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The new Spanish influence at Arsenal For the first few years of Arteta’s management, the Spanish influence was minimal. No Spanish players and little in the backroom staff. This is unusual and I wrote about it here. But if I suspected that he was unique amongst managers in not preferring to be surrounded by his countrymen, then I have been proven wrong. Now Arsenal is a Spanish side. Or is it? Turning to Spain means turning to greatness? Let’s take a look. Let’s start with Arteta. Only his early days were in Spanish football. All his top flight football career and management coaching has been outside of Spain. He is a Basque native so even he might argue that he is not really Spanish although the separationist movement has gone quiet in recent years. Still, I think we can say he is Spanish. Inaka Cava Paron leads the most Spanish section, goalkeeping The main goalkeeping coach is Spanish, Inaki Cana Pavon, and our main and back up goalkeepers are Spanish, David Raya and Kepa Arrizabalaga so I think we can safely say that minding the net is a Spanish affair. In defence it is a bit different as there are none at the moment, although Cristhian Mosquera may change that if he comes. Will one presumably back up defender make for a Spanish defence? I don’t think so but if he nails down a place we can say that there is a Spanish spine at the back. But not yet. Not even in midfield? Midfield? Well, it gets a bit more like it as Zubimendi and Merino are both Spanish. It is hard to say whether one or both will become regulars. Could we say that if they both do, it is evidence of Spanish bias as Rice and Odegaard and indeed Havertz have been critical in recent times? Ethan Nwaneri will push hard for his place as will the Dane Christian Norgaard, our new arrival obviously desperate to play, the competition is fierce for limited spots and if both Spanish players become first choice then we could argue for a Spanish bias unless they play so well that they are undroppable. Zubimendi- about to become great? And in the forward lines there are no Spanish players and with Gyokeres and Manueke seemingly likely there seems little possibility of a Spanish attack appearing any time soon. So, when it comes to players only Raya is assured of his place and his replacement is also Spanish so only goalkeeping is definitely Spanish. For the rest, it remains to be seen if they can become Arsenal legends. The Academy is mostly English I looked in the Academy and there are no Spanish players there either. So no revolution there although it is complicated by Brexit and the difficulty with signing EU or other players. Only 4 Academy players are not UK although Alexai Rojas, the Columbian goalie who speaks Spanish is the only one that could indicate a Spanish element. David Raya is our best ever Spanish goalkeeper We cannot argue that Arteta has tried to make Arsenal team based on the players at the moment but what about the coaching staff? Gabriel Heinze who has just joined speaks Spanish but is Argentinian. Well versed in Spanish ways, though. Miguel Molina the assistant coach has been with Arteta since 2020 and Andrea Berta the football director has spent a huge amount of time in Spanish football. And that is it. 3 Spanish and 2 Spanish speakers among the coaching staff (including Arteta) so a strong influence but not so much that it could be described as very Spanish. A bit Spanish, is that all? There we have it. Yes, there is an increasing Spanish flavour to Arsenal but a long way from Arsenal being a Spanish club. Under Wenger, the French influence was unmistakable. Anelka, Vieira, Henry, Pires, Petit, Wiltord, Giroud, Sagna, Clichy and Koscielny will always be remembered. Will Raya, Merino and Zubimendi also join them as Spanish greats? Arteta does need them to perform at their best, stay in the team and produce top class displays. Raya is well on the way but Saliba is surely at least on a par with him for the French contingent under Arteta? Santi Cazorla the wonderful magician Cazorla and Fabregas join with Arteta and others for our Spanish greats, all under Wenger. It seems our Arsene had a love for Spanish players too. Those three names would be above any of our current Spanish players at the moment. 5 Champions League in a row? Of course, one factor that must be mentioned is that Spanish clubs have been the most successful in football history. Emulating the Spanish is a fine aspiration. Spanish players are also among the most successful and they generally provide the backbone of the top Spanish sides, notably Real Madrid and Barcelona. In that sense it is perhaps surprising that Arteta has not increased the Spanish representation sooner. I suspect he works on the basis of who he trusts, who he respects, and crucially, who he can work with. Nationality doesn’t really come into it. Cesc Fabregas was probably our greatest Spanish player Maybe it should, though? What do you think? Is increasing the Spanish influence going to be good for Arsenal? One would like to think so. Raya has done well, Merino has sparkled sporadically, so can Zubimendi and Mosquera be the Arteta spark which brings the top trophies? And Arsenal be regarded as the best that Spain can get? It is, as is everything with Arteta, open to debate and no clear answers at the moment. But a run like Real Madrid of the fifties (look it up, youngsters)would have us all purring and proclaiming Arteta as the greatest manager of all time and not just the greatest Arsenal manager of all time. We can all dream.

Have we got the right person? We are about to find out if the recruitment of Andrea Berta is going to work. Who is he and what makes him qualified to work at a top football team? The latter is easy to answer, he worked for 12 years at Atletico Madrid who would certainly be comparable to Arsenal in terms of trophies won and football standing. Their ground is bigger than the Emirates although watch this space, the Emirates may be about to get bigger. While there, Berta was regarded as one of the best recruiters in Europe with Antoine Griezmann, Jan Oblak, Rodri, and João Félix among his most notable captures. He is notable for finding superstars before they become superstars and that will certainly suit Arsenal who never like buying expensive talent. A player of the calibre of Griezemann would be perfect The crucial aspect to Berta is that he is not a football man. He is a businessman and financial expert who moved into football because of a love for it. He understands money as he is a former bank manager. This is critical as it is vey difficult for a football man to understand these complex issues. Footballers get everything done for them and can concentrate on football but then how do they make the transition to being a dealmaker without the training necessary to succeed at the huge financial world of the modern footballer? The agents, the financial experts, the sharks, even the conmen who inhabit the rarified world of football finance need a thorough education in how that world works if they are to succeed. I believe Berta is proof that a footballer will struggle to learn enough to become a director of football. There is a huge amount of elements to coordinate What do they have to do? They have to oversee the team of scouts, and assessors who go with their laptops to matches to compile statistics on their targets. The football scouts assess the physical attributes and the IT guys press buttons every time a player does anything, make a run, receive or give a pass, score a goal, make a tackle and so on. A picture is built up of what a player is capable of. That can be used to compare players to the players already at Arsenal. Of course if it is a different league, allowances must be made for that. The football director must be capable of organizing and liaising with the worldwide team who perform these functions. They must be good with people. Rodri was another big success Then they must be able to be capable of creating and building networks with the armies of agents, advisors, families, legal and financial experts who surround players and become a wall to overcome if a player is to sign. If anyone of these become opposed to a move it can be hard to make a deal happen. Football has moved on dramatically from the days when managers handled everything. Everyone must trust in their abilities The other area is to be trusted by the clubs and their owners and financial people so that they can trust the director of football to make the correct moves so that a deal can be struck. A knowledge of a particular clubs financial status regarding fair play rules means they can structure a deal to suit their finances in the future. Persuading the Kroenkes to part with hundreds of millions is a big part of Berta's job But critically, they must work well with the army of staff within a large club such as Arsenal. The owners must trust them as they will be advising the owners to fork out hundreds of millions for players. They must also endeavour to get the maximum from sales of players. The next most important person is the manager. In this case Mikel Arteta. Now, it has long been my contention that Edu’s move came about because of the failure to identify and bring to Arsenal a top striker. I suspect that Edu and Arteta did not agree on who that footballer could be, or if they did, that Edu could not make a deal work to land the player. I could be wrong but we have now brought in a financial expert, not a football one and I suspect that is significant. A football decision has to be the final one Surely Arteta has to be the final arbiter? He would know what he wants and there are not many talents out there for a team who aspires to be the best in the world, and winning the Premier League or Champions League puts you in that bracket. You need the best players in all positions, and a Bendtner or a Nketiah were not such. I am sure Arteta knows who he would like and who he would like Berta to get. Jan Oblak is another world class capture Berta speaks Spanish and I believe is, despite being Italian, a part of the increasingly Spanish personnel which Arteta has been building at Arsenal. As Spanish teams are the masters of European football, this is no bad thing. But can he work with Arteta? Well, he was successful with Diego Simeone, who is known as one of the toughest managers in football. Arteta does not have the hard image of the Argentinian but has he an inner steel? His treatment of certain star players and possibly Edu, suggests that he insists that they deliver or they go. The football man and the money man On the face of it, Berta and Arteta are a match made in heaven. A guy with a proven record in getting deals over the line alongside a guy who needs the right sort of players. As always, since I have been an Arsenal supporter, we keep hearing of deals but so many never happen. Maradona and Platini were among the laughable ones in the past. As I am writing, we don’t seem to have bought any significant player yet, and even Zubimendi seems to have stalled. We will find out soon enough if Berta is the man for us. The question is, if he isn’t, then who? Joao Felix is another wonderful player for Berta I truly believe that it is asking an awful lot of a former player, in the modern scenario, to have the financial acumen, knowledge, networks and ability of a trained financial professional to be capable of making deals at the top level. It is people such as Berta who will fulfill such roles. It will be up to the football people, in this case, Arteta and his team, to ensure that the right targets are identified, and it will be their job to persuade them of the football rightness of the move and the director’s job to work with all the different elements, the clubs, the agents, the families, etc. to bring everything to a successful conclusion. Such deals are a small handful a season, involving big names, and there are also the lesser deals which can often be just as important. If it doesn’t work, then what? Then, once the deal has been concluded, the player must perform on the pitch. All that work must have a successful outcome. Who then is to blame if it doesn’t? The manager and their staff or the football director? The reality is that most deals must work out or the sack is inevitable for both sides. But the manager does have a reserve stream of players from the Academy to bring through, the football director does not. If the transfers are the problem, surely it is the director of football who is most vulnerable? Arteta's must be the final decision I feel we badly need Berta to work out. If a guy with 12 years experience at a similar club cannot land us the players we need then where can we find such a person? Andrea Berta may well prove to be the most significant buy we have made since Wenger’s time. And I fear for us if he is not.

