Category Archives: Arsenal

2021/22 – “A season of highs and lows”

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And that is the end of the 2021/22 season.

There are two sensible schools of thought on how the season went.

The first is from those who recognise that 5th was our main target of the season; and we finished 5th.

The second is those that saw us move into pole position for top 4 and then bottled it towards the end of the season.

There is a 3rd school of thought but that is held be Arsenal incels and so insignificant that we will not bother discussing it.

The reality is one and two are correct.

5th was our target, we did finish 5th, but we should have finished 4th.

We started off the season in horrendous form – losing out first 3 games of the season.

A Covid hit squad and two tough games against the two favourites of the season saw us sitting bottom of the table 3 games in.

But we rebuilt, going on an 8 game unbeaten run which dragged us up to 5th.

This was a season of peaks and troughs. We seemed to go on long winning (or unbeaten) runs and then would lose games in clusters.

That first cluster was the first 3 games of the season. The second came after our 8 game unbeaten run. We would then lose 3 of the next 4.

It was the manner of the defeats to Everton and Manchester United that hurt so much.

Neither team were the sides of yesteryear and in both games we took the lead and dominated. Only to come away with nothing.

Missed chances and sloppy goals. If anything cost us top 4, it was those back to back defeats.

The defeat to Everton in early December left us 7th. Champions League dreams extinguished.

9 victories in the next 11 games followed – the only defeat at home to Manchester City. A victory for the referee that game.

That form saw us break into the top 4 for the first time this season and, with 12 games to go, it was in our hands!

Then the 3rd cluster of defeats – triggered for the 2nd time of the season by a defeat to Liverpool.

4 defeats in 5 games saw us tumble from 4th to 6th.

Losses to Crystal Palace, Southampton and Brighton alongside injuries to Kieran Tierney and Thomas Partey had us questioning whether we would even make Europa League.

Then an away win against Chelsea – easily our best away day in years – was followed up by another 3 solid wins.

3 games to go, 4 points ahead of Spurs in 5th. On paper we should have finished top 4. But that trip to Newcastle was always going to be a potential banana skin.

And so it proved to be just that.

Had we beaten Spurs, we would have guaranteed ourselves top 4 with 2 games to go.

Instead they took advantage of some poor refereeing and closed the gap to 1 point. We then went and lost to Newcastle, a defeat which all but handed 4th place to Tottenham.

When we dissect how we lost 4th, the 4 clusters of defeats is something that needs to be looked at.

We can not expect to be challengers if 1 defeat brings another 2 or 3. We need better bouncebackability.

A key factor in us finishing 4th was Tottenham’s results against 1st and 2nd in the league.

Spurs were unbeaten against Manchester City and Liverpool – beaten the former twice and drawing both games against the latter.

That is 8 points taken from games against the league title challengers. We took 0.

Both Liverpool and Manchester City play into Tottenham’s long ball tactics.

High lines exposed them to those high balls, a Harry Kane flick on and Son running in behind.

Yes, we were probably masters of our own downfall, but a side taking 8 points from the champions and runners up has probably never happened before. And will probably never happen again.

Tottenham also signed two players in January that made in impact. Meanwhile we took the risk and let a lot of players leave without getting in replacements.

Some would argue that the risk did not pay off as we missed out on top 4. But if the target was 5th, and that target was still the same in January, then surely the risk paid off?

Would we have finished 4th if we had kept Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang? I actually think probably not.

We were 7th following his last ever game. Following his exclusion (and eventual sale) we went on our best run of the season gaining 28 out of 33 points.

The honeymoon period is also clearly over for the Gabonese striker at Barcelona – he has just 4 goals in his last 12 games.

Had we signed Dusan Vlahovic in January, I think we would have finished 3rd. But once that deal did not materialise, we were correct in not signing someone else.

Big money spent on a striker that we did not really want would be big money we would be unable to spend this summer. And signing a Dominc Calvert-Lewis or Alexander Isak in January might not have got us that 4th placed finished.

So in summary, I am happy with our 2021/22 season.

We now need a repeat of last summers transfer window – buy 3 players that come into our first team and a further 2 or 3 that improve the squad.

Let us know your thoughts on the season in the comments.

Thanks for reading this year.

Keenos

MATCH REPORT: Arsenal 5 – 1 Everton

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Arsenal (2) 5 Everton (1) 1

Premier League

Sunday, 22nd May 2022. Kick-off time: 4.00pm

(4-2-3-1) Aaron Ramsdale; Cédric Soares, Rob Holding, Gabriel Magalhães, Nuno Tavares; Mohamed Elneny, Granit Xhaka; Bukayo Saka, Martin Ødegaard, Gabriel Martinelli; Eddie Nketiah.

