Tag Archives: Tottenham

Arsenal’s European journey set to continue

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Tonight Arsenal could qualify for the Europa League knock out stages after just 4 games. Victory will ensure that a top 2 place is guaranteed. If BATE Borisov fail to beat FC Koln, top place is ensure with 2 games to go.

Now I am not going to celebrate too much, as I understand that the Europa League is the 2nd tier of European football, but to qualify easily, having mainly used a second string and youth, is a positive.

I read yesterday someone saying Arsenal are disrespecting the Europa League by playing youngsters and a 2nd string. I laugh that we have won 3 from 3 whilst playing the second string. We have put out the players needed to win the games.

Meanwhile, the likes of Everton, Athletic Bilbao and Hertha Berlin are heading out of the competition.

Arsenal might not be giving the competition 100% of their focus, but we are doing enough to get through and, like Manchester United last season, will surely increase the strength of the side as the competition progresses.

A lot of people look down on the Europa League, they scoff at it, but it is a competition I would love to win.

An early summer final in Lyon. In the South of France with my mates. The type of people who sit and say I would rather be in the Champions League and not win, than the Europa League and win probably never go to games. They watch on TV.

The same sort of people probably moan that we have only won the FA Cup in recent years. We have won it 3 times actually. 3 times in 4 years.

Spurs beat Real Madrid last night. Oddly a lot of Arsenal fans on Twitter were saying how brilliant they were. How they had shown Arsenal how to play in Europe. That it had shown great progression.

But they forget Spurs have won nothing. Even Mauricio Pochettino said last night that beating Real Madrid means nothing if we win nothing.

It is the odd mentality of the modern football fan that winning a single game, like that against Real Madrid, is deemed as good as winning a trophy.

Last week, Spurs were knocked out of the League Cup by West Ham. They justified their collapse by saying that they had bigger fish to fry. This is a side that have won just two League Cups in 26 years.

Fans have become picky about what trophies they want their club to win. It is like turning down the fat one from Little Mix because you want to shag the blonde one, yet the reality is you have no chance with the blonde one.

Beating Real Madrid might create a great, short term memory, but ultimately it means nothing.

As for Spurs showing Arsenal how to do it in Europe, last I looked, Arsenal had no problems getting through the knockout stages of the Champions League with games to spare. Spurs are not doing anything miraculous, anything unique.

Now if they win it, it is another story, but the reality is there is no difference if they fail to qualify or get knocked out in the semi-final. Bar some trips away (many of which Arsenal fans have already done), you end up with nothing. No trophies. An empty cabinet.

Between 1995/96 and 1996/97 Newcastle United finished 2nd twice, playing a brilliant brand of attacking football under Kevin Keegan. In 1997/98 they beat the mighty Barcelona at home in the Champions League, Faustino Asprilla scoring a hat trick.

Bar a couple of FA Cup semi-finals in the following years, Newcastle won nothing. Their last domestic honour was the 1954–55 FA Cup.

Following on from Newcastle was Leeds United. A brilliant young side filled with English talent.

Leeds went on a brilliant Champions League run in 2001, culminating in a Champions League semi-final appearance. They lost.

The previous year, they made the UEFA Cup semi-final. They also lost.

Both Newcastle and Leeds were relegated in the mid 00’s. They won nothing during their successful periods. Everyone loved them. The odd folk who have second teams cheered them on.

Ultimately, if you fail to win trophies, it does not really matter how many brilliant nights in the San Siro or Wembley you have. These games will just be forgotten into history.

And this is why I want us to win the Europa League.

Last season Manchester United won both the Europa League and League Cup. Some people scoffed at them, laughing at them just winning minor honours. But what did fans of the clubs laughing at them win? Probably nothing.

Yes, they finished 6th, but in winning the Europa League they secured Champions League football.

Give me finishing 6th and winning two trophies over finishing 2nd and winning nothing any day. Some might say but we want to progress in the league, be competitive in the league but there is no trophy for that. No one remembers who finished 2nd.

These same people probably laughed at Arsenal winning the top 4 trophy. And now they laugh that Arsenal did not make the top 4 yet won a real trophy in the Europa League.

The moral of the story is simple, nothing matters until you win a trophy.

As for the Europa League, there could be some interesting sides dropping into the Europa League: CSKA Moscow, Celtic, Atlético Madrid, Sporting Lisbon, Spartak Moscow, Napoli, RB Leipzig & Borussia Dortmund currently occupy 3rd place in their groups.

I have no qualms about playing any of these.

Because we are the Arsenal and we are the best. We are the Arsenal so f**k all the rest.

Enjoy the game tonight.

Keenos

Spurs fail to sell 50% of tickets for match against London rivals

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Just over a month ago, I wrote a blog about how the League Cup highlighted that Spurs were still, and always will be, in Arsenal’s shadow.

It was very basic stuff, about attendances. That Spurs basically did not have the high attendances to justify such a big stadium. That whilst they might get 90,000 turn up for a big game, they have had attendances as low as 20,000 in recent year for smaller games.

The point I was making was that when it came to lesser games, either Premier League, League Cup, or European, Spurs will probably be best off closing their upper tier.

