Tag Archives: She Wore

Would Arsenal fans be happier with wins against Tottenham & Villa (and defeats to Liverpool & Man City)?

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Not much has happened in the last 24 hours in the world of Arsenal.

It is mainly people licking their wounds and analysing Tuesday’s defeat against Aston Villa.

The best analysis I have heard is over on the Gunners Town podcast.

One thing a lot of people have missed, which the podcast picks up well is just how much football we have played recently.

Aston Villa was our 4th game in 11 days. That is a huge work load.

On top of the work load, 3 of those games were against Tottenham and Liverpool and the league, and Man City in the FA Cup. These were tough, high intensity games where a lot of physical and mental energy was used.

I had a good chat myself with GC yesterday and asked him the following:

We won 2 of the last 4. Against Liverpool and Manchester City. The defeat against Aston Villa was poor and has left us with no chance of finishing top 7 in the league, and guaranteed us to finish below Spurs for the 4th year in a row. Would things be more positive if we had have beaten Spurs and Villa, and lost to Liverpool and Man City?

Had we lost to Liverpool and Man City, they would have been “expected defeats”.

OK, we might have been knocked out of the FA Cup, but it would have been one of the best teams in Europe knocking us out. We could have coped mentally with 2 defeats against the top 2 in England.

Whilst had we beaten Tottenham and Aston Villa, we would be in 7th place on 56 points, 1 point ahead of Spurs, and with it in our own hands to finish above them and secure a place in Europe next season.

Personally, I would have been happy to lose all 3 league games if it guaranteed us getting to the FA Cup final. Winning trophies are much more important than finishing above Tottenham or league position (unless you finish 1st).

Was just a thought really. Who would you rather have beaten?

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  • We have played more games since football returned than anyone else bar Manchester City. Would we have beaten Aston Villa if we didn’t play at the weekend? Most likely
  • Arteta took over a team low on confidence, low on fitness. This led to just 1 win in his first 7 games, with 5 draws and a defeat.

I do not think we should underestimate how poor a physical and mental state Arsenal were in prior to Mikel Arteta taking over. He had to rebuild fitness, rebuild confidence. It took weeks. It is an ongoing process.

Taking the state of the squad and extra games into account, it is incredible that under Arteta, we would be just 3 points off of 4 place.

Would we have finished top 6 under Mikel Arteta had he been manager for the entire season? Well 60 points would have us in 6th place with a game to go, and we would actually have a chance to jump ahead Leicester on the last day of the season and finish in the Champions League.

This is a top 6 squad that was managed poorly in the 1st half of the season. That is on Emery. So please, lets not slag off Arteta for our final league position whilst praising Emery for managing in Europe next season. Emery is why we are not top 6 this season.

Without any investment next season, we will finish top 6 under Arteta. With investment we can be top 4.

Keenos

Finish 7th in the league or win the FA Cup? There is only one correct answer…

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Tuesday’s defeat was predictable.

From the highs of Manchester City, it was always going to be tough to get the lads back up for another big game.

Arsenal looked like a team that was mentally and physically drained.

It is interesting that of the 4 FA Cup semi-finalists, just one side won – Manchester City.

Arsenal lost away to Aston Villa, Chelsea away to Liverpool and Manchester United drew at home to West Ham.

Looking specifically at Aston Villa, they last played last Thursday, so had 4 clear days between their draw against Everton and the match against Arsenal.

Arsenal meanwhile played that FA Cup semi-final Saturday evening, leaving just 2 days recovery between the two games.

Tuesday was Arsenal’s 11th game in 35 days.

Due to the postponed fixture against Manchester City prior to the suspension of football, and Arsenal’s success in the FA Cup, only Man City have played the same amount of games as Arsenal during that period.

Manchester United and Chelsea have both played 1 less game. Whilst every other team has played 2-3 games last. That is the difference between playing once every 3 days and once every 4 days.

People might say “they are professional athletes, they should be able to play every 3 days”. And you are right. But only right if playing every 3 days is over a short period – not over a 5 week period.

The body takes a while to recover from physical activity. Anyone that has ever been to the gym for the first time in a while we know that for the next few days your body is wrecked. You might not be able to lift your arms over the hand.

Of course, professional athletes will recover a lot quicker. But that does not mean they will recover to 100%.

Lets say they played the first game at 100%. With a short time between games, they had only recovered to 95%. By the 3rd game it was 90% and so on. Eventually the cumulative fatigue of playing every 3 days catches up with you. Mental fatigue is also a huge factor.

So Arsenal now have no chance of top 7. Qualification of Europe through the league. The FA Cup is now more important than the weekends game against Watford.

Following a cool down session tomorrow, the club should send the majority of the first team squad away for 2 or 3 days. To turn off physically and mentally.

Other than those who not physiotherapy, senior players should not be seen at London Colney today, Friday or Saturday. They should return on Sunday for a light training session before preparation for the FA Cup Finals.

Against Watford, play Cedric, play Sokratis, play Dan Ballard, Joe Willock, Lucas Torreira, Reiss Nelson, Eddie Nketiah. Those players who have not played much recently.

