Well good morning to you!
I’m not Royalist, but the Queen passed yesterday, and she was a good woman.
96 years old. 1 year younger than my Grandma who is still alive. What an innings.
Side note on the internet culture around the death. Are we, as a society, at the point when it is like some sort of honour to have your death bantered hard?
The most amusing thing for me is the Be Kind crowd who go to war for the most inane of things online are all deep in the mixer sharing grim memes like Queen Elizabeth spent the last 70 years conquering lands like a king from the 1600s. Wearing ‘I hate the Queen’ as some sort of edgy personality trait is so beyond boring.
Gotta say though, if I die, and everyone memes my passing, know this… I wanted it that way.
RIGHT, how about that Europa game?
Pretty drab at times.
You gotta put these things into context: Going to FC Zurich is as exciting for the players as it is for you.
The performance wasn’t unrecognisable like our bad performances have been over the years when we switch into second team mode, but it wasn’t close to peak anything. It was basically first gear Arsenal. The passing was fast, players moved, but the end product wasn’t really there, and we didn’t feel quite as brutal as we had done.
We went a goal up nice an early, Fabio Vieira released Eddie out wide, the centre forward powered forward, clipped a ball to the back stick via a slight deflection, and new boy Marquinhos guided a bullet strike into the top corner. The kid looked VERY happy to score, he kissed the floor, and looked to the sky to thank the footballing gods.
We continued to dominate. Then we did what all great Arsenal sides of the past have done: We let them back in. Eddie gave away a soft penalty. Our keeper, who had a 50% save rate in MLS dived the wrong way. It was 1-1.
The second half was frustrating. Decisions weren’t great in the forward line. We didn’t really make anything count. Then our new Brazilian stepped up, floated a ball to the back post, Eddie was there to finish for his first of the season.
Marquinhos looks like a player and half. He’s strong, he has great balance, his technique looks very sharp, and he works like a dog. It looks like Edu might have pulled off another great signing. Is he good enough to do that in the Premier League? Possibly.
I also had a lot of heart for the Eddie performance, he did what he needed to do in a bland game. A goal and an assist. Shame about the penalty that looked soft.
I am a little worried about the keeper signing. Bernd Leno talked about the politics at Arsenal and he’s being very precise about his target who is the goalkeeping coach he didn’t like and fell out with. I heard Emi Martinez had the same issue. Sal Bibbo was moved on because of him. Mikel Arteta is mister culture until it comes to dealing with the guy that put in a big recommendation for Alex Runnarson.
I’d maybe give him some slack if our keepers had been dropping the equivalent performances that we see our players after being exposed to Nico Jover, but they don’t, they start well and tank. Matt Turner looks like a rabbit in headlights at the moment, we are in big trouble if that Aaron hamstring doesn’t get addressed. That’s a huge worry. The thing that grates me is Tony Roberts, exArsenal, is the Wolves keeping coach and he’s bossing it with his boys. Jose Sa was one of the best in the league last season. It’s a shame we don’t have someone like that at Arsenal.
We have the win. The other game was a draw. United were battered by Real Sociedad. I’ll take the points and run.
I was worried about the Everton game, but now that’s been cancelled, so it’s another week to prepare for the PSV game. Players will get a bit of rest, Thomas Partey will be closer to a return, and maybe the players can get on the training field to work on some bits.
It’s a bit weird we’d cancel all the games. Especially as cricket and ruggers didn’t follow the same path. Fans all over the country will have paid for tickets and hotels. It’s such an odd decision. As Matt said on the podcast, wouldn’t 2 minutes of applause been better? Wouldn’t the red arrows over london have been more suitable? It’s so odd for football the throw itself on the floor as the biggest mourners.
Ok, I’ll be back tomorrow. Have a great night. Jump on our Patreon which went from a Before the Whistle to an After The Whistle.
Pulitzer Prize in 2006. Caroline Elkins
Strange – we’re okay with greedy players but not greedy managers. GG stated plainly to BoD that he did not want his players to earn more than him. Fair enough, he had turned the Club into a money-spinner, he was of more value than any player. He wanted a raise but the fat cats turned him down. It’s like a bank manager earning less than his staff. I’m not excusing his behaviour, I’m explaining. it. Had he been given the raise, no need for backhanders. Nor am I offended because he managed Spurs. That was his job, that’s how he… Read more »
Some proper oddballs on here.
