Author Archives: keenosafc

Arsenal match day has become a disorganised mess

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Ever get the feeling you are not wanted somewhere?

That is what it feels like going down The Arsenal at the moment.

What the club are playing it with the organisation of a match day I do not know.

For 15 years getting into the Emirates has been a fairly easy task. Small queues before the turnstiles but usually no more than a 5 minute wait.

When the terror level was raised a few years ago they introduced a “Coat check point” at the bridges and stairs where you basically need to open your jacket. A steward also gave you a pat down at the turnstiles.

Even these changes made to keep us safe barely had an affect on how long it would take to get into the stadium.

And then we come to this season.

We appreciate the Covid issues, but getting into the stadium has been a nightmare this season. And for Wimbledon midweek it was the worst “experience” of the season.

They had barriers up at the turnstiles to get people in line before getting to the turnstiles. This create a huge amount of overcrowding around the stadium, with queue times of up to half an hour.

It is almost like the club are making it deliberately hard to get into the stadium quickly which in turn will force people to get into the ground earlier, and boost beer, food and merchandise sales within the ground.

For a fan like me who turns up at 14:55 it has created an unworkable situation.

I do not want to get to the ground early. Drink crap beer in  soulless atmosphere. But if I do not do that I will probably end up missing the first 10-15 minutes.

And then we come onto the beer.

Usually 2 of me mates would go into a queue and buy half a dozen beers for the 6 of us, or however many are standing around at half time wanting a pint.

But against Wimbledon everything changed. Maximum of 2 beers per person.

This was frustrating for two counts.

The first is that it was not advertised. No signage. Nothing.

So me mate queued for 10 minutes to get a beer for us all, then returned with just 2. The rest of us died a thirst.

Secondly it leads to more queues.

Now two people can not go and get 6 beers together. Not even 1 fella grabbing 3 beers. Anything more than 2 and you will need an extra person. And then an extra transaction. For why?

Do they think the one geezer on his own is buying 3 beers at half time to drink them all on his own? He is clearly buying for him and his mates.

So now we end up with double the length queues, double the transactions.

The restriction has never been in place in the Emirates. The ground is not cauldron of booze filled hate.

You then have the new queuing system to get beers.

No longer do you just queue up looking at the bar.

They have added barriers in an attempt to get everyone queuing up in one long, straight line. Another ridiculous decision.

Taking into account Covid, you would think the club would want as few people queuing as possible. But whatever the club has introduced has led to more queues.

Longer queues to get into the ground. Longer queues to grab a beer.

What is really odd is the club want you to spend money. They want you in the ground earlier and quicker.

And anyone who has ever worked in a bar will know speed or serving is the most important thing.

Serve someone, get straight onto the next one.

So now it is “get to the ground 90 minutes before” on one hand but then “we are going to make you queue longer to get a beer” on the other.

It all just does not add up.

I saw someone on Twitter state that this is the club getting its own back on the so-called “legacy fans” following the protests over the European League. That they are trying to make the “match day experience” a miserable one so that people get feed up, don’t renew, and it opens more seats up to be sold to tourists.

This of course would make no sense as it has been shown this season that the club is struggling to sell out. They frighten off someone like me who has been going for 30 years, they might not replace me.

Maybe they just do not want a certain type of fan in the ground anymore?

They do not want someone having a pint at half time. They want those who will buy a pie and a bag of sweets.

I have no idea what the club are doing, but it could make Sunday very interesting inside and out the ground…

Keenos

Arsenal fans should not worry about Saka’s drop in form

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Bukayo Saka. Arsenal’s “Starboy”.

His rise in the last two years has been astronomical.

From a youngster given the chance in the Europa League to one of the first names on the team sheet and England regular.

He was one of the stars for England in the summer, and fans beyond Arsenal fell in love with the unicorn riding sweetheart.

Bukayo Saka: Atletico Madrid and Juventus interested as Arsenal demand at least £43m – Paper Round - Eurosport

A popular young man within both the England and Arsenal squad, his rawness, fearlessness and that smile won the hearts and minds of both club and national fans.

Big things were expected of him this season as he progressed from youngster with potential to global superstar. But his start to the season has been a bit of a damp squid. Underwhelming.

In his 7 appearances this season, he is yet to register and assist and his sole goal came against WBA in the League Cup.

He is touching the ball less than he did in previous seasons. Less passes, less key passes, a lower pass completion ratio. He is also dribbling less, not running at opponents as much.

So why is Saka struggling?

Still a young man

It has to be remembered that Saka is still just 20-years-old. He is still a young man making his way in the game.

Players have dips in form. Even world class players like Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang.

Dips in form are even more common in younger players, which is why it is important not to get on their back when they have a tough spell.

It is times like now he potentially needs an arm around him. Taken out of the limelight a little. Rested.

Whilst the tabloids would read Saka as being rotated out of the team as “Saka dropped”, it would actually be a physical and mental breather. Something he has not really had in the last 2 years.

