Posts filed under 'Premier League'
September 10th, 2011
A short time ago in a stadium far, far away, Arsenal were on the receiving end of a defeat so humiliating that it prompted one of the greatest periods of introspection in the club’s recent history. Since then, a great deal has passed. Five new players have joined the club, and another five have left. The club have taken the opportunity provided by the international break to regroup, recoil, and reinforce.
We’re undoubtedly in a stronger position that we were ten days ago. The addition of established players like Mertesacker, Arteta and Benayoun has provided the squad with a depth it was sorely lacking. Arsene Wenger has even suggested the squad may be better than it was twelve months ago:
“The squad is stronger. If you look at the squad now and imagine Wilshere and Diaby coming back, plus the players like Vermaelen who will come back soon and I think we have a more mature squad.”
Only time will tell if he’s right. The loss of Fabregas and Nasri has been a tremendous blow, but if the likes of Mertesacker, Santos and Arteta can make the team more robust, we may see the emergence of an Arsenal side with a different personality. One with less flair, but more fight. Mertesacker and Vermaelen should have the ability to bind in to a formidable defensive unit. Arteta, meanwhile, has “amazed” Arsene with his strength in the tackle – a toughness forged on the battlegrounds of the SPL and the Old Firm Derby.
The new boys in training
We may be lighter on big names. We may be lighter on creativity. But we won’t be lighter in the challenge. It’s important to remember that whilst we’ve lost two lynch-pins of the side, they didn’t lead us to any great success, especially in terms of silverware. Arsene’s additions this summer have been unusual for him, but isn’t that just what people wanted? Fans cry out for a departure from the philosophy of signing unheard of youngsters, and then when he does just that, they ask why we didn’t sign players like Hazard and M’Vila – both less than 21 and without any experience of the English game. I believe Arsenal tried for both – the latter in particular – but right now the likes of Arteta could prove more useful.
It’s our fourth league fixture, our sixth game of the season, and yet Arsenal fans and players alike seem united in the belief that the season starts now. Winger Theo Walcott says:
“We need to start our season against Swansea. We need to forget about the games against Liverpool and Manchester United.
We need to react in a positive way. We need players to stand up and be counted because, if we’re honest, it wasn’t good enough against Manchester United.”
He’s right. We need to be positive. In order to do that, we’ll have to be realistic. We’re currently in 17th place, already 8 points behind the Manchester clubs. With that start and the disruption we’ve suffered, winning the league seems improbable at best. At the moment, our priority has to be overhauling Liverpool and retaining that valuable Champions League spot. If we can do that this season, as well as have a decent stab at the cups, we’ll all be mightily relieved.
That battle starts today against Swansea. I suspect a couple of our new signings will be on show: Per Mertesacker is likely to start alongside Laurent Koscielny with Bacary Sagna and the fit-again Kieran Gibbs at full-back. Andre Santos is not yet fully fit, and will begin on the bench, and Wojciech Szczesny – our player of the month for August – will continue in goal. In midfield, Emmanuel Frimpong and Aaron Ramsey will be joined by Arteta, whilst captain Van Persie is likely to be flanked by Walcott and Arshavin. There is the possibility that Yossi Benayoun could be thrown in ahead of the out-of-sorts Russian, but J. Y. Park is unlikely to be involved: as of last night he was still in Paris awaiting clearance on his visa.
I’d love to see Arsenal come back in style and make a real statement, putting four or five behind a newly promoted side. I don’t anticipate that, however. Swansea are a decent side and won’t roll over. We may need to be patient today: the fans as much as the players.
After Swansea, we face Blackburn and Bolton in the league, and have the chance to build some momentum before the North London Derby. If we can embark upon a winning run, then the Old Trafford debacle will soon seem light years and galaxies away.
It’s time to look ahead. Or as the marketing folk at Nike would have us say: Forward.
 Come On You Gunners.
August 29th, 2011
MANCHESTER UNITED 8Â – 2 ARSENAL
Arsene's lowest ebb?
Match Report | Highlights Video | Arsene’s reaction
A couple of weeks ago, when Cesc Fabregas left for Barcelona and Samir Nasri seemed determined to follow him through the door, I told you that “the night is darkest just before the dawnâ€. It’s a turn of phrase I had heard the character of Harvey Dent use in Christopher Nolan’s Batman film, ‘The Dark Knight’. It’s supposed to engender comfort among troubled souls; to tell them that although things seem bad, they are almost certainly about to get better.
