Well that feels better doesn’t it, back to winning ways, the sweet smell of victory. When Arsenal win angels soar, birds sing and spuds groan, all the ingredients that make for a good start to any week.
I know it was only Bournemouth and I might be going a bit over the top but it feels like quite a while since I had this feeling and what with spuds losing their unbeaten status and us moving ahead of them in the league I think there is plenty to be happy about and I am going to milk it.
Three – one was about the right score, we made hard work of it as we are all too often prone to do against this kind of opposition even though collectively, talent wise, we are head and shoulders better and that is the way things appeared shortly after the game got under way. Oxlaide-Chamberlain getting sharper and sharper with every game was carving them open down the left flank but unfortunately his incisions came to nothing until in the spirit of the Christmas season Bournemouth handed us an early present by gifting the ball to Sanchez who calmly fired the ball low and hard past the helpless goalkeeper.
One – nil and all was going to plan, Bournemouth would be forced to come out in an attempt to score which would create the perfect situation for the speedy skills of Walcott on the right flank and Chamberlain on the left, what could go wrong? What went wrong was probably the most unexpected of scenarios: Debuchy got injured, well I don’t mean that was a surprise what was a surprise was how the simple addition of Gabriel seemed to completely knock us off our stride and shortly after with a reciprocal sense of seasonal giving we handed them a way back in the form of a clumsy challenge on one of their chaps which was deemed a penalty. It looked a fairly clear pen to me but I have read others who felt it was harsh; this hardly matters now as the fact is that it was converted to bring Bournemouth back on terms. Arsenal continued in this giving spirit handing them opportunity after opportunity but all were declined.
Half time came and went and although we started the second half better and the switch of Gabriel and Debuchy became an insignificance the problem was while the score remained 1-1 there was always that nagging worry that we may be looking at yet another November draw.
Both bad Theo and good Theo were on display today. The game was live on telly and everyone reading this saw the game. Walcott’s close control is poor to say the least, however, before people start running to his rescue he did, of course, score the all important second goal, what can I say; sigh, we are going to be stuck with him for even longer.
Going a goal behind sent Bournemouth out on the attack again and they had a few good chances but our defence stayed calm with Koscielny and Mustafi putting in a title winning shift before Wenger brought on Giroud and Ramsey and their fresh legs tipped the balance completely back in our favour with the French Lumber Sexual gaining a fantastic assist, allowing Sanchez to get his second and put the game to bed. Sanchez was man of the match, people worry about the accidental loss of Özil but the real doomsday scenario is the loss of Sanchez.
Back to Bournemouth and Eddie Howe, I have been watching how he has been handling Wilshere and his reintroduction from injury has been impressive, first 30 minutes as a sub then 45 from the start, then 50 then 60 until now he is able to play the full 90. Simple perhaps but you have to do it and you have to make it work and getting Wilshere to work could be the difference of that club staying up this season and not. It was quite a coup just getting him but to get him firing on all cylinders and remaining in the EPL will be an impressive achievement.
And on the subject of staying up let me ask a question: how many people think that Bournemouth will be able to stay in the league for the next three seasons? Or let me put it a different way, what are the chances of them staying up for the next three seasons? My answer would be very slim. Why ask about the number three, well there is a reason: Wenger is in the last year of his contract but all the smart money is on him extending another two years which means, including this one, he will be at the club for another three seasons. So what I wonder is: would there be the same clamour for Eddie Howe to come and join us at the home of football if he were the one in charge of a relegated team?
An LB offering.
Arsenal News 24/7
If anyone knows how and is in the mood, please add some pics, thanks.
Will do …
“when Arsenal win angels soar, birds sing and spuds groan”
I like this line very much indeed
Back to read the rest asap
LB. Terrific read, one of your best especially the first para :-D.
One reason why Theo has altered the opinion of most Gooners is the vast improvement in his work rate. Seeing him defending high up the pitch and hearing the fan’s appreciation was heartening.
It was a very good game which was constantly in the balance . That said, I prefer to see us 3 up by halftime.
Hi LB
That was a great and amusing read. Thank you.
