Billy Carpenter

Arsenal have 0 of the top 14 players in the world. and also, Arteta is overrated.

Touches in the opposition box Arsenal: 50 Lille: 3

Ken Friar (1934 – 2026)

— Enzo offside for winner, unanimously ruled error by KMI — Bruno G denied pen (+ Maatsen second yellow), unanimously ruled error by KMI — Phantom pen against Konsa, unanimously ruled error by KMI — Gravenberch sent off for two soft yellows, 0:0 becomes 3:0 It's a lot so early in the season.

My approved notes for Arteta the next time Merino is an unused sub: "I made a mistake by putting someone of the stature of Pelé or Maradona on to warm up and then not putting him in the game. If it were today I would not do it."

Been trying to riff on... "I made a mistake by putting someone of the stature of Pelé or Maradona on to warm up and then not putting him in the game. If it were today I would not do it." ...and it's impossible. Nothing beats the real thing!

Not proud of it, but I once got creative and registered a team of 20-year-olds in a U10s tournament. Other coaches kept saying things like "you can't use them" and "they have beards" and "I think that's Myles Lewis-Skelly." But whatever happened behind the scenes, the game is won on the pitch.

Thinking even of this summer, and the Elliot Anderson fee's impact on every single deal to follow. It's hard to fathom how much this has altered everything.

Paris FC signed him for €7.5m. 5 starts, 5 G+A.

The gameplan backed the players to play with composure and through the press, the personnel had the technical security to do it, but they didn't execute. Some early loose touches got contagious, and they weren't on the same page in terms of rotations/showing against the press.

Midfield options: Rice, Bruno G., Zubimendi, Lewis-Skelly, Ødegaard, Eze, Dowman, even Saka and Havertz as needed. I like Merino as a midfielder plenty (especially as a late game 10) but it's probably past time to look at him as the primary Havertz cover at striker.

Something I was concerned about with Martinelli's departure is that he relieved a lot of pressure in these cup games and group games with his flat-track bullying. Madueke showed some of that last year, and is looking like he could take on that role for real.

We are so fucking good.

How I'd expect it to line up. Or, at least, how I'd do it.

Catch DCL on the right day and you could convince somebody who doesn't watch football that he's one of the best players in the world

Not saying it's universal, or good/bad, but it's interesting how I have different adjustment periods to seeing players in the shirt. For Bruno G, there's still some disbelief there, like it doesn't feel quite real. For Konsa it *immediately* felt like he's been here 10 years.

My kid couldn't find his homework this morning. I told him to say he was setting up a long throw and ask for another day

When they started slowing it down to see if it hit Enzo's head, it felt like the moment when the low strings start sawing in a horror movie. NO, NOT THAT DOOR. DON'T GO IN THAT DOOR.

I'll whisper this one: I <3 semi-automated offside and trust it. But I do know how to draw lines and I can't get these lines to line up, and don't fully trust these guys not to somehow fuck up an automated process 😂

Don't know a single person who wouldn't be able to determine what Ballard did for the pen yesterday with a single view. And don't know a single person who wouldn't say Enzo was "clearly attempting to play a ball" from an offside position with a single view.

The first time a winger lines up a 1v1 against Timber, there is still hope in their eyes. It is a naïve hope, a foolish and youthful hope, the dim hope of "who knows." But hope nonetheless. Once he squeezes the life out of that first one, you typically never hear from them again.

Le Fée's penalty was perfect, by the way. It was gonna nestle into the side netting.

Arsenal open-play xG conceded so far: v Coventry: 0.20 v Aston Villa: 0.33 v Chelsea: 0.32 v Sunderland: 0.26

My two bugbears last year were A) initial selections, which often contained pockets/triangles of non-complementary players, and B) hoofing. Arteta is picking great lineups this year. And the level of application is great. Today was "hard game is hard." I'm very happy.

A technical area yellow for Arteta, denying Arsenal a corner before half, Sunderland taking five minutes per throw-in, phantom penalty on a shirt pull ... from Ballard. You'll rarely witness such committed #NarrativeRefereeing.

ball don't fucking lie.

One last time - on Arsenal being a pleasure to watch and all the stress being replaced by joy:

Breaking lines, 25/26, per 90: 1st line: Konsa — best line-breaking pass % ⤵️ 2nd line: Bruno G — #1 CM for controls under pressure, #4 at passes breaking second line ⤵️ 3rd line: Ø — most receptions opening body to goal, most passes to break last line (data: @gradientsports.bsky.social)

Club fans moan about international duty taxing their players. But I remember Havertz playing tight and hesitant, then coming back from Germany and immediately beating Brentford with a headed winner. Same feel with Ødegaard and the World Cup. Sometimes it's exactly what they need.

When we move into the second phase of build-up and you see the midfielders push forward and two defenders splay wide and it's Konsa in the middle, it's like a warm hug.

Sneaky Tzolis assizt.

PSG have 7 different Ballon d'Or nominees who played less than 50% of league minutes: Kvara: 48.3% Hakimi: 44.9% Neves: 42.1% Mendes: 41% Ruiz: 37% Dembéle: 34.7% Marquinhos: 34.4%

Today: 86 touches, 10 touches in opposition box, 5 shots, 5/6 dribbles completed, 3 chances created, 7 passes into final third, 3 interceptions, 5 recoveries, 2 aerial clearances, 1 banger.

With defensive solidity getting so much better, the value of deflections in the box (and how you react to them) is getting more important. 3 of 4 goals in the Newcastle/Bournemouth game were after an initial shot. It's one of the only real opportunities to scramble a shape.

Have talked about this for years with him. There are more demonstrative scanners, but there are few better at picking up information and using it immediately than Bruno G.

Guess what? This is good, that's what.

I'd love to zag the public opinion, but if you think it's inconceivable that Arsenal have left their attack thinner (and slower!), that's because it is. We can still win everything, and Konsa/Bruno are great, but we've let questions persist when we could be turning the screw.

Once we finally find one of the 5 best attackers in the world who only wants us and is 70m and is young and injury-free and is a dog out-of-possession it’s so over for the rest of you

This transfer window has reminded me that people get the basic shit all wrong. Life is not all about fancy new toys! It's not about winning or losing, either. It's not even about your family or friends. It's about sticking to your internal valuation of a player.

On signing an attacker:

My dad used to patiently watch me fumble around with some project (mechanical, art, whatever) and then eventually say "alright, you wanna see how you're supposed to do it?" And then he'd show me. As far as I can tell, that is Merino's role on a football pitch

Held his eyes centrally until Kamara took a step that way, then drove it through the lane. (Locatelli the best at this imo)

— We were lucky to have that fixture early. — We were unlucky not to have Bruno G from the start. He has all the exact kind of passes you need. — We still do not have runners for such a game.

Emery-style blocks force every bit of timing and passing to be perfect, or they're a) offside or b) collected. If you don't have serious runners, you have to be even more exact, and you'll judge the passers more harshly. Look how tiny the margins are on every touch.

From Barcola to Yıldız, from Mbaye to Ndiaye, nobody has written a more exhaustive piece on all the players Arsenal won't sign than I have. Nobody.

Fofana:

Now, has my club made a marquee signing at forward? No. But I *have* been able to guffaw at some of the fees being offered and paid. Which, in my mind, [I momentarily sob a little but try to pass it off as a cough], is just as good.