Arsenal fans need to stop obsessing when a player leaves.
On Saturday, Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang scored a hat trick for Barcelona. Well done. But I do not really care.
Some fans clearly did care though. With many Tweeting more about Aubameyang’s treble than Arsenal’s victory.
I support The Arsenal Football Club. They are my number one.
Players and managers come and ago. They join us like a passenger getting on a train. At some point they will all get off but the train keeps moving forward.
Either stay on the train with the majority of fans; or leave when your favourite player departs. But if you leave, do not pretend you are an Arsenal fan.
People will say “Aubameyang’s hat trick shows Mikel Arteta could not handle him”. But how about Aubameyang being unable to handle Arteta?
Auba’s last start was in the dismal 3-2 defeat to Manchester United. His last appearance shortly after in the equally horrendous draw against Everton. He missed chances in both.
Arsenal have played 8 Premier League games since Auba was left out for disciplinary reasons.
Of the 8, we have won 6, drawn one, with a sole defeat in that game against Manchester City.
Aubameyang might be playing better since leaving Arsenal. But Arsenal are performing a lot better since Arteta left Auba out.
Support the players at the club. Not those we sold, released or loaned out.
It’s Arsenal FC, not Auba / Ozil / Guendouzi / Saliba FC.
Since Arteta dropped Auba, Arsenal have scored 18 goals, the third most PL (round 16 – 26).
Only Liverpool (24) and City (31) have scored more goals.
Happy for other teams to take the limelight whilst we work.
In other news, we have passed 100,000 followers across social media.
When we started the Facebook page decades ago, it was to create a space where a dozen of us could talk about football; our message board having being shut down by Sky. We did not dream it would turn into somewhere where thousands of people a day interact with each other.
We don’t do this for money, game keeps glory. We do it because we enjoy taking about The Arsenal.
“Alright Paul, need your to say something negative for <insert gutter press publication here>. You’ll get 50 grand”.
And then Merson criticises The Arsenal for his pay.
Merson is an Arsenal legend – for many that grew up in the 90s he was their idol growing up.
But he was never really an Arsenal fan.
In his book “How Not To Be A Professional Football” he wrote about being a boyhood Chelsea fan. And this is why he finds it so easy to criticise The Arsenal.
“Arsenal will never be kings of England winning multiple titles again while Stan Kroenke is busy wasting money refurbishing the Emirates. Go & sign Calvert-Lewin. Go & get James Ward-Prowse for the midfield. Don’t spend it on the stadium. What a waste. Seriously” Merson said.
“They don’t need to spend that money. Who goes to the Emirates & says: ‘Oooh I don’t like that, that’s a bit dated.’ It’s a nice stadium”
It highlights that Merson never goes to the stadium as a fan. He only goes if someone is paying him.
The ground is 16 years old.
It has a leaky roof.
The legends wrap and badges outside are faded.
Most match going fans would agree that the stadium is now a bit dated. That it needs a refurb.
The wraps will be replaced by huge digital screens; bringing it into the 2020s. This will revitalise the outside of the ground.
And only someone who doesn’t go would think a leaky roof is not a problem. What does Merson want? Us to ignore the roof, the fans getting wet, until it collapses?
Because this is the thing about any building – whether it is a stadium, an office block or your house – you are better repairing something as soon as the issue arises rather than ignoring it.
If you ignore that missing tile, the leak under the sink, the wobbly floor board, the issues will only get worse and up costing more money to repair.
Look at Old Trafford.
For years Manchester United focused more on expanding the ground rather than repairing it. The ground is now falling apart. And the cost to make the necessary repairs and updates are in the millions. It is getting to the point where it would make more sense for them to rip the stadium down and rebuild it.
Merson also thinks that James Ward-Prowse will make Arsenal the “kings of Europe”. What an odd take.
Ward-Prowse is a good player, but there is a reason why at 27-years-old he is still at Southampton. His game is not elite.
Great at set pieces, average from open play.
