‘Postecoglou should be sacked’ by Spurs after north London derby defeat
Well it’s An Opinion. And it’s one being held by a Spurs fan who thinks that Big Ange has no Plan B. Meanwhile, Mikel Arteta is smashing it.
Send your views to theeitor@football365.com
Postecoglou out
I may be in a minority of one but I believe Postecoglou should be sacked he definitely is not our saviour and our football has not improved from when he initially took over he has no plan B when things go wrong. We’re trying to build but something has worn out. Get a new manager in now and start afresh for the summer.
Steve Pack
(He’s not in a minority of one; similar opinions have been aired in the very next Mailbox – Ed)
Mikel Arteta has fixed nine Arsenal problems through coaching
The North London Derby delivers its usual brand of bonkers football. It probably felt like both teams gifted their opponents their goals and neither had to work particularly hard for them, which whilst may be the norm for Spurs is certainly out of character for Arsenal who have been miserly in defence since the turn of the year.
Arsenal targeted Spurs’ weaknesses knowing that Ange would alter the way he plays. Spurs are vulnerable to set-pieces because Vicario doesn’t command his box, he’s a GK that makes great saves but is glued to his line on crosses and set pieces, it’s the problem De Gea had and Arsenal bullied Spurs on those first-half corners.
Arsenal also realised that Saka v Davies was a clear mismatch, and Spurs would likely not do enough to stop the 1v1’s in that battle. Saka took his goal brilliantly, probably annoyingly easy for Spurs fans because with the very best players you know what they want to do but you’re still powerless to stop it. But Saka was also a good out ball for Arsenal because he has a hugely underrated ability to receive long passes under huge pressure, protect the ball and roll his man. He did it time and again to Davies in this match. Finally Arteta adjusted Arsenal to have less of the ball and to pack the centre to stop those short central passes Spurs are so good at and instead let the wide players have it knowing there was far less danger on crosses. Arsenal also went longer to Havertz who had another fantastic game as the false 9.
Ultimately it may all be in vain as whilst City aren’t hitting absolute top form they still have enough to beat the rest, or the rest don’t have enough to lay much of a glove on them. If City do win it I’m sure some trolls will paint this as some sort of choke or failure for Arteta, so be it if that’s how you feel, or more likely makes you feel better about your own teams shortcomings.
Personally I’m enjoying every moment of this Arsenal team. For years we bemoaned that Arsenal had no spine, no characters, never scored a set piece, always conceded a set piece, always vulnerable to the counter, couldn’t press, had passengers off the ball, didn’t work hard enough, lacked desire etc. Arteta has single handedly fixed every single one of those things – and they are not things you instantly fix by dropping £50m on a new player. All those things are done on the training pitch and through culture and standards.
Finally on the game, I’m not sure it was mentioned that much but Spurs had 2 full weeks rest before the game whilst Arsenal played 4 games in that period, including a double header v Bayern and the game v Chelsea only 3 days before this one.
Rich, AFC
MORE ON ARSENAL’S NORTH LONDON DERBY WIN
👉 16 Conclusions from Spurs 2-3 Arsenal: Stupidity, set-pieces, perfect outcomes and inverted centre-backs
👉 Did Mikel Arteta let Spurs get close just to prove a point about Arsenal?
The White stuff
My reflections on the NLD are rather mundane. Spurs were better, even if they were allowed to have possession. Arsenal were not that good. I’d say we might have got a bit lucky to get the 3 points even if Spurs were to be lucky to be gifted a couple of goals.
My main focus in Ben White. And the stupidity of Spurs for leaving him unmarked. He is up there with Maupay for sh*thousery and I won’t hear anyone say otherwise. He is simply brilliant at football, dark arts, obvious gamesmanship and he genuinely doesn’t care. How we love him.
Ali, Ealing
Dear Barry Fox,
Your match-day revenues were boosted yesterday by those Golden Gooners swigging champagne.
A Golden Gooner xx
Good luck, Arne
With the news that Slot is now effectively confirmed, I am loving that a successful up-and-coming Dutch coach is coming to a big club to fix its myriad problems, remove problematic and no-longer-performing players and try to bring in new ones and a new style of play all on a “shoestring” budget (net spend champions, let us not forget – there’s no actual money to spend, apparently).
I can’t wait to see how it plays out, and – critically – how the narrative from the 365 writers differs from that directed at United/Ten Hag.
Good luck Slot. At least the shoes you have to fill are small.
Badwolf (Is a return of 5 importantish titles in 9 years good?)
Salah and Klopp: Overrated
Enough has been said about the NLD. We’re awesome but awesome probably won’t be enough to derail Citeh this time. Getting closer though, that’s for sure.
No, what I wanted to say is something I’ve thought for a long time. And that is that Salah and Klopp are overrated. You’ll probably think I’m jumping on the Salah bandwagon due to his dip in form, but that’s not where I’m coming from.
It’s not that he doesn’t score goals, and has great pace. Clearly he has (had) both. It’s just that he always seems to be lucky with his shots. And that, in my opinion, is all down to Klopp matching his style with his system. He hasn’t looked the same since Klopp’s system had to evolve, and now he looks severely off the pace. He’s clearly an amazing player, that’s not what I’m saying. He just doesn’t strike me as anywhere near the mighty levels of Ronaldo (either), Messi or Henry. But he seems often to be spoken about in the same terms. No, not for me. Overrated.
And finally, Klopp has been good for Liverpool too. I really don’t see why he’s regarded as a ‘great’ though. If he were in charge of Arsenal, then Stewie would have moaned about him non stop. Especially informing the asterisk with the COVID league win.
