iiinova — where your digital self keeps evolving

Billy Carpenter @billycarpy.bsky.social · 06/10/2026

My approved notes for Arteta the next time Merino is an unused sub: "I made a mistake by putting someone of the stature of Pelé or Maradona on to warm up and then not putting him in the game. If it were today I would not do it."

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Billy Carpenter @billycarpy.bsky.social · 06/10/2026

Been trying to riff on... "I made a mistake by putting someone of the stature of Pelé or Maradona on to warm up and then not putting him in the game. If it were today I would not do it." ...and it's impossible. Nothing beats the real thing!

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Billy Carpenter @billycarpy.bsky.social · 01/10/2026

The real scandal was the quality of our passing patterns

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Billy Carpenter @billycarpy.bsky.social · 01/10/2026

Not proud of it, but I once got creative and registered a team of 20-year-olds in a U10s tournament. Other coaches kept saying things like "you can't use them" and "they have beards" and "I think that's Myles Lewis-Skelly." But whatever happened behind the scenes, the game is won on the pitch.

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Billy Carpenter @billycarpy.bsky.social · 25/09/2026

Thinking even of this summer, and the Elliot Anderson fee's impact on every single deal to follow. It's hard to fathom how much this has altered everything.

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Billy Carpenter @billycarpy.bsky.social · 24/09/2026

Paris FC signed him for €7.5m. 5 starts, 5 G+A.

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Billy Carpenter @billycarpy.bsky.social · 19/09/2026

Raya + Bruno G big reasons for the jumpy feeling early

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Billy Carpenter @billycarpy.bsky.social · 19/09/2026

The gameplan backed the players to play with composure and through the press, the personnel had the technical security to do it, but they didn't execute. Some early loose touches got contagious, and they weren't on the same page in terms of rotations/showing against the press.

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Billy Carpenter @billycarpy.bsky.social · 15/09/2026

I was watching him the whole time. There were glimmers of improvement with his box movement at the end of last year. None of them showed today.

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Billy Carpenter @billycarpy.bsky.social · 15/09/2026

Midfield options: Rice, Bruno G., Zubimendi, Lewis-Skelly, Ødegaard, Eze, Dowman, even Saka and Havertz as needed. I like Merino as a midfielder plenty (especially as a late game 10) but it's probably past time to look at him as the primary Havertz cover at striker.

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Billy Carpenter @billycarpy.bsky.social · 15/09/2026

Something I was concerned about with Martinelli's departure is that he relieved a lot of pressure in these cup games and group games with his flat-track bullying. Madueke showed some of that last year, and is looking like he could take on that role for real.

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Billy Carpenter @billycarpy.bsky.social · 15/09/2026

It's a possibility, and I like MLS+Noni. But I'd expect Eze LW/Noni RW most likely

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Billy Carpenter @billycarpy.bsky.social · 15/09/2026

How I'd expect it to line up. Or, at least, how I'd do it.

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Billy Carpenter @billycarpy.bsky.social · 14/09/2026

Catch DCL on the right day and you could convince somebody who doesn't watch football that he's one of the best players in the world

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Billy Carpenter @billycarpy.bsky.social · 14/09/2026

Not saying it's universal, or good/bad, but it's interesting how I have different adjustment periods to seeing players in the shirt. For Bruno G, there's still some disbelief there, like it doesn't feel quite real. For Konsa it *immediately* felt like he's been here 10 years.

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Billy Carpenter @billycarpy.bsky.social · 14/09/2026

My kid couldn't find his homework this morning. I told him to say he was setting up a long throw and ask for another day

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Billy Carpenter @billycarpy.bsky.social · 13/09/2026

When they started slowing it down to see if it hit Enzo's head, it felt like the moment when the low strings start sawing in a horror movie. NO, NOT THAT DOOR. DON'T GO IN THAT DOOR.

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Billy Carpenter @billycarpy.bsky.social · 13/09/2026

I'll whisper this one: I <3 semi-automated offside and trust it. But I do know how to draw lines and I can't get these lines to line up, and don't fully trust these guys not to somehow fuck up an automated process 😂

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Billy Carpenter @billycarpy.bsky.social · 13/09/2026

Don't know a single person who wouldn't be able to determine what Ballard did for the pen yesterday with a single view. And don't know a single person who wouldn't say Enzo was "clearly attempting to play a ball" from an offside position with a single view.

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Billy Carpenter @billycarpy.bsky.social · 12/09/2026

The first time a winger lines up a 1v1 against Timber, there is still hope in their eyes. It is a naïve hope, a foolish and youthful hope, the dim hope of "who knows." But hope nonetheless. Once he squeezes the life out of that first one, you typically never hear from them again.

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Billy Carpenter @billycarpy.bsky.social · 12/09/2026

Le Fée's penalty was perfect, by the way. It was gonna nestle into the side netting.

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Billy Carpenter @billycarpy.bsky.social · 12/09/2026

Arsenal open-play xG conceded so far: v Coventry: 0.20 v Aston Villa: 0.33 v Chelsea: 0.32 v Sunderland: 0.26

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Billy Carpenter @billycarpy.bsky.social · 12/09/2026

My two bugbears last year were A) initial selections, which often contained pockets/triangles of non-complementary players, and B) hoofing. Arteta is picking great lineups this year. And the level of application is great. Today was "hard game is hard." I'm very happy.

