The Offices Are Gunner Be Red Just Like North London

There is no better feeling going into work than the feeling going into work knowing you have beaten your rivals convincingly at the weekend. One of the many things Coronavirus robbed us of was the opportunity to strut into that office on a Monday morning feeling eight foot high, feeling like a rock star.

No mercy for any Spurs fans that happen to share the office with you, this is our time, North London is Red and there is no comeback to that fact. Hide; just hide because we are enjoying our week and we don’t give a damn if it hurts your feelings. As has been your catchphrase this season “Cry, cry some more”.

That winning feeling on a Monday into work

If the government was on a drive to get bodies back in offices then they have missed a trick by not tapping into the football market when bragging rights are top of the agenda. I enjoy working from home, I also enjoy seeing faces in the office but I absolutely love seeing my spurs supporting chums after a battering over the weekend. It Pains when the Arsenal are on the receiving end of such a defeat but let’s cross that bridge when it comes, today we feast on human tears.

No need for a match review of sorts, I’m sure we have digested the game live whether in the Emirates or on TV, again on match of the day, again via the highlights on Arsenal.com and then again through whatever medium we can get our hands on. It’s just a time to celebrate, enjoy and soak up those bragging rights after beating the supposed complete Tottenham team.

Don’t be fooled by any reverse psychology presented by the Spurs fans you know in the build up to Saturdays match. They were confident going into this match; they believed they could get one over us at the Emirates. They were arriving as an unbeaten team, thrashed Leicester in their last game and walked away from Stamford Bridge and The London stadium this season with a point each time.

Spurs fans really believed a result was on the horizon, I remember reading an article last week from a Spurs fan claiming that when we defeated them last season 3-1 they had a poor midfield consisting of Dele Alli and Tanguy Ndombele. This time it was believed things were different; they had their solid midfield base of Bentacur and Hojbjerg to stop us in our blocks. They had their star wing back in Perisic to fly down the flank and create things for their attack. They had their star acquisition from Barcelona Lenglet to snuff out the danger from our attack.

I haven’t even gotten to their ultimate secret weapon: The Shithouse mafia. Romero, Richarlison, Kane and Son. Certainly the term Shithouse is not a new creation and over the years there have been many a player who have embraced and lived up to that tag with pride. Diego Costa definitely comes to mind yet this season it is a term that the Spurs fans have raved about as if they believed this is the key ingredient to a successful team. Litter your team with these types of players and you are supposed to reap the benefits from being a dirty team full of cheating, win at any cost, unlikeable players.

Well they all started the match on Saturday, the fiery hot headed Argentinean Christian Romero, this loose cannon of a defender is a red card waiting to happen, their fans see him put in a dirty sly kick or elbow on a player that it clouds the fact he is more liability than reliable. Heung Min Son, the supposed nicest guy in football who would stop at nothing to get a man sent off to gain an advantage. He went down claiming to be injured after Kurt Zouma rolled a ball his direction last season, need I say more. Then we have Richarlison, a man so universally disliked for all cheating tactics that when he did eventually get seriously injured from a tackle during his Everton days all the commentators and fans alike saw the boy who cried wolf and dismissed his pleas and even when it was proven to be genuine nobody even felt the need for guilt and enjoyed it a bit. As for Harry Kane, he needs no introduction; we all know what he’s about.

Spurs quartet of shithousery came, they saw and they got hooked. With only Harry Kane staying on the pitch for the full 90 minutes, the remaining three were ineffective and made way after 70 minutes. One thing with football, it takes more than cheating to lead you to victory, how about doing something with the ball rather than playing up to your opponent all game? And if Spurs are going to base their defeat on the loss of one player in Kulusevski then they deserved to lose the game.

We can celebrate our boys; they deserved the win on Saturday. Thomas Partey was immense in the middle of the park, Xhaka’s importance continues to grow with each game he plays, and Saka and Martinelli were a constant thorn from the flanks whilst Martin Odegaard controlled the pace of the game from the middle. Defensively we dealt with everything thrown at us, the penalty we conceded could have been avoided during several moments before the initial tackle but we will learn from that. We didn’t let if phase us and the back four as a whole functioned perfectly throughout the game.

Jesus still continues to impress me. We really have signed a street fighter who will challenge for any ball no matter the size of the opponent. I don’t want to open that can of worms that is the talk of Pierre Emerick Aubamyang but what I will say is as quality a striker he was for us one thing that was missing from his game was that fight within to get the ball and make it his. Too often he would get shrugged off the ball or lose an aerial battle and the frown would appear and the head drop whilst with Jesus he is an absolute pest who is up for a physical scrap for the ball.

