Painful Bukayo Saka stat cited as Arsenal fans told to ‘grow up’ | OneFootball

Arsenal are a product of our late-stage capitalism times. The mailbox is still firing shots, which are being deflected with talk of bias.

Arsenal are the late-stage capitalism of football

Public companies now care about one thing above all: shareholder returns. This has created in most industries both a bubble of future expectations and a race to the bottom on short-term costs. So everything we pay for seems to get worse. Service is awful. Reliability is down. Formerly free niceties require a monthly subscription. The too quoted ensh’tification of everything. But. Share price is up. So it’s all justified.

Arsenal play with this mindset. That’s why they’re not liked. It’s not the jealousy or bitterness. It’s watching footballers coached to delay after a water break. To toss the ball between three different players on a throw in to eke out 10 seconds. To continually foul on every corner with the hope of getting away with the one that matters. To the clearly rehearsed goalkeeper cramp (f*** off) in the 90th minute. To your star winger completing 4 (four!) passes in a CL final.

To Arteta and some fans the ends justify literally any means. But your ensh’tification of football has consequences. Maybe it’s worth it to you, but you can’t act surprised the rest of us don’t want football that maximises anything but entertainment. Ryan, Bermuda

Wouldn’t take Mikel Arteta at Newcastle…

Rich, AFC’s mail got my attention. Do they call themselves Gunners because they throw irony?

Friend, when a team wins a league, they do it by beating the other teams the most. Winners are always hated. The only thing new is Arsenal’s situation is that Mikel Arteta keeps finding new ways to embarrass and dishonor himself, his club, his opponents, and the game. The class has gone because Arteta has worked assiduously to kill it since he took the Arsenal job. I’ve never seen a worse sportsman, I watched both Vinnie Jones and Roy Keane play.

Class is still to be found. NUFC and SAFC offer gestures of mutual respect on the regular, because although we hate each other, we respect each other. Perhaps people don’t respect this Arsenal side as much as Rich would like simply because Arteta has never lost or drawn a match to the better team.

When he claims the grass, the wind or the ball are to blame for dropped points, it’s insulting to his opponents, who just had to work very hard to overcome what is after all a talented side. And when he directs his players to waste time from kick-off and to dive, he’s disrespecting the game. I was always taught that you have to give respect to get it; Mikel Arteta was not, and Rich should not follow his example.

…”the greatest pressure a manager and set of players have ever come under to win a title.” I mean really, my guy. Mikel Arteta himself could have said that better. I’ve been reading and writing to this mailbox for nearly the entire time it has existed. What used to strike me about Arsenal fans post-2011 was the supporters demanding Wenger be sacked because Arsenal couldn’t get back to winning the league again. As a supporter or a club that hadn’t won dick since before I was born, I could never really understand that kind of entitlement*. Now it’s the blindness to what an utter prick their manager is and an extreme unwillingness to recognize fouls committed by Arsenal players.

One of Arsenal supporting friends insisted on Saturday that I’d take Arteta in a heartbeat if I could. I told him no, I didn’t think I would. Eddie Howe may not have us winning as many games as I’d like, but he has never once embarrassed me on television. Chris C, Toon Army DC (*I also couldn’t believe it when we sacked Sir Bobby; now, I’m Eddie Out. I guess even minor success changes you.)

…”An historic season for Arsenal against the greatest pressure a manager and set of players have ever come under to win a title. The fact that Arsenal is all anyone could talk about all season shows the levels of jealously reeking out of rivals. You fear us. You say we’re unbearable but it has been created by you. You have been relentless in the criticism of Arsenal for years, do you not expect the fans to defend the club, the players, the manager? Perhaps that collective feeling of ‘us against them’ has driven us on. And also you have to expect it back in spades when we’ve won.”

Rich, Rich, Rich. Let’s break this down for you in terms you will understand:

– Off the top of my head, Liverpool and their 30+ years gap between titles was far and away a more pressurised situation given how they are the most successful team in the land and have already won more than Arsenal ever will. There’ll be tons of other examples too though.

