Tag Archives: Football

The Arsenal peaking at the right time

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Morning! Hope you all haven’t missed me too much.

Just over a week ago I returned from 10-days in Egypt and bought something back with my that has seen over a stone in weight loss in that time. Some will say that is not a bad thing for me! The stomach bug hit me for 6 and completely drained my energy.

Today is the first morning I have woken up and not had a bowel movement that resembles the Niagra Falls. Sorry to all those tucking into a Friday morning bacon roll!

Sadly the illness led me to miss the Sheffield United victory (and could not even get out of bed to watch it on TV) and I have also sold my Brentford ticket. Hopefully this is now the recovery and not a false dawn!

This blog was never supposed to be a daily one. I only ever really wrote when I fancied it. But in the last year and a half, it had become something I was doing each and every day. The last 3 couple of days with no blog broke a daily writing streak of more than 500 days!

That Sheffield United victory seems a lifetime ago right now.

I remember writing to some mockery back end of last year that Mikel Arteta was ‘negative splitting’ his season. That we were holding back in the first half of the season deliberately to ensure that we had more energy for the final kick.

This is something you see distance runners and swimmers do. They will try and complete the second half of the race quicker than the first half, taking advantage of others who might have put too much energy into the first half of the race.

It is something Manchester City under Pep Guardiola have always done so well. Done just enough to get through games in the first half of the season before being unbeatable in the second.

Last season was the perfect example of how a team that has a better 2nd half of the season will usually finish ahead of a team who start fast and has a good first half.

Now some will argue that “we have left too much to do” and started out drive to the finish line too late. I really do not think being 2 points off top after 27 games is leaving ourselves with too much to do.

Yes, these fans will point to Fulham (both games), West Ham and other fixtures, but football is not perfect. If you say “Arsenal should have won those games” then you also have to concede that Liverpool and Manchester City “should” have won games they did not. The issue with fans at times is that they expect their own team to be perfect all the time, but do not hold the same bar of expectation to others.

On to Brentford tomorrow. A late kick off and a game I was really looking forward too. Instead I will be watching it from the comfort of my sofa, hopefully having kept down the last 48 hours food!

Have a good Friday.

Keenos

Raya proving Arteta right in battle for Arsenal number 1

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The recruitment of David Raya by Arsenal has been one of the most talked about transfers in decades.

Popular Aaron Ramsdale was cast aside in mid-August as Raya joined from Brentford on-loan. The result was a never ending stream of criticism from journalists, pundits and many Arsenal fans.

6 months on and Raya now looks very settled in an Arsenal jersey, and any negative comments surrounding why we signed him should be gone – although every now and again a lazy pundit likes to mention him again.

We conceded a shocker of a goal against Liverpool and this lead to those lazy pundits to repeat their misguided rhetoric.

Karen Carney, one of a new breed of pundits who are just not fit for purpose, said “the goalkeeper needs to communicate better, he can see it all, he’s under no pressure, and that’s where we question is he the right goalkeeper because he doesn’t have that commanding presence.”

Firstly, the goal was clearly not his fault.

William Saliba failed to take control of the situation and expected his keeper to come out for the ball. In leaving it for Raya, the Frenchman did not work hard enough to keep Luis Diaz behind him. The result was the calamity of an own goal for Gabriel.

I have watched the goal numerous times and fail to see how any blame goes on Raya. As a central defender, you should always be thinking “if in doubt, kick it out”.

It is clear that Raya did not call for the ball – you can see in his body language and way he did not fly out for the ball. It was Saliba’s decision that it would be “keepers” rather than Raya’s. A defender should not be making that decision for the keeper.

One thing that has impressed me with Raya is his command of the area.

When we signed him, I spoke to a Brentford fan and he informed me that Raya’s aerial prowess was one of his best attributes. He would come out in a crowded box and catch the ball under extreme pressure. Handling in the air was exceptional.

Early in his career, Raya had a couple of bloopers (Chelsea) where he was arguably in the wrong position for a cross. At the time I questioned whether this was his issue, or an issue with coaching. Since that day he has looked imperious in the air.

Only 3 players have caught the ball from more crosses this season than Raya. In comparison, he has punched the ball clea just 4 times (16th in the Premier League). So I am not really sure what Carney is going on about when she says Raya does not have a “commanding presence.”

A lot of the love for Ramsdale was over his character. He is a decent keeper who is good enough for a top 6 team. Raya has that little bit extra that could lead him to being a title winning keeper.

Take the quick throw outs as an example.

Over the years we have seen Ederson and Alisson turn defence into attack with their quick and accurate distribution (whether by feet or throwing). It is a great asset to have for a keeper in a top team as you can launch an attack with opponents having players up the field and before defenders have got back into their low block.

Raya was involved in a lot of goals for Brentford with his distribution, and I am sure this is one reason we signed him.

Having settled in the team, we are now seeing the impact of Raya. Everytime he gets the ball Gabriel Martinelli is sprinting into that space left by a full back. We have already scored once this season and against Liverpool we were unlucky not to score another.

