Arsenal fans are out in force to defence their club and their new ‘Viking clogger’, but there are also views on Bournemouth, Brentford, Spurs and more.
Thank you for your mails; send more to theeditor@football365.com
A pat on the head for Man Utd
Manchester United have sunk to the level of a slightly slow child being congratulated on writing their name properly. Let’s see how “back” Man Utd are when they’re getting turned over by Fulham, Brighton, Brentford etc.
Matthew
…So Man United are back are they? Didn’t they get more points from this fixture last season? Didn’t they turn up in games against Liverpool and City too last season?
Let’s see how they go away at Fulham next week and put together an actual run of games before we start hailing them. All I saw yesterday was a lot of huff and puff against a team that seemed almost intent on giving them the ball and allowing them to come at them. Millions spent on attackers that were going to score the goals that turned these sorts of games round…and still bringing Maguire on to save something.
Back indeed.
Stew, London
Three key reasons Man Utd lost
Manchester United lost the match against Arsenal albeit they were arguably the better team on the day. They lost largely due to three key reasons:
Concerns continue to remain unabated over Amorim’s unfathomable team selection. Why was Dalot fielded over Amad? We all saw what Amad did in the short period he played. A related issue or concern is why did Amorim field a team with no natural striker, even though the striker or rather lack of an effective striker has plagued United for some time. There is no excuse for this strategic shortcoming, exacerbated by the fact that we were playing against Arsenal. Did Arsenal bench Gyokeres? No he started. Did Liverpool bench Ekitike? Of course not.
The point must further be made that United’s poor finishing persisted in the match. Numerous chances were created and washed. This now endemic issue must be fixed soonest if United is to improve its position on the EPL table.
The third key issue is poor defending especially in relation to set pieces. This problem persisted throughout last season and Amorim has still not fixed it. Amorim has a serious responsibility to coach the defenders to control set pieces. There is no other way PERIOD.
Professor (Dr) David Achanfuo Yeboah
In defence of Gyokeres
Surely the worst game he could have had as his first match was against his former manager who knows him inside out and exactly how to counter him. Similarities to when Harry Kane stepped up to take that penalty against Hugo Lloris, why on earth was he going up against the goalkeeper that knows him best? That instance was manager error (anyone non-Tottenham to take it) but Viktor deserves a little slack in this instance.
Jdb
…Wow, 60 minutes of PL football and a man is done eh? JFC.
Ok, I want to start actually with a different gripe. Last season, us Arsenal fans were accused on this site, multiple times across different articles of being entitled whiners for having reservations about Gyokeres. Any mea culpa from F365 there? Or is having any responsibility for your opinions or consistency unnecessary?
But on to the man we now have. One game is enough to call him a pub player?
What is the point except to annoy us? Where is the insight or value in those ~700 words? What evidence have you ever shown us your opinions on football have merit?
F365, you keep pestering me to pay for your site. If you can give me an option that removes all Will Ford’s articles from the feed, maybe I’ll consider it.
Tom, Leyton
Ugly never felt so good
I read this morning’s mailbox with great joy and pleasure because I’m a long time Arsenal fan that spent a lot of my youth watching Arsenal teams completely play Man Utd off the park only to lose the game (and have the excellence of those performances lost to the result and history).
David De Gea once had FOURTEEN (14!) saves at The Emirates. Wayne Rooney once scored TWICE from ONE shot on target. The same player dove over Sol Campbell’s leg to win the penalty that ended Arsenal’s Invincible streak. I could go on and on about “undeserved” Man Utd victories that resulted in insults about Arsenal’s “softness”.
Yesterday wasn’t quite the same sort of smash and grab, despite MAN UNITED fans whinging about the ref (never thought I’d live to see the day) because Simon Hooper gave them most of the 50-50 calls, which in turn contributed to their “dominance” of the game. I won’t speak for every Gooner, but having watched Saliba, Gabriel & Raya for a few years now, I never felt worried that Utd would score. I was only concerned that Cunha would eventually flop his way into a cheap penalty.
That said, Utd fans should definitely feel encouraged by Mbuemo and Cunha (that ‘xDOG’ you love so much will cost Utd someday), as well as the coherence and effort on display. With no Europe, lots of training time, and most importantly, one match per week, I wouldn’t be surprised if they make the top 4 this season. I mean, it’s a 2 billion pound project. It’s the least they can do.
