Declan and Martin Hold the Fate of Arsenal’s season

TotalArsenal

“Over my dead body!”. Arteta taught me a lesson this week.

I know that I am not the only one who has mentally surrendered the league to the Liverpudlians. It follows my somewhat Stoic mindset of lowering expectations and only focus on what I can influence. If I project this onto my beloved Arsenal, then it makes sense to believe that all the setbacks on the injury front and odd but devastating refereeing interventions, as well as Liverpool having a near faultless season in the post Klopp era, just means that this is not going to be our season.

Yet this way of thinking is exactly what the League leaders want everybody to adopt. Giving up now means that they can cruise to the title and maybe even win the CL in the process. Arsenal were on a good run but let it slip against the Hammers. West Ham do this now and again to a top team. We really could not afford dropping these three points, but it is only a game. Many more to come and giving up is not an option. “Over my dead body”, indeed.

Do I expect Pool to slip up? Not really, but we all love football’s ability to spring a surprise, and if the Scousers do slip up Arteta is the man to get the team firing on all cylinders again. It would be a miracle if Mikel can get this non-firing team – both in attack and in midfield – to do so.

Clearly, he needs a different approach to the low-block teams coming to the home of football. We just have not got the weapons to crack those defences at the moment. Odegaard and Sterling lack form, Trossard is best suited as our super-sub and has not got the same penetration speed as Martinelli, Ethan is good but obviously still learning. Morino, Rice and Partey are all not natural attackers. It is a tough one, right now, but with a clean sheet in each game a single goal will suffice. So maybe the team should sit deep(er) for the rest of the season and aim to win ugly for a while. Arsenal have the meanest defence in the League, so let’s build on this strength.

The real area of concern, but also opportunity, is our midfield. I just cannot grasp why the likes of Rice and Odegaard have just not been able to dominate this area much, much more. Partey is having a relatively fantastic season, but Declan and Martin are just not playing anywhere near their abilities. It is not for a lack of effort as both try their hardest to overcome their lack of form this season. Declan suffered with fatigue after the Euros and Martin suffered from a bad injury. When you look at their faces you can see the despair at times.

I love these boys because they really, really care. If Mikel can somehow get these two to their top level, I think we will have a beautiful end to the season (whether that means silverware or not). Easier said than done. Maybe it is time to bring an Arsenal Legend to the club to coach them. The blog’s name will give you a clue who I think is ideal for this, but Freddie or Robert would also be fine. The club needs to do everything to get these two pivotal midfielders to shine again…. Any ideas?

By TotalArsenal

73 thoughts on “Declan and Martin Hold the Fate of Arsenal’s season”

  • “maybe the team should sit deep(er) for the rest of the season and aim to win ugly for a while. Arsenal have the meanest defence in the League, so let’s build on this strength.”
    … well, my thoughts exactly, TA
    Starting tonight? Stu’s homey’s been on fire, Hudson-Odoi looks like he’s finally becoming the player he was always meant to be, not to mention the tall, strong guys they have in store, who could very well hoist us with our own set-piece-petard … no stroll in the City ground park in sight, is there?
    Which is why I’ve been crossing my fingers for a 3-5-2 setup:
    Raya
    Calafiori-Saliba-Gabriel
    White-Timber-Merino-Zinchenko-Tierney
    Trossard-Sterling
    Hold on, I can explain!!
    – our Roman legionary is comfortable with both feet, and CB is his natural position, so no problem here
    – Ben and Kieran would bring their grit, their runs/overlaps, crosses on both flanks; let’s be over and done with the inverted FB thing, Mick, please
    – I’d love to see Jurrien in the DM position, he’s strong, relentless, but also calm and composed, always at the right place at the right time. As reliable as Partey-Jorginho may have been, I think rejuvenating that part of midfield would boost the whole team
    – Mikel2 deserves to be picked again; in a 5-man-midfield with Timber by his side, he’d be given a free ticket to push forward as often as he sees fit, and is more likely to get his name on the score sheet from that position than when asked to play the Kai role, imo
    – The inverted FB part must be mentally exhausting for the lads who are asked to play it; I think that’s what happened to Zinchenko, and sentenced him to a dramatic drop in the pecking order, eventually. Left “BtoB“ midfield, protected by Kieran on his left flank, might be the position where Alex will remind us what a supremely gifted left-footed creative player he can be on a good day, and make up for Martin’s absence …
    – … for “Declan and Martin are just not playing anywhere near their abilities“: indeed, TA! We all know what top-players our 2 boys are; what’s the point in playing them into the ground more? Let’s give ‘em the breather they need, and hope it’ll be enough to have them fire on all cylinders again in Eindhoven …
    – Lastly, our frontline … well, not a lot to pick from, is there? Let’s give Raheem yet another chance; I don’t find it very smart to demand 95-minute consistent performances from as young a boy as Ethan every 3 or 4 days, I’d rather he were a starter in Eindhoven too
    Let’s be a patient stronghold, a goalless draw would be fine by me, but I wouldn’t say no to yet another “one-nil to the Arsenal“ of course.
    Let’s not try and be winners of beauty contests, let’s awake our inner “Bron“

