“We went without spoken goal, united by a yearning for elevation.” Andrew Greig (Fair Helen)
Two more games before another interlull will deprive us from club football for a fortnight, so let’s enjoy them. A 1-3 win with three precious away goals should be enough but in me saying this, and the team possibly thinking it, lays the only real risk. I don’t think the manager or the players will be complacent but a subconscious lack of application and urgency could still harm us. Olympiacos have to score at least three goals to go through, so they should come out and attack us. We need to score at least two goals to meaningfully add to the aggregate score over the two legs, so we should really go out and attack too. No point in sitting back and inviting pressure without a real desire to turn turnovers and counter-attacks into goals. If I was Mikel I would task the team to take the game to Olympiacos from the start with a deep yearning for elevation: high tempo, intensity, creativity and sharpness up-front for at least 70, when hopefully the job is done.
The problem is that we cannot afford to make too many changes to our midfield, both the deeper laying one and the three players in front of them. At least one of Granit and Thomas needs to play and the same goes for ESR and Odegaard. The latter are fit and young so there should be no problem, but Granit and especially Thomas looked knackered during the last 15 minutes v Spuds and Arteta may have to rest them to avoid fatigue/injury. Partey had been brilliant for 75 minutes but after that he simply imploded with a number of poor passes and tired fouls that almost cost us. I reckon he will be rested/ on the bench tonight. My only worry is Mikel playing both Elneny and Ceballos in deep midfield: a total recipe for disaster.
Saka is the only injury worry but he may still be fit to play. I would rest him or let him play the last twenty minutes or so. Leno had a poor game v Spuds but we got away with it, and I wonder whether Mikel will be tempted to start Ryan instead. I would be. We have the luxury to give our CBs a rest and I would also be tempted to rest Tierney. The match v West Ham is a big one and they have no European involvement and will be rearing to go, so we do need at least five first team players to be equally as fit, I reckon.
This game is crying out for the reemergence of heartbeat in attack, Martinelli. Will we see Pepe-Ode-Emile-Marti – POEM – up-front?!
Anyway, enough of the talking, here is my preferred line-up (the predicted one is beyond me today):
Having looked again at our victory against the Spudsskins, one of the questions that popped up was: Do Arsenal have a Beast of a CF?
Our wing-play was so good, both from the left and the right. ESR, Tierney and Xhaka controlled the left wing throughout the game and many fine crosses and passes were produced from there. On the right, Saka/Pepe, Soares and Partey played well and a few fine chances were created from there too. Both sets of ‘wing-players’ were aided by the very mobile, energetic and intelligent Odegaard. It really was very good the way we got through the Spuddies’ defence at will several times during the match. There was real sting from our butterflies.
Some have pointed out that our high crosses were a waste of time.
I agree with this to some extent. I thought the boys mixed it up well, and a high cross that is not met by a Gunner’s head is still harder to defend than a low cross that can be kicked much easier out of danger. High crosses can lead to misplaced headers and thus follow up chances for us – and we had always enough players in and around the box to make the Spuds restless. I thought we never allowed them to take control of their defending, and that was some achievement.
But we are currently weak in the air when it comes to non set-pieces. I have written on here before that letting Giroud go was a big mistake by Arsene. Not that I would still see him as a regular starter, but his aerial presence is missed and we have not replaced him. Auba cannot head the ball well and Laca misses height to be as effective as he would need to be. Just imagine that half -moon face Kane would have been in attack for us rather than for them on Sunday, and how much more threat, and probably goals, we would have had in the box.
I love both Auba and Laca and they are very valuable members of the team. They do not need to be in the CF position necessarily to play in our team. Either of them can play somewhere else alongside a ‘proper’ CF and they would still add value to the team. But with such good wing-play now, are we not desperate for a beast of a CF?
I don’t think many of us were expecting an Arsenal win, but we got it. If anybody still has any doubt about Arteta and his mission to ‘Bang’ football, I guess you are not going to be cured from your antipathy of the man. This was only the third game Mourinho – the chief-looking-up-at-the-table-rat – lost to an Arsenal team, and Mikel achieved it in only his second year as a manager. Extend his contract, Arsenal!
Eight observations:
Tactically this was so much better than the last time we played the Spuddies. We were invited to attack as the crumb-collectors sat back to play us on the break, with half-moon face Kane and Son eagerly awaiting the ball over the top and into space. Mikel did attack but he did not allow his team to over-commit and he kept it tidy around those two top-rats. They were starved for almost the entire game, and Son did his hammy early on so that was a welcome Aufwiedersehn. Our full backs pushed up and kept the Spuds well into their own half and we managed to get behind the Spuddies’ defence with some fine combination football from the flanks. And this made all the difference on the day.
Arsenal also once again made good use of the space that was left behind in the middle of the pitch by the Spuds because of our almost continuous focus on the wings. Partey still has not find his shooting boots but sooner or later he will get one in the net, but it was Emile with a beauty of an effort through the middle that almost crept below the bar for his first PL goal. Our boys were able to open that JM defence and midfield up so much more than in previous games, it really was fantastic to watch.
