Dear Arsène,

DidIt here again. Couple of things.

Now I realize that you and I are not natural Bedfellows, what with my rather gung-ho and somewhat cavalier attitude to life, but nevertheless, I still feel that you may enjoy more of my footballing analysis and insight.

Thing is this, and my first topic for today, your positional awareness with regards to the left side attacking slot leaves quite a lot to be desired. It is, Arsène, this habit of yours in sticking the wrong players out there. Having discussed this issue with you before, I was going to let things lie. That was, Arsène , until you dropped your most recent bomb.

You crack open the kitty, and splash out 40 Million pounds on Mesut Ozil. Great so far. Then the bomb. You stick the poor fellow out wide. Not 4 million, Arsene, 40 million, and you play him out of position! 40 Mill may be sloshing about your petty cash tin, but to us normal folk, that’s a lot of milk. Let’s get some perspective on that, shall we? It’s the equivalent of about 1,000 pints of milk for every day of an eighty year life! “Respect Value”, I say, or have you completely lost the plot, Arsène ?

You see, it’s not the first time you’ve done this, is it, Arsène? No, it isn’t. Bendy, Chamakh, Podolski, Ramsey, and now Ozil. Are you mad? What’s going on?

You know what, I’ve had a thought and there’s sod all you can do about it. Very soon, both Santi and Mesut are going to be up for selection at the same time, and you know damn well that they both start.

Here’s the really funny bit, Arsène, you can’t stick both out wide. Ha ha ha. So what’s the plan then?

Even that Lunatic LB had a brilliant idea yesterday, and that was sticking Mesut centre top. Lateral thinking. Lateral thinking. This idea of his ties in nicely with the second point I wanted us to discuss with you, Arsène.

Nicholas Bendtner. Name ring a bell?

We really do need to consider our options in terms of protecting Big ‘Ol, and I cannot help thinking that our Nic is the most similar kind of player that would bring as little disruption to our style as possible. Never really gave him much time through the middle, did we? Just as I kept saying last term regarding Big ‘Ol: “Along the ground. Ball to feet”. He may be better than we think.

Thing is ,Arsène , what are we going to do about his fitness and more importantly, his attitude?

Bribery springs to mind. He’s one of those poofy sorts of blokes that like jewellery, so there’s an option right there. Perhaps a more ruthless approach, like the use of electricity, I don’t know, but I’d certainly like to hear your thoughts.

My biggest single problem with you, Arsène , is that while I feel perfectly qualified to share advice on tactics and whatnot with you, I do have to take into account your recent bloody results:

WWWWWDWDWWWLWWWWW and bloody W again!

Let’s be clear about one thing, the sooner you start listening to Bedfellows like me and actually take on board our advice, the better, and then together we can eliminate these draws and losses forever.

Sagely words I’m sure you’d agree. Perhaps send that Gazidis bloke down to Smiths and buy a new folder. You could then put a sticky label on it and ink words like “DidIt Do’s and DidIt Do Not’s” or something.

So, in the meantime, I say, “Sod it, over to you, Arsène ”.

I remain, you obedient servant.

DidIt, M.

After a tough start to his time as Manchester United manager question marks are being raised about whether Moyes is the right man for the job.

I have seen fellow Gooners take great delight in his early predicament, mutterings to the press, and the speed in which he appears to be losing the dressing room. Following Fergie was always going to be difficult, and right now Moyes looks like a fish out of water.

But here’s the thing, we Arsenal fans need to support Moyes, as should the rest of the fans in the country who don’t support Manchester United.

We have seen in this transfer window what a difference the coach makes. Given a choice of teams to go to none of the best players wanted to go and play for Moyes. Rewind twelve months and imagine Fergie had announced his retirement a season earlier, does anyone seriously think Brave Sir Robin would have chosen to play for Moyes?

When they played Chelsea I laughed as Moyes who had been standing on the touch line for most of the game went up to his seat to talk to his coaches, he quite simply didn’t understand how to get the win, this is not what he is used to, a point against Chelsea or the big boys would be a good result for him in the past.