– I can’t speak for folk who support a PL team, however tenuous their “connection” to their team of choice, but I would imagine they feel like I do here in any event. Life is short, pleasure is fleeting, Christ – pretty much everything else has had the joy sucked out of it by greedy bastards racing to the bottom. Therefore, I don’t want the supposed best league in the world to be won by a team playing this eyebleed trash because it’s ugly, however effective it is this season. Some respected (by me, anyway) old heads BTL claiming they’re no different to any other team in terms of diving and cheating is just wrong to my (increasingly weary) eyes at least.

That MLS dive in the CL, or the Trossard one off the top of my head. You just don’t get this frequency or ridiculousness of cheating from any other teams in the PL. It annoys the hell out of me whoever is doing it, more so when you’ve spent £1.2bn but choose to cheat and destroy.

Loon at poor Saka’s CL final stats. Haven’t seen that much nothing since I looked in the Northampton Town’s trophy cabinet (see, easy to laugh at yourself if you try Ricardo). There’s no reason whatsoever that Arsenal’s squad couldn’t have been assembled and coached to play like PSG, other than the manager’s choices and limitations.

– Again, not a PL fan, so the only fear you engender in me is that I might have to watch more of this shite next season.

– This last bit is the real nub though, so bears repeating:

“You say we’re unbearable but it has been created by you. You have been relentless in the criticism of Arsenal for years, do you not expect the fans to defend the club, the players, the manager? Perhaps that collective feeling of ‘us against them’ has driven us on. And also you have to expect it back in spades when we’ve won.”

Rich, your mob’s fans have invited ridicule since the latter Wenger years acting like you’re on Man U’s/Liverpool’s and latterly Chelsea’s/City’s level when you’ve not even won a CL, AFTV being the ultimate manifestation of that. I properly LOVED the way Wenger’s title winning sides played, they were a joy to watch, just like PSG under Enrique. Helped too that Wenger had charisma by the bucket load – there’s a huge difference between “I did not see zis controversial decision that benefitted us” said with a wry smile, and “I feel sick”/”is a desgracia”/”I spent three days watching spot kicks in a vain attempt to make Madueke hooking his arm around a defender then falling over into a penalty”/etc and so on. Chuck in the cringe whiteboard bollocks, the same clothes week in week out, the monotone drone and Mikel is a very hard man to warm to. Fair? Not at all. A huge factor in why people dislike him? Undoubtedly.

Finally, no I don’t “expect the fans to defend the club, the players, the manager”, mainly because we’re not children. There’s no shame in saying, yeah we are a horrible watch but we won. If you enjoy watching that shite, then good luck to you. Why you are remotely bothered about people on the internet pointing out that they find it teeth-itchingly awful to watch? You’ve f*** all to do with Arsenal bar deciding they’re the particular bunch of millionaires you want to fill your life with. Noone is having a dig at your Ma for god’s sake, grow up. RHT/TS x

(You were totally the Rich who called Simon Farage & Jim ‘Gee Whizz’ White’s show on Monday morning to have a good cry weren’t you)

Fanmail for Johnny Nich

TL;DR – are we really now suggesting that defensive football is not an appropriate method of football as it has been since the dawn of time?

Right – sit down, because I’m about to say something really shocking here…

Are you ready?

OK.

Arsenal were not the most entertaining champions I have ever seen. They just weren’t, sorry, and plain and simple I much preferred watching Bournemouth last year – (and weren’t they great by the way) – watching Villa, back-half of the season United, watching the calamitous Spurs and Chelsea, front-half of the season United. With no surprise that all those opponents led to some of Arsenal’s most genuinely entertaining games I watched last year as they took Arsenal to task/Fell over their own shoelaces against the now Champions.