I think Arsene deserves a lot of credit for the team changes. So often, we have the tired excuse for pedestrian performances post CL games midweek, but although the team looked a little short of understanding first half, the freshness and energy were there to match a very hard working and pressy Bournemouth XI
Excellent squad usage, and equally excellent use of subs.
great post, thank you LB!!
you made an excellent point about Eddie Howe being a temporary contender for Wenger’s job. Once Bournemouth get relegated we will never hear of him again. BUT I hope they stay in the EPL for many years to come. They are good (all credit goes to their manager) and deserve to play at the top level.
Excellent LB, thank you. I’ve changed the banner to ‘Match Report’ … but isn’t it about time we had an LB banner?
A solid 3 points and breathing space between us and the manks and totts …. just what the doctor ordered.
We were both wrong … Ramsey is droppable 🙂
I’m pleased you mentioned how Debuchy’s injury knocked us back. The players were clearly very sorry for the poor fella and I think that as much as Gabriel’s squarepegism resulted in us losing rhythm.
Gabriel was poor for a while but improved when he stopped trying to play like a fullback and turned into a 3rd central defender …. 3:5:1 anyone?
Eddie Howe says and does all the right things and his doctrine is close to AW’s ….. I’d take him in a couple of year’s time, he’s no David Moyes.
Good points Rasp
I would prefer not to have my own banner if that is ok. “Match Report” as above seems to do the trick.
Turned down Bowie. Was never going to accept a banner 🙂
Rasp
My view? Delete your 12:25. It’s a day’s worth of discussion. I have a plan 🙂
12.25 moved to trash as requested. Hope that’s OK.
A fine report, LB.
Unbeaten in November, who’d have thought. 5 points from 9 in the League looks a whole lot better. ☺
I thought the pen was ridiculous. No change there then. The Bournemouth player launched himself towards the floor without any prompting from Nacho and with no intention or hope of getting the ball. Mike Jones could have seriously turned the whole game narrative.
Giroud looked as though he pulled a muscle in his arse cheek just after coming on and may have asked to be subbed if we hadn’t used all 3 already. He was straight on the floor at the end of the game.
Such a shame about the Boosh. Having to make an early sub always limits your options, so maybe, in hindsight he was brought back too soon. Was Jenks injured?
No problem, thanks chas … and thanks for updating the widgets …. we look to be in fine fettle. You never want to hit the front too early, we’ll just ghost past the opposition to the top with a couple of games to go 🙂
Excellent, well written post, LB 🙂
There is something about Eddie Howe that tells us he is special, and I would not be totally surprised if one day he will indeed come to manage the mighty red and white. His teams play modern, tactically aware and attractive football and there is no doubt that Bmouth will finish well away from the relegation zone. First Low, the german Beatle, will come in after Wenger, but that is another story.
I reckon the first goal was provided for in Arsenal and Bmouth’s loan contract for JW 😉 After that the referee made a fool of himself by given a pen for nothing and we knew we had to fight again to get all three points. Given that this was our third game in 8 days, I reckon the boys did very, very well. Especially, as you say too, Sanchez was great, and so were Ozil and the two DM’s: Swiss Army Knive and Elhoover. What did you make of this combo, LB?
For me, it was the game of the assists, and funnily enough, Das Ozil did not even produce one. Monreal’s instant cross to Walcott had so much feeling in it and Giroud’s selfless pullback to the cunning Alexis was also a beauty. Is the lumbersexual becoming our superb supersub? It was great we could bring on two stars from the Euros in Ollie and Rambo, and they made a difference straightaway. Three very valuable points and a great all-round team performance. Let’s push on and create a big gap between Spuddies and Mancs so we don’t have to worry about them anymore.
Doesn’t Mustafi play RB for Germany sometimes?
Good performance. Forced to raise their game in 2nd half and they responded well. Sanchez keeps dropping further and further back for more of the ball and you see ozil ghosting forward, that’s why the lack of assists. it’s a combo/tactic that seems to be working quite well.
Defensively i thot we were a lacking in the centre of the field. They had a couple of good spells of possession.
Tough for debuchy. if it weren’t for bad luck he’d have none at all. I thought Gabriel was useful at rb. He’s not much going forward but i like the notion of him sitting back a bit more to help the cbs.
And i enjoyed watching manure draw with the hammers. 🙂
Cavani has scored only 18 goals this season. That’s all.
Just the 18? Do you know that he cost PSG €64m – the most expensive signing ever in France?
