Are Spurs really a one simian team? Looking at this new AVB inspired team one has to say, No.
It is true and completely normal that the Spurs team is full of miscreants, numbskulls and vermin, but some of them can actually play football, and this is becoming a problem. There is a core developing in the murky swamplands of N17 who not only have youth and talent but also a team ethic which is new to the Lilly-Livers.
In my opinion, the signing of AVB has transformed a comedy club into asomething slightly less funny. Of course, they will never attain the class and substance of the big club down the road, but they are improving and have a slim chance of finishing above The Arsenal for the first time since simian’s learned to stand upright.
By the way, if there are any Spurs fans still reading (which in itself is an enormous assumption – the ability to read that is), please don’t bother commenting upon the post – you will only confirm what we already know …..
Looking for housing in the Manchester area…..
I could bore you with the qualities of the various Spurs players, but you will already have your opinions and probably more knowledge than this writer. Suffice it to say that although Spurs have a decent team, ours is better, and if Arsenal play to the best of their abilities and we don’t get chopped by today’s referee, Arsenal will win. We have better players, a better manager, and a better team.
The referee: Mark Clattenberg. His record this season is Pl 15. Y43 R6.. A sending off less than every third game. Worrying. Let’s hope the game is about the players and not the referee. What Clattenburg (who was the referee in the Chelsea racism row) is good at is punishing dives, which given the propensity of Spurs players to hit the deck when tripped by imaginary feet is of benefit to AFC.
Arsenal: Do we risk a 4-3-3 with Walcott, Giroud and Podolski or play Ramsey to bolster the midfield? BFG/TV or Kos/TV or BFG/Kos? The Corporal or Coquelin or 3 CB’s? Ramsey or Rosicky? Lots of possibilities ,aren’t there?
There are fears about Jenkinson against Bale. In my opinion we have no alternative but to trust Jenks will cope, after all he is a full England International and Bale is Welsh! (sorry SH).
I believe we play better when on the front foot and having an outball to Giroud, as such my preference would be to play 4-3-3 but Mr Wenger disagrees, so this is whom I expect to play:
My dislike of this line-up is that it forces Santi to play on the left of midfield rather than the middle where he is so influential.
What we lack is a man-marker. We used to have a player who could track a dangerman – but AW doesn’t think in that way; his focus is entirely upon how Arsenal play and not the opposition. It is said that we have made no plans to cope with Monkeyboy and I believe it. Nor can we cope with set-plays where Caulker is dangerous. Hopefully, we will score more than them because I cannot see us leaving SHL with a defensive clean sheet.
Today’s explorer: Hennry “Boy” Kelsey (1667 – 1724). Boy Kelsey (fine name for a man) was the first European to explore the Great Plains of America. A member of the Hudson Company, he walked through Saskatchewan and the flatlands of Canada, reaching as far as the Missouri river in order to establish trade routes with the local Indian tribes (the Blackfeet & Algonquin).
Better looking than our Kelsey & he has a Beard
Boy Kelsey was born in Greenwich, very close to Woolwich which makes him a Gooner. On his 6th journey across the Atlantic Kelsey established trade routes with the Inuit. He died peacefully back in London at the age of 57. In Canada there was a Kelsey postage stamp.
Would a draw be a good result today? Probably. It will be a tense afternoon for both sets of supporters.
P:S: We read earlier in the week about the illness of DanDan’s Spurs supporting brother and his fervent wish to see Spurs finish above Arsenal this season. I know all who read DD’s message will be thinking of him in the unlikely event of a Spurs win, because whomever we support we are a football fraternity who experience the same highs and lows following our teams.
Should the Miscreants cheat a win, my anguish will be compensated by thinking of DanDan’s brother’s smiling face.
COYRRG
Written by Big Raddy
Arsenal News 24/7
arsenalarsenal.net 
Really entertaining post!
Regardless of what people think of AW and our current situation, how can any true fan want us to lose, especially to Spurs? What kind of idiocy is this? Do they really think it will result in AW being sacked.
I don’t think so!
The only thing we do is support the team and hope…
What? Martin Keown’s come out of retirement & is going to sign for one of the Manchester clubs?
Morning BR;
$:54am here in London, Ontario – couldn’t sleep last night so here I am waiting for the game. My guess would be a draw but if our “A” team turn up then we are more than capable of winning.
Six pointers this late in the season are really meaningful 1 point behind or 7 – a massive difference and one that would be tough to overcome.
Here’s to a famous victory.
PS. I have this image of (AA’s) Kelsey walking through the fields of Saskatchewan looking for Inuit, not realising that they were hundreds of miles to the north..
Funniest article I’ve ever read. And not in a good way.
The fact you think your team is better is a joke. I’ll report back laughing once you’ve lost later today.
You can’t be a gooner- or at least your parents cannot be, that was an interesting and funny blog/post. Laters
I think this is your most mischievous and finest hour, Big Raddy.
Hope you don’t mind but I’m offering my own line-up(s) also, which I don’t normally do as I don’t like to step on your toes, so to speak. But today is an exception due to the importance of this fixture.
This, quite simply, is a game we cannot afford to lose.
Personally, I’ll be happy with a draw. Spurs’ following games to season’s end are a tad tougher than ours, and I feel the 4-point gap is not impossible to close.
Either of my own two slightly differing line-ups suit me.
The reason I want the centre-back pairing as shown is pretty obvious (?). Due to the lack of pace of Mertesacker, against a rather pacy Spurs side, for me it’a ‘no-brainer’.
The reason I would like Ramsey to start is for his work ethic. He’s an unselfish, team player; a player’s player. And today we need a team of grafters. He fits the bill. Cazorla is in decent form but could he be considered a somewhat ‘luxury’ player for this particular fixture.
Our full-backs will need good cover and help – is Podolski the right man for this encounter as regards defensive duties when required? Maybe not. So Ramsey, though not his natural position, could take the wide berth, allowing Cazorla to start.
If Diaby is fit, Arsene may start with him, but to replace whom? Certainly not Arteta, or Wilshere, so Cazorla would have to make way. I personally don’t want Diaby to play in this game. The probable high tempo may not suit; the game could simply pass him by. However, I have to mention him, as he’s such a big favourite of Mr. Wenger.
Walcott will need to help Jenkinson at times but he has the speed to get back-and-forth. Also, he’s in good form, so must start.
For me Giroud must start.
Szczesny
Jenkinson Koscielny Vermaelen Monreal
Walcott Wilshere Arteta Cazorla Ramsey
Giroud
Szczesny
Jenkinson Koscielny Vermaelen Monreal
Walcott Wilshere Arteta Ramsey Podolski
Giroud
Raddy thanks plenty of ROLF 😀
You speak of numbskulls etc, try reading your blog with your blinkers off. You are so obsessed with your hatred of another club that football doesn’t get a look in. do you actually have any footy knowledge? I think not knucklehead
Well Raddy what a fine post and you have covered all eventuallities.I won’t comment on the explorer 🙂
Ths NLD is somewhat different this season. I have a feeling many of us including yourself would take a draw yet the Spurs following in some quarters fear we might just have one of those days where we turn them over/
Our League form over the last 5 games isn’t bad 13 out of 15 points but we are struggling to score more than one goal in many of these games.
One will always get an open game when these sides meet and invariablt whoever takes the lead doesn’t necessarilly go on to win.
Both defensives are suspect and certain players at Spurs have a knack of scoring wonder goals against us (Bentley,Rose,Walker0 never ever to repeat that again.
