Dan:)

I just like to talk about football. Gooner

[dantalksball]

How Society Protects Athletes Over Victims

Have you ever heard the phrase "A rape allegation could ruin someone's career", although true, how often do we see this occur? From my perspective as a sports fan, I am constantly seeing athletes get away with their actions due to how they are glorified and the money they have. I think the most notable is the Mason Greenwood case, where literal photo and audio proof was spread all throughout the internet. Anyone who is remotely connected to football has seen it and is aware of what happened. The case got dropped because a key witness withdrew, so by law, Mason Greenwood is seen as "not guilty". With this, we see fans still glorifying Greenwood and arguably glorifying him even more than they used to before the case. Absurd, isn't it?

Propaganda plays a massive part in this and we are exposed to this propaganda through media and journalism. A main perp is Fabrizio Romano, especially in this certain case. Why do I accuse him of such? Call me crazy but when you're constantly praising a player who at the time was playing at a mid-table La Liga side, when you announce Getafes player of the season but don't do the same for other Spanish clubs and when you generally just cover Mason Greenwood much more often than you do the average player it is most definitely strange and propaganda. What this does is when you sweep a player's actions under the rug and continue to praise them, it destigmatizes their actions and they are seen as heroes, as gods.

We have to hold athletes more accountable for their actions. We idolize them because of what they can create and do, not who they are, and we must always remember that. We do not know who they truly are, only what they display to us. Sadly, the people who suffer from these cases receive so much abuse after the amount of pain that they already have suffered. So, before you say that these people that "accuse" an athlete of SA or rape do it for the money or the "fame" I'd like to hear you tell me one person who has gotten famous or ridiculously rich from an accusation like this. The odds would be extremely against them and they'd receive threats and hate from supporters. I'm not saying that it's never happened but really think about what someone who makes an accusation would get? Very likely that they would receive not much except abuse.

[dantalksball]

Dan's 2022-23 Arsenal Season Review

I'm very well aware it's almost been 3 weeks since the end of the season but in fairness, the full European season has only ended 5 days prior. Moving on, without further ado this is my Arsenal season review. I will be separating it into 4 categories, the board, the manager, the players, and finally how the season played out compared to prior expectations before the season started.

I have quite mixed feelings about the board after this season. I think summer wise we had a very decent transfer window with the likes of Jesus, Zinchenko, Vieira, Marquinhos, and Turner becoming gunners. I think Jesus and Zinchenko were absolutely vital to get where we got at the end of the season bringing a completely new dynamic into the team and the first half of the was pure enjoyment but I'll go more in-depth about what I think of each player in the player's category. Okay, summer is done, I think they did well backing Arteta and the first half of the season was near perfect. Now January was big, was starting to look like we could be in a real title race and we had to learn our lesson from the season prior to this one because no signings in January caused us to lose out on the top 4 with multiple players ( mainly Partey) picking up injuries. Now in the winter is where I get a bit skeptical. We lose out on Mudryk to our London rivals Chelsea when we were looking like CLEAR favorites and went on to get Trossard instead, I'm still happy about this decision to be quite honest so it wasn't terrible but still felt a bit odd. Then comes the pursuit of Caicedo, for me, I still believe we should've signed him instead of Jorginho although Jorginho did surpass my expectations when you look at all of the factors that Caicedo really did want to join the club and you can clearly see that after he expressed it on social media following the bid for Caicedo. Not only that, it would've been way better future wise and to avoid a transfer bid saga with Chelsea this upcoming summer window so this from the board and Edu makes me feel a little ill in the stomach. All in all, I give the board a 7.5/10 this season.