    COYG

  • Great comment, Duc de Normandie!

    The lineup is a defensive fortress, the chess equivalent of the modern defence. The only problem I have with it is the lack of likely goals to come from these eleven. Back to banking on the set pieces? Who would take them?

  • Lineups are out

    Arsenal: Raya, Timber, Saliba, Gabriel, Calafiori, Jorginho, Rice, Odegaard, Nwaneri, Trossard, Merino.
    Subs: Neto, Kiwior, White, Zinchenko, Tierney, Partey, Sterling, Kabia, Butler-Oyedeji.

    Nottingham Forest: Sels, Aina, Williams, Milenkovic, Murilo, Hudson-Odoi, Anderson, Gibbs-White, Dominguez, Elanga, Wood.
    Subs: Hennessey, Morata, Sangare, Awoniyi, Moreno, Silva, Yates, Sosa, Danilo.

  • Not many surprises with that lineup. Should be an open game with Forest trying to play football. I rate Anderson, quite the complete midfielder.

  • Good (more congenial hour of the) morning to you BK’ers. All sunshine here, curtains drawn and anticipation growing for a tough but winnable match. Looking forward to seeing Raya the speedster and our mean as defence keeping a clean sheet.
    Liverpool riding that luck wave with Isak out of this mornings match.

  • Our Italian is getting some joy in the opposition box but losing the footrace with Alanga.
    Still, we are dominating but need to be cautious of that quick break. Great tackle by Big Gab on Woodsie.

    Thanks for the post, Total. Big week for the boys and they can well do with the sort of encouragement you always offer.

  • LG’s call of 0-0 gets us a vital point in the race for what looks like second place. Gibbs White was exceptional for them, but we controlled the game well and came away with the first goalless draw at the City ground since 1998 (in the Premiership). If we maintain our defensive displays and find a way to pinch a goal, we can secure second in the EPL and advance in the CL. Let’s conjure up the spirit of ’94 when we conceded just 3 goals the Cup winners Cup, just 1 goal from the second round through to beating much fancied Parma 1-0 in the final. Probably the high point of that era’s famous back five.
    Mind you, we had Wrighty (tho’ not for the final), Smudger, Merse and Super Kev back then.

    On the morning of the West Ham game my daily reading featured the following verse from Habakkuk, “The vision will still happen at the appointed time… If it is delayed, wait for it. It will certainly happen”.

  • Much improved performance from the dire West Ham episode, also thought that Jorginho brought a more adventurous style to a midfield over the sideways style of Partey.

    Never mind our attack, what has happened to the goal threat of Trossard, Rice and Odegaard, they remind me of Hollins, Talbot and Price. About as threatening as a wet weekend in Wallend.

    Great effort from Califiori and a couple of Merino headers and that was that…

    Sterling at the end? Why not Kabia ffs?

  • The only positives from this game is that we kept a clean sheet, played much better than what we’ve done in recent games, especially against West Ham, and dominated a good Forest side. Frankly, I am not sure I have seen Forest look so reserved on their ground.

    It speaks to how much respect they were forced to have for us and the desire we showed to win it, albeit without the bite upfront. Hopefully, this provides the platform for the team to just play with purpose as we enter the UCL bend.

