Tag Archives: Tottenham

Mesut Ozil v Dele Alli

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“If he Mesut Ozil had half of what Dele Alli has got, that nasty streak, he would be ten times a better player than he is because he hasn’t got what Dele Alli has.”

They are the words uttered by Lee Dixon during England’s defeat against Germany.

Now I am not in the business of abusing Arsenal legends. And I will not abuse Lee Dixon. Legends have a right, and a platform, to give their opinion. Often the abuse on social media platforms they get from so called “Arsenal fans” is nothing short of a disgrace.

Even though you might be an Arsenal legend, it does not make you immune for criticism, and Lee Dixon’s comparison of Alli and Ozil is laugable.

It is that last line I find hilarious. Mesut Ozil hasn’t got what Dele Alli has.Let’s compare what both players ’have’:

One is a world class player who has won trophies throughout his career for club and country. The other spends his time making up silly handshakes.

Dele Alli is a player who I have rated since his days at MK Dons. I, like most, surprised how much he has developed. But he is yet to reach anywhere near the level of Mesut Ozil. Alli is a good player, but not a world class place. Germany won without Ozil. England lost with Alli in the side.

I think in summary, if Dele Alli achieves half as much as Mesut Ozil in his carer, he would be a ten times more successful player than he is, because at the moment, Dele Alli hasn’t got what Ozil has. Trophies.

Keenos

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

Dejected Arsenal, Delighted Spurs

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As the final whistle went yesterday and we trudged out of the stadium, dejected, annoyed, frustrated, I heard a racket behind me, some sort of mass celebration. I looked over my should and spotted Spurs fans in their corner of our stadium going mental, limbs everywhere. They were celebrating a 1-1 draw like they had just clinched the title at our ground.

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But they hadn’t.

The response from both sets of fans to what was a fair result, a bore draw, shows the difference in expectations between the two sides. Arsenal were frustrated with a draw when a win would have seen them go top. Spurs were delighted with a draw that saw them remain 5th

The celebratory Spurs fans will point to the fact that they went 1-0 down, that they are still the only unbeaten team in the Premier League, that they are still in the title race, as reasons for their excitement. But the reality is very different.

Spurs have now not won a game in any competition since the 2-0 victory against Manchester City On October 2nd. That is over a month ago. 7 games without a win represents poor form, not a top side. As for the title race, they now sit 5th, 5 points off top. Whilst it would be too early to write them off – as we have seen with Chelsea – they are starting to be cut adrift due to their inability to win games.

In those 7 games, Spurs have scored just 4 goals. 3 of which have been penalties. So 1 goal from open play and no wins in 7. You can understand why I was confused when they were celebrating so vigorously.

Whilst on reflection, a 1-1 draw was the right result in which neither team created too much, it was only Arsenal who looked like they were trying to win.

Spurs’ 3 at the back very quickly turned to 5 at the back, and their game plan was to disrupt the play, hoof long balls forward and time waste at every opportunity. Signs that Spurs have not moved forward in 2 decades of Arsene Wenger, no matter what their fans might say.

Wenger rolled the dice bringing on Aaron Ramsey for Francis Coquelin in an attacking move. Olivir Giroud and Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain were also both bought on in double quick time.

Meanwhile, Spurs subbed laboured off. Harry Kane got a little confused when being subbed off and went for a wander. Every chance they could get to time waste they did. At one point with 10 minutes to go Spurs tried to take it to the corner flag.

As Arsenal fans, we had every right to feel disappointed. A chance to go top lost against a poor Spurs side riddled with injuries. Spurs had no right to celebrate. And the fact that their fans did celebrate shows just how different both sides expectations are this season.

Keenos