I was really close to giving Arteta a 10/10 this season but there are some minor details I do give him criticism for and I'll go more in-depth about that now. I think Arteta's system was so fun and beautiful to watch this season, it's been the best ever season I've seen since I started supporting this club. Implementing Zinchenko to be inverted and it just looks like he's all over the pitch as well as being vital for build-up, utilizing the dynamism from Jesus to help out Martinelli on the left and also dropping deep to link up and progress play, how he helped Saka elevate his game along with Martinelli, Odegaard, especially Granit Xhaka, Ben White being introduced to a new role and still playing so well so consistently, Magalhães, Saliba, and Ramsdale. And not to mention the non-regular starters like Trossard, Reiss, Kiwior, etc. I think his man management has been phenomenal this year. For me, my main criticism of Arteta is ruthlessness at times of the season and sadly it was mainly during crunch time. With the injuries of Saliba and Tomiyasu occurring, he decided to go with Holding to place hold that centreback spot, and for me, I was hoping he'd find a different solution. Following Saliba's injury, with Holding starting, we had 1 win and 3 draws. That was 6 possible points dropped during a crucial time in the title race and following those games where I felt the title was practically lost we decided to switch it up I guess better late than never but really it's a lack of ruthlessness that also dropped us these points, also not subbing off players when they're just off it, the first instance that comes to mind is Saka's performance against West Ham, I was baffled to see him play a full 90 minutes. So in the end I give Arteta a 9/10.

First up the 2 keepers, Aaron Ramsdale and Matt Turner. I give Aaron Ramsdale an 8,5/10 for this season, honestly, I genuinely don't have many bad things to say about him because I think he's been so so good this season and I'm honestly surprised how overhated and underrated he is not just in general but in the football community as a whole. Matt Turner gets a 6/10 for me, did his job when he was asked although you could see his struggles at playing from the back, seems like a very nice personality to have in the squad and just a decent guy who had a not-so-bad season. Up next is Kieran Tierney with a 5/10 mostly because I couldn't bring myself to put him any lower because I have the biggest soft spot for him. Didn't do terribly when called but it just wasn't good, most likely on his way out by the end of the summer although I'd love to see him stay. Oleksandr Zinchenko 7,5 or 8/10 completely changed the way we play football with his being added to the team but for me, I put him down a little bit solely based on injury problems (availability is the best ability) and also at times defensively weak, i.e TAA nutmeg and multiple plays of lack of awareness of runs, etc. Gabriel Magalhães 8,5/10 the 1 taken away mostly comes from a few "bozo" moments from him but man I love this guy so much, even after making a mistake during a game he'll still go on to make up for it. The first instant that comes to mind is the game against Fulham at the Emirates. William Saliba honestly gets a 10/10 for me because wow what an amazing first season, if only he hadn't got injured. We truly struck the lottery with Saliba, an all-timer in the making. In the upcoming season, I am going to appreciate this guy way more because I should've appreciated him more prior to his injury, truly immense. Jakub Kiwior 6,5/10 obviously only came through in January but when called up to do a job, did it great. The first game of his against Sporting was kinda iffy but we can see some great glimpses from him, his long ball ability is actually outstanding. Rob Holding... 1/10 I prefer not to speak genuinely. Ben White 8,5/10 my god he plays football like he's putting the ball to bed, fits perfectly in as a full-back but as a center back he is still so so good. Tomiyasu 6/10 can't judge him much since he was injured for most of the season but that performance against Liverpool as a lb kinda makes his rating go up a bit, POCKETED Salah. Thomas Partey 7,5/10 some amazing performances in all honesty but that shot attempt against Southampton replays in my head every night... Jorginho 7/10 did his job when asked to and that Aston Villa strike must not be forgotten. Xhaka 8/10 truly revitalised himself last season providing 16 goal contributions in every competition. Although, he was quite frustrating in terms of creating in the final third at times. Odegaard 10/10 may be some bias for this but he is a special special player, his technical ability, vision, and weight of pass are jaw-dropping. Fabio Vieira, an underwhelming 6/10 although I do think he does have lots of potential, this season was underwhelming in all honesty taking away his performance against Brentford which in all fairness he was amazing that game. Gabriel Martinelli 9/10 such an underrated season in all honesty, devastated to see him injured towards the end of the season seeing he was so close to breaking the highest goal scored by a Brazilian in a season record. Despite the dip in form in post world cup he started gaining form again and wow do I love him. Leandro Trossard 7/10 did his job with some very nice performances, the 3 assists in the first half against Fulham were beauties. Bukayo Saka 10/10 starboy. That's all I have to say. Reiss Nelson, I kinda wanna give him a 10/10 purely based on the moment he gave me with Bournemouth, AND IMMA DO THAT. Needs more game time next season, silky baller. Gabriel Jesus 8.5/10 pre-world cup Jesus was a monster. Eddie Nketiah 7/10 your defense is in trouble, underrated season.

