Tag Archives: Premier League

Mertesacker, Winning Dirty, Ozil and Cazorla, Barkley and Cavani

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Per Mertesacker

All the attention has been on the performances of Aaron Ramsey this season, but it is the Big Fucking German who has been our player of the year so far. A lot of fans still do not rate him. He still splits opinions. For me, it is down to one thing. You have people who understand football and people who do not understand football. Mertesacker is the best centre back in the Premier League. I struggle to name a better centre back in world football. Maybe Thiago Silva. But that is it. After a touring performance against England for Germany mid-week, he had yet another striker in his pocket yesterday. In recent weeks he has played against small, tricky, quick strikers (Suarez/Sturridge) and big, mobile, strong strikers (Lambert) and come out on top against both. Let’s start respecting a very special talent.

Winning Dirty

We used to moan that we could not win dirty. Against Southampton, against Dortmund, we did just that. Clean sheets and winning dirty. And what happens? Rather than fans praise the side for learning to win dirty, we now criticise them for not playing well. As the old adage go’s, the sign of potential champions is a team who can win when not playing well. We beat Southampton without playing well. A keepers mistake and a penalty. 3 points in the bag. Let’s praise the team.

Ozil and Cazorla

Mesut Ozil and Santi Cazorla have played less than 500 minutes of football together. Yet already fans are saying they can not play together. Talk about giving them a chance to gel!! It shows the fast food culture we are currently living in. Everyone wants everything now, and football is no different. Players get written off after 2 or 3 games, and the same is happening with this partnership. Lets get a few things right:

  • Talented players can play together no matter how they line up. You can never have too many talented players
  • Santi Cazorla is better out wide. 6 months at Malaga and 6 months at Arsenal was the only time he played on the wing. He got more goals & assists outwide last year then he did inside. And when he drops inside he give Gibbs so much space
  • The pair have barely played together in their correct positions this season, Ozil in the middle with Cazorla outside
  • Now Theo Walcott is back, we will see the partnership take a completely different dimension to the side

Lets give them time to learn their game.

Ross Barkley

This guy is super talented. Whilst there is no place in the Arsenal squad for him, and therefore we do not need him, I am a huge admirer of his talent. Ever since he broke through into the Everton side at 17, I have waited for him to break through as a superstar. A bit like Aaron Ramsey, he broke his leg at a young age (broken in 3 places) in October 2010. As with Ramsey, it put his career back 2 years. Now he is finally coming through. He is a beast physically and has brilliant technique. If England are to have any chance in the World Cup in Rio, they should partner Barkley and Wilshere in the England midfield, with Gerrard anchoring. Barkley is a talent, and my only fear is that as Arsenal do not need him, he will end up at Manchester United, where he will improved their midfield ten-fold.

Cavani

Rumours doing the rounds is that Edison Cavani is unhappy at PSG. Whilst it is mainly speculation, there is usually no smoke without fire. When there is such an arrogant presence such as Zlatan Ibrahimavic at the club, team mates will get rubbed up the wrong way. Ibra wants to be number 1, it is why he left Barcelona. The problem is Cavani has the talent to be number 1 at any club in Europe. A January move might be unlikely, but if he does come available, I want Arsenal to be leading the race for him. Imagine him ahead of Cazorla, Ozil, Walcott. He would be the missing piece.

 

Did Nike restrict Arsenal wearing suits?

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Picture the scene, it is a big match in the Premier League. Sky camera’s are there early, eagerly awaiting live pictures of the players coming off the coach. The pictures will be used by all news outlets across the globe. They will reach as many people as who watch the game itself. Sky Sports News, for example, show live footage of every Premier League club arriving to their respected ground on a Saturday. Pre-game has become big news.