I conveniently forgot to mention that shortly afterwards Dent loses half his face in a fire and becomes a psychopathic killer. The night, for Gotham, just gets darker. And so it has proved for Arsenal’s start to the season, as yesterday we reached what we can only hope is our nadir, losing 8-2 to our supposed rivals Manchester United.
8-2. 8-2. It doesn’t look like a real result. I believe in the old days of teletext, eight is the point at which they’d spell out the number in letters (eg. Manchester United 8 (E I G H T)) to assure you it wasn’t a typo. It’s a shocking scoreline, in every sense.
The writing was on the wall as soon as the line-up was announced. Robbed of Vermaelen and Sagna to injury and illness respectively, the XI took on the look of a Carling Cup team, with Jenkinson, Traore, and Coquelin all involved from the start. The bench was even more distressing, with names like Chamberlain, Ozyakup, and Sunu all awaiting league debuts.
With such a weak line-up, the relatively experienced heads of Djourou, Koscielny, Rosicky and Arshavin had a duty and responsibility to hold things together and make sure the defence was not exposed.
That, as we all know, is not how it turned out. The defending was apocalyptically, comically bad. By the time goals five, six, seven and eight hit the net, I was laughing through the anguish. Here are our errors, catalogued:
Goal 1: The cracks began to show when Carl Jenkinson was caught way out of position, allowing Patrice Evra to charge in behind. Theo Walcott did brilliantly to get back and recover the situation, but was even quicker to let Jenkinson know what he thought of his defending, leading to a slanging match between the pair that carried on as we defended the resulting corner.
When the ball was cleared as far as Anderson, more horrors followed. His wedged pass over the defence should have been cleared, but for a combination of indecision and cowardice that allowed Danny Welbeck to steal in and score. First Johan Djourou inexplicably allowed the ball to bounce inside his own area, and then Koscielny ducked out of a challenge with the English forward. A Martin Keown or Sol Campbell would have put his body on the line to prevent a goal. Koscielny is not that man.
Goal 2: Again came from Wayne Rooney running in behind Jenkinson. Coquelin could’ve been quicker to close Ashley Young down too, but what a strike nonetheless.
Goal 3: Sorry Carl, but there was another basic positional error from the teenager here. Young was goal-side and Jenkinson had no choice but to bring him to ground, leading to a sensational free-kick from Wayne Rooney.
Goal 4: Wojciech Szczesny, who made several good saves on the day, made the classic mistake of edging across goal behind his wall and allowing Rooney the space to curl a terrific dead ball in to the far corner.
Goal 5: Goal five exhibited our most spectacularly bad defending. Andrey Arshavin, who found himself in the left-back position, stepped up alongside Johan Djourou, whilst Traore and Jenkinson were left behind. This left Nani onside and unmarked to score.
Goal 6: A couple of errors from Johan Djourou here, who dived in on Park, missed his tackle, and then failed to track the Korean when he broke free.
Goal 7: A penalty conceded by Theo Walcott. No complaints at all from the winger about the award – his trip on Evra seemed to be born as much out of frustration as any realistic attempt to defend.
Goal 8: Another sumptuous finish by young, but again Djourou found himself standing too far off in no-man’s land.
Amidst all the awfulness, there were a couple of goals for Van Persie and Walcott, a missed penalty by the Dutchman, a red card for Jenkinson after another positional error, and several instances in which Andrey Arshavin was lucky not to join him in receiving his marching orders. If you have lots of time and a similar amount of self-loathing then I suggest you read the match report linked at the top of the page.
I’ve touched on our weakened team. It’s no excuse. We had injuries?  So did they.  United were without their first-choice central defensive pairing of Ferdinand and Vidic, as well as key midfielders like Michael Carrick and Antonio Valencia.  Our team was young? Well, on average, United’s was younger.  What we witnessed yesterday was, plainly, inexcusable.
Some of the performances were dire.  You’ll have noticed that Jenkinson’s name crops up repeatedly in the listed litany of mistakes. He looked very much like a player who has played a handful of games in the Conference and League One – unsurprising, because that’s exactly what he is.  He managed to get through the game against Udinese on Wednesday, but here he was out of his depth, and drowning.  The same could be said for Armand Traore who, with Premier League and Serie A experience on his CV, has less excuses than Jenkinson. Johan Djourou is going backwards faster than the DeLorean time machine, and on a couple of occasions Laurent Koscielny showed that whilst he is an able defender, he is not willing to get hurt for the sake of stopping a goal.
