Arsenal Season Betting Review: The Odds
A guest post by Aidan Ward
With the new season of Football just round the corner now is the time to have a look at some season bets to see where Arsenal might gain punters a few pounds whilst hopefully collecting some trophies and honours. There are many betting options this season involving Arsenal, and this article will review all the best bets including which bookmakers are offering the best betting odds.
Arsenal’s perennial target is the Premier League, and this season will probably be no different. After coming closer than many outsiders bargained on last season, a bet on Arsenal to take the title cannot be ignored. There is little doubt that if Arsenal remain injury-free and show consistent form, they can put up a serious challenge. However, the bookmakers rate Arsenal’s chances as slim with some online bookies giving, in our eyes, excellent betting value in underestimating Arsenal’s chances of being crowned champions. The odds on Arsenal winning the league vary slightly but a whole host of bookies, including William Hill and Stan James offer odds of 9/1, a very generous price especially as you can go each way which will payout 1/3 of the odds for a top two finish.
If Arsenal are going to win the league then goals are required, two bets that can compliment the Premier League champions stake. Robin Van Persie shoulders the greatest responsibility in goalscoring, and 10/1 is offered at Coral bookies and Sky Bet on Van Persie finishing the Premier League top scorer. Coral are also offering 50/1 on Gervinho for top scorer, superb value and worth £5 of anyone’s money for a small outside bet.
Arsenal have the potential to beat any football team given the rules of chance, and this is one reason they should never be written off in any competition. Provided they make it through the qualifying stages, Arsenal can still pose a strong threat in the Champions League and the 24/1 that Unibet bookmakers are currently offering is great value. Another that stands out at the same bookies are betting odds of 9/2 for Arsenal to make the semi-final stage of the Champions League.
The most widespread opinion on Arsenal often cites the fact that the club has been without a trophy for several seasons and there is a good chance that Arsene Wenger may try and relieve the pressure in knockout competitions, by targeting the FA Cup. Most of the leading bookmakers have Arsenal fourth or fifth favourites to lift the famous trophy, with the best price found again at Coral who are the only bookmakers to offer odds of 10/1 for Arsenal to win the FA Cup.
Arsenal may well play younger players from the squad in the Carling Cup but this shouldn’t put people off having a bet on them. After reaching last year’s final they well could have the hunger and desire to go one step further and win it. Odds of 10/1 can be found from Bet365 and Bodog . You could even double up on a Cup double to win some huge money.
The Gambling Footballers XI
A starting XI of gambling footballers is a rather odd thing to compile. The list of players runs long, and whilst not always a problem for some players with vast amounts of money in their hands there is the temptation to blow it all.
We’ve chosen to go for a classic 3-5-2 formation given the bias towards Premier League players from the 1990s and 2000s.
In attack Kevin Kyle of Hearts partners Wayne Rooney, who ran up £700,000 of gambling debt in 2006. This was mainly on dogs, horses and football, which brought to light renewed concerns over gambling culture within modern top flight football as a form of relaxation. It’s unlikely you’ll see him in any US casinos during Manchester United’s preseason tour there, as the players seem happy occupying themselves with FIFA online.
The midfield is a mix of skill and grit, with an obvious choice in Paul Merson on the right, a player whose name immediately comes to mind when casinos are mentioned. He was one of the first players jettisoned in the Wenger reign and claims to have lost £7 million to gambling and cocaine addiction. Meanwhile on the other flank Matthew Etherington provides some width as a decent left winger. The Stoke City midfielder gambled regularly as a West Ham player until events became too much for him, and the club had to help bail him out. In the centre is ex-Chelsea and Barcelona player Eidur Gudjohnsen who lost £400,000 in casinos.
Didi Hamann and Michael Johnson form a midfield duo, which is surprisingly solid, if lacking a little in pace. Didi Hamann formerly of Newcastle, Liverpool and Manchester City built up a £600,000 debt and was under threat of legal action to repay the cash. Meanwhile fellow Man City player Michael Johnson was an exciting young talent who struggled with alcohol and gambling, and lost his way.
In defence John Terry, lines up with old pal Wayne Bridge, both of whom used to spend vast sums on dogs and horses , rather than online casinos in their days together at Chelsea. This pairing is slightly awkward in more ways than one, as Bridge is more accustomed to a role out wide. Finally Jonathon Woodgate makes up the third defender, a man who was reported to have lost £1.8 million in casinos. Meanwhile the ‘keeper Roy Carroll was also reported to have suffered problems at West Ham.
