Tag Archives: She Wore A Yellow Ribbon

Boring Arsenal need a change in formation

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It is easy to go over the top with the performances of Arsenal’s second string this season. 

Through (unbeaten) in the Europa League after just 4 games and into the quarter-final of the League Cup. On papers things are looking good. But scratch beneath the surface and victories have masked poor performances. 

In the League Cup, we beat lowly Doncaster 1-0, before needing an 85th minute equaliser and extra team winner to knock out Norwich. In both games, our opponents had chances to score. 

In the Europa League it is P 4 W 3. Last night we had to suffer a horrendous bore draw which saw us through, but not in style. 

We went behind against Koln (or Cologne?), looked open at the back in a 4-2 victory over BATE Borislav, and scored an 85th minute winner away to Red Star Belgrade before last nights 0-0. 

Bar a 40 minute spell against BATE, we have looked poor in every game, and handed the opposition enough chances for them to have beaten us. 

It is very easy to go the other and bash the side who are unbeaten in their 6 cup competitions and keeping the club on course to challenge for further honours. 

I fully understand what Arsene Wenger is trying to do. 

Give senior players not involved in the first XI a run out, to keep them sharp and involved, whilst blooding a few youngsters.

The problem is not the personnel but the formation. 

The team plays 3421. That is the current formation. And like most teams, the formation of the first XI gets mirrored through the youth teams. This includes the second string we are putting out in cup games. 

But if Arsenal want to continue putting out a B team, and want to ensure they are more competitive, Wenger needs to look at changing the formation. Currently there are too many square pegs in round holes. 

Matthieu Debuchy and Rob Holding have performed well at centre back. With Shokdran Mustafi out, Per Mertesacker has been promoted to the first XI, leaving a gap at centre back which Mohamed Elneny has tried to fill in. 

A CM, a RB and a CB playing in a back 3. No wonder we have given away so many chances. 

I feel sorry for the wing back in Ainsley Maitland-Niles and Reiss Nelson. Neither player is able to show his true attributes playing out of position. They are getting game time, but it is game time for the sake of it. Neither are getting a fair run. 

Inside last night it was Chris Willock and Francis Coquelin. Coquelin thinks he is Xavi. Get lost mate. 

Ahead we have Theo Walcott and Jack Wilshere. 

Walcott is not, has never been, and will never be a number 10. And Wilshere has always been better playing in the middle of a 3 man midfield, dictating play from deep and moving forward with play, finding space as he go’s. 

With those two trying to create, it has meant Olivier Giroud has lack any decent service in the games thus far. 

By changing to 433, Arsenal could have more players in their proper positions, allowing players to shine

Macey

AMN Debuchy Holding DaSilva

Elneny Wilshere Coquelin

Walcott Giroud Nelson

As players return from injury, Mertesacker would sit in the middle and Iwobi would replace Coquelin. 

The team would be more balanced, more natural, and give us a much better chance of continuing or progress in the League Cup and Europa League. 

Take the chance. 

Keenos

Arsenal’s European journey set to continue

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Tonight Arsenal could qualify for the Europa League knock out stages after just 4 games. Victory will ensure that a top 2 place is guaranteed. If BATE Borisov fail to beat FC Koln, top place is ensure with 2 games to go.

Now I am not going to celebrate too much, as I understand that the Europa League is the 2nd tier of European football, but to qualify easily, having mainly used a second string and youth, is a positive.

I read yesterday someone saying Arsenal are disrespecting the Europa League by playing youngsters and a 2nd string. I laugh that we have won 3 from 3 whilst playing the second string. We have put out the players needed to win the games.

Meanwhile, the likes of Everton, Athletic Bilbao and Hertha Berlin are heading out of the competition.

Arsenal might not be giving the competition 100% of their focus, but we are doing enough to get through and, like Manchester United last season, will surely increase the strength of the side as the competition progresses.

A lot of people look down on the Europa League, they scoff at it, but it is a competition I would love to win.

An early summer final in Lyon. In the South of France with my mates. The type of people who sit and say I would rather be in the Champions League and not win, than the Europa League and win probably never go to games. They watch on TV.

The same sort of people probably moan that we have only won the FA Cup in recent years. We have won it 3 times actually. 3 times in 4 years.

Spurs beat Real Madrid last night. Oddly a lot of Arsenal fans on Twitter were saying how brilliant they were. How they had shown Arsenal how to play in Europe. That it had shown great progression.

But they forget Spurs have won nothing. Even Mauricio Pochettino said last night that beating Real Madrid means nothing if we win nothing.

It is the odd mentality of the modern football fan that winning a single game, like that against Real Madrid, is deemed as good as winning a trophy.

Last week, Spurs were knocked out of the League Cup by West Ham. They justified their collapse by saying that they had bigger fish to fry. This is a side that have won just two League Cups in 26 years.

Fans have become picky about what trophies they want their club to win. It is like turning down the fat one from Little Mix because you want to shag the blonde one, yet the reality is you have no chance with the blonde one.

Beating Real Madrid might create a great, short term memory, but ultimately it means nothing.

As for Spurs showing Arsenal how to do it in Europe, last I looked, Arsenal had no problems getting through the knockout stages of the Champions League with games to spare. Spurs are not doing anything miraculous, anything unique.

Now if they win it, it is another story, but the reality is there is no difference if they fail to qualify or get knocked out in the semi-final. Bar some trips away (many of which Arsenal fans have already done), you end up with nothing. No trophies. An empty cabinet.

Between 1995/96 and 1996/97 Newcastle United finished 2nd twice, playing a brilliant brand of attacking football under Kevin Keegan. In 1997/98 they beat the mighty Barcelona at home in the Champions League, Faustino Asprilla scoring a hat trick.

