Nathan Whittaker

Manchester & Music

[Nathan Whittaker @manc_wanderer]

I just re edited this photo of @wearejames before putting it up on my prints page, and I think it might be my favourite gig photo I’ve taken.

To say those were the days would be putting it lightly!

[Nathan Whittaker @manc_wanderer]

Walked by Piccadilly Gardens last night for what must've been 2 minutes and sure enough there was a fight, just a day after a near deadly one which made the news... how is there not a 24/7 police presence there?!

[Nathan Whittaker @manc_wanderer]

Asking for a mini miracle but does anyone have a spare @BlossomsBand ticket for tomorrow at @DeafInstitute ?

[Nathan Whittaker @manc_wanderer]

MCR Made by @stan_chow - now live in @manarndale and it’s so cool!

[Nathan Whittaker @manc_wanderer]

Happy Manchester Day 🐝

[Dobby Club @DobbyClub06]

Fuck you, Argentina. It's time to get out of America, Argentina. What were you even doing there in the first place, Argentina? You didn't even get properly through, Argentina. Are you happy now, Argentina? Fuck you, Argentina.

[Stretford Paddock @StretfordPaddck]

⛓️‍💥 #FreeKobbie

[Nathan Whittaker @manc_wanderer]

Such a long shot, but does anyone have any semi reasonably priced tickets to @NoahKahan at either the Tuesday or Wednesday Fenway Park shows?

[Nathan Whittaker @manc_wanderer]

@Carefree_Louis @WorldFamousHot1 Nah surely he’s not on?!

[No Question About That @nqatpod]

City fans couldn't come to a crucial title race game or the Youth Cup final because of an FA Cup final. Or was it other way around?

[Nathan Whittaker @manc_wanderer]

@room808 Loved those flicks, nearly as much as a Gabriel dive 100x a match

[Nathan Whittaker @manc_wanderer]

I’ll enjoy City not winning the league, but this Arsenal team surely are the worst champions ever if so 😳

[Nathan Whittaker @manc_wanderer]

@room808 Haha yeah the stats are all that matters eh… I think there’s a reason why literally everyone doesn’t want them to win it and it’s because they play terrible football, not because of how many XG or historic stats you can bring up

[Nathan Whittaker @manc_wanderer]

I think it says a lot about how little a shit United fans give about City, that a massive % of us kinda want Arsenal to lose this today 😂

[Nathan Whittaker @manc_wanderer]

@ManchesterGigss If you can sort a photo pass with a plus one then count me in 😂

[Nathan Whittaker @manc_wanderer]

Castlefield, Manchester

[Nathan Whittaker @manc_wanderer]

Bars who present the tip option on the card machine where the lowest one is 12.5%... come on!

[Nathan Whittaker @manc_wanderer]

Any chance of someone selling a pair of real David Byrne tickets for Manchester, tonight or tomorrow?

[Nathan Whittaker @manc_wanderer]

Seriously how can I speak to a human about a problem with @AerLingus ?

[Nathan Whittaker @manc_wanderer]

God this is as boring to read as Arsenal's football is to watch... nearly

[Guillem Balague @GuillemBalague]

Now that Arsenal fans are booing their own team and former players are lining up to criticise, let me offer the bigger picture, the one you hear across Europe.

Arsenal are not seen here as a team that has stalled. They are seen as a reference point. As the team many look at when trying to understand where elite football is heading.

The game has shifted, it is no longer enough to dominate the ball or to attack well. The top sides now compete in, and often decide matches through, the four phases that make teams excellent: organised attack, attacking transition, defensive transition and structured defence. At the highest level, those phases matter more than possession percentages or aesthetic debates.

This is where Arsenal stand out.

Under Mikel Arteta, Arsenal control space, time and another very important element, rhythm. They are aggressive without being chaotic, but can create chaos to find gaps, they are compact without being passive. Their pressing is prepared in detail, lose the ball and the reaction is immediate. The opponent is denied oxygen.

Across Europe, this is understood as modern dominance.

The key battleground today is transition. Not what you do with the ball, but what happens the instant you lose it. Defensive rhythm has overtaken offensive rhythm. Space is smaller and time is shorter. The teams that survive are the ones that arrive first, win duels, plus reset order before danger appears.

Arsenal do this as well as anyone.

In Europe, Arsenal are seen as a team that has absorbed Guardiola’s ideas and pushed them forward, they have strengthened them for a football world that now plays faster, presses harder, and it totally punishes hesitation.

At the very moment Arsenal are being questioned at home, they are being analysed as a model.

Progress is often uncomfortable and it rarely moves in straight lines. Arsenal don’t look lost. In my eyes they look early!