Tag Archives: She Wore

Time running out for 3 Hale End products as Arsenal look to secure Europa League qualification

Leave a reply

Morning all.

Today we face Molde in the Europa League.

Victory would see The Arsenal move to 12 points and guarantee qualification into the knock-out stages. If Rapid Wien fail to beat Dundalk, we will also secure top spot with 2 games to go.

The Europa League has not seen Mikel Arteta put out a vast number of youngsters that we have seen in previous years.

This is a nod to how much stronger our squad is that our 2nd XI now is, filled with senior internationals, and highlights how many of our top youngsters are no longer really considered youngsters.

We could put out a side containing Kieran Tierney, Gabriel, Bukayo Saka, Ainsley Maitland-Niles, Joe Willock, Emile Smith Rowe, Reiss Nelson, Eddie Nketiah and Gabriel Martinelli and it would not feel like we have fielded a side of kids, even though every single one is still eligible to play for the U23 side.

It is important to get the balance of progression right. We want to see the likes of Folarin Balogun, Miguel Azeez and Ben Cottrell get a run out, but we also need to ensure the 2nd string are match sharp.

A couple of the youngsters expected to play are now playing for their future at Arsenal.

Reiss Nelson has not really done it since breaking into the Arsenal first team squad in 2017.

He had a decent loan spell at 1899 Hoffenheim but has failed to kick on.

Some will say “he has not had the game time” but with Nicolas Pepe’s form since his arrival, he would have got his chance if he was showing enough on the training ground.

“But he has spent a lot of time injured” is another defence of the youngster, but that should fall on deaf ears.

There is no point have the talent of Lionel Messi if you have the injury record of Darren Anderton.

Your top players are not only talented but also fairly physically robust. How many small, niggling injuries he has had at such a young age is a worry.

He reminds me a lot of Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain. That he might be talented but he will never remain fit enough to put together a run of half a dozen games to kick on.

Compare him to the kid a couple of years junior on the other side of the pitch.

Bukayo Saka has forced his way into the team due to his performances, and has stayed fit. He is now a regular for Arsenal and England, and is now levels ahead of Nelson.

Saka shows that if you are good enough, you get your chance. It might just be that Nelson is not good enough, and in the summer we should look to cash in, reinvest, and focus on the next rising star in the academy.

Likewise Eddie Nketiah is at a bit of a crossroads.

Nketiah is a goal poacher, but his problem is a modern striker needs to be able to do more – whether that be creating, holding the ball up or running the channels.

Eddie is 22 at the end of this year. With Gabriel Martinelli returning from injury and Balogun and Nikolaj Moller performing well at U23 level, time might be running out if he does not kick on to the next level.

Arsenal could sell Nketiah and Nelson in the summer, raising close to £40million as sides buy them based on their potential. This could be key funds to be reinvest in senior players, with the likes of Martinelli and Balogun stepping up to replace them.

Joe Willock is another one who might have peaked.

He has performed will in the Europa League in recent years but not taken that form into the Premier League. He is another the club might cash in on next summer, and start focusing on the likes of Azeez and Charlie Patino.

It would be a tough decision to let all 3 youngsters go, but if their developments has levelled out, then they should be moved on. Raising £50m+ in the sales of 3 academy products should be seen as a positive.

Arsenal would have additional funds to spend on superior players, and it frees the path for the next crop of youngsters to get their chance.

Hopefully all 3 put in top performances tonight, we win 6-0, Nketiah hat trick, 2 for Willock and one for Nelson.

Keenos

Arsenal playing with the handbrake on, but Mikel Arteta is the man to get us into top gear

2 Replies

November has been a peculiar month for Arsenal. It started with what felt like a landmark victory at Old Trafford, the Gunners’ first league win there in 14 years and it has rather stalled since.

Rather than showing definitive progress in the games that followed, Mikel Arteta’s men have struggled to shake off the inconsistency that has been a hallmark of their 2020/21 season so far, demonstrated by a record of four wins, four defeats and a draw from their first nine Premier League matches.

It would be all too easy to take a pessimistic view of the Gunners’ last game. A 0-0 draw to a newly promoted team never looks like a satisfactory score line, particularly when Leeds amassed 25 shots on goal.

However, when you factor in Arsenal’s away record against last season’s promoted clubs (Sheffield United, L, 0-1. Norwich City D, 2-2. Aston Villa, L, 0-1) and that they played the majority of the second half with ten men following Nicolas Pépé’s red card, Arteta deserves credit for being able to secure a point.

The next three matches are of pivotal importance to Arsenal, presenting a great opportunity for Arteta to gain some much-needed momentum.

Qualification as winners of Group B in the Europa League could be secured with a win at Molde on Thursday. A handsome win against Wolves on Sunday could propel Arsenal to as high as sixth before the all-important North London derby on 5 December.

