Tag Archives: Arsène Wenger

How do The Invincibles and Class of 2017 compare?

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Yesterday Arsene Wenger cam out and claimed his current crop of forwards was the best options he has had in his 2 decades at the club, surpassing the invicibles:

“Certainly numbers-wise and quality-wise together [they are the best],” Wenger said ahead of today’s clash with struggling Watford.

“We had never so many players who could perform and score goals – certainly never.

“Dennis and Thierry had the quality but we did not have a large number. We had Sylvain Wiltord and Robert Pires as well so it was not bad.”

Many have used this of further proof that Arsene Wenger is a deluded old man who has gone senile. It is further quotes to prove that he now looks at the current set up through rose tinted glasses.

Arsenal’s current forward options are: Olivier Giroud, Danny Welbeck, Alexis Sanchez, Theo Walcott, Mesut Ozil & Lucas Perez. How can these compare to Thierry Henry, Dennis Bergkamp, Freddie Ljungberg, Robert Pires, Kanu and Sylvain Wiltord. The invincibles.

Well the statistics do make for interesting reading:

Invincibles v Class of 2017

goals-in-order

So the Invincibles scored a goal every 2.96 games. Whilst the Class of 2017 are a goal every 3.01 games. Almost nothing in it. We are talking about a 5 minute difference. But of course, it disproves Arsene Wenger’s point. The Invincibles were superior goal scorers, but only just. And probably not by as much as people think.

For me there are main differences between the two groups of players is top end quality. The Invincibles had Thierry Henry.

Henry is by far and away the most clinical player out of the 12 players and the primary reason that the Invincibles scored more than the Class of 2017.

A minor reason is Dennis Bergkamp against Mesut Ozil. Bergkamp was much more of a striker than Mesut Ozil. Scored more goals.

Henry better than Giroud, Bergkamp better than Ozil. When you combine all 12 players into a single long list, it makes equally as interesting reading.

Long List

long-list

This list further proves that Henry was superior to every other player. Our greatest goal scorer of all time. But the next two on the list are interesting. Both from the Class of 2017. This shows that whilst the Invincibles were heavily reliant on goals from Henry, the Class of 2017 has two goal scoring options.

Lucas Perez has to kind of be disregarded as he has played so few games to make a true judgement.

You then have the next 5. Pires, Bergkamp, Wiltord, Welbeck & Walcott. Very similar games to goal ratio.

So the Invincibles had the best goal scorer, but the Class of 2017 had the better options.

Player v Player

side-by-sideA last comparison is just seeing players per their position.

Again, this highlights the importance of Henry and Bergkamp. Henry is vastly superior to Giroud. Bergkamp better than Ozil. This is not exactly ground breaking news.

On the left hand side, Sanchez out scores Pires, which again is not exactly surprising. Sanchez is better than Pires.

The right hand side of the midfield might surprise you. Walcott is more dangerous than Ljungberg.

Wiltord and Welbeck are both hardworking strikers who also cover the wide positions. Wiltord had played a lot more than Welbeck, but their record is identical.

Lastly we have Perez v Kanu. Not similar in style, but they are the lost ones left. Kanu on his day was a game changer, but was extremely inconsistent. A scorer of great goals, rather than a great goal scorer.

 

I think it is wrong to compare the Invincibles to the Class of 2017. The Invincibles won league titles, and went unbeaten. Add in a lot of FA Cups. Whilst the current crop have just those 2 FA Cups to show for their efforts. But the comparison does make interesting reading, and the difference is not as much as you would think.

The difference is Bergkamp and Henry.

Keenos

Note: I know I spelt Wiltord’s name wrong in the pretty pictures

Arsenal’s Spring Break, Klopp’s Liverpool Form & Transfer’s

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Arsenal’s Spring Break

Last nights victory for Southampton against Liverpool results in the Premier League tie away to Southampton at St Mary’s on 25th February will be rearranged. This is great news for Arsenal.

As winter turns to spring, Arsenal will have around 14 days between the FA Cup 5th Round (if Arsenal beat Southampton this weekend) and an away trip to Liverpool. With 12 games to go in the Premier League season from that point, it will give the side a welcomed break before the title run in.

The break could be further extended to 17 days if Arsenal lose to Southampton this weekend. I am fine with just the 14 days off thanks!

Anyone who has taken a week holiday from work will know how much fresher you come back. Arsenal players will be able to down tools after the FA Cup match for at least 5 or 6 days, before having to return to full training. It also gives the side further time to prepare for Liverpool away.

The downside is the Southampton fixture now needs to be fitted in somewhere.

If Arsenal go on an FA Cup run to the Semi Final, a further 2 Premier League ties will have to be rearranged to mid week. Matters could be further muddied if we have to face any FA Cup replays.

The Premier League should apply to UEFA to host Southampton v Arsenal on the 14/15 March. With UEFA rules stating that no domestic top level game is played at the same time as their beloved Champions League, this date will be in doubt.

21/22 March is also free, although this is slated in for FA Cup 6th round replays.

