Pressing questions after Arsenal SWEEP the Football London Awards...

The fact that Arsenal dominated the Football London Awards is on one hand a cause for pride. It's not for nothing after all that we saw this club win four different awards—Player Of The Year, Young Player Of The Year, Goalkeeper Of The Year, and Manager Of The Year—we are top of the league (saywearetopoftheleague). On other hand, it does raise certain philosophical questions, questions of an  epistemological orientation: what does it mean for a club to win so many individual player awards while also winning the managerial award? Does not one cancel out the other? How can a manager of the year steward so many players of the year? Should we not see a superb manager of inferior player win, or, vice versa, superb players succeed despite an inferior manager?

And then there were three...

Friday's results had everything a neutral could hope for—goals from marquee players, presumptive wins for the favorites, stunning comebacks, and dramatic results. For those of us refined enough to support the Arsenal, results have brought mixed blessings as various countries have been knocked out, depriving our players of a chance at World Cup glory but also sparing them the worst ravages of overexertion. After sending ten of our players to Qatar, just three remain standing (although two of them have spent most of their time there sitting): Saka, Saliba, and Ramsdale. Sent packing, literally, are Tomiyasu, Xhaka, Martinelli, Magalhães, Turner, Partey, Jesus, and White. Whilte it's frustrating to say the least to see Jesus suffer an injury when he finally got to play in a match from which Brazil didn't need a result, and it's infuriating to see the speculation swirling around White's departure from Qatar, we can heave a collective sigh of relief around the damage that hasn't been done, namely to key players like Xhaka and Partey and to those who've become even more vital after the injury to Jesus.

Saka, Ramsdale, and White make the Three Lions squad for the World Cup!

After much hand-wringing and rumour-mongering and teeth-gnashing and chest-beating, the actual 26-man squad for the 2022 World Cup has finally been released. It's almost as if every report we've heard to this point has been based solely on what the particular "ITK" journo thinks will drive the most traffic to his (and it's almost exclusively "his") social media account or what have you. Gareth Southgate released the official squad today, laying to rest all of those rumours and allaying most of it all of our fears. 

The good news—depending on your perspective on such matters—is that our very own Aaron Ramsdale, Bukayo Saka, and Ben White have made the squad. I add "depending on your perpective" because squad selection is a double-edged sword. On one hand, of course, it's a tremendous honour to a player to have the chance to represent his country at the World Cup. On the other, it presents a risk that the player could get injured, rendering him unavailable for his club after the Cup ends.

Leicester 0-2 Arsenal: Post-Match Ratings & MOTM

After a confident if not entirely commanding performance, it's starting to look and feel like Arteta's project is taking shape. Although Leicester dominated the second half, created numerous chances, and were denied by several vital Ramsdalian saves, we came away with all three points and now find ourselves level with Manchester United and just three points from Manchester City. The season isn't even one-third over, though, so let's not get too worked up just yet. The season is long, and rough patches are almost inevitable. Still, the signs are encouraging. It's not easy to go into King Power, even less so with such a young squad, but we showed no fear. For now, let's enjoy where things stand without blowing them out of proportion. Here, then, with 752 votes votes, are the results of the post-match ratings poll!

Leicester 0-2 Arsenal: Vote for Player Ratings & MOTM!

Gabriel headed a dart past Smeichel from a Saka corner early on, and Emile Smith-Rowe pounced on a ball in the box to make it 0-2 before the 20th minute. From there, Arsenal had to defend tenaciously with Ramsdale coming up with save after vital save. Leicester had 65% possession but nothing to show for it. After several wins against overmatched opponents, we can point to this result and clean sheet as a more-encouraging sign of our mettle and ambition.

Click the link below to open a Google Form to cast your ballot. For a bit of calibration, consider a six to mean "put in a decent shift without really impressing or damaging either way", ten to mean "did every single thing right and possibly shortened the Insulate Britain protests", and zero to mean "scored several own-goals after which he tore off his shirt to reveal a 'Tot 'num 4 EVA' halter top".

Once we have a chance to process the results, I'll post a graphic to show how our lads fared. Remember: this is a deeply and thoroughly scientific and sociological process that far exceeds most peer-reviewed journals, so, for the love of all that is holy, don't throw a spanner in the works by voting all 10s across the board. At a bare minimum, thrown in the occasional six or seven to create the appearance of objectivity.

Here is the link to the poll!

Brighton 0-0 Arsenal: Well, at least Maupay didn't maim anyone...

Yes, it's a point claimed, but, more importantly, Neal Maupay didn't jeoardise anyone's careers like he did towards the end of the 2019-20 campaign, going in for a pointless and reckless challenge on Leno, crashing into Leno, who had already claimed the ball. That gave rise to and eventual sale of Emi Martinez, may have ended Leno's position as our #1 keeper, and almost certainly spelt the end of Matteo Guendouzi's tenure as well. All of that because of the actions of the kind of smirking, malevolent, thirteen year old who'd step on the heels of your sneakers, swipe  your Galaxy Minstrels, and act like he invented the calculator trick in which you type 55378008 and turn it round for some naughty word-play. As if to show that his juvenile delinquency has spread throughout the club, Brighton tweeted out an image of Maupay in a mock-crying pose because, well, playing the part of the antagonist from Diary of a Wimpy Kid is apparently something to aspire to. #Lifegoals, Neal. #Lifegoals indeed.

A Leviathan Rises From the Deep...

Three wins from three. Five goals scored from five different scorers. At a risk of sounding melodramatic, there is absolutely no other conclusion to draw other than the Arsenal, the mighty, mighty Arsenal, are back. Okay, so that was a touch more than melodramatic, but, still, it's hard to resist letting just a touch of optimism creep in after such a dire start to this campaign and after such gloomy campaigns prior. Consecutive 8th-place finishes are nothing to write home about, and it's perhaps little surprise that yours truly had stopped writing. This, my friends, is my first post since April 2019—approaching 30 months, give or take. I wonder if I'm as bad as this now as I was back then. Time will tell. Enough about me. It's my least-favorite subject. Back to the action on the pitch and, well, adjacent to it.