But I don’t want him to go As regular readers will know, I am a supporter of Mikel Arteta. I do not want him to leave and retain belief that he can bring us to the next level. That does not preclude me from being critical at times. In fact, his style is the opposite of what I like to see in a manager. The constant gesticulations from the sidelines, the excessive exhortations to the players to play the way he is telling them, the complete reliance on tactics and the slow build-up that rarely varies. Plus our predictability which means we find it hard to break down teams and add to that the constant cards he gets along with the petulant behaviour he models for the players leading them to get sent off for testiness as well. Maybe I should be the manager, eh? I have little idea whether my concerns are shared among the fanbase as I reckon that for too many fans winning is all that matters. If we win, tickets are very hard to get, if we lose they are a lot easier. But I will go through the areas that irritate me and for sure I believe that these are weaknesses, but are they capable of stopping us getting to the next level? If it's not Arteta screaming at the players , it's Nicolas Jover The persistent animation on the sidelines is one of the biggest for me. I have always hated being micro-managed and if I was a top footballer I would not abide a manager telling me where to move, what to do, and constantly criticizing me. Looking over at the manager to see what he wants must be a huge distraction, plus it must also make players nervous that the manager is shouting at them. Unai Emery was the same at Arsenal – and his other teams , and it annoyed the hell out of me. I have to accept they are top managers but they are not top of the range at the moment. Wenger was also, eventually, very animated on the sidelines but he never liked telling players what to do, believing in their ability. The players are overcoached? The problem with Arteta’s approach is that top players cannot be told what to do. Can you imagine trying to tell Pele how to play, Maradona, Cruyff, Best, Beckenbauer, Ronaldo, Messi, Zidane, etc? To me, that means that Arteta only wants those players who can be told. That means we will not get the true greats, even if they come to Arsenal, because he will want to coach their greatness out of them. Ozil, who was never regarded as difficult at his previous clubs, became a casualty , as did Aubameyang, who was difficult. Maybe Arteta would have tried to tell Maradona how to play football? Emery was famous for saying that at PSG, Neymar was in charge not him but was that because Neymar believed in his own ability and decision making prowess on the pitch? It was one of the few places that Unai Emery struggled. I think Arteta might have the same problem if he leaves for a Real Madrid or a Barcelona. How will he cope with established superstars? Here's an idea -The managerial staff should be role models Arteta has surrounded himself with all sorts of assistants and the two most familiar to fans are Albert Stuivenberg, his assistant manager, and Nicolas Jover, the set-piece coach. They get involved on the pitch heatedly as well and have been subject to referee sanctions also. In my opinion a manager or a coach should never get a card because the players need them to be role models. We have lost too many players to red cards over the years. Arterta regularly picks up cards. He should never do so again. The players would definitely benefit. Albert Stuivenberg - also a regular on the side of the pitch Arsenal are predictable. Lately even the set-piece goals have dried up as teams figure us out. We have lots of possession and many half or quarter chances but a bad goals to chance ratio. Is that all down to not having a recognized striker? I don’t think so, even when we had recognised strikers they weren’t scoring freely. Arteta and his coaches are always shouting instructions from the sidelines forcing the players to get into shape when perhaps a quick long ball, spotted by a smart player, is the best option. Are players children or they cannot use their own football brain? Do tactics really win games or is it the ability of the players? The thought process of a midfielder A definite problem that Arteta has is that he thinks like a midfielder. Get the ball and keep it until it can be distributed to a colleague is the logic of a midfielder. Get the ball and try and score is the logic of a forward manager. Ask Alex Ferguson or Brian Clough, both strikers, they always wanted the team to score. Wenger was a bit of an anomaly as a midfielder as he always wanted his team to score and wasn’t too great at closing out a match. Arteta has our boys switching to defence mode every time we score. Instead of demolishing teams we allow them to come back at us. Jack Charlton (centrehalf) as a defensive manager just wanted the ball booted up the pitch at every opportunity. He wanted his teams to defend at all times even his attackers. His football vision was that of a striker Yes, when our team gel, get into a good passing rhythm, flicking the ball around with great movement we can look good, and we score some nice goals. But to get to the next level we need to be less predictable. I, for one, would love to see Arteta stay calm on the sidelines, trust in his players, get them to have conviction in their instincts, and have a freer style. He struggles with superstars? Lastly, though, it is man management. A top team will sign the top players. We don’t usually. And I would be afraid that Arteta will struggle with such players. His current top players have mostly been with him young and they respect him. If we buy an established superstar will that be a problem not an asset? Perhaps Neymar didn't want Emery to tell him how to play? These are my criticisms. As I have said, I believe in Arteta and I want him to stay. But I also believe he has his weaknesses and they are as I have outlined above. He must work to improve himself. He has to work on both his strengths and his weaknesses and get better at both. I have never mentioned in this column before that I have taught at higher level for many years in training managers for the Institute of Leadership and Management, the world’s leader in such training, and the great ones never stop learning, never stop improving, and a large part of that is being able to honestly assess your strengths and weaknesses. He must reflect honestly about himself This is Mikel’s first such job. He has done very well. Can he become a world great? I believe he must now, in this close season, take stock of who he is, assess how he can make the next steps, improve himself, and transfer those skills to the team. I feel a crucial part of that will be to let go of the habit of trying to control everything on the pitch, and instead give the players the trust and the knowledge before they enter the pitch and restrain himself to minor tweaks that doesn’t make them nervous when they are trying to build up fluency. It is what I have said to many top managers and bosses over the years. You have to train and trust your teams and give them the freedom to do it. You cannot do it for them. Unai Emery couldn't take the next step at PSG - can Arteta take it at Arsenal? Is there anyone to advise Mikel? To get him now, at this crucial juncture in his career, to make the higher step of taking an in-depth look at what he has learned so far, and what he needs to learn to get to the top. I hope he has, because I feel he may well have come to his peak and will get no further. Change is needed and it is in him that it is required. Otherwise he will always be good, but not great.

Could Mikel Arteta do an Alex Ferguson and become one of the greatest managers of all time? I have looked in their time at Manchester United and Arsenal to see if there are any gleanings to be made in their respective careers. One big difference is that Ferguson was very successful at Aberdeen before being lured to United and Arteta was a rookie. A boyish Mikel Arteta at Rangers But first let’s look at them as players and, surprisingly, they both had two seasons at Rangers. Ferguson, as a forward, scored 25 times in 41 games (Rangers regularly trounced smaller teams) and Arteta had 68 games and 14 goals as a midfielder. Pretty even, I would reckon. Arteta won the Scottish league and league cup with Rangers and Ferguson won nothing in a fallow time for Rangers. Celtic were riding high under Jock Stein at that time. Arteta wins as a player Arteta won 5 trophies as a player whereas Ferguson only ever won 2 Scottish second division titles. Arteta played for Arsenal, PSG, Everton, Real Sociedad, and started out at Barcelona, although he never played for the senior side. Aside from Ferguson’s 2 years at Rangers, he only ever played for small sides. Arteta played 427 times with 62 goals and Ferguson played 317 times and scored 171 goals. It is fair to say that Arteta had the far better playing career. Of course, that doesn’t mean that that gives any advantage to Arteta as a manager. And a young Alex Ferguson at Rangers Many top managers were not great players but Ferguson was a good goalscorer and probably should have been recognized more for his talent. Denis Law , Alan Gilzean, Bobby Lennox, and other greats stood in his way for Scotland. It happens, your time coincides with great players in your position. And the same happened to Arteta with Spain. Do I really need to list the incredible Spanish midfielders that stood in Arteta’s way? Just in case you know nothing about football – Iniesta, Xavi, Alonso, David Silva, Busquets, even our own Cesc Fabregas and others made sure Arteta couldn’t squeeze out one cap despite being a regular in the youth sides. Early Arteta management vs Ferguson But ok, we really want to talk about management. And here I see many similarities. Ferguson was noted for dumping players and Arteta has done the same, getting rid of Arsenal’s star names early on. Wenger, by contrast, had little trouble with players. Arteta beats Chelsea in his first year to win the FA Cup Let’s look at Ferguson’s first year at Utd in 1986/7. He came in mid-season in November and they finished 11th. Arteta came in December 2019/20 and they finished 8th but he did beat Chelsea in the FA Cup to record his first trophy and still only real one. So, one nil to Mikel. In 1987/88 Ferguson came second and Utd were looking good. Arteta in 2020/21 still only got 8th and the Charity Shield but this one goes to Ferguson. 1-1 after 2 seasons. In 1988/89, Ferguson struggled to build on 2nd and ended up 11th. Arteta in 2021/22 finished 5th. No question it is Arteta’s year. 2-1 to Arteta. Ferguson’s miracle year In 1989/90, Ferguson has his worst league season. They finish 13th and all season the fans are screaming at him to go. But they win the FA Cup! Ferguson has given Utd their first trophy since 1985’s FA Cup. It saves his job. Arteta though brings his team in 2022/23 right up the table and only for key injuries at the end, they probably would have had their first league title since the Invincibles. I am going to give that marginally to Arteta as 13th in the league is poor. 3-1 to Arteta. Alex Ferguson saves his job at Wembley in 1990 Finally, 1990/91 and Man Utd win the European Cup-Winners Cup. They also make the League Cup final. Only 6th in the league, though. Arteta has his best season so far in 2023/4, pushing Man City all the way to the last game but still finishing 2nd. 89 points is Arsenal’s second best ever season, only beaten by the Invincibles 90. I don’t believe I am being unfair in giving this also to Arteta making it 4-1 to Arteta. Arteta has always been up I feel that, by Arteta always showing improvement, whereas Ferguson went up and down, the first few seasons are advantage Arteta. There were similarities in the opponents. Ferguson had the incredible Liverpool team to contend with and also George Graham’s Arsenal who won many trophies around this time. Arteta also had Jurgen Klopp’s Liverpool and the fantastic Manchester City team of Pep Guardiola to try and get in front of. So, can Arteta kick on and eclipse Ferguson? Ferguson had the advantage that Man Utd were always the richest club in England but Arteta may have a different advantage. The Kroenke’s seem to have a nous for sporting finance. They create success wherever they go. They try to invest wisely. This sense of when and how to spend money could make a big difference in competing with Man City and the mega rich Premier League teams. It is not how much you spend as how you spend it that matters. The Kroenke’s haven’t gone too far wrong thus far. How tough is dominance going to be? The young players we have, plus what seems to be emerging from the academy, could push Arteta to the top and stay there. City, without Guardiola, and with their money worries, may decline. But still, Liverpool, Man Utd, Chelsea, Aston Villa, Newcastle and maybe even the Spuds should still provide a tough challenge for dominance. Arteta before his first match at Arsenal Ferguson was a top manager before Man Utd. He toppled the 2 kings of Scotland, Celtic and Rangers and won European trophies with Aberdeen. With Utd he went on an extraordinary run that culminated in him winning more trophies than any other manager. He deserves his place among the greats. Arteta out, like Ferguson out? Arteta, like Ferguson in his early years, has his detractors. To my mind, that criticism is undeserved. Ferguson had plenty of money to spend and brought in lots of top players only to see the team still struggle to win. Arteta’s buying seems far better with very few duds emerging. Arsenal are not the richest team in the Premier League and may never be in Arteta’s time. Alex Ferguson in his first season at United Ferguson had fans screaming at him to go, and the newspapers marvelling at why he wasn’t sacked. Arteta, has had his criticism also but he doesn’t need a miracle to stay on. The FA Cup, in a bad year for Ferguson, was his miracle. The Utd board must thank the footballing gods every day that they never panicked. The great years took a long time in coming, but come they did. Is our greatest time coming? We are looking at Arteta and we don’t know, just as the Utd board didn’t, whether Ferguson could deliver. I believe a gut instinct told them this was their man. I have the same gut instinct about Arteta. He will come good in a spectacular way if given the chance, even with a bad season or two. Supposing we finish somewhere near where we are now in the league, should it be bye bye Mikel? Does he need a trophy to save him? Look again at the Ferguson finishes delineated in his first seasons. We may be on the cusp of our greatest ever era and I believe we should not throw it away even if this season and next go wrong. Keeping the faith with Arteta may well be the smartest thing we have ever done.