And yet, for the most part, I don’t really blame the players – especially not kids like Jenkinson.  As I’ve said before: it’s not their fault they’re out there.  It’s the fault of the manager (and quite possibly the board) for failing to strengthen a squad that has simultaneously been stripped of some of its most prized assets.
Bank balance aside, the numbers don’t look good for the manager – and I don’t just mean the glaring ‘8’ on the scoreboard; the first time we’ve conceded that many goals in a game since 1896.
It’s Arsene’s worst ever start to a Premier League season.  Taking in to account our form at the back end of last season, it’s also our worst ever run under him.  Since losing the Carling Cup Final to Birmingham, we’ve won just three league games.  One was against Blackpool. And, to help matters, we’ve now had a player sent off in each of our three domestic matches this season. We have more red cards than points.
Yesterday it was made painfully clear how far away our squad is from being able to compete with United. With no Ferdinand or Vidic, they were still able to call on two centre-backs who both looked more capable than our own.  How it will have stung Arsene to know that Phil Jones rejected his overtures to sign with the Red Devils this summer. To outsiders, Jones’ choice is easy enough to understand: wouldn’t you rather sign for the club where you can learn from good, experienced defenders, and play for a manager who actually seems to care about the art of keeping clean sheets?
As poor as our defending was, United showcased a real ruthless quality in front of goal. Much of our attacking talent remained available, but do we have players with the ability (or perhaps more importantly, the confidence) to score the kind of goal that Ashley Young and Wayne Rooney did yesterday?  Just so we’re all clear, Young cost United £16m – £1m more than we’ll end up paying for Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain, who made an unmemorable debut as a substitute.
What sickened me more than anything was to watch this team perform without pride, and without belief. The players know the squad isn’t good enough to compete.  It was written all over their performances – and some of them have even said as much. They were caught in a losing battle.  When Van Persie and Walcott were withdrawn to fight another day, they sat down on the bench without so much as a glance at Wenger.  Inside, they will have been fuming. You can bet that neither are in any mood to open contract negotiations anytime soon.
Meanwhile, the manager sat in the dugout, motionless.  He didn’t even walk to the touchline to cajole his troops. He just sat there and watched his lambs slaughtered. You know Arsene is in trouble when he’s receiving pity from his supposed adversary. After the game, Alex Ferguson said, “we could’ve scored more, but you don’t want to score more against a weakened team like thatâ€.  It’s a comment almost as withering and humiliating as the scoreline.
As I watched at home, I briefly (and, I now realise, irrationally) wondered if Wenger might resign in the aftermath of the game. What changed my mind was our extraordinary fans, who for much of the second half drowned out the United supporters with a chorus of “We love you Arsenalâ€. They will have reminded Arsene of his commitment to this club. He won’t walk away now.
Nor should he. This is his mess, and he needs to fix it – a change of manager at this stage would benefit no-one. The obvious place to start is in the transfer market.  A centre-half and a central midfielder are absolutely vital.  We’d all like business to have been done earlier, but there’s no point moaning about that now: we’ve got three days to do the required repair work on this squad.  Transfers can be done very quickly. Take the case of Park Chu-Young: Arsenal received news that Joel Campbell’s work permit appeal had been declined on Friday afternoon – by Saturday morning the Korean striker was on his way to London. That deal should have been completed last night, and will most likely be announced today, leaving Arsene and the board to concentrate on the other reinforcements we urgently require.
A particularly optimistic fan tweeted me last night to say that Feyenoord were once beaten 8-2 by Ajax but went on to lift the title in the same season.  The performances of the two Manchester clubs yesterday, and by contrast our own, shambolic display, have shown us that winning the league is almost certainly impossible.  However, we are perfectly capable of recovering from this to retain our Champions League spot, which has to be the realistic target for this campaign. Get the transfer business right, and our season could start against Swansea on September 10th.
Either that, or Arsene will lose half his face in a fire and become a psychopathic killer.
August 28th, 2011
There is a massive match today, and at the risk of sounding uncannily like manager Arsene Wenger, I’d like to talk solely about that. Â However, with the window creaking towards closing, inevitably there is transfer news on the agenda.