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Billy Carpenter @billycarpy.bsky.social · 12/09/2026

Apparently the timer rule doesn't apply to long throw routines, which a) I didn't know, and b) feels silly/arbitrary (Calafiori should have wiped the ball off and acted like he was going long?). Would be interested in how they even define "long throw routine."

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Billy Carpenter @billycarpy.bsky.social · 12/09/2026

An example because I'm petty: I timed a random Danso throw-in at 29 seconds. Calafiori was whistled for taking too long at 18 seconds.

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Billy Carpenter @billycarpy.bsky.social · 12/09/2026

A technical area yellow for Arteta, denying Arsenal a corner before half, Sunderland taking five minutes per throw-in, phantom penalty on a shirt pull ... from Ballard. You'll rarely witness such committed #NarrativeRefereeing.

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Reposted by Billy Carpenter

Lewis @lgambrose.bsky.social · 10/09/2026

One last time - on Arsenal being a pleasure to watch and all the stress being replaced by joy:

likeanewsletter.substack.com

The Serenity Now

Watching Arsenal with calm and heeding Arsène Wenger’s wise words

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Billy Carpenter @billycarpy.bsky.social · 10/09/2026

Breaking lines, 25/26, per 90: 1st line: Konsa — best line-breaking pass % ⤵️ 2nd line: Bruno G — #1 CM for controls under pressure, #4 at passes breaking second line ⤵️ 3rd line: Ø — most receptions opening body to goal, most passes to break last line (data: @gradientsports.bsky.social)

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Billy Carpenter @billycarpy.bsky.social · 10/09/2026

"He meant that," however preposterous the situation, is always a defensible position with Messi

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Billy Carpenter @billycarpy.bsky.social · 10/09/2026

Yep, just think one edge (injuries) is obvious and gets covered plenty, not enough talk about how it can improve players

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Billy Carpenter @billycarpy.bsky.social · 10/09/2026

Club fans moan about international duty taxing their players. But I remember Havertz playing tight and hesitant, then coming back from Germany and immediately beating Brentford with a headed winner. Same feel with Ødegaard and the World Cup. Sometimes it's exactly what they need.

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Billy Carpenter @billycarpy.bsky.social · 09/09/2026

When we move into the second phase of build-up and you see the midfielders push forward and two defenders splay wide and it's Konsa in the middle, it's like a warm hug.

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Billy Carpenter @billycarpy.bsky.social · 08/09/2026

PSG have 7 different Ballon d'Or nominees who played less than 50% of league minutes: Kvara: 48.3% Hakimi: 44.9% Neves: 42.1% Mendes: 41% Ruiz: 37% Dembéle: 34.7% Marquinhos: 34.4%

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Billy Carpenter @billycarpy.bsky.social · 05/09/2026

Today: 86 touches, 10 touches in opposition box, 5 shots, 5/6 dribbles completed, 3 chances created, 7 passes into final third, 3 interceptions, 5 recoveries, 2 aerial clearances, 1 banger.

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Billy Carpenter @billycarpy.bsky.social · 05/09/2026

With defensive solidity getting so much better, the value of deflections in the box (and how you react to them) is getting more important. 3 of 4 goals in the Newcastle/Bournemouth game were after an initial shot. It's one of the only real opportunities to scramble a shape.

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Billy Carpenter @billycarpy.bsky.social · 03/09/2026

Have talked about this for years with him. There are more demonstrative scanners, but there are few better at picking up information and using it immediately than Bruno G.

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Billy Carpenter @billycarpy.bsky.social · 02/09/2026

Guess what? This is good, that's what.

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Billy Carpenter @billycarpy.bsky.social · 02/09/2026

Their powder wet, stanky. Ours pristine. Their plates stationary. Ours still whirling

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Billy Carpenter @billycarpy.bsky.social · 01/09/2026

I'd love to zag the public opinion, but if you think it's inconceivable that Arsenal have left their attack thinner (and slower!), that's because it is. We can still win everything, and Konsa/Bruno are great, but we've let questions persist when we could be turning the screw.

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Reposted by Billy Carpenter

Billy Carpenter @billycarpy.bsky.social · 07/08/2026

Once we finally find one of the 5 best attackers in the world who only wants us and is 70m and is young and injury-free and is a dog out-of-possession it’s so over for the rest of you

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Billy Carpenter @billycarpy.bsky.social · 01/09/2026

or the sales of Vieira and assuredly Kiwior. But who's counting. (Me, I'm counting.)

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Billy Carpenter @billycarpy.bsky.social · 01/09/2026

This transfer window has reminded me that people get the basic shit all wrong. Life is not all about fancy new toys! It's not about winning or losing, either. It's not even about your family or friends. It's about sticking to your internal valuation of a player.

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Billy Carpenter @billycarpy.bsky.social · 01/09/2026

"Once Chelsea and Man City entered the picture, Arsenal deemed the eventual fee too high for their internal valuation..."

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Billy Carpenter @billycarpy.bsky.social · 31/08/2026

My dad used to patiently watch me fumble around with some project (mechanical, art, whatever) and then eventually say "alright, you wanna see how you're supposed to do it?" And then he'd show me. As far as I can tell, that is Merino's role on a football pitch

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