Category Archives: Arsenal

Do you demand failure before success?

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Over the last week, I have seen the same sort of thinking floating about Arsenal fans, opposing fans, and the media:

Liverpool win the league
Manchester City in the FA Cup final
Newcastle United win the League Cup
Tottenham or Manchester United will win the Europa League
Chelsea in the Conference League final
Meanwhile Mikel Arteta in Phase 8 finishes trophyless again

This sort of thinking has frustrated me, as the Arsenal fans pedalling it are essentially saying they want failure before they get success. And the success they are promoting for other teams would need be deemed a success if it was Arsenal.

Liverpool win the league

No doubt that this has been a hugely successful season under Arne Slott for Liverpool. No one expected them to win the league this year. They have basically done what we did in 2022/23, but did not have Manchester City winning 14 our of 15 games to overhaul them.

But the mocking tone of “Slott has done in a year what Arteta could not in 5-years and £800m” is misguided.

The situation Slott and Arteta came into was vastly different.

Slott took over a Liverpool team that finished 3rd last season and 5th the season before. It was a squad of players that had struggled with form and fitness over those two seasons. But ultimately it was a core of players who won the league, finished 2nd twice, and breached 90 points 3 times in the 4 seasons prior to 2022/23.

Under Slott, Mo Salah refound his mojo and this is solely what has driven them to the league.

Phase one of Arteta was shipping out the ageing, over paid, underperforming players that had us sitting in 13th when he took over. Slott did not need to do this.

Phase two was building a team without Champions League football. A team that would see us get back into the top 4. Again, Slott did not need to do this.

Phase three was then building a team that could consistently challenge for the league title. This is the phase Arsenal are currently at, and the phase that Slott walked into.

Slott did not need 3 phases, 3 years of building and £800m to make a title challenging team. He walked into one. Just like Pep’s successor will also walk into a title challenging team.

Now we could argue that Phase four is building a title winning team, but I do not think this phase exists. Winning the title is the end game of Phase three, not a new phase in itself.

So well done to Liverpool. Nothing went wrong for them this season. No major injuries, not drop in form of its superstars, and no decisions really going against them. All things that went against Arsenal this season.

Manchester City in the FA Cup final

For me, winning the FA Cup and finishing top 4 is a success. But for many other Arsenal fans, it is failure.

Under Arsene Wenger, when we won 3 FA Cup’s in 4 years and were consistently finishing top 4, the narrative was “top 4 and winning the FA Cup is not enough. We want to be challenging for the league”.

So how is it those fans who were loudest critics of Wenger are now complaining that we are league challengers (although this season our challenge did not sustain into the final 3rd of the season), but not winning the FA Cup?

It shows that some fans change the narrative to suit the agenda. And that agenda is to just moan all the time.

If we were 3rd in the table, 18 points off top, but in the FA Cup final, would you be happy or moaning? Are you painting another team as having a successful season, when if the same parameters were for us you would be crying failure?

Newcastle United win the League Cup

For a team like Newcastle, winning the League Cup is a huge success. And if they finish top 4 (or now top 5 with the Champions League extra spot), it will feel like a double success.

Imagine after gameweek 16 we were 12th in the table, despite no European football. Would you be happy with Arteta? No.

Had we won the League Cup, but in gameweek 30 we were 6th, would you be celebrating a great season? No. Newcastle’s successful season would be deemed a failure for Arsenal and we would all (rightly) be calling for Arteta to be sacked, with a League Cup win not enough to save his job.

Tottenham or Manchester United will win the Europa League

The Europa League is not the competition it was.

These days, without failing Champions League dropping into it (correct decision), it is much easier to win. The quality of teams in the quarter finals onwards was poor. It would actually be a failure for teams of Tottenham or Manchester United’s calibre did not make the final.

Tottenham qualified for the Europa League by finishing 5th, in the same season Arsenal went to the final day of the season in with a chance to win the league title. Ironically, had Spurs won on the last day of the season, they would have finished top 4 and qualified for the Champions League. Instead they celebrated losing as it ensured Arsenal did not win the title (if the situation’s were switched, we also would have celebrated).

Tottenham in the Europa League final is a success for them. But would you rather finish 5th and qualify for the Europa League? Or take Man City to the final day of the season?

As for Manchester United, they qualified for the Europa League by winning the FA Cup. But they finished 8th. If they win the Europa League this season, there fans will be boasting about winning the League Cup, FA Cup and Europa League in back to back to backseasons. But if this was Arsenal, fans would be saying the trophies just paper over the cracks (in fairness, many Manchester United fans are also saying the same).

Over the last 4 seasons, would you have been happy finishing 6th, 3rd, 8th and 15th, whilst winning the League Cup, FA Cup and Europa League? Or would you see this period as failure?

Chelsea in the Conference League final

The most laughable of them all.

The Conference League is a tinpot competition developed from sides in fringe leagues across Europe, and lesser top European league teams such as West Ham. For Chelsea to be playing in the Conference League, it means they were failures the year before.

Now I would caveat that last season, 6th got you in the Conference League due to Manchester United winning the FA Cup. This year it could be 8th that qualifies for Europe’s 3rd tier competition.

Chelsea fans will claim their side has “completed football” if they win the Conference League. But to claim that they are then celebrating failure. The only reason the likes of Bayern Munich, Real Madrid or Barcelona have not “completed football” is because they never finish low enough to qualify for sub-par competitions.

