You know when things are going well because you begin upsetting all the right people.
Firstly we have Spurs and Liverpool fans.
Rather than focus on their own team deficiencies in defeat to The Arsenal, they continue to take to social media to complain at refereeing decisions that “went against them”.
Tottenham fans have even jumped on the Liverpool bandwagon, spending the last 24 hours cryarsing that the only reason we are top of the league is due to “favourable VAR decisions”.
So lets quickly work through the decisions made at the weekend.
Gabriel handball: Never a penalty. Gabirle was in too close proximity to Diego Jota. And there is a clincher that was not picked up during, or in the post-game punditry.
As soon as that ball hits Gabriel’s chest and rolls onto his arm, a penalty can not be given.
Even if the referee had have given it, VAR would have overturned due to it hitting his chest.
As the handball rule says not every touch of a player’s hand/arm with the ball is an offence.
Saka offside: Bukayo Saka was not offside.
VAR was unable to determine whether or not Saka was offside. At that point it is right to revert to the onfield decision.
The linesman thought he was onside, so goal given.
Martinelli foul on Trent: Football is a contact sport. Martinelli crossed the ball in, Trent Alexander Arnold lunged at the ball and ended up in a position where Martinelli caught him on the follow through.
The still photo of the incident has been circulated by Liveprool and Spurs fans. Making it look like Martinelli was putting in a late, ankle high challenge on Trent. This is not the only time their fans are trying to twist the truth with this incident.
Some people have talked about a West Ham player being sent off under similar circumstances against Chelsea last season, but they have crucially ignored that the red card was overturned.
It was Trent that was “out of control” when attempting to block Martinelli’s cross. Martinlli was making a natural movement. Not over contact is a foul.
Jesus penalty: Was it soft? Perhaps. Did the Liverpool player make contact with the back of Jesus achilies, ankle high, getting no-where near the ball? Yes.
It is one of them that if it happened on the halfway line, a free kick would be given and no one would batter an eyelid.
Late, high, out of control. It’s a foul – even if it was not enough for Jesus to go down naturally.
In that sort of situation, most players will go down to bring the referee’s eye to a foul. If Jesus did not go down, a penalty would not have been given even though a foul took place.
On researching, I have just realised we have upset that vile character Richard Keys. As I said, we are upsetting all the right people.
We are also upsetting Strictly fans.
The further Tony Adams gets, the more momentum will build. We will continue blogging about him every Saturday.
A few Arsenal fans have replied to those blogs with “we don’t care”. Well if you do not care you are welcome to unfollow.
It is Mr Arsenal. Our greatest captain. It is a bit of fun. If you can not get behind him, then I would question as to why you support Arsenal.
Aubameyang “can’t handle managers that manage”
A lot has been made over the years about managers who “can not handle big players”.
The tag has been labelled against Mikel Arteta by former top striker Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang.
Whilst it is true that some managers struggle with “big name players”, it is also true that some big name players struggle with managers that manage.
The truly top players became so not just because of their talent, but their willingness to learn. To be coached.
They would be role modes on and off the pitch and you would often hear of them “staying back after training” to work on something.
I remember the old Ian Wright quote about looking at the window whilst he was having a post-game bath. Out in the English autumn weather was Dennis Bergkamp practising a few free kicks.
It made Wrighty think that if one of the best in the world was still out there training, then perhaps he should be too.
Thierry Henry was of similar ilk. Always looking for aspects of his game to improve.
Then we have the likes of Aubameyang and many others.
They might have had a great career, but how much better could they have been if they allowed themselves o be coached, to be managed, to be developed.
Instead players like Aubameyang are content with their considerable natural talent and “doing the bare minimum” before heading off to a party or runway show.
It is the easy option for the likes of Aubemayng to blame others for “being unable to handle” the player. But he is a grown man.
Maybe he should have kept his ego in check. Done what Arteta (and other managers) asked him to do. Then he might have become one of the greatest of his generation.
There is a reason the likes of Pep Guardiola’s loves Kevin de Bruyne, why Jurgen Klopp loved Sadio Mane, and why Arteta likes Gabriel Martinelli.
It is because they are not just satisfied with their lot. They want to improve. To learn.
Arteta is now building a team that are hungry. That want to improve. And we are seeing the results on the pitch.
The Premier League’s youngest squad is growing every week. The improvement is clear. And it is all to do with the players attitudes on the straining ground.
Aubameyang thought he was bigger than Arsenal, more important than the manager. In his mind, the manager should have left him to do what he wants. Not try and change him.
Anyone that has dealt with an employee like that will know it ends in disaster.
Arsenal were right to dump Aubemayang.
He has already since left Barcelona and Chesea are exploring letting him go next summer.
Potentially 4 clubs in 18 months tells its own story.
Keenos
She Wore A Yellow Ribbon 