Arsenal’s games were often quite laboured, certainly in their first halves, as most opposition team’s knew that you could make it very hard for them by sitting low block and making their risk averse approach quite risky, and because of that risk averse approach Arsenal had no intention of throwing caution to the wind and instead (sorry for this) often trusted the process that a goal would come and often it would, and often it did. Sure, outside of the Champions League and League Cup Finals, Arsenal weren’t necessarily defensive (seriously, they held the highest average defensive line in the league guys – parking the bus they were not) but the fact remains that they were among the least exciting teams to watch last year.

Worst Champions ever, though? Not even close – in all likelihood they probably aren’t even the most “boring” Arsenal Champions of all time

We can all agree that Arsenal’s games were devoid of goals, their games were tied this Premier League season 5th for least goals per game – and… urgh… set pieces AMIRIGHT!? – but Mr Cleary reliably informs me that Arsenal broke the “record” this season for 1-goal wins in a league win. Arsenal are literally the champions that walked the smallest tightrope in history. They had games that ended with hilarious equalisers – they had games that ended with backs to the wall – They had THAT moment at the London Stadium – but very rarely did Arsenal get to coast from 30 minutes and be truly boring.

“Are you not entertained?” Maximus cried, “of course not – subtlety is dead in the modern world” he weirdly continued.

You want football to be Marvel movies? You want Captain America to bang a hat-trick into the onion bag while Spiderman makes 10 goal line clearances? Fine. I mean, that’s a take and even I like some blockbusters – but (and I cannot be clear enough here that Arsenal 25/26 are not fit to lace their boots) I think there’s room in the pantheon of entertainment for an AC Milan 93/94, and that one of the wonderful things about football is that it very deliberately is a game that can be played like “Avengers: OwnGoal” but can also be played like “The Godfather: Part 2”

Again, Arsenal this season have not been the AC Milan “The Godfather: Part 2” but they also haven’t been the 6000-minutes of paint dry that many will have you believe – heck, they were SO uninventive in the Champions League final but it was still an infinitely more entertaining final than the borderline testimonial that was PSG 5 – Inter Milan Masters Team 0. So I’ll say it, right here, Arsenal 2025/26 might just be “The Godfather: Part 3” which, much like Arsenal 2025/26, is a tough watch at times, but way more entertaining the nay sayers will have you believe and still better than the majority of other attempts at cinema.

The pearl clutching of Mr Johnny Nich, that we’re headed towards a bore-pocalypse belies that football is relatively cyclical and that while Arsenal’s approach is already being spoken about as the current approach to… approach… on the continent, in all likelihood actually it’ll be a handful who do – and they’ll not nail it – and if they do before long we’re back to 4-4-2 because that’s suddenly the next fashionable thing to re-do.

Yes – football is great when its PSG 5-Bayern 4 – but I’m sorry to burst your bubble, not everything can be the best, and very rarely are things the worst – no matter how much this era wants to act like only one or t’other can be true. Even that tie had a 2nd leg that was less entertaining than each of the Arsenal vs Atletico legs.

This has been my editor-upsettingly long TED talk. Harold Emiliano Hooler P.S: Shock, Arsenal as champions had some suspect decisions go their way aswell – what next, Champions having the ability to have first dibs on players over other clubs!? How privileged!

…Really, does Nicholson do any research or engage in any thought before he starts typing? Or is he just trying to lean into the zeitgeist / narrative on Arsenal because it will generate some clicks? Let’s look at a few of the narrative-based nonsense comments he has let slither into his copy.

First, let’s address the garbage notion that Arsenal are a perma-deep block boring team. Arsenal’s xG this season? 1.70/game. Fourth in the table, an astounding 0.13 behind the leaders Manchester City. A whole 0.13!! I’m clutching my pearls. Where Arsenal do come out on top is that xGA is 0.95. City are second best on 1.11, then a whole load of teams on 1.3 ish. Also, Arsenal’s PPDA (allowed passes per defensive action) is the 3rd best in the league with 10.8. Oddly, Spurs are second best with 10.7 – I have no idea how that has happened. One of the best metrics on this ever recorded was Liverpool under Klopp (2018 – 2021) with 5 to 7 PPDA. In short, Arsenal is comfortably the best defensive team in the league, but is also right up there on attacking play also. Arsenal’s approach to defensive pressing should be considered exciting because everyone loved it when Klopp did it.