David Dein seems to have wrote the book that Wenger should have written. All the details missing in Wenger’s book seems to be Dein’s.
What a classy man Arsene Wenger is.
GD4
‘ It just annoys me to the hilt how short sighted and myopic that stodgy old Arsenal board was. Wenger should’ve walked or threatened to walk the moment they fired Dein.’
Weger didn’t do that because he saw a opportunity to gain more power.
He used the same self preservation when the Kroenkes took over.
Topside, Re that FA Cup match I was on the north bank that day, I swear McClair was white as a ghost before that penalty, and he hammered it into the back of the north bank. Very Happy times…….I think we played Forest in the next round, got beat 2-1. Remember being absolutely gutted.
Dissenter
Or he just didn’t see himself leaving Arsenal to go coach another club at the time. I’d imagine that Ferguson probably couldn’t picture himself leaving United to go coach at Bayern. There was a bit more loyalty in the game then.
Money though has taken loyalty out of the game.
Also re GG and Spurs, no one hates Jennings for going back in any capacity to them, football’s a job, it is what it is. Who hates Liam going to West Ham or Cesc to Chelsea. It is what it is.
That said Sol…….that’s completely different, like big Tone going to Spurs on a free…..
Best transfer of all time.
“People who ‘don’t like the queen or monarchy’ or (fill in the blank) are complete cunts.“
Ha ha, speaking like a complete cunt can I just say millions more visit the palace of Versailles and the Pyramids each year and few of them ever give a shit about Luis XIV or the Pharaohs.
Although I can’t say I disliked the Queen tbh.
She seemed like a lovely lady. The monarchy on the other hand lol
Diss the reason football has been postponed and not other sports are because of the volume of fan participation, at cricket and horse riding there are a few thousand, there were 3 London matches in the premier league alone including Chelsea vs Fulham, you can’t have 200,000 plus football supporters travelling into central London when all the major stations in London are very busy with people going to the palaces and social areas to pay their respects and to watch the ascension to the king to the throne. Plus all police in the capital have been put on 12 hour… Read more »
Naija
‘ There was a bit more loyalty in the game then.’
Easier to be ‘loyal’ to a cause that you have near-absolve control of.
Wenger made himself indispensable by staying. This was post the invincibles and whomsoever won the boardroom battle needed him on board to keep the fans onside..
Wenger sure didn’t waste that crises. It increased his power exponentially.
I echo that Tom. The Queen herself seemed a good woman and carried herself in a very classy way.
As for the other Royals including her nonce Son, less said the better.
Mr
Serge
I think you’re coming up with that line of defense after the fact.
You guys are kings of logistics and the police routinely manage massive crowd events like Notting Hilll caravan, that gets 2 million visitors over two days involving as many as 10,000 police officers … same time premier league games are going on.
The premier league jumped the gun. It was all about paying homage by showing ultimate respect. That’s a noble goal in itself.
‘Wenger eagle
Agreed, queen is aclass act and her son is a nonce.
Many foreign institutions respected the queen but won’t extend that same level of deference to the son or grandson.
It’s the end of an era imo.
*Notting Hill Carnival, not caravan lol.
Dissenter
So he wanted some control or power at his job, doesn’t make him an evil mastermind. Most of us would bite that Apple.
The issue was even with his so called power, we couldn’t compete in the transfer market, and came short many times as a result.
Tom, I completely agree with your last two posts. More people visit France than any other country and they got rid of their monarchy in 1789. Top lady the Queen but the institution is out of date and is the ‘poster boy’ of inherited power and wealth and is the antithesis of meritocracy. Respect to the old Queen and all! Just watched a speech and plenty of respect before Exeter and Leicester, the Oval Test was very respectful, minutes silence and adverts replaced by the image of the Queen. Supporters able to respectfully knowledge her passing, football fans not trusted?… Read more »
“”Institution is out of date and is the ‘poster boy’ of inherited power and wealth and is the antithesis of meritocracy. “”””
Another case of Great minds think alike on le grove
Ousting Dein was a real nasty one. Ultimately they all sold to the same Stan “we don’t want his kind” Kroenke. Kroenke not accepting Dein back is easy to explain though. Dein had aligned himself too closely to Usmanov & Moshiri’s Red&White Holdings. In the end he backed the wrong horse, though at the beginning he had punted correctly. The switch did not pay off ultimately for exactly the same reasons he was sacked in the first place – the other erstwhile Arsenal directors wouldn’t sell to Usmanov to snub and spite Dein. So they sold to Kroenke. Just another… Read more »
If Fiszmann – on his deathbed – had sold to Usmanov instead of Kroenke, the story would have unfolded differently.
