Up to 4,000 fans at sporting events is not much of a positive step forward

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Morning all.

So some positive news last night with regards to fans returning to games as it was announced 4,000 fans could attend sporting events in lower restriction area (or 2,000 if you are under Tier 2).

But how positive actually is it?

London went into Tier 3 lockdown just before the whole country plunged into stricter nationwide restrictions. It is highly unlikely that it will be taken straight out of current restrictions and placed into the lowest.

The best we can hope for is Tier 2, which will allow 2,000 fans into grounds. The likelihood, however, is that London will be in Tier 3 from 2nd December – which would result in no fans being in grounds.

2,000 fans at the Emirates Stadium will not really be worth it.

I have been to youth games in the ground with just a couple of thousand fans and it does feel a barren wasteland.

At the youth games there are usually a few hundred away fans so at least there is a small atmosphere as we tend to drift towards those blocks nearest them.

If the fans are spread throughout the lower tier, the ground will feel a cold, silent place.

I am also baffled why it is only 2,000 (or 4,000).

Arsenal’s ground is 60,000 capacity. Leyton Orient’s Brisbane Road is 9,000. Both would have a capacity of 4,000 under the lowest restrictions.

Some clubs have also said they will actually lose money by opening up their grounds for just 2,000-4,000 fans, questioning whether they will decide to keep them shut until restrictions are further lifted.

And what for fans travelling from Tier 3 areas into Tier 2 or 1? Would they be allowed to go to games? Or would clubs have to exclude them?

Around 15,000 Arsenal fans opted-in to the ballot for tickets under restrictions, but with fans having an opt-out option when it comes to buying the tickets, many will probably make the decision to pass on their tickets until capacity rises.

So whilst the news is a step forward, it perhaps is not a big enough step forward.

In other Arsenal news, the club had to release a statement yesterday following abuse directed at Nicolas Pepe and Ezgjan Alioski.

We have spoken time and again about the cesspit of social media, and mainly Twitter.

Twitter allows people to open accounts under the cloak of anonymity which allows them to abuse others. People boast about having “burner accounts” that they use to abuse others.

Looking through a lot of the accounts throwing out abuse, the majority look to be children and fans from foreign shores. People whose brains have not evolved enough to understand that this abuse is wrong. They believe this abuse is “banter”.

Racial abuse, death threats, posting addresses, etc is no banter.

The problem is clubs can not do much about it.

They can try and track the person down, and if they have a membership cancel it. But that is a pointless act if they are a 14 year old from Croydon or some grown man from Nigeria.

It is Twitter that really need to act but only allowing people to open an account using government issued ID.

It reminds me of the film Nerve.

People are brave when they are hiding behind anonymity, thinking that no one can touch them, find them, know who they are. Once that anonymity drops, they attitude changes immediately.

Would these people really be sending the abuse they do if their loved ones, their parents, wife or children or colleagues could see what they were saying? The answer is no.

There is less abuse on Facebook and Instagram than Twitter and YouTube because it is not as easy to be anonymous.

Have a good Tuesday.

Keenos

Match Report: Leeds United 0 – 0 Arsenal

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Leeds United (0) 0 Arsenal (0) 0

Premier League

Elland Road, Beeston, Leeds LS11 0ES

Sunday, 22nd November 2020. Kick-off time: 4.30pm

(4-3-3) Bernd Leno; Hector Bellerin, Rob Holding, Gabriel Magalhães, Kieran Tierney; Dani Ceballos, Granit Xhaka, Joe Willock; Nicolas Pépé, Willian Borges da Silva, Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang.

Substitutes: Bukayo Saka, Alexandre Lacazette, Alex Rúnarsson, Ainsley Maitland-Niles, Shkodran Mustafi, Reiss Nelson, Eddie Nketiah.

Red Cards: Nicolas Pépé

Arsenal Possession Percentage: 34%

Referee: Anthony Taylor

Assistant Referees: Gary Beswick, Adam Nunn

Fourth Official: Peter Bankes

VAR Team at Stockley Park: VAR Stuart Attwell; AVAR Neil Davies

Attendance: A maximum of 300 attendees due to UK government coronavirus restrictions

For today’s match in West Yorkshire, we will be without Sead Kolašinac and Mohamed Elneny as they have returned positive coronavirus tests whilst on international duty; additionally, Thomas Partey is unavailable because of a thigh injury, and as we have lost three of our previous four Premier League games (as many as in Arsenal’s previous twelve top-flight matches), this afternoon’s match is a “must-win” Let’s go!

The home side had the best of the early exchanges, with our midfield struggling to get a rhythm going. Our first attempt came just after nine minutes, when some quick passing and movement off the ball saw Dani Ceballos cut in from the right hand side to fire a shot towards the Leeds United goal which went narrowly wide. A wasted free kick by Willian led to our first corner of the match, which was easily dealt with by the home side, who were in the ascendancy in the first twenty minutes of the game. Was it a cross, or was it a shot? A Nicolas Pépé effort from the left bounced teasingly from the top of the Leeds United crossbar and back into play, and at last we started to look like we were getting into this match. Two poor efforts followed, another Dani Ceballos free-kick and a Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang shot that really should have hit the target, and a few minutes later, a superb long ball through the middle of the park found Willian on a one-to-one with goalkeeper Illan Meslier, who quickly flew out of his goal to clear the ball away. On the half hour, Bernd Leno’s quick reactions denied Patrick Bamford a surefire scoring chance, and the home side started to apply more pressure on our defence, and yet again, we were fortunate not to be one-down when a powerful Stuart Dallas shot went inches wide of Bernd Leno’s post. Every time we won the ball and move forward, the player was dispossessed and as such, we were forced back deep into our own half. Shot after shot rained down onto Bernd Leno’s goal, and it has to be said that the home side’s poor shooting abilities were the only thing that stopped us going into the break in the negative situation.