As for Arsenal, we’ll take the 3 points… and the cannoli. COYG
Deen (AFC, USA)
READ: 16 Conclusions on Manchester United 0-1 Arsenal: Gyokeres, Mbeumo, Martinelli, £100m Fernandes
…22 years we went without a result at Old Trafford. Years and years of being the better team only to be beaten by Mourinho miseryball or Ferguson and his referee coven. 22 years of misery, being told we were soft. That we couldn’t grind out results. 22 years of Roy Keane saying we weren’t smart, or hard, or good, that winning was the only thing that mattered. That we didn’t like it up them. If you told me before the match it would be absolute dog sh*t but we’d win, I’d have bitten your hand off.
So cry me a river. Seeing United fans huffing their copium, saying they were the better side. Deserved the win etc. These were the mewling cries of Arsenal fans for decades and we were rightly mocked for it. There is a reason why Chelsea, Liverpool, City, United and Spurs fans keep heaping pressure on Arteta to win, and that’s because none of those teams have beaten us in like 800 days. Its been a long time in the league, and they hate it. Good. I don’t want you to like us. I want you to hate us. It is a far more motivating emotion than being pat on the head by opponent managers who tell us ‘we played well.’
I grew up in the George Graham era, I will lap up every 1-0 I can. So talk about how great your new signings are, how Cunha bossed us, how De Ligt bossed us. Talk about how Arsenal were poor. We were, we stank up the gaff, we were probably at 50% capacity. And you STILL couldn’t beat us at your own ground. I think you need to self reflect. And I say this as someone who doesn’t think we’ll win the league this year either.
John Matrix AFC
…Well, that was quite the reaction to a game of football wasn’t it? In all honesty the mailbox was less outrageous than I thought it would be, Stewie aside, but he doesn’t count. Still though, I do think we all need a bit of perspective. Far too many of us are still stuck in a nostalgic reverie about Man Utd vs Arsenal. Keane and Vieira retired several years ago now everyone, games between these two sides simply don’t hold the same significance anymore.
Nevertheless, there was plenty to talk about going in to this match and well, it didn’t really deliver. What we got was a game where Arsenal seemed happy to see out a 1 goal win with minimal fuss. Yes, minimal fuss!
I know there has been a certain section of fans that have reacted like this was a backs to the wall grind as if Arsenal were a championship side scraping a win in the 4th round of the league cup, but that’s not the game I watched.
Arsenal weren’t brilliant, I will grant them that, but I really don’t see where this narrative of Utd being great comes from. Sure, they didn’t look as clueless as the majority of last season, but other than Cunha’s shot that was well saved, they didn’t really trouble Arsenal. Sure they had a lot of possession and the stats will tell you they had a lot of shots on goal, but the vast majority were very easily dealt with.
All I really learned from this game was that the players are seemingly still not quite up to speed yet. Some seemed a bit slow, a bit laborious and just undercooked. That is a bit of a concern, but I am remiss to take too much from the first game of the season.
So, all in all, yes it wasn’t a great game of football, neither team was at their best, but it means very little in the grand scheme of things.
Andrew (I am not convinced Madueke on the left wing will work though)
…Let’s make one thing clear F365. It doesn’t matter what you say, how many articles you write, how many mails you publish, how many Tony Pulis comparisons you make, we will never apologise to you for the way we play. My generation more than anyone knows the number of articles you wrote (and the number of snide comments made) about soft Arsenal. Wenger’s Arsenal. I remember very clearly when Arsenal had a huge problem conceding goals from set pieces. “Be stronger” they said.
Correct me if I’m wrong but Arteta now has the best record against Manchester United of any coach today?
We are not your entertainment Steve Chicken. We don’t owe you that. If you want to be entertained you can watch Liverpool’s gung ho football or any of Chelsea’s 427 wingers. There’s plenty of entertainment to go round there. Only Ben white and Raya probably played well for Arsenal yesterday and they still beat this Manu team. Mbuemo 70 million. No goals no assists. Cunha 60 million. No goals no assist. Sesko 80 million. No goals no assists.
But guess who the flop is? Yes. Gyokeres. No pre season, no time to adapt to a new style of play, first game away at one of football’s toughest grounds.
Shame. 3 points and onto the next.