  • All agreed guys, excellent game by Arsenal in terms of energy, dominance and keeping the crowd quiet. The struggle for goals continues, but how close did Calafiori get to scoring?! A draw at Forest is nothing to be ashamed about.

  • About THE topic which will keep the whole Arsenalverse busy in the weeks-months ahead …
    Gonçalo Ramos is a classic, elegant, technically brilliant goalscoring CF if ever there was one.
    He’s only 23, looks like a fast learner (some days, figurin’ out Enrique’s plans requires proficiency in quantum mechanics at least), and is no trouble-maker: Enrique benches him most of the time (for “tactical” reasons) but he always makes his presence felt, givin’ momentum to the team, right from the second he’s been brought on.
    He’s said to be (roughly) on €100,000/week (£85,000) which, for a 23-y-o world-class CF in the 2025 PL world, doesn’t look insane (in the real world, this IS insane, of course) to me.
    But MA and staff would have to warm up to the thought of us playing with an actual, state-of-the art CF first, which I’m not convinced of; I think the “Kai” profile is exactly what they want upfront …
    Agreed yesterday’s wasn’t such a bad night at the office: they’re 3rd, aren’t they? and this was an away game after all. I was under the impression the lads had some fire in their bellies again, too.
    Now, whether it be 3-5-2 or somethin’ else, I keep thinkin’ Mick should shuffle around our setup/lineup more, so we might have more opportunities to catch our opponents on the break. Nothing we do seems to surprise them at the moment so, since they’re very likely to have been drilled that way the days before, they’re back in a position to annihilate us as soon as they give the ball away, and from then on we pass the ball around the box just as handballers do around the goal area.
    In the absence of Bukayo, with Martin struggling and midfielders being no threat (Bill should do more, too, imo), nurturing the hope of scoring in such a situation looks very much like wishful thinking to me …
    Looking forward to Tuesday’s game, if there’s one competition where clean sheets will take us far, the CL’s the one!

  • Very nice touch from the “Guardian” sports team, this morning:
    https://www.theguardian.com/football/2025/feb/28/arsenal-under-18s-fa-youth-cup-nwaneri-lewis-skelly-manchester-united
    Filling Jack’s shoes wasn’t an easy thing to do, but Adam Birchall has been doing a great job lately. No need to have worked long with kids, to see how great he must be with them … This article may be read as a homage paid to his human approach of the job, which is highly deserved imo, I’m really glad for him.
    I’ve been very critical of Per, sometimes, but – even if this might cost us the win tonight – I think the choice of playing very young kids should be commended. This is what the most successful French academies (Lyon, Rennes, Monaco …) have been doing for a long time, and given the number of them who ended up under his watch at international level, Deschamps in particular doesn’t have any complaint about it. The PSG team we beat in the U19 Youth League was actually a U16-U17 squad, as well …
    We should have something like:
    Porter
    Julienne -Onyekachukwu (Clarke)-Sweet-Ismail (Ogunnaike)
    Copley-Ibrahim
    Dowman-Casey-HarrimanAnnous (BaileyJoseph)
    Oyetunde (HarrimanAnnous)
    … a strong side, I just wish ZecevicJohn had been available, he had been flying lately
    And btw … it’s live on arsenal.com!!
    COYYoungGuns

  • Quite a different lineup, actually:
    Porter
    Clarke-Salmon-Sweet-Ogunnaike
    Ibrahim-Murisa
    Dowman-Copley-O’Neill
    HarrimanAnnous
    Subs: Ranson-Tahou-Onyekachukwu-Marciniak-Oyetunde-Casey-BaileyJoseph
    (Julienne, ZecevicJohn are missing out through injuries)
    This bunch is even younger than what I expected: Dowman and Salmon are 15; Porter, Ogunnaike, Murisa, O’Neill, as well as Tahou, BaileyJoseph, are 16.
    Clear choice from Birchall-Per: Ismail could have been picked, but he’s 18 already so Ogunnaike got the nod. Makes the game all the more interesting to watch. Having said that let’s not get our hopes too high as far as making it to the semis is concerned, I’m afraid.
    Neither Obi, nor Heaven in the United XI. Too bad; some of our lads must have been salivating like Pavlov’s dog at the thought of being given the opportunity to mow them down again, and again. I know that at their age, I’d have been …
    COYG