It appears that Arsenal are about to sign South Korea striker Park Chu-Young.  After Monaco were relegated last season, Park, who is captain of his country, has spent the summer searching for a move.  It seemed he’d found it when French champions Lille agreed a fee of €3m + €2m add-ons.  He underwent a medical, and this morning Lille president Michel Seydoux sought out Park at his hotel to finalise the contract.
Only, Park wasn’t there.
A series of furious phone calls to Monaco and the player’s representatives confirmed Seydoux’s fears: Park had travelled to England, to meet with Arsenal.
Park was as surprised as anyone; the deal has come from nowhere. Â On Friday, Arsene confirmed Arsenal’s desire to sign a striker – a decision motivated by the impending departure of Nicklas Bendtner and the fact Joel Campbell has been denied a work permit. Â That evening, Arsenal informed Monaco of their interest. Â By Saturday morning, a formal bid had arrived, and Arsene Wenger had spoken to Park on the telephone. Â As soon as he received the call, the player departed for London.
It’s an intriguing signing, and in my eyes a positive one. Â A couple of days ago I didn’t think Arsene was going to buy a striker, so I’ll be delighted if we do secure one. Â Some fans seem disappointed by he player’s relatively low profile and price-tag, but I think they’re odd criteria by which to judge a signing.
Even so, I expect bigger names to arrive in the areas which require more significant strengthening: defence and midfield. Â Speaking of which, Owen Coyle’s criticism of Gary Cahill’s performance at Anfield, suggesting the player has had his “head turned”, seem to me to be further evidence of a club preparing for the player’s departure.
Anyway. Â More of Park, Cahill and others in the coming days of frenzied activity. Â For now, for today, it’s Manchester United at Old Trafford.
First: team news. Â As you all know, the Arsenal squad is currently decimated by injuries and suspensions. Â From the game against Udinese we lose Song, Gervinho and Frimpong (all suspended), who join the likes of Gibbs, Squillaci, Wilshere, Diaby and Bendtner on the sidelines.
Wojciech Szczesny will continue in goal. Â Thomas Vermaelen will form the bedrock of our defence, with his first-choice partner Laurent Koscielny hopefully able to be picked alongside him. Â There were some rumours yesterday that Bacary Sagna was suffering from a stomach bug – assuming he recovers, he’s likely to continue at left-back with Carl Jenkinson on the other flank.
The central midfield trio will be comprised of Tomas Rosicky, Aaron Ramsey and another.  The likes of Oguzhan Özyakup and Francis Coquelin have reportedly been called up to the first team squad, but I suspect Arsene will go with Johan Djourou in a holding role.  The Swiss defender began his career as a midfielder and should be comfortable enough in that position.
The attack picks itself: captain Robin van Persie will be flanked by the in-form Theo Walcott and out-of-sorts Andrey Arshavin.
United have started the season in fine fettle, with plenty of new blood to supplement the established set. Â They’re champions and favourites for this year’s title. Â Arsenal, meanwhile, have spent the first part of the season lurching from one disaster to the next, until the reprieve granted by defeating Udinese in the Champions League qualifier. Â All of that means that we start this game as massive underdogs – a position which ought to suit us.
Considering this is always a huge fixture, we go in to it under remarkably little pressure. Â Hopefully that will liberate some of the younger players in our side, and allow us to at least make a decent fist of it. Â The squad strengthening that will happen between now and Wednesday could dramatically alter our season – but, arguably, a positive result today could be more.
We’re due a win at Old Trafford. Â And we’re due some luck. Â A victory, or even a convincing performance, could rarely be more timely.
Come On You Gunners.
August 20th, 2011
Match Report | Highlights | Arsene’s reaction
Quite often, I get criticised in the ‘Comments’ section of this blog for being “too positive”. I’m accused of being sycophantic to the manager and blind to the club’s problem. Those readers will probably enjoy this blog a little more. Equally, I hope that those fans who enjoy my more positive outlook will forgive the sombre mood of this post – but I was deeply alarmed by what I witnessed today.
When Arsenal took to the field at St. James’ Park a week ago, our first XI looked decent enough. It was the bench that bothered me. One week, and a few predictable injuries later, those substitutes have been promoted and are getting game-time. Their inexperience and insufficiency was exploited ruthlessly as Liverpool recorded their first victory away to Arsenal of Arsene’s reign. A watershed result in a watershed month for the manager.