Key to it all were three things: a rock hard, no nonsense central midfield duo; extremely mobile attackers and full backs with good passing ability and no fear to keep hold of the ball, and; a solid defence.Our midfielders Partey and Xhaka made sure that the Spuds could not break out and collect the ball in midfield which is so pivotal to their game. These boys were immense which was epitomised by that crunching but fair tackle by Xhaka late on. Together they are my MOTM. The Swiss’ positioning was fabulous and he made many interceptions at the right moment, and so was his ability to be at the right place at the right time. At times it looked like the ball was seeking him out rather than the other way around… This is the bit that not everybody notices about him and it is absolutely key for the success of a midfielder. But Granit needs support and he got that from the equally impressive and towering Thomas the Tank Engine. Partey has that athletic, physical presence which he combines with great on-field intelligence. He knows where he needs to be, where the action will be next and how he should destroy any opportunity to advance by the opponent. He also is great at pushing up at the right time and thus creating momentum in our attacking efforts. Thomas is still not 100% and this almost cost us the game late on, but Arteta knew that he just could not take him off; it would have hurt us both tactically and psychologically.
The mobility within the team was just great. With allowing three to four players to attack a flank at any time we had the numbers and inventiveness to get through the Spuds. We mashed them, we chewed them, we forked them, we swallowed them whole: what a feast we had below the table. Arteta’s inclusion of both Odegaard and ESR is a masterstroke: the combination of these two super talents adds a whole extra dimension to our football. One is not enough as the Spuds would have had a man on them, but two did the trick. On top of this we had Saka who was clearly targeted to get some rough treatment. Yet Bukayo was not intimidated and helped a lot with keeping the ball moving and being an attacking threat.
Our new MO11 had a very good game. I was not sure whether including him was the right idea, given the much needed individual intensity for these sorts of Derby encounters. But Martin was a like a fox among the rats and reveled in his role all game long. He really helped Granit and Thomas to keep it tight in midfield and made himself available constantly. Of course he also scored the all important equaliser and for this alone he should be offered a long term contract!
And then there was Laca who was like a cat among the rats below the table. Alex never gave the defence and midfield any peace and this added to our mobility and unpredictability. It paid off big time when Laca was found with a super sharp pass by Pepe in the box which led to the penalty. The Spuds were Lacaed.
The defence was strong and especially Big Gab and Luiz deserve praise for their concentration, positioning, clearances and interceptions. Gabriel offers us that same combination of presence, intelligence and athleticism that Sol used to have. What an extrovert and force on the pitch, which was highlighted by that fine goalmouth safe with his head at the most crucial defensive moment of the game.
After Lamela, the vilest of Spuds-rats, was sent off, Arsenal were given an ideal gift to see out the game with ease. Yet we were not able to make the difference count; in fact we imploded and allowed the Spuds to attack us far too much. And it almost cost us. For me this was mainly due to fatigue in midfield and especially Partey suffered from this. Arteta should have brought on Elneny sooner imo, but he will have had his reasons not to do so. Laca mentioned after the game that the ability to see out a game is still a work in progress. Yet in the end it was a Derby and this was bound to happen: our legs were tired and the Spuddies’ legs were fueled by that desire of just not wanting to lose. But lose they did.
The two teams met for the first time in the United League November 9th 1896. The match took place at Woolwich Arsenal’s Manor Ground in Plumstead and Arsenal won, 2.1.
The United League was founded in 1896 to provide additional mid-week fixtures for teams drawn from a number of leagues including founder members, Woolwich Arsenal from the Football League, and Tottenham Hotspur from the Southern League.
The teams first met in a Division 1 Football League match on December 4th 1909 it was watched by a crowd of 18,000. Woolwich Arsenal won 1- 0 with Walter Henry Lawrence scoring their first league goal against Spurs.
As of 6 December 2020, there have been 188 competitive first-class meetings between the two teams since the first league meeting in 1909, of which Arsenal have won 77 and Tottenham 60. The most goals in one game were scored in the closely contested 5–4 Arsenal Premiership victory at White Hart Lane on 13 November 2004. The biggest winning margin was a 6–0 away win by Arsenal on 6 March 1935. Tottenham have twice won 5–0 (25 December 1911 and 4 April 1983) and Arsenal once (23 December 1978), with all three fixtures taking place at White Hart Lane. Arsenal also won by 5–2 margins both in February and November 2012 home at the Emirates.
Tottenham’s record for goals scored against Arsenal is 11 goals by Harry Kane and 10 by Bobby Smith, followed by Billy Minter with nine goals. Arsenal’s record is held jointly by Emmanuel Adebayor, Alan Sunderland and Robert Pires, with eight goals each. Adebayor also formerly held the record for most goals by a player in the North London derby with ten: eight scored for Arsenal and two for Tottenham. Arsenal’s long-time defender David O’Leary holds the record for most North London derbies played with 35, while Gary Mabbutt and Steve Perryman shared the corresponding record for Spurs, with 31.