Bar a couple of FA Cup semi-finals in the following years, Newcastle won nothing. Their last domestic honour was the 1954–55 FA Cup.

Following on from Newcastle was Leeds United. A brilliant young side filled with English talent.

Leeds went on a brilliant Champions League run in 2001, culminating in a Champions League semi-final appearance. They lost.

The previous year, they made the UEFA Cup semi-final. They also lost.

Both Newcastle and Leeds were relegated in the mid 00’s. They won nothing during their successful periods. Everyone loved them. The odd folk who have second teams cheered them on.

Ultimately, if you fail to win trophies, it does not really matter how many brilliant nights in the San Siro or Wembley you have. These games will just be forgotten into history.

And this is why I want us to win the Europa League.

Last season Manchester United won both the Europa League and League Cup. Some people scoffed at them, laughing at them just winning minor honours. But what did fans of the clubs laughing at them win? Probably nothing.

Yes, they finished 6th, but in winning the Europa League they secured Champions League football.

Give me finishing 6th and winning two trophies over finishing 2nd and winning nothing any day. Some might say but we want to progress in the league, be competitive in the league but there is no trophy for that. No one remembers who finished 2nd.

These same people probably laughed at Arsenal winning the top 4 trophy. And now they laugh that Arsenal did not make the top 4 yet won a real trophy in the Europa League.

The moral of the story is simple, nothing matters until you win a trophy.

As for the Europa League, there could be some interesting sides dropping into the Europa League: CSKA Moscow, Celtic, Atlético Madrid, Sporting Lisbon, Spartak Moscow, Napoli, RB Leipzig & Borussia Dortmund currently occupy 3rd place in their groups.

I have no qualms about playing any of these.

Because we are the Arsenal and we are the best. We are the Arsenal so f**k all the rest.

Enjoy the game tonight.

Keenos

Idiot Spurs fans get what they deserve

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I have blogged before about how fans are doing the Old Bill’s job by constantly videoing everything that happens on the concourse of stadiums and in pubs around ground. That fans are inadvertently grassing each other up by posting these videos on YouTube, Facebook, Twitter, etc, and that these videos are being used by the police to ban and convict fans.

Even if the police do not push for a conviction for the fans, if the video go’s viral on social media, and they can clearly be identified, those fans involved will soon find themselves hauled in before their manager and warned about their future behaviour, or worse, fired.

The LAD bible Banter Boys who record everything for a few likes or RTs, or in the hope they become famous for 20 seconds and their video go’s viral are basically walking CCTV cameras doing the Old Bill’s job.

I look back at the Chelsea incident in Paris. For me, the fans did little wrong. They refused to let an away supporter on a train, then when accused of being racist (I am still of the opinion it was because he was a PSG they refuse to let him on, not his skin colour) they chanted we are racist, we are racist ironically.

This sort of behaviour, and worse, happens up and down the country, over land and sea, and is usually just harmless fun. No malice intended. In the context of the game day, it is just normal, acceptable behaviour. Rugby fans are just as bad, or perhaps even worse. Everyone remembers the dwarf tossing incident.

90% of the behaviour of fans, mainly travelling fans, go’s unreported. Whether that bit a little bit of handbags, a chant with questionable language, a flare going off on a train. It is not recorded, it is ignored, and we all get on with the day.

But the 10% which is caught on camera always ends up going viral, and, like with the Chelsea fans, can result in bans, convictions and job losses.

Why fans both film other fans, and allow themselves to be filmed is beyond me. Last season at West Ham, I had the Arsenal Fan TV cameraman in front of me (the only one not in it for fame and fortune). He started to record the fans around him and I politely asked him to not film me (and that if he does, his camera will end up on the pitch)(. Fair play to him, he ensured he did not film me or my mates during the game.

Whilst I think fans who record themselves and others at games for a little bit of fame are idiots, and will only end up grassing up other fans with their footage, I did laugh at this weeks incident involving Spurs and West Ham.

Video footage circulated on social media following the game of one person urinating into a plastic cup before handing to another to throw towards the visiting rival fans at Wembley Stadium.

Spurs investigated the incident and, after identifying the individuals concerned, have now issued lifetime bans to both men.

Now whilst this type of incident is disgusting, it is not unusual. Both Liverpool and Everton have been known to use the urine-throwing technique at games previously. Although in Liverpool’s case, it was never their fault.

It is a key reason why Arsenal do not let away fans sit above home fans – to protect those underneath from object thrown, whether that be coins, urine, pies and people spitting.

Normally I would think unlucky lads. That they have been grassed up by someone catching their behaviour on camera and posting it to social media. That they have been grassed by fellow fans.

But in this case, I have zero sympathy.

It seems the two fans involved, who received the bans, videoed the incident themselves, put it up on their own social media, and basically grassed themselves up.

They deserve everything they get for their own stupidity.

I wonder if their life time bans are worth the thousands of hits, likes and RTs they got. I wonder if next time they go for a job interview and the company Google’s their names, seeing what they did, will result in a job offer being pulled. But it was worth it for the 30 seconds of fame hey lads?

The new generation of fans are idiots. It is not about going to games, getting up to whathever you get up to, and talking about it in the boozer with like minded fans. It is about recording everything, for that little bit of fame.

Imagine in 15 years, when these fans have their own kids;

Daddy can we go football
No Son
Why Daddy?
Because Daddy is an idiot who videoed himself peeing into a cup before throwing it at West Ham fans. Daddy is banned from football for life
Daddy, you’re a twat
I know son, I know

These fans are now not only grassing up fellow fans, leading to bans, they are now grassing up themselves.

I bet both Spurs fans, handed the life time bans, feel a little bit silly now. All for a little bit of attention.

Think before you post.

Keenos