In real terms, Arsenal xG for the whole season was a whopping four goals less than City. This is not surprising given that Arsenal took 388 shots this season whilst City took 420 and that Arsenal are 3rd in box entries with only 150 fewer than City. For what it’s worth, Man Utd took the most shots, with 432. But Utd’s xG was only marginally higher than Arsenal’s. Utd’s issue is that they are overextending as an attacking team and leaving their defense exposed. For Utd to become better they need to become more ‘boring’ (I.e. a better team).

On the possession side of things, City come top with an average of just over 60% possession. Arsenal? A horrifying fourth with 56.4%. City played easily the most accurate short passes in the league but Arsenal come fifth in that table. On no! Who played the least long passes? Arsenal, with City in 19th (or 2nd if you insist accurate long passes are the work of the devil). What is interesting is that Arsenal’s percentage of forward passes is 31.2% whilst City’s is only 26.2%. This suggests that City’s higher pass stats are because they spend a lot more time going ‘back and around’. Arsenal played the same number of through balls as City (127).

As for Arsenal being fouling horrors, it’s all complete nonsense. Arsenal committed 391 fouls in the season (one of the lowest with City on 367) though notably Arsenal had the fewest yellow (51) or red (0) cards. City chalked up 67 yellows and no reds whilst Liverpool got 57/1. If you’re looking for a London team that engages in regular thuggery, then step forward Chelsea (with a quite fantastic 98/8(!)) and Tottenham (with an almost equally brilliant 101/4). Which puts them both miles ahead of Arsenal in the race to be the dirtiest team in the PL.

So, onto timewasting, which apparently, we do all the time according to J Nich. I have only been able to find a table on this after 22 games of the season. Nonetheless, I assume not too much will change over the second half of the season (because stats work like that). Given Nicholson’s accusations you’d expect Arsenal’s ball in play time would be languishing in the relegation zone. No? Quelle surprise! 3rd, since you ask, on just under 57 minutes on average. Liverpool and City are higher. City highest on 58:39. A monstrous 1:40 between City and Arsenal there. Who is bottom you might ask? Interestingly enough, the team that everyone seems to have declared as one of the PL’s great entertainers; Bournemouth are dead bottom on 52:56 minutes of average ball in play time. Enjoy that next season Liverpool fans.

So, what’s the conclusion on this then? Well, Mr. Nich is talking utter drivel, and merely spouting off the now ingrained narrative. As a ‘journalist’ he really should do better by looking up some information before waffling off. More importantly, we can see the following – Arsenal defend very, very, well and cleanly through all phases – high press, mid-block, and deep block.

They possess the ball nearly as much as City, pass forward more regularly than City, but don’t enter the box quite as much on a volume basis. This might suggest that City’s back and around approach works or that Arsenal have lacked players who can make incisive box entries this season (see extensive time off due to injuries to Odegaard, Saka and Havertz).

Both City and Arsenal spend a significant amount of time playing against organized mid and deep blocks (though I couldn’t find stats on possession zones) so this explains City’s high volume of backwards passing and Arsenal’s patient approach to games. If you look at when goals are scored in Arsenal matches, then goals for (18%) and goals against (30%) are scored in the last 10 minutes (plus injury time). So, the match pattern is clear.

Arsenal are slightly happier without the ball than City, but City compensate for this by passing backwards and around more. Both teams must be patient against deep blocks. They both tend to take the lead, they are both good front runners in matches, and most matches must wait until the latter stages of the game to open and see goals scored.

