Author Archives: keenosafc

Are Arsenal actually in the middle of a glory period?

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In researching for responses to yesterdays blog on how things at Arsenal are actually not as bad as what they seem, I ended up asking myself a question:

Are Arsenal actually in the middle of a glory period?

Now before you spit your tea out all over your monitor, hear me out.

Arsenal have won 3 FA Cups in 4 years. That is 3 trophies, 3 bits of silverware. Now some of you will already be saying the FA Cup is not enough. Well done for being brainwashed by Sky and UEFA to think that the only thing that matters is the Premier League and the Champions League.

I remember the days of the 90s, when we won the domestic cup double and then the European Cup Winners Cup in 1994. I could not tell you where we finished those years.

3 trophies in 4 years is a success, especially when you factor in that Arsenal’s hit rate since 1900 is just under a trophy every 4 years (give or take a bit of time for the World Wars). Interestingly, prior to 1996, it was a trophy every 5 years. So 3 trophies in 4 years is clearly well above our going rate.

Now I looked into it further, to try and establish what our most successful periods in our history are, and how does the current period compare:

What is clearly missing from the current successful period is a league title, but what is clear is when you look at the bigger picture, that over the 125+ year history of the club, we are in one of most successful eras. Don’t believe me?

Despite our reported demise, only 4 previous era’s have shown a better years per trophy period than the era we are currently in.

The above 5 eras span 37 years between them. That means that outside of these eras, we have had nearly 90 years of either no success, or just the single trophy.

Whilst we might all be a little bit despondent about the current era, history will show it in a good light, that we are in one of the more glorious eras of our history.

Embrace the success.

Keenos

Who can Arsenal face in the Europa League?

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Arsenal have a genuine chance of winning the Europa League – as long as we follow Manchester United’s lead from last year and start to take the competition serious.

With the likes of Atletico Madrid, Napoli and Borussia Dortmund dropping into the competition, Arsenal have shifted from favourites to 2nd favourites, but the reality is, whoever wins the competition tends to be whoever takes it the most serious.

Last season, Manchester United were sitting in 6th place, out of the title race and a long way from Top 4. The Europa League represented both an opportunity to qualify for the Champions League and a chance to win a trophy.

The first would satisfy the money men, whilst the second would satisfy for the fans.

Personally, I do not care that you qualify for the Champions League if you win the Europa League. What is more important is the silverware.

Te situation Arsenal find themselves in is a little different from Manchester United, in terms of we are a lot closer to a top 4 position in the Premier League than they were 12 months ago. This might make Arsene Wenger prioritise the league over the Europa League, but this would be a mistake.

I would rather we win the League Cup than finish top 4. A visit to Lyon in May 2018 should be the priority for Arsenal.

Arsenal’s last European success was way back in 1994. Did anyone really care that we finished 4th that season? I imagine most can not remember where we finished.

The year before, Arsenal won the domestic cup double. They finished 10th. 1995 saw a 5th placed finish, but saw us make a second European final in as many years. 1995 was not a great memory.

My point is, if you are winning things, or making finals, league position does not really matter – unless you also win the league.

We need to get away from the Sky brainwashing that the Premier League and Champions League is all that matters. It is not.

I want us to win the Europa League.

The draw is about to take place, so how does it work?

  • There will be two pots of clubs for the round of 32 draw: the 12 group winners and the four best third-ranked teams in the Champions League group stage are seeded.
  • The group winners and four best third-placed teams in the Champions League will be drawn against the 12 group runners-up and the remaining third-placed Champions League sides.
  • The seeded teams will be at home in the second leg.
  • No team can play a club from their Europa League group or a side from the same country. Additionally, teams from Russia and Ukraine cannot be drawn together.
  • Games will be played in principle on Thursdays 15 and 22 February with the exact schedule released after the draw.

And who can Arsenal face?

AEK Athens, Astana, Borussia Dortmund, Celtic, Copenhagen, Steaua Bucharest, Ludogorets, Lyon, Marseille, Napoli, Nice, Östersund, Partizan Belgrade, Real Sociedad, Spartak Moscow

Bring it on.

Keenos

Are things at Arsenal as disastrous as some are making out?

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I always think sometimes it is worthwhile taking a step away from something and looking at it from afar. That way you can often get a better perspective of what you are looking at.

Now Arsenal’s Premier League form – especially away- has been poor in 2017. We are already 16 points behind Manchester City, which is a gap that is too far to bridge. Man City are as short as 1/25 to win the title, Arsenal a massive 150/1.

But then on Sunday, during the Liverpool v Everton game, I got a bit of perspective of the situation we are in.

Arsenal are awful, apparently. The majority of the time during the game against Southampton and after, everyone was slagging us off. Highlighting how bad we are. The poor run we are on. Much of it was justified.

During the Scouse Derby, the commentator said Liverpool have been an irresistible force this season. I dropped this into a WhatsApp group and most people seemed to agree with the commentator. The

Liverpool had been brilliant this season. Their free flowing attacking football was superior to our turgid play that was not bringing us any results.

But then I posted up the league table. The brilliant Liverpool were just a single point ahead of Arsenal, and had only scored 4 more league goals. It bought some perspective to our thinking.

Yes, we are out of the title race, but everyone bar Manchester City is out of the title race.

We sit in 5th place, ahead of another irresistible force in Tottenham. We are just 3 points behind Chelsea. In fact, just 4 points separates Chelsea in 3rd and Spurs in 6th.

I am very much of the opinion that Manchester City are awesome this season. Chelsea, Liverpool, Arsenal and Spurs are all fairly average.  And Manchester United sit somewhere in between the two groups.

This was highlighted this weekend by Man U, Chelsea, Arsenal and Liverpool all failing to win.

The result against Southampton was a disappointing one, but some perspective needs to be used. We are not as poor as people are making out, likewise Liverpool, Spurs et al are not as good as people are making out.

Whilst we are talking about Liverpool, I have seen the Jurgen Klopp interview from Sunday. He looks a man under pressure.

People go on about him like he is a great manager. That he has transformed Liverpool. But again, if you take a step away and look from afar, what has he actually achieved?

In the two seasons Klopp has been at the club, Liverpool have finished 8th and 4th – the last two seasons of Brendan Rodger, Liverpool finished 2nd and 6th.

On top of this, Klopp is without a trophy in his first 2 seasons. A failure to win a cup this year will make it 3 seasons without a trophy.

How long will the media and Liverpool fans continue to gloss over his failures?

It is a bit like Tottenham. Everyone talking about how great they are, how great Pochettino is. But they have also won nothing.

Meanwhile, look at Arsenal. 3 FA Cups in 4 years and people say Arsene Wenger is not doing a good job.

Now I am not saying he is doing a good job, but he certainly is not doing a poor job. We have perhaps become trophy snobs. The FA Cup no longer deemed good enough. Deemed enough.

But then looking through history, this is the 4th most successful period in Arsenal’s history (1930-37, 1987-1993, 1998-2005). 3 trophies in 4 years.

Things may not feel great at Arsenal at the moment, but we are still in with a chance of winning 3 competitions.

Have a little positivity in your life. It is Christmas after all.

Keenos