I’m not blaming the kids. The likes of Jenkinson, Frimpong, Ramsey and Miquel tried their very best. Unfortunately, however, they made rookie errors which, at this level, simply don’t go unpunished. The truth is that they oughtn’t have been out there today – it is not their fault that the squad has been stripped of experience.
In the first half we were performing well enough without creating any chances of note, until we lost Laurent Koscielny to a back injury. That setback saw Miquel introduced, and a nervy Arsenal never really found their footing again. Watching in the stands, the match had a 0-0 draw written all over it – Liverpool were seemingly happy to park their five man midfield and take a valuable point.
The game hinged on the sending off of Emmanuel Frimpong. Along with the outstanding Thomas Vermaelen, Frimpong had been Arsenal’s best player, but after clattering Lucas Frimpong picked up a second booking and had to go. Over-enthusiasm and a rush of adrenaline put an end to what was otherwise an outstanding full debut – the FA should be doing everything they can to convince him to change his mind and play for England.
Liverpool, smelling blood, introduced Luis Suarez, who set about tormenting our backline with his speed and movement. The goals Liverpool got were admittedly graced with luck: both appeared to be offside, and one was the result of a calamitous own goal after Miquel’s clearance hit Ramsey and looped over the advancing Szczesny. But with ten men and a defence of Sagna at left-back, Jenkinson at right-back, and Vermaelen and Miquel in the middle we were asking for trouble. For the first time I found myself wondering with concern just where Sebastien Squillaci was.
Miquel did alright, and can obviously pass a ball, but was understandably nervy. He wasn’t alone in putting in a less than inspiring performance: Sagna looked uncomfortable at left-back, Jenkinson was committed but struggled on the ball, Ramsey was erratic, Walcott anonymous, and Arshavin awful. But, at the moment, they’re all we have.
The knocks and suspensions we’re picking up are unfortunate. But we know we have a squad prone to injury and discipline, and have taken no steps to counter that. When Liverpool went ahead, a good number of fans chanted aggressively, imploring Arsene to spend some money. I didn’t join in – at that point, the team were still very much in the game and needed our support. I did, however, entirely understand the sentiment.
Liverpool weren’t brilliant today, but their team looked an awful lot better than it did twelve months ago – and this, let’s remember, was without Gerrard and with Suarez starting on the bench. It’s no coincidence that since January, they’ve spent about £100m. Yes, they’ve overpaid for some players, but they’ve got the personnel they needed. And they’re better for it.
There is a lot to be learnt from their handling of the Fernando Torres sale. Torres was a symbolic and pivotal figure at Anfield – much like Cesc was at Arsenal. After selling him to Chelsea, they immediately replaced him with players able to come in and make an immediate impact in their first team. Crucially, it also gave the entire club a lift, and convinced players and supporters alike that they would recover from the transfer. I’m not advocating anything as absurd as paying £35m for Andy Caroll, but some new additions would not only plug the gaping holes in the squad, but also give the whole club a boost.
Those holes will widen further if Samir Nasri leaves next week. The headline news was that he started the game, and I thought he did OK. During the match a story broke on French TV station Canal Plus that the deal with Manchester City may have fallen through – I have to say I doubt that very much indeed. Arsene Wenger said he knew nothing about it after the game, but City officials are privately briefing journalists that they’re confident a move will go ahead. Wednesday will act as a deadline of sorts – if he plays against Udinese, he would be cup-tied for the Champions League (IF Arsenal qualify).
Whether he stays or not, I wish Arsene would stop telling us how much Nasri “loves” the club. Today he said:
“I have always said I will try to keep Samir Nasri. I have never changed my mind. I played him, much to the surprise of everybody, because he loves this club and at the moment I am happy he is here.”
Right, let’s get this straight: Samir Nasri doesn’t love this club. Or, if he does, it’s a love which comes second to monetary gain, which is no kind of love I know.
The fans in that stadium today love the club. Unlike Nasri, they’re putting their money in to the club rather than taking it out. And unlike Nasri, they’ll be here next week. And next season. And beyond.
I didn’t join those who left early, or who booed. But I understand why they’re frustrated. For the first time, I have serious doubts about our ability to qualify for the Champions League both for this season and next. I hope, with all my heart, that I’m proved wrong.
