The Wenger Watch is delighting in Theo Walcott's promising campaign to become the best Europa League player of all time. Theo got himself a first-half brace, followed by goals by Olivier Giroud (his 100th for Arsenal) and Rob Holding to hold off BATE Borisov, 4-2.
So, the Wenger-O-Meter continues its inexorable march toward Wenger "IN". We're getting close!
Mesut Ozil is one of the most serene players in world football, able to glide past defenders and place inch-perfect passes while still looking like he gives zero f*cks about being on the pitch. A new video from Hypebeast has shown a bit more what he’s like off the pitch, and while he still doesn’t appear to be giving any f*cks, he sure does have a boatload of shoes — and one cute pup.
Arsenal’s Nacho Monreal is an example for younger generations. He miraculously saved a header in the game against West Brom.
Arsenal's 2-0 victory over West Brom Monday was . . . expected. Although they caught a couple breaks via the referee and Nacho Monreal's field awareness, Arsenal mostly took care of business and won by a scoreline that they were supposed to win by.
So, cool! We have accordingly adjusted the Wenger-O-Meter closer to the "IN" position. Wenger isn't quite out of the woods, but things are looking up!
Arsenal took care of business in their Carabao (which we are pronouncing CaraBOW with extra emphasis on the BOW) Cup clash against Doncaster Rovers. Theo Walcott scored. Alexis dribbled a lot. Olivier Giroud tried two overhead kicks. Arsenal saved two goals in situations that involved beleaguered Arsenal defenders making horrible mistakes but being so much faster than the Doncaster forwards it didn't matter. Jack Wilshere played.
So, nothing to worry about, really. Survive and advance.
In Thursday's Wenger Watch European special, we ended with "Arsenal play Chelsea on Sunday, which means the Wenger-O-Meter will be in a much sillier position next week. Unless they tie."
Well, guess what happened? They tied! 0-0!
Therefore, true to the Wenger Watch's word, we are keeping the Wenger-O-Meter in the exact same position we had it in on Thursday, which, as you may recall, was in the MIDDLE. Neither IN nor OUT. SCHRODINGER'S FRENCHMAN.
Last year Chelsea went through the entire campaign without drawing a single red card on the way to the Premier League title. This year Antonio Conte’s side is taking a decidedly different approach. Chelsea has raced to an early lead in the race for most red cards in the Premier League.
The unthinkable happened on Thursday night in London during the Europa League match between Arsenal and Cologne: Fans from the opposing teams were allowed to sit next to each other. I’ll let you gather your collective breath for a moment as the gasps sweeping across America just created another hurricane in the Atlantic.
Typically, supporters from one club are cordoned off from supporters of the other club in stadiums across Europe. In America, opposing fans sit next to each other and nobody gets hurt. Why is it so hard for European fans to not murder each other?