Edu gone – Arteta out,out,out? So Gaspar Edu is gone, on to a project encompassing many teams and possibly new ones in the future. He is ambitious, he is young enough, and I am certain his network, which is so crucial to such a role, encompasses the entire planet. Bizarrely to me, many fans are shouting good riddance already, I suspect because recent results have been below what we were expecting. Arsenal’s fans are incredibly entitled and I have written about this many times. We now expect to win every game and certainly Newcastle and Liverpool fans should have cried all the way home because we are so much better than them . Edu - a potentially great legacy destroyed Some fans seem happy Edu is gone and they are calling for Arteta out as well. Some Arsenal fans live in a parallel universe where reality is that Arsenal must win every game and the manager must go if that doesn’t happen. I live in a different reality. I have seen us spend many seasons midtable or worse. In the ‘60’s when I started we had no trophies. In the ‘70’s we had 4. In the ‘80’s 2. In the 90’s we had 6. In the 2000’s we had 5 and finally in the 2010’s we had 3. We have 1 since but we have many years to go yet before the decade is out. Does Evangelos Marinakis have a huge club up his sleeve? My point is simple. We are not Bayern Munich, or Real Madrid or Barcelona, or PSG, or Juventus, or even Celtic or Rangers. These teams have dominated their countries at various times. Their fans are the true entitled ones. There are four major trophies to aim at every year. The PL, FA Cup, League Cup and a European one if we qualify. That makes 40 in a decade. Our best is 6 since I have been a fan. That works out at 15% for our best decade and 0% our worst. It means that most seasons we have got nothing quite often. We are not entitled to success, and we need top people in charge to get it. Money, money, money? I feel Edu was top and that’s why he was headhunted. Was it money or ambition? I would reckon ambition but against that is Nottingham Forest, Olympiacos and Rio Ave? Really? Evangelos Marinakis, the Greek owner is reputed to be looking to buy a top European team but who? One of the elite mentioned in the previous chapter? It would have to be, surely, but buying a big club generally takes years of maneuverings and increasing your shareholding. Have they got one lined up? I cannot believe that any of the above three are going to eclipse Arsenal no matter how long Edu lives. Edu Robin Hood, robbing from the rich Greeks to give to the poor - himself Since Marinakis took over Forest in 2017 he has had 10 managers. Arsenal, in it’s entire history has had 20 managers. So that is a clue to why Edu has gone. Logically, money, and a huge amount of it is the attraction. Even if he gets fired he pockets lots of money and nobody really blames the football director. He will get another top job for sure. But also logically, he must have been offered a crazy amount of money, money that Arsenal weren’t willing to pay. More than Arteta, for example? Meaning that Arteta, and probably all coaching staff would have to get a raise. The Kroenke’s must have figured that Edu was not worth the salary that Marinakis was willing to pay so did not get involved in a bidding war. A wide series of talents needed For sure, he had to go straight away. Such a person could not have a foot in two camps. It is such a specialized job, you need eyes in every country for emerging talent, you need to keep abreast of all tactical elements that are evolving, you need the trust of agents worldwide, you need a gravitas so that when Edu comes calling, even top players listen, and you need a global network to run the football empire that is a modern top team. This, undoubtedly, Edu has. And probably there are few with his specialized knowledge of these areas, particularly when it comes to the greatest exporter of footballers worldwide, Brazil. Will Edu drown in the Trent beside Notts Forest City Ground? My conclusion is that unless there is a truly big club on Edu and Marinakis’s horizon, then talk of ambition being the driver is facetious. And you will never see any of the three current clubs among the elite of world football in my estimation. Forest’s capacity is around 30,000 and regarding investment, the current top clubs in England are awash with money, and neither Olympiacos nor Rio Ave can possibly become true top dogs. It really only leaves money as the driver and that surprises me. Edu seemed to be a real Gooner, and he has been totally involved in the move upwards. Bring the Maestro back Arsene Wenger didn’t want such a position to be created but Arteta warmly embraced the notion of as much help as possible. The Kroenke’s have a record of bringing in specialists to support in every department. They work on margins and even a 0.2% margin in our favour is to be welcomed. Arsene would be the greatest football director ever We will need then, a man who knows football inside out, a man respected everywhere he goes, a man who has a huge network of football people, who knows about even obscure players in obscure countries. Step forward the aforementioned Arsene Wenger! There could be no-one better. He has a great record of bringing in players and making them great. He hasn’t had too many disasters in transfers and he knows Arsenal better than any person alive. Arteta adores the man, and if Arsene Wenger is on the phone to any putative player, then they will listen. He even did a deal one time on an airport tarmac. Mikel, this is your task, bring him back! Bring him back. He will not leave us for money. I am sure the Arabs have offered him zillions but he is committed to helping Fifa evolve football worldwide. I believe he would love to come back to his true love, work with Arteta to MAGA(Make Arsenal Great Again) or even MATGEFT (Make Arsenal The Greatest Ever Football Team). BRING HIM BACK! Ps. Despite everything I wish Edu all the best. I hope he becomes a big success and he has made the right choice. He served Arsenal well and I am sure he will serve his new masters well.

Арсенал гостува на Тотнъм Хотспър в дербито от 4-ти кръг на Висшата лига. В момента "артилеристите" заемат 6-то място със 7 точки на сметката си, докато "шпорите" се намират на 13-та позиция с 4-точков актив. Арсенал е в търсене на трета поредна победа като гост на вечния си враг след 0:2 и 2:3. При всички положения първото за сезона дерби на Северен Лондон, който винаги е бил червен, вещае минути на неспирна битка на терена. Ето и по-важното преди мача: Кога: 16:00ч. българско време; Стадион: Тотнъм Хотспър, Лондон; Телевизия: Диема Спорт 2; Рефер на двубоя: Джаред Джилет; Новините в Арсенал: Дербито пропускат Такехиро Томиясу, Кийрън Тиърни, Микел Мерино, Деклан Райс и капитана Мартин Йодегор. Английския национал няма да бъде на разположение поради червен картон, докато останалите изброени са с травми. Най-близо до своето завръщане от контузените е Мартин Йодегор. Очакванията са Габриел Жезус да се завърне в отбора този следобед, а под въпрос до последно е Рикардо Калафиори. Всички останали състезатели в отбора са на разположение за селекция. Микел Артета преди мача: "Чувствам се наистина щастлив за новия ми договор. Това просто показва хармонията между мен и всички в треньорския щаб. Това е едно страхотно пътуване за всички нас в търсене на нови цели. Амбициите ни са големи и желаем да ги превърнем в реалност. Да работим заедно в този клуб е просто върховно усещане. Сами по себе си мачовете с Тотнъм винаги са били неразделна част от фолклора на привържениците. Желанието ни за този мач бе да играем в нашите цветове, но за съжаление някои решения не зависят от нас. В крайна сметка, без значение кой екип носим, ние трябва да бъдем съсредоточени във всяко действие. Нужно е да сме хладнокръвни и безапелационни. Тотнъм е опасен противник, така че сме напълно наясно на какво са способни техните играчи. Ние обаче също разполагаме с извънредно много качество в редиците си. Чакат ни вълнуващи минути и битка до края. Отиваме за победа." Игра с прогнози във форума на ASCB:

A Spanish DNA and what role has the Academy? We have a Spanish manager, a Brazilian director of football, a French set-piece expert and a German Academy manager. Plus we have American owners. I am not sure how much of our current DNA is English but surely the most crucial element is the Spanish one? And our biggest rivals also have their most crucial element a Spanish one. Are you happy, Pep Guardiola? I have often returned to the theme of how English Arsenal are and it is contradictory. Virtually all the Academy are English bar 2 and yet the full team has only three regulars, Saka, Rice and White. 2 or three others will get games but are unlikely to become regulars this season. We had a huge clearout this season with some 28 players going, mostly from the underage squads. Lots of these were English. Brexit obviously plays a part in the logic but it seems that selling the players is the biggest draw. The Academy, then, is a money-making machine? Wherefore art thou, England? We have six UK players in the first team squad (assuming Nketiah goes, and not counting Academy) with Ramsdale, Nelson and maybe Tierney also possibles for an exit. This is well under what is normal in top teams in the other top European leagues. Most could field a team from their own country (although not necessarily first choice). Definitely most would have more than 3 first choice. And Arsenal are not the worst in this regard at the top of the Premier league. Man City didn’t start one UK player on Saturday against Ipswich. Spurs had 2. Man Utd had 3. Chelsea had 3. Wenger and Emery liked bringing in youngsters Not long ago, Willock, Saka, Smith Rowe, Nelson, Nketiah, Maitland Niles, Balogun and others came in within a few years of each other. Wenger and Unai Emery liked bringing on youngsters. I am not so sure the same is with Arteta. I feel that he believes the old football saying: “You never win anything with kids”. No Academy player has come through with him so far and nailed down a top spot. Set to continue? Looks like it to me. Generate money not a place in the first team? Which means that the Academy needs to be a money machine, capable of generating sales of 10m plus per player to give us money to spend on established pros. Up to £34 million for Smith Rowe, up to £30 million for Nketiah, around £20 million for Balogun and so on gives us a return on the Academy. But under Arteta and Edu, not a road to the first team yet. Are you happy, Mikel Arteta? The average age of the squad has gone up now with most over 25. Only Martinelli, Saka and Timber were under that in Saturday’s game against Villa. We now have a seasoned team, many of whom have won big trophies and are established superstars. Even Arteta now is more in the middle for age for managers as five are now younger than him. Seems like only yesterday he was the youngest manager in the division. The Spanish are Supreme What we do have is a Spanish manager and they are the best. How can I say that? 3 of the CL sides are managed by a Spaniard, Pep, Emery and our boy. The three English managers are nowhere, Howe, Dyche, and O’Neil. Nor the three UK ones. That probably won’t change this season. Eddie Howe and Sean Dyche - a hard year? It seems to me that we have all the elements in place. A top Spanish manager, experienced pros who have won big trophies, 2 players for every position although I covered my reservations about this here last week. We also have players coming through the Academy who can fetch money or maybe even snatch a squad or first choice position. We have one of the biggest stadiums, we have smart business people owners whose main interest is sport, and we have a worldwide fanbase. We seem to have a united team and backroom staff. We have top class training facilities. A gigantic negative It is hard to think of a negative. Maybe our colour as red seems to have slipped down the ranking since 2000. There have been 11 red teams winning the Premier League, Man Utd 8, Arsenal 2 and Liverpool 1, to 14 blues, Man City 8, Chelsea 5 and Leicester 1. But we are left with one big negative, I reckon. Pep Guardiola just seems to up his team when necessary. They truly have strength in depth as top players seem to leave most seasons yet they keep on winning. No player seems truly indispensable. Saka, Odegaard, Rice, Saliba, and Raya look necessary for us. Possibly Gabriel as well. I believe we now have to flip-flop with Pep. Whatever he does, we have to do better. Anything you can do, I can do better 2 seasons ago he got 89 points so we knew we had to match that. We did but he got 91 points. This season we have to beat 91 but will he also then beat that? If we get 95 will he get 96? There is huge pressure on us as there is on him but he seems to get his players into a winning zone when necessary. They always do enough. Klopp, at the end, had a defeated look Our template has to be Klopp and Liverpool. In 2018/19 Man City took everything Liverpool threw at them and won by one point 98 to 97. The following year Klopp was merciless, he kept winning all the time, not giving Pep any chink of light until eventually City sank defeated, on 81 to Klopp’s 99. We must do the same. We must be ruthless, we must be mean, we must kick away all the lesser teams every week until Pep says, ok, boys, we will concentrate on the cups. The problem is that effort seemed to finish Klopp off, Liverpool never seemed to be that brutal machine again, as Pep upped his game from that point to win four in a row. Klopp was defeated by his mighty effort. Is the young lion better than the old one? So can we ask Arteta to take on Guardiola, not just for one season but year after year? Would he burn out like Klopp did in his mighty effort? We know Guardiola is ready for the fight nonstop. This season could be when we find out if Mikel Arteta can go one better then Jurgen Klopp, if he steps up to win and doesn’t have that hunted, haunted demeanour which Jurgen Klopp had in his last years as Liverpool boss. Guardiola was like a supreme predator, who lost one battle, but then destroyed his opponent. Can the old lion Pep be sent off with his head down? Can a smiling, babyfaced Spaniard be the king of the jungle and send Guardiola into retirement? I believe we will have all the indicators in place after this season, even if Arteta doesn’t manage to wrest the title from the lion. I will be watching Pep’s face, and I will know if he cannot stomach another fierce battle. That will be key, not giving Pep any joy until the very end. Arteta has to make it tough, no sleep, no rest, just pressure that never stops until Guardiola is squealing enough, whether I win or lose, I cannot go through this again. Pep did it to Klopp, now Arteta must do it to him.