Damola AFC, Berlin Germany
…Arteta is on 10m not 15m (seriously where do you even get this from? If you google it or chatgpt you can get actual facts. It takes 2 seconds come on). Can we start fact checking mailboxes or rejecting bulls***? I guess you would lose a weekly Stewie emails and inevitable follow-up so your engagement will drop a bit but you’ll be doing your part to fight fake news world we live in. He’s on 2m more than Slots reported salary so you can have your point just make it properly mate
Based on information i can find, Isak wants 300k (15m) per year and would have cost lets say 130m, Gyokeres is on 200k (10m a year) from what I can gather and cost about 63m. So Isak would cost some 200m over 5 years and Gyokeres 110m. I also find it hilarious to say hes “available” when hes currently on strike not playing for any teams since hes so “available”. Is he 90m less player? Tough to decide that on one weekend when one of the 2 is sat on his sofa
I find it fascinating that anyone can watch that game and come away with any thoughts other than wow United are a much much better team this season and won’t finish anywhere near 15th. Their attack was direct and varied, the players are playing with a sense of freedom, the defense remains solid. This United team are a completely different animal and I am extremely happy with 1-0 at a buoyant old Trafford. I think as the season goes on people will find it harder and harder to get points vs United.
Great 3 points to start the season in a no win scenario of an opening game. Lovely jubly.
Rob A (clear as day penalty, we were very lucky) AFC
Lucky, lucky Arsenal
Arsenal signed a world-class goalkeeper at the end of last season, displacing a firm supporter favourite in the process in a calculated but risky move.
Manchester United were given many, many examples of neither of their options being good enough last season and chose not to address the issue.
Lucky, lucky Arsenal…
Monsieur Monkey, somewhere in the sand
Leave Stewie out
My god, the Stewie Griffin emails are just so so boring now – I was debating whether to email in, as I don’t want to be part of the problem of drawing attention to him (which is surely the only thing he wants, maybe a cuddle from his parents too?) but it also reflects badly on F365 to carry on with the clickbait, given all the stick they give the other sites for doing the exact same thing.
The main reason I (and I sense others) read F365 is to avoid all the arsehole toxic opinions that you get on fan sites and just enjoy real, knowledgeable fans debating and joking about Our Game.
It was kinda funny at first, but please god, the joke is dead now.
On a footballing note, I’ll just be boring and say that there was really nothing of value to extract from the Man Utd – Arsenal game. Everyone was rusty, the Gunners ground it out and were tougher and more resilient overall than Utd. We’ll take the 3 points, forget the game ever happened, move on and hope to get better which no doubt we will. Incredible to see us being able to take White and Calafiori off and replace them with MLS and Timber – this is the kind of quality in depth we fans have been looking for, for years and it’s an exciting time to be an Arsenal fan.
AP
On goalkeeper obstruction
You don’t typically publish much outside the established mailbox favorites, but here goes nothing…
(We have no record of you ever sending a mail before – Ed)
The FA laws of the game state the following:
“Impeding the progress of an opponent means moving into the opponent’s path to obstruct, block, slow down or force a change of direction when the ball is not within playing distance of either player.”
How do Arsenal’s corners not fall afoul of this regularly? They have a player back into the ‘keeper for every corner. That player is seldom within playing distance of the ball, and they are even less seldomly called for a foul. I recognize that other teams attempt to crowd the ‘keeper from corners as well, but Arsenal have clearly taken it to new levels with their set piece coach and mob rush to the front/back post in recent seasons. Stats back this up as well; they showed a lovely graphic during yesterday’s match where Arsenal have outscored all other Premier League sides from corners by something like 10 goals since 23/24. Good thing too since they create precious little from open play.
Am I a frustrated Man. Utd supporter? Yes. Does this obstruction trend with Arsenal go beyond Utd? I’ll let other readers contribute their favorite examples. Unless the officiating gets wise, it will continue.
Red (not clever enough for parentheses) Herring
Sesko is the better striker
In the summer of 2022, Arsenal opted to pay ~50m for the “established” Gabriel Jesus, paying him ~265k per week. They chose not to pursue the up-and-coming Alexander Isak who then eventually moved to Newcastle for 70m and ~120k per week.
Fast forward the summer of 2025 where Gabriel Jesus is perennially injured, barely scores and assists, is out of the team, and Isak is priced as 150m.