Like it or not Bale is on fire , and my concern is that we will give away free kicks in dangerous areas which he could take advantage of.
Arteat is a key man for me and young Jenkinson not for the first time will be under immense pressure, i hope he deals with it.
Wenger is extremely reluctant to change tactics but at least i think we would be better off to do away with high crosses and even corners and try to keep the ball on the ground.
Our keeper will be under scrutiny as he is not in the best of form, so I hope he doesn’t sucumb to rash challenges by leaping out of the box.
We have to play Podolski and( giroud who will track back ) and theo on the wing. I would omit Ramsey.
Not sure about diaby,if fit as he is a shadow of the player he was and seems to do the exact opposite of his early days by stalling,playing the ball ball sideways and not really confident in possession as opposed to when he bombed down the pitch and let fly.
A loss wouldn’t be disastrous but it would make our job a lot harder to remain in the CL
All i want is 100% from the lads,a fair refereed game and a sneaky 2-1 to us 🙂
Oh I forgot mertesacker, will the pace of the game be his undoing, I have deep reservations about him in this sort of game.
I think that it has to be tongue in cheek
Pathetic.
BR. Thank you for a your usual entertaining pre match, as a result of which I am putting Kelsey’s name forward to the “who do you think you are” team. Maybe the genes that have provided the flowing locks he wears have something to do with an ancestral link to those ladies of the plains, rumour has it that in his youth he was an expert with a chopper although he called it Tommy Hawk so anything is possible.
And Raddy thanks a million for your kind comments re my spud supporting Brother, he will be watching it with his Gooner mate in a house full of Arsenal memorabilia, so which ever way it goes I expect he will get a fair amount of stick.
Nice post as ever Raddy. It does make me laugh when people talk about Arsene deploying tactics, I read somewhere that he may play AR as a man-marker on Bale….I dont think so somehow !
When most look at Diaby they see a lumbering idiot but unfortunately Arsene sees Patrick Vieira in-carnate so I am hoping he is still injured and rules out the possibility of him giving the spuds an advantage. If we play from the first whistle and in our normal manner we will win, for me Jenks, Rambo and Giroud must all start.
Kelsey
“…by leaping out of the box.” 🙂
Morning BR, 🙂
Great briefing this morning and let’s hope for a great game.
For anyone unaware of the latest scuttlebut relating to the club’s ownership, you may be interested to read the original article.
Smoke and Mirrors?
Arsenal poised to be subjected to £1.5bn takeover bid from Middle East consortium within the next few weeks
The world’s biggest ever bid for a football club, dwarfing the £800 million paid by the Glazers for Manchester United, will be backed by funds from Qatar and the United Arab Emirates.
Wanted: the potential backers of a Middle East consortium would want Arsène Wenger to remain at the Emirates Stadium the group do not want their identities made public yet but a bid source told Telegraph Sport the intention is to buy out Arsenal’s American owner, Stan Kroenke, whose perceived weak stewardship of the club has also been called into question by frustrated supporter groups.
The cash offer, which is more than twice the amount at which Arsenal were valued two years ago, will be for 100 per cent of the club, and if successful would wipe out debts that stand at around £250 million according to the last full year’s financial results.
According to a bid source, there would be substantial transfer funds made available to transform the club into a major force in European and world football. There would also be a pledge to reduce ticket prices at the Emirates Stadium — currently among the highest in the world — as well as an attempt to recreate “some of the feel of the old North Bank” at Highbury.
The bid team has noted the damage caused by Kroenke, who owns two-thirds of the club, refusing to engage with Uzbek billionaire Alisher Usmanov, who owns 29.96 per cent.
The bidders would like to unite the ownership, putting all the shares together in one fund. The offer will be for the full 62,217 shares which have been issued, but effectively it will be to buy out Kroenke, in the first instance, paying around £830 million for his 66.83 per cent shareholding (41,581). The offer equates to around £20,000 per share.
The deal would provide the American with an approximate profit of £400 million given the majority owner is believed to have paid around £430 million to build his stake in the club since he first became involved in 2007. When Kroenke made his mandatory cash offer for Arsenal in April 2011, buying up the stakes owned by Danny Fiszman and Lady Nina Bracewell-Smith, it valued the club at £731 million.
A meeting has already been requested with the American to discuss the proposed offer. The seriousness of the bid is reinforced by the recent successful takeovers of Manchester City and Paris St-Germain by Middle East backers.
It is unlikely Usmanov will want to sell his shareholding, given his “dream” of taking control of Arsenal himself, but the Middle East consortium believes it will be able to work with the billionaire, who does not currently have a seat on the board and who has been frustrated in his attempts to get more involved.
Any takeover would inevitably raise questions over the future of manager Arsène Wenger, although the Frenchman is understood to be highly-regarded by the consortium They do not want to lose his football knowledge and want him to remain at the club.
But they are well aware that the last trophy won was the 2005 FA Cup and that Arsenal have become less of a rival to the Premier League’s top clubs. They believe that the club have settled for relative mediocrity.
Arsenal travel on Sunday to north London rivals Tottenham with the club in a desperate fight to finish in the top four of the Premier League and qualify for next season’s Champions League. Arsenal currently lie in fifth place, four points behind their neighbours.
Despite protestations to the contrary, failure to qualify for the Champions League would undoubtedly have serious ramifications for Arsenal, who have been in Europe’s premier club competition for the past 16 years under Wenger.
A bid source told Telegraph Sport: “Arsenal is at a pivotal position at the moment. The fear is that the club is facing a cycle of decline like Liverpool. From our point of view it is the perfect moment to make this bid because at this moment in time you can still genuinely justify this extraordinary valuation on the club.
“We will not bid for Arsenal if they go into decline. Kroenke and Usmanov will not get this kind of valuation if Arsenal do not succeed and will not get this kind of valuation ever again.
“We think that bidding now is the key because it is going to give every shareholder maximum value. We are giving them peak valuation.
“The amount of capital required to pump into Arsenal to make it competitive within England, Europe and the world means that the valuation cannot go any higher.”
It makes the prospect of a gargantuan bid to buy the club all the more tantalising for frustrated Arsenal supporters.
“No big club can go eight years without winning anything,” the source added. “No manager of a big club, not even Sir Alex Ferguson, would have survived eight years without winning.” It is not an unreasonable statement.
Whether Wenger would voluntarily stay and work under a new regime is another question. Should a bid prove successful, Wenger would be in an awkward position, having previously criticised clubs with wealthy owners, accusing them of “financial doping”, although he has strong links with Paris St-Germain who, of course, also have Qatari owners.
Wenger’s current contract runs until June 2014 and it is understood that as things stand he has no intention of quitting even if Arsenal finish outside the top four, although he has faced growing calls to go.
The proposed new owners claim they are serious in their desire to turn Arsenal into a force again and also to do it in the right way. They say they do not want to acquire the club to make money but to invest.
The bid group believe that the ownership of Kroenke and his son and heir, Josh, has been at the heart of the club’s lack of competitiveness. They have also identified a lack of experience in football as a significant barrier to success.
“The biggest problem with Arsenal is that it has no owner, no face and there is no one to report to,” the bid source claimed. “The management of the club at every level is not put under scrutiny and does not have to report to anyone.”
The inference is that neither Kroenke nor his son has a feel for Arsenal – a claim which has been lent weight by the former’s low profile at the Emirates Stadium – and that the current board lacks strength and leadership.
Chief executive Ivan Gazidis has been criticised for being too deferential towards Wenger, who enjoys a huge amount of control at Arsenal.