Тази вечер Арсенал излиза в първото си гостуване за сезона. Срещата е част от 2-ри кръг на Висшата лига и в нея момчетата на Микел Артета ще търсят отмъщение срещу Унай Емери и Астън Вила. През изминалата кампания ''виланите'' нанесоха две поражения на ''артилеристите'', едното от които бе съвсем в края. Със сигурност този мач не се очертава да е едва ли не един от лесните, но миналия сезон Арсенал записа цели 42 точки във визитите си и допусна едва 13 попадения във вратата си далеч от дома. При всички положения щаба на Лондончани ще се постарае подобно постижение не само да бъде запазено и сега, но и дори да бъде надминато. Иначе ''точпиите'' посрещнаха кръга от 2-та позиция, след като на старта на сезона победиха Уулвс със 2:0 в английската столица. Бирмингамци пък заемаха 5-то място, като също спечелиха откриващият си мач - победа срещу Уест Хям като гост с 2:1. Тази вечер Арсенал има сметки за уреждане и изглежда готов! Още подробности преди мача: Кога: 19:30ч българско време; Стадион: Вила Парк, Бирмингам; Телевизия: Диема Спорт 2; Рефер на двубоя: Майкъл Оливър; Новините в Арсенал: Очаква се срещата да бъде пропусната от Кийрън Тиърни и Такехиро Томиясу, които са с травми съответно мускулна такава и на коляното. Под въпрос остава Фабио Виейра, който според информацията е пред завръщане в Порто под наем до края на сезона. По всичко изглежда, че всички останали състезатели в лагера на ''топчиите''са на разположение за селекция, в това число и Юриън Тимбър. Фото кредит: Арсенал Микел Артета преди мача: ''При всички положения това ще бъде един от най-трудните ни мачове през сезона. Напълно наясно сме с това и се постарахме да се подготвим максимално добре за това, което ни предстои. Наясно сме с това какво трябва да направим. Това, което искаме, е просто да спечелим мача и нищо повече. Да, наясно сме и със самата опасност, която може да дойде от противника. Те умеят да доминират в доста аспекти от играта. Ние обаче също, така че ни очаква зрелищен мач, сигурен съм в това. Изпълнени сме с вяра в своите възможности. Отиваме там, за да си тръгнем като победители. Това е.'' Фото кредит: Арсенал Игра с прогнози във форума на ASCB:

Football is dead Honestly, the 2024 Euros was the worst football tournament I have ever watched. Negative play, frightened players, lots of extra times and penalties, but most of all, I kept falling asleep every night. I kept hoping anyone would score so that it was over and not another thirty minutes of dirge. I didn’t care whether it was the team I was up for, just someone to score to put an end to my misery. Arteta is the king of the new football To be honest, that is the way football is going. Now, the objective is to squeeze the life out of the opponent, give them no chances to score, and get one or two yourself. And Arteta is the master of the new football. His statistics show that Arsenal concede the fewest chances and XG goals. You have seen the stats, I am not going to go over them again. Dead ball equals dead football? Dead balls are now key and Arsenal are the masters of them too. Outwit your opponents enough times at these and you will get some goals. Every player at every set piece goes on a different run, making it harder for the defence to mark them. The players must follow Arteta’s instructions to the letter. By getting all players to do different runs he brings the unpredictability that the old style great players would do. It also means that there is a good chance one will be in the right place at the right time to score. Does Uefa President Aleksander Ceferin care that the football is boring? I suspect that that was Kieran Tierney’s weakness, in Arteta’s eye. He would sometimes make his own decisions, take on players, or run where he wasn’t told to. That and his penchant for injuries, meant he was no longer required. If I understand correctly, reading between the lines of an interview Tierney gave, that is what Arteta wanted from him, to do as he is told. We don’t want you, Pele And it makes sense in one way. If all players follow a plan, they will know how to find each other, they will be running into dangerous positions that their colleagues know about, and they can do it without thinking. It does mean that the old style, unpredictable geniuses, would have no place in the modern game. Pele, Maradona, George Best, Hristo Stoichkov and others would always want the freedom to sniff out a chance and score a goal their way. Maybe a pass is the most logical option but that instinct to score, to beat your opponent, to have the crowd mesmerised by your aplomb, is what made those players great. You couldn't stop watching Maradona One can see it with Ronaldo at Portugal. He wants all play to come through him but that stops the other top players in the squad from showing what they can do. They weren’t good at the Euros. He doesn’t have the ability he had in his prime, but his aura stops the manager from telling him what to do. It means Portugal cannot play the modern way where all players have their roles and must carry them out, and instead have to try to find their king. It’s all over but we don’t know it? Marcelo Bielsa has come out publicly to say that football is dead. Players are overcoached and everything is predictable. You stop the opponent playing, and squeeze their options so they can’t score, and keep the ball until a scoring chance comes for you. Is Marcelo Bielsa right? "I am convinced that football is in decline," he said. "It is becoming less attractive because what made it the world's greatest game is disappearing." Bielsa is, of course famous for believing in attacking football. At Leeds, when he had top players in the Championship, they bamboozled their way into the Premier League by thrilling football that allowed players to make mistakes as long as they attacked their opponents. They scored lots and conceded lots. Defend teams onto submission, not attack His problem came in his second season in the Premier League. Leeds started losing heavily and they got rid of him in February. He refused to change his ways, to make up for the fact that some teams simply had better players than he had, and kept trying to steamroller teams into submission. He paid the price. "This sport is unique; when it becomes too predictable, it loses its charm," "As fewer footballers worth watching emerge and the game becomes less enjoyable, artificially inflating viewer numbers will eventually falter." These two quotes from him are worth heeding. I agree. The concentration on not losing, on chasing every possible margin in your favour, is bad for the game longterm. We need players we want to watch. Players who dribble past several opponents at a time but often then losing the ball is becoming increasingly rare because they are not allowed try it. Find your player is the requirement. They make the runs, you know where those runs are, and you give them the ball. A nervous Arsenal One twos, give and go, keeping the ball, going backwards, going forwards again, hoping for a mistake or a dead ball. That is modern football. Above all not making a mistake. That was the Euros but also the Champions League for Arsenal was like that. We played nervously, no matter who the opponent was. I wanted us to grab them by the throat, score goals and send them home crying. And the Premier league? Against Sheffield United we demolished them. Against Chelsea we were far better than them in the first half but it took the second half to score the goals that sent their fans home crying. After the first half, Chelsea still had a good chance if they started to play well. The game against Liverpool, as well was a good one for us. Liverpool got nothing, All stats were in our favour. Why not all the time? But in so many other matches I just wished we would turn it on. We had the better players in most matches, including Bayern in my opinion, but we didn’t unleash our attacking players. Instead it was boring, predictable, tippy-tappy football that went nowhere. Boring extra time matches seemed the norm Arteta quite rightly wants to win. He knows that there are teams out there willing to spend more money than Arsenal. He believes that the way to win is first not to concede goals. He has found a way to make his team the second best over the past two seasons. He will believe that a slight margin in his favour will bring him titles. That will not involve flair players doing their own thing. We, as fans, will have to live with a small number of games per season where we win by thrilling football. I doubt if Infantino cares about the direction football is heading Can we accept that? We won’t have a choice. And we probably won’t have a choice either at international championships either. The football will stink but when will it drive the fans away?

