PLAYER OF THE SEASON: MARTIN ODEGAARD

THE BASE IS DIVIDED AND THAT'S GOOD THING

Player of the Season Results Are In: It’s Martin Ødegaard

You can’t argue, can you? Captain fantastic was the catalyst for our rapid attacking improvement after that Wolves game, and we never looked back. He’s a leader, a fine example to the young kids, a relentless workhorse, sublimely talented, a creative visionary… and he’s only 25 years old.

What a player we have on our hands. Remember the clamoring for Aouar ahead of him? Remember people calling him boring? What a star he has become.

The interesting thing about Player of the Season this year is that the award could have gone to several players, and you wouldn’t have batted an eyelid. Declan? Sure. Kai? Sure. Saka? Sure. Ben White? Big Gabi? Saliba? Why not.

Arsenal are at such a critical level of talent that it’s going to be hard to pick a name. Ødegaard took 33% of the vote.

- Martin Ødegaard (33% of votes)

- Declan Rice (24% of votes)

- William Saliba (20% of votes)

It was a fanbase divided in the vote but united over the decision.

Big Gabi has told the Brazilian media he’d leave the club tomorrow for Corinthians.

Corinthians, that’s since I was born, and today I don’t think it has to be any different. I still go to Corinthians games by train. It’s my dream; I want to play for Corinthians; I want to feel that energy.

In 11 years' time, I have no problem with that. For now, he must serve the mighty Arsenal and deliver on the objectives of winning the Premier League and the Champions League within the next 5 years.

Onana keeps getting linked to Arsenal. I think it’s just internet chatter versus anything of substance. I can’t believe anyone who watched him against Arsenal in the last game of the season is convinced he has a higher level than Tottenham. He’s a classic destroyer midfielder with a few bells and whistles. He’s not better than Partey, Declan, Jorginho, or Granit Xhaka. I don’t believe we’ve ever been interested in him. It’s agent talk for me. I’d be very disappointed if we went from fancying Zubimendi, Luiz, or Frenkie to Onana. Arsenal fans went so long without a good #6 that we just jump on anyone who looks like a player who could have been useful during the Alex Song era.

Douglas Luiz would be my first choice, and if money were no object, then Bruno would probably be an ideal name to have on the team sheet.

James from Gunnerblog penned a nice piece on Carlos Cuesta, the young coaching phenom who increasingly occupies a position next to Arteta in the Arsenal dugout. I thought this piece was interesting.

He also harnessed the power of social networking to build his profile and make valuable contacts. He followed every member of staff who listed Real or Atletico Madrid in their profile on X (then Twitter). Just two members of Atletico staff followed him back, but that was enough for Cuesta — it was a chance to exchange direct messages and build a relationship. It was a way in.

Cuesta volunteered for a role in Atletico’s academy. He wasn’t motivated by the money or the job title — he knew the value of the club badge. A position with Atletico was a significant step forward. This 19-year-old from the islands was now wearing the tracksuit of one of Spain’s most famous clubs.

I speak to a lot of young people looking to break into sport these days, and one of my pieces of advice is to rattle the cages no one else would dare to… and be a little entitled. People in sport pay attention to the internet — and in a world of deep competition for spots, those that go direct tend to win out. The entitlement thing sounds weird, especially in this current culture, but I’m telling you, people that fear the hierarchy and the way things are supposed to be tend to climb slower. Cuesta dropping out of football, deciding coaching would be his best path to the top, then doubling down on the things he needed to do… namely, get qualified and get noticed, is such a basic strategy, and one people would have smirked at… and now he’s at the hottest club in the world at 28 years old.

This particular piece is also interesting. Cuesta was a target of Norwich earlier in the season, likely because Ben Knapper is the Sporting Director there. The job must have been tempting, but I’d imagine the message back to Cuesta was to stick it out here, grow a bit, then take a job. Being a coach at Arsenal at a young age can work when you have someone as dominant as Arteta as the shield. Translating that to a Championship club, with the pressure that comes with it, and the lack of resources associated with it, could be a fatal move for a young coach. Keeping him in the mix and giving him a profile over the next year keeps him on the radar of other clubs and probably satisfies a young coach that he’s going in the right direction.

An effort by the Premier League to close a loophole allowing clubs to use one-off profits from the sale of hotels, training grounds, or other tangible assets in their financial fair play submissions has failed.

The league proposed this change at its annual general meeting in Harrogate, North Yorkshire, on Thursday, but only 11 out of the 20 clubs supported it, falling short of the two-thirds majority needed to amend the English top flight’s profitability and sustainability rules (PSR).

In 2021, the English Football League stopped its clubs from using artificial windfall profits from property sales after several clubs sold their stadiums or training grounds to themselves to avoid breaching the PSR limit on permitted losses.

The EFL closed the loop a few years ago because clubs were escaping financial punishments by selling assets to themselves for book profits. It’s kind of mad that Premier League clubs voted against this, but I imagine they all calculated that at some point, they’ll miss out on a big windfall of money (CL a few seasons running) and need to pull the ethically ambiguous lever of this financial trick.

Clubs also voted against a self-reporting regulation.

Kind of mad that the integrity of the league is at stake with high-profile stakes and clubs are furious at the consequences of them not following the rules they agreed to. Did they not pay attention to the rules? Was it a PR stunt they thought had no teeth? Are they paying attention to how the world is viewing the mini-debacles in the media?

The really interesting story bubbling is the Chelsea one. They needed to sell to survive the June 30th deadline, now they are briefing that they do NOT need to sell. What are they going to do to escape a monstrous gulf in their PSR number? Rumbling that they are going to do something with their women’s team seems to be the top guess. I just don’t get why other clubs watch the flouting of loopholes that could impact them negatively and don’t seem to care?

Also worth noting that killing VAR was put up as an option and it was defeated 19-1. VAR is badly run right now, but it’s the right approach moving forward. We just need better people working the tools. And dear god, do not let Arsene Wenger anywhere near the offside rule.

Ok, short post. Latest podcasts here.