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  • Man Utd were the devils
    Yes, it has happened before. We were well behind Manchester United in 2000/01 and they had kept us second 3 years in a row. 2001/02 was nothing to look forward too. The previous year we had let go Marc Overmars and Emmanuel Petitt to Barcelona and they seemed a huge loss. We had also let go Davor Suker who, for the benefit of those who are unaware, was regarded as a great buy as he came from Real Madrid and was an established goalscorer but could not replace the guys in front of him in Bergkamp, Henry and Kanu, however he was definitely above Gyokeres and Sesko in current stature, and possibly Isak who are our seeming targets this season. Until players come to the Premier League we can never say they will work out. Even if they come from Real Madrid.

    Even Suker couldn't make it at Arsenal
    So, what happened in 2000/01? Sort of similar to this year. We were 10 points behind Utd at the end and possibly a bit more than that behind Liverpool this year. We had 70 points as opposed to 74 if we beat Southampton on Sunday. We were beaten 8 times and drew 10 as opposed to 4 losses and 14 draws (depending on Southampton). We got to the quarter final of the Champions league being beaten by Valencia on away goals. We did much better this season winning out in a much tougher group stage in joint second along with Barcelona and Inter, who  also made it to the semi-finals alongside us. We destroyed various teams along the way including beating Real Madrid home and away. In contrast in 2000/01 we played two group stages without any standout wins. So we were better in the league and the Champions League this year.
    Owen the heartbreaker
    And in the two domestic cups we had mixed fortunes, in 2000/01 we got to the FA Cup final where we played Liverpool and Michael Owen broke our hearts with a very late goal with Arsenal being the better team. Some sort of parallel with this year as Liverpool won the league without being outstanding a lot of the time. They were very dogged, winning games late and putting away the lower teams. Beaten by Liverpool to a trophy is a characteristic both times.

    Michael Owen the heartbreaker
    In the League Cup we went out in the 3rd round to Ipswich whereas we did much better this term, getting to the semis before being beaten by Newcastle. Overall so we did better in the FA Cup and worse in the League Cup in 2000/01.
    We were worse in 2000/01 than now
    I think it is fair to say that we were worse overall in 2000/01 than this season. The only trophy in which we did better was the FA Cup.

    Will Gyokeres be the answer?
    And then what happened in 2001/2002? We won the double! Can we do it again? Well, let’s look at what was better in that season. Here, we have to look at the past season where we brought in Robert Pires, Lauren, Edu and Sylvain Wiltord as important buys. Pires and Wiltord did well without setting the world alight and Edu and Lauren were bit players particularly Edu. All of those, but to a lesser extent, Edu, became critical players in 2001/02. This season, Raya signed and continued his good work from last year. Calafiori did not set the world alight but can he blossom next season? Mikel Merino also had apatchy first season but will he shoot for the stars? Lewis-Skelly has been phenomenal and Ethan Nwaneri superb when he has played. Havertz still feels like a new player to me, so can this be his breakout year? That will be critical, I feel.  If the team gels like they did in 2001/02 then we can hit the heights.

    We used to have the greatest striker in the world now do we even have any?
    "I saw something today I never saw last season – we played as a team. It's the most important thing in football."
     — Thierry Henry's reaction following our first game against Middlesbrough in which we won 4-0.
    Our most serious defect
    And despite our good defensive record this season we were susceptible to quick breakaways in which our team did not cover properly. We do need to work on stopping this problem and that has to be a whole team effort. That cost us against PSG and Newcastle and in various games against weaker teams this season. We must play better as a team and the fact that we had lots of changes in personnel mitigated against that. A more settled side with the newer players gelling better and I feel we can be unstoppable.

    Sol Campbell - anyone remember who he used to play for?
    So who did we buy in in 2001/02? One was the biggest surprise ever, Sol Campbell, who came from nowhere, or sorry, some small team, I can’t remember the name, and shocked us all. England’s best defender had come just as the George Graham magic defence had finally disappeared. Plus Kolo Toure who was to provide a great partnership with Campbell alongside Ashley Cole and Lauren. Who needs George Graham? By the way, that defence gives the lie to the myth that Arsene Wenger couldn’t put together a defence. Those four would be among the best defences we ever had.
    Buying a top striker didn’t work
    We also brought in Giovanni von Bronkhorst from Rangers, a gifted midfielder who looked like a solid buy, and Richard Wright as cover for David Seaman. But the clincher was Franny Jeffers from Everton, a striker who burst on the scene at 16, and was expected to be the missing piece in the striking department, someone who would mop up all the chances we created. It wasn’t to be. Neither player hit the heights expected, particularly Jeffers, whose career went downhill. Injuries led to loss of form and he was never the golden boy again.