Arteta the rookie. I couldn’t find any rookie managers among the Premier League managers last season, except Arteta. It is a risk no-one seems to want to take. Particularly someone who comes from outside as Arteta did. Yes, he had Arsenal DNA but often the only way a rookie gets a chance is if they are at the club as a player or coach and they try them as interim managers. That rarely works out, though. Liverpool being an exception as Bob Paisley, their most successful manager, was appointed when Bill Shankly resigned and Paisley was first-team coach. They also employed Kenny Dalglish as player-manager who did very well, and Roy Evans who did ok. Would you hire this young boy? But, in general, top teams don’t appoint rookies. Arsenal, in the past, had great success with rookies, George Allison, Bertie Mee, and Tom Whittaker spring to mind but Pat Rice and Freddie Ljungberg are examples of promoting from within that didn’t work out. It is an enormous risk that owners don’t wish to contemplate. The Kroenkes were key Arteta essentially took over from Unai Emery who failed to win over the fans. But for sure he was a top manager and continues to prove that. His weakness seems to be also Arteta’s, dealing with egotistical superstars, but it seems most likely that if he had been given his chance, he would have turned things around, probably by getting rid of the big egos. Stan and Josh - the dynamic duo? But I feel it was the Kroenkes who made the difference. When Arteta came for his first interview, it seems he impressed them, and they felt they could work with him to create something special. But even they couldn’t stretch to a rookie. They weren’t popular at Arsenal and Emery was a proven candidate. I believe they had this nagging feeling that they had got it wrong, this young man with the ideas, the knowledge, the Arsenal DNA, and above all the feeling that this was the guy, which made them feel like I sometimes have when I bought something expensive – I bought the wrong brand or model. So Emery’s collapse to Chelsea in the Europa League final gave them a chance to correct their mistake and bring in Arteta, their man. A big mess at other teams I have had misgivings over the Kroenkes but I think I was wrong. They know sport, and they know big business as it relates to sport, something that most big businessmen don’t. Look at the current mess at Chelsea, Man Utd and Everton, all with lots of trophies in their showrooms. The Kroenkes have been loyal to Arteta and have provided him with what he needs to bring the club back to the top. Josh seems to be there most of the time and from everything I know, he trusts Arteta’s decisions. Farhad Moshiri didn't have a clue at Everton Getting rid of our captain and superstar Aubameyang and moving on Ozil were hard calls and yes, exposed a weakness in Arteta. Ozil, in particular, was not known to be difficult to deal with. But it allowed Arteta to do things his way, with young players ready to listen and improve. The seasoned pros brought in since have not been a problem. Jorginho, Havertz, Trossard, Raya, Rice and others have bought into the Arteta way and the camp seems happy. The plan is working Of course, now, one cannot really refer to Arteta as a rookie. He has garnered a respect throughout football as a top manager which means even top pros will listen to him. Two tight second place finishes in a row against the behemoths of Man City, plus a quarterfinal in the Champions League means he has proven himself. There are only a small handful of jobs in football bigger than Arsenal so he has shot himself to the top at a top club in his first attempt. It has been a bumpy ride so far, with periods of Arteta out ringing around the Emirates, even this season. But the Kroenkes have always remained steadfast. They have a plan and Arteta is a huge part of that plan. I believe that they are using their knowledge to help by bringing in the right people, and keeping Arteta at the club is crucial to their plan. Roman Abramovich didn't like Mourinho's bus driving skills The most successful owner in recent times has been Roman Abramovich but he let Mourinho go when surely what he should have done is create a dynasty with him that could have lasted a long time. Abramovich’s problem was that he didn’t like Mourinho’s football. Parking the bus annoyed him. At all costs, win? This does not seem to be a problem at Arsenal. The football is exciting, swift, and full of deft touches. Progress keeps getting made. However, Arsenal do need to make the next step. Win things. Arteta has grown as a manager and the players have grown as players. Honestly, how many Arsenal fans would swop any of the present team for someone else? And yet, new players will be brought in. The challenge is to get them to fit in quickly and to be sure they are better than what we have. City do it every season and make that aspect look easy. It isn’t. Arteta will be expected to do it. And Edu and the Kroenkes will play a massive part in identifying and being willing to pay for these players. Klopp was burnt out? Win we must, though. Klopp did not win that many trophies at Liverpool but enough to cement his legend as he chased a Man City whose resources seem endless. Now it is Arteta’s turn and he must at least equal Klopp. One league title and one Champions League were his highlights but it seems like Klopp burned himself out in that chase. The Kroenkes know what they are doing? This is where the Kroenkes can really make a difference. Support Arteta as he takes on Goliath. Take away any burdens they can. Honestly, if Arteta does burn out like Klopp, then who is out there? Not many candidates when one club is hoovering up all the trophies. The Kroenkes took on a rookie manager. If it had gone wrong, I am not sure they would have survived. But they got it right. The rookie manager lost the support of some top players. They got that right when they supported him. The rookie manager had many fans screaming Arteta out. They got that right when they said, no, he is in. The pundits were shrieking that Arsenal were bottlers, doing a Totteringham at the finish, but beating the Spuds and Man Utd away and Chelsea at home on the way to winning the last six matches shows that the Kroenkes got that right as well. Gary Neville - Arsenal are bottlers The Kroenke’s got it right in choosing a rookie, something that no top English side has done for a long time, particularly as they were unpopular, and they could have gone for a top name, a Conte or a Mourinho. Maybe it is time to revise our opinion of our Americans. Maybe they do know a little about running a football club after all. Recognising talent is surely a great asset? And recognising unproven talent has proven even better. I hope, but also believe, that great days are coming.

A post-season assessment of Arteta - a good season not a great season Arteta has silenced all the critics, has he? Not exactly, he hasn’t silenced himself, Edu, Josh Kroenke, and many of the players and staff at the Arsenal. He has definitely silenced the fans, some of whom, unbelievably, were shouting Arteta out on social media when we hit a bad patch in the middle of the season. But if you listen to Arteta, Odegaard, Declan Rice and others you know they are not quite happy because they want better. Winning the league and the Champions League is the priority from now on. Fulham, not the Spuds, cost us the league One draw turned into a win would have made us champions, with Fulham early on an obvious culprit. 26th August 2023 will be burned into their minds. It emphasises that for every game they have to be ready to fight. The other draws were against established top sides. We had five losses and five draws with Fulham our big punishers. We lost five points against them. We could have been celebrating at the Emirates on the last day knowing City were confined to the dustbin. They, not the Spuds, cost us the league, although they also got a draw against us, but you do expect to drop some points to the top end of the table. Can he get his transfers right? Regular readers will know that I have also criticised Arteta throughout my time here but I have always supported him. I criticised his struggles with big names here and I will come back to that later but he has come through that test so far. I would be nervous if he got an Mbappe or a Neymar but he certainly handled the Declan Rice and Havertz situation really well. One plus for Arteta. But it must continue with our new signings due this summer. Kai Havertz scores again - Arteta got him right I also criticised his team falling apart for the last ten games here but he managed 25 points which is a respectable score and much better than his previous best. We had a lot of tough matches to negotiate and we got an excellent point from City away, but probably were a little vulnerable against Villa after defeat by Bayern. Two pluses for Arteta. Again it must continue, though. A manager is judged solely on their recent results. Is he able to rotate? He did achieve a remarkable level of consistency and succeeded in getting a record number of Arsenal wins and a score of points that would have won most Premier Leagues so far. He took on a resurgent Liverpool and Spurs who were both top of the league for a period, and a dynamic Aston Villa, but left them well behind. Arteta - losses and draws to be turned into wins However, there is a question mark here as we had few injuries and he didn’t rotate the squad much, and often only made changes late in games. Saka, in particular, took a lot of punishment. He did have Martinelli who seemed to suffer from lack of game time but he could have given Saka a rest and switched Martinelli as he did against Everton. He caused a lot of problems in that game. But we can make that a minus, I feel. Guardiola rotated like crazy and won the league. We may not be so lucky with injuries next year. Let’s look again at man-management Where Arteta has excelled from day one was his appeal to work with the fans, to create a strong atmosphere at games home and away. I was at Old Trafford and at times we out sang the Mancs. The fans have been great and Arteta deserves all praise for the way he includes the fans in everything. A big plus to Arteta. Getting the fans singing has been Arteta's great achievement So I am going to return to player management as I said I would but first a little backwards look to talk about Aubameyang, which was Arteta’s strongest test of player management. Aubameyang obviously thought he was far more important than a rookie manager and Arteta struggled to deal with him, plus Ozil, Lacazette and Guendouzi also spring to mind. Aubameyang the arse But let’s take a look at Aubameyang as we still haven’t truly replaced him. Supposing he wasn’t such an arse but rather a serious professional, he could still be here. He went in February 2022 with 92 goals and there have been two more seasons since then. In those two and a half seasons if he scored 50 goals he would now have 142 goals for us, 3rd in the all time list and in front of Van Persie on 132. He would have had better players to provide assists and could have got even more making Ian Wright’s 179 a target. Messi and Ronaldo are still playing so so could he, say for another 2 years for us. He is 34 years old, quite a bit younger than those two. Two more seasons from now and Wright could have been relegated to 3rd. That's an arsehole you see, Pierre I don’t think there is anyone who doubts Aubameyang’s ability, he was superb at his best. If we had the best him for the past 2 years we could have made up the small amounts of points needed and we could now be double champions. Take a look in the mirror, Pierre Emerick, and you will see an arse who deprived himself of two league titles, of chasing Ian Wright’s record, and of becoming an Arsenal legend. You will see an arse who is playing for a mediocre French team who only won 13 of their 34 league games. And especially you will see an arse who, because of your huge ego, decided you would push a rookie manager rather than give your all as an ambitious professional. You lost and you are looking at a loser. Pity is that you made us all lose. None of us care about you now. We lose our young players? There is one area I am concerned about and that is the peripheral players, Possibly Martinelli, plus Smith Rowe, Nketiah, Nelson, Ramsdale, etc., and the young players bubbling through. To win, to me it seems that Arteta believes we need a strong, experienced squad. How can he keep all the players happy? Young players don’t remain young forever. They need to play before they get old. I suggested here that up to 15 players could go and how will that affect the culture? Steve Round went after disagreeing with Arteta about this very point and specifically Ramsdale. Arteta has worked hard to create a culture of togetherness but unsatisfied young players not getting games will make them unhappy. Could Martinelli go? A disaster This is his challenge, one that he didn’t have so much this year. We will probably have 3 or more new players to keep happy as well. We hope that he has learned. That recruitment will take into account temperament and that we don’t sign an arse like Aubameyang. We are all hoping for an improvement in August but Arteta is facing another new challenge, one of expectation. Can he deliver? So far, he has always found a way. Long may that continue! Ramsdale vs Raya Ramsdale- should be number one? Ps. I have been reading a lot of statistics that say they prove that Raya is better than Ramsdale. How about these for the opposite? We came second last year 5 points behind City. And second again this year 2 points behind City. They had Haaland and De Bruyne out a bit this season. We had a team more mature by being a year older. We had Rice and Havertz, a big improvement. We had few injuries. Last year when Saliba went we lost points. So Ramsdale got us second with a weaker team. And points were easier to get this season as the bottom teams got very few. Raya - truly top class? There is one area where Ramsdale is clearly better and that is shot-stopping. He can pull off an amazing save. He is bigger and stronger than Raya which makes him harder to bully. He rises up the fans better than Raya which gives us a 12th player. And he is always smiling when he is playing. That makes me happier. He will probably go and it will be a mistake. I reckon, despite the stats, Raya is just short of being a true top goalkeeper and I really hope we don’t find that out next year. I hope I am wrong.

