ozil managed the wholesome number of 1 (ONE) assist to Auba in all competitions over 3 years of football – vs Leicester in 2018 which was one of his best game in an Arsenal shirt. For comparison, Mkhitaryan… Read more »
https://www.kaggle.com/datasets/secareanualin/football-events According to data compiled by Alin Secareanu, the chances of a team winning from a 2-0 deficit is less than 2%. Does that mean our 5-2 result against Tottenham in 2012 was due to blatant corruption? I agree that biased technology is a real phenomenon but even if the chance of something occurring is 0.000001%, it’s still not an impossibility. Yanited had played 3 games in 10 days when they beat us 3-2. Liverpool had played 3 games in 8 days when they beat us 0-2. Teams get unfavourable schedules often, we crashed out because of self-inflicted problems, not… Read more »
Almost 1k shares on this statistical anomaly that Pedro posted on twitter.
Sensationalism is such a cheap practice but it always works. It just leaves a bad taste in your mouth.
Straws….clutching (again)
I do not recall a single occasion where Arsenal have bought two players from the same club in the same transfer window. _______ Nacho Monreal and Santi Carzola… close enough, one in the summer and one in January… Although many said Nacho had already been agreed to much earlier. I don’t see any reason why we couldn’t get 2 players from City.. they are trying to pay for Haaland. and similar to Malaga need to get rid of players. although for differnt reasons. Anyhow… regards to the stats thing .. maybe some built in scheduling bias.. but I find it… Read more »
My opinion this teams needs experienced players who have done it and Gnabry and Jesus fit that bill. Xhaka and Elneny not so much.
Midwest “My opinion this teams needs experienced players who have done it and Gnabry and Jesus fit that bill” Absolutely Midwest. These are still relatively young players but with top-level experience, which we lack and was evident at times. There is real added value in procuring players that have done it in the Premier League, like Jesus. It’s a brutal league and we need players who can hit the ground running, won’t break down and are used to the intensity & physicality. Jesus is top-quality, operating in a number of positions too which is invaluable. He also has a great… Read more »
The Agenda on Odegaard is funny. Stats of scoring or assisting do not always tell whether a player is quality or not. David Silva, one of the premier league greats, wasn’t a stats man. Odegaard isn’t a goal scorer. What he does is progress play and create openings. People can talk about his assist number but he has been significant in providing passes to those who have assisted these goals. https://fbref.com/en/players/79300479/scout/365_euro/Martin-Odegaard-Scouting-Report Check out this stat. Now I have no problem with ESR taking his place in the starting lineup if we get a top winger that can compete with Saka… Read more »
Ernest Reed I agree. It is shameful that people keep digging for excuses rather than look at the reality of the situation. In life, those people who look for excuses are usually the same folk who don’t take responsibility and don’t like to take the blame for things. Is the world flat? No it isn’t. Did the moon landing actually take place? Yes it did. Was 9/11 an inside job? No, it wasn’t. Were the fixtures rigged to go against Arsenal Football Club? No, they were not Do we have a coach who made far too many basic mistakes that… Read more »
Habesha
Do you really think Mikel will drop Odegaard irrespective of his form? Did it happen last season?
AFC- yep I think if we signed Gnabry and Jesus and midfielder and an upgrade on Xhaka.. whomever it may be.. I would go ahead and call this window a success although like everyone… A tall imposing CF is always Sexy but probably going to cost a fortune when we have a lot of needs. I did watch Nunez yesterday.. while he looks good the US defense not exactly a stone wall held him scoreless.. so it’s not a given he will smash it in the Premier League either. But for me our senior leadership players is what let us… Read more »
“This blog here is probably the most publicity the company has had, they sit so under the radar, no one I follow on Twitter follows them.
https://atos.net/en/newsroom/events
The company might not be a household brand but judging by their events calendar, they’re not that low-key either. Mobile World Congress and The Red Hat Summit are pretty big events for people interested in smartphones and IT.
Valentin 10:26
InsideRight 11:31
IAT Robbie 17:51
thank you for your well=reasoned and commonsensical responses to the author’s “wag to dog” diatribe…whenever anyone tries too hard to lean into a conspiratorial narrative, without spending, at the very least, an equal amount of time discussing the more rational and logical aspects of our CL cock-up, it’s always good to know that there are still some adults in the room to bring some much-needed accountability to the mix
I don’t know about conspiracy.. but if we sign Jesus.. The statistical probabilty we play City in the first 2 or 3 games is 100%. 😀
TRVL
You are right of course.