    Franny Jeffers - no fox in the box for us
    Could Arteta do the same again? Buy 2 defenders, a midfielder and a striker and it is the defenders who go on to become Arsenal greats? It seems unlikely. In defence now we have top players all vying for limited spots whereas the George Graham defence had to be replaced. Winterburn was already gone and Adams and Dixon had restricted appearances  with only Martin Keown getting quite a few games. Jeffers was coming into Bergkamp, Henry, Kanu and Wiltord, with Pires and Ljungberg also capable of playing a forward role. We would expect a top forward, if one comes, to get in the side and start hoovering up chances.
    A double would be like double ice-cream.
    Havertz could yet surprise us, though. At 25, he is still young. We may get Gyokeres as reported this week and he may not be the answer. Time will tell. Isak would seem to be the most likely to make it at Arsenal as he has proven himself at Newcastle but I suspect we will not get him.

    Havertz to nab the striker spot not whoever we buy?
    In short, with the players coming back, the academy guys getting better, Max Dowman being a sensation, and the new players gelling to play as a fluid side, we could and should be in for our best season ever. Will we have Declan Rice echoing Thierry Henry? A nice double of Champions League and Premier League would do me.
     
     
     
     
    Are English managers rubbish?
    Last year, before the season ended, I looked at who was likely to lose their job as manager, and included Sean Dyche, Mauricio Pochettino, and Roy Hodgson among those likely to get fired before the start of the season. They were.  Since then Erik Ten Hag, Steve Cooper, Russell Martin, Julien Lopetegui and Gary O’Neil have also bit the bullet. Which means there are only two English managers in the Premier League, Eddie Howe and Graham Potter. The straightforward argument is that English managers must be rubbish, in fact UK managers must be rubbish as there are few of them either but the Scots have had their successes, but even that seems to be well in the past.

    Will we see Chris Wilder back in the Premier League?
    Today I will look at the English ones as, with the quirk of history determining, uniquely throughout the world, that four teams play from the UK and the English league is by far the best of those. Next season, if Sheffield United get through the playoffs, (and they have never won a playoff before) two English managers are likely to come up, Chris Wilder with Sheffield and Scott Parker with Burnley. Providing, of course, that the owners don’t decide they need new managers for the Premier League. Leaving a possible four out of twenty.
    Three English managers to go?
    Probably Burnley and Sheffield United will struggle and Graham Potter has not exactly pulled up trees with West Ham meaning that all three of them may go before the end of next season. Eddie Howe also, but only if he leaves the Premier League to go abroad, a scenario that seems unlikely given the standing of English managers. Or if Newcastle have a disastrous run of points lost.

    Graham Potter - a candidate for the sack?
    And that seems to be the logical choice. You will win nothing with English managers. Not the Premier League or the Champions League since they were both inaugurated in the 90’s. Even the FA Cup or League Cup have been dominated, since the Premier League era, by non-English managers. It is surely a damning statistic that while English players are near the top of the tree, English managers are near the bottom. Off the top of my head, only Graham Potter and Frank Lampard has had a chance at a top English team in recent years, but neither was given very long, nor were they successful.
    Just two top managers?
    We have four Spanish, Guardiola, Iraola, Emery and our own Arteta. Four Portuguese, Amorim, Silva, De Santo and Periera. 3 German, Farke of Leeds, Glasner and Hurzelar. Maresca, Italian , Frank, Denmark, Postecoglou, Australia, Slot, Dutch, and David Moyes a Scottish outlier.

    And a good evening to you, Unai Emery
    Only Guardiola and Emery could be regarded as true top managers at this juncture, having garnered many trophies apiece. That is the Premier League as we head into 2025/26. Will any of the above list be gone before next season or soon after? Postecoglou and Amorim seem to be under the most pressure with even winning the Europa League no guarantee of safety but neither are English.
    Only two sort of top English managers?
    What does that leave us with? Only Eddie Howe and Gareth Southgate can be rated in any way highly. Top English players have fared disastrously, mostly, as managers in recent years, the Nevilles, Gerrard, Rooney, and Lampard all tried and failed. Michael Carrick is midtable with Middlesbrough in the Championship and I can’t see a top team snapping him up. It all looks disastrous for emerging English talent.

    Gareth Southgate is the best England manager of recent times
    Is it perhaps really down to one factor, that the English are terrible at learning languages? With a multi-language squad to navigate, can barking at players in English be effective? Roy Hodgson famously learned many languages and managed across several countries but the only other top ones in fairly recent times, Bobby Robson and Terry Venables didn’t really speak anything other than English. All successful Premier League managers seem to have mastered English sufficiently to be able to handle most tasks without interpreters eventually.
    At least the foreign managers try to learn English
    Fun was made of Unai Emery when at Arsenal but his English has improved, and, to his credit, he always went into interviews alone and bravely tried to comprehend the English interviewers often highly idiomatic questions. He has done wonders at Villa after Gerrard nearly brought them to relegation.