  • HT
    1-1
    Well to be honest or not to be honest, TITQ? OK, then a bit of a robbery it is, I admit, BUT …
    this is the kind of robbery I love.
    First, the set up, very different from the first team’s
    in possession this is a kind of 4-4-1-1, with Copley on the RW, o’Neill on the left, and Dowman as a free bird behind HarrimanAnnous
    Now, out of possession, we shift to a kind of 6-2-1-1, with the same Copley-O’Neill dropping (very deep) on their respective wings, Clarke and Ogunnaike sliding in to RCB and LCB positions.
    In that highly demanding role, O’Neill and, most of all, Copley have been outstanding. Copley even got the equalizer, assisted by a delightful long through ball from Sweet, whose left-foot is reminiscent of Aymeric Laporte’s. Looks to me like Copley has 3 lungs, and 2 extra diving cylinders on his back – what a BtB midfielder this boy’s gonna be!
    They’re good the mancunians, and they scored a great goal, after what was a Fort Alamo sequence for us, and without Porter we’d have been more than one goal down after 35 minutes.
    There’s a way to victory if we can feed Harriman-Annous and Dowman a lil’ bit more – it takes no more than 30 seconds of watching him to know what extraordinary player Max is, and will be …
    COYG

  • Anyone my age – and lucky enough to be able to clearly remember the Legend – who doesn’t draw the Cruijff comparison about Dowman, is a liar, or a Spur fan, or both

  • 2-2
    ET – this is madness, the kids have been running on empty for 20 minutes already
    These United lads (their RWB) scored a great equalizer but … their most effective player was the ref
    The Mancs should have been one man down for the whole second half, after their skipper brought Dowman down for the umpteenth time in the 46th minute
    As Arsenal fans we should have become immune to biased refereeing, yet I can’t help but hate the guts of any cowardly f..k who does this to kids (whether they’re ours or not, btw).
    Don’t know how it’ll end of course but our boys have been extraordinary; I hope they’ll win this and – forget the “values” for once – call this subhuman every name under the sun on his way to the shower

  • The fix was on, right out of the Referee Church of Fergusonology textbook. There was no way our boys could win this.
    Feels like pukin’, the refs will end up makin’ me hate football

  • Had a working bee up at the club this morning but will watch the match this arvo. Thanks for the comments, LG. After reading them I can’t wait to see the action.

  • Legall, I am excited to see who we’ll get as CF over the summer. It seems to be the missing link in our starting 11. For now, I like your thinking re shuffling and surprising. We need goals!

  • Brilliant performance from our boys, I can see the allusion to the second greatest J.C. being accurate. The way Dowman glides past opposition players with a burst of power and grace is certainly reminiscent of the Dutchman.
    I agree, LG, a second yellow should have been issued. Robbed again.

  • RIP David Johansen
    Back then, I must have driven the whole apartment building insane with that tune coming out of my (very) loudspeakers, over and over again, but my parents just put up with it – bless ‘em – and my ‘pa was the kind whose calm and humour defused all arguments with a potential to slip out of control, each time a neighbor (friendliness reigned supreme in that building, many dads were co-workers, which sure helped) begged him to make me shut my damn record player up. I still laugh to myself sometimes, thinking of some such situations and the glitter in his eyes when he shut the door and winked at me …
    To this day, the guitars keep sending the same electric wave from my heels to my brain all the way through my backbone. There’s a fabulous “I don’t give a f..k about anything anymore“ Colin Farell scene which this song is the soundtrack of in True Detective season 2 …
    “I can hold my head so high
    Because I’m a human, a riff-raff human being
    If I’m acting like a king
    Well, that’s ’cause I’m a human being
    I want too many things
    And if I’ve got to dream
    Well, I’m a human being“

  • PSV lost twice in a row to the same team – the brilliantly named Go Ahead Eagles, based in the finest of Dutch cities, Deventer – and so have their own mini crisis. Not that I think we have one; we just don’t know anymore how to ask the fine ladies to dance with us. But the goals will come again and let’s hope that will be this Tuesday in Eindhoven.

