Tag Archives: Premier League

5 things Arsenal need to change for Crystal Palace

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Before I crack on with this blog, whenever I write this sort of thing, we get a lot of responses on the Facebook page saying The manager or Arsene Wenger. Yes, I want Wenger to leave, but lets be realistic, we will not change manager between you reading this blog and playing Crystal Palace this evening. So lets crack on with things realistically.

Drop Alex Iwobi

I want Alex Iwobi to succeed. He has been with the club since 2004, joining us as an 8 year old when in primary school. Yes, some idiots might point to him being born in Lagos and representing Nigeria, but he is home grown and Arsenal through and through.

But his recent performances have not been up to Arsenal standard.

When he first broke through into the first team squad in 2015, his natural talent was clear to be seen by all, but he needed games. At the end of the 2015/16 season, I felt he could have done with a season on loan at a Premier League club. A chance to get 38 games under his belt at Number 10 in a less pressurised environment.

He did not go on loan for 2016/17 and ended up playing 38 games in all competitions for Arsenal. This year he has appeared 15 times. But has he gone forward since he broke through in 2015? I feel not.

With Arsenal reverting back to 4 at the back, he neither has the ability to play on the wing, nor the enthusiasm to track back and cover his full back. It is stubborn of Wenger to keep playing Alex Iwobi whilst Theo Walcott, who scored 19 goals last season, sits on the bench.

Walcott might not be everyone’s cup of tie, but as a wideman, he is more of a threat than Alex Iwobi.

Alternatively, I would not mind seeing Reiss Nelson get a run out in his proper position as a right winger.

Central Defence

Nacho Monreal has been one of our more consistent performers this season on the left hand side of a defensive 3. But Arsenal have returned to a back four and whilst Wenger’s loyalty to a senior pro is admiral, Monreal needs to be dropped from the centre of the defence.

With Shkdoran Mustafi returning from injury, and Calum Chambers and Rob Holding in the wings, there is no logical reason to play a left back at centre back, bar being loyal to a player who has not really done much wrong this season.

Wenger needs to be clinical, think of the team rather than the individual, and play his strongest central defensive partnership. That means Monreal missing out.

(Note: Since writing this blog, Nacho Monreal has been ruled out with injury. That forces Wenger to make the change)

A left back at left back

Every cloud has a silver lining.

Whilst Monreal should be dropped from the centre, he should get an opportunity back in his natural left back position.

In recent games, Ainsley Maitland-Niles has performed admirably at left back, but he is not a left black.

Time for either Sead Kolasinac to come in from the cold, or Nacho Monreal to play left back.

(Note: Since writing this blog, Nacho Monreal has been ruled out with injury. That means Kolasinac should start)

Drop Hector Bellerin

Against Liverpool, Hector Bellerin did improve as the game went on, but his form this season has been horrible.

Bellerin is brilliant breaking forward from the right back position, but he does not have the ability going forward to play right wing back.

It might only be a slight tactical switch, but in a 3 at the back, the wing backs are the sole source of width. They must be able to beat an opponent like a winger and cross the ball. Bellerin can not beat a man when they have stood him up, and his crossing is poor.

The move back to 4 at the back should suit him, as it allows him to combine with a wide forward and make runs from deeper where his pace is devastating – but since the move to 4 at the back he has been poor.

I would not be too upset to see Ainsley Maitland-Niles move to right back against Crystal Palace.

Ainsley Maitland-Niles at right back, Reiss Nelson on the right wing. They would get instant backing from the fans.

Drop Alexis Sanchez

The Chilean has been awful this season, losing the ball, looking disinterested, unable to beat a man. He has been poor.

Reports are that he will leave us in January. If true, I do not want to see him on the pitch against Crystal Palace, West Brom, or anyone else.

Danny Welbeck might not be a brilliant replacement, but he is adequate and hass often impressed when playing left wing for England. His late runs from wide into the far post make him a threat.

Stick Welbeck on, and with Lacazette and Walcott/Nelson, Arsenal have a pacey front 3 that will make Mesut Ozil lick his lips.

 

Hopefully tonight go’s a lot better than last time we played at Selhurst Park, then it is on to the fun of West Brom on New Years Eve.

Keenos

How many Twitter followers does your club have?

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In November 2013, I did a little analysis to see who was the most followed football club on twitter. Arsenal came out on top, but what was surprising was that, at the time, Mesut Ozil had more followers than any Premier League football club.

As it is quite at work in my industry with the lead up to Christmas, I have decided to review the blog and update the figures.

To get a proper provisional analysis, the above is a list of teams who were in the Premier League in 2013, and are in it now.

The first interesting analysis is just how much Twitter has grown over the last 4 years. On average, Premier League sides have increased their following by 552%.