Terry Dyson is the only Spurs player to score a hat-trick in a first-class derby game, having done so on 26 August 1961 in a 4–3 win for Spurs. The Arsenal players to have done so are Ted Drake (20 October 1934) and Alan Sunderland (23 December 1978).
Some key games between the clubs.
Tottenham 0–1 Arsenal (3 May 1971) The final match of the 1970–71 league campaign, with Arsenal needing a win or a goalless draw to take the First Division title (a score draw would have meant Leeds United won on goal average). The game was tight with few real chances on goal, until the very end. With three minutes to go, John Radford’s shot forced Pat Jennings into a good save; George Armstrong got to the rebound and chipped the ball across goal and Ray Kennedy headed home the winner. Spurs desperately tried to get a goal back but to no avail; Arsenal held on to win the title (the first half of the Double that season).
“I tried, in vain, to get into White Hart Lane for many of our away games and I was desperate to get in to watch our title winning game on May 3rd 1971 but I was among the thousands left outside the ground.
Tottenham 1–2 Arsenal (4 March 1987) Arsenal and Spurs had drawn 2–2 on aggregate in the League Cup semi-finals; with no away goals rule in force, the match was replayed at Spurs’ home ground of White Hart Lane. Spurs went 1–0 up through Clive Allen but Arsenal substitute Ian Allinson equalised and David Rocastle scrambled home the winner to send Arsenal through to the Final, where they won their first trophy since 1979.
Arsenal 1–0 Tottenham (4 April 1993 at Wembley) The second FA Cup semi-final between the two, in which Arsenal sought revenge over their North London rivals for the 3–1 semi-final defeat two years earlier. Tony Adams scored with a header from a Paul Merson free kick for the Gunners in the 79th minute; Arsenal prevailed despite Lee Dixon’s sending-off, and went on to win the FA Cup in May and complete the first ever domestic cup double.
Arsenal 2–1 Tottenham (8 April 2001 at Old Trafford) – the third FA Cup semi-final between the two. Gary Doherty gave Spurs the lead, before Patrick Vieira equalised for Arsenal. Robert Pires scored a second half winner to send Arsenal through to the first FA Cup final to be played outside England, where they lost 2–1 to Liverpool in Cardiff.
Tottenham 2–2 Arsenal (25 April 2004) Arsenal were unbeaten in the Premier League and only needed a point to secure the title. The Gunners were 2–0 up after 35 minutes thanks to Patrick Vieira and Robert Pires’ goals. A famous win looked to be on the cards, but Spurs restored some pride by denying Arsenal victory; in the second half Jamie Redknapp scored from long-range, then Robbie Keane converted a 90th-minute penalty to give Arsenal their second and, as of 2021, last league championship won at their rivals’ home ground.
Arsenal 3–1 Tottenham a.e.t (31 January 2007) Arsenal booked their place in the 2007 League Cup Final, for the first time since winning the competition in 1993, after this extra-time victory. The teams drew the first leg 2–2 at White Hart Lane where Tottenham threw away a 2–0 first half lead, eventually drawing the game. The return leg game was goalless until the 77th minute when Emmanuel Adebayor gave Arsenal the lead, before Mido equalised for Tottenham five minutes from time. Jérémie Aliadière restored Arsenal’s lead in the 105th minute and the game was eventually won by Arsenal after a 113th minute own goal by Tottenham’s Pascal Chimbonda, sending Arsenal through to the final, 5–3 on aggregate. Arsenal, however, would eventually lose the final to Chelsea.
Spurs have only beaten us at home in the Premier League on two occasions namely April 15, 1996 and the last time on November 20th 2010..
Arsenal all time EPL record against Tottenham.
Arsenal V Tottenham EPL Home Games
Date
W
D
L
GF
GA
11-May-93
1
1
1
06-Dec-93
1
1
1
29-Apr-95
1
0
0
15-Apr-96
1
1
3
24-Nov-96
1
3
1
30-Aug-97
1
0
0
14-Nov-98
1
0
0
19-Mar-00
1
2
1
31-Mar-01
1
2
0
06-Apr-02
1
2
1
16-Nov-02
1
3
0
08-Nov-03
1
2
1
25-Apr-05
1
1
0
22-Apr-06
1
1
1
02-Dec-06
1
3
0
22-Dec-07
1
2
1
29-Oct-08
1
4
4
31-Oct-09
1
3
0
20-Nov-10
1
2
3
26-Feb-12
1
5
2
17-Nov-12
1
5
2
01-Sep-13
1
1
0
27-Sep-14
1
1
1
08-Nov-15
1
1
1
06-Nov-16
1
1
1
18-Nov-17
1
2
0
02-Dec-18
1
4
2
01-Sep-19
1
2
2
07-Mar-21
Total:
15
11
2
55
29
I was at Highbury for dozens of games between the two clubs and perhaps surprisingly (for the younger supporters) I don’t recollect a lot of hostility between the two sets of supporters in the 40’and 50’s but that definitely changed in the 60’s when it started to get ugly.