He has had just one Premier League, one Champions League and an FA cup (plus a few other minor bits and pieces). Seriously, he’s not the messiah. Very good, but surely not a great? Aren’t we all regularly told that Liverpool are the bestest and most supported club in the universe? Surely that’s a pretty average result if that’s the case.
JazGooner (getting over a chest infection, so in fighter mode)
📣 TO THE COMMENTS! Was Jurgen Klopp ‘good, not great’? Join the debate
Authentic leagues? Really?
Respect to Vinnie Pee in the morning mailbox, but citing the German, Spanish, Italian and Dutch leagues as exciting, real, authentic leagues where a ‘new world order’ is coming to play is fanciful at the very, very best:
Germany: Leverkusen. Superb – Invincibles and far ahead of Bayern. So far in fact, they won the league on April 14th, with over a month to spare. But kudos, this is their first title so I can just about agree here.
Spain: Plucky 35-time La Liga champs Real Madrid 13 points clear with five games to play.
Italy: Plucky 20-time Serie A champs Inter Milan 19 points ahead with the deal already sealed with four games remaining.
Holland: Plucky 24-time Eredivisie champs PSV just nine points clear of Feyenoord, having scored 103 goals with three games left.
It’s fine to say you hate VAR – most of us do and I think life would be better if it was scrapped. But don’t pretend Spurs are the first team to be screwed over by it, particularly 24 hours after a Chelsea goal disallowed for a push far softer than the one Gabriel suffered at Newcastle. See, we all have ‘an incident’ where we were hard done by.
Football is shit everywhere, basically, for one reason or another.
Joe, AFC, East Sussex
(Pretty sure Vinnie Pee is a Liverpool fan – Ed)
Ta-ra Premier League
So goodbye then the Premier League. I’d like to say it’s been a pleasure, but let’s be honest, it’s been awful.
The highlights were an unexpectedly pleasant day out in Luton (apart from there apparently being no decent pubs in the town) and enjoying a pint at the biggest bar in the world at Spurs – by far the best stadium in the league – but that was about it. All were easily beaten by a day out at Kidderminster with some Chesterfield supporting mates back in the autumn.
The lowlights were too numerous to mention, all topped off by having the car windows caved in by those lovable Scouser boys on an evening trip to Anfield. Little wonder the outside world dislikes them so much….
I’ve followed the Blades since 1969 and this was the worst season I can ever remember – even worse than when we were relegated to division 4 in 1981. We started by selling the family jewels without replacing them, then sacked Heckingbottom in the most appalling manner – he deserved a bit more respect than that – then appointed Tufty Wilder to drag us out of the mire. Unfortunately for Crissy Boy, his original system of attacking full backs has been adopted and bettered by many other clubs with better players and we had nowhere to go. Plus, our players just aren’t up to it. And don’t get me started on VAR. Relegation is a relief.
Sadly, it’s been like the dream holiday you saved up for, but when you got there it rained every day, everything was so expensive, there weren’t enough places on the excursions for all the family to enjoy, and the place was run by horrible pointy headed little trolls whose main task seemed to be to suck the joy out of everything. You were constantly humiliated by the big bullies from Newcastle, Brighton, Arsenal and Burnley (!) and every time you thought there was a chance of getting a sunbed, you were thwarted at the last minute as someone from Nottingham, Bournemouth or Tottenham snatched it away.
At least next season we’ll be back where we belong, looking forward to a run at the play-offs and maybe a decent cup run. And no more VAR!
Looks like Wednesday will stay up and hopefully Dirty Leeds won’t be going anywhere so we get a few local derbies to enjoy/tolerate. Shame about the Terriers and the Millers though.
So, all in all, it’s goodbye from Dem Blades and we’ll see you in another 7 or 8 years.
Bladey Mick (happy days are here again……..)
JOHN NICHOLSON: The Premier League is a dysfunctional, uncompetitive, mockery of a competition
A rare mail on Adam Smith
I don’t imagine he has been the subject of a mailbox letter before.
It is now nine years since Bournemouth’s first promotion to the Premier League. Last week all the photos from the win over Bolton circulated once again on social media, and almost every aspect of the club has changed since that day. The manager, right-winger and centre-forward are at Newcastle, one of the centre-backs has moved upstairs while the other just won QPR’s Player of the Year award, the rest of the team have quietly drifted into the background.
Except Adam Smith.
In that Championship-winning team he was very much the odd man out. Daniels-Cook-Elphick-Francis was automatic as the back four. Smith was the occasional impact sub, known in those times for his erratic bursts forward, occasional long-range goals and tendency to fall over theatrically.
Starting in Spurs’ academy, early loan moves to MK Dons, Torquay and Wycombe never hinted that he would one day become the first Bournemouth player to reach 200 PL appearances, which he recently did.
As the 2014-15 team broke up and the Eddie era evolved, Smith remained largely a bit-part player until Simon Francis’ injuries required a move over to centre-back. Always quick to wind opposition players up, my favourite memory is an absolute masterclass of sh*thousing at the Hawthorns once getting James McClean sent off in the first half. Often required to switch to left-back, in the Championship in particular he went through a long period of being targeted at the far post due to a perceived lack of aerial ability.
Many full-backs with higher profiles have come and gone in the interim, Brad Smith, Nathaniel Clyne, Diego Rico, Ryan Fredericks, Max Aarons. But somehow Smith still survives in the team, yesterday against Brighton he was excellent. He has had some difficult games recently, the penalty against Manchester United and a real working-over by another Bournemouth castoff Morgan Rogers last week both resulting in quick substitutions, but in this era of some much higher profile full-backs getting some ‘decline’ chat (Robertson, Shaw etc) I just wanted to call out a player who will never be the best, isn’t great with the media and can be a bit diffident with fans, but has become an absolute club legend down here at Dean Court.
Andy Jennings, BH7
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