Will some better attacking players help Arsenal to be more exciting? Yes, of course, for every team that’s true. But a good start will be Arsenal keeping the three best attackers (Odegaard, Saka, and Havertz) on the pitch together next season. This season they’ve played together only 3-4 times at the end of the season. Even with Saka struggling with injury this season PPG with him is around 2.3 (a 90+ point season) and without is 1.6. A huge difference. If people want Arsenal to turn into Pep’s Barca with 1000+ passes a match, firstly, dream on, that doesn’t work anymore, but second, you will need to change the full backs, Rice, LW and CF and most of the squad players. Not going to happen.

Anyway, Arsenal is categorically not the time-wasting, fouling, defense only horrors they are made out to be. They are a balanced team in their approach but have lacked a bit of final third spark due to missing the three best attacking players. Despite this Arsenal have been one of the best attacking teams in the PL this season and comfortably the best when not in possession (which on average is only 46% of every game they play).

If people want Arsenal games to be more exciting then focus should be on how to encourage 80% of the PL’s teams to stop setting up in deep blocks and playing that way for 100 minutes. I absolutely don’t blame them for it, or complain about it myself, but that’s what is needed if people want a ‘better’ more ‘entertaining product’ where football becomes end to end like basketball and you get 4/5/6 goals per game. If that’s you, I don’t suggest you tune into the imminent World Cup. You will likely be disappointed. Joshua Colemanpecha

A sensible view of Saturday night

Thought I would take a few moments before thinking about Saturday. Luckily I went to North London yesterday with the other 1m or so Gunners and it allowed me some perspective as to how far we have come. What an unbelievable occasion and it took some of the bitterness away

* PSG are quite good at football. I feel like this has been forgotten in all of this. I’m sure someone on YouTube will do a great video about this but they are so well coached.

Every so often Arsenal would change it up, we would play out from the back or try and press them, and then immediately regretted it. The positioning and teamwork on and off the ball was elite. Enrique knows what hes doing and this is tactically and in terms of flexibility one of the best sides ive seen. The midfield in particular is incredible and with how few games they have to play they reduce the risk of injuries so I suspect it will continue for some time

* I think the best example of this was in the second half. To try and draw out a belligerent Arsenal, they just started rotating. Not just 1 or 2 players, but the whole front line. They were everywhere and nowhere, it was lovely to watch and only a matter of time before someone slipped up and unfortunately it was Mosquera and Saka.

Whether your sitting deep or pressing high, this type of freedom of movement is a defenders nightmare. Dropping deep might be the best way to give them less space to move into but my god is is stressful to watch as an opposition fan.

* I knew PSG would score eventually so we needed another. This is maybe where Arsenal failed. It’s ok to play defensively but you need to gamble more when you break. Again I think a lot of this is more to do with PSG doubling up and aggressively pressing any Arsenal player who hinted at getting a run on them, but i feel like a few more gambles might have been a good choice. A risky attempt out of the back just to give PSG something to think about.

* The last 25 minutes show you the other way to play against PSG and just open up for some chaos. This is how Bayern approached it but with the form our forwards are in, I think this would have been suicide. We are knackered and PSG have barely played so I’m not convinced this option actually works for Arsenal on Saturday.

* The best team won ultimately. Everyone is pretending we wanted 25% possession but I think PSG are just that good and Arteta and the team approach in the way they thought they were most likely to win. It’s a cup competition and I wont complain about that. You can say “we should be better” and maybe you’re right, this Arsenal team went unbeaten and conceded 6 goals before Saturday. I think it’s probably a bit of both probably.

* However, I will complain if we can’t do anything about our attacking play over the summer. Whether this is getting an elite left winger, changing how Odergaard plays, finding some form for Saka, whatever it is. Because we clearly have the best defense is Europe. If we can get past just good for attack, we will be coming back for that trophy

* All in all that’s quarters, semi and final in last 3 years. It’s our best run ever in Europe and we look in good shape to keep it going. With this and the title win, it’s a pretty good time to be an Arsenal fan. Long may it continue. Rob A (Iraola at Liverpool does worry me a bit thought…) AFC

Why schadenfreude is fine

Since when is not okay to laugh when your rivals lose? I would imagine a lot of the Arsenal fans who’ve written in over the past few months are set to go back to school today, or have simply forgotten Lasagna-gate and all the laughter that followed that? Or the time when Spurs finished third in a two horse race (the one where Arsenal were top in Feb I think whilst Spurs literally were never top)?