Frankly I’m nervous about our chances on Sunday but I will go with my heart (which pumps red and white) and predict an Arsenal win.
GunnerN5
Predicted Lineup v Spuddies by TotalArsenal:
Mourinho said he only looks up the table.. as all rats do. Us Gunners love to look at the football in front of us and our bulging trophy cabinet.
The good news is Arsenal are playing at the home of football and the entire squad is fit and available. In a NLD we need characters with both passion and professionalism, and as many fit legs as possible. No doubt, Goseeh will let us make the play and try and defeat us on the counter. And he will also be scheming to force us into mistakes when we are playing out from the back. Luckily, we have just made a few of those so we should be extra prepared tomorrow.
This is a typical game for Laca, who will get among the Spuddies and make them sweat. Auba has a good scoring record against them so I would play both Laca and Auba – or, if he is fully fit and in good form, Martinelli instead of one of them. I don’t expect the latter to be the case, so Laca and Auba are starts for me. In the hole, I hope to see ESR start this game, but only if he is fully fit of course.
We need Emile to run between the lines and glue them together, and nobody in the team is currently better at it. ESR will also be a positive cultural influence, as he will know what this game means to the club and the fans. Midfield is very likely to be Granit-Thomas, with Elneny coming on for one of them after 70 minutes. The CBs are a bit of a guess, but Big Gab and Raw Rob are my preferred duo. Tierney and Soares as full backs would make sense to me.
A commanding win at the end of a roller-coaster game. This is a season full of challenge for us supporters: do we want to focus on the weaknesses or on the strength; is the glass half empty or half full? We clearly are a work in progress as yesterday’s game of creation of great chances AND bad mistakes made clear once again.
Eight Observations:
First of all the most obvious observation: Arsenal were much better than Olympiacos, created a large number of good chances AND took three of them. The boys are flying back home with three away goals in the bag and the Greeks will have to score at least three at the home of football to go through, next week. Last season, we managed just the one goal and it cost us in the end, so this is progress and reason for optimism.
Arsenal used the wings really well, mainly through their wing-backs, Hector and Kieran. Willian, Auba, Odegaard and Partey played some good triangles on the wings and as a result we got the ball into the box a good number of times. By playing so much on the wings and tiring out our opponents in the process, gradually, space opened up through the centre; and with two goals from the middle and outside the opponent’s box, the boys made great use of this. The first 30 minutes or so, Arsenal played some great attacking football, possibly the best football of all season.
But there is a but, and that is of course the lack of goal-return by those whose job descriptions start and finish with getting the ball over the line. Auba, Saka, Willian all left their shooting boots at Ashburton Grove, it seemed. They did work hard though, and created space for others by occupying the Greek defenders – and it was nice to see Big Sok giving his all once again – but with such good balls into the box I expected more, especially from Auba. Luckily, Magic Martin – possibly inspired the night before by Messi’s wonder strike v PSG – wore the right shoes and saved our blushes with an unstoppable howitzer of a goal at just the right time. We needed that goal so badly then.
A winning team cannot rely too much on its main attackers, so it was good to see that Big Gab and Tidy Mo came to the fore and made all the difference. It looked like Gabriel shouted at Auba “leave that one to me and I show you how it is done, my fine yet delicate friend”. What a powerful, slam dunk sort of header! And then there was Mo’s shot, greatly captured by the cameras. It was the sort of goal that should win a final in a major tournament. it was beautifully struck by Elneny as during its flight the ball started seeking out the right corner of the goal and the keeper got more and more into trouble and could do nothing about it. It reminded me of Arie Haan’s long distance goals against Italy and Germany in the 1978 World Cup (for those who are young enough to remember!). Many of us have been saying that we need to shoot more from distance….
Now what is going on with our free-kicks from dangerous positions? Every time a number of players compete with each other to take them and then the taker messes it up big style. In my view, for free-kicks that are not suitable to be crosses there should just be two regular takers: a right footed player for left-sided ones and a left footed player for right sided ones. This would provide clarity and a missed opportunity will serve as practice for an improved second or third attempt by the same player. Luiz your time of great free-kicks is well behind you… Leave it to others!!
We have to talk about the dirty elephant on the pitch: our ability to give the opposition a chance/chances(!) purely through our own making. Arteta wants to play the ball out from the back, which I understand. Opponents study us before they play us and are forcing mistakes when we play out from the defence. The players, including goal keeper, are getting nervous and mistakes are becoming more common…. Next up are the Spuds under management by the toxic, Machiavellian narcissist. Please let’s avoid giving him any opportunity to publicly celebrate himself at the expense of our beloved team! Looking at Arteta’s post-game press conference, I reckon he is on the case…
We had some mixed performances on the night but it was a joy to watch Gabriel being so commanding and strong in our box and beyond. Last year in the same fixture we had the likes of Mustafi and Big Sok defending our box and they did okay enough, but with Big Gab we have a mountain (with fast running streams) in our defence all-right. With a goal and an assist (for Elneny’s screamer) he was by far the Man (or should that be Mountain?!) of the Match.
