Category Archives: Features

Who Should Be Arsenal’s Next Manager? Vote Here!

Posted on by
3

Every Arsenal supporter has his opinion on whether they want Arsene Wenger to stay or leave. The number of people, especially online anyway, who want Wenger out seems to be increasing by the day. But what proportion of Arsenal fans is that? There’s no way of knowing but it would be interesting – after all it’s usually the disgruntled people that shout the loudest so it could be the majority of Arsenal fans want Arsene to stay on.

For what it’s worth, I think Arsene Wenger will be here next season – but I also think that will be his last. He has unfinished business at the club and you don’t dedicate over 20 years of your life to something just to pack it all in because a few fans are upset. You might think that is a bit facetious but it’s true!

Arsene is an intelligent man and he knows the number of fans who aren’t happy is increasing, albeit it in proportionally  small numbers. That’s why he’ll give himself one more season and then call it a day.

Anyway, the point I’ve been trying to make – and not very well – is that Arsene’s future is coming to an end. So the big question is who should be the next Arsenal manager after Arsene Wenger finally calls it a day?

I’ve looked online, checked out a couple of betting websites and come up with a list of 16 realistic candidates which are below. So the question is do you want someone who will tear it up like Simeone, someone with vast experience such as Ancelotti, or perhaps a manager with excellent European football pedigree in Benitez?

If it were up to me? You will laugh but I think I would go for someone like Rafa Benitez. He is an excellent tactician, has an excellent record in Europe and the players in the main respect him. We have a Spanish contingent in the team which would help and he’s managed at some of the biggest clubs in Europe. For me as well, he knows how to coach defence and with our attacking threat, adding defensive stability would only be a positive thing.

Anyway, cast your vote below for who you think should be the next Arsenal manager!

bike trails

 

Can Arsenal Get Into The Top Four? Do You Want Them To?

Posted on by
Reply

After the much needed win against Lincoln City, Arsenal travel to West Bromwich Albion on Saturday and then play Manchester City at home.

We are currently in 5th place, 5 points behind Liverpool in 4th spot but have 2 games in hand on the Merseysiders.

Can Arsenal get into the Top Four? And more importantly do you want Arsenal to get into the Top Four?

What are the odds for Arsenal to make it into the Top Four for the 22nd consecutive season? It might be worth checking the odds at William Hill to see what odds they’re giving Arsenal to do what Arsene Wenger does every single year. It would be worth checking the odds at William Hill – at least you’d win some money on the predictable!

The Arsenal fans are getting bored now and it’s all well and good getting Champions League football but Arsenal fans want more. They’ve been more than patient over the last 13 barren years but seen the same old mistakes happen time and time again – we’re “competing” until about February and then it’s quite apparent that the Arsenal team are full of precious, pampered divas who can’t take the fight.

As things stand Arsenal look well poised to finish 4th again but do Arsenal fans want that? It’s clear that a lot of Arsenal supporters would like Arsenal to finish 5th just so that there’s a change in management. But even then it seems that with Silent Stan and Ivan Gazidis on the board, Arsene could probably finish 10th in the league and he would still be offered a contract extension.

So what’s the solution? Boycott the games? Protest at the ground?

I’m not sure what the solution is, but one thing is certain – things have to change amongst the Arsenal hierarchy this summer.

 

Arsenal Facing Uncertain Future

Posted on by
Reply

15362272352_3ae1b300b4_k

“Alexis Sánchez” (CC BY 2.0) by Ronnie Macdonald

Arsenal are staring down the barrel of a dangerous future, with the potential departures of manager Arsene Wenger and key players Alexis Sanchez and Mesut Ozil.

Wenger is the longest-serving boss in the Premier League, accruing 20 years to his tenure in the Gunners’ dugout, but he has yet to confirm that he will be staying with the club for next season. However, many of the club’ supporters would not mind seeing the back of the Frenchman due to Arsenal’s stagnation over the past decade.

The fate of Sanchez and Ozil is also in limbo given that their contracts are about to expire and no new deals appear to be in sight. The Gunners’ predicament appeared to take a turn for the worse when reports suggested that the Chilean forward had become disillusioned with life at the Emirates Stadium, leading to disagreements with his teammates and Wenger after being left out of the starting line-up in the club’s 3-1 defeat to Liverpool.

A handshake between Sanchez and the Frenchman signalled that the issue may have been overblown, although that will not ease the fears of supporters over the direction the Gunners are heading in the Premier League and the potential loss of two of their star players.

It has never been more important for Arsenal to finish in the top four of the top flight this term, with the club being backed in the latest football betting odds at 11/8 to claim a Champions League place.

A failure to finish in fourth place or above would be the first time the club have failed to accomplish the feat in Wenger’s tenure, highlighting a decline in their fortunes since their defeat in the final of Europe’s elite competition in 2006.

11083272846_42b5734fce_k

“Arsène Wenger looks on” (CC BY 2.0) by Ronnie Macdonald

Should Wenger, Sanchez and Ozil all depart this summer, it would leave a huge void in the spine of the side and the foundation of the club itself. Juventus manager Massimiliano Allegri has been touted to replace the Frenchman, although whether he could be convinced to leave the Bianconeri in the midst in the most successful runs in the team’s history would be another matter.

Allegri also inherited situations at Juve and before during his tenure with AC Milan with sides in positions of strength. I Bianconeri had previously won the league three seasons on the bounce under Antonio Conte before his arrival, while Milan boasted a strong squad featuring Alessandro Nesta, Thiago Silva and Zlatan Ibrahimovic in their Serie A triumph in the 2010-11 season.

As Pep Guardiola has proved at Manchester City, there’s no guarantee of immediate success in the Premier League.