Give Matt Macey a run out, Matt Smith. It might be worthwhile give Bukayo Saka a run out. The teenager has not played much recently. Was Tuesday poor performance due to fatigue or a lack of sharpness?

If we win the FA Cup, no one will really remember us finishing 10th in the league.

Ultimately there is little difference between being 10th in the league – 43 points off top, and 6th, 37 points off top. You are still a long way off of top.

Winning the FA Cup will be another trophy in the bag. Our 4th FA Cup in 6 years. Give me trophies over league position other than 1st any day of the week.

OK, so Spurs have finished above us for the 4th time in a row. There fans are celebrating. Bloggers are trying to come up with names for their own St Totteringham’s Day.

4 in a row, fair play to them. But they have some way to go for 21 in a row.

In the last 29 years, Spurs have finished above Arsenal 6 times. Each time they finished above Arsenal, Arsenal made a final:

1993: FA Cup & League Cup
1995: ECWC
2017: FA Cup
2018: League Cup
2019: Europa League
2020: FA Cup

In 1993 and 2019, Tottenham finished less than 3 points ahead of Arsenal. Had we not rested played for club finals, it is likely we would have finished above them.

Likewise this season, with the 3 extra games we have played than Spurs, chances are we would have finished above Spurs.

The defeat against Brighton came a couple of days after the opening game post-suspension against Manchester City.

Brighton had been able to concentrate since the return on Arsenal. Arsenal were distracted.

Likewise the game against Villa. Arsenal would have likely won had they not been in the FA Cup semi-final.

Competing in the FA Cup often does affect league form, and vice versa. It is tough to be competitive in both, which is highlighted by just how few teams win the double.

Especially as the season turns to March, games come thick and fast. It is hard to get the team ready for a game every 3 days. Eventually the fatigue will hit and you will fall away in one or two competitions.

This season is actually similar to last.

We sacrificed a top 4 finish last season resting players for the Europe League final against Chelsea. The result was Arsenal just missed out on top 4, and lost the Europa League final.

This season we have sacrificed a top 7 finish resting players for the FA Cup. We play Chelsea in the final. The result is Arsenal have just missed out on top 7. Hopefully this time round we lift the trophy, which clinches our place in Europe and potentially leaves Tottenham with nothing (if they finish 7th).

So let’s play the youth against Watford. Concentrate on the FA Cup. And create a memory.

Keenos

My Eyes Have Seen The Glory

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The seat coverings at Wembley summed it up.

Arsenal covered their 13 sections with a nod to each of the 13 FA Cup wins we have had.

Manchester City had something about a Blue Moon – is this the newest book in the Twilight Saga?

With 13 league titles, 13 FA Cups, 2 League Cups and 2 European trophies, The Arsenal are the 3rd most successful side in English football history. We are serial winners.

Winning mentality runs through the club, and that is highlighted over the last decade.

In the last 10 seasons,there has been little between Arsenal and Tottenham when it comes to the league.

Arsenal have finished higher 5 times out of the 9 completed seasons. Spurs 4 times (with the chance to make it 5-all this season).

During that period, Arsenal’s average league position has been 4th. Tottenham also 4th (or 4.1 to be exact).

Arsenal have finished top 4 six out of nine seasons. Tottenham 5 times

Both sides have finished 2nd.

There really is not much to split the two sides when it comes to a decade of league performances.

This is a period when Spurs have been excellent. A generational team. Their been side since the 60s. Whilst Arsenal have been in decline. A club in crisis.

What splits the teams, and highlights the difference between Arsenal’s winning and Tottenham’s losing mentality is trophies.

In the last decade, Arsenal have won 3 FA Cups. Tottenham trophyless.

You have to go back to 1991 to capture the period for Tottenham’s last 3 trophies (1 FA Cup, 2 League Cups); and back to 1981 for their last 3 FA Cup wins.

The 2020 FA Cup will be Arsenal’s 7th final in the past decade. Tottenham have played in just 2.

Scrolling through history, it is once again back to 1991 to capture Tottenham’s last 7 finals.

Mikel Arteta has been at the club for 7 months and already taken Arsenal to an FA Cup Final.

Tottenham’s last final was 1991. Since that victory under Terry Venables, Tottenham have got through 21 different managers.

Arsenal have lost few finals in recent years – last seasons Europa League defeat to Chelsea and a thrashing by Manchester City in the League Cup. Also that disappointing defeat to Birmingham in the League Cup which now feels a life time away.

Even with these defeats, at least we were there, in the final, competing for trophies.

This will be Arsenal fans 5th trip to Wembley for a final in 7 years, and 7th final in 10 years. Each one of those finals, win or lose, creates everlasting memories.

At times over the last decade, it has been tough to follow The Arsenal up and down the country. But that is because of the success that went before during the 90s and 00s.

But even in our worst periods, we make finals, we win trophies.

And on August 1st we have a chance of a 14th FA Cup. A 5th trophy in 10 years. Another glory day.

My eyes have seen the glory.

Keenos