What is interesting when watching Raya is he does not just pump it forward every time. He looks for that quick throw out and if it is not on he is happy taking a few steps back. For me this is the difference between him and Ramsdale.

Ramsdale was neither accurate enough in his distribution, or calm enough to realise the opportunity had gone. He would often just launch the ball forward, needlessly losing us possesion.

As Raya has settled, his distribution is much improved.

It was always going to take a while for him to get used to passing out to Gabriel, William Saliba, Declan Rice, etc. Understanding where they would be positioned and how they wanted the ball delivered makes all the difference when trying to draw the opponent out close to our goal ahead of launching an attack to get throug the press.

When he first joined, Raya was having to get his head up and look where he was playign the ball. This would lose vital split-seconds. Now he is playing those passes on instinct, knowing his teammate will arrive into the space he is passing into.

For me it is now a no-brainer. Raya is available for ÂŁ27million in the summer and it is a move we have to make. Meanwhile, we should be looking to cash in on Ramsdale for ÂŁ40million or more. Nottingham Forest, Brentford, Brighton and Newcastle look the likely destinations.

A ÂŁ13million (or more) difference between the two fees will add extra to our transfer kitty this summer. Although that would likely be eaten up as we buy a new number two (someone who is happy to sit on the bench and whose dad won’t go on every podcast going).

Have a good Thursdsay.

Keenos

Omari Hutchinson warning for Amario Cozier-Duberry

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Morning! Anyone still buzzing from Sunday?

Whenever we lose a game such as West Ham or at Fulham, I always think you need to take the rough with the smooth. Football is a game of incredible highs and lows and you can not have one without the other.

Mid-week with no football so there is very little happening!

Arsenal are in negotiations with Amario Cozier-Duberry. He is also reprotedly garnering plenty of interest from elsewhere.

Cozier-Duberry’s contract expires in the summer, and we have got ourselves in this position a few times recently with youngsters in contract dispute.

The issue stems from their lack of game time, which I do not see as a problem. If they were good enough, they would be getting games.

We have moved on from 2018 where, with Europa League football, we could give yougnsters game time. 10-minutes here or there when we are beating Sheffield United will do nothing for their development. And playing them longer will put our title chances at risk.

Fans demand us to be the best of the best. To secure those players who can win us the title. Then at the same complain that we are not giving youngsters a chance. You can not really have both and only those youngster who are truly special will break through.

Likewise, players seem to be more impatient than ever. They are looking for a move away if they do not get game time when they are not ready. And why would a club give them game time if they are refusing to sign a new deal?

At 18, they should be signing that new 3-year deal and then heading out on loan. After a year of playing in the Championship, both them and the club will have a clearer view of where their future lies.

Liverpool’s Conor Bradley is a perfect example of this.

Bradley singed his new deal with his boyhood club at 18. He was then loaned out to Bolton Wanderers for a year, playing more than 50 games in a single season. This season he has become part of Liverpool’s first team squad, and has established himself as their second choice right back behind Trent Alexander-Arnold. He turns 21 in July.

Omari Hutchinson should be a warning to those players within our academy that are looking to leave due to not getting their chance.

In 2022. Hutchinson decided he had a better chance of first team football at Chelsea. Arsenal were looking to loan him out for the 2022/23 season.

Hutchinson’s first year at Chelsea saw him play just 2 games, playing just 49 minutes. For 2023/24 he was loaned out to Ipswich Town. So by leaving Arsenal, he lost a year of his development as Arsenal had that loan deal lined up for a year earlier.

Whilst on loan, Hutchinson has not exactly ripped things up in Suffolk. He has started just 7 Championship game and played 37% of Ipswich’s total minutes across all games.

Lino Sousa also recently left after deciding he had better first team opportunities at Aston Villa. He is now on loan at Plymouth Argyle.

I have no issue players leaving for first team football. It is after-all their career. But there has yet been a youngster who has left our academy at 18 or 19 and gone on to prove us wrong. We have not had a Jadon Sancho or Paul Pogba.

Cozier-Duberry, Myles Lewis-Skelly, Ethan Nwaneri and others are all good youth players. But none of them are ready for Arsenal’s first team – or any other Premier League first team. If they decide to leave us due to not getting their first team opportunity, then “goodbye and good luck” lads. They will soon find out the grass is not greener.

Arteta needs to make personel decisions based on the players who will give us the best chance to win the league this season. If that means we lose youngsters who are not currently good enough to make an impact, then fair enough.

My final thought on this is for those who will say Arteta does not give youngsters a chance whilst other managers do. I always look at the top level of English football as the comparison – playing for the English national team.

Bukayo Saka is England’s 5th youngest player to pull on the shirt in the last 12 months. The 4 younger have been Jude Bellingham (27 caps), Cole Palmer (2 caps), Levi Colwill (1 cap) and Rico Lewis (1 cap).

So the only team to have developed a regular England international since Bukayo Saka is Birmingham City.

Not much else happening except for the usual BS transfer speculation. Enjoy your Wednesday.

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Keenos