It is embarrassing that so called educated folk come up with all this crap.
As you highlighted, we cocked things up because of one thing and one thing alone and it had absolutely nothing to with a fixture conspiracy.
“I do not recall a single occasion where Arsenal have bought two players from the same club in
the same transfer window.”
Transfermarkt, says that Arsenal purchased Gilles Grimandi and Emmanuel Petit from Monaco in the summer of 97/98
“Yanited had played 3 games in 10 days when they beat us 3-2. Liverpool had played 3 games in 8 days when they beat us 0-2. Teams get unfavourable schedules often, we crashed out because of self-inflicted problems, not because ATOS is colluding with the Premier League.” Mustn’t forget the City game on Jan 1st, when we had them on their shortest ever rest( 3 games in 6 days), comprehensively outplayed them but proceeded to throw it away on two dumb plays. A Xhaka shirt pull for a pen, and a Gabriel two yellows , one for dissent. That one… Read more »
Mb
Why does it matter? I think he will get dropped if he isn’t performing to a good level. At the start of last season, Odegaard wasn’t playing well and he got dropped for Lacazette playing a 10. There are plenty of games next season and we are going to need all these players. It’s not about dropping players. It is a squad game.
Midwest
Yep, agree. We have a lot of young players with their first full season together behind them but who struggled at times through their naivety. Gnabry & Jesus have the t-shirt & it sounds like a dream to me, perhaps it is, but the prospect is tantalising. Jesus really is a top upgrade.
raptoraJune 6, 2022 17:47:50 Don: “We add finishers to this team, and Odegaard’s umbers will rise”That’s what we were lying ourselves regarding Ozil in his last years in our club. That Giroud was holding Ozil back and how if we had a more mobile, clinical finisher, playing on the line of the opponent’s defence Ozil would do much better.What happened? We bought Auba and Ozil managed the wholesome number of 1 (ONE) assist to Auba in all competitions over 3 years of football – vs Leicester in 2018 which was one of his best game in an Arsenal shirt. For… Read more »
Habesha GoonerJune 6, 2022 18:34:59
The Agenda on Odegaard is funny. Stats of scoring or assisting do not always tell whether a player is quality or not. David Silva, one of the premier league greats, wasn’t a stats man. Odegaard isn’t a goal scorer. What he does is progress play and create openings. People can talk about his assist number but he has been significant in providing passes to those who have assisted these goals. https://fbref.com/en/players/79300479/scout/365_euro/Martin-Odegaard-Scouting-Report Check out this stat.
Habesha
Great comment
84th percentile for shot creating actions with 4.33 per game
In the upper 80s and 90s for almost all
Passing stats
HG I don’t think anyone is going so far as to suggest that Ode is a “shit” player, but there’s no doubting that his constant inclusion within the starting 11, regardless of the opposition and/or the potential negative tactical ramifications of his presence on the pitch, raises some rather pertinent questions…you don’t have to be a footballing savant to know that when we’ve faced higher end squads, or at least those with a tactical savvy coach/manager, far too often he’s been a total non-factor or disappeared altogether…so it’s not out of bounds to discuss both his obvious deficiencies and those… Read more »
Bernardo Silva Joata Firminho erriksen Coutinho Luis Diaz Jadon Sancho Ziyech puliscic and Mane all finished with 4 or less for the season.
For a little perspective
TRVL,
I feel you man. . The last couple of seasons have been saturated with excuses. It’s a dam shame too because it’s just reflective of the low quality of football under the manager. If we were a free-scoring and creative team, we’d be leading most of our games by two goals by the 60th minute.
We’re only constantly complaining about unawarded penalties , offsides, VAR calls etc because we often don’t score enough to kill off games in the first place.
Vieira lynn You don’t think this is Arteta’s instructions? You think it’s only Odegaard who passes backwards or sideways It’s a feature not a glitch. This is Arteta football, hopefully it’s just for now. He strangles the team. If you think Odegaard isn’t capable of more creative flourish’s once off the leash then I suggest you look more closely. He’s in the team because he follows the instructions. He’s going to be captain because he gets the others to follow them. Slow it down….. you can literally see him doing it on the pitch and Arteta nearly in tears of… Read more »
Saliba and Guendouzi start for France Vs Croatia.
