They talk about us as ‘paranoid’ as a fanbase. They say that we’re so vocal and that we are the most conspiracy-driven collective of supporters. We’re apparently the loudest when it comes to believing that we have it worse than any other team. But isn’t that any wonder then, that when you get the likes of the mainstream media who use us as a test case for the extreme views? Your likes of Jamie O’Hara, or yesterday I unfortunately saw a clip of Jeff Stelling talking about how we are so boring to watch. Apparently we don’t play enough open and expansive football and that’s the cause behind it, citing the current situation with Arsenal and the fact we’re currently 14th in open play goals scored. Here’s the table if you want to have a look. I must confess this is the first time I’ve see this table and certainly the first time the media have been using it with such gusto, but perhaps it has been around for quite some time and Football365 certainly have the data there to evidence the fact it has been there for a while.

Whether it’s been trotted out or not remains to be seen. But it interesting that Sky, TalkShite and other click-baity areas of the internet are leaning in to this narrative about us. James and I did a little section on it on the Same Old Arsenal pod last night. Why is this being talk about so much?

I think it is probably because more and more teams are taking the lead from Arsenal’s success. I find that in football there are certainly fashions that tend to sweep across the elite game. There’s the booting the ball into touch to gain territory, the go for the long throw and the emphasis on set pieces as a key component of the game that we’ve seen this season. But football’s fashions have been going on for years. When I was a kid everyone played 4-4-2 and that’s about it. There was a time around when Conte won the Premier League for Chelsea that everyone suddenly fancied going three at the back. Then latterly we’ve seen a lot of teams go for a 4-2-3-1, or a 4-3-3, with pacey wide forwards being all the rage, as opposed to your right midfielders like Ray Parlour.

What we’re seeing now is just the latest tactical evolution. The only problem is that football is steeped in its narratives and dinosaurs like Jeff Stelling, who have now presented on our screens and radio stations for 30 years, are still focused on ‘what it was like in the old days’. What they don’t realise is that in fact football has become far more technical, far more complex and far more data-driven across all teams in the elite levels, that teams are eradicating mistakes and therefore the concept of ‘Marginal gains’ becomes vital.

The problem Arsenal have – well, it’s a problem that everyone else has, not us – is that Arsenal have perfected their marginal gain speciality to such a point that you cannot stop it, regardless out much you practice it. Football has become so risk averse that you have to look at tactical situations as your opportunity to make the difference. What are the key ways in which a manager or his coaching staff can truly influence the game more than any other situation? It isn’t having a Messi dribble around ten players. It isn’t getting players to shoot from the halfway line, or telling them to score goals from open play, or hope for a mistake from open play. It is through those situations in which there is a stoppage in play and therefore positions can be set and those on the side-line can move their chess pieces around the board. That’s set pieces. Corners, free kicks, throw ins. People are talking about long throw in’s coming back in as if it’s some kind of harking back to the old Stoke days, but in reality clubs have just realised that if they practice them properly, they can effectively be like corners. That Brentford fella who whips his throw-ins low and hard is effectively like getting a corner on the side. And you get so many throw ins during a game. And when you think about how the probability increases of scoring when you get a corner (this is a couple of years old from Opta, but is still relevant I think), doesn’t it stand to reason that when you also treat throw ins like that, you’re just playing the numbers game, right?

The best counter I’ve seen to the Arsenal negativity from our fanbase has been this argument:

If you want open play goals, how about not coming to try to park the bus against us?

If you’re a Liverpool, City, United, Bournemouth, Sunderland, Chelsea fan and you’re making those kinds of comments (not sure how many Sunderland or Bournemouth fans are to be fair), then perhaps asked the question why so many teams are making the box congested. It’s difficult to score open play goals when there’s 18 players in a penalty box. The only other way then is taking long shots but the chances of scoring with 18 players in the box diminishes rapidly. So, Jeff Stelling, if you’re going to have a pop at Arsenal for the games not being expansive, perhaps have a pop at teams playing Arsenal too?

Leeds came to play us.

Lost 5-0.

Forest came to play us.

Lost 3-0.

If teams come and don’t park the bus, then there’s a football match to be had, but until that happens then your ire should be directed in other directions than Nicholas Jover et al.

Last season we were accused of parking the bus against City and were lambasted for not making it a football game. No such daggers thrust in Man City’s direction this season. Palace played a game that was designed to be compact and barely got in to our half until the second half when they had to go for it. But even then they didn’t register anything resembling a big chance from where I was sitting. Yet nobody has said anything about them.

It’s always The Arsenal.

We’re used to it by now.

Back tomorrow as we prep for Brighton at home in the League Cup.