Tag Archives: She Wore A Yellow Ribbon

Performance deserved more than 1-nil to The Arsenal

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It might have finished 1-0 but another day it could have been 3 or 4.

30 shots was the most in the Premier League under Mikel Arteta as we created chance after chance.

Nicolas Pepe was stopped from opening the scoring due to a fantastic block by Brandon Williams prior to setting up Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang’s goal.

Aubameyang would shot straight at Tim Krul. He should have done better. Likewise Emile Smith Rowe, having shifted the ball to his stronger foot, should have finished his shot. Bukayo Saka hit the rebound wide.

It was a Norwich City side that had conceded 10 goals prior to Saturday and there will be tougher tests to come. But the green shoots of recovery were clear and obvious to everyone.

Arsenal looked energised, pressing from the front.

Aubameyang down the middle looked a new man. Closing dow the keeper and keeping the defenders honest.

Martin Odegaard in behind him showed why he was always Arsenal’s first choice as a 10.

Not only does he bring he bring quality on the ball but also a high work rate.

There is no point the striker pressing if those behind you do not.

With Odegaard and Bukayo Saka backing up Aubameyang the Norwich team were constantly under pressure in their own half. Time and again we won the ball off their midfield.

Arteta was also able to put out what was is his strongest defence.

Again it is only Norwich but the back 4 looked solid and composed.

Taking into account their age profiles, the defence will grow together as a unit the more they play together. Hopefully Arteta refrains from the chopping and changing of last year in the back 4.

Burnley next weekend will be a tougher test for the defence. Expect some high balls into the box to test Ben White and Gabriel.

Overall, it might have only been 1-nil to The Arsenal but there were a lot of positives to take out of the game.

Have a good Monday.

Keenos

Arsenal “anti-fans” praise Guendouzi call-up whilst ignoring Lokonga first cap

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Friend of the site Darren Berry introduced us to a new type of fan in his latest book Over Land and Sea (and Lockdown).

He labelled these fans the “Anti-Fan”.

In a nutshell, they are “fans” that only ever talk negative about the club they supposedly support in an attempt to appear “indifferent and cool”.

They hope by taking the negative standpoint they will “stand out from the crowd” and gain more clicks, RTs and followers.

It is reminiscent to a kid who picks on and bullies the girl he likes in the hope she will notice him more.

The fact that many of these anti-fans are in their 40s, and are not teenage boys shows a worrying state of their mind. I have seen others label them as “football incels”.

Their negativity towards the club is not just aimed at the owners and management but also the players.

They rate every player that leaves and think every player that stays is rubbish. We see them criticise Bukayo Saka, labelling him average whilst moaning we sold Joe Willock.

Emiliano Martinez, Willian Saliba and Matteo Guendouzi are the 3 favourites of these fans.

Their refusal to support players at the club leads them to create their own narrative around those that have left.

Suddenly Martinez is a world class keeper, whilst Bernd Leno and Aaron Ramsdale are derided.

It is the same with Saliba and Ben White.

The interesting one this weekend was Guendouzi.

Due to injuries Guendouzi got a call up to the French squad for the latest round of World Cup qualifiers.

“Not good enough for Arsenal but good enough for France” was the narrative they took.

He was an unused substitute for the Ukraine game.

Meanwhile Guendouzi’s replacement at Arsenal – Albert Sambi Lokonga – was also on international duty.

Lokonga had gained his first cap for Belgium – playing 74 minutes in their World Cup qualifier against Estonia.

The same people making a point that Guendouzi had been called up by France failed to mention Lokonga starting a game for Belgium.

France are the World Champions, Belgium are the number one ranked team in the world.

So on one hand, they make a lot of noise about a player currently on loan from Arsenal getting an international call-up; whilst making no noise about a player currently playing for Arsenal getting his first cap.

This situation really sums up these anti-fans.

They support Guendouzi because he is out on loan but do not show the same support to a Lokonga because the manager likes him.

Lokonga is an extremely talented 21-year-old footballer. How about we use our energy backing him? Encouraging him? Rather than crowing for a player that is not currently at the club.

It must be very tiring constantly having to take a negative stand point against a club that consumes so much of your daily thoughts.

Keenos

Death, taxes and Emiliano Martinez talking about The Arsenal

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Is Emiliano Martinez the most boring fan in football?

It is now becoming so predictable.

There’s an international break and out trots Martinez in another interview to talk about Arsenal again.

I will begin by defending Martinez a bit. He can only answer the questions he is asked. And if a journalist is asking him about Arsenal, he can politely answer.

It probably shows how gargantuan Arsenal are that on every international break, journalists want to ask him about Arsenal and not Aston Villa.

Very few in England, let alone Argentina care about the 2nd club in England’s 2nd city.

This time it was some bollocks about him not wanting to join Arsenal in the first place.

A fair enough comment considering he was 18 when he joined us; and had to uproot himself from his family to move to a new continent.

But ultimately it was his decision and if Arsenal as as bad as he made out, why did he sign 3 or 4 contracts?

Only the most agenda driven Arsenal fans still side with Martinez – those that would agree with any critical comment about the club regardless of who says it. The “anti-fan”.

The majority call Martinez out for what he is. An obsessed, disgruntled former lover.

Let’s remember, Arsenal wanted Martinez to sign a new deal. He was promised that he would start the season as number one. He wanted a guarantee that he would remain number one.

Football clubs can not issue those guarantees. Especially to a player with just 15 Premier League starts to his name. So he left.

So good was he at Arsenal that when it came to him leaving – for a £20million price tag that was considered a steal – it was only Aston Villa that were in for him.

Villa finished that season 17th. 1 point off relegation.

According to some, “Martinez was the best keeper in the league last season” before “being key as Argentina won the Copa America”. And yet he is still at Villa.

Maybe his bitterness comes from regret?

Taking into account Bernd Leno’s form, Martinez would have started as number one and probably remained it for the entire of last season. Then this season he probably would have been given the number one jersey.

Instead he jumped ship and hoped after a good season a top club would come in for him again. No one came knocking.

There was talk at the beginning of the summer that Barcelona wanted to bring him in, reuniting with Lionel Messi. That was never going to happen.

So Martinez is now 29. His chances of ever being a regular number one at a top club dwindling. The best he can hope for is Aston Villa stay up and then in 3 years time, when his contract runs out, a top club sees him as a viable, cheap, home grown option as number two.

Maybe he will even return to Arsenal to cover Aaron Ramsdale.

For now, Martinez needs to stay quiet. Concentrate on his football, and stop obsessing about The Arsenal.

I look forward to his autobiography.

Keenos