    Eddie Howe - the only English Premier League manager of any substance?
    We are left with Eddie Howe, in truth. He is the only benchmark we have for English managers. As far as I can find out, he only speaks English, so he relies on his players speaking English or using them or a dedicated interpreter when a player arrives without English. Would he get a chance at a top club? I would say no. I can’t imagine Arsenal fans would be terribly happy if he got the Arsenal job. Tottenham, Man Utd or Chelsea? I am not sure but I expect the owners would prefer a proven winner. Which means he has to do it at Newcastle. I don’t think he will. That may be a step too far. The last time he got in the Champions League Newcastle went backwards.
    And none coming through?
    It seems that the dearth of English managers will continue. They first need to be given a chance, and if they get that chance, they must succeed and quickly. Our last English manager was Bruce Rioch who was widely regarded as a disaster although he didn’t do too badly. I can’t see an English manager coming to the Emirates any time soon mostly because I cannot think of a contender.

    Unless Scott Parker burns the opposition at Burnley
    To sum up, there are almost no English managers at the top level. There are no obvious contenders coming through. Ergo, we will not see a return to most Premier League managers being English. We may not see another Aussie if Mr Postecoglou gets the boot. Spanish, Portuguese, German, Dutch, Italian, Scandinavian and French, yes. English? Sorry we don’t want you. And that is a sad state of affairs, that there are few English role models to aspire to. It has been a downward spiral that doesn’t seem to be stopping. English managers may not really be rubbish but we have no way of finding out one way or the other. Unless someone out there has the answer.
     
     
    Ливърпул приема Арсенал в 36 кръг от Висшата лига в мач, който трябваше да определи шампиона, според предварителните прогнози през зимата. Но реалността е такава, че „мърсисайдци“ очакват да получат своя шпалир от прекия си конкурент за титлата. Самият Микел Артета призна, че момчетата на Арне Слот заслужават да бъдат поздравени за предсрочния си успех, независимо от огорчението в собствените му редици.
    Гостуването на „Анфийлд Роуд“ за „топчиите“ съвсем не е без значение, защото втората позиция все още е под въпрос. Разликата с преследвачите в лицата на Манчестър Сити, Нюкасъл Юнайтед, Челси, Астън Вила и Нотингам Форест е само 6 точки. Добрата новина все пак е, че участието в следващото издание на Шампионската лига е математически гарантирано на 99%.
    Новините около Ливърпул сочат, че Тренд Алекзандър-Арнолд със сигурност напуска тима през лятото, тъй като не стигна до споразумение за удължаване на контракта си. Това накара Слот предварително да съобщи, че Конър Брадли ще бъде титуляр на десния бек. Дългосрочно ще отсъства Джо Гомез, а младокът Тайлър Мортън е аут с контузия в рамото.
    За Арсенал с трайни контузии са Кай Хаверц, Габриел Жесус, Такехиро Томиясу и Габриел Магаляеш. Рикардо Калафиори и Жоржиньо обаче се възстановиха и бяха на линия още през седмицата при загубата от ПСЖ в евротурнирите.
    Ливърпул има актив от 82 точки на върха в класирането с голова разлика 81:35 преди този мач, докато Арсенал е на втора позиция с 67 точки и 64:31 голова разлика. С други думи - една срещу друга се изправят двете най-стабилни защитни линии в елитното английско първенство.
    Мачът е насрочен за 18:30 часа българско време и ще бъде излъчван на живо по Diema Sport 2.
    П О К А Н А
     
    За участие в
     
    ОБЩО СЪБРАНИЕ НА ЧЛЕНОВЕТЕ НА СДРУЖЕНИЕ
    „ФЕНКЛУБ НА ФК АРСЕНАЛ – ЛОНДОН В БЪЛГАРИЯ”
     
    Управителният съвет на сдружение „ФЕНКЛУБ НА ФК АРСЕНАЛ – ЛОНДОН В БЪЛГАРИЯ”, свиква Общо Събрание, което ще се проведе на 07.06.2025 г., от 10:30 часа, в Благоевград Център, ул. „Света гора“ № 1, гр. Благоевград п.к. 2700 при следния дневен ред:
     
    1. Приемане на отчета за дейността на сдружението;
    2. Приемане на годишния финансов отчет;
    3. Освобождаване на членовете на Управителния съвет на сдружението поради изтичане на мандата им;
    4. Избор на нов състав на Управителния съвет.
    5. Разни
     
    При липса на кворум, събранието ще се проведе същия ден в 10:45 часа, на същото място и при същия дневен ред. 
     
