Tag Archives: She Wore A Yellow Ribbon

Reiss Nelson to Hoffenheim highlights huge problem for English football

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Reiss Nelson is set to leave Arsenal for German side Hoffenheim.

Nelson joins Stephy Mavididi (Juventus), Marcus McGuane (Barcelona), Chris Willock (Benfica), Donyell Malen (PSV), Kaylen Hinds (VfL Wolfsburg), Daniel Crowley (Willem II) and Vlad Dragomir (Perugia) to have left the club in the last 12 months for a new challenge abroad.

Whilst the mass exodus has not massively concerned me – none of them really showed themselves as having the ability to become a regular in Arsenal’s first team squad, Nelson is a bit of a surprise.

He is still just 18 and has had some exposure to the first team, having made 16 appearances last year.

Where as many of the others to have left us saw their places blocked by more talented team mates (Eddie Nketiah, Ainsley Maitland-Niles, Joe Willock), there was not really a youngster ahead of Nelson.

Arsenal’s lack of natural width, and lack of investment this summer in the wide positions, would have seen him compete against Henrikh Mkhitaryan, Alex Iwobi and Danny Welbeck to play for Unai Emery.

It is not exactly a list of top draw wingers. In fact none of them are exactly wingers, all preferring to play inside or upfront.

With so few natural wingers at Arsenal, Nelson would surely have got a decent amount of game time.

As with all the kids to have left Arsenal, I them all the luck.

I doubt moving to Germany is a financial decision. The contract on the table from Arsenal would have been richer than the Hoffenheim one. Like many of the other youngsters, perhaps Nelson just felt that he would not get the opportunity to play at Arsenal.

The easy option for him, and many others, would be similar to what happens at Chelsea.

To sign a new 4 or 5 year deal. Earn about £5million, and spend the time being loaned out throughout England. To the likes of Huddersfield, Reading, Bolton, Sheffield Wednesday and MK Dons (the path taken by Benik Afobe).

Moving abroad shows courage. It also shows a lack of faith or belief from Nelson that he would get a chance lower down in the Premier League.

There is a feeling that talented young attacking players will not get their chance in mid to lower Premier League sides. Teams who shun attacking football in favour of putting 6 defenders on the pitch. Trying to not lose a game rather than win.

The fear for Nelson would be that he joins someone like Burnley, Huddersfield or Cardiff, but is not given that chance and ends up with a season on the bench.

When teams are facing a relegation battle, they tend to pick experience over youth. Serge Gnabry a perfect example during his loan spell at WBA. Tony Pullis just did not want to take the risk on a teenage talent.

In somewhere like Germany, or Portugal or Italy, the financial punishments of being relegated are not as vast as they are in England. Lower teams in these countries are usually more than happy giving youngsters a chance; knowing that their main source of income is actually selling these players on.

In Germany, the situation at the moment is that Bayern Munich are winning everything for the forceable. This creates a situation where a lot of the enjoyment for fans of mid-table clubs is bringing through youngsters. Seeing academy kids get their chance.

German mid-table sides are just a much better environment for a young kid to get a chance than mid-table Premier League sides.

The amount of money in English football now puts so much pressure on managers for instant success which in turn is causing clubs to kill youth football as said managers are scared to play the kids.

Why would you sit at Manchester United knowing Jose Mourinho will not play you? Or at Manchester City knowing the next £60million signing is just a couple of months away?

Even a side like West Ham.

This summer the Hammers signed Felipe Anderson, Andriy Yarmolenko and Lucas Perez this summer. Why did they not take a chance of Nelson?

They signed 32 year old Aston Villa flop Carlos Sanchez over blooding through Reece Oxford (is he even still there?) or another youngster.

Whilst Chelsea and Manchester City have dominated the FA Youth Cups in recent seasons, and England age groups  performed well on an international stage, there is still a huge problem with young kids getting their chance at a Premier League club.

Keenos

Mesut Ozil, Aubameyang v Lacazette & Jose Mourinho

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Mesut Ozil

Sick again, it is hard to support him at times, he does not help himself.

A bit like in the office having a really good employee who you are also mates with, going out a couple of days a week after work for a pint, yet is off sick twice a month.

You want to support and back them but eventually the camels back is broken.

I am getting to this point with Ozil.

Some have said he has a low immune system, others that he has a dicky back. it is then crazy that we gave him such a huge contract if we knew that he had health or injury problems.

I do not believe the rumours of a training ground bust-up. The media are just trying to use The Arsenal name to create hits.

With it being the last week of the transfer window, it did get me thinking.

Should Arsenal cash in on Mesut Ozil if a bid comes in?

https://twitter.com/KeenosAFC/status/1034128211842658304

Aubameyang v Lacazette

Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang has started the season slowly. He is however still a class act.

