Win or lose the Gunners are enjoying themselves and it showed again as they gave their coach a win to savour over TottenhamIn the 90th minute, Mikel Arteta finally had to start enjoying himself. Hard work, sacrifice, suffering: most of the time, these are the foundation stones of the Arteta method. You work, you fight, you suffer, and if you’re lucky you get to do it all again in five days. Even in the closing stages here, as Arsenal gleefully toyed with Tottenham and the Emirates lapsed into calypso mode, Arteta had lost none of his skittish focus: still urging his team forward, still whirling his arms round and round like a damaged toy.But as Kieran Tierney let fly from...
Arsenal are back on top after beating Brentford and the bond between fans and players feels stronger than for many a yearAfter the ecstatic scenes of five straight wins, all that raving on the terraces, losing at Manchester United was a crashing comedown. The defensive wobbles there, the raging at officialdom and the missing of clutch chances had been an Arsenal story often told.Brentford, by contrast, soon became a Sunday session for their supporters, mixing up old-school anthems with the latest hits as their team returned to the top of the league. Though Manchester City’s Erling Haaland-inspired menace grows week on week, Arsenal are enjoying life at the top while they can. Do Arsenal fans trust Mikel Arteta’s process? The...
Spurs sat back in the north London derby, then applied their shoulder to the wheel to bump and press Mikel Arteta’s sideTwo minutes into the second half of this north London derby, Harry Kane took the ball inside the Arsenal penalty area and entered into a chest-bumping grapple with Gabriel. Kane stalled a little, struggling to keep his feet. Then he did something that seemed to capture the physics, the newtons of this match in a single collision. Kane pushed and found no resistance, no pressure in front of him.Gabriel fell backwards, swished aside like a pair of rickety saloon bar doors. The ball was nudged back to Son Heung-min, who smashed it past Aaron Ramsdale to make the score...
Tactics, selections, transfer policy and set of standards have Gunners on an upward curve but there remains work to doSuccessful clubs crave stability because that is what keeps them at the top. It is a trait Arsenal have lacked on and off the pitch in recent years but Mikel Arteta is bringing it back and putting them on an upward curve.When Arteta arrived the team were all over the shop but he has brought together a cohesive unit thanks to his tactics and the club’s recruitment. The former midfielder has enjoyed plenty of highs and endured numerous lows in his two-year tenure while sticking to his principles, which is paying dividends. Continue reading...
Bruce potentially set for his final game at Newcastle, Ranieri begins tough spell at Watford and Guardiola has Sterling decision It feels trivial discussing mere football matters when set against the ethical concerns arising from Newcastle’s Saudi takeover, but it feels as if whatever happens on the pitch against Tottenham will accelerate Steve Bruce’s departure. He is unlikely to get much credit if his side record a first league win of the season; instead it will only heighten the sense of “new broom” momentum that would require a bigger-name manager as soon as possible, while defeat would only serve to demonstrate the immediate need for change. It helps Bruce that Newcastle’s first opponents of the new era are a side...