The topic of gambling amongst footballers is one of public interest and debate, with worthwhile research being conducted into the causes and consequences for the modern game. The habit has been widely commented on in the media, and with more revelations in recent years, looks set to continue.
On Sunday age old questions over the definition of footballing success resurfaced as Arsène Wenger’s current generation of Arsenal players failed in their bid to win a trophy of their own in the Carling Cup final against Birmingham, who prevailed to win their first silverware in forty eight years, against the side who have been waiting a mere six.
Is winning trophies the definition of a good side? Most football fans would agree that it proves something, but there are always those who judge sides on other merits. Indeed the cult of the glorious loser is one that only increases with age.
The pain of defeat: Carsten Jancker in tears after losing 2-1 to United in the Champions League Final 1999, and Jack Wilshere confiding in Eboue after the latest Arsenal defeat.
Say what you like about the Carling Cup, but it represents something tangible, a measure of mental strength, which Wenger’s current side, led by Cesc Fábregas have been accused of lacking time and again. There are those who claim arrogance on the part of Wenger’s charges in their adherence to a certain style of play, but it has to be said that in terms of basic quality the side does have the potential to win something.
Can Wenger win the Champions League at Arsenal? Understanding Arsène and Europe through the lens of AS Monaco vs. Werder Bremen Cup Winners’ Cup Final 1992
In the final installment of Wenger: The Beginnings we bring you a tale of heartbreak and mystery. The 1992 Cup Winners’ Cup Final.
European continental competition is club football’s greatest stage, the final frontier, a pinnacle of achievement. Millions of people around the globe watched Arsenal’s 2-1 Champions League triumph over Barcelona last Wednesday night. This was Arsenal’s first against the ‘best team in history’, and most of all this was a moment to savour for Arsène Wenger. Success in Europe has consistently evaded Wenger, arguably the greatest manager never to win a European trophy.
There is no doubting Wenger’s depth of experience in Europe. Even in his modest playing career he managed to appear at centre back in a UEFA Cup tie for RC Strasbourg in 1979. His selection there was out of desperation, the youth team coach called into the side against Duisberg, only to see his side lose 4-0. As a manager though, he is a veteran, playing teams in Europe since 1988, and leading Arsenal into the Champions League every year since 1998. However, the pain of those campaigns which never quite lived up to expectation still lingers.
Wenger and Jean Petit on the bench during Monaco’s 1992 Cup Winners’ Cup final in Lisbon.
What’s the difference between Arshavin and Samir Nasri? The Creator and the Assassin – Data Analysis
Statistics cannot inform every conclusion when it comes to football. They are merely descriptors for physical, tangible actions which take place on the pitch over ninety minute periods. However, data can tell the tale of the role of an individual within a team, and assess their contribution in basic form.
This season has seen the rising form of Samir Nasri capture the imagination of the footballing world, and his importance to Arsenal even prompted the placing of the Frenchman on a par with Cesc Fabregas where team selection is concerned.
By contrast another key player, who often inhabits the opposite flank, Andrey Arshavin, has been the subject of criticism over his performances in 2010/11. This season a perception has prevailed in sections of the public, which sees Arshavin as playing very poorly this season. There are valid points to this, his passing has at times been inaccurate, and there is the old criticism that he just doesn’t run enough. There is still room for debate on the topic though.
Arsène Wenger: The Nancy Years
You’ve heard the story of Wenger’s time at Monaco and some of his transfer tales. Now prepare for the latest in Wenger: The Beginnings, on his days at AS Nancy from Andrew Gibney.
Today Arsène Wenger stands as one of the most respected managers in football. When he moved into the Arsenal hot seat in 1996 no-one could have predicted the influence he would have on not just the Gunners, but the whole of English football.
His managerial career hasn’t always been full of praise and plaudits though. Pundits will always quote his time and France as the seven years he spent at Monaco from 1987, winning the league and cup and the appearance in the UEFA Cup Winners Cup final, but the story starts years earlier.
Arsène Wenger as a young coach, interviewed in 1984 on taking the job with AS Nancy. Interview and translation.