  • Great stories and insights into your background, Duc de Normandie. My teenage years were spent on Heavy Metal and I had neighbours come and complain regularly. I am hard of hearing now, and it does not take a genius to figure what’s caused it.

  • Yes, I made my poor Father suffer big time, when I had a session close to the max on my record player with Jimi Hendrix giving it all he’s got…

    Now I tend to listen to more relaxed, melodic, calming music like Black Sabbath and Staind. 😉

  • My first knowledge of the Go ahead Eagles team was during the brief stint the Nigerian legendary goal keeper, Peter Rufai, spent with them in the 1993/94 Dutch season.
    I did pay attention to that game with PSV for obvious reasons. Total, is there a chance PSV played with a weakened team, with Tuesday in view? I am not sure of their strongest side, hence I ask. It is not unusual for a team to be distracted when they have bigger fish to fry, so I fully expect a very difficult game for us.

  • Another carriage in the Liverpool luck train with Gordan sent off and banned for the final.

    I couldn’t open that link, Kev.

    I think it was Funhouse that got me the short shift from my Mums house.
    NYD, The Ramones and The Stooges, LG. First punks. Tho’, The Who were the true prototypes.

  • The Neighbours’ Nemesis; what a great name for a rock band it’d have been
    Let’s figure it out: Kev rhythm guitar (occasional cello), Stu lyricist/singer/and harmonica of course, TA piano-organ-backing vocals, Eris bass guitar-backing vocals (the occasional violin too), Pb lead guitarist-producer, and … well, myself behind the drums that’s a non-negociable
    The first album would have been “Tales of the Seven Sisters”, and the hit single “Bury my heart at the Hollow Way” …
    About the article, this is the same down here, Kev, I no longer listen to any football show on TV, and I systematically turn the sound off when I watch our games; I put on one of my Spotify playlists instead – this is not unpleasant but the atmosphere is lost, the chants in particular …
    This’ll be a tough tie, but hey! we’re second in the Premier League, not sacrificial lambs, are we? Warning: I’m writing this with a straight face … Once Bukayo and Marti are back, the squad at MA’s disposal will have the potential of a CL finalist-winner (what did 2023-24 Borussia have that we don’t, really?); I’ve come across many “doom-and-gloom” outputs on Arsenal blogs, but mark my words, our season is far from over!

  • My voice would cause “For Sale” signs to go up all over the neighbourhood. I’ll swop that responsibility with Eris and gladly loose my inner John Entwistle.
    I’ll work on some lyrics. I’ve got a book entitled, “We’ve only got one song. Arsenal terrace songs and chants” to draw inspiration from.
    I used to love singing, “Get your mascot off the pitch” to the tune of “Guide me, Thou O Great Jehovah” at Chelsea when Denis Wise was playing for them.

    We could have our own TV show, something like “The Monkees”, and call it The Goon(ers) Show.

  • There was a moment on Sunday’s live coverage of Liverpool versus Wolves when Diogo Jota, sidestepping to the left of Wolves defender Emmanuel Agbadouin in the player’s own box, takes a quite clear and obvious dive to the floor. Simon Hooper initially points to the penalty spot but VAR, in one of its few better use cases, steps in and orders Hooper over to the screen to take a second look. About 12 replays of the incident later, he comes to the correct conclusion and overturns his decision to award the penalty.

    All while this is ongoing, Jamie Carragher was on commentary and was initially steadfast on the penalty decision, but even after the surmounting evidence never truly reverses his decision, or calls Jota out on the blatant and pitiful dive. Straight away I’m wondering if this was any other team would he be as nonchalant about a dive in an effort to trick the referee. It should have been called out for what it was, but Carragher never goes beyond tamely accepting the overruling and getting on with the game.

    As Carragher dropped his microphone at Anfield, we had his brother-in-Overlap Gary Neville over at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium, ready to pick up his for Spurs’ game against his beloved Manchester United. Just this week on The Overlap, in a discussion about fandom where Roy Keane was arguing his case that he’s not a United “fan” or a supporter of any of his past teams, Neville claims that a United loss would “bug” him and leave him annoyed for the weekend.