The last possible date is the 28th February / 1st March. Just 3 days after the original fixture. Whilst this date would be advantageous for Arsenal, as we would have the weekend off and Southampton will be suffering from the fall out of whatever the League Cup result is, it would reduce that Spring Break and give us less time to prepare for the Liverpool away fixture. Suddenly Southampton’s victory is not such great news.

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Klopp’s Liverpool Form

In 2017, Liverpool have won just a single game, an FA Cup 3rd round replay victory over Plymouth Argyle of League two. Their form reads:

LLWDLDD

1 win in 7 since the New Year.

Even more interesting is Jurgen Klopp’s near identical record to that of Louis van Gaal. One has been considered as a great success since coming to the Premier League, the other was labelled as a massive flop. It just shows how media reporting can change your perception.

Now this is not an anti-Klopp, pro-Wenger rant. You are an idiot if you do not think Klopp is not a very good manager, and would have been an ideal candidate to replace Arsene at Arsenal. But what Klopp’s struggles show, like with Pep Guardiola’s highlighted last week, is just how hard the Premier League is.

If Liverpool end up 5th, or even 6th below Jose Mourinho’s much derided Manchester United team, will Klopp continue to get such an easy ride from the British press?

Media Perception

On the thought on media perception – and this is something I might write an expanded blog on this subject another time – something has caught my eye / brain / 6th sense recently.

The media made a big fuss over Arsenal going 9 years without a trophy. I knid of remember the press picking up on trophy-less run after the 5th year. Certainly before the Birmingham League Cup Final defeat the press were making a lot of noise about it. Arsenal had not yet gone 6 years without a trophy by that point.

Liverpool are now up to 5 years without a trophy. Their last being the League Cup in 2012. But there is no noise from the press. Maybe they are worried to upset the mentally fragile, reactionary Scousers? They have not won a major honour (FA Cup, League, European Trophy) since they beat West Ham in the 2006 FA Cup Final. That was near on 11 years ago. 1 trophy in 11 years. 0 trophies in 5 years. Interesting how the press pick and choose who to create a narrative about.

Then you have Tottenham. I always laugh when the media talk about a ‘big 6’. There is no big 6. How can a club which has not won a league title since 1961, not finished 2nd since 1963 and made the top 3 just once in 30 years be considered in any sort of elite class is a joke.

Since they last won the FA Cup in 1991, Spurs have been knocked out of the FA Cup as many times in the 3rd round as they have in the semi finals. Six times each.

Spurs last trophy was in 2008. Like Liverpool, it was the League Cup. 8 years without a trophy. But like Liverpool, there is not the media interest that there was when Arsenal were at 8 years. Maybe it shows that Spurs are just a small club of little to no interest?

We all know by now, it is 25 years since Spurs last won the FA Cup. 55 years since they last won the league. The media pretends their is a big 6, and people believe them. But the reality is they are not in any sort of elite.

Transfer’s

Has there ever been a transfer window where Arsenal have been so quiet. And not just the club’s own activity, but the fans.

Usually at this point of a January transfer window we are all going mental. 5 days until it closes, we still have not signed anyone of note, and yet social media is not awash with people demanding Arsene Wenger “Spend some f**king money”.

Why is this?

Are we content with the squad, realising there really isn’t much else better out there? That we will have to make do with what we have? It is interesting that no one in the Top 6 of the Premier League has made a move for anyone. The biggest signing this summer as been 19-year-old Ademola Lookman to Everton.

Maybe we are now seeing the death of the January transfer window. It is a market for the desperate, those so concerned about being relegated that they end up spending £15million on some bloke called Wilfred Ndidi.

Or are Arsenal fans just bored of it all. Have we accepted that the club will simply not do much business in January. Are we all suffering from Stockholm Syndrome? Just counting down the days until Arsene Wenger leaves. Why get angry about something not in your control. It will not change anything, just increase your blood pressure, leaving you purple face in anger as you scream and shout at your friends.

I would be very surprised if Arsenal signed anyone in January.

Keenos

The Ludicrous Response to Arsene Wenger’s Push

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promo309371172Arsene Wenger was a silly boy on Sunday. He made a mistake pushing referee Anthony Taylor in those tense closing minutes having been given his marching orders by Jon Moss. But the fall out in the media has been hilarious, with journalists far and wide calling for all sorts of punishments, from having to manage Sunday league football, through to a 10 game touchline ban.

Below are a collection of our favourites so far:

First up is Tony Evans in the Evening Standard. Now before I start, a little rant.

Why does the Evening Standard, a London based paper which reports on what is happening in London, employ a Scouser who supports Liverpool to give his view on the weekend’s game? The man is a scab who is still happy to get a pay day from News International when working on TalkSport.

nafyq5t

Evans calls for Wenger to be hit with a 10-game ban. Now back in 2012, Alan Pardew shoved an assistant referee. I have looked through the archives of all the papers Evans has worked (and subsequently been let go) for and at no point did he write anything on Alan Pardew. Let alone call for a 10-game ban.