My final shout goes to Granit who had a very tidy and organised game and made no mistakes. His partnership with Partey has a lot of potential but the latter is still finding his form and fitness. Still, Thomas made a difference and can claim an assist for Ode’s opener. When Arteta subbed him for Ceballos (it really should have been Mo instead) you could really sense that we lost one of our main warriors and were weakened. Luckily, Arteta brought on Mo soon after and our dominance was reestablished. Just as well.
Tonight we play an important football game at the cradle of Western civilisation: Greece.
Many know about the most famous Greek person ever, Socrates. No I am not talking about ‘our’ Big Sok who now struts his stuff for tonight’s opponent, Olympiacos; I am talking of course about the man who stated about 2500 years ago that the ‘The unexamined life is not worth living’, the former soldier and developer of the Socratic Method – making people come to conclusions through consistent questioning: The Socrates.
Socrates is an inspiration to many and certainly to me. He was a successful hoplite for the Athenians but came to realise that fame and wealth were unimportant, despite coming from a well-to-do family and having had a ‘classical’/privileged upbringing. Socrates realised quite soon that natural ‘philosophy’ (science) was not for him but that examining life, truth and love (he said he was never not in love) were much more important. He did not want to be involved in politics and that may have cost him his life eventually, but he died true to himself and his beliefs, and he stood above and against the stupidity of his fellow men. In the end he died for truth: for his deep-rooted belief that if he cannot examine life and ask pertinent questions about it to his fellow human beings, he may as well be dead. Luckily, he was well loved by his friends, and Plato did us the huge favour of documenting Wise Soc’s thoughts and dialogues – including the last hours of his life when he willingly swallowed the poisonous hemlock – the most famous mini episode of Socrates’ entire life.
I can see a bit of Socrates in Arteta. There is a certain stubbornness in Mikel, a desire to analyse things and stick to his mission and (football) truths. I don’t get the feeling that he is in football management for fame and wealth (unlike Wenger, Ferguson and Mourinho for example) but for the love of the game itself. There is a lovely mix of humility, knowledge, determination and enthusiasm that totally suits our club.
Mikel is gradually but surely bringing us back to the essence of good, winning football and is asking his players hard and difficult questions, probably using some form of the Socratic Method. They are becoming followers and those who do not want to go with his vision have found the determined, over-my-dead-body, hoplite side of Arteta: you are either with me or out; and many went out already. He will spend time with those who are with him but need to improve, though. I am hoping that the fans will see what Arteta has set out to do and stay behind him, but I fear that in these days of keyboard heroes and utter impatience the cup with hemlock is not far away. I know that Arteta will drink it if he is pushed; like Socrates he is a man of principles.
Olympiacos are probably not too dissimilar from our previous European opponents, Benfica. I expect them to let us make the play and try and beat us on the counter and via set pieces. I have tried hard to forget about our games against them last season, but I remember us being suckered in by them with of course a devastating outcome. Let’s hope we have learned from it. They once again beat PSV late on in the second leg of the last round, so we are doubly warned!!
Here are the highlights from the game in Piraeus last year. Warning!! Fans in the stadium may lead to C19-hyperventilation!!
I love that Sakazette goal! Laca and Big Sok came close to scoring a second goal and how different it all could have been.
Our team then.
Of course Xhaka will be back. He will be first on Mikel’s team sheet. Arteta knows that now and again a mistake will be made from defending out from the back and he will not blame Granit for it one iota. The Swiss giant had played so many games in a row and was put in a difficult position as he so often is; Granit misjudged the situation this time and played a poor ball with his weaker foot. The modern manager knows that things can go wrong when playing out from the back but they will work even harder with the team to improve further. Klopp and Guardiola have done exactly the same. Now if you are the kind of person who likes to think that Xhaka cost us the game because of this one mistake at the end of the first half, then you would probably also have voted in favour of Socrates’ drinking the hemlock all those decades ago. It never stops amazing me how little progress has been made in this respect in 2500 years of ‘civilisation’. Stop the hatred and keep your prejudices in check: Xhaka is one of us and Arteta has big plans with him. Love and support Granit if you like to call yourself a supporter (rather than a consumer of entertainment).
ESR seems available again and Partey is hopefully fully fit to give his all for us. The CB duo is a guess to me…. who will Mikel go with? Auba, Saka and Laca had a good game there last year so I expect them all to start. I am hoping for another start for Soares but if Hector gets the nod it is also fine with me.
In any other season taking four points from away games to Leicester and Burnley would have been regarded as a good return. But as we are chasing the pack for European tickets for next season, those two points dropped unnecessarily at Turf Moor have deflated us more than it should have done. We need to get on top of our emotions again and believe in the team and our cause.
The European games are a good chance for silverware, but as Arteta is mainly building a team for next season I reckon we will fall short of making it to the final, unless the boys play at their very best and Lady Luck is on our side. It is great that we are still in this competition and I am looking forward to Thursday’s encounter against Olympiacos in Greece. What I am not prepared to do is give up on the League just yet.