Are Spurs fans stupid? I remember around 7 years ago being in West Ham’s London Stadium for a boring 0-0 draw in December. I was in the home end so had to stay quiet. Lucky that nothing was happening on the pitch so I had no reason to make noise anyway. The London Stadium - suitable for running away? Arsenal were the better side in that we made more half chances and dominated possession but West Ham were, every so often, breaking through and could have scored but they played very defensively so the chances came to nothing. But what struck me was that they just retreated into their defensive shell totally for most of the second half as a draw seemed likely. The fans were screaming at the players to pass backwards, not forwards. I was astonished because Arsenal were not playing well, West Ham could maybe have won by pushing forward but instead the fans badly wanted that point. Lay down and die West Ham were struggling near the relegation spots at the time but Arsenal finished 7th that season. It was only mid-December and nowhere near the last few games where playing for a draw might maybe make sense. Not such a tough team that you should lay down and die against. I have never heard Arsenal fans want their team not to win a match no matter who the opposition is and it reverberated starkly with me. But that seems to be the reality with teams that don’t win things. They are often happy with a draw. Do they really want to get rid of this guy? Now, this is a long lead into Spurs fans seemingly singing Blue Moon on the way back from Burnley and, more surprisingly, to me, turning on Ange Postecoglou for wanting his team to win no matter what. Objectively, beating Man City is good for Spurs long-term and in the short term, could easily get them the Champions League this season. Villa are playing Crystal Palace away who are winning everything at the moment, which, coinciding with Villa’s dip in form, could easily mean a loss. Spurs are playing rock bottom and relegated Sheffield United. Put as plainly as I can, beating Man City gives them Champions League most likely. Your target needs to be the best Put me in their position and I would choose Champions League all day long. To be fair, I have never really bought into the big Spurs rivalry. For most of the time I have been an Arsenal supporter, Spurs were second best and it is only in the latter half of Arsene Wenger’s time that they got on top. But still Wenger won trophies and they more or less didn’t. And they have never been our target because they have never been the best team in the land for my whole time as an Arsenal fan. Spurs fans ambitions may not match their stadium Ange Postecoglou wants Spurs to be the best team in the country. It is the only thing he sees as a manager. He has always aimed at the best and often succeeded as well. There is no other logic in sport. You look at the best and say, if I can paraphrase Liam Neeson, “I have a particular set of skills, I will find you and I will kill you”. Arteta feels the same. He knows who the target is, it is the same as Postecoglou’s – Man City. Arsenal knock the big boys off their perch Arsenal have had Leeds, Liverpool, Man Utd, Chelsea and now City as the acclaimed targets to overcome in my time. Tottenham have had the exact same teams. We have managed to give Leeds, Liverpool and Man Utd bloody noses but Chelsea and City have so far eluded us. If City win this year they will be our targets next season. It is as simple as that. And they will be Postecoglou’s as well, if he is still there. Daniel Levy - his mediocrity is the reason Spurs cannot really challenge? And that brings me to trying to answer the question posed in the headline – Are Spurs fans stupid? They have a manager who has succeeded wherever he has gone. He has them playing attractive football despite their top player leaving. He knows that the only currency a top manager can trade in is wins. He could still get them to Champions League despite the late wobble in form. He was aiming to win the league this year, I am convinced of that, not finishing in the CL spots. I am pretty certain he knows no other way. A team to match his ambition? I am also aware that earlier this season I posted a blog here which estimated that all 20 managers could be gone by around August this year. Postecoglou was rated Likelihood of being fired at 0% the likelihood of leaving 10%. I would put the second figure higher at the moment as many big teams with Postecoglou’s ambitions are looking for a manager. Could Ange slot into Arne Slot's spot? He is a Liverpool fan, what’s the chances of a surprise move if Arne Slot doesn’t work out? He will have offers, make no mistake. His courage in saying that it is not real Spurs fans wanting them to lose may be wrong. Maybe they really would put Arsenal losing over the Champions League. Could they be a majority? If they are they have been deluded by their years of not winning trophies. Beaten down so much that getting in front of a midtable team which Arsenal had degenerated into was considered a triumph? Like West Ham at the start of this blog, their ambitions have been stunted. A collision course with fans? Which means they are not stupid but rather shrivelled into accepting a non-sporting position, that your target is not to be the best, but rather hope that your objective is mediocre enough that you can finish in front of them. If Arsenal are the joint targets next season by being champions (City would still be the benchmark) then that will be Postecoglou’s aim, beat them. But if Spurs fans really want to throw away a Champions League spot then he is on a collision course with them which could coincide with him accepting an offer from a bigger club. And that, to me, is stupid. They have finally got a winning manager who plays attractive football after sterile displays from Mourinho and Conte. And they will toss him aside? How about these two being the new Wenger/Ferguson? Honestly, I hope that scenario is wrong. I would prefer to knock Spurs off their perch just as we did Leeds, Liverpool and Manchester United. How would people feel about a true Arsenal/ Spurs rivalry to match the Arsenal/Manchester United one? With Arteta/ Postecoglou as Wenger/ Ferguson? Rather than the egregious rivalry between Man City and Arsenal which is lopsided, and always has this edge of City’s financial misdemeanours bringing them down, and not genuine football endeavour? Spurs 1st Arsenal 2nd? Yikes! I would not object to that competition, of Spurs being our strongest rivals, of that extra edge pushing us harder every time? Then beating them would be meaningful, parading the bus around North London knowing that it was the Spuds who were second would be sweeter, surely? And vice versa for them. That is the level Spurs need for a true rivalry. It has not happened ever, and if they don’t change their mindset, it never will. Harry Redknapp - give him a call, Mr Levy And so my conclusion is that they are not stupid, just that they have accepted that the top table is not theirs to occupy, they cannot win the league so hoping they can finish above Arsenal is the height of their ambition. They now have a manager who could alter that mindset but I have a feeling he will not be around long enough to change it. But hey, Mr Levy, Harry Redknapp is still around.

Current Premier league managers and their possibility of not being there in August Arsenal Mikel Arteta Likelihood of being fired 5% Likelihood of leaving 30% Aston Villa Unai Emery Likelihood of being fired 0% Likelihood of leaving 20% Bournemouth Andoni Iraola Likelihood of being fired 15% Likelihood of leaving 30% Brentford Thomas Frank Likelihood of being fired 0% Likelihood of leaving 70% Brighton Roberto De Zerbi Likelihood of being fired 0% Likelihood of leaving 70% Burnley Vincent Kompany Likelihood of being fired 80% Likelihood of leaving 0% Chelsea Mauricio Pochettino Likelihood of being fired 75% Likelihood of leaving 20% Crystal Palace Roy Hodgson Likelihood of being fired 100% Likelihood of leaving 0% Everton Sean Dyche Likelihood of being fired 5% Likelihood of leaving 20% Fulham Marco Silva Likelihood of being fired 5% Likelihood of leaving 50% Liverpool Jurgen Klopp Likelihood of being fired 0% Likelihood of leaving 85% Luton Rob Edwards Likelihood of being fired 60% Likelihood of leaving 0% Manchester City Pep Guardiola Likelihood of being fired 0% Likelihood of leaving 35% Manchester United Erik Ten Hag Likelihood of being fired 80% Likelihood of leaving 10% Newcastle United Eddie Howe Likelihood of being fired 25% Likelihood of leaving 30% Nottingham Forest Nuno Espirito Santo Likelihood of being fired 70% Likelihood of leaving 0% Sheffield United Chris Wilder Likelihood of being fired 95% Likelihood of leaving 0% Tottenham Hotspur Ange Postecoglou Likelihood of being fired 0% Likelihood of leaving 10% West Ham David Moyes Likelihood of being fired 5% Likelihood of leaving 5% Wolverhampton Wanderers Gary O’Neil Likelihood of being fired 5% Likelihood of leaving 40% Go or please stay If the table above is right 11 managers could be gone by the start of next season as they are 50% or more likely to go whether sacked or leaving themselves. I suspect that managerial change will be a huge factor for the Premier league 2024/25. Bizarrely, all could be gone and a complete sea change happens. Jurgen Klopp’s announcement has just followed on from a host of big clubs struggling at the moment and major countries looking for managers with Ireland being the biggest prize of all . If these win La Liga Real Madrid will surely need a manager What it means is that successful managers at small clubs, and De Zerbi, Frank, and Silva spring to mind, are going to be thrown into the mix for Real Madrid, Barcelona, Bayern Munich, Chelsea, Liverpool, Manchester United, Germany and many others, but crucially, managers at big clubs like Arteta will also be in the frame. I have rated him at 30% to leave. Barcelona will come calling for sure with Xavi on the way out. Will he go? I don’t know, but logic dictates that it is easier to win big trophies there than at Arsenal. Real and Barcelona win most things in Spain and even in Europe. He may feel that he is the right man for the job. He is not short of confidence as he applied for the Arsenal job with no experience. Home is where the esteem lies To be a big man in your own country is always a huge factor. Roy Hodgson made his name abroad but was always looking to prove himself at home, and he was never regarded with the same respect as he was in other countries. Arteta may go, people, and that will only please the Arteta out brigade which, I still feel,is a minority of Gooners. I am not sure who can come in and do better. I want him to stay. Jurgen Klopp - will he really go? You will notice I have put Klopp at 85% to leave. I feel I may even be generous as I reckon they will put huge pressure on him to stay. However, the announcement may lead to a dip in performances and perhaps he will go. He should get Champions league, though, and that is a prize for the Kop this year. Assuming he goes and Alonso comes, as is speculated, it means both Bayern Munich and Leverkusen could be looking for a manager. Pep to Barca? Erik to nowhere? Pep’s position could be anything, the Fair Play sanctions could come into play and they get relegated or even kicked out. A bad end to the season may also happen. Barcelona could be a nice homecoming. If the second outcome happens it leaves a vacancy at City which is still a big draw for an ambitious or established manager. A very bad sanction could leave City unattractive to a big name. Pep- Tiki-taka Barca Erik Ten Hag needs a very strong finish to retain his job. I suspect he won’t and that leaves a position at Man Utd, which is still one of the big achievements to tell your grandchildren. Unai Emery and Ange Postecoglou are the big Premiership names currently in the top five who will assuredly come into the frame for the top positions mentioned above. Surely they will want to go to a great European team whether in the Premiership or not? Is Arsenal a top European team? Probably they are on the cusp but Villa and Spurs are definitely not. Who are certain to go? If Pochettino doesn’t have a strong end to the season he will also be gone leaving a vacancy at Chelsea – still the most successful 21st Century English team, and the merry-go-round continues. Ange Postecoglou - to go to one of the top clubs? If you were to ask me who will go by next August, I would say Klopp, Ten Hag, Pochettino, Kompany, Wilder, Espirito Santo, De Zerbi, Frank and Hodgson are close to certs. If you put down all of them in an accumulator you would make good money. There will be too many top teams looking for managers for De Zerbi and Frank to stay. Silva also must be a target. I feel that David Moyes is the closest to a cert to stay. He won’t be offered a top job and he would need a really bad finish to be fired. Poor Chris Wilder looks doomed I wonder what the odds would be on all change? Retirement money I reckon. It could happen. Go for it! Arteta out and Barcelona in? I will finish on Arsenal and Arteta. He won’t be fired. He will be in the frame for all the top jobs. I am not sure whether he would get more money at Barcelona where he is seen as maybe the best candidate short of Pep coming back? He has been working on a long-term plan at Arsenal, with so many top young players locked into extended contracts that he can create a working dynamic where players play together hypnotically, which could mean he could create the best team in Europe. It leaves the pull of his boyhood team, his home country, and this may be his one chance at it. If Arsenal go a bit backwards now under his stewardship he won’t be a candidate in the future. Roy Hodgson - great foreign days but thrown out this year? I would say he would be tempted. Against is the certainty that only success is what matters at Barcelona. If you don’t win all and quickly your career there will be over. The uncertainty over their finances may also be a factor. I feel he won’t go but I am certain he will be offered it. I think the deciding factor is that he has been allowed to pursue his vision at Arsenal and that will not be the case at Barcelona or any of the other big names mentioned. I could be wrong.