For the second half, Reiss Nelson replaced Willian, and we certainly started the this half better than we ended the first. Then the wheels came off. Stupid, stupid, stupid. Nicolas Pépé head-butted Ezgjan Alioski off the ball in retaliation for a previous incident; referee Anthony Taylor stopped the game, consulted VAR, and it was no surprise to anyone viewing the match that we were down to ten men just six minutes after the restart. Ho hum. After a bit of an adjustment to accommodate the dismissal, with Joe Willock making way for Bukayo Saka, we even managed to get our first shot on target from the trusty right foot of Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang a few minutes’ later, in which he was unlucky not to score. The home side started to apply more pressure on us, and although we managed to breakout to try to score, Leeds United came back at us even harder now. To be fair, although we were down to ten men, we still continued to create good chances. With fifteen minutes left on the clock, a Granit Xhaka free-kick from twenty-five yards sailed over the Leeds United bar, and with both sets of players sensing that time was against them, the game now became more frenetic than ever, with reckless tackles flying in. Patrick Bamford hit the post with a header, but somehow, we started to look more organised than we had done before, and when a Rodrigo shot cannoned off the crossbaar, we felt that our luck could be in. With five minutes left of the match, a pinpoint pass by Héctor Bellerín sent Bukayo Saka clean through and as he tried to go around goalkeeper Illan Meslier, the Leeds man blocked both the ball and the player to deny the Arsenal forward his chance to score. A few minutes’ later, Bukayo Saka came out of a heavy tackle limping, and was replaced swiftly by Ainsley Maitland-Niles for the injury time period. Almost with the final kick of the game, Leeds United hit the woodwork a third time with a strong shot by Raphinha just before the final whistle, and somehow, this game in West Yorkshire finished honours even this evening.

All in all, to come away from Elland Road with a point on a day such as this, is no disgrace. There were times in this match that it looked like we were going to get badly punished, but thankfully it never happened, thanks mainly to the superb performance by Bernd Leno (despite the Nicolas Pépé sending-off early in the second half). Although we struggled to create many worthwhile chances in this match, we hung on to grab the point, when at times, things looked decidedly iffy, to say the least. With thirty-four percent possession and two shots on target, we got out of jail this time.

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: Molde FK at Aker Stadium on Thursday, 26th November at 5.55pm (Europa League). 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.

5 changes Mikel Arteta needs to make to return Arsenal to winning ways

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Good morning all from sunny Essex.

The shime of a lovely day is dimmed a little when you stick on Match of the Day just in time for them to put up the league table and you see that lot top of the league.

There fans are celebrting being top the league for 24 hours after 9 games like they have won the thing.

Arsenal were top of the league after the 1st game of the season. We did not get excited as we are used to being top, used to winning trophies.

It has been an open season so far with 4 different teams topping the league after the weekend in just 8 rounds of gmes. Arsenal, Leicester, Everton and Liverpool.

After game week 6, Everton were top. 2 game weeks later they were 7th.

It could be one of the most open Premier League seasons in years.

Today we play Leeds and Mikel Arteta needs to get Arsenal back to winning ways.

Arteta has led Arsenal for 40 games, with the side winning 57.5% of games. No permenant Arsenal manager has a better win ratio.

In that time he has beaten Liverpool (3 times), Manchester United (twice), Manchester City and Chelsea. He has also led his side to the FA Cup and Community Shield.

But he has also overseen defeats to Aston Villa (twice), Leicester City and Brighton.

It is the two recent home defeats to Leicester City and Aston Villa that has led a minority of people to question whether he is the right man to take us forward.

I believe he is still the right man.

He has a fantastic understanding of the game and a thirst to learn.

Some might say “Arsenal should not be the place he learns” but if you want to be elite in any field, you never stop learning. It is that desire to improve themselves that has led Roger Federer, Lewis Hamilton, Jeff Bezos and Mark Zuckerberg to reach the top of their industries, and stay their.

If you stand still in life, you end up going backwards.

So what does Arteta need to do to get us back to winning ways?

For me there 5 changes Arteta needs to make…

Return to 433

A return to 433 will see us play more attacking, progressive football.

It will give 2 of 3 central midfielder freedom to get forward and join the attack, rather than 2 men in the middle covering the 3 at the back.

The 3 man midfield will allow the full backs to bomb forward, and free players up to be playing in their right positions.

When dominating games, it would see Arsenal have 7 attacking options, with 2 central defenders on the half way line and a single central midfielder filling the spacebetween defence and attack.

Plying 3 at the back means we have 3 centre backs on the half way line and 2 midfielders filling that space.

Kieran Tierney at left back

We need to utilise Tierney’s crossing ability.

To do so he needs to play at left back, not on the left hand side of a back 3.

Bukayo Saka left wing

Tierney at left back pushes Saka further forward.

The young Englishman has performed well at wing back, but he is a forward player. You want him in the attack 3rd, running at defenders, creating.

Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang upfront

Tierney left back pushes Saka to left wing which in turn pushes Aubameyang inside.

Alexandre Lacazette and Aubameyang re both struggling for form. Neither are scoring, neither are creating.

Go with one down the middle and stick some creativity around him. That one is Aubameyang.

Nicolas Pepe and Joe Willock

To the right of Aubameyang must be Pepe.

He has not shown he is a £72million player yet, but he has undoubted talent. It is time for him to get a run in the time.

He commits defenders and can do something special from the right hand side.

Pepe also creates space for Hector Bellerin to bomb into, giving us a further creative option on the right.

Likewise we need to see Joe Willock get a chance as part of the midfield 3. His late runs into the box and eye for a goal is a threat we are missing at the moment.

Have a good Sunday

Keenos