I said at the start of the season that the first third would be the hardest one and the last third would be relatively easier for us. We have now gone into that final third with just eleven games to go. Next up are the horrible Spuds and, for various reasons, it will be hard to get all three points from this one. Look at it as a bonus game. After that we will have ten games from which we can get a lot of points based on a good run. I am always a guy who believes in OGAAT – one game at a time – but it is now also important to provide us with perspective: a good run of results is definitely possible and this could mean a decent finish in the league given the circumstances.
After the Spuddies, who luckily also face European opposition this Thursday, we will play: West Ham, Liverpool, Sheffield United, Fulham, Everton, Newcastle, West Brom, Chelsea, Crystal Palace and Brighton.
I believe that all of these teams could take points from us but also that we can take points of all these teams. Furthermore, a victory over Pool (will be hard), West Ham, Everton and Chelsea will in effect be a six-pointer and pull us up with three points against that particular team. There are a lot of teams in those last ten games that are fighting against relegation and they will not make it easy for us, but they can be overcome. Arsenal have the quality and just need to add the discipline and killer-instinct. Unlike the Spuds, who like mushrooms need wet, dank darkness to thrive, Arsenal get usually better when the sun comes out and nature offers us hope again.
The Chavs are currently in fourth position (50 points) and above them are the struggling Foxes (53). They have played a game more than us and we are 12 and 15 points behind them respectively. This is of course a big gap but with the game in hand and still playing the Chavs, Arsenal could halve the deficit in just two games. The Foxes are further away but they could continue to have a bad run, so we must not give up. Of course there are other teams above us with whom we would have to compete for a top four/top six finish but there are still 33 points to be won or lost by us, and who knows where it all may end?
We have an almost fit squad and if both Partey and ESR, or at least one of them, can get back to full fitness levels we really have a good chance to go on that winning run and maybe make it into the Top-Four. Our worst enemy is our own feckless capitulation.
Well that was disappointing. A must win game in which we were the much better team but still managed to give away two precious points. I know that Arsenal are in transition under Arteta and that setbacks are to be expected, but too many times have we lost now to a team that we should have beaten with some ease.
The main culprits are a lack of concentration/calm and a much needed sense of urgency and purpose, leading to both costly mistakes and untaken great chances in almost every game. Today, we saw Xhaka misplacing a ball under pressure and via a lucky bounce disappear into the net. So frustrating. The Xhaka-haters are out in force tonight but, although it was him who should have passed better, it clearly was also a team mistake. Xhaka, facing his own goal keeper in the box, had a player closely behind him and his passing options were limited after he received the ball from Leno who, in my opinion, should have opted for a different player at that moment in time. Fact is that we allowed Burnley back into the game when we should have been up by two or three goals already, if we had had the better bounce of the ball. That is football, though.
The second half performance was frustrating for a long time but, clearly, VAR(ce) and lady luck were not on our side. It was not to be and we just have to move on.
Eight quick observations:
The pitch was slow and hard. This did not help us in moving the ball quickly and accurately, and the ball had more bounce than usual, which may explain Pepe’s air shot in a great position.
After Arsenal scored the early goal the boys put the foot off the gas. I missed the required urgency to get that all important second goal, and it showed in the way the likes of Auba and Saka took their chances. Then in the second half there actually seemed to be too much urgency, leading to a lack of composure when it mattered.
Partey had possibly his worst game in an Arsenal shirt. For large parts he had to chase the game and he offered very little going forward. I am a huge fan of Thomas and I expect he was nowhere near 100%, but he should not play if this is what he is going to do on the pitch. Arteta waited much too long with replacing him. Ceballos made good contributions from the moment he came on and was unlucky not to score.
We missed the glue-man, ESR, a lot. I like Odegaard and thought he worked reasonably hard, but running constantly between the lines and being the one that connects them is not Martin’s big skill, it seems. I also thought that Saka looked rusty, which goes to show that sometimes a break is not what a player needs.
However, Willian did a lot of the link up play well today, and it was his quick move – letting the ball roll past him rather than taking a first touch with his back towards the opponent’s goal – that made all the difference: he was able to give it quicker to Auba who then had enough space to do his dance and surprise the keeper enough to score again.
It was great to see Chambers getting a start today but he struggled in the RB position, both defensively and in attack. I will not be hard on him as he deserves more time to get back into the rhythm of things. Not having the attacking threat of either Soares (ideally) or Bellerin really did not help us today, though.
Tierney was also much quieter today, and it made me wonder whether the boys were holding back a bit for what they may see as the much bigger game: the Europa League encounter with Olympiacos. The pitch was slow but the players were too, and maybe that early goal really did not help us in that respect.
We all know that we should have had a penalty for handling in the box, and it is clear that VAR remains a work in progress. Subjectivity and interpretations of the rules seem to dominate certain aspects of VAR decision making, and as long as this is the case it will remain contentious and, to be frank, a pain in the backside.
Let’s quickly forget about this game. Arteta knows that these continuous silly mistakes have to be ironed out, but this will take time. We also lacked luck, but in the end we did not deserve to take all three points because the boys left it too late to mean business and turn things round.