Substitutes: Bernd Leno, Ben White, Alexandre Lacazette, Emile Smith-Rowe, Nicolas Pépé, Albert Sambi Lokonga, Salah-Eddine Oulad M’Hand, Zak Swanson, Charlie Patino.

Scorers: Gabriel Martinelli (27 mins), Edddie Nketiah (31 mins), Cédric Soares (55 mins), Gabriel (59 mins), Martin Ødegaard (83 mins)

Arsenal Possession Percentage: 74%

Referee: Andre Marriner

Assistant Referees: Simon Long, Scott Ledger

Fourth Official: James Linington

VAR Team at Stockley Park: VAR Lee Mason; AVAR Mark Scholes

Attendance: 60,201

A very important last day of the season, let us not be in any doubt about it. We were outplayed by Newcastle United at St James’ Park last Monday, but really, as we know, it is not a question of us lacking quality on the pitch; unfortunately we just do not have enough players showing the necessary leadership quality and grit to step up and be counted when it truly matters. The proof of the pudding is very firmly in the eating against the Toffees (no pun intended) this afternoon, realistically. However, Takehiro Tomiyasu is injured unfortunately, and has ben replaced by Cédric Soares. Rob Holding comes in for Ben White and Gabriel Martinelli starts instead of Emile Smith-Rowe, who is on the substitute’s bench today

We started the fastest side of the two at the Emirates today, and our fans are in good voice, singing Patrick Vieira’s name loudly, whilst former Spurs midfielder Dele Alli’s first touch was met with boos and catcalls, which is only to be expected under the circumstances. After just seven minutes, Bukayo Saka grabbed the ball, turned and shot over the bar, which was a very good chance early on that was wasted. However a minute or so later, Mohamed Elneny’s shot from outside the penalty area was blocked by Jarrad Branthwaite, and our dominance in the early stages of the game was there for all to see with excellent chances by Eddie Nketiah, Gabriel Martinelli and Martin Ødegaard being all blocked or kicked away by a panicky Everton defence. Abdoulaye Doucouré fouled Gabriel Martinelli deep in the Everton half, but the resulting free-kick went wide for an Arsenal corner, which went nowhere, sadly. Eddie Nketiah got very close to scoring with a curling left-footed shot that flew over the bar, which he superbly controlled after receiving the ball from Granit Xhaka’s pinpoint cross into the Everton penalty area. Just before the half hour, former Gunner Alex Iwobi handled the ball, and after referee Andre Marriner consulted the VAR team at Stockley Park (as well as looking at the pitchside monitor), a penalty was awarded. Gabriel Martinelli made no mistake from the spot, despite some desperate tricks by Asmir Begovic trying to delay the penalty, but he was sent the wrong way by a first-class strike drom our man. Four minutes later, we grabbed a well-deserved second goal when Gabriel Martinelli flicked on a beautiful headed pass from a corner into the path of Eddie Nketiah, who headed the ball into the back of the net from very close range into the centre of the goal. We were in complete control here at the Emirates this afternoon. Mohamed Elneny’s strong right-footed shot from outside the box went far too high, following a corner, and after a superb Bukayo Saka shot that went unbelievably wide, Andre Marriner blew the whistle for the half-time break following three minutes’ injury time, in which the visitors got a goal back through Donny van de Beek which was totally against the run of play.

Everton had the best of the early exchanges, winning a corner and a couple of free-kicks, and it has to be said, that it rather looks like a second half revival here. Nine minutes after the restart, Nuno Tavares nearly grabbed our third, but his well-struck shot went over Asmir Begovic’s goal, incredibly, and a couple of minutes later, following a corner and a classy assist from Bukayo Saka, we scored our third goal of the afternoon when Cédric Soares’ right footed shot went from the centre of the box to the high centre of the goal for our third of the afternoon; Gabriel grabbed our fourth goal just before the hour mark, with a strong left-footed shot that hit the back of the Everton net following a corner. Things are looking good, the crowd are jubilant, and with half an hour of the match remaining, the game is in the bag. Albert Sambi Lokonga replaced Granit Xhaka after sixty-three minutes and although there is still someway to go, game management appears to be the order of the day as far as Arsenal are concerned. Alexandre Lacazette took the captain’s armband as he replaced Eddie Nketiah on sixty-six minutes, and both sides appear to be plodding towards the end of the season, casually giving free-kicks and corners away liberally. However, with fifteen minutes of the match remaining, Gabriel Martinelli slotted the ball to Albert Sambi Lokonga, whose right-footed shot from the left side of the penalty area was unbelievably saved by Asmir Begovic as the ball looked destined for the bottom left corner of the net. With twelve minutes of the game remaining, Nicolas Pépé replaced Bukayo Saka in order to get another goal here at the Emirates, which, funnily enough, actually happened with seven minutes to go when Martin Ødegaard simply and clinically sidefooted the ball into the Everton net from twenty yards. The last act of this troubled season came from Nicolas Pépé, whose left-footed shot from outside the box was saved spectacularly by Asmir Begovic in the Everton goal in the fourth minute of injury time. Seconds later, referee Andre Marriner blew his whistle to bring both the match and the season to a conclusion. Too little, too late.

