Tag Archives: She Wore

Christmas is over

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Just like that, Christmas is over and I am back in work.

Due to the scheduling of our games over the Christmas period, it really does not feel that we have had any festive fixtures.

The Liverpool game got moved to Friday 22nd December. It was originally being slated for Christmas Eve but fans of both Arsenal and Liverpool complained that this would ruin Christmas.

Instead it was moved to the Friday day. Ironically, this made it impossible for Liverpool fans living in Liverpool to get home. A lunchtime Christmas Eve kick off would have actually been easier. You live and learn.

Our next game is not until tomorrow. Crystal Palace away. 5 days between games is a lot for what is usually a hectic Christmas schedule. There are ZERO excuses for tiredness.

Boxing Day was a bore with not Arsenal.

Between the Liverpool and Palace games, a lot has happened as almost every other side has played twice:

Manchester City are still worryingly unbeaten, and still running away with it.

Whilst Manchester United have shown that they are not much better than those chasing the Champions League spots with two 2-2 draws.

Chelsea and Liverpool got 4 out of 6 points. The later destroyed bottom of the table Swansea which lead commentators to compare them to PSG and Manchester City.

PSG and Man City are running away within their leagues. Liverpool are 18 points off top. Odd to compare them. That’s the Scouse loving press for you.

Then we have Spurs. Two wins from two. Well done. What I have loved is the fawning over Harry Kane for breaking a record which the previous holder did not know he even held 5 years ago. It really is a fake record.

Goals within a calendar years is like most points in the calendar year. It means nothing.

Kane is becoming a world class finisher, why he press feel the need to make up fake records on his behalf probably sums up how little he and Spurs are achieving in the real world.

Despite all his goals, he has still won nothing for Tottenham.

I see people comparing him to Thierry Henry, but in Henry’s 25th year, he had already won league titles in 2 countries, the FA Cup, the World Cup and the European Championship. Kane has won nothing.

To put it into perspective, Yaya Sanogo has an FA Cup winners medal.

I prefer to concentrate on real achievements. Not ones made up by the press like the “Putting the pressure on Chelsea cup” they won last season.

Spurs fans reading this, before you fill up our comments with stuff like “Spurs are superior” and “we finished above you last season” and “this shows Goons are now inferior” just remember, my mates 5 year old has seen Arsenal win more trophies than you have seen Spurs win. And Harry Kane is an Arsenal fan.

If you are still in annual leave, enjoy your time off. For those working, we are the spine of the country. Keep up the good work.

 

Keenos

How many Twitter followers does your club have?

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In November 2013, I did a little analysis to see who was the most followed football club on twitter. Arsenal came out on top, but what was surprising was that, at the time, Mesut Ozil had more followers than any Premier League football club.

As it is quite at work in my industry with the lead up to Christmas, I have decided to review the blog and update the figures.

To get a proper provisional analysis, the above is a list of teams who were in the Premier League in 2013, and are in it now.

The first interesting analysis is just how much Twitter has grown over the last 4 years. On average, Premier League sides have increased their following by 552%.

Secondly, Manchester United, who in 2013 were the 4th most followed side in the Premier League, are now topping the table.

In 2013, I noted that I was surprised to see Man U in 4th place as they are easily the most supported club in the UK, and one of the most supported in the world. It shows how poor their media team probably were back in 2013.

The growth of Manchester United aside, Arsenal, Chelsea, Manchester City and Liverpool have shown a similar growth pattern.

With regards to Liverpool and Arsenal, it shows how strong and historic the clubs are, that they have been able to continue to grow their support without league titles at a quicker rate than the likes of Manchester City and Chelsea who have won league titles. It shows success is not everything.

Saying that, Spurs now languish a long way behind Manchester City. I wonder how many of those fans that follow City had heard of the club when Twitter was first launched back in 2006?

City’s growth over Spurs does highlight that success is very important, especially when it comes to gaining new fans, and foreign fans.

Spurs have not much bigger a following than Everton, an equally unsuccessful side over the last 20 years. It perhaps shows that Spurs fans claim that there has been a power shift, and that they are a massive club, are false.

In terms of Twitter following, Spurs are the 6th most followed in England. They are probably also the 6th biggest club in the country.

It probably also shows the brand of the Premier League that the biggest growers (bar Manchester United) were smaller clubs, lower down the table. I feel a lot of their followers are general fans of the Premier League, rather than fans of the clubs they follow.

