What have we learnt from the first three episodes of All or Nothing
What have we learnt from the first three episodes of All or Nothing
The elephant in the room
It’s certainly an
unorthodox approach. It’s also drawn a few titters from those who don’t have
the Gunners at heart, mostly because they’re blessed with the hindsight
knowledge of the result.
Let’s face it, it is
comical.
Pumping them up
However, two months before that
series of unfortunate events, Arteta got it absolutely spot on by getting
long-serving club photographer Stuart MacFarlane to give a speech before the
derby against Tottenham at the Emirates.
Deferring to someone who
has loved Arsenal for decades was a great move by Arteta in emphasising how
much the next 90 meant to supporters as the performance that followed went a
long way towards mending bridges between them and the players.
Yes, Spurs were a shambles
that day, but so had the Gunners at the start of last season and that Sunday
afternoon in September was something of a turning point in the campaign.
It not only raised supporter morale, but it also lifted confidence and it was a big step towards Arsenal challenging for a Champions League place in the months that followed.
Kroenke Jr turns on the
charm
Nice try, Josh Kroenke. This is
what we were talking about when it comes to ‘scenes they want you to see.’
The first episode
highlights the support that came Bukayo Saka’s way after his missed penalty in
England’s Euro 2020 final shoot-out against Italy, which was effusive from
Gooners at home and abroad.
All Or Nothing seems to go
out of its way, however, in letting us know that one of the first texts Saka
received was from Josh Kroenke, son of club owner Stan.
It was such a scripted
attempt to make the Kroenkes look like nice guys – there’s a ‘revelation’
straight out of the gate in the series – you wondered how many takes were
required.
Dressing room insights
What All or Nothing does do,
however, is confirm one or two things Arsenal fans suspected of the players
during the course of a season. Don’t worry, these are positive.
First of all is that Saka really
does come across as one of the nicest lads in football. The winger has a great
attitude to back up his undoubted talent and is emerging as a dressing room
leader at a young age.
It was also brave of Kieran
Tierney to reveal how he struggled with his mental health after signing for the
club from Celtic in 2019.
We saw Aaron Ramsdale lose
his temper with his defenders on more than one occasion. Some wags will say he needs
to calm down but, if anything, that kind of revulsion at the thought of
conceding is one that needs applauding, not scoffed at. Lord knows we could
have done with more of it in the decade before.
So, there is what we know so far.
As we said, the rest of Arsenal’s roller-coaster 2021/22 campaign gets played
out before us in the coming weeks on Amazon.
That means we’ll find out
what methods Arteta used before those back-to-back wins over Chelsea and
Manchester United and just what happened to cause the Gunners' form to collapse
thereafter.
It may be over-sanitised,
even cringeworthy at times, but at least we already know it won’t be dull.