Meanwhile Alexandre Lacazette has looked electric every time he has come on, making things happen. Both players seem to also play well together.

So who should start against Cardiff?

https://twitter.com/KeenosAFC/status/1034372714331561984

Jose Mourinho

Watching the Jose Mourinho press conference yesterday was a thing of beauty.

Mourinho demanding respect from the media as he has won 3 Premier League titles, whilst all other 19 managers in the division have only won 2 between them.

It got me thinking about Mourinho’s comments about Arsene Wenger back in October 2005.

“I think he is one of these people who is a voyeur,” he said. “He likes to watch other people. There are some guys who, when they are at home, they have a big telescope to see what happens in other families. He speaks and speaks and speaks about Chelsea.” 

At this point, Mourinho had won just 1 Premier League title against Wenger’s 3.

He showed no respect to Wenger, despite Wenger, at the time, having won more than him in England. In fact, throughout his career in England, he has shown a lot of disrespect to others on the touchline.

Most notably the amount of times he has shaken the hand of an opposing manager and walked off in a strop.

Mourinho needs to take a long hard look at himself. If he wants respect from the media and other managers, perhaps he should start by giving them the respect first?

Respect is for those who deserve it, not those who demand it.

Keenos

Positive, positive Arsenal

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As I sit here on Sunday afternoon writing this I am in a relaxed and reflective mood.

A weekend of seeing family, a BBQ in the sun and then a pub lunch in Epping Forest on Sunday in the rain, I have had a cracking weekend even if it meant I missed going to The Arsenal.

And The Arsenal result has certainly helped with my mood.

After a tough two opening games for Unai Emery, we face West Ham on Saturday, winning 3-1 in what was a fairly rusty display.

Some tried to paint Emery as a man under pressure. I saw one journalist say he was “favourite for the sack race”, and that he was under tremendous pressure from the Arsenal fans.

It was certainly a case of the journalist trying to create a story rather than report the news.

The only people I have seen being super-negative about the start of the Emery-era are attention seeking wankers in social media.

Regardless of whether they were previously Wenger-In or Wenger-Out, there is an equal number abusing Emery for RTs and recognition. On both sides, thy have shown themselves as not true Arsenal fans and are best off ignored.

As for the game, I was not at it as have only seen brief highlights on Match if the Day.

From the 8 minutes of football I saw, the following observations were made:

  • Sokratis is the proper defender we have missed for a decade
  • There is a player in Granit Xhaka; he just needs to be used correctly
  • We need to play Lucas Torreira behind Xhaka
  • Mkhitaryan is a different player when Ozil isn’t playing

There are clearly some huge positives to be taken from the beginning of the Emery-era; even if it has taken 3 games to get the first positive result.

The difference between the Liverpool / Arsenal punditry made interesting listening too.

They heavily criticised Arsenal for sending both full backs forward, but then praised Liverpool for employing the same tactics and saying “thats the modern game”.

It highlights that the “expert” pundits will change their mind on tactics depending on what agenda they want to pursue.

In this case it was criticise Arsenal & praise Liverpool.

What would have been good is for someone to take the time comparing the way both sides set up.

The issue is not that Arsenal’s full backs bomb forward, but the lack of cover they get from their midfielders.

Liverpool played with Georginio Wijnaldum and James Milner sitting.

Both men would cover outwide when their full backs bomb forward.

Manchester City use a different tactic, with Fernandinho sitting between the centre backs creating a back 3 when Kyle Walker and Benjamin Mendy bomb on.

Arsenal’s problem is, and has been probably since Gilberto Silva left the club, that no one in the middle of the park covers the full backs when the go forward.

It just further supports playing Torreira and Xhaka together.

A two man shield will mean that we can have a solid 4 men covering the full backs when the are in the opposition box.

It is all about balance.

Whilst I have mentioned Liverpool. They are top. 9 points from 9; and are being talked up as potential champions. The crown already on their head.

But they have played West Ham (h), Crystal Palace (a) & Brighton (h).

Some perspective is needed.

Last season, Arsenal were awful in finishing 6th. Yet they beat West Ham (h), Crystal Palace (a) & Brighton (h).

So had we had Liverpool’s opening 3 games this season in 2017/18, we would have been top of the league, 9 points out of 9.

This season I would expect Arsenal to win all 3 of the games Liverpool have – we have already won 1 of the 3.

We are 3 games into the season. Just like Arsenal were not a bad team after losing to Manchester City and Chelsea, beating West Ham, Crystal Palace and Brighton does not make Liverpool a great team.

Have a good bank holiday Monday and it is back to football on Sunday with a visit to Cardiff.

Let’s be positive and ignore those negative attention seekers.

Keenos