Now in the summer of 2025, Arsenal were also given the choice of signing either Gyokeres and Sesko. Gyokeres cost them ~65m rising to 70m, and is on 200k a week. Sesko eventually cost us 76.5m and is on around 160k a week.
In 3 years time, I will bet my grandmother’s house that Gyokeres will leave for nothing as his contract is cancelled (like what will surely happen to Jesus in the near future), and Sesko will be wanted by the likes of Real Madrid for a cool 150m.
Insert Stewie Griffin rant here.
Olawunde (Arsenal will be out of the title race by Chistmas as Gyokeres sits on the bench watching Kai Havertz barely score any goals, United will finish 4th and Arsenal out of the Champions League places)
Liverpool v Bournemouth conclusions
I was going to do a longread but actually have some deadlines this week so quick summary having been in the away corner:
The murals in the streets around have always been excellent. The Jota one adds to that.
Now the Anfield Road end is finished, there’s loads of space in the concourse but everyone still just blocks the lower level round the bar. So you still can’t move.
The tributes before the game and in the 20th minute were very meaningful and effectively done. Silence well observed by away fans, and I don’t have a problem with rival chants throughout YNWA. I do think the critics have a point about piping the music and lyrics in; it doesn’t add a great deal and enough fans sing to probably not need it.
New stadium announcer at Anfield for the first time for years. Still too loud!
Ekitike looked sharp, the other side of the commentator’s nightmare Diakite understandably rusty. Wirtz was mostly a passenger, MacAllister was the most eyecatching in the midfield.
Aside from one moment of outstanding positioning, probably the shakiest I’ve seen VVD. Konate clearly not helping.
Bournemouth at their best when Endo was at full-back, Slot’s second round of changes which addressed this solved the problem.
Semenyo – dealt with the situation as well as anyone could have. Goals a bonus.
Alex Scott is a real curate’s egg of a player. This one of his better performances but need it to be more consistent.
After getting back to 2-2, lack of defensive and pivot depth cost us. Looked leggy before the third goal, Truffert increasingly isolated. I’d almost rather prefer we’d thrown more attackers on and lost trying to win, rather than sitting deep and chasing shadows.
This is now the fourth season where we have painted Adam Smith as a club legend. He is, but he cannot continue to be the starting full-back for a team with mid-third PL aspirations.
I have lost count of how many times I’ve seen Salah score against Bournemouth. At least ten I think. Again, he had little impact on the game but does it really matter with stats like that?
That’s the first time I’ve seen the Kop actually loud. I still think I’ve experienced better noise at Goodison, Villa Park and (weirdly) The Hawthorns but it was pretty impressive at the end.
Andy J, Bournemouth
Frank and honest on Spurs
Happy New Season, to all those who celebrate.
My first time writing into the F365 Mailbox since late last season when I was a semi-regular contributor turning up in staunch defence of Ange Postecoglou.
While I stand by my Ange love; he’ll always be a Spurs legend in my eyes, I must say, I’m loving the Thomas Frank experience so far.
It’s a bit like characters in some forgettable Netflix movie: The Spurs fans are the kids… and mom (Spurs hierarchy) and Dad (Ange) have had troubles. Ange was fun and exciting. He drove a motorbike, and used to bring you out for thrilling drives, he was cool and had a leather jacket. But he was also a little unreliable. Not always there when you want him, or at least not there in the way you need him. So Ange and Mom parted ways.
And in came Thomas.
And yeah, he doesn’t drive a motorbike or have a leather jacket (he’s more of a half zip sweater guy), and yes he comes across as a bit of a nerd, but as the movie goes on – the kids realise he’s smart, reliable, he’s there to give Spurs exactly the kind of stability they’ve been craving. And, as we find out, he can be fun too! We get the impression that he wants to be here for a long time, not just a thrilling good time. He might even be a perfect fit for the family.
Anyway, tenuous Netflix family flick analogies aside, I’m well on board the Thomas the Frank Engine.
