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Red cards – no, a red and white team David Seaman Lee Dixon Sol Campbell Tony Adams Ashley Cole Santi Cazorla Patrick Vieira Gilberto Silva Declan Rice Ian Wright Dennis Bertgkamp What’s unique about the players above? They have all been red-carded for the Arsenal since the Premier League began. I have tried to pick the best team from the list but it was hard. All our top defenders have been no strangers to red cards and it’s the same with our midfielders. I ended up with a 4 4 2 but I figured that Gilberto and Vieira would stay back and Rice and Cazorla further forward so more like a 4 2 2 2. Bergkamp and Wright up front. Forwards don’t get red-carded so much so I hadn't got a lot to choose from. Still, that is a top side. Leandro didn't make my great red-card team Trossard was a candidate as our latest but I couldn’t pick him above those two. In the Wenger era we picked up many red cards with our man Patrick being our king—eight red cards which is almost an average of one per season. Red cards were very common in the Wenger era and it probably cost us some trophies. They were big feisty players a bit like now. Let’s hope it doesn’t cost us many trophies this time. Arteta will stop the flow of red cards We have had 51 players red-carded since Sky invented football. And while Patrick Vieira had eight, Granit Xhaka had four in a slightly less timeframe, although one of his sendings off is probably the most famous of ours. Everyone remembers that one. And you can fuck off if you don’t. Good kick, Pep, you haven't lost it The way it is looking, we could have a bad year for sendings off. Arteta needs to move quickly to stem this flow. I believe he will, it is where he excels, looking at our flaws and correcting them. I am pretty certain that the second half of our season will be better in this regard. Rice, who picked up his first red, will discipline himself against further lapses. Partey and Gabriel still have reds in them, I feel, and Timber may join that bunch as he seems feisty. Pep Cantona gets no discipline Mr Pep surely could have been disciplined for an Eric Cantona attack on his car seat, and he probably imagined a ref sitting there as he let fly. That ref would not have got up. In fairness to Guardiola, he did not finger the ref for the Calafiori goal but his team for not having cover for Walker as he remonstrated with Mr Oliver. That is correct, you cannot expect a ref to wait as a player jogs back to his right position. Play had to restart, and in this case Oliver did nothing wrong. You can't give a red-card to a blue guy However, there was one incident at the end which the BBC panel of Alan Shearer and Shay Given thought was a big joke and that was Erling Haaland throwing the ball at Gabriel’s head as he rushed back to take the restart. I am sorry but deliberately throwing the ball at someone’s head is against the rules and a red card should have been the option. I am certain an Arsenal player would not have got away with that. It would have been letter of the law time again. A record year for red cards? We seem to have got an enormous amount of ambiguity this season in refereeing decisions and bookings and cards are on the increase. Seven yellows in Sunday’s match and one red in what was, despite its intensity, a fairly law abiding match, indicates that this could be a record year for cards. It is hard to see to what good effect. Arteta does need to ensure that we don’t get any more unnecessary ones. Ricardo Calafiori scored a simple tap-in... from 25 metres The match showed that we can win the league this year. City needed luck to scramble that late goal which didn’t seem likely given the amount of defenders lashing the ball over the net or wide for far out. Defenders can’t score from outside the box, Calafiori will confirm that for you. He knows it's impossible. Oh! Are we now better than City? We can only be happy though. We all feel that without Trossard’s indiscipline we would have won at the Etihad, something no team seems able to do. We have improved year on year. Martin and Merino are still to come and we might just get a target in January. Raya has proven me wrong The other area I feel I need to address is David Raya. I am a big fan of Ramsdale and still believe that he will get to the top. I had a similar belief in Martinez and he has proven himself. Arteta, Emery and Wenger were wrong and I was right. And I think Ramsdale will also prove to be truly top class. But David Raya surely must be in the reckoning for the top spot in Spain. Unai Simón is in his sights and Raya’s ability to calm down his defence, make multiple stops, lead the attacks and pluck crosses out of the air, definitely makes him a candidate for the best goalkeeper in the world. The Arsenal are back I also want to address playing Calafiori in Timber’s slot and Timber in Ben White’s position. I suspect it had to do with Savinho and the belief that Calafiori would be best to deal with him. He did that well but for the goal he was out of position as he was a few other times. Maybe that was Savinho’s doing but White is our best defensive full back in my opinion and the other area he excels in is linking with Saka. Saka had a quiet game and was taken off for White to bolster the defence. A good move, I feel as Saka needs to be protected. He will need that boy for many matches ahead and any time he can be rested is good. No,you fuck off, ref The team are good, this game proved that. We are still unbeaten. We got 7 points away from City, Villa and the Spuds, a run that we feared could be much worse. We do need to sort out the discipline, accept that certain referees are biased against us but not give any of them an excuse. We don’t want red-cards to spoil what could well be a great season. Mikel, do what is necessary, and bring a level of discipline unseen in football similar to the level of discipline in our playing ability. We know what we have to do and we do it. We support each other and we have made City need a red card to draw with us and even then, their fans went crazy that that was all they could achieve. I think we are Arsenal again. Time to send all the rest home crying. We are back. Let’s start with Bolton.