Secondly, Manchester United, who in 2013 were the 4th most followed side in the Premier League, are now topping the table.

In 2013, I noted that I was surprised to see Man U in 4th place as they are easily the most supported club in the UK, and one of the most supported in the world. It shows how poor their media team probably were back in 2013.

The growth of Manchester United aside, Arsenal, Chelsea, Manchester City and Liverpool have shown a similar growth pattern.

With regards to Liverpool and Arsenal, it shows how strong and historic the clubs are, that they have been able to continue to grow their support without league titles at a quicker rate than the likes of Manchester City and Chelsea who have won league titles. It shows success is not everything.

Saying that, Spurs now languish a long way behind Manchester City. I wonder how many of those fans that follow City had heard of the club when Twitter was first launched back in 2006?

City’s growth over Spurs does highlight that success is very important, especially when it comes to gaining new fans, and foreign fans.

Spurs have not much bigger a following than Everton, an equally unsuccessful side over the last 20 years. It perhaps shows that Spurs fans claim that there has been a power shift, and that they are a massive club, are false.

In terms of Twitter following, Spurs are the 6th most followed in England. They are probably also the 6th biggest club in the country.

It probably also shows the brand of the Premier League that the biggest growers (bar Manchester United) were smaller clubs, lower down the table. I feel a lot of their followers are general fans of the Premier League, rather than fans of the clubs they follow.

The second table is the clubs who were not in the Premier League in 2013, so I have no original data on them. What is interesting is Leicester City.

At 1.1million followers, they would be placed just behind Newcastle. It would have been interesting to see their 2013 data in comparison. I imagine it would have been not too much higher than Southampton. Leicester’s does show just how much success can increase support.

Like success has boasted Leicester, relegation is also clearly damaging.

Those clubs who went down have still grown their twitter following, but at a slower rate than those who stayed in the Premier League.

The 6 teams who are no longer in the Premier League have increased their Twitter following by, on average, 398%. The bottom 6 teams in the Premier League by followers have increased by 557%.

And finally we come on to how the Premier League sides compare to the rest of the world

The first observation is that Real Madrid have overtaken Barcelona since 2013. Although by the time you include alternative languages for both, Barcelona are still ahead.

One interesting thing to note is the Spanish version of Real Madrid’s twitter is followed by more than the English version, but the English version of Barcelona is followed by more than the Spanish version.

Perhaps this indicates that Real Madrid are more popular in Spain, whilst Barcelona are followed more by foreign fans. I know what I would prefer.

Another interesting thing to note is once you remove the English sides, the rest of the world has only grown by 293%. That against the Premier League’s growth of 522%. It shows that in terms of leagues, the Premier League is still the most popular in the world, even if Barcelona and Real Madrid are streaks ahead in terms of individual club.

The last thing to note is how small Celtic are.

With just 551,000 followers, they are not much bigger than Norwich City, and are well behind the likes of Crystal Palace, WBA and Swansea. They might be a big side in Scotland, but it certainly shows they are a big fish in a small pond. And if they ever did join the Premier League, they would be a very small fish in a big pond.

Until next time

Keenos

Are Arsenal actually in the middle of a glory period?

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In researching for responses to yesterdays blog on how things at Arsenal are actually not as bad as what they seem, I ended up asking myself a question:

Are Arsenal actually in the middle of a glory period?

Now before you spit your tea out all over your monitor, hear me out.

Arsenal have won 3 FA Cups in 4 years. That is 3 trophies, 3 bits of silverware. Now some of you will already be saying the FA Cup is not enough. Well done for being brainwashed by Sky and UEFA to think that the only thing that matters is the Premier League and the Champions League.

I remember the days of the 90s, when we won the domestic cup double and then the European Cup Winners Cup in 1994. I could not tell you where we finished those years.

3 trophies in 4 years is a success, especially when you factor in that Arsenal’s hit rate since 1900 is just under a trophy every 4 years (give or take a bit of time for the World Wars). Interestingly, prior to 1996, it was a trophy every 5 years. So 3 trophies in 4 years is clearly well above our going rate.

Now I looked into it further, to try and establish what our most successful periods in our history are, and how does the current period compare:

What is clearly missing from the current successful period is a league title, but what is clear is when you look at the bigger picture, that over the 125+ year history of the club, we are in one of most successful eras. Don’t believe me?

Despite our reported demise, only 4 previous era’s have shown a better years per trophy period than the era we are currently in.

The above 5 eras span 37 years between them. That means that outside of these eras, we have had nearly 90 years of either no success, or just the single trophy.

Whilst we might all be a little bit despondent about the current era, history will show it in a good light, that we are in one of the more glorious eras of our history.

Embrace the success.

Keenos