Against PSG, despite the gut-punching finish, I had 80-ish of the most enjoyable Spurs watching minutes in a long time: They looked organised, disciplined. They worked hard, they played smart. They even had plans for set pieces! You could see Frank’s fingerprints all over it. They looked like a team build on solid foundations (despite only a few weeks of work!). To follow that up against Burnley, with a no nonsense, very professional, clean cut 3-0 win was just perfect. Many might rightly say “It’s just Burnley” but the reality is, Spurs were one of the most generous teams in the league last year to give points to promoted sides, with our sloppy, inconsistent league form.
There are much sterner tests to come, starting with City next week, but the signs so far show me a charismatic, intelligent manager, with a bought in squad, who are ready to make Tottenham a serious team again. If Savinho and Eze join the ranks this week? Now the whole club is behaving like a serious contender.
Exciting times ahead!
Andy, Spurs, Eire
(P.s. Buy your Mohammad Kudus stock now while it’s cheap!)
16 Conclusions on Nottingham Forest v Brentford
1. Even with a couple of attackers still to add, Forest looked excellent going forward with MGW pulling all the strings
2. I wonder if it points to a more “front foot” approach this season, given they had more possession (54%) than in any game they won last season#
3. Always hard to judge how much was Team X good v Team Y bad, but we (Brentford) were terrible in the first half
4. Perhaps it was to be expected when we were missing 2 out of our 3 regular midfield starters from last season, and all 3 of our attackers (for differing reasons)
5. A midfield 3 of Yarmoliuk, Jensen and Milambo is never going to be good enough in the PL, but especially against a team as good as Forest. We didn’t have much choice on the day, but it shouldn’t be a surprise that we struggled to keep the ball against Forest’s high energy press, especially in the first half.
6. It does make me worry how much we’ll miss Norgaard. We all knew how important he was to us, but it seems like we’re not really replacing him (Hendo is not the natural ball-winner that Norgaard is). Maybe Janelt when he returns from injury could play that role but either way it’s a step down
7. Going forward we lacked any kind of potency until Schade came on. But hopefully Ouatarra will make a difference and maybe Wissa when he’s finished his strop can return to give us some more options up top.
8. I was surprised how all over the place we were defensively as this was the one area I thought we would be pretty solid. Maybe just an early season thing and it was largely individual errors which led to the goals (Collins the biggest culprit)
9. The fact we improved considerably second half is a positive, and at least points to Keith Andrews making a difference in the dressing room.
10. Although not a great start, I don’t feel too pessimistic about the season. We should hopefully be much stronger already next week against Villa, and losing away to Forest is no disaster.
11. I kind of assumed (and hoped!) that Chris Wood just had one of those mad seasons last year when everything clicked and he’d revert to the mean this time around. 2 goals in the first 45 minutes of the season, both high quality finishes (genuine “striker” goals) suggest otherwise!
12. The through ball from Anderson for Forest’s 3rd….wow!
13. Murillo and Milenkovic must be up there with the best CB pairings in the PL. Absolute beasts and good footballers to boot.
14. My first trip to the City ground and it was impressive. The setting by the river, close to the town centre and train station, good away pubs…makes it a great away day for travelling fans.
15. Also thought (begrudgingly) the Forest fans were good…drowned us out sadly (although a goal after 5 minutes tends to affect that balance!).
16. One exception, though, the idiot behind us on the top tier who thought it was appropriate to shout out during the Jota minute silence and managed to taint it for 30,000 people.
Rob, Surrey (Bees fan)
Now we know what happens next…
And just like that, Game Week 1 is done (well, almost) so obviously we’ve now got all the answers for what’s going to happen this season. Here goes;
No title race after all – Man City are going to p*ss the league. A 90+ points season beckons, and the big Norwegian robot will probably score 427 goals. Liverpool finish 2nd but at least 10 points adrift.
Tijjani Reijnders to win all the gongs – Kevin De who?
Potter first gaffer gone – Oh dear, Graham. Oh dear indeed. Maybe it was actually Brighton that made him look good after all?
Mikel Arteta is revealed to be George Graham’s biological Love Child – Altogether now, “One-nil to the……..”
Brentford and Burnley doomed – These pair battle it out for the wooden spoon, with one of West Ham, Leeds or Sunderland to join them back in the Champ. Which leads me to……
Wolves will be fine – A four-nil thumping at the hands of the Champions Elect means nowt. They did look very good in spells. Not a chance they go down.
Andy FTM (Second in the Prem, so obviously already looking forward to the San Siro away on a cold Wednesday night in November next year)
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