Supporters have complained that Kroenke is not a visible presence and has not met directly with them since the takeover, although he has attended recent home games against Bayern Munich and Aston Villa. His reign at the club has come under criticism from fans at successive annual meetings.
Arsenal currently have a clear, self-sustaining structure, rejecting the benefactor model, with Wenger, the board and majority owner believing their approach will eventually succeed, especially with the incoming Uefa Financial Fair Play rules.
But there are genuine fears among fans that Arsenal are simply slipping away and becoming less competitive.
If successful, the bid would almost certainly take Arsenal to another level. The prospective owners claim their intention is to turn Arsenal into a major force in European football; one that will compete with Manchester United and Manchester City for the Premier League title and with Barcelona, Bayern Munich, Real Madrid and PSG in the Champions League.
Given the nature and structure of the funding, the bidders say they are confident they will still be able to comply with FFP.
It is understood that they wish to maintain a degree of stability at the club, despite the upheaval of a takeover, although there would be a new board and, in all probability, a new chief executive as it is understood that Gazidis would be unlikely to be retained.
The bid team regard Arsenal as one of the great clubs of European football but also one that is no longer punching its weight and is in danger of falling behind.
Arsenal’s failure to hang on to their top talent has been a source of major unease at the club. Losing Holland international striker Robin van Persie — who left for Manchester United criticising a lack of ambition – Spain international Cesc Fabregas and France international Samir Nasri all hit hard.
The prospective owners claim there would be a firm commitment to a model of developing and keeping young players but also, and as a priority, to strengthening the squad so that those players, such as Jack Wilshere, have no reason to leave in the future.
Wenger believes he has a core of a squad that can challenge but this is not a universally-held opinion with doubts over the strength of the spine of the team.
Even his most fervent supporters struggle to make a case that Wenger is on the verge of creating another great team or that the squad has depth and quality to compete despite a high wage bill.
The Middle East consortium claim to sympathise with Arsenal supporters and their contention that many of them have been priced out of following their club.
Supporters groups have already warned that generations of fans could be lost.
Ticket prices, among the highest in the world and an increasingly contentious issue, will be reduced, the bid source said, and there will be an attempt to recreate “some of the feel of the old North Bank” at Highbury within the Emirates Stadium.
The bid source added there was a real desire to “bring back some of the true supporters” who have been priced out or become disillusioned.
The disillusionment is undoubtedly there. Cup defeats to Bradford City and Blackburn Rovers heightened that sense as did the humiliating Champions League 3-1 defeat to Bayern Munich at the Emirates a fortnight ago, when the German side played with a verve and tempo Arsenal no longer recognise.
Finishing outside the top four would compound it even more especially if the proposed takeover is rejected. That would further increase the pressure on Kroenke in particular.
What do you make of that?
Raddy,
Superb. I can understand what you were giggling about 🙂
I am expecting a great game from two sides whose styles really suit each other.
I am more optimistic going into this game than I would be against a Stoke.
Methinks at least four goals. Can’t wait.
Morning all, I am amazed at the supposed indignation from rival supporters – its as if we’d held them down and forced them to read an Arsenal blog? They’ve gone looking for non-spud sites and then pretend to be offended when the article doesn’t praise totnum …. duurrrrrr
Be fair, Rasp, one of them has spent a good half hour coming up with his one word response at 10:25, and could only describe himself! Ahh! 🙂
Thanks Raddy, your lilywhite cattleprod has worked a treat 😛
Its such a tough game to call with all the underlying agendas (not helped by rumour of a £1.5bn takeover of Arsenal). As usual the game is of equal importance to both sides and as you point out, not much to choose between the teams.
Our home form hasn’t been great this season so maybe the fact that it is the away fixture could work in our favour. I think if our big players (plural) have a good game we’ll win, if their big player (singular) has a good game they may scrape a draw 😆
That article is in my opinion complete and Utter B****cks, but we shall see
Kelsey couldn’t agree more re bothering with corners….well at least high ones in to the box, for me it wastes possession and more concerning leaves our CBs up the pitch, why not just play short and recirculate possession, rather than effectively give them the ball whilst we still have our pants down.
Last time I was at the Ems and another corner had been wasted I turned to te guy next to me an said remember when we used to be good at corners…..he shook his head being only about 22 😀
GIE the flick on from the near post rammed home at the back stick, those were the days 🙂
RA I was not suggesting you were taken in by the article, thanks for posting
DD I do hope so, I saw the article was also picked up by the Sun, who also had a “source tell them”…..that line constantly winds me up.
If in anyway Usmanov is involved in its release (which i fear he might be) I would be very disappointed by its timing. If there is any truth in the rumour I will have a very hard think as to whether I can continue to support my club, or whether I would join the “We Want Our Arsenal Back” brigade (assuming they still exist once Kroenke goes).
I think I would be setting up FC Arsenal and starting again such would be my distaste of a sea change that any sort of investment like that would cause.
Hi DD, not at all. 🙂
There are so many vague references to the bidders, and comments that will mirror the views of the ‘angry mob’ that it all seems like a ‘fake sheikh’ story.
Mind you, if it makes Kroenke and Usmanov grow up and start behaving like mature, successful businessmen, working together for the benefit of the club, that could be a beneficial if unintended consequence of what might well be a hoax.
Morning all
Here we go D day for us gunners,I’m hoping for a win but I’m not looking forward to Jenkinson marking the welsh wizard ( BALE).
He’s in fire and not one can take care of him at the moment⛔.
Apart from the above I’m quite happy with wat ever team.
A draw won’t be the end of the world and ill take a draw,
I’ve still got my lucky arsenal pants on I’ve had the, on for a week .
Much love
Lady Peckham
I understand your concern GIE, however, you will not be able to cast off your feelings for the club too easily! 🙂
As someone said, in many ways the club has gone some way to losing its soul already by selling out to foreign owners.
I too, would like the old ‘pillars of the establishment’ era back, but realistically, that is never going to happen.
In the modern, cynical and calculating world of high finance and calculation of capital returns owners will continue to come and go!
The one constant that will always be there is the fan base — that may evolve, but will always be there to back the team – (minority dissidents excepted).
Thanks for the kind words.
Big Al. I am with you. Playing OG is my preference.
Any article without a named source is cobblers. How could a broadsheet carry such invention? Shame on them.
Red Arse
“…it all seems like a ‘fake sheikh’ story.”
As to identites of said ‘fake sheiks’: my money’s on Spectrum and Gambon.
ROLF Big Al
Good morning to you all,
What are we to make of the reported £1.5 billion bid to takeover Arsenal?
It would appear to be aimed initially only at Silent Stan, a source close to the bid says “we can work with Alisher Usmanov”.
There is no doubt that Kroenke has been like a massive ball and chain attached to our club, he has done nothing to advance our club and provided nothing in the way of leadership, I would be delighted to see him go.
It seems from the initial reports that another leading figure could be for the chop, namely our not so leading Chief Executive Ivan Gazidis, another welcome departure in my opinion.
The big question is where does it leave Arsene Wenger, if Usmanov gets on the board he will fight to keep the manager, if not we may soon see a change.
For the moment it’s all pie in the sky, of far more importance is the little matter of taking three points of the Spuds today.
C’mon the Glorious Gunners!!
GIE it seems to me a sauce would be more appropriate, because what they serve up is far from palatable on its own.
What the story this morning about arsenal being taken over by Arabs .
I saw it on sky sports news any truth in it I’m not into the politics of football .
Sheepy,
If you read Red Arse’s 10.34 you will know as much as anybody.