The second table is the clubs who were not in the Premier League in 2013, so I have no original data on them. What is interesting is Leicester City.

At 1.1million followers, they would be placed just behind Newcastle. It would have been interesting to see their 2013 data in comparison. I imagine it would have been not too much higher than Southampton. Leicester’s does show just how much success can increase support.

Like success has boasted Leicester, relegation is also clearly damaging.

Those clubs who went down have still grown their twitter following, but at a slower rate than those who stayed in the Premier League.

The 6 teams who are no longer in the Premier League have increased their Twitter following by, on average, 398%. The bottom 6 teams in the Premier League by followers have increased by 557%.

And finally we come on to how the Premier League sides compare to the rest of the world

The first observation is that Real Madrid have overtaken Barcelona since 2013. Although by the time you include alternative languages for both, Barcelona are still ahead.

One interesting thing to note is the Spanish version of Real Madrid’s twitter is followed by more than the English version, but the English version of Barcelona is followed by more than the Spanish version.

Perhaps this indicates that Real Madrid are more popular in Spain, whilst Barcelona are followed more by foreign fans. I know what I would prefer.

Another interesting thing to note is once you remove the English sides, the rest of the world has only grown by 293%. That against the Premier League’s growth of 522%. It shows that in terms of leagues, the Premier League is still the most popular in the world, even if Barcelona and Real Madrid are streaks ahead in terms of individual club.

The last thing to note is how small Celtic are.

With just 551,000 followers, they are not much bigger than Norwich City, and are well behind the likes of Crystal Palace, WBA and Swansea. They might be a big side in Scotland, but it certainly shows they are a big fish in a small pond. And if they ever did join the Premier League, they would be a very small fish in a big pond.

Until next time

Keenos

Young defenders benefit from Arsenal’s formation switch

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Against West Ham on Tuesday, Arsenal stuck with the 4 at the back system that has seen them now keep 3 clean sheets on the spin.

The move, which happened before the bore draw against West Ham in the league and was kept for the 1-0 win over Newcastle, was also rolled out to the cup team for the 1-0 win over West Ham.

Whilst the move does seem to have shored us up at the back, it is also a huge positive for rob Holding and Calum Chambers.

The move to 3 at the back never really suited the English pair.

Despite the theory being that 3 at the back would mean more of a chance for central defenders to get a game, Nacho Monreal was played on the left hand side. This meant that the natural centre backs – Koscileny, Mustafi, Mertesacker, Chambers & Holding – were still fighting for just one place.

Chambers would have been a natural on the right hand side of the 3, but struggled for game time. And when he did play in the cup team, he often found himself at wing back.

Meanwhile, Rob Holding found himself out of position.

Holding is a dominating figure who should have been played in the middle of the 3, but when playing in the first team, he often found himself on the left or right. Then in the cup team, Mertesacker was the middle man so he found himself on the left of the 3. An unnatural position.

Against West Ham in the League Cup, Arsenal played Chambers and Holding as a defensive two – and they excelled.

We were not up against a West Ham reserve team. Many of the players featured the week before. Chambers and Holding had the likes of Javier Hernandez, Andrew Ayew and, for 35 minutes, Andy Carroll to deal with. And they did so brilliantly.

Restricting West Ham to no shots on target, and no corners, highlights the defensive masterclass that Holding and Chambers put on.

They were helped by having Francis Coquelin and Mohamed Elneny ahead of them. Two players who are more defensive than attacking. It was a good all round defensive performance.

Chambers, who has struggled to get a chance and spent last season on loan to Middlesbrough, put in a man of the match performance which showed he is ready to stop up.

Against Liverpool, it will be interesting to see whether Arsene Wenger sticks with Nacho Monreal at centre back, or puts Holding or Chambers in next to Koscielny.

What is for certain is both still have a future at the club.

Both players are still just 22 and, with Mertesacker retiring in the summer, will have an opportunity to put themselves forward as (at a minimum) second choice centre backs for the 2018/19 season.

I would expect us to go big in the summer for a new centre back. I also would not be surprised if either Mustafi or Koscileny leave us. This will leave Holding and Chambers as 3rd and 4th choice centre backs. I am comfortable with that.

The return to 4 at the back is a positive for the pair.

Keenos