August 20th, 2011
Apologies for the lack of blog yesterday. A sleepless night and a five hour train journey meant sharing my thoughts with you would’ve been an unpleasant situation for us both. Fortunately, I am now slightly recovered, and feeling rather better. About everything, in fact.
This morning I’ll cycle up to the Emirates for my first live game of the season. In fact, work commitments have prevented me actually getting to games since around March. I watched our end of season collapse on the television, or through my computer/fingers.
The summer hasn’t been any easier on the eye. But tomorrow lunchtime, when I’m confronted with the full horror of Liverpool FC and their fans, all I will care about is that the eleven men in red and white triumph over the eleven men in whatever hideous away kit Liverpool’s marketing men have concocted for this season. And that, really, is what football ought to be about.
For ninety minutes, I’m calling a truce with my angst. All I want to do is beat Liverpool. I’m even calling a truce with Samir Nasri, who has been surprisingly recalled to the squad. It shows how stretched we are when the manager is prepared to risk a £23m asset just hours before he’s due to leave the club. The fact that Tomas Rosicky has joined Jack Wilshere, Abou Diaby, Gervinho, Alex Song, Kieran Gibbs, Armand Traore and Johan Djourou on the sidelines has forced Arsene to reconsider Nasri’s position, and I now expect him to start in a midfield trio with Emmanuel Frimpong and Aaron Ramsey.
It’s certainly a change of position from when Arsene said he was only prepared to use players who were 100% committed to the club. And it’s a change brought about, quite clearly, by desperation. Arsene said:
“You do your job until the last day of your life at the Club – the rest is speculation. That doesn’t interfere with your dedication and the way you do your job.
Nasri is in the squad. If I decide to play him he will play. When you are professional you play until the last day.
Everywhere I have worked in my life I have made sure that until the last second of where I was I did the job properly. He is paid this month by Arsenal Football Club so why should he not play?”
Nasri’s impending move to City has seen his relationship with the Arsenal fans very quickly and very publicly disintegrate. There will doubtless be those in the Emirates crowd who want to vent their frustrations at a player who has reneged on a new deal at Arsenal to double his money elsewhere. My advice to you is this: save it for when he comes back with City. There’s no need for a negative atmosphere around the ground on a day when teenagers like Carl Jenkinson and Emmanuel Frimpong could be making their first league starts for the club.
The team will most likely be:
Szczesny – Sagna Koscielny Vermaelen Jenkinson – Frimpong Ramsey – Walcott Nasri Arshavin – Van Persie (c)
Japanese winger Ryo Miyaichi, having completed his paperwork, is also in contention and is likely to be on the bench. Interestingly, there’s been no talk of whether or not Nicklas Bendtner could be involved, perhaps in one of the wide attacking roles. I wouldn’t be adverse to giving the Dane a game, although his lack of match practise might be a worry.
Regardless, it’s a line-up that tells you a lot about the state of the squad and where we require strengthening – especially when you take Nasri out of the equation too. I was encouraged by the news that Arsenal made an enquiry for Lucho Gonzalez – an experienced, quality player – albeit one whose form has dipped in the last twelve months; but seriously, why would Marseille allow one of their best players, who cost them €18m two years ago, to leave on loan? Much like when we bid only £10m for Phil Jagielka, I think we were being optimistic at best, and naieve at worst.
It doesn’t look like we’ll be getting Juan Mata either, with the Spaniard now set to sign for Chelsea. That’s a shame: he’s a great player and would’ve been a good like-for-like replacement for Nasri.
One player who has signed is Joel Campbell. The teenage striker will now wait to hear if he is awarded a work permit before the club decide the next stage of his development.
It’s a huge game today. Our first two matches have come with creditable results, if uninspiring performances. This is a different kind of test, against the team a whole host of pundits have predicted will supercede us in the race for Champions League qualification. It’s an opportunity to make a real statement, and give both the players and fans a much-need boost ahead of a very difficult week in which we travel to Udinese and Manchester United.
Arsene looked as fiery as he ever has done in his press conference yesterday, swatting away journalists with defiant rhetoric. He’s clearly been riled by those hacks and fans who have openly questioned his decision-making this summer, and feels he has a point to prove. As supporters, we should consider that a good thing. Three good results in the next eight days would certainly silence many of his critics.
Come On You Gunners.
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