The will to fight and challenge merely compliments his ability and skill to make him the perfect player to fit into the Arteta system as the main striker. We are so grateful to have him, we are also grateful he avoided a booking in the game meaning he is available for the game next week against Liverpool.

The atmosphere inside the stadium was once again electric and I feel privileged to witness in person the turnaround in mood, vibe and atmosphere compared to the last couple seasons. The fans needed convincing before buying into the Arteta plan but they are now being convinced and the appreciation shown from them is evident. Maybe there’s just something in that Prime juice they sell at the Emirates, whatever it is let’s keep drinking it because we are headed in the right direction and Spurs were merely a pebble in our way.

Enjoy your week and give your Spurs friends (or not) hell.

This post will also feature on Gunners Town site which I write for.

Do or Die week for Arsenal

Well, the weekend threw up some bittersweet results for Arsenal fans, a wide range of emotions will have been experienced by the fans that watched the games of their Champion’s League place rivals. Always starting with highs then come the final whistle that emotional was substituted for lows.

At the end of the day it boils down to the Arsenal having their destiny in their own hands, win their games and they get a top four place anything else and the opportunity arises for Tottenham to steal in.

It’s funny how Arsenal fans that experienced the drive for third place last season with the need for an Arsenal victory away to West Bromwich Albion in their final game were most probably unanimous in agreement that a finish to a season with so much riding on the final day should never be repeated.

Fast forward twelve months and that is the exact position Arsenal find themselves in, hardly ideal and it’s probably worth getting a check up from the doctor that the heart is in good working condition because next Sunday it will be tested to full capacity.

Now with the weekends round of games complete there’s a clearer picture of what is required and the positive and negative factors that await Arsenal.

Wigan relegation/F.A. Cup

Now I certainly do not know many fans that have a dislike for Wigan Athletic, the relegation survival specialists pulled off an amazing feat on Saturday when they beat Manchester City to lift the F.A. Cup. The underdogs had fans up and down the country if not the world saluting the efforts of a modest well run club on a small budget triumphing over the money bags mercenaries. That victory alone is enough to add to the already massive number of neutral fans that would like Wigan Athletic to survive relegation once more this year.

wigan celebrate

As things have played out both Arsenal and Wigan need a victory to stand a chance of achieving their current goals. A victory for Arsenal will relegate Wigan; a victory for Wigan will almost certainly hand the remaining Champions League place to Tottenham and provide them with a chance of survival on the final day of the season. As an Arsenal fan I would take no pride in relegating Wigan but a win is vital now, and as much as any potential headlines would state Arsenal send Wigan down I would look further back to Wigan’s game with Swansea last week as the straw that broke the camel’s back. They had a real chance to put the pressure on those around them; they were playing a Swansea team with nothing to play for and failed to take advantage. Arsenal if they win will play a part in Wigan’s relegation but cannot be seen as the villains.

Their performance against Manchester City on Saturday I’m sure will have been watched by the Arsenal squad, they will realise how much of a threat they can be as Saturday was no fluke, and it was a deserved victory. Wigan will be fully aware of what they need to do and as much as Arsenal fans would like to think Wigan would be inhibited by their post match celebrations in reality they are professional football players who know what is at stake and will prepare for it as you would expect any professional football team would.

Newcastle safe

Newcastle secured safety with their victory over Queens Park Rangers on Sunday and will mean they will approach the game with Arsenal in a slightly different mindset. That does not mean they will roll over and let the Arsenal walk over them. They owe their fans a good performance to make up for the stress they put them through in the last few weeks. It will be their final home game of the season and I expect they will put in the effort to win the game. Depending on the result from Tuesday’s game Arsenal will be taking on the Toon army either desperate or super desperate with added prayers to win the game. One thing Arsene Wenger will not expect is any favours from Alan Pardew, the two managers have a long history of clashes over the years and the chance to put one over his rival is incentive enough for Pardew to take the game seriously with his team selection. Sunday’s game will be massive no matter how you look at it

Sunderland to coast or panic?

Many onlookers see Spurs final game as a home banker; it’s hard not to disagree. The awkward thing to take into consideration is Arsenal winning against Wigan on Tuesday saves Sunderland from relegation; they would turn up at White Hart Lane in party mode. The two clubs have no acrimonious history that I remember and the possibility of an upset there is very slim. Paulo Di Canio as a new manager would send his team out to put in a good performance but without the added incentive of something to play for his players may struggle to rise to the occasion. On the other hand If Arsenal fail to win on Tuesday the pressure will be on and we might have some sort of game on our hands.

di canio and larsson

I suppose there’s no point looking too deep into other team’s results until the midweek game is out of the way. As it stands Arsenal’s destiny is in their own hands, the players know what they need to do, the fans know what they need to do, Arsene knows what they need to do, time for Arsenal to make it happen.