In an ideal world I would rotate Ode and Esr every 2 or 3 games based on opposition and bring one or the other off the bench every match. But thats not how it worked out. As Habesha mentioned it’s not a bad dilemma in my opinion we had other players who cost us points.. Looking back I dont feel like Odegaard was one of them. He missed a few shots he should have buried as did our entire attacking squad including ESR. I feel like if we are going to bash midfielders we can start with somebody else. Hint… Read more »
“Mustn’t forget the City game on Jan 1st, when we had them on their shortest ever rest( 3 games in 6 days), comprehensively outplayed them but proceeded to throw it away on two dumb plays.”
Oh god. Don’t remind me Tom.
Rodri is a complete jackass for going to the home end to celebrate the winner. The City fans were just behind the goal too, so he definitely knew what he was doing there.
Wow.. Croatia is going full on old school and France all Young Guns.
‘’ If we really end up paying 40M+ and 190k per week, Edu should get fired. The average Le Grove reader could negotiate that deal with City”‘’
Why are people so obsessed with what we pay… who gives a shit if we pay Jesus £190k a week
We pay the most re season tickets and deserve more quality and generally that costs money
On another note the 5 weeks of the World Cup should help us as I can’t think of many players that will b first choice for their country
Un
Odegaard isn’t the finished article but the idea that he is a shit or average player is pure agenda. He is there to dictate play and he is doing that. Does he need to get better, sure. Those passing stats, expected assists, progressive passes, key passes all tell a story. We are going to need both ESR and Odegaard for creativity next season.
Siddeeq
June 6, 2022 19:52:14
I will keep repeating, sign Moussa Diaby
I love the player. He is very good. He is definitely going to become elite. I think Bayern will have their hands all over him if they lose Gnabry though.
Saliba can gain valuable experience playing in the national team.
Comparing Ode to a 30 years old Ozil is ridiculous, the guy is 22 years old… so much more to come from him..
Although I have stated that I prefer Zinchenko over Tielemans my preference really is for more of an enforcer midfielder with more physical presence to go alongside Partey.
“ I don’t think anyone is going so far as to suggest that Ode is a “shit” player” He’s not but he is very much impacted by a Manager who struggles to impose a clear game plan, let alone an actual game plan. The author of this blog keeps insisting that Arteta will learn from his mistakes, but I am going to continue to also insist that there is little evidence of this being anything resembling fact. If Arteta does not change his ways it won’t matter who the club bring in, they will be rendered impotent quickly enough. You… Read more »
Viera Lynn I am not blind. I have seen those games where Odegaard wilted under pressure. But there are other games he has thrived on the occasion too. But most teams don’t press like that or challenge us. They will sit back and let us have the ball. In these games Odegaard is very important. For instance last season, we were down to wolves 1 nil at home. It was Odegaard’s flighted ball that reached Eddie who in turn cut it back to Pepe and he turned and scored. That was the moment we came back to win. There have… Read more »
I think the issue this season was the fact that Arteta had more time to coach the players….
Saliba is nervous.
Haha, fighting back against Pierre using his old fallback, the pre-assist. Love it.
Andy1886
😂😂😂 Not my intention. Pierre is just mad Odegaard replaced his fav Ozil.
But the way Odegaard influences games is clear to see unlike Ozil. There have been games he has played like shit though inconsistencies are going to happen.
Actually Saliba has been a bit mixed.. I don’t think he is nervous more so just been beaten by playing a high line a couple times..and a very smart Croatian side. Made up for it once with a great tackle the other times he is quick but not as quick as a winger.
He is undenied quality on the ball though very smooth.
Guendouzi still makes me nervous though.. he is so frantic always. hahaha Anyhow.. Nkunku offside I think. yep.
Habesha
There lies the problem – MO has become an untouchable. Arteta has become Wenger 2 – stubborn.
No doubt MO is a valuable player but not against all teams. He will never be a Cesc.
Saliba is helped by his long leg to tackle the ball.
Anyone see beyond France or Brazil for WC’22? Ridiculously talented squads.
Habesha
“We just need to pick and choose games based on form and what game suits which player better”
So he’s not top class then. We would never have talked like that about former players we all know about.