Now you are the kit sponsors of a club. You also have your logo’s on the club tracksuits. Be it Nike or Fly Emirates, or whoever is sponsoring the club at that point, your logo is on that track suit. Now there are only a the few times it is worth having your logo on the track suit. The first is training ground pictures, however these are often covered up by bibs. The second is when players wear tracksuits as they get off the coach and these pictures are beamed around the world, beaming your logo around the world.Arsenal Tracksuit

Now previously, when the discussion of wearing suits before games has been raised by fans, the answer from the club has always been clear and unequivocal. Arsenal did not wear suits as the management of the club felt is more important for players travelling to games to be comfortable than smart. Anyone who commutes in a suit will know that, travelling over long distances, they can get uncomfortable. How many people reading this wears sweatpants and hoodies when they go on long flights? Elastic wastes, cotton t-shirts and track tops are more comfortable the suits. It was a legitimate reason for not wearing a suit.

Before the game against Liverpool, as revealed by ourselves, Arsenal re-introduced the wearing of suits before home games. In a clear move away from the previous stock theory of comfort, it is clear the clubs policy has changed. When the journey from London Colney to the Emirates is so short – 17.8 miles, 57 minutes in current traffic, wearing a suit should not be problematic. It makes me think, was the previous stock answer actually a cover up for Nike and/or Fly Emirates?

With kit deals being so lucrative, sponsors want to get their maximum value. Part of this is having those pictures of players arriving to the stadium pre-game. The thinking is that it was actually in the contract of both Nike and/or Fly Emirates that players would arrive to games wearing tracksuits, bearing the sponsors logos, rather than suits.

It is rumoured that upon taking the captaincy last summer, Thomas Vermaelen requested the players start to arrive to games in suits. Smarting themselves up, showing the class that is required to represent Arsenal Football Club. Usually at Arsenal, what the captain wants, he gets, when it comes to fashion. The most famous example is every player wears the same length sleeve as the captain.

Now if Thomas Vermaelen wanted the players to wear suits, why has it taken so long for the clubs to role this out? The only answer can be that it was not implemented to appease the sponsors. Since then, Arsenal have renegotiated their deal with Emirates, as well as signed a new kit sponsorship with Puma. Within these new deals, you have to think Arsenal removed the clause that players will wear tracksuits to games, therefore opening the way up for players to wear suits for games.

With the Nike deal now basically over, and the new Emirates deal in place, the previous restrictions placed upon the club by the sponsors is now lifted. And that means Arsenal players will once again wear suits to games.

Arsenal Suits

It is a sad indictment that Arsenal were willing to sell their class, their history of wearing suits, to the sponsors, but that is the world we live in now. A world where your stadium is now names after a sponsor. A world where the level of corporate income is more important than the standard of coaching. The game is now about consumerism rather than sport. But that’s another blog!

Anyway, no matter what the reasons are that we are back wearing suits, it must continue. We are the classy club in England. We have the history. We are the gentlemen of the game. Arsenal players wearing suits before games should not be about sponsorship, should not be about politics, it should be a given. Arsenal are class.

Keenos

BSM survey results: Emirates Atmosphere, Recreating the Clock End and Safe Standing

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Earlier this morning, The Black Scarf Movement announced the results of the survey which the commissioned after the League Cup defeat against Chelsea, a match which saw the BSM attempt to get like minded fans together to create a passionate atmosphere in an attempt to be Arsenal’s 12th man. Despite the best efforts of the leadership and members of the BSM, a mixture of over zealous stewarding and not all the fans in blocks 19, 18 & 17 being willing participants led the initiative to be a relative failure. Highbury Harold of the BSM said:

“it was more like pissing into that St Jude storm while being battered with a water cannon of piss at the same time.”

On the back of this, the BSM commissioned their survey, to get the opinion of Arsenal fans and hopefully be the 1st step on the ladder to making the atmosphere better for all. 17,377 supporters took part.

52.6% of all who took part rated the Emirates atmosphere as ‘poor’ and 41.5% as average. Just 5.9% rated it as good. The biggest surprise, for me, is that nearly 6% of all those who took part felt the atmosphere is good. Now either these fans only go to the Spurs/AC Milan games, or they have fairly low standards. I personally answered average, as for ‘non elite’ games, the fans often sit there with a ‘well entertain me then’ attitude, waiting for the action to spark them into life, rather than being a true 12th man.