    Of course, in now all too frequent fashion over the past ten or so years on Sky coverage, the United/Neville framework followed the familiar pattern as he painfully lamented another poor performance from his former side as they slid to a 1-nil defeat to Ange Postecoglu’s side. To add another layer of Overlap lore to the match, James Maddison unsubtly aimed his celebration at Roy Keane who recently claimed on the podcast that no team should be worried about Maddison coming off the bench against them.

    Gary Neville’s inclusion on Manchester United commentary was mildly interesting at the start, especially for neutrals or those of us who may have revelled in the club’s downfall. Post-match discussions after yet another United defeat was for a period must-see television, and of course biased commentary and punditry isn’t a new thing in football nor sports coverage across the world. But as problems persisted game after game and year after year at Old Trafford, the messaging has become extremely jaded, and you are beginning to hear that in Neville’s voice. In a recent feature on The Athletic which looked at Neville as he hit 50-years-of-age and focused more on his property portfolio and business interests than his roles in football, he almost seemed despondent when posed with life turning 50.

    Telling Steven Bartlett on the Diary of a CEO podcast, Neville said what would make him happy is to be mountain skiing “isolated away from everything, free from having to talk to someone. I’m a little bit tired of hearing my own voice. The next thing I do at the age of 50 has to be something that means that Gary Neville doesn’t speak as much.” With so many irons in the fire and a vast business portfolio and increasing podcast network, continuing to slot him into the gantry to lament Manchester United performances seems unproductive.

    “The structure of the team is awful” he cried on Sunday. “You wouldn’t see this in under-nines football. Amorim is really angry. He is going mad at his bench. He is shouting at people. I’m not sure what he is angry about. The biggest problem I can see is how this team are set up.”

    The Telegraph asked the very question if there is any value in retaining Neville for United commentary, and indeed there is an increasing frustration from United fans that Neville aims his ire at the coaching staff rather than the board that oversees and has direct input into almost every decision that has left the club in its current state.

    Alan Tyers’ piece in the Telegraph hits well on why this continues to be a thing and isn’t likely to change any time soon—content. Clicks, views, engagement. Neville lamenting a lapse in United concentration and calling them under-five players will immediately be shared to Twitter and Tiktok and amass thousands of views and rage-engagement.

    And Neville, who oversees and contributes to an ever-expanding podcast network where a week doesn’t go by without a “viral” clip from The Overlap, knows better than most the value of engagement.

    Meanwhile, over on TNT Sports, amidst one of the games of the season between Liverpool and Everton in the last ever Merseyside Derby at Goodison Park, as Darren “Fletch” Fletcher pained to remind us every 90 seconds, the three-man booth of himself, Rio Ferdinand and Ally McCoist provided a painfully contrived narrative of the occasion.

    Over on his Substack page, Clive Tyldesley wrote about the pitfalls of a commentary trio—they tend to speak to themselves, not the viewer. When there is a three-way conversation, the chat inevitably veers towards painful inside-jokes, nicknames and boorish banter. Where Ally McCoist is occasionally able to break the mould and analyse the natural instincts of a striker or the decision-making that separates a goal from a miss, Rio Ferdinand offers not even soundbites but a mish-mash of repeatable nonsense, like a pull-string toy. Balon d’Or! Balon d’Or! Balon d’Or! That’s great Rio, thanks for your input.

    “The ‘3-man booth’ experiment is taking place against a backdrop of growing familiarity with the chattering, jabbering, gossiping sound of football talk on our screens and platforms.” – Clive Tyldesley

    Content is king. Clips need to be quick, accessible, framed as controversial or outright idiotic and be posted in such a fashion to demand engagement, whether that’s supportingly or calling for Rio to be immediately removed from our screens.

    Beyond the largely unavoidable commentary, the more missable jaded punditry rotation continues to offer little more than a game of who can laugh loudest, whether it’s Micah “Big Meeks” Richards or Carragher when he widens uproariously as Thierry Henry wryly smirks at Kate Abdo.

    The CBS Sports team peaked far too early, with some must-see clips from Henry in particular talking about the role of the striker and racism in football, before producers quickly realised that The Overlap style of keeping the cameras rolling at all times provided more click-bait and engagement for their socials. The dumbing down of football must not sleep.