Before being handed the reins at the principality club Wenger had gone through a tough initiation. Starting as RC Strasbourg’s youth team coach in 1981, he spent two years there before joining AS Cannes as an assistant manager to Jean-Marc Guillou in 1983 (later of KSK Beveren). After just a year in Cannes it was time for Arsène to take his first senior job, at AS Nancy-Lorraine, after being offered the job by a certain Aldo Platini.
Is winning trophies important? Arsenal trophies since 1925: Graphic Data and Herbert Chapman
With Arsenal’s triumph over Huddersfield Town in the FA Cup on Sunday, passed a fixture of significance few failed to note. The name of Herbert Chapman dominates both clubs, a revolutionary manager who engineered periods of success for each in turn, and pioneered the counter-attacking W-M formation at Arsenal which culminated in back to back title wins in the 1930s, a feat never achieved since.
The great Herbert Chapman. Image courtesy of Adam Bowie under Creative Commons licence.
Not only did Chapman win an FA Cup and two titles for Huddersfield Town, but won Arsenal’s first trophy within five years, the FA Cup in 1930, oddly enough against his previous employers, Huddersfield. Although he suffered a premature death in 1934, Chapman set the side up to continue in winning ways until 1938, after which wartime interruption broke the momentum of the Arsenal.
Only one manager has exceeded Chapman’s reputation at Arsenal, and that is the current incumbent, Arsène Wenger. The first decade of Wenger’s reign was one of success, doubles and Invincibles. Since 2005 however, pundits are quick to remind Arsène that the trophy tally is zero.
In light of this I’ve developed a graphic timeline combining the competitive trophies won by Arsenal since Herbert Chapman joined the club in 1925. The achievements of the first great Arsenal manager are clear, including the first in 1930; Arsenal won five league titles and two FA Cups in eight years.
The curious case of Alberto Méndez: An ‘Arsenal transfer’s story’
The name of Alberto Méndez is one familiar to aficionados of Premier League stars who never were, that of a Wenger signing who never quite made the grade at Arsenal. In 1997 he was ‘the craziest football story of the summer’, but joined the small list of players including the likes of Stefan Malz and Tomas Danilevicus who came from nowhere but never fulfilled the potential Wenger saw in them. For every Patrick Vieira or Thierry Henry there are hundreds of these, young men plucked from obscurity, very much a hallmark of Wenger’s successful transfer policies.
However, Alberto has a story of his own to tell. Andrey Arshavin may not know it, but this previous incumbent of the number 23 shirt also went on to become a skillful midfielder. Like Arshavin, this season has been a tumultuous one for the German of Spanish descent.
The Wenger Philosophy: Themes through time. The lens of AS Monaco vs. Galatasaray 1989 Part 2
We continue our in-depth look at Arsène’s time with AS Monaco, after analysing the European Cup Quarter-final his side played against Galatasaray in 1989 earlier this week. That match ended in a 1-0 defeat, even with the firepower of George Weah and Glenn Hoddle on the pitch, in what was surely a formative experience for a much younger Wenger.
The image of a frustrated Arsène Wenger on the sidelines echoes through the years, and although the context is different, and football has changed, that bespectacled visage still betrays the passionate and obsessive personality today as was clear 22 years ago. Wenger often cuts a frustrated figure on the sidelines today, water bottle moments included, and the case is no different here. The enigmatic nature of the man is notorious; as Mark Hateley said (in Jasper Rees’ biography) of Wenger “You’ll never figure him out” ; this mysticism still persists.
During the second leg of AS Monaco’s European Cup Quarter-final in 1989 Wenger cuts a frustrated figure on the bench.
Arsène Wenger: The Beginnings – Themes and Philosophy through the lens of AS Monaco vs. Galatasaray 1989 – Part 1
Twenty-two years ago Arsène Wenger’s AS Monaco were one of the best football sides in France. The manager, who had been relegated to Division 2 in 1987 at cash strapped AS Nancy-Lorraine, had led his new Monaco team to the French championship in 1988, winning Coach of the Year award and qualifying for the European Cup in the process.
The following European campaign began inauspiciously in Iceland; a 1-0 defeat to giants Valur Reykjavík was attended by only 4,000. However Wenger recovered and led his side, including an in-form Glenn Hoddle and newly signed African starlet, George Weah to a Quarter final against Galatasaray, after destroying Club Brugge 6-1 in the preceding round, with Wenger signing Jose Touré in particularly stunning form.