And this is why we should want Moyes to keep his job as long as possible, at least for two more transfer windows, so that all the old men have retired or asked to leave and he is left struggling to attract the best of the best.

There is another reason we need him to stay, and his name is Pep Guardiola, Pep was recently quoted as saying he wants to manage in England, he has a contract in Munich for three years. Assuming he stays in the job he will be available in summer of 2016. If Moyes gets sacked early United have the chance to get another coach on a three year deal and fight for Pep, if he stays for a season and a half the manager who replaces him will not take a one and a half year deal.

And what does this mean for us? Well as we all know Arsene’s deal ends in the summer, give the man two more years, and then we can have Pep, Arsene’s natural successor.

So here’s the message we need to repeat in public, “Moyes is good for United”, we can laugh about it quietly as they fall apart, but keeping his job is in all of our interest.

Gooner in Exile

Much has been said this week about the infamous proclamation by one Alan Hansen in 1995: “You can’t win anything with kids”. The context was a 1-3 loss by Manchester United to Aston Villa. Mr Pompous Pundit Pool-dweller Hansen was subsequently proved wrong. ManUre went on to win a famous double that year. But, BBC says, “those “kids” were an exceptional bunch like David Beckham, Gary and Phil Neville, Paul Scholes and Ryan Giggs”.

However, Hansen continued to maintain his position, most persistently about an young Arsenal side, arguing why Arsene Wenger’s strategy was a recipe for disaster. Apparently the justification came from the failure to win silverware over a period of time. At the same time, Arsene continued to show his faith in his “kids”. In the process, Arsenal became a preferred destination for young players, who consistently received the opportunity to play with, and against, the big boys. And learn the game at the highest level under the tutelege of Arsene and his gang. Concurrently, the doomsday brigade continued to spread vitriol and negativity all round, spelling doom on Arsenal and satisfying their own petty egos.

As a result, Arsenal developed an impressive string of players, most of whom have stayed on at the club, and a few stars departed for greener pastures. The astute transfer architect that Arsene is, he managed to manufacture a win-win situation in (almost) every case – for Arsenal and for the matured “kid”. The player was happy to find a new challenge, and in most cases (except perhaps the case of a certain Dutchman) had outlived his utility for Arsenal, and in the process Arsenal made a healthy bit of profit in the transfer market. This, in turn, contributed towards maintaining a competititive position in the Premiership, qualifying for Champions League consistently, and progressing well in all competitions, against the backdrop of considerable financial challenges for the club. Extremely creditably it has to be said, even if we did not earn silverware, to the immense frustration of all fans. All of this came together with maintaining immense faith in the academy and developing a fine set of young players in the process.

The immense success in developing young talent has come dramatically home to us in a different way last week. The laments of new FA Chairman, Greg Dyke, as to the lack of English (and Welsh) talent in the EPL, raises once again the important question as to how national football can stay competitive against the backdrop of financial power and alleged excesses of the major clubs. How else would one do this, other than offering the opportunity for “kids” to play in the big league.

Perhaps most importantly, this promotes the fantastic brand of football that Arsenal produces on the field, including a unique mix of youth and experience, and lively football produced by an extremely talented pool of young and fast players. At 25 years of average age, Arsenal had one of the youngest teams in the first few games of the current season in EPL. Surely, with the arrival of one 24 year old Mesut Özil, a complete package of youth and experience, the average age is going to decrease even further. So, what now? Surely, for us fans, the stage is set for a fantastic experience where we are ready to win all, trophies, admirers and envy, while at the same time upholding the highest traditions of playing an attractive attacking game, and promoting young talent.

The question really is not when Arsenal is going to start flying again, but how beautiful the flight will be! A historical coincidence is that, the “can’t win anything with kids” comment came against ManUre’s 1-3 loss to Aston Villa in 1995. For Arsenal, having started the season with a 1-3 loss to Villa, surely now is the time! Surely, our young brigade is comparable, if not better, than the young kids of ManUre back in 1995. Equally young, and more experienced at this level. What a wonderful prospect! Thanks a lot, Arsene and Arsenal!

Go on The Arsenal!!!!

Written by Arnie