I think we should take that story with a grain of sand……………
It’s all above my head he’s far to intelligent for me .
Will be be called arsenal Arabia
Great post, thank you Raddy! The title and the picture had me in stiches – one Simian team, awesome. I have to agree with you about Spurs playing some nice footy and that ain’t funny as you rightly pointed out.
I would take a draw now because although we look better on paper, Spurs look better on their shitty pitch. One way or another is going to be nerve wrecking 90mins, COYRRG!!
Sheepy,
More like Arsene-ikh
Typical timing by the red tops maybe instigated by someone who wants to throw the club into further media turmoil,stress I said media.
let’s go along with it and it happens who would be the manager for at least one year. Mourinho,for sure.
I would honestly say it is 50/50 that we make the CL campaign for next year and the club have already provided for this with “a reserve fund”.
If we don’t make it I really expect a witch hunt aimed at Wenger in particular and he may just walk.If we get 2nd,3rd, or 4th I see no change except a bit more money to buy 3 players perhaps of a higher quality than those out of contract nd hopefully get some of the loan players off our books
Not only the red tops Kelsey. The Sunday Telegraph reported it as an “exclusive”.
There may be something in it, who really knows?
Sheep
“…[Red Arse is] far to intelligent for me .”
No he’s not, mate. Grammatical errors every post… 🙂
Sheep
If you need help with yellow smiley faces however, he’s your man.
Norfolk: This guy has his nose to the ground and has summed it up for me: Swiss Ramble @SwissRamble
Welcome to #afc takeover bingo. Mystery consortium, Middle East, massive bid, big transfer pot, debt wiped out, lower ticket prices. House!
Mrs sheep is refusing to watch the game with me today.
She says when Arsenal play Spurs I shout at the TV LIKE one of my patients she calls me mad she off to the daughters.
On plus point by here going to baby sheeps house is I can start drinking early.🍻⚽
Big Raddy
Maybe you might want use the pic again when we meet Chelsea.
That little creature thing has the same hairdo as Lampard.
The fake sheikh story has more in common with a stinky gorgonzola cheese than a proper news story.
However, it is a shot across the bows for those of us who would prefer to shun the American and Russian oligarchs and the Arab oilygarchs, and hanker after the pre-Abramovich era.
We have already seen the 21st Century winds of change sweep across the English Premier League, and some Champions League clubs as regards their sale to foreign owners (I am wearing my adopted British hat here) 🙂 and I can only see this increasing at a brisk pace, but already these ownership changes are sweeping through the rest of Europe too, from the Caucuses and into France.
This latest story may be a false alarm, but Kroenke will not allow Arsenal to become a footballing back woods, and he will have to either inject into the club copious funds from his billionaire’s piggy bank to keep us competitive as a ‘world product’, or he will cut and run, and the next owner will endow us with lashings of funds instead.
As GIE intimated earlier, each of us will have to come to terms with the modern era, and either bail out or accept the new reality.
Too soon to worry, just yet, although I cannot pretend not to be worried about this seismic change engulfing football.
At day’s end, I will always support Arsenal, come what may.
I have no choice!
Well said RA, it is out of our hands, but we may have to accept that the future of football (for the foreseeable future) lies in the hands of the megarich.
I would argue (excuse the generalisation) that the Americans are usually just looking for profit, the Russians are doing it for ego and the Arab states (sorry chary) are doing it for exposure/marketing/PR and as such are the best option if the club is going to be swallowed up.
The other advantage of having a super rich owner (of the right kind) is that we can all stop beating ourselves up about the Board/finances/FFP etc and just get back to the simple pleasure of enjoying the football.
LB, you lily livered, blogshy, excuse for an Arsenal supporter – get out from behind your sofa and come and join us on your favourite day of the year 😆
Raddy,
I have thought about your thoughts about team selection.
We played 4-3-3 against them at home, and it sort of worked 🙂
Do you think Arsene may go for the 4-4-2 due to the form of Bale, or just because it is away. Incidently, I’m with you and would get on the front feet asap.
General question to my learned chums: who is the better LB defensively speaking, Verm or Nacho?
For a writer who thinks he’s so clever you should know Spurs are in N17, not N15, but perhaps you don’t even live in London and are unfamiliar with the geography of North London .
Postcode
The author was born in N5, which is probably why he is not a nit picking dickhead.
Final word on the mega rich footie world and why Arsenal are having to run just to stay still — and might still be going backwards.
City have revealed that they expect to receive £175m a year in commercial income from 2015, while bloody Manure have a new seven year deal with Chevrolet, worth £375m a year, starting in 2014.
Those sums will blow our current commercial revenue income, even with the improved shirt sponsorship and kit deals, out of the water. 😦
Off to gird my loins for the Big Game!! 🙂
Thank you postcodeman.
Gooners all around the world will congratulate you upon your reading and geography skills. Sadly, not many Spurs fans due to illiteracy.
RA. If true, Chevrolet must be insane. I thought they were cost cutting worldwide.
Rasp. I like others will if the day ever arises that we join the City/Chav club model, quietly dispose of my Arsenal club membership, cancel the subscriptions to TV and sadly AA, and find solace in my reading, whilst going back to watching cricket, digging out my cameras and enjoying my extended family.
The thought of joining the frolics in that financial cesspit leaves me appalled and desperately sad for the club I have supported all my life.
City once had a touch of class like Arsenal, look at them now, should we emulate them? no thank you.
Fantastic post Raddy. I hope the takeover thing isn’t true I’d hate Arsenal to be owned by Saudis, I’d rather have jabba and I detest him
Thats a cracking read Randy.
I think todays our day. I expect SHL to be half empty in the 80th minute
Hi dandan, I appreciate what you say. I am not advocating it as a course we should take, but simply saying that it is completely out of our hands and possibly an inevitability. I don’t believe you would tear up your Arsenal membership, especially since it is likely that within the next 10 years most of the big clubs may go down that route.
It may be inevitable that Kronke cashes in on his investment, and us supporters have no say in the matter.
Regardless of the ownership of our club my DNA flows with the Red & White – and that will never change.
Good luck to you GN5, Personally I grew up supporting a proper football club and have no wish to become an acolyte of a rich man’s plaything, Rasp may prove to be right about me but I doubt it.
dandan, we’re already owned by a couple of billionaires and that hasn’t stopped you supporting the team. Football changed forever when the big TV money came in, you’d probably have wanted to resign then if you knew where we’d be in 2013. I’m with GN5, I’ll support them whatever the regime.
Aaron Ramsey will start the north London derby against Tottenham.
The Wales midfielder replaces Abou Diaby, who has been ruled out with a calf injury.
Ramsey is the solitary change from the side that started against Aston Villa last weekend.
Lukas Podolski and Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain are among the substitutes.
Arsenal team: Szczesny, Jenkinson, Mertesacker, Vermaelen, Monreal, Ramsey, Arteta, Wilshere, Cazorla, Walcott, Giroud; Subs: Koscielny, Rosicky, Podolski, Oxlade-Chamberlain, Coquelin, Mannone, Gervinho
Afternoon all,
I’ll take another 5-2 to the good guys today 🙂
Hi Irish, can we expect some more old fashioned anglo saxon from you again today? 😆
😆 Depends on how one’s day progresses
dandan,
Football has always been a large part of my life, from playing, coaching, managing and even reffing.
I’ve supported Arsenal for as long as I can remember (70 plus years ) and football will continue to be a big part of my life so nothing could stop me supporting Arsenal.
