Tag Archives: She Wore

Arsenal Surprisingly Top, Walcott’s Pace, Spurs & Celtic

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Arsenal Surprisingly Top

Well, well, well, who would have thought after conceding the late equaliser to PSG that they would end up failing to beat the Bulgarian goat farmers at home and Arsenal would finish top.

It was so unlikely that many, including me, questioned why the likes of Alexis Sanchez was in Switzerland.

I woke up yesterday morning not really caring about the game, because it did not mater if we won or lost, PSG were going to win by a cricket score. And I guess this is why I work in recruitment and am not a Premier League manager.

Arsene Wenger stuck out a strong team (although still making 6 changes) just in case the unlikely happened in Paris. And the unlikely did happen in Paris. And Arsenal end up top.

For those who were angry yesterday about Sanchez, Ozil, et al starting, how much more angry would you be this morning had Wenger put out the kids and we lost?

With games still to play tonight, here is who we could play.

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It is odd the media are not reporting we could get Lyon, they are 3 points behind Sevilla, and they play each other tonight. Clearly Sky Sports produced their list of opponents and everyone else has just copied them, without checking themselves. Lazy journalism at its best.

The draw is next week (Monday 12th I think).

Walcott’s Pace

There was a moment yesterday when Arsenal were on the counter attack. Theo Walcott had beaten his man, and I expected the turbo chargers to go on and him to run away. But he didn’t. He got to the half way line. Stopped, cut inside and passed. At the moment I wondered what had happened to Theo’s pace. My only possible conclusions:

  1. At 4-1, Walcott was looking after himself. He did not want to go full throttle on an ice cold evening having came on as a sub and torn a hamstring. The game was won, he did not have to go full throttle
  2. He has actually lost his pace over a long distance. Still electric over 10m, he can not sustain it for 100m. Bit like Freddie Ljungberg (who was faster than Henry over 10m, but slower over 100m)
  3. He has zero confidence in himself and is so used to stopping his runs to pass inside that it was just habitual. He did not understand the space and position he was in, so did not utilise it

Whatever reason it was that he did not sprint through, it will be interesting to watch in coming games if he is starting to lose that electric pace.

Spurs

After setting records for most hot dogs sold by a home team in England (or something like that), our friends up the road have struggled to sell out for tonight’s game at Wembley. Which begs the question, why are they building a new stadium?

They often failed to sell out game’s in the Europa League in previous years, so why they have felt the need to build a bigger stadium has always been beyond my reasoning. They just do not have the demand.

And they could end up finishing bottom whilst Arsenal topped the group.

What’s that saying again? Forever in our shadow.

Celtic

So Celtic drew away to Man City. Well done. It was a Man City B team. Good work.

And with that draw, you ended up with loads of Celtic fans on the radio last night saying how that result, and the home draw, proved that Celtic would be good enough to challenge in the Premier League.

Let’s get the facts right, Celtic finished bottom of their group, and failed to win a single game. If they joined the Premier League, they would be relegated.

The only thing they have in common with Premier League sides is their history of harbouring child sex offenders, and ignoring their offences.

Stick to playing semi-professional and getting excited about winning the league in a 1 team league.

Keenos

Silly Sanchez in Switzerland

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iWhy the hell has Alexis Sanchez gone to Switzerland?

The game is pretty much a dead rubber, with Arsenal relying on PSG to lose at home to a bunch of Bulgarian goat farmers to be within a chance of topping the group. And with the way other groups are, it pretty much makes no difference this year if we finish 1st or 2nd in the group, with regards as to who we play in the next round.

Yes, I understand those flying out today have spent good money, so deserve to see a good team. And I imagine their is pressure from sponsors for Arsene Wenger to play the big players on the big stage, but in the grand scheme of a season, tonight’s game is pretty much meaningless.

So why is Alexis Sanchez on the plane?

Between the game against Manchester United and the FA Cup tie against Preston in January, Arsenal have 13 games in 50 days. That is 1 game every 3.8 days. A hectic schedule. To ensure we have the best chance in the Premier League, we need to rest and rotate when we can, and today is an ideal opportunity.

It is not just the 90 minutes, but what go’s on around that 90 minutes. The mental and physical preparation required. The travelling. The flights. The hotels.

Arsene Wenger could, and should, have given all first team players the week off.

On Sunday they should have all been in for a rehabilitation session. Stretching. Yoga. Ice baths. Get the muscles repairing after the West Ham tie. Then give them Monday off. Unless they want to see the physio, they should not be seen at the training ground. A day playing golf, a bit of Christmas shopping. A day to rest their body and minds.

Then today, they should all be at the training ground participating in a light training session. Nothing to strenuous. Just some more stretching, yoga, some light gym work. Let the bodies fully recover.

Tomorrow, back to full training, preparing for Stoke City on Saturday.

In the past we have seen players pick up minor injuries – which at Arsenal always seem to turn into major injuries – due to being over played. Due to being in their red zone. Due to not getting a little break.

Taking into account that Alexis Sanchez has been flying around the globe for the last 2 years representing Chile, as well as his non-stop performances for Arsenal, he needs to be given a rest.

Sanchez might not be happy about being told to rest. He comes across as the type of character who wants to play all the time. He will probably sulk. But that is where Wenger needs to manage him. Explain why he isn’t playing him. Tell him to go and chill with his dogs for a few days.

