Author Archives: keenosafc

Arsenal need to learn Champions League lessons

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There is a lot that Arsenal can learn from Tuesday nights Champions League games ahead of tonight’s tie against CSKA Moscow.

The ultimate lesson is do not try and defend the lead.

Barcelona went to Rome with a 4-1 lead from the home league. They were in a similar situation as Arsenal face tonight. A 3 goal lead, but with the opponents having a crucial away goal.

Whilst Barcelona had the majority of the possession, they did little with it. Pass, pass, pass. Sideways, sideways, sideways. 57% of the possession resulting in just 9 shots.

Manchester City did similar with a 4-0 lead over Basel.

They were leading 4-0 from the away leg, but lost the home leg 2-1. Despite having 78% of the possession, and going 1-0 up, they were just not interested in scoring.

Liverpool in the first half against Manchester City on Tuesday was a similar story. They were defending deep, looking to hold on to what they had rather than increase their lead.

It was only in the second half when Liverpool decided to attack that the momentum of the tie changed. What was looking like being an incredible Manchester City come back ended up with Liverpool leaving the Manchester Commonwealth Games Stadium having won both the battle and the war.

Tonight Arsenal need to be aggressive. They need to come out and play their normal game. To attack. To not let CSKA Moscow get back in the game.

As we saw on Tuesday with both Barcelona and Manchester City, the first goal can change the complexion of the tie.

Manchester City scored in the first 3 minutes. This forced Liverpool even deeper. Had City’s second “goal” not been wrongly disallowed, I am sure they would have gone on to win the game.

Roma were similar. They scored in the 6th minute. And when Daniele De Rossi scored the second goal, Barcelona players looked scared.

In 90 minutes, it is the equivalent of being 2-0 up. You’re in control. Should cruise to the end. A few substitutes come on. Starting to relax. Then it is 2-1. It is hard to then get back on the front foot, get the mentality right, and often it ends up 2-2.

This is the same for Arsenal. At 4-1, we should get through, but we need to show the right attitude. We need to get on the front foot and ensure that we are dictating the game and being a threat. Just a single Arsenal goal in Moscow will change the tie, as it takes out the away goals. But to get that goal, Arsenal need to attack.

We saw is against Ostersunds.

A poor attitude led to sloppy defending which led to the Swedish minnows going 2-0 up after 23 minutes. Arsenal started the goal with the wrong attitude, thinking they could just pass their opponents off the pitch, and nearly ended up paying.

Against AC Milan, leading 2-0 from the away leg, Arsenal conceded first at home. Hakan Calhanoglu scoring from 30 yards looked to change the tie. Luckily Arsenal shook themselves down and responded quickly.

If we go 1-0 down tonight, we could be in for a long 90 minutes as the natural response will be to defend deeper.

Arsenal need to learn the lessons from the Champions League and come out attacking.

Be aggressive and we go through.

Keenos

Only The Arsenal matter

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Yesterday Liverpool proved that they are the greatest team of all time, with the greatest manager of all time. In Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain they have the most improved player of all time. The hyperbole from the media and fans was almost as cringe as Spurs appealing for a goal to be given to Harry Kane.

Fair play to Liverpool though. They were under dogs against Manchester City and performed well to knock them out – even though they got a huge slice of luck from the referee with a goal disallowed that would have made it 3-2 on aggregate.

Despite running away with the Premier League, Manchester City have now suffered 3 defeats in a row. 4 losses in 6 games, and 3 home losses on the trot.

It is not a massive surprise about Manchester City’s recent stumble.

At Bayern Munich, Pep Guardiola’s side always seemed to struggle in the last quarter of the season

In 2013/14, Munich messed up a chance of an unbeaten season when they drew 1, lost 2 on the spin. In April they were also defeated by Real Madrid in the Champions League. A year later, they lost 3 on the spin in the Bundesliga and were once more knocked out of the Champions league at the semi-final stage.

Whilst in both seasons, the defeats happened after the title was sown up, it still highlights a fall off in performance at the later end of the season.

Pep Guardiola is so intense, his training sessions, the way he deals with players, etc, that it is only natural that they get burn out. We are maybe now seeing the same with Manchester City.

A defeat to Spurs at the weekend could see Man City not securing the league title until May. It will be a case of limping over the line for a team that was considered one of the greatest in history (after the current Liverpool side).

Anyway, I did not watch the Champions League game. I have no real interest.

