Tag Archives: She Wore

North London Derby: A Family Affair That Pulls No Punches

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Regardless of the situation, Arsenal’s next game is always the biggest of their season. It’s the fixture fans look ahead to with a perfectly terrifying mixture of dread and delirium. A game that, if won, sends your spirit soaring for days on end but if lost, hits you harder than an angry Roy Keane. That game is, of course, the north London derby.

Growing up as an Arsenal fan in the middle of the 2000s, Chelsea were the new kids on the block, threatening to upset the Gunners’ status as the Pride of London. As a result, I didn’t particularly understand the rivalry between the red and white side of north London, separated by the Seven Sisters Road and the Tottenham High Road over 4.5 miles. Throughout Chelsea’s emergence under José Mourinho, Spurs were still a long way off being considered among the best teams in London. Their league position of fifth in 2005-06 was their best for 16 years.

During this period, the north London rivalry was ignited by Sol Campbell’s infamous switch from the High Road to Highbury in 2001, yet Spurs still struggled to lay down a marker on the pitch, failing to beat Arsenal for seven years between 1999 and 2008. I truly felt the sting of a north London derby defeat in 2008, when a sorry Arsenal side were thumped out of the League Cup after a 5-1 humbling in the second leg of the semi-final. Juande Ramos’ men went on to win the competition, beating Chelsea in the final for their first trophy since 1999.

This is when it all changed. My father, who is a Tottenham fan, actually had a legitimate case to say that, for the first time in my life, Spurs had enjoyed a more successful season than Arsenal. It hurt. The hurt has been compounded each season since 2016/17, when Mauricio Pochettino guided Tottenham to their first league finish above Arsenal in 22 years, has been a painful one for the sole reason that Arsenal haven’t finished above Tottenham.

In the present, both sides are ironically, almost identical. Both have had new managers, Mourinho and Mikel Arteta replacing Pochettino and Unai Emery respectively. Both are out of Europe, having lost games against RB Leipzig and Olympiacos they should have won. Most revealing of the two clubs’ current situations is the fact that they both sit outside of where they should be, the top six. They are almost neck and neck in the table and if Tottenham beat Bournemouth on Thursday evening, they will move above Arsenal into 7th.

Arsenal and Tottenham are at a crossroads and Sunday’s clash could be the catalyst for change. A win for either side will not only give them much-needed momentum to finish the season strongly but, crucially, a better chance to secure a place above the auld enemy. A draw will suit neither side, with both teams desperately attempting to make up ground in the race for Europe having been mired in mid-table mediocrity for much of the season. Therein lies the story of the north London derby: a great game for the neutral but a stomach-churning, suffocating spectacle for Arsenal and Spurs fans.

Zac Campbell

Matteo Guendouzi in exile: Should he stay or should he go?

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Since signing from Lorient in July 2018, Mattéo Guendouzi has been under scrutiny on an almost constant basis for reasons good, bad and now ugly. Following an on-pitch altercation with fellow Frenchman Neal Maupay at the final whistle, with the Brighton striker having scored an injury-time winner for the Seagulls, Guendouzi has been training alone, exiled from the first team.

This begs the question: do Arteta and Arsenal keep faith or is time to send him packing?

Not so long ago, the France U21 international was being heralded as one of the cornerstones of Arsenal’s midfield. Those who had been tried and tested before Guendouzi’s arrival were accused of lacking toughness and tenacity, a trademark of Arsenal midfielders in years gone by. Guendouzi impressed enormously throughout his debut campaign with a mixture of rugged determination off the ball and a composure beyond his years when in possession. He was everything the club had been crying out for since Patrick Vieira’s departure in 2005 but his attitude has let him down too often and, as a result, the incident at Brighton may be the last we see of him in an Arsenal shirt.

Since his appointment at the end of 2019, head coach Mikel Arteta has made it a priority to change the culture of the club. Learning his trade as Pep Guardiola’s assistant at Manchester City, it is not surprising that one of Arteta’s key principles is his demand for professionalism of the highest standard. Consequently, he made it abundantly clear on returning to Arsenal that any player not willing to adhere to his values and vision were more than welcome to play their football elsewhere. This was a rude awakening for some players, who’s standard had dropped during Unai Emery’s disastrous final month at the helm. A notable wake-up call was given to Ainsley Maitland-Niles who, after publicly voicing his displeasure at playing as a right-back, was dropped by Arteta for the final five games before the suspension of football due to the coronavirus pandemic in March. However, since the resumption of football last month, Maitland-Niles has featured in four of the Gunners’ six matches, realising that he must conduct himself well both on and off the pitch in order to compete for a spot in the starting line-up.

Worryingly for Guendouzi, his skirmish with Maupay is the latest in a succession of indiscretions he has committed over his short career. He was reprimanded at Lorient for a row with manager Mickael Landreau that saw him cast from the first team for over three months. Earlier this season, he was given a warning by Arteta about his conduct following an incident at a team event during their winter break to Dubai.

Fast-forward to the present day and it is difficult to see a future for Guendouzi at Arsenal. Given his personal issues and the fact that if Arteta were to sanction a sale, he could leave for £40m, a significant profit on the £8m it took to bring him to north London two summers ago. Despite the current situation,  Maitland-Niles’ revival serves as an example to the wavy-haired Frenchman that, should he be willing to show remorse for his previous actions and a desire to improve on and off the pitch, a place in the Arsenal squad is still up for grabs.

Zac Campbell

Mustafi to stay, Guendouzi to go as Arsenal look to go 6th

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Games are coming thick and fast now.

