Mikel Arteta has a modern plan and is exhibiting the personality to put it into effect at the Emirates StadiumIt was only the Community Shield. It’s unlikely to be remembered in a month, never mind in a year or five or 10. Sports historians of decades to come will probably not be basing grand theses around some slightly tentative probing between two undercooked teams on a damp and blustery afternoon at Wembley. But it was another success for Mikel Arteta, further evidence that he might be building something exciting at Arsenal.Nobody at the Emirates Stadium should get carried away. This, fundamentally, does not matter – go on, without checking, what happened in the Community Shield last year? (Manchester City won...
Until the 18-year-old forward got on the ball, it seemed Arsenal were in for a long afternoon against Liverpool at WembleyArsenal’s David Luiz made two careless mistakes in the opening minutes of this game and got away with both of them. First he brought down Georginio Wijnaldum of Liverpool with a flailing attempt at a rugby tackle and saw Virgil van Dijk’s neat finish to an Andy Robertson free-kick correctly ruled out for offside. A couple of minutes later he needlessly passed the ball out of play to set up the position for Neco Williams to cross from the right, James Milner heading too high in the middle when he should probably have hit the target. Related: Aubameyang keeps his...
Under the head of football there were too many questionable transfer moves and that needs to change quicklyArsenal’s summer cull continues with its highest-profile casualty yet. Raul Sanllehi finds himself faced with an extended holiday and the club are left to shapeshift once again, hoping their latest attempt to land upon an effective, competent executive operation for the post-Wenger era bears fruit.It is no surprise to see Sanllehi depart. There are no two ways about it: since his arrival in November 2017, initially as head of football relations before the latter word was cut 10 months later, Arsenal’s standing has deteriorated considerably. Nobody would dream of laying that entirely at the Spaniard’s door, because the roots of decline had set...
Özil’s refusal to leave north London leaves Mikel Arteta in a tough spot considering all signs point to the German being surplus to requirementsMesut Özil retains his unnatural gift for dominating Arsenal’s narrative. This may yet be the week when, in announcing the signing of Willian and confirming Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang has signed his new contract, they take their first clear steps towards rebounding from a tormented season and showing their intent to progress under Mikel Arteta. But Özil’s most recent intervention, stating in an interview that he has no desire to depart, brought back into focus a long-standing and expensive problem that is no nearer to resolution.Arsenal already have a battle to master the optics given, for all the relief...
Everyone knew an extended period playing behind closed doors would be damaging but 55 redundancies have no parallels among the club’s peersWhen Arsenal announced in April that the majority of their players and coaching staff had agreed to take wage cuts, a section of their statement shed telling light on the tone of the negotiations. “In these conversations there has been a clear appreciation of the gravity of the current situation caused by the Covid-19 pandemic and a strong desire for players and staff to show their backing for the Arsenal family,” it read.The squad believed they would be helping to protect other employees, most of whom enjoy nothing like footballers’ levels of financial security, from being plunged into a...