Owners may/will come and go but my allegiance will never falter.
My plea to the team … concentrate for 94 minutes, cut out the silly mistakes, support one another and keep it tight from the start,
Hi all
A very poorly peaches here, some nasty virus seems to have grabbed hold of my body and left me with a hacking cough that has caused my back to go too so I’m in agony as well 😦 😦 😦
Where do these scummy spuds get off thinking they can lord it over us. Beating them 5-2 twice in the last twelve months obviously was an apparition 😆
Irish 🙂
Hi peaches 🙂
Hope you feel better soon 😦 A win today would help no doubt
Enjoy the game everyone 🙂
Pre-match power walk across some fields, to be chased home over the final furlong by a Vietnamese Potbellied Pig with pink and purple nail polish.
Normal I think.
that bloody site has gone done again
Talk to ye guys at half time – if I’ve not punched a hole in my laptop, which I expect not to, cos we’ll win, easy!
Poor you Peaches.
The perfect medicine is about to be spoon fed to you
Peaches, rotten luck, it could have been someone 6′ 5″ tall grabbing your body!! 😀
On second thoughts the effect could have been worse! 🙂
Hope you are better soon!!
liveonfooty get on but no games
Hi all
Enjoy the game. A cracker I think.
Come on you Gunnnnnnners
Micky,
It’s your male magnetism — you lucky b………….. 🙂
How many people can say they are a pot-bellied, Vietnamese pigs erotic fantasy? 🙂
Kelsey,
They’ve gone to prison, I think!! 🙂
Gonna be a long game.
Come on Arsenal
Cannot help but feel dejected after that!
All set up for the 5-2 again
Very quiet on here….shell shocked. …non existant attack….and the goals handed on a plate….oh dear….comeback on….not in my book.
You could argue we’ve got them right where we want them
Cocky so and so’s
Well said Irish!
COYRRG!!!!!
every attack only one player in the box yet we more than held our own overall for the first 30 odd minutes. arguing amongst themselves,did you see vermaelen
Did we have a shot?
no, RA and santi needs to get more involved.
had it with Arsene,
any idiot can tell that you shouldn’t play a high line,when one of your centre halves is slower than a tortoise running through treacle. The tiny totts wage bill is well below ours.
Funnily enough I predicted we’d go 2 down
Two softer goals …………………………
thanks GM 🙂
Still loving the picture of Monkeyboy
Pod on for Rambo and go for it?
Next goal crucial. I can just see the chance falling to giroud and him missing it.
Game not over. Bring podolski on,take Ramsey off and move carzola central to make the best of his ‘through ball’ ability.
Kelsey
Agree about Santi
We put five past them with Pod left and Santi with Jack.
Have to go on the attack and see what happens.
Poor yet again same old story every game.
It’s time for a change ,brb more Valium
We go in 2-0 down and not a single shot on goal and there’s no changes at half time. Bet the defense line will remain unchanged also. I retract my earlier statement- the game is over!
ITYS. It makes no sense to play Santi on the left.
Here we come
MERTS!!!!!! 2-5 come on!!!!!!!!!
Listen to the fans 🙂
You Big Friendly German
No2 is coming lads
Lloris is a bloody good keeper 😦
Come on Arsenal
Are we done with ash? Shall I bin him? The man has become very boring.
Ash
I know you are Arsenal. Also, a Grover and a twat. First and last time I speak to you.
Commentator on Bale
“He is human after all!”
Sure?
Come on you Gunners
We can win this
Raddy, you are my hero!
It’s bad enough without that idiot!!
I’d like to see podolski given a chance upfont from now on. Giroud’s just not good enough!!!!!
Ffs totally dejected. Why the fk would you play such a high line when we have Mertersacker playing instead of Koscielny against the likes of Lennon, Bale and Walker?
We’ll still finish ahead of them in the league. We gifted them that win – shocking defending again.
That went exactly as I expected. we need a new manager
Vertonghen their MOTM, wouldn’t mind one bit if we had gotten him instead.
Very disappointed not to get at least a draw, but that was a great game of football.
If we play like that for the rest of the season (post two goals), Chavs and Spurs will have to work their socks off as well.
Giroud poor for me once again. Playing Cazorla on the left is a waste of his playmaking abilities.
Terrible defending cost us the game once again – its inexcusable.
Can’t complain about the effort but when they see those 2 goals we conceded it just is piss poor, and not for the first time.
No one really stood out for me and we need a second striker big time.
Time and time again we get caught on the counter attack .
I been telling you lot since last summer but u still back Wenger.
When will u see the light ,it’s awfull back four and keeper shi* .
I’m with u goner
https://twitter.com/DarrenArsenal1/status/308276612141551616
SH
The back four aren’t awful at all. They are not coached properly. That’s down to the manager. Even with more money it won’t change
Such a frustrating result. We were there, but not quite. Just couldn’t get a decent final ball in. Of course the two goals were annoying. Especially the second. I got the feeling that we switched off because of the disappointment of conceding the first. This sort of thing is getting very very annoying. By the way, I think Walcott cost us the first goal. He wasn’t in position to close down on the wings, and this is what led to the pass for Bale. I see a few people criticising the high line because of Mertesacker’s lack of pace. But neither of the goals were scored due to anyone being found too slow. Nobody decided to even run with them. That isn’t lack of pace. That is either poor communication or poor decision making or both. Mertesacker actually did quite well winning his aerial battles.
Once again we start playing our proper game once we were two goals down. Hopefully, now that we’re 7 points behind and it seems like a similarly lost cause, we’ll be able to play all our games without developing ‘nerves’ like this. I don’t care about finishing below Spurs. It doesn’t suit Arsenal to be obsessed with them. I do care about finishing top 4. Because that gives us some much needed cash, and the prestige of the CL, which should allow us to buy some better players. Obviously I’d prefer 3rd, but that too mostly because we won’t have to play in the qualifiers then, and this would mean we can buy players earlier.
7 points and 5 points the gap to 3rd and 4th. 30 points to play for. It isn’t over yet. But some issues within our team need to be addressed.
We were the better team but once again silly defending cost us the points.
Still we beat them 6-3 on aggregate
I’m finding it harder and harder to understand Wenger’s tactics as of late, AVB nailed his tactics spot on today and used their greatest asset – pace – to win. Ramsey over Pod/Oxlade/Rosicky? Playing a 4-4-2 is understandable but surely even Rosicky should have started – look how much better we were with our pass and go movement when Rosicky came on. Santi on the left? Against teams who are good at defending surely we’d want our best playmaker creating chances through the middle. Mert over Koscielny against the paciest team and easily one of the best at counter attacking football in the EPL?
Nevertheless, once again shabby defending has been our achilles heel. Wonder what Steve Bould does in training.
Nihirealist
Very fair summary and I agree.
Clear lack of communication at the back.
I still think Chelsea will be going for the Cups to boost Rafa’s CV, and we’ll get fourth.
It is now a question of the team playing with heart and guts in every game.
There are no positives to be taken from this game, its exactly what we should have expected.
Possession without goals, no width, being hit on the break and poor defending.
Goonermichael, that is some absolutely worrying and terrible stats for a club like ours.
Who coached the back four when we had the Invincibles? What’s changed? Who has changed in the coaching staff?
One last post before I call it a day, credit to Mertersacker for losing his marker and scoring a peach of a header. But unfortunately it was his defensive mistake from being caught off the pace that left us chasing the game 2 nil down.
Hi Rasp
Positives or not, its going to be all hands on deck, as top four cannot be beyond us.