    Jamie Redknapp has managed to offer little-to-nothing for the guts of 20 years now. Paul Merson, as likeable and as great as it is to see him doing well and featuring heavily on Sky coverage, offers little by way of focused insight into a particular game. Daniel Sturridge pops up occasionally on big games and although he offers something fresher than the older squadron and has a stronger understanding of the modern-day footballer, is a watered-down version of his true self and is a square peg in a round hole of Sky’s coverage.

    TNT had a chance to freshen things up in the welcomed absence of Jake Humphrey but managed to double-down on a format that wasn’t working and too closely copied the manufactured nature of Sky. Granted, I enjoy Peter Crouch on their Saturday morning coverage, he’s a rare example of a light-hearted character who would be a fantastic foil to more intelligent and insightful treatment of the game. Nobody is asking for wall-to-wall tactical analysis, but a point has been reached where broadcasters are treating viewers as bumbling idiots who can only operate the retweet button. We can take and enjoy the fun and the banter without it being forceful engagement baiting, without it being insulting to viewers.

    None of this was truer when TNT managed to blow up one of the best new features UK football coverage had in years when James Richardson shared the desk with league experts European-wide. It was intelligent, nuanced, entertaining and, crucially, didn’t bequeath itself to click-bait engagement.

    In its replacement we find less experts on television and more ex-referees, who are still terrified to criticise old colleagues or commit too early to a decision for fear of VAR second-guessing them. Their takeover across coverage where not a single person had asked for is just as bad, if not worse, than the advent of VAR on the games themselves.

    Is anything going to change? Probably not. People will continue to watch, pay extortionate broadcast fees and engage on social media. Retweets will be shared, replies will rage at a remark from Carragher or Neville, a cutting remark from Roy Keane about players being soft or clueless will go viral, and Rio’s vocabulary will continue to max itself at about 50 words.

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    It’s the dumbing down of football, the insulting of viewers and the painful, contrived nature of modern football. This is the TikTok generation that has to turn a whole sport and games of 90 minutes or more into digestible 15 second clips—if the game won’t do that often enough for you, we’ll get the pundits to be the engagement guinea pigs.

    UK football coverage has never been worse. But content is king.

  • I hope that helps Stu…

    Yes Duke, I share your irritation at the dumbed down level of commentary.

  • Just an observation Total, regarding the appearance of both Chido Obi Martin and Ayden Heaven for Man United yesterday…

    A stick for the media and online to beat Arsenal, Mertesaker and Arteta I guess?

    Or there is another way to see that situation and it’s what a state the current Manchester United club are in. That of course wont be a popular among those wanting to dig out all things Arsenal but when an Arsenal U18 with no senior appearances and an Arsenal U21 with a single sub appearance can go straight into the United team it’s quite a come down for the Salford Reds.

  • Exactly, Kev. Truth is they messed up and have to resort to playing these youngsters now. There is no money and they need to sell before they can buy. And who would like to buy a sorry and salary expensive Manc right now?

  • Legall, I think I can hack it at bass guitar and back-up vocals. I did perform well as lead singer for my boy band in University and tried my hand at the bass guitar, only for the fun and distraction in school. Never took it further other than the occasional concerts I had in my bathroom to my one man audience (me). 😂😂

    Count me in on that band; I could do Mark Knopfler on Dire Straits “Money for nothing”, but my preference is mid-tempo reggae and some Ragga/dance hall, as well. 😅

    How you come up with these thoughts is beyond me, man.

  • TA, thanks for the feedback. In that case, they must have had their minds on playing against us and I hope it is fear rather than concentration and determination.

    Good thing we didn’t have to play a game this weekend.

  • Great come-back by the Arsenal ladies in the WSL derby vs West ham. At 0-2 down, I gave it up and went out with my Missus, only in hope they will recover to get a draw.

    To my surprise, they went on a romp to level it at 3-3, then went on to win it 4-3. Highlights suggested it could have been more.

  • Thanks Kev. Good read. Down here my mum and I watch the rugby on TV whilst listening to the radio broadcast. Our TV pundits seem chosen for their looks and previous talent on the pitch (as well as their ability to encourage viewers to bet). Most Kiwi males are laconic, but our coaches are better equipped as communicators and well worth listening to, many of them either serving as or having served as Head Teachers in our schools.

