“Look at the top players in the world, they play 70 matches and every three days and make the difference and win the game.
“You want to be at the top, you have to be able to do that. If we start to put something different in the minds of our young players I think we are making a huge mistake because then it’s one yes, one no, now I don’t play, on astroturf I don’t play, I don’t want that.
“I want them to be ruthless every three days. They are going to be knocking on my door, [saying] ‘I want to play, I want to win the game.’”
He added: “There is not a fitness coach in the world who is going to tell me that they cannot do it because I’ve seen it. 72 games, score 50 goals. The players don’t score 50 goals if they play 38 games in the season, it’s impossible.”
Arteta is aluding to Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo. And that if Saka wants to get near to these guys level, he has to have the desire to play every game he can.
Wayne Rooney and Cesc Fabregas were similar.
All 4 had career spanning 15+ years, and played a combined 3,692 games for club and country.
Saka has just turned 22 and has played 217 for Arsenal and England.
At 24, Kylian Mbappe has already played 375 games. Vinicius Junior is already north of 300 and is only a year older than Saka.
Haaland, 23 years old, is at 284 games.
If Saka wants to be considered as one of the best players of his generation, he needs to be playing the games, and maintaing the level.
Others around his age were playing 50-60 games a season, so Saka should be expected to play at the same level. And Arsenal fans will need to get used to it.
Jack Grealish, who pulled out of this England squad, will never be talked about as a modern great. He is not one of the best in the world.
Saka could become one of the greatest players of his generation and one of England (and Arsenal’s) all time best players.
Playing every possible available minute for club and country is just want all to players do.
Keenos
We have just added our second set of #Arsenal inspired shin pads
Our second set are based on the clubs current kit!
When talking on ESPN over the weekend, ex-Arsenal player Stewart Robson spoke about Kai Havertz:
“He [Havertz] has gone to Arsenal and the Arsenal fans don’t want him in the side. They are booing him, at the moment. They don’t want him in the team. They can’t understand why Arteta is playing the system that he is playing to fit Havertz into it. He is struggling at Arsenal, at the moment.”
These are absolute lies from a very bitter man.
At no point in the Emirates has Havertz name been met with boos.
Yes, there have been a couple of grumblings of miscontent, but no more than someone like Robert Pires had in his early days.
Robson seems to be mixing up social media with what actually goes on in the stadium.
Now Robson has been a very bitter man for a long time when it comes to Arsenal, and during Arsene Wenger’s tenure he became a rent-a-quote gobshite criticising the bluc at any opportunity he had. He became the go to man whenever the media wanted to write a negative story on Arsenal and looked to get a quote from a former player to liven it up.
He used to do Adrian Clarke’s job, presenting pre and post-match analysis of the game for Arsenal Media. In around 2013 Robson was sacked for his “wild rants”.
Not long after, Arsenal legend Bob Wilson had his say on what went on:
“This is a guy who worked for this club up to a few weeks ago, doing the pre-match stuff on the opposition, who then went to a newspaper, without naming anybody who had given him the so-called facts about him [Arsene Wenger] being a dictator,” Wilson told the BBC. “Today, he’s been on every half hour on Radio Five Live, and this is a guy who obviously is a bitter guy because he’s no longer got a role or any employment here.”
There are countless Redit threads discussing why Robson is so bitter towards Arsenal going way to back 2015. The main rumour being that he wanted to become Wenger’s assistant back in 2012, but Wenger opted for Steve Bould instead.
He could do with Arsenal being a “banter club” again. The worse we perform, the more relevant he becomes.
Robson spent the 2010s making a lot of money spreading negativity about Arsenal in the media. Let’s leave him in the last decade.
In other news, Arsenal named their Champions League squad yesterday.
Gighly rated youngster Lino Sousa was included, as was goal keeper James Hilson. The only high profile exclusion was Jurrien Timber.
Timber is out until the new year, so it made little sense to include him. Expect him to be added to the squad if we make it through our tough group.
Sousa is a player that excites me.
In him and Reuell Walters we have two fantastic, young full backs that have been learning the inverted roll from a young age. A bit like Rico Lewis at Manchester City, expect them both to be able to easily slot into the position if called upon.
Walters did not need to be named in the squad due to his age. Sousa had to be included because he has not been at Arsenal long enough having only joined last summer.
Both have a huge future at Arsenal, and in Sousa’s case I can understand why we did not buy someone to replace Kieran Tierney.