Against Barnsley, just 23,826 turned up to watch at Wembley, highlighting that Spurs do not have the fan base to sell tickets for minor games.

The replies from Spurs fans were predictably laughable.

We then come to this week. A game against West Ham. It is half term. Surely no excuses to sell out, or near sell out?

Or so you would think.

Interestingly, Spurs have failed to release attendance figures for their home time against West Ham, but reports are they are around the 36,000 mark.

Now we all remember the criticism Arsenal drew when “just” 44,064 turned up for this seasons League Cup 3rd round tie with Doncaster Rovers:

So what has been the media response to Spurs having nearly 10,000 fans turn up against another West Ham side?

In reality 36,000 for a midweek third-tier domestic cup competition is pretty sensational going.

The low attendance and the positivity from the media once more shows that Spurs are still in the shadow of Arsenal. That the bar of achievement is a lot lower for them than Arsenal. The level of expectations a lot lower for Spurs than Arsenal.

Spurs, the joke of a club who think progression is a trophy and release DVDs celebrating losing in Europe. They will talk about that night in Madrid for decades to come.

https://twitter.com/ShaneBurns_/status/923268979271061504

Small silly club.

Keenos

 

 

Mesut Ozil – “A waste of money and talent”

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Waste of money and talent was one comment when a friend of mine stuck up Karma is a bitch eh Mesut… in a Whatasapp group, The discussion was about Mesut Ozil being set to face a humiliating Arsenal climb down having failed to attract any offers for his services elsewhere.

Lazy, bug eyed c**t was another response. Needless to say, the majority of the Whatsapp group have not been impressed by Mesut Ozil and his performances for Arsenal.

They moan that he is lazy, that he does not put in enough work. Well I am sorry that Mesut Ozil does not run around as much as Francis Coquelin.

“F**cking run around a bit” was what Harry Redknapp once asked one of his strikers to do. The opinion being that showing a bit of enthusiasm and topping the KM’s covered charts is what makes a good footballer.

This is why England have always struggled. Fans champion the likes of Jordan Henderson, Jake Livermore, Lee Catermole, Emile Heskey, Danny Welbeck. Players who have very little technical ability, but put in a shift. Work hard. Run around a little bit.

Whilst this is an important attribute for smaller teams, the likes of Stoke City, Bolton Wanderers, Tottenham Hotspur, Republic of Ireland and Scotland, at a top side, during a league campaign, you do not want your key attacking players to cover every inch of grass, wasting energy on lost causes.

Mathieu Flamini covered a lot of ground for Arsenal in both spells at the club. He often topped the charts for distance covered. He never stopped running. But who would you prefer in the side? Flamini or Cesc Fabregas? Flamini or Ozil?

But you need balance is what you are crying. You need a Flamini to play with a Fabregas, to cover the ground. Correct. You are right. You are basically agreeing with me. That it is not the job of the likes of Fabregas and Ozil to track back all the time. To cover a big load of KM’s. That is others in the team.

Aaron Ramsey loves to run around a little bit, but is then frustrating when he is asked to be the midfield play maker. I can probably count on one hand how many number 10’s are high energy, covering the ground. In fact, my pal Paul could probably count how many of these players are known for running around and he does not have a hand to count them on.

The Juan Mata’s of this world, Eden Hazard, Kevin de Bruyne, David Silva, James Rodriguez, Mario Gotze, Tomas Muller. Some of the best Number 10’s in world football. None are exactly known for running around a little bit. Mesut Ozil is amongst them.

So my first point with Ozil is simple. Understand his role in the team. He is not there to defend, he is in the side to attack, to create. Leave the defensive side to those behind him. We are not good enough at defending, blame Granit Xhaka, blame Aaron Ramsey, blame Arsene Wenger. Do not blame Mesut Ozil. It would be like blaming Laurent Koscielny that we do not score enough goals.

On the other point, about Mesut Ozil being a waste of money and talent it reminds me of two daily Mail articles that I read on their app. They were next to each other so reading one after another made interesting reading.

The first was about Mesut Ozil. About how he had been a flop at Arsenal. How he had been a horrendous signing. That Arsenal would be good to get shot of him.

Following on from the article was a second one about Tottenham Hotspur. It was the usual BS about how great they were. How great Mauricio Pochettino is. That Harry Kane is the best striker in the world. Dele Alli the best Number 10 (no mention that he is lazy).

Now for a bit of perspective…

So Ozil is a failure, having won more trophies at Arsenal in the 4 years he has been in London than Spurs have won in the last 26 years. That great Spurs team. The brilliant side that they are…

If I wanted to play silly buggers, I could say that Spurs have only won 3 trophies in the last 33 years. That my mates 5 year old has seen Ozil lift more trophies than his 32 year old father has seen Spurs lift.

A final thought on this matter, and I am not making an in depth comparison, just a final thought.

Liam Brady is considered an Arsenal legend. A left footed, classy player who glided over the field. How does Mesut Ozil compare to him?

So whilst Ozil has played half the amount of games, the German has a better scoring ratio – yet some moan that Ozil does not score enough.

And ultimately, Ozil has won more in his Arsenal career than Liam Brady.

Has Ozil been that much of a flop?

Keenos