Three managers to top them all George Graham -deserves a statue George Graham Player 308 apps Football League First Division: 1970–71 FA Cup: 1970–71 Inter-Cities Fairs Cup: 1969–70 Manager 9 years Football League First Division: 1988–89, 1990–91 FA Cup: 1992–93 Football League Cup: 1986–87, 1992–93 FA Charity Shield: 1991 (shared) Football League Centenary Trophy: 1988 European Cup Winners' Cup: 1993–94 Mikel Arteta Player 150 apps FA Cup: 2013–14, 2014–15 FA Community Shield: 2014, 2015 Manager 5 years FA Cup: 2019–20 FA Community Shield: 2020, 2023 Terry Neill Player 241 apps Manager 7 years FA cup 1979 Arsenal managers through and through In my lifetime we have had 3 Arsenal managers who played more than 100 games, won at least one trophy as manager, and who were fulltime managers of this great old club. Terry Neill, George Graham and Mikel Arteta. Now, all of you out there know who the current best one is – George Graham, who is ranked behind Herbert Chapman and Arsene Wenger. He took on the Liverpool machine and came out on top, who were the best ever English team at the time. He won 8 trophies at Arsenal as a manager, which puts him well ahead of the other 2. Arteta has won 3, an FA Cup and 2 Charity Shields, and Neill has just the one, the FA Cup in 1979. Of course, only Arteta has the chance to overtake Graham. I wonder how many Arsenal fans feel that he will? Am I really hearing Arteta out? The Arteta out brigade have already started with our current bad run, so if that is an indication getting George’s nine years will never happen. Even Terry’s seven won’t. I am, however, optimistic that Arteta is the right man at the moment. Of course, he now cannot afford the bad runs that he has had at the end of every season so far. We must finish strongly to collect trophies. I suspect that if he doesn’t get Champions league or a trophy it’s possible the Arteta out crew will get their wish. Certainly no European qualification could see him out for good. Terry Neill took us upwards Terry Neill never had that pressure. He took over in 1976 as the club were struggling. Relegation was somewhere on the horizon as the great double team were broken up and Bertie Mee lost his mojo. Neill took us up the table, got us 3 FA Cup finals in a row and a Cup Winners Cup Final appearance. His two best league efforts were 3rd and 5th. But competent rather than spectacular was the lot of Arsenal’s youngest ever manager. Bizarrely, Arsenal were his 3rd club despite being only 34 when he took over at Highbury. He had already managed Hull and a team from North London, I can’t remember their name. Terry Neill - a top class defender As a player, Neill didn’t win anything at Arsenal, and was gone just before the Mee/Howe axis started winning things. He did manage 241 games and was highly regarded as a top notch defender. He had 59 international appearances for Northern Ireland, way more than the other two. Arteta didn’t even manage one for Spain. He was our youngest ever, he had way more caps, and he had one of our greatest days under his belt, the 1979 FA Cup win over Manchester United, the famous Liam Brady final. Overall, one of our own, and he could be seen on matchdays escorting VIPs. He deserves more recognition And, of course, he also had a huge hand in creating the extraordinary amount of Irish at Highbury, cementing a massive fanbase across the pond. Ok, he is number 3 on this list of players/managers at Arsenal but for me, it was a colossal boost watching all the Irish superstars strut their stuff. Terry Neill - a fan till the end Will he get a statue? Probably not but he remained Arsenal through and through all his life and was one of our most dedicated followers, always being seen around the Arsenal on matchdays. The rookie could beat them all Mikel is number 2 and he has a long way to go to catch up with George Graham. Will he? Maybe not but I feel he will get somewhere before he has to leave. The only one on the list who was a rookie, and he did make rookie mistakes, allowing Aubameyang and Ozil a latitude that he shouldn’t, have, but he learned, and if he has learned how to finish strongly this season, then we might be celebrating. He needs to stay in touch, as at the end City may have lots of high pressure matches like last season. Arsenal capitulating made that easier for them last time, and they won the league easier than they should have. That, above all else is his benchmark, stay in touch and finish strongly. Mikel -Our captain, my captain He won the FA Cup and the Charity Shield at his first attempt, a wonderful achievement. His immediate predecessors were 2 greats, Unai Emery and Arsene Wenger, and he has done better than any Manchester United manager since Alex Ferguson in fashioning a team in his image, consistently getting better. When an immense manager goes, such as Arsene Wenger, the void becomes a giant chasm to fill. Arteta has the capacity to fill that void. Will he get a statue? Time will tell. Graham conquered all And so George Graham, the mighty tactician, disciplinarian and creator of a team that moved together like puppets, always catching teams offside, with a magical midfield of Rocastle, Merson and Thomas to feed the strikers. He gave us probably our best day ever, when we went to Anfield in 1989 needing to win 2-0 for the title, and won in injury time. It never got better after that. George Graham - an elegant player The critical thing about George is that he made Arsenal great again over many years. The last such time was the 1940’s. His nine years with our only 2 League Cups, the only European Cup Winners Cup, and the only ever winners of the Centenary Cup, plus 2 league titles and an FA Cup means he is number one on this list and number 3 overall in the pantheon of prodigious Arsenal managers. He didn’t get many caps for Scotland but won trophies as a player and was a vital member of the Double winning side of 1971. Tactics, discipline and teamwork He was responsible for bringing many top young players through at Arsenal and Leeds. He had one defining belief, that you get the best possible player for every position even if it means removing a fan favourite as he did with John Lukic, replacing him with David Seaman. Football was chess for him, you had to stay ahead of your opponent by thinking ahead of them. Can any of them get a statue like the legendary Herbert Chapman? Will he get a statue? He deserves one. The scandal that removed him certainly seemed to have a lot of extenuating circumstances, and an honest review of that could see him getting the recognition at Arsenal he deserves. And so there you go. We had 3 top players that became top managers, something that not many teams have achieved. Liverpool had 2, Bob Paisley and Kenny Dalglish, but I cannot think of any other top team that had trophy winning managers who also played for them. Good old Arsenal, we always lead the way. And if Arteta knocks out George Graham, boy would we be happy.

Christmas crackers This year I have decided to give awards up to now in the season – the totally serious Gus Worth awards which are better than Ballon D’or, MOTM, or the Oscars. The Award ceremony will be held in Mar De Lago, Trump’s place in Florida, on New Years Eve. You are all invited. Tell Donald I sent you. Come to Mar De Lago, ASCB, for New Years Eve Worst defender of the season award – Declan Rice for allowing Alexander Arnold to get a shot away. There was only 5 Liverpool attackers, he should have just tackled them, taken the ball off them and sent them home crying. Only five Scousers, Declan? No Problem Biggest arguer of the season award- Mikel Arteta for constantly arguing with officials and getting cards. He will probably get the most cards of the whole squad and have to send himself home crying for not obeying the manager. Best goalkeeper award– Aaron Ramsdale for 27 games he has been there and only let in 9 goals. Worst Gabby of the season award– Martinelli for having the worst defensive record of all first choicers. He should be told to stop scoring goals and creating chances and get back there and… oh sorry, we have Declan Rice, we don’t need anyone else, the rest should be up attacking. Most drunk player award– William Saliba for drinking tequila all through the matches. How is that allowed? Mikel needs to show him who’s boss. The Saliba brand is the best Most useless player regarded by the fans award - Eddie Nketiah despite being our joint top scorer with Saka having 5 goals from 9 appearances, 8 as a substitute. No wonder the poor guy goes home crying every night. Almost a BFG award – Kai Havertz but still a bit smaller than the real one. My suggestion, Kai, is to wear high heels on the pitch, then you really will be the new BFG! Kai - you would look so good in high heels! Kicked up the arse every match award – Bukayo Saka. It is probably why he gets picked every match as his arse is too sore to sit on the bench. Saka - gets kicked so often he thinks he is in a Tom and Jerry cartoon Most successful pass rate award – William Saliba at 77.3 passes per match and 92.7 success rate. Probably because he is so drunk he gets rid of the ball quickly. Only alliterative name award – Takehiro Tomiyasu so perhaps he should be known as TT, but then that also stands for teetotaller and it might be a bit difficult playing alongside Saliba the Tequila. Should be our striker award – Martin Odegaard, at 2.3 he has the most shots per game. Shoot, Marty, shoot! Should be known as LFP award– Fabio Vieira, our smallest player, should be Little F… Portuguese. Fabio - The LFP Ball loser of the season award – surprisingly to me, Gabriel Jesus at 2.1 dispossessions per game and 2.6 bad controls per game. Mikel, you need to hide Saliba’s Tequila from Jesus. He obviously can’t handle his control or his drink. Scoring goals in the smallest number of minutes award – Leandro Trossard and Eddie Nketiah who have the most sub appearances and yet 3 and 5 goals. They must keep away from the Tequila. And finally: The Referee and VAR team of the season award is Arsenal. They see fouls, handballs, no penalties, offsides and cards that no one else can see. It is great to know that we keep them happy. Maybe we ask Saliba to stop giving them presents of Tequila before the matches? They get so drunk they think it’s great fun messing us about. Don’t miss Mar De Lago and the awards ceremony. You can pick up your flights and hotel tickets for free from Georgi Stoyanov, Stan Kroenke himself has sent them on. This guy has all your tickets. Have a wonderful New Year.