Diss
It’s a glass half empty or half full analysis with Wenger .. or who knows it could be a little of both.
No one knows except Arsene on why he stayed on.
Nevertheless I still hold on to that horrible myopic bunch of muppets on the Arsenal board who contributed to the demise of this club cuz they couldn’t see past their stodgy old ways.
Word on the street is that the PSV AND Brentford matches are going ahead as the funeral will AFTER the weekend fixtures on the Monday designated as a Bank Holiday.The original concern was that the dates would clash.They don’t.
Wengaball .Nailed it.
Pierre: “ David Dein, the epitome of someone talking sense.Wenger took the blame for the failure to progress the club , when it is obvious after reading abstracts from Dein’s book that it was the board that were to blame.David Dein’s book should make the entitled wenger out brigade hold their heads in shame for the scandalous way he was abused.Both David Dein and wenger were geniuses for the way they made Arsenal the best and most attractive football team in the world, a fantastic double act that were broken up by jealousy.And the kroenke’s are just as culpable for… Read more »
I’m trying to watch La Liga and the Bundesliga but it’s just not the same. This postponement is really annoying.
Dunno how this makes people wanna honor the monarchy any more
I ways said Dein going was the death knell of our greatness this has always been the fault of Fizaman doing the wrong thing on his deathbed
Bank of f Yes great times supporting The Arsenal home and away in those days. My username taken from where I used to stand. Of course GG got a bit of stick for going over the road and also getting caught with his hand in the cookie jar. Personally only really positive thoughts about him taking us back among the elite winning titles and cups home and abroad. I guess being at WHL replay 87 and the final beating Liverpool were experiences that you can’t buy, great days. The current crop we have a lot of young players (like we… Read more »
The whole philosophy at Arsenal is too cosy and nice, there is no ruthlessness and no pressure to be the best. I always find it interesting when newer generations of Arsenal supporters try and tell older fans that the club has changed. No, they haven’t. Clubs like Bayern Munich use the pain of a CL final defeat as motivation to go again, and go one better. Examples of this, were the defeat in ’99 (they won CL 2001), and again the defeat in 2012, they returned to win it a year later. Arsenal have never taken the CL seriously enough… Read more »
Mr serge
“Northbanker is correct Wenger’s reign was not all glorious the final years were awful some on here have very short memories”
4 cup finals in his last 5 years ( winning 3) is not exactly awful is it, maybe your memory is playing tricks on you..
I’m sure if Arteta manages to even equal that record in Wenger’s final years , he will be regarded as a success..
we were posting earlier about who gains and who loses by the postponements — consensus was Chelsea and Brighton are the big winners as they [for obviously different reasons] need to adjust to managerial upheavals, and currently woeful Liverpool get a chance to ‘reset’ we get some respite for Partey — which, of course, is huge — and Saka, ESR and Zelensky get the chance to recover from ‘short-term injuries’ and the ‘red zone’ I am not concerned about a fully fit Arsenal dealing with a fully fit Everton or a fully fit Brentford, so at first glance the postponements… Read more »
Herb
I know it is trite to say give it some time, but I genuinely feel that there is a deeper determination to perform at a higher level, not just performance-wise, but from a ‘mentality’ perspective
I think the Man City players [GJ/OZ, of course] will not let the team ethos slip the way it did, where a loss inevitably soon became three on the trot, and will instil a stronger sense of responsibility in the squad — wishful thinking, I know
Pierre whatever Wenger achieved in his later years . The fanbase was split. He should have gone by resignation and gone out with pride. Staying on to the bitter end was a terrible error