The heating is broken (from Tuesday) and it is freezing in my office room, so this will be a very short post. Arsenal have an early kick off against Dyche’s Clarets tomorrow.
What do we know about Burnley? They are currently 15th in the league mainly due to a relatively good defence as their attack is very poor: just 19 goals which is the second lowest tally. They have the fourth most negative goal difference of minus 16 but, as Leicester experienced midweek, they make themselves hard to beat and Arsenal will have to be on the ball from the start to crack huskey Dyche’s resilient bus-parkers.
How should we line up against them? Well all had a good rest and only ESR is not (yet) available, so the gaffer can choose from a large pool of talent and hungry players.
Here is my preferred lineup:
I am also happy with a start for Auba and/or Willian in this one, but they could have a game on Thursday. Arteta will have to give and take a bit here. I am also happy with Mari and Holding getting a start at the back, but right now I reckon Big Gab and Luiz are giving us the widest skill set and good chemistry in defence. A start for Bellerin would be ok with me, but Soares is in fine form and, to be honest, is the better full back. In fact, this may be close to Arsenal’s strongest lineup…. What do you think?
Looking forward to this one.
C O M E O N Y O U R I P R O A R I N G G U N N E R S !
They are the only team to go unbeaten for a complete season since Preston North End went unbeaten in the inaugural season of the Football League in 1889 with a record of:
P22, W18, D4. L0, GF74, GA15, Pts58. In retaining the Premier League Championship in 2001/02 Arsenal had also equalled Preston North Ends record of going unbeaten away for the entire season by beating Manchester United 0-1 at Old Trafford in our final away game.
Arsene only used 22 players in the whole season with Jens Lehmann playing in all 38 games – which included 15 shut outs.
2003-04 Arsene Wenger’s -Invincibles
Country
Pos
Player
Apps
Subs
Games
Goals
Germany
Goal
Jens Lehmann
38
0
38
0
France
Fwd
Thierry Henry
37
0
37
30
Ivory Coast
Def
Kole Toure
36
1
37
1
France
Mid
Robert Pires
33
3
36
14
England
Def
Sol Campbell
35
0
35
1
England
Def
Ashley Cole
32
0
32
0
Cameroon
Def
Lauren
30
2
32
0
Brazil
Mid
Gilberto Silva
29
3
32
4
Sweden
Mid
Freddie Ljungberg
27
3
30
4
France
Mid
Patrick Vieira
29
0
29
3
Brazil
Mid
Edu
12
17
29
2
Netherlands
Fwd
Denis Bergkamp
21
7
28
4
England
Mid
Ray Parlour
12
10
22
0
France
Def
Pascal Cygan
10
8
18
0
Spain
Fwd
Jose Antonio-Reyes
7
6
13
2
France
Fwd
Sylvain Wiltord
8
4
12
3
France
Def
Gael Clichy
7
5
12
0
France
Fwd
Jeremie Aliadiere
3
7
10
0
Nigeria
Fwd
Kanu
3
7
10
1
England
Def
Martin Keown
3
7
10
0
England
Mid
David Bentley
1
0
1
0
England
Def
Justin Hoyte
0
1
1
0
Arsenal 2003-04 Season Results
V
W
D
L
GF
GA
Pts
1
Aug
16
Everton
H
1
2
1
3
2
Aug
24
Boro
A
1
4
0
3
3
Aug
27
Aston Villa
H
1
2
0
3
4
Aug
31
Man C
A
1
2
1
3
5
Sep
13
Portsmouth
H
1
1
1
1
6
Sep
21
Man U
A
1
0
0
1
7
Sep
26
Newcastle
H
1
3
2
3
8
Oct
4
Liverpool
A
1
2
1
3
9
Oct
18
Chelsea
H
1
2
1
3
10
Oct
26
Charlton
A
1
1
1
1
11
Nov
1
Leeds
A
1
4
1
3
12
Nov
8
Tottenham
H
1
2
1
3
13
Nov
22
Birmingham
A
1
3
0
3
14
Nov
30
Fulham
H
1
0
0
1
15
Dec
6
Leicester
A
1
1
1
1
16
Dec
14
Blackburn
H
1
1
0
3
17
Dec
20
Bolton
A
1
1
1
1
18
Dec
26
Wolves
H
1
3
0
3
19
Dec
29
Saints
A
1
1
0
3
20
Jan
7
Everton
A
1
1
1
1
21
Jan
10
Boro
H
1
4
1
3
22
Jan
18
Aston Villa
A
1
2
0
3
23
Feb
1
Man C
H
1
2
1
3
24
Feb
7
Wolves
A
1
3
1
3
25
Feb
10
Saints
H
1
2
0
3
26
Feb
21
Chelsea
A
1
2
1
3
27
Feb
28
Charlton
H
1
2
1
3
28
Mar
13
Blackburn
A
1
2
0
3
29
Mar
20
Bolton
H
1
2
1
3
30
Mar
28
Man U
H
1
1
1
1
31
Apr
9
Liverpool
H
1
4
2
3
32
Apr
11
Newcastle
A
1
0
0
1
33
Apr
16
Leeds
H
1
5
0
3
34
Apr
25
Tottenham
A
1
2
2
1
35
May
1
Birmingham
H
1
0
0
1
36
May
4
Portsmouth
A
1
1
1
1
37
May
9
Fulham
A
1
1
0
3
38
May
15
Leicester
H
1
2
1
3
Totals:
26
12
0
73
26
90
Although he performed well throughout the 2002/03 season long-serving keeper David Seaman was released at the end of the campaign. Arsenal brought in Jens Lehmann from Borussia Dortmund for a mere £1.5 million – a steal, considering just how important he would be for Arsenal over the next 12 months. Due to building the Emirates there were no big-name signings; club captain Patrick Vieira signed a new contract in the face of strong interest from Manchester United, Chelsea, and Real Madrid. With Arsene not make any big changes to the squad, and with no major departures, Arsenal started the season with the same group of players as the previous season.