Completing football actually means you have not been consistently good.

Chelsea winning the Europa League would be the equivalent of Everton the EFL Trophy. Yes, they would get a day out at a final and a trophy to life, but to win it they would need to have been relegated twice, down to League One. Should you really be celebrating “success” when you have needed so much failure to have a chance at that “success”?

Finally I come on to Aston Villa.

Throughout this season I have had Villa and some Arsenal fans saying how Unai Emery has proven Arsenal were wrong to get rid of him, and that he has had a hugely successful season.

Yes, they had an excellent league run in the Champions League, but ultimately they were knocked out at the quarter final stage and currently sit 7th in the table. They will also finish trophyless.

It just shows that others team success will (rightly) be considered a failure.

So finally, before you dig Arteta out for failing to win a trophy, ask yourself: Would you want other the teams league failure that led to them qualifying for lower competitions?

If your answer is no, then stop using the potential “success” of Manchester United, Chelsea and Tottenham as a stick to beat Arteta with.

I would rather lose a Champions League semi-final to PSG then win a Europa League final against Norway’s 4th best team.

Keenos

Celebrations in Waltham Cross as Tottenham fans honour 60-years as a London club

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Residents across South Herts celebrated yesterday as Tottenham Hotspur honoured 60-years as a London Club.

Tottenham were founded in 1882, but only became a London club in 1965 following the London Government Act 1963, when the municipal borough was combined with Hornsey and Wood Green to form the present-day London Borough of Haringey.

Prior to 1965 and becoming part of London, Tottenham was a local government district in the abolished historic county of Middlesex.

Before becoming a London club, Tottenham were fairly successful and were comfortably Middlesex’s most decorated football team.

With 2 league titles, 4 FA Cups and a Cup Winners Cup to their name, Tottenham’s then owners would have hoped that becoming a London club might lead them to challenging close rivals Arsenal, who had been a London club since Woolwich, Kent was incorporated into London in 1889.

Arsenal moved to Highbury, North London in 1913 – 52 years before Tottenham became a London club. The move saw The Arsenal go from a trophyless, struggling club to one of the most successful in English football.

Tottenham’s time as a London side started off promising, winning the FA Cup in 1967.

By 1973, Tottenham had added a UEFA Cup and 2 League Cups to their honours list. 4 trophies in just 8-years led their owners to consider the move into London as a great success.

However, just 6 further trophies have followed in the next 52 years and in 1977 they became the embarrassment of North London as they were relegated.

With no league titles as a London club, fans yearn for those Middlesex years, with many blaming the then Government for forcing them to become part of London Borough of Haringey as a reason for the lack of success.

There would be no argument that had Tottenham been absorbed into Hertfordshire, rather than London, then they would be the biggest club in the county and on par with the likes of Ipswich Town and Norwich City as clubs that dominate their region.

Despite 60-years as a London club, Tottenham have struggled to create a strong fan base within North London. Many of those growing up in the region supporting the most established and successful Arsenal.

Spurs’s core support remains within South Hertfordshire. In towns such as Waltham Cross, Cheshunt and Broxbourne that were also formally part of Middlesex. They continue to also have a strong fanbase in the London Borough of Enfield, also formally of Middlesex. But their support dwindles as you enter Harringey and move southwards.

At Northumberland Park on a game day, the northbound platform heading towards Hertfordshire is usually overloaded with Spurs fans heading back north of the M25. The Southbound platform heading towards Finsbury Park and Central London is dominated by away fans.

Many fans had called for Hertfordshire County Council to designate yesterday as an official day of celebration. Whilst this was rejected by the Council, it did not stop hundreds of loyal Tottenham fans from taking to The Moon and Cross in Waltham Cross to celebrate 60-years of being a London club.

Everyone we spoke to on the day said they had one dream. To see Tottenahm with the league as a London club.

Keenos

Arsenal agree deal for “generational” Tottenham talent

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The next Messi. The new Neymar. A Gareth Bale regen. That is just a few of the tags Tottenham fans have put on teenage sensation Mikey Moore.

The 17-year-old has been labelled a generational talent, with some going on to claim that he could become England’s greatest ever player. Not since John Bostock have Tottenham fans been as hyped for a player in their academy.

Moore’s performances at U18 and PL2 level have peaked the interest of many top clubs, with the likes of Real Madrid, Bayern Munich, Manchester City and Rangers keeping an eye on him. But it appears like Arsenal have stolen a march on their rivals.

According to Italian media outlet Pesce d’Aprile, Arsenal have agreed a contract with Moore’s representatives believed to be in the region of £142,025 a week.

2025/26 appearances2025/26 goals2025/26 assists2025/26 minutes
Premier League701181
Europa League511307
FA Cup200114
EFL Cup20030
Total1612632

Mikel Arteta reportedly sees Moore as cover to Bukayo Saka and Gabriel Martinelli, with the youngster reportedly happy to play second fiddle to the pair and learn from two of the best wingers currently in world football.

The expectation at Arsenal is that if Moore continues to improve at his current rate, he will could a regular first team starter at the club in 2-3 years time.

New Arsenal Sporting Director Andrea Berta will now look to open talks with Tottenham and agree a transfer fee.

Keenos