Finally, Merson talks about the LA Rams Super Bowl win:
“Kroenke spent his money on the Rams to win the Super Bowl. If he wants to win the Premier League he’s got the money to do it. It just sums him up that he’s going to spend it doing up the stadium. The stadium is the investment. Not the football”
Two points on here.
The first is it shows Merson has no idea how the NFL works. It is designed to limit owners spending power to ensure they do not bankroll their side to success and dominance.
Secondly, the money Kroenke did invest into the Rams was spent on the most modern stadium in the world.
This highlights that Merson is being critical for the sake of it – or is just an idiot.
He doesn’t want the Kroenke’s to invest in Arsenal’s stadium, whilst also praising the Kroenke’s for investing in the LA Rams stadium.
Paul Merson’s next book should be called “How Not To Be A Professional pundit”.
Saturday, 19th February 2022. Kick-off time: 3.00pm
(4-3-3) Aaron Ramsdale; Cédric Soares, Ben White, Gabriel Magalhães, Kieran Tierney; Martin Ødegaard, Thomas Partey, Granit Xhaka; Bukayo Saka, Alexandre Lacazette, Emile Smith-Rowe.
Substitutes: Bernd Leno, Rob Holding, Takehiro Tomiyasu, Nicolas Pépé, Nuno Tavares, Albert Sambi Lokonga, Mohamed Elneny, Eddie Nketiah, Omari Hutchinson.
Scorers: Emile Smith-Rowe (48 mins), Bukayo Saka (79 mins)
Yellow Cards: Gabriel Magalhães
Arsenal Possession Percentage: 67%
Referee: Jonathan Moss
Assistant Referees: Marc Perry, Timothy Wood
Fourth Official: Simon Hooper
VAR Team at Stockley Park: VAR Lee Mason; AVAR Dan Robathan
Attendance: circa 60,000
Today is somewhat of a milestone regarding our West London opponents. The last occasion on which we entertained Brentford in the top flight of English football in North London was on 12th October 1946, when goals by Reg Lewis and Jimmy Logie helped secure a 2-2 draw with The Bees over the road at “The Old Place”. Seventy-six years down the line they are finally back again, and most welcome they are too. Our previous meeting this season came on the opening day of the campaign which saw the chaps spectacularly crash to a 0-2 defeat at the Brentford Community Stadium, so let’s hope that we can redress the balance today with a victory, one that we most desperately need, make no mistake about that! Sad to note the passing of Steve Burtenshaw at the of 86 on Thursday. Steve spent two periods at Highbury as a scout and Caretaker Manager in 1986, before handing over the reins to George Graham. Rest in peace, Steve.
Straight from the kick-off, we dominated the proceedings, which was heartening to see. Within three minutues, we had won our first corner, and although we didn’t score, the intent was certainly there with Ben White intelligently flicking the ball towards the Bees’ goal, only to be cleared to safety. Kieran Tierney and Emile Smith-Rowe were linking up extremely well on the left, and the boys were playing slickly and confidently in all areas. Bukayo Saka came close to scoring after seven minutes, when some excellent play from Alexandre Lacazette saw the ball fall to him, but sadly his shot hit the side netting. We are playing a lot of good, intelligent build-up play; although the visitors are successful in keeping our strikers out, nobody can surely deny our desire to score. After two denied penalty appeals, Alexandre Lacazette got the ball into the Brentford net, but sadly it was chalked off for offside. Arsenal continued to play a good and patient build-up game, and it has to be said that every time we advanced into the Brentford half, we looked like scoring. Thomas Partey had an excellent chance to score after twenty-one minutes, but the chance went agonisingly wide. We also appear to be getting caught out on the break by Brentford’s strikers, and although their chances came to nothing, that is an area that we need to concentrate on more often in this match. Just before the half hour, Martin Ødegaard hit a beautiful left-footed shot from just outside the penalty area, but the shot went just wide of the left-hand side of the post. The play was held up for a while when Brentford goalkeeper David Raya and defender Pontus Jansson ran into each other as they cleared a cross from Kieran Tierney, and Pontus Jansson came off the worst for the collison; the visitors’ medical team rushed onto the pitch to attend to him, and very shortly afterwards, play resumed in earnest. When the match restarted, normal service was resumed with some superb play from our midfielders; Ben White looked to have scored with a long-distance shot but David Raya picked up the ball easily. Frustratingly, we had a third penalty appeal denied when a blatant handball by a Brentford defender was checked by the VAR team; nothing was given by referee Jonathan Moss. In the four minutes injury time tacked onto the end of the first half, and despite incredible pressure by our boys, we went into the break honours even.