The season kicked off with Arsenal in inspired form. A 2-1 home victory over Everton on the opening day was followed up with 4-0 win over Middlesbrough, a 2-0 win over Aston Villa and a 2-1 away victory over David Seaman and Manchester City. With just four games played, Arsenal had already put three points between them and fellow title-chasers Manchester United, leaving them sitting comfortably in first place, having scored ten and conceded just two.
Our unbeaten run came close to ending at Old Trafford in the sixth game of the season when United were awarded a penalty in injury time (no surprise there) but (our leastliked player) Ruud van Nistelrooy stepped up and missed the penalty and the match ended tied at 0–0. Tempers boiled over in the game dubbed the ‘Battle of Old Trafford’ following Vieira being given a red card.
October presented a tough schedule with a trip to Anfield and a home game against Chelsea. Despite falling behind against Liverpool we recovered to win 2-1. Going into the Chelsea game, both sides were level at the top of the table and were also undefeated in the league. The game appeared to be heading for a draw until a Carlo Cudicini blunder saw Thierry Henry give Arsenal the win, bringing an end to Chelsea’s unbeaten run. Despite the fact we had still not lost a poor 0-0 draw against Fulham on Nov 30th gave Chelsea the chance to take over at the top of the table.
At the turn of the year Arsenal had made it half way through the season without tasting defeat in the Premier League and the unbeaten season began to take place: but despite this feat, Arsenal entered 2004 in second place, one point behind leaders Manchester United.
The Gunners’ first game of the year once again ended with a lacklustre draw against Everton, while United secured a victory to increase their lead to three points. Although, things picked up with a dominant 4-1 win over Middlesbrough, which saw us draw level with United on points, goal difference and goals scored. Henry then began a goal scoring run which would see him net in each of the club’s next six games, the second and third of which came against Aston Villa a week later giving Arsenal all three points. Despite a trip to title chasers Chelsea and a visit to Manchester City, February would prove to be one of the best months in the campaign, with five wins in five games.
After 30 games Arsenal had officially beaten the Premier League record of consecutive game without defeat.
On April 25th we went to White Hart Lane knowing knew that a single point would be enough to end any chance of a late Chelsea comeback. Goals from Vieira and Pirés were enough to secure a 2-2 draw that handed Arsenal the trophy at the home of the North London pretenders with four games to spare.
We saw out the final month of Premier League action comfortably, with a bore draw against Birmingham City followed up with a 1-1 draw at Portsmouth and a 1-0 victory over Fulham. Despite going behind in their final game against Leicester City, Arsenal bossed the second-half, claiming victory thanks to goals from Henry and Vieira.
2003-04 League Table
P
W
D
L
F
A
Pts
1
Arsenal
38
26
12
0
73
26
90
2
Chelsea
38
24
7
7
67
30
79
3
Man U
38
23
6
9
64
35
75
4
Liverpool
38
16
12
10
55
37
60
5
Newcastle
38
13
17
8
52
40
56
6
Aston Villa
38
15
11
12
48
44
56
7
Charlton
38
14
11
13
51
51
53
8
Bolton
38
14
11
13
48
56
53
9
Fulham
38
14
10
14
52
46
52
10
Birmingham
38
12
14
12
43
48
50
11
Boro
38
13
9
16
44
52
48
12
Saints
38
12
11
15
44
45
47
13
Portsmouth
38
12
9
17
47
54
45
14
Tottenham
38
13
6
19
47
57
45
15
Blackburn
38
12
8
18
51
59
44
16
Man C
38
9
14
15
55
54
41
17
Everton
38
9
12
17
45
57
39
18
Leicester
38
6
15
17
48
65
33
19
Leeds
38
8
9
21
40
79
33
20
Wolves
38
7
12
19
38
77
33
After Arsenal completed the only 38-match season unbeaten, the Premier League commissioned a unique gold trophy to commemorate the achievement. Arsène Wenger was presented the trophy as a parting gift from the club after his last home game as manager on 6 May 2018.
Bergkampesque 