We anmed our full compliment of 25, with Cedric Soares also included.
I can not see the Portuguese fullback getting any game time, but if you have a spare slot you might as well fill it!
Enjoy your Tuesday.
Keenos
We have just added our second set of #Arsenal inspired shin pads
Our second set are based on the clubs current kit!
Despite it being a scorching over the last few days, thousands of West Ham’s decided to spend their weekend talking about The Arsenal.
For some reason that I am not too sure about, Louis Dunford’s The Angel has upset the boys from Essex.
A video of Arsenal fans signing it before the Man U game went viral last week, and Hammers fans jumped on it. They were joined by their close friends Tottenham.
Before (and often after) games for the last two seasons Dunford’s chorus has been played:
North London forever Whatever the weather, these streets are our own And my heart will leave you, never My blood will forever, run through the stone.
But The Angel is not a song about The Arsenal. It is a song about Islington.
Louis’ lyrics talks about life in the London Borough of his birth. From The Cally to The Cross and every shithole in between – for those who do know Islington, he is singing about The Caledonian Road Estate and Kings Cross.
He also mentions Highbury Fields, Angel Station, Arthur’s Cafe that used to be on Kingsland Road (which is actually in Hackney!) and The Thornhill Arms and The Hemingford Arms, both on The Cally.
The Morland and Popham Estates, where Dunford, who is the son of Birds of Feather actress Linda Robson (side note: my mum went to school with her), grew up also gets a mention.
One of my favourite lines in the song is “see the brasses from the brothel that pretends to be a sauna”. Anyone that goes to The Arsenal from the Holloway Road side will know exactly where he is talking about!
The song only mentions football twice: “every time I watch the football” and “’neath the stadiums of stone”.
Nowhere in the song is Arsenal, or the Emirates, mentioned.
It was not written as a football anthem, and was adopted by the club at the request of hundreds of fans. It’s popularity grew naturally as the song became shared in WhatsApp groups and on social media.
If West Ham and Tottenham fans actually listen to the song, they will recognise the scene that Dunford narrates, because it is not just about Islington.
He sings about how the landscape of the Borough is changing. How developers are ripping up the cobbles, and tearing down our childhood homes. About architecture changing, watch the history disappear. And the skyline rearranging into towers of veneer.
Whether you are Islington, Waltham Forest, Harringay, Enfield, Newham, Barking or Romford, you will recognise the scene Dunford is describing. The estates we grew up on are gone. The shops we went to are now chains.
The Angel is London’s story, not just Islington’s.
Even the people Louis describes can be found beyond the Islington borders.
The old school talk[ing] about the good old days, market stall holders selling clobber and dealer shooting bags. The single mothers juggling a baby and a job and the little fuckers causing trouble.
The songs final verse is the manor might be changing, but the people always last. That could be sung about West Ham or Tottenham.
It baffles me why West Ham fans are criticising a song which could so easily have been written about Newham. So easily written about Haringey or Enfield.
Because you see, The Angel is not about The Arsenal. It is about Islington. And the story it tells is a story about any borough in London. Anywhere in Liverpool, Manchester, Birmingham and more. It is a story about how these major cities are changing, and not for the good.
I’m Forever Blowing Bubbles is an American song written in 1918. It was sang at Swansea City before West Ham began using it.M
And City’s anthem ‘Blue Moon’ was originally sung by Crewe Alexander. Another American song, it was only adopted by Man City this century.
Finally, You’ll Never Walk Alone (yet another song whose origins lie in the States). It only became a Liverpool anthem over 20 years after its release following Merseyside band Gerry and the Pacemakers released a cover in the 60s. Celtic are one of many clubs that also sing it.
With The Angel, we have a song that is about our manor, written by a lad from the manor. It is a song that no other clubs fans sing.
We will continue to sing North London Forever before games. Just like West Ham will keep singing about their bubbles bursting.
Have a good Monday.
No matter which team you are a fan of, I believe you sincerely hope that the team will get better and better. As a fan, you can use the image of your favorite player or the logo of the club you support to make some Custom Keyrings. It is small and portable, and the material is also available for you to choose. You can use it to decorate your daily life. When others see you, they will know that you are a football fan at first sight, which can quickly bring you closer and start your first topic.
Keenos
We have just added our second set of #Arsenal inspired shin pads
Our second set are based on the clubs current kit!
She Wore A Yellow Ribbon 