They played every match bar injury or needing a rest because we knew they were good enough against any opponent.
G
I wonder, will there be conspiracy theories circulating because of the WC scheduling?
Almunia I agree France and Brazil have amazing squads
UN obviously I comprehend the mitigating circumstances involved in just such a situation, as I’m well-aware of the negative tactical leanings of our manager-in-training, which is undoubtedly why we likewise can’t seem to shake Xhaka out of the starting lineup, but when you apply the “eye test” to his particular equation he fails in a couple pertinent regards when I evaluate Ode I use a similar visceral metric as I would if I were evaluating a NFL QB…some QBs are instinctual throwers of the ball, they don’t overthink their mechanics or try to carefully massage the ball through a tight… Read more »
Almunia.. not really no.. I mean anything can happen in a knockout the great equalizer but yep France and Brazil could easily field 2 teams and have them both in the finals.
Brazil have a frightening squad.
“Anyone see beyond France or Brazil for WC’22? Ridiculously talented squads.“
Portugal
Brazil does have to get the balance right though.. Thy can’t let Neymar dominate everything and run everything through him all the time. He needs to be a side piece. If that’s the right word.. hahaha
I salute anyone for taking the time to produce an article such as this, but it simply doesn’t cover the whole picture. As others have stated in the comments, we have had plenty of advantages during the season, some of which we took, others we didn’t. It also negates to mention other nuances which also shape how the fixture list is compiled.
I still can’t quite fathom how we are seeing Guendouzi playing for France and yet still have Xhaka at the club.
Awful scenario.
Anyone see Runnurson give up that goal for Iceland today? my God who scouted him? He is still not good.
‘’Ode is an aimer of the ball, his passes are often too slow and have too much air under them, or “telegraphed”, so by the time the pass has arrived at it’s intended target the opposition has ample time to prepare,’’
Totally disagree, think Ode sees a pass like no other Arsenal player can
“ Brazil have a frightening squad.”
They do Graham, but equally they have a continued fundamental problem. They are a group of very talented individuals who play like individuals rather than a group of players who play like a team. That has been Brazil for quite some time now.
Also how good your overall squad is not as important when we are talking about playing a tournament that lasts a few weeks.
It’s about getting your first XI right and tactics etc
Ernest Reed
You’re right.
Is hola
He isn’t top class yet. But he is very good. Top class is the Debruyne’s of this world. Let’s see if he can move up there. He is 23 and that was his first full season.
While we are talking about Odegaard this video came out.
Look at the passing section and see how many times he breaks the lines. That is probably why he has a high key passes percentile.
https://youtu.be/Ke5ctZgIYZ4
Just look at the passing section.
France probably deserved that.. have been the slightly better side all match.
I can clearly see at least 5 or 6 clear chances Odegaard set up that our players should have buried. From saka, Eddie to Lacazette and Aubameyang and Martinelli too. I guess Agendas are Agendas though.
Portugal are good Tom but carry a lot of passengers,particularly wouldn’t like to back a team so reliant on Pepe.Spain will have Morata up front so no. England? On paper they are prob 3rd favourites but would you trust Southgate to get the best out of them? I’ll let you English lads decide that. Belgium probably have left their best years behind them. Argentina,Germany or Netherlands for me if you want decent odds but for once I’ll go with the bookies. Probably pick France. Can be had at 13-2 at the moment. Brazil 5-1.
Has anyone asked the question why players like Guendouzi and Saliba have blossomed since leaving the club.
Is it just down to the fact that they’re playing in an environment that suits them?
Or is it something else?
I wonder.🤔
If I was going to take a flyer … I’d say Spain, maybe Argentina if they get the Messi last World Cup sympathy calls when it matters.
Mid,
If Argentina played like they did against Italy the other night absolutely. But they don’t have the defence to stand up to the tests of latter stage WC matches imo. Spain could easily turn up and surprise but man,I’d hate to be relying on Morata to score.
Habesha Gooner
“He isn’t top class yet. But he is very good”
tbh fans from other clubs say this about plenty of their players as well so Odegaard doesn’t stand out in that regard.
That you don’t seem to trust him in certain matches where the heat may be turned up in comparison to “easier” matches tells all about him atm from your own perspective.