     
    Гр. София                                                                                Управителен съвет на „Арсенал България“
    06 май 2025 г.
    We only sing when we are winning
     
    The main ASCB home in Bulgaria is at The Academy in Dianabad, Sofia.  It can host hundreds. We often get big crowds no more so than for Alan Smith as our star guest earlier in the year. It has massive screens everywhere so you can easily find a home to watch the Arsenal lose, sorry win, I meant win, I really did. But we did lose last night, victim to a team, PSG, who were content to use a low block, and outsprint our guys in fast breaks enough to score two top class goals and send us home crying.

    Yes, we lost
    We were too slow in breaking, our players should have been sprinting forward every time David Raya collected the ball, instead he was left with little option but to wait till everyone got in position before releasing the ball. Yes, we had chances, quite a few more than PSG and we should have scored more than the one we did. Declan Rice could easily have collapsed PSG’s resistance in the very early stages but decided it was too early to score so he headed the ball casually wide. Declan, what are you doing to us?
    Out, out , out and out
    We are out of everything now this year and that perennial dream of fans has resurfaced – next season. We will have x, x and x back and we will have bought y, y and y and we will have dumped u, u and u. U being for useless. We will be unbeatable. Oh yes we will.

    The team need it to win matches
    Last night our fans in the Academy were quiet, much quieter than I have ever heard them. The prevailing mood was pessimism. One or two, like me, were optimistic but most seemed downbeat. There was no singing, again for the first time for me. We did have 10 fans in Paris and maybe they would have led the singing, I don’t know. But we were quiet and even a great opening spell in which we dominated, and really should have scored with Donnarumma and the defence working very hard but needing luck or, to be truthful, our bad finishing, still only raised the decibels a little higher. Last night, the majority of ASCB in the Academy didn’t believe. And so they failed to scream at the screen which has been proven to lift the team to the greatest heights. And we lost.
    Unlucky Arsenal?
    Yes, we were a little unlucky over the two nights. We had some excellent periods both games. We should have scored more. Last night was the culmination of losing our entire forward line and our top attacking midfielder for long periods. We had no proper striker for most of the season. And the makeshift ones didn’t gel properly. That to me, was the true problem. Our attack just didn’t gel since before Christmas. We created lots of chances, but most were tippy tappy stuff and not as dangerous as if you had Henry and Bergkamp to turn chances into goals. That is why you have specialist strikers. That is their job. Otherwise you can create more chances than the other team but they punish us with maybe just the one chance.

    A rubbish Leicester scored two against us
    I was at Leicester in the Emirates early in the season, to illustrate my point. Leicester were poor, truly among the worst teams I have ever seen live at the Arsenal. We were two nil up at halftime and should have been four or five. It was boring and I expected more of the same in the second half but somehow Leicester got a break on 47 minutes and James Justin, the full back scored. Leicester improved but still seemed content to waste time and defend rather than attack. But they got another breakaway on 63 minutes and Justin again scored. We were tippy tappy, creating half or even quarter chances but not really looking like scoring until well into injury time when we scored two and made the scoreline look respectable. Leicester were terrible but we were twice caught with breakaways and had to scramble a win. Last night PSG also caught us with breakaways but they were a much better team than Leicester.
    Spoiler alert! We need to convert more chances
    I reckon most of our goals conceded this year were from breakaways and set ball positions often from lower teams. The lack of a coherent forward line meant we didn’t make the most of our territorial and positioning advantages. Our weakness to breakaways meant every team had a chance. The low block, coupled with waiting for our defence to be too far forward meant two or three good chances were conceded every game. We paid the price because we couldn’t outscore them and last night was the epitome of that. We had more chances and lost. The story of our season.

    Bye bye team when we are losing
    I suspect the Academy has seen its last big house this term. Quite a few left early last night when the second goal went in. The same at the Emirates, it will be easy to get tickets for Newcastle in our last home game. We probably don’t need much more points to qualify for the Champions League but to guarantee it at this stage we need three points from the last three. Liverpool away in holiday mood could be three and job done. Newcastle at home could be three and job done if we fail at Anfield. Then Southampton away and surely we can get the three points we need there? Chelsea are playing both Newcastle and Forest so points will be dropped and we have a far superior goal difference.
    And now the end is near?

    Will we need to win this for Champions League?
    It has been a strange season. We were mostly brilliant in Europe, even without a recognized striker. We beat Real Madrid home and away in the Champions League, something few clubs can claim. But it has all fizzled out. We have no trophy. We may still finish second but I feel our fans have become weary. At least those fans who think we should win everything. I will be an Arsenal supporter next year and the next. And so on. I have seen poor years and some were quite recent. We are up there now, we are competing, and when x, x and x come back, y, y, and y come in and we get rid of u, u, and u, we will have the best team in the world next season. The great days are around the corner, or there may come a time again when we are finishing 8th or worse. I do believe our team will be stronger come August, and if I am right, that means we will be fighting for all the major trophies for 2025/26. Up the Arsenal!
     
     

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