Have yourself a Mikel little Christmas It’s Christmastime and there’s no need to be afraid as Santa Klopp is coming to town. As regular readers know I predicted 2-0 for this fixture here in a repeat of our most famous night at Anfield when we won the title on the last match of the season. That was a very late Christmas present from the Scousers and it would be nice to get an early one this time. Aston Villa will be top if they beat Sheffield United as expected on Friday. So us and the Red Santa Clauses will be fighting it out to jump above them with a win. A draw would see Villa top at Christmas. So we know what we have to do. All we want for Christmas is two (goals) and to rock around the Christmas tree with three points. No, all we want for Christmas is two Can we do it? I say yes. If we play to our best, then I feel our attack will have to much for their defence, which is not as strong as in the past. Our defence is definitely better than last year, down to Declan Rice protecting it and surging forward to take the pressure off and cause problems at the other end. Our advantage is that they have to attack, they are at home and Liverpool do not play defensively anyway. I suspect that this time, though, they will try to do what Aston Villa did, their usual high line, but I cannot see them sitting back in defence at home as much as Villa did. We will get chances, but so will they. We need to take them. Klopp has been no Kris Kringle to us Of course our recent record is not so good against them, of our last ten, they have 5 wins and 3 draws (if you count the Charity Shield as a draw) so they are clearly better. Over our last five we have one win and 2 draws so we have improved. And we all remember the last match, also at Anfield, where we totally outplayed them until Xhaka had a meltdown, and they somehow managed a draw. Rice, who is I suppose Xhaka’s replacement, does not have meltdowns and rarely sees cards. Xhaka was good as a player but Rice definitely seems better in every respect. Under Klopp, Liverpool fans probably feel it is most times they play us So what is our Christmas record against them? As always I delve into our deep history to try to ascertain any patterns. Strangely enough we have rarely played them over Christmas. I am defining Christmas as from December 23rd to January 1st which is generally when most people are off. The Arsenal Santas So the first time was way back on Jan 1st 1894 and they won 2-0 at home in the old second division. We were the Santas. Then 30th December 1905 they won 3-0 again at home and we were becoming Santa plus for them. I suppose we also dropped off a pot of Scouse to them to make sure they had a happy Christmas. On the 27th December 1909 at our home we drew 1-1 to show them we were coming back at them. We were Arsenal and we would show them. Eh, no, we played them a few days later on January 1st at their home and they thrashed us 5-1. We obviously had the wrong name. Our real name should have been the Saint Nicholas Arsenal as we guaranteed them a nice present for Christmas. Oh Arsenal, what are you doing to us? Even Tim Burton saw Liverpool as a nightmare for us On the 30th December 1911 in Scouseland they destroyed us 4-1. Maybe we should really be Santa and his elves Arsenal. They must have wished it could be Christmas everyday. We played them at home the next year on 28th December and drew 1-1. They were never coming to us with presents in their sack, it seems. Mister Chapman is no Father Christmas Ah but 27th December 1927, with our master Herbert Chapman fighting for us we had a nice sweet 2-0 at Anfield. He put down a real marker of what the Arsenal can do. What could you hear, Liverpool? They were Jingle Bells and they were playing for the Arsenal. Herbert Chapman showed us how to win at Christmas On Christmas day 1935, we again beat them at Anfield but with 1-0. We were setting a much better Christmas pattern, we were the ones driving home for Christmas happy. Except the next day, they played us at Highbury and won 2-1. Chris Rea must have been delighted as both teams drove home happy even though he wasn’t born yet. Up and down the Christmas tree But did I mention a shape was forming? We played them in Liverpool on 25th December 1947 and won by 2 goals 3-1. We were now the Anti-Santas for them, nothing for them for being naughty boys. But 2 days later they came to us and won 2-1. A yoyo was becoming both our presents. But on 31st December 1949 they showed us we don’t own Anfield at Christmas as they won 2-0. We never got a chance to show them as they next played us in 1995 at Anfield and won 3-1. Looks like we were back to being Father Christmas Arsenal. A Nightmare at Christmas And in the year 2000, our next time was also at Anfield and it was so lonely for us at Christmas as they hammered us 4-0. Maybe we should stop playing them at Christmas and just send them up 3 points and a pot of Scouse for one and all? Roberto Firmino gave us a horrible nightmare 2 years later 29th December, we were at home and drew 1-1. They were mean Old Nicks to us for sure. 29th December 2018 was a day we all remember with horror as Firmino lashed in a hat trick as they won 5-1 at home. Michael Oliver gave them 2 penalties as well. They sent us home crying for a miserable Christmas, no playing Chris Rea, Santa Klopp kicked us out of town. And the Scouse fans singing once again We wish it could be Christmas every day. We want to go home happy And that was the last time at Christmas. So you can see we owe them. We owe them a juicy 2-0 spanking and let them eat coal for Christmas. I genuinely believe we are the better team. They may be the ones in Santa red on the day and they will deliver like that big fat man 3 points from his sack as we show Jurgen we are not coming from the North to shower gifts, but assassins coming from the South to demonstrate our superiority. 3 points and we are top of the league and it is a Merry Christmas to all Gooners. All we want for Christmas is 2.

Are we moving in the right direction? Today I am going to take a look at Mikel Arteta from a couple of different perspectives, one is his first 13 matches of his seasons with the addition of the first 13 matches of his Arsenal start in December 2019. Why 13 matches? Because it is almost exactly 1/3 of a season and we are at 13 matches now. The other perspective is his players. I will look at this first. Raya Tierney Saliba Gabriel Cedric Smith Rowe Elneny Nelson Saka Nketiah Martinelli Was Raya the right option? Hands up those who can say what is unique about the above line-up? It is not so easy to guess but 9 of those are there since Mikel Arteta took over in December 2019. I added Raya and Gabriel as first choice from the current line-up to make an 11. Some are bit players, some are first choice, some get on in many matches, and Tierney is out on loan. Despite the belief that Arteta has changed everything around you can see that there are many players still available for him to select. We can assume that these are all players he gets on with as he seems to have difficulties with certain players, particularly big stars who were there before him. There are now no such. Can he cope with a big star with a big ego? That does indicate a weakness in Mikel, as what will happen if any player starts to act the big star and tries on an Aubameyang by not adhering to the rules? One presumes they would be out the door but we can’t easily do without Saka, Martinelli, Odegaard, Saliba, Gabriel, and Rice to name players that must be worth huge money. Or a big name player comes in (Mbappe has been mentioned)and does an Aubameyang after becoming a fan favourite? Can he now deal with them without them having to leave? Can he now get them to accept that it is his way or the highway? That is one tester he must answer. Of course if he wins big trophies it makes all that easier. Declan Rice looks like a great buy That is definitely not a given. There are now many big teams eager for the same, all with established managers. Arsenal fans are notoriously fickle and entitled. I reckon that the bare minimum for Arteta is qualification for Champions League, pushing for the Premier league and getting close to a final. If, after two seasons of not achieving those targets, he may well find the fans turning on him, the big players wanting to leave, and a great difficulty in keeping control. Are his targets too difficult? I feel we have now created an expectation that he must achieve those targets but if he does, then the next prospect is to win the league or Champions League. What if he doesn’t? Do we allow him to forever do a Pochettino with the Spuds and get top four but nothing else? A bad run, such as Pochettino got could see him out the door and that was at the Spuds who have never had such a sustained time near the top in my football lifetime. We see ourselves in a different category to the Spuds and, of course, they have a worse attitude to ditching managers than we have. But I still reckon that top four will not be enough to save Arteta forever. Am I right? Edu, Arteta and Timber - I feel this one is right too Can the team be consistent? And so to the next connected part, the 13 matches test. 12 points first season from Bournemouth to Chelsea from December 2019 when he started. 14 points 20/21 23 points 21/22 34 points 22/23 30 points 23/24 There is progress, yes, although a drop from last season which I believe is due to the higher standard this year at the top of the league. The bottom seems to be much worse this year and that will mean, if it continues, that the big teams will hoover up many points from them, meaning Arsenal must do the same. We are top of the league but it will be a real challenge to stay there. A loss next week against Wolves could see us slip to 4th. And I have to say that I am worried about our weak finishes under Arteta as shown here. We only had 12 points from our last 10 matches last season and it cost us the league. Arteta has, so far, never managed a strong finish to a season. That must change. Partey has not really been missed This will be his fifth season in charge and that is an achievement considering the difficult start he had. It was ameliorated by winning the FA Cup and Charity Shield but the above figures show he did struggle. Unai Emery got fired in Arteta’s first season despite getting 18 points out of the first 13, much better than Arteta achieved with the same players. A new hope? What gives us hope? Many things. There is a real togetherness in the team although the goalkeeper situation has not worked out for either player. The rest seem very happy together and partnerships are developing all the time. Declan Rice looks like an inspired buy and even Havertz must be doing lots of good stuff that fans can’t easily see as he gets on every time. The defence looks as solid as any in the league and that always gives you hope. Great teams have great defences. The backroom team seems to work very well. We are very good at scoring from set-pieces. We are good at keeping our shape and we have got much better at buying than before. Raya (if we buy him), Rice and Havertz have all impressed Arteta, and Timber looked amazing until he got injured. It would be great if we got back to the old Wenger days when most players bought were good and most players sold were past their best. We give everyone chances We are getting points when we haven’t really been all that great in matches this season, in fact, even Burnley, the easiest I can remember so far, had a couple of good chances. And Newcastle should never have been a loss. My only comment on that though is that players must always play to the whistle and that is something that can be drilled into them. Excuses will not win you titles. The fans are so important We do seem to be moving in the right direction. Consistency will be the key. We seem to have good players to come in. Thomas Partey has not been badly missed, long regarded as key. Our young players are getting older and more matchwise. We have a settled group. Togetherness from staff of all kinds and fans will be a great help. We need to be united and I guess that’s where the name came from in so many teams. If we stop the petty cards for arguing, slow play at corners and throw-ins and kicking the ball away which can easily be coached out of them, it will help. Losing players at wrong times is a weakness, a margin that can be corrected. I include Arteta in this. All he has to say is he didn’t agree with whatever decision he is arguing about. No other comment. Let’s work with the refs And players, managers, coaches, and fans need to realise one thing, and that is that we now need teams of referees for matches and there is a worldwide shortage. We badly need to stop harassing refs. We also badly need to set up academies to encourage refs of both sexes to join up and, crucially, train them to the highest standards from a very young age. It should be a clear career path that is seen as desirable from school age. It would be amazing if they were all like Pierluigi Collina We are not a dirty team at all. We are petulant and have become time wasters. These traits are trainable. Let’s get back to being Arsenal, the fair team and in a right refereeing world we would have an advantage. Arteta, being so young still, may even outlast Wenger. I have outlined some areas that need to improve, but the fans will play a crucial role. They must support even through bad spells. Arteta can get things right, if given a chance. I say, give him that chance even if things go wrong and our expectations go in a yoyo direction. ps. RIP Terry Venables. He has got quite a few mentions in this blog and he was supposed to become our manager when George Graham got the job. He was at all the major London clubs except us. Check out his book, They used to play on Grass, it is a great read. A gentleman, a scholar of football, and like our own Arsene Wenger, all his players loved him. And he turned Barcelona into a major team.