    Here’s an example of the lack of superfluity in our Kiwi males verbosity.

  • About reggae, Eris … one of your comments made me know about the “Dylan in reggae” record, which I had never heard about before; it’s on one of my playlists now, along with Bim Sherman’s heavenly “Miracle”. Don’t know if purists call it “reggae”, though – tbh all I care about is its surreal beauty …

  • “Stubborn” is my middle name:
    Raya
    Timber-Saliba-Gabriel
    White-Rice-Merino (Zinchenko)-LewisSkelly (Calafiori-Tierney)
    Ødegaard
    Nwaneri-Trossard
    I know it’s harsh on our vets Partey-Jorginho, but in the absence of irreplaceable Kai-GJ9, it’s only through more technique-creation-invention etc. in midfield, while giving cover enough (our formidable back3, or clean sheet insurance) to Ben and Myles-Riccardo-Kieran in order for them to wander freely up and down their wings that we’ll score again imo …
    COYG – the same setup, with Bukayo and Marti available and fit again, will take us very, very far …

  • Good morning, gentlemen.
    Nothing wrong with being ‘Stuborn’, LG. I’ve lived it all my life.

    Tierney off the bench with 20 to go, hares down the left, offers one of his trade mark crosses, and there’s Merino, rising like the Spanish ‘son’ that he is, to nod home, and it’s 1-0 to The Arsenal.

  • Arsenal: Raya, Timber, Saliba, Gabriel, Lewis-Skelly, Partey, Rice, Odegaard, Nwaneri, Trossard, Merino

    Subs: Neto, Setford, Tierney, White, Kiwior, Zinchenko, Jorginho, Sterling, Calafiori, Butler-Oyedeji, Kabia

  • Enjoying these tactics. Declan and Justin imperious. Boys look rested and hungry.

  • Half time and it’s 1-3 to the Arsenal.
    I was nervous for them, to be honest, seeing as goals have been hard to come by for a few games now. Drawing blanks in 3 consecutive games is certainly not a good place to be.

    So, happy the guys now have goals on the board, playing a controlled game too. Merino already got his goal and what a combination by both kids for the second. MLS must be wondering about his luck, after that red card scare. Sensible thing to take him out of it. He will learn.

    Second half to come. Hope for much of the same and a goal for Odegaard. He looks like he needs it.

  • Legall, that does sound like some spiritual roots music but not what we generally know as Reggae. However, Reggae is also multi-faceted so, who knows if this can be considered under that genre.

  • 1-5; The Spirit of Lisbon’s back …
    A Champions’ League game every week-end … maybe the Super League wasn’t such a bad idea after all
    Might be a good idea to bring Raheem on, looks like the perfect night to get some confidence back, doesn’t it?
    Keep on keepin’ on, lads!

  • A big can of Whoop ass!
    That boy has got a Merlin engine. Declan Rolls Rice.

  • 1-7!!! Who would have thought it? Maybe there’s something in the postulation that our set-up is well suited for European competition.

    Yeah! Odegaard responded promptly, and was on the double. Plus a couple of assists from him. He needed it as he’s been below his usual efficient standards. Today, he was all over the place commanding a performance.

    Just happy for the lads and everyone who supports the club.

  • 7 goals, 6 different scores. First side in CL history to score 7 away from home…

  • I saw PSV beat Juventus and I can tell you this is a very good team we just rubbed ao, at home. They are 2nd on the Dutch league table and we know the Eredivisie is a competitive league.

    Kudos to Arteta, the backroom staff and the players.

  • Quite an astonishing evenings entertainment, PSV thought we were vulnerable and didn’t low block us, so we ripped them to pieces.

    About time we had some luck from the officials, but make no mistake, we all know Myles would have seen red in the Prem. Therefore it might be prudent to rest him in the next round vs Madrid, be it Real or Atletico?

  • The title of your post said it all, TA … both were back last night, and brought the team back up to its true level, straight away.
    Will Dowman start the return game? That is the question now …

  • A CL draw is worth £700,000.

    A CL win is worth £2.5 million.

    Money talks Duke, personally I’d like to see Butler.O start the 2nd leg, Dowman on the bench if he’s registered would be great but I’m not sure he is registered?

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