Kevin Whitcher's Arsenal Blog

Liverpool 3 Arsenal 1 Premier League Monday 28th  September 2020  8pm Arsenal had defeated Liverpool at home in July and beaten them on a penalty shoot-out at Wembley in August. It would have been truly remarkable to have won at Anfield at the fag end of September, although were Alex Lacazette a more clinical striker, a (frankly undeserved) point might have made for a very satisfactory outcome.   However, the gulf between the two sides was apparent in last night’s fixture. In fairness, Liverpool’s domination was not dissimilar to the previous two matches, only this time their chances were easier, Arsenal’s defending less solid. The long league run of failure to win away at the top teams continues, although two more opportunities follow in October.   Mikel Arteta picked the same defence and midfield as had started the Community Shield against Klopp’s team. Changes to that eleven were Bernd Leno for the now departed Emi Martinez, whilst up front Willian and Lacazette b...

Arsenal 2 West Ham 1 Premier League Saturday 19th September 2020  8pm Arsenal’s last match before a paying audience before the lockdown was a pretty laboured Premier League win against West Ham at the Emirates. Fast forward six months, and this season’s edition of the fixture, and on one level, little has changed. Yet, fans can feel better about this particular undeserved win. This is because of what has transpired since – victories over Liverpool, Manchester City and Chelsea have renewed confidence. The critical presence of the club captain has been secured until summer 2023. Arsenal are in the top two with maximum points from their fixtures so far. If the league is to be more competitive at the business end of the table this season, and Arsenal have any aspirations to be involved, beating the likes of West Ham at home is an example of a non-negotiable, to paraphrase Mikel Arteta. And on the day, it doesn’t matter how. Long term, the team will need to make less heavy weather ...

Fulham 0 Arsenal 3 Premier L eague Saturday 12th  September 2020  12.30pm Firstly to say welcome to my blog. I’ve created this because a number of people have expressed the wish to continue reading my musings after Arsenal matches, and I quite enjoyed writing them to reflect on events on the pitch. I’ve handed over The Gooner and its website to Layth Yousif, and truth to tell, my offerings woul d quickly get swamped over there and sink out of view due to the sheer mass of content, given the new editor is far more active online than I ever had the time for. I did hope to start this after the Community Shield victory over Liverpool, but most of my time these days is being spent developing my holistic therapy business, which requires more hours than I’d choose, but which I am enjoying nevertheless. I’ll tart up the look of this blog  itself in time, but for now I just want to get it up and running or it will never happen. So with that, onto the reason we are all here… Fulham...