Marco Reus, Isco and James Rodriguez have been suggested as potential replacements for Sanchez and Ozil. However, the German has had huge issues with his fitness, while both Isco and Rodriguez have failed to make the grade at Real Madrid – something which plagued Ozil during his time at the Bernabeu.

If these players fail to offer an improvement on the duo, especially Sanchez who has been indispensable to the Gunners with his 17 goals and nine assists in the Premier League, Arsenal could take a further step back.

This could be the biggest summer in the history of the club should they lose arguably their three most important assets. And although replacing Wenger may seem a good idea at the moment, there’s no outstanding candidate out there to take his place in the dugout.

 

Down But Not Out: Arsenal Still Have Plenty to Play for This Season

Posted on by
Reply

3506422979_ed137887f4_b

“Empty Emirates Stadium” (CC BY 2.0) by wonker

Arsenal’s Champions League dreams may be over for another year but the Gunners are still in contention for FA Cup glory and a spot in the top four; supporters shouldn’t be hitting the panic buttons just yet.

While some fans are ready to draw a curtain on Arsenal’s current campaign, the vast majority understand that victory over Lincoln City this weekend will give Arsene Wenger’s men a real chance to win the FA Cup this season.

The Gunners suffered another embarrassing 5-1 defeat to Bayern Munich earlier this week; their second heavy defeat to the German giants in the last month.

Wenger’s side must now turn their immediate attention to Lincoln; defeat to the National League outfit would signal the end of Wenger’s tenure at the Emirates Stadium. Just imagine how much criticism he will have to deal with if Arsenal slip up in that contest…

As of March 8th, Arsenal are fifth in the Premier League table – two points behind Liverpool, although the Gunners do have a game in hand on Jurgen Klopp’s side.

 

A top-four finish isn’t out of the question just yet and Wenger will be quietly confident of securing Champions League football at the Emirates for the 21st year in a row. Even when Arsenal seem down and out, they always find a way to finish in the top four; and fans will expect the Gunners to dig deep in the coming months.

Will a fourth-placed finish suffice? Probably not. Arsenal fans are sick and tired of settling for Champions League football – the majority of supporters want the Gunners to challenge for silverware.

Wenger’s men last won the Premier League title back in 2004 and it would be fair to state that the Frenchman has struggled to build a championship-winning side since the likes of Patrick Vieira, Thierry Henry and Ashley Cole left the club.

Should Arsenal, currently priced at 10/3 to win the FA Cup for a record 13th time in Paddy Power odds, defeat Lincoln City, they will be involved in a Wembley semi-final and from there, anything is possible.

The uncertainty surrounding Alexis Sanchez and Mesut Ozil goes on but Arsenal have shown that they can win without these two men in the past and, with the utmost respect to fifth tier Lincoln, they shouldn’t have too many problems in that clash.

Wenger is under intense pressure right now and the Frenchman will be desperate to win the FA Cup in a last-ditch bid to save his job.

Fans are baying for blood after Arsenal’s latest setback in the Champions League but the Gunners boss deserves to see out the rest of the campaign at the very least. From there, the Arsenal hierarchy will have a difficult decision to make.

It is hard to be positive right now but Arsenal are still in contention for a top four finish and FA Cup glory. At the start of the campaign, fans wanted to challenge for the title but Chelsea have been by far and away the strongest team in the Premier League this year.

Keep the faith and hopefully, Wenger will deliver another FA Cup victory and a Champions League finish at the end of the season.

 

Are Leicester Where They Should Be In The League Table?

Posted on by
Reply

As of now, Leicester sits in 15th place below Watford, Bournemouth, and Burnley in the league table. Moreover, if the team doesn’t start winning, it may soon find itself below the likes of Swansea, Hull and Middlesbrough. A question that many soccer fans and pundits are asking is whether Leicester is where it should be. A number of people, the majority of them Leicester fans, argue that the reigning EPL champions are in a false position. According to them, Swansea, Hull and Boro shouldn’t be above Leicester in the league. The counter argument to this is that Leicester has been horrendous this season and deserves to be in the relegation zone. So, this beckons the question: is Leicester where it should be in the EPL table?

The current premier league season is Leicester’s third consecutive season in the top flight of English football. Of the teams mentioned above, only Swansea has had a longer sustained stay in the EPL. Talking about the EPL, you can easily get the latest odds on the best sports to watch on TV. Coming back to the topic, if Leicester was above the likes of Watford, Bournemouth, and Burnley in the table, it would sit in 12th place: a position most Leicester fans believe the team should hold. Even though it upset the odds and won the league last season, Leicester is a team most people expect to finish mid table.

Most people, including Leicester fans, expected the team to not do as well as they did last season. In fact, during pre season, many had predicted that the reigning PL champions would struggle to finish top 6 in the 2016/2017 premier league season. What they did not expect was Leicester being in a relegation dog fight. Whenever a team wins a title, its motivation automatically drops the next season. Now while this may not happen to bigger clubs such as Real Madrid and Barcelona, teams such as Leicester are bound to suffer from a lack of motivation after winning big. If you’re interested in watching Real Madrid or Barcelona play, you can get fast speed internet to watch a live stream of a game involving either of these teams.

Leicester fans may not like where their team is currently in the table but the reality is that Leicester is exactly where it should be. Contrary to what most people say, Leicester won the league last through sheer hard work and there was little luck involved in its triumph. Similarly, Leicester is 100% where it should be this season as the team has performed abysmally in most games this season.

In short, Leicester massively overachieved last season to become the English Premier League champions. This season, Leicester has performed just a little below expectations but is exactly where it ‘should be’ in the table.