Pardew got a 2-game ban and a £20,000 fine. Surely a precedent set by the FA that they will have to stick with – anymore and Arsenal will win any sort of appeal. But Evans, like every other journalist, seems to be ignoring the Pardew incident.

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Why is Evans so demanding, vocal, about Wenger, but was so silent about Pardew? Is it because he is still bitter about 1989 – like so many Liverpool journalists; or still upset Arsenal fans cheered when it was announced that trains back to Liverpool for Everton fans had been cancelled?

Most likely, he knows that a story about Pardew pushing a referee is not of public interest. A call for him to get a 10-game ban will not get the hits. Meanwhile he knows that by beating Wenger with the shitty-stick, the hits will role in.

https://twitter.com/DickinsonTimes/status/823587691606511616

The Times Chief Sports Writer, Matt Dickinson, suggests an alternative punishment. A community service order. He claims that Arsene Wenger should be forced to manage a Sunday League game for 10 games so that he can learn “a lesson in how hard it is”.

This is laughable.

Firstly Wenger knows how hard it is, he manages at the highest level of the game, where the stresses and strains are felt the most. If his side loses a game, he suffers abuse and questions about his future. He has to live football, 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. Of course, he is rewarded handsomely for it.

Without wishing to demean a Sunday League manager, if they lose, they do not dwell on it, they head straight down the boozer and have a beer with their players. On Monday they go to work at their office job, or on a building site, and forget about football.

Managing in the Sunday league would be a cake walk for Wenger.

As for the demand that it is community service, lightly pushing an assistant in a moment of madness is not exactly up there with Eric Cantona karate kicking a fan.

Clearly Matt Dickinson is after some attention, realising that an outlandish, random suggestion of a punishment will get him that attention and build is profile. Afterall, it is an online profile that all journalists need now to become successful, it is no longer about the quality of their writing.

Maybe the next time a journalist is found to have written a fake story, or exaggerated the facts, they should be forced to go and write for a local free paper for 10-weeks. That way they can learn a lesson of how hard real journalism is.

Following in the footsteps of Tony Evans, we have James Olley, The Evening Standard’s Chief Football Correspondent.

Now some of you might not know this, but James Olley is an Arsenal fan. In his article in last nights Evening Standard, he claims that he has been informed by a source that Arsene Wenger called Jon Moss a “cheat”. I have a feeling he has made this up.

And why would an Arsenal fan in the media make something up that harms the club and its management? For clicks! We have it again, another journalist with a sensationalist view point, making things up, for hits and attention. To repeat, in the current world of journalism, it is all about how far your articles reach and how many hits they garner, rather than the quality and truthfulness of your story.

It is why we are seeing the rise of fake news. It is all about the advertising revenue, driven by how many people click your links. Better to have a poor journalist who gets hundreds of thousands of hits due to 10s of thousands of followers on Twitter, than a good journalist who has little online presence, but is a bloody good writer.

At no point does Olley indicate who his source is. It could be just a bloke in the crowd. It could be the magical leprechaun that sits on his shoulder, or maybe he went on a bit of a session with Tony Evans after the game, and between them they concocted the stories that they both created to ensure a big pay day for the Evening Standard. Well that is what my source told me anyway. Can’t reveal them though.

c23ofmnw8aaltf9Penultimately we come onto Keith Hackett.

Former Premier League referee. Former referees’ assessor. General manager of the Professional Game Match Officials Board. A man who in 2009, had to apologise to Arsene Wenger when the Frenchman was sent off in a game against Manchester United by Mike Dean for that horrendous crime of kicking over a water bottle.

Hackett says that a 1 or 2 game ban for Wenger “will not cut it on this occasion”. Hackett is another one who said nothing about Alan Pardew’s incident in 2012. Why is it that he was silent then, but so noisy now?

He go’s on to say Wenger should receive a 6 game, full stadium ban, going against the precedent that the FA set with Alan Pardew.

In his article, it is interesting that Hackett writes a good few hundred words on Wenger’s behaviour and assault on Anthony Taylor, but does not at any point mention Sean Dyche’s 90 minute verbal assault on Taylor.

Whilst what Wenger did was wrong, and Hackett is right that it does send out the wrong message to the wider football world, what Dyche did was equally wrong. 90 minutes of shouting and screaming at the referee.

Why has Hackett decided to only put across what Wenger did, rather than do the fair thing and also mention that Dyche’s behaviour over 90 minutes was also despicable? Of course, its because Dyche is a nobody who manages a tiny club up North. An article calling for a ban for him due to verbally assaulting a referee for 90 minutes just won’t get the hits.

The less said about Deluded Duncan the better.

 

I imagine throughout today, other journalists will realise that a ludicrous article calling for all sorted of weird punishments for Arsene Wenger will get them hits. I imagine this is not the end of the matter.

Also if you want to read the response from some but hurt Burnley fans, have a look at our comments page from the morning blog.

And how they will all moan, write more articles, and complain, when the FA are forced to follow their own precedent and give Wenger just a 2 game ban.

Arsene Wenger should be given a  2-match ban, a fine, and a warning about his future behaviour. No more, no less. End of debate.

Keenos