And so we finished the 2021-22 season in fifth place in the Premiership table, two points behind Tottenham Hotpsur, agonisingly. Arsenal played 38, won 22, drew 3, lost 13, goals 61 for, 48 against, a goal difference of 13 and a final points tally of 69. Although we finished higher than we did last year, it is still not good enough for a club such as ours, quite frankly, especially when you look at how much money was spent on players in the close season, and a “dry” January with no players coming through the doors, which ultimately was a major factor in costing us a higher Premiership place. We don’t need reminding that we haven’t finished in the top four since we finished as runners-up to Leicester City in 2016. Some questions need to be addressed in the close season, such as which players will be leaving the club? Who will be coming in to replace those who are leaving? And what about the William Saliba situation? Rumour has it that he wants to stay at Marseille to play in the Champions League. Is this a waste of £27,000,000? No doubt all these questions will be answered in due course. In the meantime, have a great summer everyone! 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

Rise in pitch invasion assaults should be a worry for all football fans

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And here we are on the eve of the final game of the season.

At one point, it was looking like we would be hosting Everton in pole position to get top 4, and potentially relegate Liverpool’s second club.

Two defeats in the last 2 games as seen us lose control of the situation and now reliant on Norwich getting a win at home to Spurs.

Everton have also secured safety after their victory against Crystal Palace on Thursday.

I felt a little embarrassed for Everton as their fans ran onto the pitch following their victory.

Is surviving relegation something their fans should really be celebrating?

I remember when Farhad Moshiri sold his shares in Arsenal and bought into Everton.

The prediction of many pundits and Arsenal fans was that they would become a force to be reconned with. Bankrolled by Alisher Usmanov in the background, they would take Arsenal’s place in the “Big 6”.

6 years on from his takeover, Arsenal fans are disappointed about finishing top 5, whilst Everton are celebrating being 5th from bottom.

At the final whistle, Patrick Vieira got into an altercation with a fan. Vieira should face no consequences.

Pitch invasions can be a fabulous thing – A joyous occasion where fans and players can celebrate together on the hallowed turf of their club.

But recently pitch invasions have had a tint of darkness about them.

There was fighting on the pitch when Rotherham beat Gillingham to secure promotion to the Championship. A few weeks later a pitch invasions of Bristol Rovers fans delayed their last game of the season against Scunthorpe by around 10 minutes.

Then in the last week we have seen a Nottingham Forest fan jailed for 24 weeks after attacking Billy Sharpe of Sheffield United. He also received a 10 year banning order.

Whilst the Patrick Vieira incident grabbed the headlines, what was happening at Port Vale against Swindon should have been the bigger news.

Players reported being physically assaulted, as well as having “bottles, coins and lighters thrown” at them.

I just do not understand fans who run onto the pitch to assault, abuse or goad the opponent. You should be running on to celebrate with your fans, your players.

Now this is the minority of fans behaving like this.

Type of lads that have had a little too much to drink, stuck a little Columbian up their nose. But these fans will ruin it for the rest of us.

Authorities will now crack down hard on pitch invasions.

I expect police to end up ketteling fans on the pitch and then processing them. Each one getting a fine and FBO in accordance to the law regardless of whether they were there to celebrate or attack.

The other option will be to punish the club.

Points deductions are the only thing fans will care about (not fines). But this punishes an entire club and fan base for the behaviour of very few.

Fair play to those Everton fans who surrounded Vieira and helped him get off the pitch safely. Especially the chap who still had a kid on his shoulders.

Fans need to realise that assaulting, abusing and goading opponent players and management whilst on the pitch is unacceptable.

Enjoy the game tomorrow.

Keenos