Euro 2020 hangover

Saka was sparkling during the 2021 tournament – playing ahead of much senior players. But his competition ended in sadness as he missed the crucial penalty that led to Italy winning.

That penalty led to some horrendous racial abuse across social media from fans across the globe.

No one deserves the abuse he, Marcus Rashford and Jadon Sancho got. And at just 19 he should have been protected.

And he did get protected. Fans came out in support of the trio. England did. The FA did. Arsenal did.

Whilst the smile is still on his face, we do not know if the abuse has affected him deeper. Has hit his self-confidence. He is a smart young man and will come out the other end a mentally stronger player. But for now his mind seems a little off.

No real pre-season

Saka came on in the 63rd minute of the Tottenham pre-season game. It was almost a month after Arsenal had started their pre-season games.

Due to the Euro’s, he did not get the pre-season that many of his team mates did. Nor did he get the break following 2 almost back to back seasons.

Saka is not the only England player struggling for form.

Harry Kane is yet to register a goal. Raheem Sterling scored just once. Phil Foden yet to start and Jadon Sancho yet to contribute much to Manchester United.

Despite his lack of break and pre-season, Saka has played a part in every Arsenal game this season.

Last season only Bernd Leno played more game – Saka appeared in 46 of the clubs 58 games. He also played 7 games for England.

Add in the season before where he became rarely missed a game after breaking through in September. He has gone from not even being in the match day squad to playing 95% of games.

Did Arsenal bring him back from pre-season too early? Knowing that we had two tough games against Manchester City and Chelsea in the first 3 games, should we have given him more of a break and only bought him back into the first team after the first international break?

Arsenal have not started great

We are now 3 wins from the last 3 games in all competitions. But we started the season with 3 Premier League defeats.

It would be completely unfair to blame Saka for those 3 defeats. No Arsenal player covered themselves with glory in the opening 3 games.

Senior players like Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang and Nicolas Pepe started poorly; and both had a proper pre-season. Not one Arsenal player can put his hand up and say he played well against Brentford, Man City or Chelsea.

The victories over Norwich City and Burnley were also not particularly great performances.

Hard fought 1-nil wins where non of the attacking players covered themselves in glory.

Saka’s poor form is simply mirroring Arsenal’s current struggles.

The future

There is no doubting Saka’s talent.

Perhaps unfairly some have compared him to Adnan Januzaj who looked OK in a poor Manchester United team but then failed to kick on. Their fans overhyped his average performances.

Saka has certainly proved for Arsenal and England that he is more than just a hyped up youngster. But he now does have to kick on.

Nicolas Pepe is often singled out by Arsenal fans for criticism. Mainly due to his price tag.

Last year the Ivorian scored 16 goals, and assisted 5. Saka scored just 7 with 9 assists.

Saka does need to improve his output and start producing similar figures to Pepe.

The problem is Arsenal are perhaps relying too much on the performances of a just-turned-20 year-old.

It is the likes of Aubameyang, Pepe and Alex Lacazette that need to step up and produce the goods. That will then allow less pressure and expectation to be on the shoulders of Saka.

Saka will regain his form soon. I am sure of that.

There is an international break coming up in 2 weeks. Personally I would like Southgate to not select Saka – and him also not be called up to the U21s. Give him 2 weeks without a game. Let him have a completed break from thinking about football for the first week. Go away somewhere to relax and recharge.

The reality is he will be picked by Southgate, and will continue to be over relied upon and over played by Arsenal.

The lad needs a break from football but might not get it until next summer.

Saka is still Arsenal’s starboy. He just needs a break.

Keenos

MATCH REPORT: Arsenal 3 – 0 AFC Wimbledon

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Arsenal (1) 3 AFC Wimbledon (0) 0

Carabao Cup (EFL Cup) Third Round

Emirates Stadium, Drayton Park, London N5 1BU

Wednesday, 22nd September 2021. Kick-off time: 7.45pm

(4-3-1-2) Bernd Leno; Cédric Soares, Rob Holding, Pablo Marí, Nuno Tavares; Ainsley Maitland-Niles, Thomas Partey, Alexandre Lacazette; Albert Sambi Lokonga; Eddie Nketiah, Gabriel Martinelli.

Substitutes: Bukayo Saka, Emile Smith-Rowe, Calum Chambers, Mohamed Elneny, Folarin Balogun, Sead Kolašinac, Karl Hein.

Scorers: Alexandre Lacazette (11 mins), Emile Smith-Rowe (77 mins), Eddie Nketiah (80 mins)

Arsenal Possession Percentage: 62%

Referee: Jarred Gillett

Assistant Referees: Lee Betts and Constantine Hatzidakis

Fourth Official: David Coote

Attendance: Attendance: 56,276

And so the third round of the Carabao Cup comes around quicker than we believed, and with it the early expectation of proceeding towards a Wembley final next year. However, as we have found out to our cost in the past, let us not run before we can walk, put such lofty thoughts away and just concentrate on the match in hand. As we know, Granit Xhaka is not available tonight as he is serving the last of a three-match ban for his red card at the Etihad Stadium just over three weeks hence, and although Mohamed Elneny’s hamstring will be assessed ahead of the game, the rest of the squad is fully fit and ready to do battle with The Dons here at the Emirates this evening.