Tonight we play Leicester. And if it feels like we only played a couple of days ago; that is because we did.

Whilst some managers have complained about the short turn around for players, the actual truth is that teams in Europe are in this situation every season.

Arsenal would have played Saturday / Sunday and Tuesday / Wednesday for 6 weeks (bar a game against Southampton on a Thursday).

This is not much difference than what clubs do in November and October, jumping from weekend Premier League games to mid-week European and League Cup matches.

The only major difference is there is no international break (which sees players fly across the globe) and the furthest a club would have to travel is either Newcastle or Bournemouth rather than taking midnight flights to deepest darkest Eastern Europe, also known as Belarus.

For teams like Arsenal, players will be used to playing twice a week. And the lack of long travel for Euro aways is actually easier on their body.

Teams lower down in the league might complain that they do not have the resources to play twice a week for long periods, but you never hear them feel sorry for top clubs when they arrive back in the UK from Moscow at 3am Friday morning, and then need to be in Newcastle for a noon kick off on Sunday.

Plenty of news floating about this morning.

The first is Arsenal are considering a new deal for Shkodran Mustafi.

He has been in fine form since returning to the team under Mikel Arteta, and has always been a good centre back. He just makes a mistake every 7 or 8 games that leads to conceding a goal. And it always seemed to lead to a goal which saw Arsenal lose, rather than a consultation goal in a 5-1 victory.

With his deal running out next summer, Arsenal need to make the decision soon.

The club have been impressed with his contribution during the Covid19 pandemic. The German donated over 16,000 meals and other emergency supplies to people in Islington.

He has stepped up as a personality within the squad, and maybe the club have looked at the finances and what players are available on the market and decided Mustafi might be the best choice?

With Pablo Mari signing, David Luiz staying and William Saliba returning, adding Mustafi and one of Rob Holding or Calum Chambers would not be a bad group of central defenders.

Since Arteta took over, Arsenal have conceded 14 goals in 15 league games. Only Liverpool and Manchester United have conceded less (11). Across all games Arsenal have kept 10 clean sheets in 21 games.

The current defenders at the club are certainly making a case to be kept, rather than big investment made in another new central defender.

My gut is stick with what we have, Saliba and Mari are new signings, and then next summer recruit someone to replace David Luiz is Mari, Saliba or Mustafi do not form a solid partnership.

LONDON, ENGLAND – OCTOBER 24: Shkodran Mustafi of Arsenal embraces Matteo Guendouzi of Arsenal after the UEFA Europa League group F match between Arsenal FC and Vitoria Guimaraes at Emirates Stadium on October 24, 2019 in London, United Kingdom. (Photo by Naomi Baker/Getty Images)

On William Saliba, a headline this morning is that “Arsenal have made a U-turn” with allowing him to play in the French Cup final.

This story has always been written from a very odd standpoint.

The media criticised Arsenal for “going back on an agreement” that “angered Saint-Étienne.” But then the truth came out that Saint-Étienne were demanding an additional £2.5million for Saliba to play one game.

Why would Arsenal pay the French side £2.5million to pay one game when not contracted to? – remember the original loan deal had expired so a new temporary loan deal would have to be agreed.

Arsenal were painted in the media as the bad guys, when it is clear that all Saint-Étienne was the money.

Now it is reported that “Arsenal have made a U-turn”. Again, making it appear Arsenal were the bad guys.

Chances are it is Saint-Étienne who have U-turned; realising that having their first choice central defender play a final is more important than the £2.5million they wanted Arsenal to pay.

The French side basically had a choice:

  1. Accept no fee, get Saliba for the final
  2. Do not accept no fee, don’t get Saliba for the final, receive no money

In both situations they do not get money; but in only one situation they get their on-loan defender for their biggest game in recent history.

We end today with the rumours over Matteo Guendouzi.

David Ornstein broke the news last night that the Frenchman had been training alone since the post-match spat with Brighton.

It shows Arteta’s authoritarian stance.

Guendouzi has previously mocked Unai Emery, cause issues for Freddie Ljungberg and was dropped following a row with coaching staff during the mid-season trip to Dubai.

A lot of Guendouzi’s behaviour can be labelled as “immature”.

From mocking Emery’s accent to taking his shirt off at dinner and waving it over his head in Dubai. Whilst he is only 21-years-old, footballers need to grow up quickly.

Everyone has been impressed with the maturity shown by Bukayo Saka. He talks well and behaves in the way you would expect of an Arsenal youngster.

Compare Guendouzi to Declan Rice.

They are the same age, but in recent weeks Rice has stepped up as a leader on the pitch for West Ham, captaining them a few times. He is showing the mentality needed to become a top player. Guendouzi is not.

The ball is now in Guendouzi’s court.

He either needs to take responsibility for his behaviour, his actions; stop being the class clown and concentrate on his football. Or be sold.

Guendouzi’s current deal runs out in 2022. This summer he should be signing a new 5-year double your money deal. Instead he could find himself being shipped out.

There will be no shortage of suiters for the midfielder, who is still one of the brightest prospects in Europe. Like with Mario Balotelli and other problem players, managers will think “if he matures, I can get him to play, there could be a world class player in there”.

Arsenal might be best off getting cashing in rather than hoping he quickly matures.

The £40million he would raise would be key transfer funds, almost paying for Thomas Partey.

On a final note, we remember the 52 people that died in the 7/7 London bombings; 15 years ago today. We shall never surrender.

Keenos