Tag Archives: Arsenal

Rivals’ Roundup—the one in which we learn about apophasis!

First things first: to stave off insanity if not carpal tunnel, I’m going with a completely arbitrary blend of who’s currently in the top four, who was in the top four at the end of last season [sob], and who seems most likely to be fighting for a top-four spot at the end of this one. If the Hammers feel slighted, well, they can get bent (there’s some quip on a bent doornail in there, but I can’t find it). Shots will be taken, offside will be given, a yellow card, a red card, ere the sun, um, rises. Round up, rivals, Let’s get to it.

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Rivals fume as Arteta builds a squad two-deep at every spot…

Arsenal have found a way to imitate Guardiola’s approach at a fraction of the price—a squad two-deep at every position, including a complete overhaul of the squad as well? Knock me over with a feather. As it turns out, being Pep’s cone-man comes with certain advantages, namely, that you can “copy” his tactics without spending £250m per window on a squad that was already among the best and most-expensive in the land. The project’s not quite complete, but let’s have a look all the same…

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It’s time to stop blaming the striker for Arsenal’s bottle-job…

This may or may not make sense later.

Okay, so he didn’t score enough goals. Maybe he didn’t live up to the hype. You might even say he went missing when we needed him most during the run-in. After all, we had one of our best chances at winning the Prem in years, and we fell short, collapsing at the very end right when it seemed the trophy was ours for the taking. Sure, key rivals like Liverpool and Chelsea were well off the pace, but, in the end, we can’t blame Olivier Giroud. Sorry for the wind-up. I’m looking back to the 2015-16 season, the last time Arsenal “bottled” it.

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Tottenham: Postecoglou in, Kane out. Should Arsenal worry?

Spurs fans may need Wikipedia to identify the object he’s holding…

After a comedic, shambolic, all-too Spursy search for a permanent manager finally settled on one Ante Postecoglou, it seems like the club from the town that London eventually added as a suburb might have their man. After all, Postecoglou is fresh off of winning a domestic treble with Celtic, plays attacking football, and sees Tottenham as a step up rather than a step down. What could go wrong? For one, Kane staying. More on that in a moment.

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Rivals’ Roundup: Fun while it lasted, I suppose…

Not entirely topical or relevant but still amusing.

It was the worst of times; it was the best of times. For the worst, we’d have to reach back to hallowed antiquity to bring you a recreation of the fall of the mighty Arsenal. ‘Twas less than a week ago, but the reverberations still resound in the memory. Thankfully, events of a more-recent vintage off a balm of sorts to the soul. We may have squandered a chance at winning the Prem, but I’m not willing to concede just yet, not when there are still a half-dozen or so matches out there. As disappointing as it may be to fall short, we’ve come a long way. Let’s get to the roundup…

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