Instead I watched The Island with Bear Grylls. Great TV viewing if you are not already on it. Hopefully in the next episode, whalers will come along and harpoon the 3 poor people. Workshy, lazy, overweight wastes of oxygen. They are a disgrace to working class folk who grind 10 hours a day to put food on the table.

All I care about is Thursday. The Europa League.

At 4-1, you would think Arsenal are comfortable. But last night Barcelona went to Rome with a 4-1 lead from the home leg. They lost 3-0 and went out on away goals.

This result could be good for Arsenal. Arsene Wenger should make players watch the game on the flight to Moscow, to avoid complacency.

To those going out there, enjoy the game, stay safe.

A final thought of the day…

https://twitter.com/KeenosAFC/status/983802816065097729

Up the Arsenal.

Keenos

Reiss Nelson holds club to ransom to get new deal

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Reports are that Reiss Nelson is set to sign a new contract at Arsenal.

For me, Nelson highlights a lot of what is wrong with football at the minute.

Here we have an 18 year old who only made his first Premier League start last season. He is already idolised by fans. Being labelled as the “Next Big Thing”. Overhyped by fans who live their life on Twitter, watching YouTube clips.

Some advice. Rarely does the “Next Big Thing” become “The Next Big Thing”. Think David Bentley, Jermaine Pennant, Fran Merida, Chucks Aneke, Benik Afobe, Chuba Akpom and Gedion Zelalem.

For every Cesc Fabregas or Wayne Rooney, there are hundreds of players who look like world beaters at 16/17, but fall away.

I remember Everton having a run of the likes of Michael Branch, Danny Cadamarteri, Francis Jeffers and Nick Chadwick being labelled as the next top England striker before Wayne Rooney came through. Following Rooney was James Vaughan. Then in the midfield the likes of Jack Rodwell and ore recently, Ross Barkley.

In this country, we have a habit of overrating players before they have even got up to double figures in games.

We should be letting players develop at their own pace. Not hyping them up at 16, before writing them off at 20.

And hyping them up leads to point two.

Young players think their s**t don’t stink. They are told they are superstars from before they even sign their first deal.

The parents see them as cash cows, the clubs and coaches playing to their ego’s to boast their confidence.

This then leads to them demanding silly money from clubs without ever having played a game.

Ruben Loftus-Cheek was rumoured to have signed a £60,000 a week deal with Chelsea at just 20 and a handful of Premier League appearances. Before joining Liverpool, Dominic Solanke was holding out for similar before deciding to join Liverpool.

Kids these days demand silly money. And clubs are so worried about losing their teenage star, the next big thing, on a free to a rival, that they often end up paying it.

For every Marcus Rashford who deserves a decent pay cheque, there are countless others who never really justify what they earn.

It always frustrated me that Emmanuel Frimpong got a £30,000 a week deal after a couple of good performances. £1.5m a year. And he never did anything bar argue on Twitter.

Coming full circle, Reiss Nelson has been in a contract stand-off with Arsenal.

It might be reported that he wanted assurances about his future, but this is rubbish. It is all about money.

The days of Tony Adams and Ian Wright signing whatever was put in front of them are gone.

Reiss Nelson has been at Arsenal since he was 9. Instead of signing on the dotted line, earning more a month at 18 than most fans labelling him as the “Next Big Thing”, he would have been advised by his agent as to “what he could get elsewhere”. And then Arsenal have a choice. Match what Chelsea or Liverpool would have paid him (look what Liverpool did with Raheem Sterling and Jordan Ibe) or risk losing him.

And the pressure is on the clubs to pay.

Imagine Arsenal had put their foot down. Told Nelson to not hold the club to ransom. And he went and joined Chelsea. There would have been uproar. People would have been complaining that we had let him go.

Even though he has barely played for the club, and the odds are that he will rarely play in the future, people would have abused the club, abused Arsene Wenger, over it.

Giving players “superstar” status when they are just 16 gives them the bargaining chip when it comes to contract negotiations.

Gone are the days players had to earn their salary, earn their contract. The likes of Nelson could end up doing nothing with his Arsenal career. A 5-year-deal, a multi millionaire before he is 20, and he might never kick a top level ball again.

And it is us, the fans, who pay. Through our ticket prices, through our TV subscriptions.

Players becoming millionaires without having achieved anything.

That is why football fans begin to fill alienated. That is why England struggle.

This started off as a mini blog and has ended up as a full one. Just to clarify, I am not having a go at Nelson. He is just an 18-year-old whose agent has got him the best deal possible.

I am blaming society.

Keenos