Based on expectations for this season I'll give it a 9,5/10 if only we didn't. Losing out on the league it would be a 10 but because we crashed out of every competition as well 0,5 is taken away. (this review was a long time coming and personal problems got in the way but thank god I've finally finished this.

[dantalksball]

Mesut Özil, A Footballing Genius

March 22nd 2023 marks the day my favourite player of all time, Mesut Özil, retires. Mesut Özil was one of a kind, probably the purest playmaker number 10 you'll ever see. Maybe it's personal bias but I truly believe Mesut Özil is the best playmaker of all time. In no doubt in my mind should he be amongst the conversations of the Xavis, Iniestas and Zidanes of the world.

He could find space anywhere on the pitch whether it was himself getting into the space or just finding a pass that no one in the world would have thought of let alone execute it. His technical ability on the ball would just make you get off your seat. The passing ability he contained, the weight of the pass being perfect, the direction just pin point and even creating his signature pass/ shot. It's as if he had eyes all over his body, his vision and ability to find space is so good he managed to find space at a mosque during ramadan.

It breaks my heart that his career ends like this. As an arsenal fan, I believe we EXTREMELY let him down. The amount of chances he would create and just the quality on the pitch he brought was out of this world, if we just had a competent striker we could've won leagues and Mesut Özil would've obliterated records. For a player of his talent to only win one league title throughout his whole career saddens me.

2010 only at the age of 20 he introduced himself to the world. Displaying his immense talent on the biggest stage in the world, the world cup, which he would go on to win in 2014 as well as playing a very instrumental part in both campaigns. After his first World Cup Campaign he would go on to sign for Real Madrid registering 27 goals and 81 assists, just the thought of how many records he would've destroyed if he played with Ronaldo for more seasons. Then again, nothing beats that deadline day signing of Mesut Özil to Arsenal. Most chances created in the history of football, I truly don't think anyone else was better at pure playmaking. I think you could pull some random person of the streets, make them immortal, make them practice nonstop for 1000 years and they wouldn't be able to replicate what Mesut Özil could do on a football pitch.

Happy Retirement My Idol

[dantalksball]

Erling Haaland Is A Monster

After this Monster has just put 5 past RB Leipzig in a UCL Round of 16, I just had to speak about him. For someone who is destroying Champions League records and is soon to break the Premier League goal-scoring record, I'd go on to say he is still underrated. It baffles me that people will unironically say he's a tap-in merchant or a penalty merchant when he has so much to his game that the casual eye can't catch.

I personally think the best part of his game comes from the transition and when he's able to run at defenders and for him to hit these heights with Man City whilst not being able to utilize his best attribute shows how elite he is in other attributes as a number 9. Sure, if you look at his highlights with City this season only one of his many goals has been outside the box but like I said I don't even think his goal-poaching ability is the best attribute, for him to hit these numbers shows how ELITE that part of his game is. There will be many times as well where he makes a great run but the ball doesn't get to him or a teammate doesn't even attempt the pass. His knowledge of knowing where to be and when to make runs is so elite, truly a defender's worst nightmare. Not to mention his insane athleticism. Insanely rapid, 6'4, insanely strong. Machine.

22 years old by the way.