Why take Jenkinson off and put Ramsey in his place ?
Irish
Someone amongst the 70 coaching staff!!!
Or maybe there’s 1 we forgot to employ.
Its .out of our hands Micky, we cannot keep relying on other teams to implode, it won’t always rescue us. We should be taking control, instead we have to hope others fail. The spuds are the equivalent of 3 games in hand over us and there are 10 games left
Ah, but we have qualiteeeee
micky,
Heart, guts and brains (concentration).
I remember having a discussion with you at the start of the season about AVB and whether he’ll be good for Spurs or not. Sadly, it seems like I was correct. If he hadn’t gone there, I would have taken him as one of the potential replacements for Wenger when he does move on, despite the debacle at Chelsea. Speaking of which, I disagree that Chelsea will be more focused on the cups. Benitez might be, but since when do the mob there play for their manager? It depends on what they want. I think they want CL football over the cups.
I agree with that Rasp, its is far from ideal 😦
Nihirealist,
First up, what’s your nickname, as Nihirealist makes me have to concentrate way too hard 🙂
Second, I remember the conversation, and fessed up a few days ago on here that I got that one wrong.
I did not perform my usual U-turn nearly fast enough 😦
MIDI – Just wondering cos the defenders we have now are not bad defenders, they are all internationals in big teams (Monreal perhaps not because of Spain’s strength but would Gibbs be first choice?) Anyway, they are individually still not bad players so what has happened that they can’t defend for sh!t when we could get Senderos looking like a world beater – every now and then…
I’m disappointed but also proud of the players.
We were arguably the better team in a close game.
We can’t win every game.
The spuds have to play the mancs, city the chavs and liverpool. We have the mancs at home
I’m sorry but how many great goals have been scored against us this season – very few. We’ve been conceding poor goals all season. The back 4 AW inherited would never concede such goals. Sol Campbel was a man mountain who got the best out of Kolo. Our defence has never been the same since he left.
Irish
I’m with you. There does appear to be a chronic lack of leadership and communication between whichever combination we play.
I also don’t think Sz reads and communicates impending threats either.
I’ve long argued that Arsene adopts a “we’re all leaders” approach, whereas in reality we actually don’t have a single one.
Rocky,
I’d argue we were miles the better team once we arranged ourselves in the right order (inevitable defensive lapses aside 😦 )
MIDI – Agreed, every team needs one leader to stand out. It can be a quiet one like a Maldini or a vocal one like a Roy Keane but we have nothing. I thought it might have been Vermaelen once upon a time … how that man has regressed since becoming captain!
GM
Rasp mentioned that we cannot rely on others to implode, however, its important to remember that we have played the tougher fixtures.
They only need to lose two, and game on.
We cannot throw in the towel yet.
Arsenal manager Arsene Wenger: “Suddenly we were 2-0 down after a tight opening. We were on top of the game when we conceded two goals. My team produced a lot of energy and desire but we were not decisive enough in either penalty area.
“We played offside at the back when we shouldn’t have done it. I feel sorry for the team and the fans. It’s difficult to swallow.
“We have to fight. It will be difficult to come in the top four now as we dropped points we couldn’t afford to drop.”
has he raised the white flag 🙂
Nihirealist
If you don’t answer my question, and pronto, then I will call you Bob…or
Hi Irish, have to agree vermaelen really has gone down in form dramatically.
I don’t accept this easier run in. Do you think QPR away will be easy,as an example
Once again he blames it on not taking our chances up front (so why didn’t he buy a top striker with the RvP money?) and doesn’t mention the fact that we gifted them 2 goals with poor defending. He really isn’t interested in defending at all is he?
Irish
So, what you are saying, is that “anyone can be a captain and leader as long as I fancy them”
Gaga for DM? 🙂
Micky,
nihirealist is my nickname (nihiname?) Earlier known as Shard. Call me what you like, except Bob…or.. anything arbitrary 🙂
That was a really disappointing result ……. mostly because we don’t appear to be able to score atm in addition to giving away ridiculous goals.
I was impressed with how we started the game, in fact had we not gift-wrapped two goals to them I would have said that the first half belonged to us.
I really did expect us to score two in the second half but sadly that didn’t happen 😦
NihiNackyNoo,
Was that you I saw giving Mr Micky your “I told you so” speech? 🙂
Hi Kelsey 🙂
MIDI – Rosicky 😆
kelsey – I agree with you about the ‘easier run-in’ stuff, two years ago we could have won the league with our easier run-in. However, it does look good on paper. I still think we’ll finish top four …….. there I’ve said it 😆
RA,
One must look to enjoy the little, petty things in time of such frustration and sadness 🙂
Peaches,
The words, straw and clutching come to mind.
Well done…. i agree 🙂
Did anyone notice the banana thrown towards Bale? Unfortunately, when Gareth eats a banana, an amazing transformation occurs. Gareth…is….Bananaman..
It is really interesting how each of us tries to rationalize our sense of disappointment, albeit in our own unique ways.
I am really upset to be frank, and no amount of “we shoulda, we coulda, we woulda” works for me at the moment.
By tomorrow I will hopefully have caught up with the spirit of the optimistic AAers who are putting a brave face on things.
What stops me being able to be optimistic too, tonight, is the thought that the Spuds coulda, shoulda had two more goals in the 2nd half.
4:1 would have been impossible to square with being the better team.
Just a reflection.
RA
You forget that we have this automatic start button which kicks in once we go 2 goals down. If they’d scored 2 earlier than they did, we might have had more time to get back into the game. If we start well, and concede a goal despite that, our heads drop and our concentration goes. Until either half time, or, more likely, till we concede another. After that, we play well again, and almost get back into it.
Nihi,
Sounds like the definition of a poor team when I read that.
Rasp is a pragmatist, and he is right in his observations.
There is no harm in calling things as they are — the goals we gave away today were the result of awful defending, as have too many others this season even allowing for disruptive injuries.
I shall zip up now — and come back tomorrow when the disappointment has faded. 🙂
RA,
I was laughing at my team there. Poor team? Not sure. But they certainly aren’t where they can be. No harm as you say, in calling it like it is. But what it’s like depends on what you focus on. On the force of what is said rather than the content itself.
Ultimately, all that matters right now is just back them, and see where they end up once the season finishes. Could be anywhere from 3rd to 7th I guess. No point worrying about it. You can’t win until you’re not afraid to lose. I still think we can do it, although my confidence is dented due to our inconsistencies (or consistent failings) I would welcome articles on how it’s over and how Spurs will finish ahead of us. Spurs are more obsessed with us than we are with them. If they feel Arsenal are too far behind, they just might relax.
Tottenham HotspurArsenal
11(4) Shots (on goal) 11(2)
21 Fouls 13
4 Corner kicks 6
5 Offsides 2
40% Time of Possession 60%
3 Yellow Cards 1
0 Red Cards 0
1 Saves 2
I’ve NEVER heard the BBC so happy! who will be the first to bring out a 53 minute DVD of the game… aunty or the sperztics already? Look at that sperz foul count! and the second half time wasting!?! six minutes extra? (and not a second more?) Keep the faith till the end of the season at least goons, it’s another 6-4 aggregate over them , we still have a far superior goal difference , there are 30 points to play for and a better on paper run in, I make it sperz have beaten Arsene Wenger Arsenal in the prem’ 5 times in 35 attempts and ALWAYS by the odd unforced error goal.
My biggest fear is actually having to enter that wretched Thursday Night Cup and be playing Dynamo Dyfed Dwarves or some such rubbish 😦
If the worst happens, do have to enter or can we refuse?