Almunia no mo- Agreed Morata is a bit like Higuain could bottle it for them. But Spain seems to ramp it up in these big tournaments.lately. kind of go under the radar then all of a sudden they are in the semi-finals.
wow.. pk.. for Croatia .. after a weird var delay. How long does it take to look at offside?
Almuniasaynomore, Pepe and their back line might be suspect, but their mid and attacking options are nothing short of great.
They just demolished the Swiss and before that looked very impressive vs Spain.
Trust me, nothing gives me more pleasure than seeing Pepe and Ronaldo cry tears of disappointment but I think they can go far.
Mid,
Just checked,Spain 8-1. I suppose the young lad Fati could explode or Torres could play central. They have Acensio and orazybal( something like that), so maybe not a bad shout. Pedri is a joy and the Spanish can defend.
Has anyone asked the question why AMN didn’t blossom at Roma?
Has anyone asked the question why most of our young players are now full internationals?
Wow Griezemann … what the hell? hahaha crazy finish to this one.
G once again, my analysis didn’t suggest whatsoever that he couldn’t “see a pass”, it simply stated that he couldn’t deliver said pass in the most effective manner due to his “aiming” or “telegraphing” tendencies…simply put, against lesser lights his success rate will be vastly different than against defenders/tactical schemes of consequence…of course, even the best of passers will see their respective numbers dip against the best opposition, but the drop-off will be considerably less the fact that, as you would suggest, he “sees a pass like no other Arsenal player can”, might say infinitely more about our training deficiencies,… Read more »
Wow Griezemann … what the hell? hahaha crazy finish to this one.
LoL
Tom,
Portugal 14-1. I agree about their attack/mid but that defence is suspect enough. Ireland played them home and away in the qualifiers and they were blessed to beat us just once.
Turned into some playground stuff there at the end. Wide open. Hope the World Cup is as entertaining in November.
a lot of swirling rumors about Giovanni Simeone making the rounds today???
Gio Simeone has had a good year, seems to be a cluster scorer though that goes off the boil for long spells of the season.
26/27, not likely to get much if any better. Imo he is more a midtable level ST than a top 4 and up standard one.
Gio Simeone is too old for the Arsenal project
He’s going to cause the mean age of the quad to go up.
WE
this would be the very definition of an underwhelming recruitment maneuver, unless we have 2 CFs coming in…he’s not exceptionally tall, he’s 26, with a fairly uninspiring CV, and he wreaks like a desperately cheap shot in the dark
The “media” knows we need to sign a striker so they will ling everyone with us
Agents are also doing that too, to boost negotiations for their players; :”hey, look Arsenal wants him”
“He’s going to cause the mean age of the quad to go up.”
😂😂😂
Almunia,
Is “Almuniasaynomore” a reference to something?
Nothing sums up the sorry state of the club currently than the fact Saliba has played more games for the World Champions than Arsenal.
I am sure- if he is an integral in France regaining the World Cup- he will be still be requiring a loan for ‘his development’ according to A&E .
Dis
a bit of an “out of the box” swing for media-types, even though they know we’re on the hunt….normally I would agree with your assessment, which is why I very rarely bring up the names of players who’re being bandied about, but why would they dig so deep into the Striker barrel for a storyline when there’s so many more logical candidates…trust me, I hope you’re right
Robbie, I probably should just shorten it to Almunia. The say no more part comes from the fact that I got fed up arguing the same points over and over with the same people as to why Wenger had passed his sell by date. He was either too stubborn to admit he was wrong or he genuinely believed Almunia was a good keeper. Either way he undermined lots of good work by keeping him in goal hence I would simply say to his supporters Almunia- say no more. Terrible shame really. Had he bought Given or someone of that ilk… Read more »
Thanks for explaining.
Even as a kid, Almunia frustrated the hell out of me. That 4-1 game against Barca was a low point for Almunia as far as I was concerned. Messi really exposed him that night. I thought that I was being harsh at the time but little did I know most Gooners didn’t rate him at all. He was basically the Xhaka of his time. Or maybe Xhaka is the Almunia of today?🤔
Viera lynn
Are you suggesting Real Madrid don’t let quality players go..
Robben
Makelele
Sure there a few more
Really impressed with Nkunku. He gives incredible width to the attack. He’s everywhere, he’s quality, he’s dangerous, he’s inventive, speedy… He’s the real deal and it pains me knowing that he could have been playing for us.