Tottenham have two successive London derbies, playing Chelsea before the visit of Arsenal. Although Spurs currently sit top of the table, if they were to lose their next two league games and Arsenal were to win both of theirs, the gap between the two teams would close to just one point.

Needless to say, the next ten days could be an extremely important period, not just in the context of Arsenal’s season but in Arteta’s reign as Arsenal manager.

There is good reason to believe the Spaniard can turn things around once again. Not only did he resurrect a team that was buried in the rubble to the heights of FA Cup winners, but he has ensured that his Arsenal team will not be easy to beat.

At this stage last year, Unai Emery had overseen his last Premier League game, a 2-2 draw at home to then-19th placed Southampton, who had just been thrashed 9-0 by Leicester. Arsenal were closer to the relegation zone than the top four, already a staggering 19 points behind eventual champions Liverpool.

Freddie Ljungberg was then appointed as caretaker manager, a role which he fulfilled for almost a month, before Arteta took over.

He has since laid the foundations for future success by building a solid base. Bernd Leno continues to prove himself as one of the Premier League’s best goalkeepers, whilst Gabriel has added some much-needed steel in defence.

A pressing priority for Arteta is to get Arsenal scoring again. Although his team have looked stout and secure for the most part, they have failed to blow teams away in attack, not scoring more than twice in the Premier League since the opening day of the season.

Football fans are a fickle bunch and those currently calling for Arteta’s head will be singing his name from the rooftops in just under two weeks if he can lead Arsenal to three successive victories.

Despite recent results suggesting otherwise, there should be little doubt amongst the Arsenal faithful that Arteta is the man to lead the club forward.

Zac Campbell

https://twitter.com/SheWore/status/1323342832623587328

Up to 4,000 fans at sporting events is not much of a positive step forward

1 Reply

Morning all.

So some positive news last night with regards to fans returning to games as it was announced 4,000 fans could attend sporting events in lower restriction area (or 2,000 if you are under Tier 2).

But how positive actually is it?

London went into Tier 3 lockdown just before the whole country plunged into stricter nationwide restrictions. It is highly unlikely that it will be taken straight out of current restrictions and placed into the lowest.

The best we can hope for is Tier 2, which will allow 2,000 fans into grounds. The likelihood, however, is that London will be in Tier 3 from 2nd December – which would result in no fans being in grounds.

2,000 fans at the Emirates Stadium will not really be worth it.

I have been to youth games in the ground with just a couple of thousand fans and it does feel a barren wasteland.

At the youth games there are usually a few hundred away fans so at least there is a small atmosphere as we tend to drift towards those blocks nearest them.

If the fans are spread throughout the lower tier, the ground will feel a cold, silent place.

I am also baffled why it is only 2,000 (or 4,000).

Arsenal’s ground is 60,000 capacity. Leyton Orient’s Brisbane Road is 9,000. Both would have a capacity of 4,000 under the lowest restrictions.

Some clubs have also said they will actually lose money by opening up their grounds for just 2,000-4,000 fans, questioning whether they will decide to keep them shut until restrictions are further lifted.

And what for fans travelling from Tier 3 areas into Tier 2 or 1? Would they be allowed to go to games? Or would clubs have to exclude them?

Around 15,000 Arsenal fans opted-in to the ballot for tickets under restrictions, but with fans having an opt-out option when it comes to buying the tickets, many will probably make the decision to pass on their tickets until capacity rises.

So whilst the news is a step forward, it perhaps is not a big enough step forward.

In other Arsenal news, the club had to release a statement yesterday following abuse directed at Nicolas Pepe and Ezgjan Alioski.

We have spoken time and again about the cesspit of social media, and mainly Twitter.

Twitter allows people to open accounts under the cloak of anonymity which allows them to abuse others. People boast about having “burner accounts” that they use to abuse others.

Looking through a lot of the accounts throwing out abuse, the majority look to be children and fans from foreign shores. People whose brains have not evolved enough to understand that this abuse is wrong. They believe this abuse is “banter”.

Racial abuse, death threats, posting addresses, etc is no banter.

The problem is clubs can not do much about it.

They can try and track the person down, and if they have a membership cancel it. But that is a pointless act if they are a 14 year old from Croydon or some grown man from Nigeria.

It is Twitter that really need to act but only allowing people to open an account using government issued ID.

It reminds me of the film Nerve.

People are brave when they are hiding behind anonymity, thinking that no one can touch them, find them, know who they are. Once that anonymity drops, they attitude changes immediately.

Would these people really be sending the abuse they do if their loved ones, their parents, wife or children or colleagues could see what they were saying? The answer is no.

There is less abuse on Facebook and Instagram than Twitter and YouTube because it is not as easy to be anonymous.

Have a good Tuesday.

Keenos