The visitors kicked off the second half, and within three minutes, we finally opened the scoring when Emile Smith-Rowe received the ball out on the left, jinked and turned defenders and shot an inch-perfect ball past David Raya and into the Brentford net. There is nothing like a goal to lift the spirits, and the boys started to play as if a huge weight had been lifted from their shoulders at last. The general play was calming down and moving in our favour with the mood within the stadium reflecting this. When Brenford moved forward, we easily neutralised their attempts, and it was in one of their break-outs that Cédric Soares was extremely fortunate in not picking up a yellow card when he clumsily tackled Brentford midfielder Rico Henry. Good refereeing on the part of Jonathan Moss there, it has to be said. Thomas Partey nearly grabbed the second when he hit a ball on the volley with his left foot, but his strike went over the bar. The relentless pressure on the Brentford goal continued at a pace, when shots rained down on them from all angles via several Arsenal players. Bukayo Saka was tackled strongly and went down, but instead of claiming for a penalty, he snapped back on his feet and crossed the ball to Kieran Tierney, who had his shot blocked. There was some very neat and precise passing by Arsenal players out there this afternoon, which was a joy to see. Emile Smith-Rowe was causing a nuisance to the Brentford defenders out on the left, by cutting in time and time again and passing good balls into the centre for others to run onto. With eighteen minutes remaining of the match, the visitors appear to have woken up, but for all their good play and honest endeavour, nothing came of their efforts, thankfully. A couple of minutes later, goalscorer Emile Smith-Rowe was replaced by Nicolas Pépé in order to push up for more goals, obviously. And sure enough, chaos ensued at the Brentford goal when Martin Ødegaard ran through their defence, and with only the goalkeeper to beat, mis-hit his shot, and David Raya pushing the ball into the path of Nicolas Pépé, but Christian Norgaard slid in to deny our man the surefire goal. Eleven minutes from the finish, we finally got our well-deserved second goal when we advanced on the break, and Thomas Partey passed the ball over to the left to Bukayo Saka, who hit a sweet left-footed shot past David Raya into the net in what appeared to be almost a carbon copy of the first goal. Alexandre Lacazette was replaced by Eddie Nketiah shortly afterwards, and our desire for more goals started again. In a bizarre set of circumstances Granit Xhaka refused the captain’s armband twice from the hands of Eddie Nketiah, so he gave it to Kieran Tierney, who was happy to wear the band of honour. Gabriel Magalhães then stupidly received a yellow card for a ridiculous and clumsy tackle on a Brentford player. In the three minutes of injury time, Christian Norgaard managed to get a goal back in controversial circumstances, but it mattered not, as we ran out more than worthy victors by the odd goal in three.
A very good and well-deserved victory today, and one that keeps up the pressure for the coveted fourth position in the Premier League. The stats of the match suggest that we should have scored far more than we did, but hey, at the end of the day, three points is what was on offer, and three points was what we got at the end of the match. Two excellent goals by two superb, classy young players, and the record books firnly state that Arsenal have scored 19 Premier League goals by players aged 21 or under this season, a Premier League record. The omens are looking good, at last.
Remember everyone, keep the faith, get behind the team and the manager, as this season is going to be crucial for our future success in all competitions. Stick with the winners. Our next match: Wolverhampton Wanderers at the Emirates on Thursday, 24th February at 7.45pm (Premier League). Be there, if you can. 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.
She Wore A Yellow Ribbon 