Another match, another new starting formation, hopefully one that will be successful tonight. Thomas Partey had a good start to the match, looking confident in midfield, putting in tackles when needed and spraying balls around to the forwards. After just eleven minutes, Gabriel Martinelli was brought down in the penalty area, and the referee had no option but to point to the spot; Alexandre Lacazette made no mistake in opening the scoring for us tonight, sending the Wimbledon goalkeeper the wrong way. In the ascendancy now, we are playing confident football. Thomas Partey and Ainsley Maitland-Niles exchange a couple of one-touch passes in midfield before the latter cleverly threaded the ball through for goalscorer Alexandre Lacazette, who tried to backheel it into the path of Gabriel Martinelli but the visitors’ defence neutralised the move. Wimbledon started to come back into the match with one or two interesting moves which led to a half-hearted attempt by Luke McCormick which was easily dealt with by Gabriel Martinelli, who slumped to the ground with an injury, but thankfully it appeared to be a minor one, and he soon resumed playing after a couple of minutes, getting into the thick of the action with a superb cross into the Wimbledon penalty area for Alexandre Lacazette, which was cleared by Will Nightingale. We started to dominate the match now, and it looked like the visitors had no answers for our quick, passing play in and around the box, with Alexandre Lacazette, Albert Sambi Lokonga and Eddie Nketiah getting mighty close to scoring with their superb efforts. Gabriel Martinelli came close to scoring after clever link-up play with Alexandre Lacazette, and as half-time approached, it would have been good to grab a second goal to firm things up a bit. Then, incredibly, a Cédric Soares corner was whipped into the Wimbledon penalty area, but a defender headed it up in the air and it dropped back onto the line, where goalkeeper Nik Tzanev pushed it onto the bar, before any of our players could force it home. Incredibly, a couple of minutes later, the half-time whistle blew and how we did not manage to grab a second goal before the break was nothing short of unbelievable.

And so the second half started, with Arsenal not moving the ball around as quick as they did in the first half, but still dominating possession nonetheless. Thomas Partey and Gabriel Martinelli were linking together well tonight, and both were doing their best to unlock the Wimbledon defence. On the hour, Thomas Partey was replaced by Emile Smith-Rowe to give the lads a bit of bite for the last half hour of the match, and almost immediately he got into the game and made himself a nuisance by passing a great ball to Cédric Soares, whose right-footed shot was miraculously saved by the goalkeeper. The match started to stagnate, then Mikel Arteta sent on Bukayo Saka, who replaced a fatigued Gabriel Martinelli.and within minutes, thanks to the zest and fire of the substitutes, we grabbed our second goal of the night. Alexandre Lacazette noticed that Emile Smith-Rowe was in a predatory position, so he slotted the ball to him, and he wasted no time in scoring a superb goal from just inside the penalty area with his trusty left foot. Our confidence was on the up now, and just after Albert Sambi Lokonga’s shot was blocked by a Wimbledon defender, Cédric Soares delivered the ball to Eddie Nketiah, who made no mistake in scoring our third goal of the night from close range with a clever backheeled shot. That goal was the last act of the night for Eddie Nketiah, who was replaced by Folarin Balogun with just ten minutes of the match remaining. By now, we were doing exactly what we wanted to with clever off-the-ball movements and superb passing between the players. Literally, on the ninetieth minute, Bukayo Saka picked the ball up just inside the Wimbledon half, turned the defender, then cut inside onto his left foot and curled the ball inches wide of the far post; there was one or two efforts in injury time, but in essence, the match was over, and when referee Jarred Gillett blew the whistle for full-time, the sense of relief from the Wimbledon team was obvious. We now go on to meet Leeds United in the fourth round of the Carabao Cup at the Emirates on Wednesday, 27th October.

To be fair, the statistics of the match tell their own story. Despite one or two iffy moments, Wimbledon didn’t manage a shot on our goal, and with sixty-two percent possession, our dominance was thre for all to see. The nost important thing was that we finished the game with no injuries, and with the North London derby coming up on Sunday afternoon, we need all out players fit for the visit of Tottenham Hotspur at the Emirates.

Remember everyone, keep the faith, get behind the team and the manager, as this season is going to be crucial for our future success in all competitions. Stick with the winners. Our next match: Tottenham Hotspur at the Emirates on Sunday, 26th September at 4.30pm (Premier League). Be there, if you can. Victoria Concordia Crescit.

Steve

Too Dearly Loved To Be Forgotten: Arsenal v Racing Club de Paris 1930-1962 by Steve Ingless (Rangemore Publications, ISBN 978-1-5272-0135-4) is now available on Amazon.