It just seems silly that Sanchez is in Switzerland.

Keenos

Gabriel, Nasty November, Ethan Ampadu, FA Cup Draw, Wenger Statistics, Christmas Ideas

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Gabriel

Whilst Alexis Sanchez will get all the praise after his performance against West Ham, followed by Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain, one man could also walk off the pitch with his head held high. Gabriel Armando de Abreu, known as Gabriel Paulista or simply Gabriel.

With Hector Bellerin out for a few more weeks yet, Mathieu Debuchy joining him in the physio’s room, and Carl Jenkinson’s demise, Arsene Wenger took the decision to play Gabriel at right back against West Ham.

The more natural solution would have been move Shkodran Mustafi to right back – who has played their previously for club and country – and put Gabriel in the middle of the park. But Wenger decided it was better to keep the middle strong, and put Gabriel on the right. Rather than have two weakened positions, it meant just one.

It also meant that inside Gabriel there was the class and reliability of Mustafi.

Gabriel did a brilliant job against West Ham. Only once I can think he was beaten, and as the game went on he showed some attacking intent.

Obviously he is not a long term option there, and the quicker Bellerin returns the better, but good job Gabriel, bloody good job.

Nasty November

As you open your 5th door on your advent calendar, November is already a distant memory away as we look forward to Christmas. And with November over, it meant Arsenal could finally returning to playing title challenging football.

Arsenal’s poor November form has been highlighted by all and sundry. So how did the team actually fair in the horrible month?

In the Premier League, we were actually unbeaten. Winning 1, drawing 2. But it saw us drop from top of the league to 4th.

November also saw Arsenal knocked out of the League Cup by Southampton, and almost certainly resign themselves to 2nd in their Champions League group after a draw at home to Sunderland.

Our full record in the month reads: P 6, W 2, D 3, L 1. And as we go into December, our ‘poor’ form evaporates…

https://twitter.com/KeenosAFC/status/805407208087425025

Ethan Ampadu

Arsenal have reportedly ‘won’ the race to sign Exeter’s Welsh youth international midfield Ethan Ampadu, reportedly beating the likes of Liverpool, Chelsea and Manchester United to his signing.

If the 16 year old’s name rings a bell, it is because he is the son of Arsenal under-18s Head coach Kwame Ampadu.

So the reality is it is a bit of non-story.

Before joining Arsenal, Kwame Ampadu was the U18’s coach at Exeter City. It was at this time the younger Ampadu joined the academy that his father was working at. When Kwame came across to Arsenal in 2012, Ethan, then 12, remained in Exeter, at school, and training with the local club.

Role on 4 years, Ethan is 16, finished his secondary schooling, and has not joined his father at a bigger, better club.

Ampadu became the club’s youngest-ever player when he made his debut aged 15 years and 331 days old in August, breaking an 88 year old record set by a chap called Cliff Bastin. He was recently named Wales’ Young Player of the Year.

A defensive midfielder, it will be interesting to see how quickly he establishes himself in his fathers under-18 side

FA Cup Draw

The draw for the FA Cup 3rd round is tonight, around 7.10pm. It will be live on both BBC Two and BT Sport. Arsenal, as always, are number 1.

Danger of Statistics

For a long time, I have been a slave to statistics, and will continually to rely on them alongside my own eyes when judging players. They are so important as statistics in themselves can not be biased.

However, the way an individual interprets statistics can be biased.

We have seen an example recently with many people rolling out the following statistic:

Arsene Wenger has lead Arsenal to 2 trophies out of a possible 45

It is a damning statistic which does highlight a massive underachievement. Just a 4.4% win ratio. But then it is also a biased statistic as it deliberately creates a time period that to make Wenger look bad – after the 2005 FA Cup victory to today.

Let’s flip it another way:

Arsene Wenger has lead Arsenal to 2 trophies out of a possible 11

The period picked was from the FA Cup victory of 2014 to today. This creates a win ratio of 18.2%. Vastly improved!

And that is how we manipulate the statistics to show that Wenger has either been very poor over the last 11 years (he has) or very good over the last 3 years (he has).

Of course, the longer the time period, the more accurate the statistics:

Arsene Wenger has lead Arsenal to 9 trophies out of a possible 82

That is his record during his entire time at Arsenal. 11% of all trophies. 9 from 82 does not seem much. But then look at this:

Arsenal have won 29 trophies out of 263

That is the statistic since the end of First World War.

Since the Great War, Arsenal have won 11.1% of all trophies (League, FA Cup, League Cup & Europe) that they have entered.

So what can we actually conclude from these statistics:

  1. Arsene Wenger’s Arsenal have been below par over the last decade
  2. Arsene Wenger’s Arsenal have been above par over the past 3 years
  3. Arsene Wenger is bang on the average for trophies won throughout his career

Statistics can be interpreted however you wish, to either prove an argument or disprove it, to credit someone or discredit someone.

Arsenal Christmas Ideas

A few weeks ago we gave you some cracking Christmas present ideas for Arsenal fans. We have since had these come in…

PS: The deadline for buying a Clockend Clock and having it delivered before Christmas has now gone. If you order one now, you will not get it until January.