Evening all, if your bums weren’t squeaking before they should be now, but it’s no problem as Champions League is not a trophy, so there’s actually nothing to squeak about. Then again did you see the way the Spudders celebrated? Maybe it is……
Anyway on to the game, created little (too many wayward passes from Jack but also not enough clever runs from wide to help give other options) in first half but were threatened little also, and then two individual mistakes, and while the focus has been on BFG for playing Bale onside I would question TV5 on the first, BFG drops back to block off a pass to Adebayor’s run and TV5 should have gone with Bale.
And the second well TV5 should have followed Lennon simply no excuse.
Then second half we took the game to them again and were unlucky not to come away with a point for the effort put in.
Again unhappy at individual player decisions at 2-1 with minutes to go, Theo’s shot from a late free kick when he had plenty of runners to pick out, and other such decisions.
But we were not awful, they did not thrash us as many predicted and for 95 of 96 minutes Bale was surprisingly quiet….oh and Adebayor could have seen red for that lunge on Jack, and my guess if it wasn’t a NLD and he hasn’t been sent off in the first game and Jack hadn’t taken himself out of harms way then he would have gone.
Disappointing to lose to them as always but I don’t see they have much to gloat about yet, they come up agai at the inform Suarez next week and anything is possible in football. My personal prediction now has them finishing 1 point ahead of us. It’s not over yet.
Nihi,
There is all the difference in the world between being disappointed and failing to support the team. The latter will never happen, in my case anyway.
Remember, the first step in putting something right is to recognise that there is a problem. (GN5s stats tell me I am wrong – but the stats and my observations are in conflict over this! 🙂
Speaking in the vernacular — a man might love an ugly bird, because beauty is in the eye of the beholder, but to his friends she is still an ugly bird! 🙂
Pragmatism rules!
Nite.
Rasp – “and doesn’t mention the fact that we gifted them 2 goals with poor defending.”
C’mon Rasp…this is pretty clear cut:
“We played offside at the back when we shouldn’t have done it.”
Champions league is a financial objective not a trophy and as such it is central to our ambition and ability to attract good players to join and sponsors to cough up. Our management is failing to achieve that objective.
We were in almost complete control and the crowd was fairly quiet…which is no mean feat in an NLD at SHL.
Shame we didn’t threaten their goal a bit more.
On the goals…both were down to individual decision making. For both everyone can see theres little or no presure on the ball….its basic that you should then retreat and lessen the space behind and plug any holes.
Why Nacho doesnlt follow his runner all the way is beyond me.
Tommy does worry me a bit lately. He swings between bouts of over exuberance and being frozen with indecision. If in doubt…retreat and defend is my motto
Hi sharkey, do you think the players were following instructions or just making it up as they went along 😕
CL is also a great competition to be in for entertainment and prestige purposes
Corky at 6.34 sums it up for me.
I’ll try and pop back later
Agree with your @ 20:07 sharkey
we weren’t in complete control. Posession means nothing. How many meaningful chances did we have. Not many that I can remember. Am so gutted right now.
Ok Thomas, so you think we weren’t, I think we were.
on reflection you’re right about the first 30 mins of the first half. The Shite hart lane crowd was pretty quiet and to be fair to Tottenscum, that is quite rare. But the fact that we created so little is a real indictment on the performance for me.
Rasp, I think its partly down to Tommy. He’s our CB and our skipper, and for all his cut and thrust, and swashbuckling challenges, he is found wanting too often.
Defending in my mind is 90% concentration, ie always remaining alert to danger and constantly making the right decisions. One slip or a moments lapse for a CB is often fatal.
I used 90% there…yeah I was guessng, so what !
Zonalmarking wrote an article on Tommy back in Apr 2010, asking Q’s about his positioning.
Just to be clear, I’m not killing Tommy over todays result, but my pref at CB is Mert and Kozzer, and thats pretty much how I’ve always voted on here on those Poll/Vote thingies that Mickey (and GM?) get so bloody excited about
Fair dos Thomas, I should have given you more time to see it my way 😉
Thomas – we had openings but didn;t really threaten. I think of Giroud getting tackled by Vertonghen, when Vert really should have had no sight of the ball.
i love Giroud, I really do, but a top top striker keeps himself between def and ball and retains the room for a strike at goal whilst inviting a penalty giving challenge.
I thought Giroud won top marks for effort today. That desire to get to that dropping ball and get a shot away exemplified that
I did warn u about bale I watch him on a regular basis .
The defence was like a showaddywaddy dance .
Again poo.
Sheep,
What was Per doing…?
Why didn’t he and the defence back off the attackers, Per left them far too much room to run into.
I have a theory. I think Bould has got his way to coach the defence with playing a line and stepping up. The problem the defenders we have simply cant perform well enough to do what they are being told.
Maybe Mr Wenger is right.. all out attack is the only way… after all we cant defend. Erm?
Sharkey that Giroud chance was all about not really trusting his right foot, which I guess comes down to confidence….the attempt to control with left was good unfortunately he wanted time to shoot with it too when he probably should have allowed it on to his right to strike.
But like you I love his work rate.
Like you I also agree about the first goal and needing to drop and defend when required, this is where the players need to take over from the coaches and react to each situation as it arises, in that instance there was no need to play highor try and holdahigh line, drop to the 18 yard and cut the passes. TV5 in general this season has not been at his best. Saying that I think he showed a bit more leadership today than he has most of the season…not necessarily in his play but in being there for his teammates, we are going to need that fight for the rest of the season.
Thought Jenks was good today too, for all the worry about Bale v Jenks as I predicted Bale would play more through the middle as he did, and it was going to be down to the CBs to cope. In that one instance they didnt.
Per I won’t play him he’s as slow as me and I’m 49
Bould or Wenger doing nothing right time for a change
We need a post for tomorrow, either a match report or some comments about the game. Does anyone fancy writing something up …………??????
Peaches I dare not I’ve loads of time no jail until Dinner time
But I daren’t hope u are better.
Sheep. Bale really didn’t do a great deal today. At one point commentator said he’d had least touches of any player on the pitch. I think around 30mins was on the clock at the time.
Our general play today kind of vindicated Arsene’s ‘no special plans for the siminan threat’ policy.
Thank you SH, I’ve taken some really strong painkillers so I’m a bit off my head atm 😀
Alright G-NewBaby-E.
Yeah I almost quoted names of strikers who don’t suffer any lack of confidence on their weaker side.
Overall, I thuoght Girouds play today made a mockery of Arsene’s decision not to start him vs Bayern. He led the line and competed superbly throughout
Just read BBC and realised Kelsey’s 6:06pm post of Arsene’s comments have been abridged or were not reported on the page Kelsey looked at.
He went on to say after the paragraphs Kelsey highlighted:
“At the back, we played offside in a position where we shouldn’t have done it.”
“I feel sorry for the team and the fans, because when you produce so much in a game and come away with so little it’s a big disappointment.”
“I feel we were on top of the game when we conceded the goals, and that is most frustrating. If you’re dominated and the opponent scores you can accept it, but the way it happened is difficult to swallow”.
Sharkey to be fair there aren’t many who do not fear their weaker foot, it took RvP 6 years to realise his right leg wasn’t just for standing on.
In drafts Peaches, if no one comes up with anything better
Can someone explain this?
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oG8ICHQTxHU at 2:45 he is asked if your club isn’t going in the right direction at the moment would a large investment from Quatari group solve your ills?