17,377 took part. It will be interesting to get a break down on this figure of season ticket holders, regular go’ers, occasional go’ers and those who live abroad who have never been. One of the big things about the BSM is they see it that we are all in this together. No matter if you have not missed a game in 50 years, or if you have never been to a game, it is our Arsenal so we all deserve a view. However, for me, if you have never been to a game, and never plan to, you should not be answering a game on the Emirates atmosphere. It is like voting for which turkey you want for Christmas when you are the vegetarian of the family. It would have been nice to get the break down.

Moving on, the BSM bought into discussion a second singing section. For a long time, it has been a Black Scarf Movement initiative to ‘bring back the Clock End’. The question about a 2nd singing section was clearly a ‘set-up question’ to then be followed up by a discussion about a new Clock end. 95.9% felt that “the atmosphere would benefit from introducing another singing section”.

When it came to the Clock End question, 87.9% backed the initiative. Now for me, ‘bringing back the Clock End’ is something which needs proper debate. Whilst in theory, it makes sense. Getting like minded, loud fans together in one area, next to the away fans, to drown out the away fans voices and create an atmosphere which will ripple around the stadium. It makes sense. However there are a key factor to remember.

The club has recently created the ‘Young Guns Enclosure’, for Junior Gunners aged 12-16 years old, where there are 1,000 tickets available for £10 for weekend Premier League category B and C matches. The club introduced this initiative after a demand from all Arsenal fans groups to make more, cheaper, tickets available to young supporters. There is no where else in the stadium these can be ‘moved’ too, without enforcing current season ticket holders to be moved.

It is no surprise that the ‘recreate the Clock End’ got the lowest percentage of positive results (still a very high 87.9%) then all other questions on atmosphere as many people would have had the Young Guns Enclosure in mind.

Can both the Young Guns Enclosure and Clock End sit in harmony? Is there space for both in the Clock End? Should the young guns take up half of the slow selling out Family Enclosure ? If not, who should take residence? Should other season ticket holders be moved to accommodate new season ticket’s in the Clock End? There are plenty of unanswered questions that will need to be explored. But there is clearly a want for a Clock End.

The final question, and for me most important, was about safe standing. It is backed by 91.5% of those fans who took part. Arsene Wenger has already said he wants it, Ivan Gazidas has also mentioned he is pro safe-standing and the fans clearly want it. Obviously it is out of the fans, clubs and even Premier League’s hands, as it is government legislation which currently outlaws standing at top level football games. ‘Health and Safety’ is the reasoning. Hillsborough happened nearly 25 years ago. A lot has changed since then. Football has changed. The mentality of fans has changed. There is no reason to not have safe standing. The area behind the North Bank goal would be perfect for this, running from Block 6 to Block 11.

Safe standing would then get rid of the need for a 2nd singing section, as standing will organically improve the atmosphere, and we would end up with a ‘singing end’ rather then 2 singing sections. It would allow Arsenal to mimic the old Kop End’s, Dortmund’s yellow wall, the old North Bank, etc.

Safe standing is currently backed by 25 professional clubs, as well as the Scottish Premier League. Aston Villa, Cardiff City, Crystal Palace, Hull City, Sunderland and Swansea City are the only current Premier League side who back the initiative. Arsenal have, for a long time, been the leader of English football. whether it be names on shirts or floodlights, where Arsenal have gone, other clubs have followed. Arsenal should start to take the lead when it comes to safe standing.

The results of the BSM survey are clear. The atmosphere in the Emirates is, at best, average. The club needs to work together with fans and authorities to improve this atmosphere. There is plenty the club can do. There is plenty the fans themselves can do. And there is plenty the authorities need to do. I will leave the final words on the BSM survey to the BSM themselves:

“It has long been our members thoughts that the atmosphere in the ground is poor. Giving it names such as the soulless bowl. Attempts from the BSM to get some atmosphere in the ground were met with some reluctance from the club as was shown recently at the Chelsea Capital One Cup match. We hope that with our survey findings the club are open to the fact that there is a big problem there and with our help hope we can address that and better the match day experience for the fans'”

The full results of the Black Scarf Movement can be found here.