Enjoy your day people.

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Is Lower League gap closing? F.A. Cup reflection

Well I have to say what a crazy weekend it has been in the FA Cup; shocks a plenty as so-called giants have succumb to the tenacity and spirit of lower league teams. The best thing about the weekend has to be that despite our wobble we managed to dispatch our opponents in Brighton. Arsenal managed to pass their test and avoid being one of the premiership teams to hit the headlines for all the wrong reasons. Whistle is blown; game is won and successful passage into the next round achieved; no shameful exit and no unwanted replay on the agenda. It seems a long time since we were able to glide under the radar unnoticed and I quite like it that way.

Now our focus turns to Wednesday against Liverpool, the fans are happy and now it’s down to Arsene Wenger to ensure that the weekend’s events do not spawn any complacency. Liverpool will be down but it can certainly act as a motivation for them to right their wrongs with an instant response against us. Arsenal need to want it more than Liverpool and that means we need to turn that spring in our step into a determined and focused stamp of intent.

It’s a bit too early for a pre-match review of the Liverpool game on Wednesday so I will turn my attentions back to the giant killing of the weekend. It certainly raises the question of whether the gap in quality from the elite in the premiership is becoming shortened against lower placed teams.

In Arsene’s long stint as manager he managed to hold onto a record of never losing to lower league opposition in cup football. That was broken eventually against Burnley a few years ago when he fielded a young team in a quarter-final of the Carling Cup. Even then it was shrugged off because of the team selected; fast forward to this season and the loss on penalties to Bradford in the Capital One Cup. On this occasion we selected the strongest team we possibly could in that tie, no kids were anywhere near the starting eleven or the bench and yet we managed to go out of the competition.

Bradford fans celebrate around Jack

We may not have been outplayed by Bradford and it did seem it was one of those days where nothing seemed to work for the team but at the end of the day given the standing of both clubs in their respective leagues there should have only been one outcome. We went out and will always look back on that moment with embarrassment and as a permanent reality check in our clubs history.

Now you look at that result and say Bradford played the game of their lives and should enjoy the moment before being brought back down to earth in the Semi’s against Aston Villa. Yes Villa was at the time going through one of their worst runs of form in recent years but they had two legs to get it right. How wrong were we? Bradford took the game to Aston Villa, refused to bow down to Premier league opposition and deservedly earned their place in the League Cup Final against Swansea City.

Now we look at the results pulled off by the likes of Leeds, Oldham and Luton Town. When the fourth round draw was made you would be forgiven for assuming you would see Tottenham, Liverpool and Norwich in the draw for the fifth round of the FA Cup. One upset out of the three at a push but for all three to finish in favour of the underdog is quite a feat. Each of those teams deservedly won their games and the fans of those premiership teams cannot begrudge them their moment.

Leeds celebrate against Spurs

Is the gap closing on the elite because of a raise in standard of lower league teams or is the so-called quality of the elite teams that are going out to these lower league teams reducing. I will include Arsenal in this question because of the Bradford result; you could probably say it’s a mixture of both factors. We certainly would not expect such results in the days of Vieira and Henry and even the most positive of Arsenal fans would admit our standard has declined over recent years; the lack of silverware is evidence enough.

Lower league teams have stepped up their quality over the years, gone are the days where every league below the premiership resorted to long ball football. As more and more young managers influenced by the workings of their successful managers from their playing days bring to their new jobs all the techniques they learned it becomes a lot evident when you watch lower league games in action. You will still get the odd long ball teams but there is a growing number of more and more passing teams that play good football in the championship and lower divisions.

Oldham celebrate Liverpool scalp

One other massive factor I would highlight from the recent giant killing is the psychological focus that is maintained by the underdog teams. They fight like it is their life depended on it and when watching the games you can see that they want it that bit more than their more privileged opponents. Complacency is a big failing in the so-called big teams and the managers struggle to motivate their players to give 100% when they know they are playing smaller teams.

It has reached the point where a top-tier team has to psychologically prepare for a game against Luton town the same way they would against Barcelona. It’s easier said than done and that is one of the failings that stun some of these top teams. It isn’t a case of just turning up and expecting the opposition to be star struck by your attendance.

That is exactly why the next round for Arsenal against Blackburn cannot be taken lightly; we know them well from their time in the premiership but given their standing now we will have to ~~expect~~ demand a fully focused performance.

It is our last realistic chance of silverware this season (the Champions League though not impossible will be a tough task) and the Bradford result should be motivation enough to not take this game for granted.

Enjoy your day people.

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