Wenger replies: well if ppl are ready to invest that kind of money maybe the club does not too much in a bad direction I dont think those ppl are crazy.
If you watch carefully he follows it up with a smug grin.
Um is he asserting that we are going in the right direction?
Another disturbing post game stat I heard of the 18 players that left AFC since the trophy drought between them they’ve won 54 trophies!
Frustrated what he is saying or asking is would a group of people invest $1.5billion in a club that was seriously failing. Lets remember they are looking to pay £1.5bn for the shares, we won’t see a penny of that, and then we have to hope they have some left for investing in the club.
Is that 54 compounded? Last season City won the PL with Toure,Nasri and Clichy are they counting 3 or 1? Portsmouth had Lauren, Campbell and Kanu when they won the FA Cup again did they count 3 or 1? It would be possible to get to 54 quite quickly and with a relatively small number of trophies.
Not sulking, just overslept, which is unheard of.
Must be a sign 🙂
Morning all, a ten day inquest awaits until we have another game oh what fun the media will have. so man up, accept you can’t win them all and see where the wheel of fortune takes us. top four or not. the Emirates will still be standing, next season, new players will have been brought in and we start anew.
Morning All. Nothing happened yesterday that I didn’t expect. Nonetheless it remains painful – bit like going to the dentist.
I thought we outplayed a good team in form which bodes well.
As to the repetitive defensive howlers – is it the players or the organisation? And if it is the organisation, why can’t quality, experienced players get it right?
It has to be down to the players and much as I admire them individually, there is need for replacements. Or is the problem the continual injuries resulting in an unsettled back line?
DD. AT least your brother has some bragging rights 🙂
But remind him of the 6-3 aggregate.
Morning
Raddy 6-4 actually 😉
Sorry we didn’t outplay them otherwise we would have won.Possession means nothing if you don’t score and let in school boy mistakes in defending in more games than I like to mention this season.
Is it the players, the lack of confidence, the tactics, the formation,the coaching, the motivation inspired by the coach,
or a bit of each.
Even in the good PL run prior to this game we struggle to score and stamp our authority in so many games.
If Cl is going to be achieved it will mainly be reliant upon others slipping up.
In theory there are now 6 teams fighting for 3 places.
Morning peoples, 🙂
Well the disappointment has ebbed, life goes on, Arsenal goes on and fine margins deciding a game, like yesterday’s, are nothing new.
I trust we are all In fine fettle and prepared to repel boarders (again).
kelsey. Maths has never been my strong point 😀
And if we don’t get CL qualification – then what? Do you think we will not attract top players? Or the fans will stop going?
Hasn’t happened at Anfield or Spurs?
The discussion yesterday was good enough for a week of posts. Would you support AFC if we became Oilers? Because IMO the only way we will be able to compete is to find a Sheikh.
Apart from MU, Barca, BM and RM, all the best sides are Oilers and the situation will worsen as Russian and Italian teams get on board.
MU, MC, Chavs are in a different financial league to us and unsurprisingly it is having an impact.
The media do not want to point out how we the PL is being financially doped because it affects the way the EPL is viewed by the paying fans. They still peddle the nonsense that it is the best league in the world.
So we play in the second rank of the EPL and we sit in second place. No disaster, just the way it is.
mmmmm could expand this into a post in a quiet week
My brother is being all smug on facebook 😦 The 54 trophies inlcludes league of Ireland titles and the JPT
Morning Exile, dandan, Raddy, Kelsey and RA.
I don’t go with the others “slipping up” line, as I mentioned to Rasp last night.
Its how you do over a season, and we have played the tougher fixtures.
Let’s face it, win them all and we’d probably be second.
That won’t happen, but top four is certainly possible, and its a massive trophy as far as I’m concerned 🙂
I would give up my memberships if we are bought by Saudis
The problem is with the coaches, the coaching and the quality of players. None of our CBS are top quality, they all have flaws and are prone to errors
GM. Problem is that my blood runs red and white.
I was gutted when we left Highbury
Rasp. And your answer to the problem? (In detail please 🙂 ).
dandan,
As Raddy said, I hope your bother is really enjoying some quality gloating time 🙂
Is it really ten days until the next fixture? That is quite depressing. I’m hoping Arsene takes the lads off to Lanzagrotte for a week to create some much needed media distraction with stories of great debauchery
“The problem is with the coaches”
Are you suggesting stretch limos each?
Coat as GM would say.
Micky. “bother” LOL. I know mine is!
Raddy,
Actually that’s not a particularly bad slip up when I consider one of mine 🙂
Hi raddy, you already know my answer to the problem, but now is not the time to voice it as we need to support the team in the slim hope that we can still get in the top four. I just can’t understand why so many intelligent people are resisting the blindingly obvious
Morning all – GM @ your 8.48, I would too and you probably know why I’d feel more strongly about it than most.
Morning all
New Post ………………
Hi All,
I am new to this group and am a close friend of ‘dandan’s’ Brother who, sadly is not too well at the moment. This past weekend he was entertained at our home in Somerset, even though he’s a spud (!!!) and I am sure it made him feel better (and me physically sick!!) when the Spuds took the points. But if it helps him get better then it would have been a happy sacrifice.
As for me I am a Silver Member at AFC and have supported the gunners since the age of 7 (in 1954) – and been to Home games in every season since I started. This season is my ‘S’ season having been to the matches v. Sunderland, Southampton, Swansea and Stoke! For those of you who listen to it, I am a regular ‘caller’ to the Arsenal Fans forum on Monday nights on Arsenal.com with raving Gooner, Tom Watt.
My view on things currently? I’m not sure where I stand with AW, Whilst having huge respect and appreciation of what he has done for our club, currently I find him HUGELY frustrating and annoying and his stubbornness unbearable. I feel he/we are at the stage where we need to change the playing style (every team who plays us knows what they will get). Whilst being the first to acknowledge his achievements at N5, I feel that we are in need of fresh ideas and maybe 1 or 2 assistants to Arsene to help ‘spread the load’ and inject some new ideas and if AW doesn’t want that then I am afraid I back the call for a change of Manager. One thing is certain we can’t go on as we are – in a decreasing spiral, season after season. Somebody described Arsenal last week as ‘spineless’ and what they meant by that was weakness in the Goalkeeper, centre backs, defensive Midfielder and a recognised world class striker – positions right through the CENTRE (ie Spine) of the team. Have to say I agree – our ‘powder puff’ defending has let us down time and again, we just don’t seem to have a strong ‘no nonsense’ centre back in the club and their weakness in the air both in ours – and opponents – penalty areas is embarassing. The midfield just needs that strong holding player and it would be WORLD class. As for the front runners Podolski is disappointing – goes missing too often – Giroud although a tireless worker needs to improve technically. Theo by and large has done well and maybe that Top striker being signed in the summer will be the making of him next term.
As I see things now with the club boasting a fat Bank balance there is NO EXCUSE for not doing what is needed in the Summer, and if you don’t do it Messr Wenger, the fans will react by voting ‘with their feet’ and the 60,000 attendances may be missing. from what I hear there is already serious unrest amongst Club Level and Season Ticket Holders not to mention the other fans who pay by the match, in the wake of the teams ‘under performance’ this season, so beware Arsene patience is wearing thin. You can’t live on past Laurels. For at least 5 of the last 8 trophyless seasons the team has been in decline and this can’t be allowed to go on. So do what is necessary AW and get us back on track. Your failure to do that may well result in a change at the helm – and don’t be surprised if the majority of that pressure comes from the fans, after all every dog has his day.
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