Kevin Whitcher's Arsenal Blog

Arsenal 2 Brighton 0   Premier League   Sunday 23rd May 2021 4pm   And so this fag end of a season concludes for Arsenal. 10,000 fans were allowed to attend, and in spite of a wet, chilly late May afternoon – which is not my memory of the weather normally for the final home game of the season – it has to be said that the atmosphere was much better than a normal 50,000 crowd (the days of a 60,000 full house are no longer a thing with the number of no-shows). But as someone pointed out to me – no tourists at this game.   Getting into the stadium was an ‘interesting’ experience, especially in the spells when it bucketed down. The initial security lines would only let you through if you had a match ticket. Then there was a second line with a steward who attempted to read your ticket with a hand-held device – which often didn't work, especially when the ticket was on a smartphone. You could get very wet queuing at this point. The other aspect of this was th...

Crystal Palace 1 Arsenal 3   Premier League   Wednesday 19th May 2021 7pm   Doctor, the patient is not yet dead. And if Everton and Spurs both fail to win on Sunday in what, on paper, are difficult away fixtures, Arsenal can still squeak into European football next season, and celebrate St. Totteringham’s Day for the first time since 2016? And that season an absolute collapse by the noisy neighbours was required to give Arsenal their best placed Premier League finish since the stadium move. But hang on there, to make seventh place even with Spurs and Everton doing their bit, Mikel Arteta’s side would have to beat Brighton at home. You know the rest. This is a team that can achieve remarkable results in difficult circumstances. But give them a home banker? I will be taking a good look at laying a Gunners’ home win on my betting exchange of preference (which handsomely rewarded me in the FA Cup Final as the odds on a Leicester win looked just a bit too genero...

Chelsea 0 Arsenal 1   Premier League   Wednesday 12th May 8.15pm   Soon after Mikel Arteta took charge at Arsenal, at the end of 2019, his team suffered the first of what was to become an unhealthy list of home defeats, as a goalkeeping howler by Bernd Leno allowed Chelsea back into a game late on that they were set to win.  Gary Neville’s commentary at the time stated “individual errors will define a coach”. How prescient.   Things certainly picked up after that where games against Chelsea were concerned, with a spirited ten men draw at the Bridge, victory in the FA Cup Final in a largely deserted Wembley, and a pair of wins in the current Premier League season. Were such a record repeated against other clubs, there’d be no debate about Mikel Arteta’s position. But of course, football doesn’t work like that, and if memory serves me now, having rekindled faint hope of European qualification, the Gunners will now fail to win one of their two remai...

Arsenal 3 West Bromwich Albion 1   Premier League   Sunday 9th May 7pm   Even with Arsenal playing last Thursday night, it was no huge surprise to see the team achieve – for the first time in seven matches – an actual home win. It condemned West Brom to relegation, a phenomenon all too familiar to the West Midlands club, although a more unusual one for their manager Sam Allardyce. His style of football has gradually become less effective over the years and no longer cuts it in 2021, especially with officiating a lot tighter on over-physical play, not that the threat of a yellow card prevented Mohammed Elneny getting a cut lip due to a quite deliberate elbow from Robson-Kanu. It was no surprise to see six changes from Thursday evening’s starting eleven, with Martinelli as the centre forward and a return to a more familiar formation with Ceballos partnering Elneny in midfield. Bukayo Saka was moved to left back, although the vast majority of Arsenal’s most da...

Arsenal 0 Villarreal 0   Europa League Semi-Final 2nd Leg   Thursday 6th May 2021 8pm   It was a gamble that brought some short-term glory, in the shape of an FA Cup, with attendant Europa League qualification. But as the following season nears conclusion, it must now be seen as a gamble that ultimately failed. Mikel Arteta was hired on his reputation within the game, the fact that he was a less expensive hire than an established manager and presumably a very good interview. However, after steering the club to silverware, what followed has seen further decline at Arsenal, who are now in a worse position than when he joined, with the reality that they will not even take part in European football next season. If he survives the summer, it will tell fans all they need to know about the ambition of Arsenal’s owners – being in gravy train that is the Premier League is enough.   However, season tickets are going to be a tough sell, to say nothing of the more...

Newcastle United 0 Arsenal 2 Premier League Sunday 2nd  May 2pm Eight changes from Thursday evening’s match in Spain was no surprise, as it was Odegaard, Xhaka and Ceballos – who played less than an hour against Villarreal for all too obvious reasons – who remained. The Spaniard had a better game at St James’ Park, although who knows what the midfield will look like in four days’ time. I assume there is a faint hope that Kieran Tierney might be fit, although not even being on the bench today suggests that Xhaka will remain at left back, with Elneny presumably partnering the rested Thomas Partey in front of the defence. Elneny’s performance did suggest he could do a job, although the quality of the opposition must be borne in mind. However, the performances of Bellerin and Martinelli should also give Arteta some food for thought. He at least has some attacking options now, although Aubameyang as the central striker is pretty much a given. He scored the second goal yesterday to give ...