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.

The Chase is on Update to the Table of Doom Table of Doom Fixtures Current Max Liverpool Man City (h) Spurs (h) Villa (a) 57 96 Arsenal Man City (a) Villa (h) Spurs (a) 55 94 Man City Liverpool (a) Arsenal (h) Villa (h) Spurs (h) 53 95 Villa Spurs (a) Man City (a) Arsenal (a) Liverpool (a) 49 88 Spurs Villa (h) Man City(a) Arsenal (h) Liverpool (a) 47 86 And so some changes. Now, if Arsenal win all we will finish above Man City with City dropping two points against Chelsea. The Spuds, with an unexpected loss at home are now about to drop out of the Table of Doom as their maximum is now the magical 86 required to win the league. They also flip-flop with Villa into 5th place. I really cannot see, at this point, anyone other than the top three winning the league. Villa and Spurs would virtually need perfect ends to their seasons and still it may not be enough. Has Ten Hag finally got things right? Man Utd winning leaves us the Champions League as a live contest, though. Brighton and downwards surely have too much to do? United, even with a perfect end to their season are very unlikely to get to the top, but may see 5th as achievable and that may happen if the English teams do well in Europe. All teams have to play big matches between now and the end but United seem to have a particularly tough run-in with Burnley and Sheffield United at home and Palace away the easiest. They will drop points as will Spurs and Villa but the latter two seem to have more about them. Easy peasy Champions League If my Champions League 68 points target is correct we need 13 from 13 and that would be a crushing disappointment to us, but could still get us into the Champions League. If we match exactly our form so far we have 2.2 points per game, which would give us 28.6 points from 13, rounded up to 29 gives us 84 and some chance of being champions. Will any of the top five go Spursy? Villa have an average of 1.96 points per game which makes 25.48 from 13, rounded down gives them 74 and comfortable. The Spuds have 1.88 points per game which gives them 24.44 from 13, rounded down gives them 71 but again comfortable for fifth place I feel. United have 1.76 points per game which gives them 22.88 from 13, rounded up and added to their 44 gives them 67. And, as I have said, they do seem to have a tough run of 13 still to play. The likelihood, to me, is that Man Utd will not make it barring a collapse in one or both of the two above. Hunger is key Will the fact that Arsenal have a comparatively easy run to the Champions League places affect our chase for the title? It depends on how hungry we are. Rice certainly seems to be as hungry a player as I have ever seen. He managed to get a trophy at West Ham which hasn’t happened there in a very long time. The players will all be acutely aware that we handed the title to City last year by playing rubbish towards the end. The pain of that could be the spur that drives us on this year. Is there a question whether we are good enough? I reckon that if we went player for player with City we would come up short but that is because they all have trophies and longer careers in the bag. We are still a young side. Declan Rice seems hungry So who would Guardiola play from Arsenal if he had his pick? Saka for sure, Rice I think and I feel White, Gabriel and Saliba would come into his reckoning. He does have superb creative midfielders so Odegaard may not be a priority. The point with Guardiola is that he always wants the best player in every position, a belief that he shares with George Graham. When he couldn’t get the type of striker he wanted, he played without one. When Haaland became available he grabbed him, knowing that he would have to change tactically to accommodate him. If he felt that Odegaard was better than what he had and he could get him, he would. If we win the league or Champions League this year, our players would then be reckoned to be up there with Pep’s best. May you live in strange times If Klopp goes, Liverpool may find him hard to replace. All that has happened this year has left us in the strangest period I have ever seen since I got into football. I find it very hard to say who will be challenging next season. Man Utd, Chelsea and Newcastle, all with huge resources, are not challenging for the title. Villa and Spurs have stepped up to the task but does that mean they will kick on and be pushing hard next season. City may be sanctioned for all we know, even if they do seem untouchable. City will probably be told to stand in the corner for a day Surely Arsenal should be challenging, though? We are young, we have been playing together for some time and most of our players are on long term contracts. We have a settled backroom team which seems to be united in improving the squad. But it could all go wrong if Arteta takes up a big offer. A new top five and a new winner? I suggested a couple of weeks ago here that there is likely to be big managerial changes in the Premier League by next season and we could be affected. At this moment I can’t feel confident that any of the teams' managers in the current top ten will be there come August and many new managers will surely have an effect on who challenges? Some will be tempted by top sides to switch and some will be fired for having their teams midtable. Seriously, who are your picks for top five next season? Normally it is easy enough, the big teams are simple to choose. I picked Villa for top four at the start of the season precisely because I felt that some of the big boys were misfiring. Now though, if City get sanctioned, Klopp leaves and Emery and Postecoglou get grabbed by top teams, and if Arteta also goes, then next year could be a free for all. Enzo Maresca - An Italian manager has done it before at Leicester It may be time to stick a little bet on an emerging team ready to take advantage of the possible chaos. Leicester, under Enzo Maresca, who has plenty of Man City experience? Lightning could strike twice. 5,000 to one anyone?