This is what football is now.

I’m old enough to remember when British teams did have a backing of sorts from rival clubs, perhaps not direct rivals but certainly other British clubs. Then it all went Sky/CL and it went to shite.

So if you expect sympathy that’s plain weird.

Plus, it doesn’t help that so many of Arsenal fans and players are absolute melts.

Much love. Dan Mallerman

Arsenal fans think otherwise

Quick one for Andy, Spurs, Eire and Disgruntled, RSA. Think you might need to leave the house for a bit lads. Maybe go for a nice walk? Try not to think about Mikel Arteta for a bit?

Even with Saturday’s disappointment this has been a phenomenal couple of weeks to be an Arsenal fan. Everyone involved in the club has shown their class. There’s been so much positivity and community spirit which are rare in football nowadays. The parade on Sunday was the peak – unprecedented scenes, a decent chunk of London was closed for The Arsenal to have a party. If it wasn’t for a couple of emails in the F365 mailbox yesterday I wouldn’t even be aware of any schadenfreude, it’s been drowned out by a seemingly unlimited flow of positive, happy content on social media. Enjoy the summer Gooners!

Much love. Simon Cochrane

…To Disgruntled, RSA : F*** off d***head. NumNum, NSW

…Disgruntled, RSA, rather naively asks “when did football simply become about winning?” How about always!

Even in the Premier League era, there have been numerous examples: Blackburn playing on after Arsenal sportingly put the ball out for them; Fergie’s thugs kicking Arsenal off the pitch at Old Trafford in 2004 when United should have had 3 players sent off; Rooney’s blatant dive in the same game to win a penalty; Pulis and co. breaking players’ legs because Arsenal were a perceived “soft touch” and referees let them get away with it; Chelsea parking their tanks on Arsenal’s lawn and firing £50 notes; City’s 115 charges. So forgive me if I don’t shed any tears now that we’re finally standing up for ourselves.

Then Andy, Spurs, Eire has the cheek to criticise Arteta for doing some analysis! Maybe if the Spurs managers had been so diligent they wouldn’t keep coming 17th! This is the attention to detail that it takes to win major trophies, and to address another one of your points you’d be naive to think that Arteta didn’t also spend plenty of time with his staff analysing how to nullify Dembele, Doue, Vitinha, Pacho, or Mendes. If you cast your mind back all the way to Saturday evening you may recall this his plan very nearly worked and that PSG’s much-lauded attacking force really didn’t ever look like scoring from open play. Phil, Gooner

…We are seeing some incredible Arsenal hatred from other clubs- European trophies being posted, bottling comments about the 3 trophies we didn’t win, snide remarks about over celebrating, an article on TNT coverage being biased in favour of Arsenal (as every broadcaster has been for every sole English club in a Champions League final). I have never seen anything like it for another club when they win a big trophy.

So what is the rationale for all of this vitriol??

As an Arsenal fan I think there’s no guarantee Liverpool, Chelsea, Man Utd or Man City will definitely challenge us next season in the league given their managerial changes and squad adjustments required. And Spurs obviously won’t. Their fans are afraid that this could be an Arsenal dynasty.

Fear leads to anger. Anger leads to hate. Hate leads to the dark side.

We are basically Obi Wan and all the other clubs are Darth Vader. rojapy

Arsenal need Vinicius

The solution to Artetaball is Vinicius Jr not Alvarez. Vinicius is never gonna be happy with Mbappe invading his space on the pitch and in the dressing room and living in an ultra racist city.

He’d love living in the least racist city in the world and being treated like a King at Arsenal. If anyone can stop Arsenal destroying the premier league brand it’s him.