Money well spent
Well spent indeed, Erique
in how many games?? if he only played 6 that’s a good ratio, but if he played 36 than he is shit
Someone said that Xhaka got more red cards than goals in his career, that can’t be right
I said THIS season Eddie, so that’s quite good 🙂
how many did Pogba score so far 🙂 🙂 🙂 or Ibra?
Here’s a good one Eddie
Which player has scored the most goals against Liverpool?
Answer in 10 mins
Answer: Emlyn Hughes (own goals) with 26
There, gotcha, no time to cheat 🙂
sanchez has 11.
oh
Micky. Excellent quiz question. Got any more?
is this Eboue?
Si
Chas
Brilliant. That Shakleton ad has to be one of the greatest of all time. Would love it on my wall
Oh no
http://www.smithsonianmag.com/smart-news/shackleton-probably-never-took-out-an-ad-seeking-men-for-a-hazardous-journey-5552379/
Eboue 🙂 Rubbish player, but such lovely character. I miss his smile
Agree. Shackleton is one of my great heroes. The men who answered his advert were many and few were chosen.
Not one of them wore plimsolls
I don’t care if it is genuine or not, the spirit is what matters
Top stuff LB
I enjoyed the game, but man was it cold. Does anyone else wear long johns under there trousers?
First half was poor, 2nd was a lot better. From my seat I got a good view of Ox first half and Theo 2nd
Ox is good when he has the ball and is facing an opponent, but he still plays the game as though intrigued by Sherlock Holmes. To often he stands around wondering how Holmes gets away with the manipulation of the innocent without getting a kicking.
I agree with your view on Theo’s close ball control LB. Why is it so poor? My theory is complex, but for the layman, “he’s not very good at it”. To the more discerning reader, “I have nothing to say”
It’s always good to open up a gap on Totnumb. Displaying a patronising sense of superiority over them makes me feel good. Almost German.
Don’t know about Eddie Howe? His team is fluent and atheletic but so was Fatima Whitbread, but that doesn’t mean I would sleep with her
Come to think of it, I would rather sleep with Eddie Howe, plus he’s got the same surname as Don so we might win a few games 1-0.
The Ghosts of the Thirties are Stirring
Pulis must be happy this evening. Not only proved to be a liar but €4m poorer
This makes me smile
Terry. You are a gem 😀
Of course they wore plimsolls. Better still, they were slipons 🙂
hm, I read his biography long time ago, he was a tough cookie alright. Maybe I should read the book again to man up a bit
Transplant forever 🙂
terry!!! Fatima Whitbread.
look at Feo’s head, he doesn’t check enough where he is going, as if he was too busy trying to control the ball.
We’re really lucky to have a superb small arts centre 10 mins away.
About 18 months ago, my son and I went to a talk on the “South” expedition
The brilliant bit was the bloke had slides made from all the original photos and we saw them all on the big cinema screen. Fabulous it was
Nicked the poster and have it in the downstairs bog
Thanks Raddy. I forgot to add, very impressed with Elneny. The mans hungry to succeed, playing as though he has to send money back home to feed his 17 siblings and make sure his dear old mama gets that life saving operation
I like him.
Eddie. There are many books about Shackleton’s expedition, one called South by the man himself, but I enjoyed one named Endurance by Alfred Lansing,
Some people would not enjoy my eternity Micky, but I would. Chas never fails to disappoint ha ha.
Yes Eddie, Fatima Whitbread. The two biggest surprises I have had recently were Leicester winning the league and hearing Fatima Whitbread say she was “wanting a boyfriend” I know it’s a billion to one, never met the women, but I went into hiding and never spoke to a soul for a week.
Transplant
Although I could never put it as eloquently as you, I agree about Elneny. What an engine. He was going like a man possessed right to the death.
Terry. 7.17 😀 😀 I have had a long phone call and a number of emails from his Nigerian brother.
Micky. I went to one in my youth at The Royal Geographical Society next to the RAH. I was lucky enough to hear many wonderful talks there including Chris Bonnington, Sir Francis Chichester, Thor Heyadahl and others.
Definitely Micky. Seems a good lad and a healthy desperation to do well
Re Whitbread
I have to confess to making an inappropriate comment about Fatima in front of my wife, who rather strongly I felt, assured me she was a married man
Wo man 🙄
Elneny’s mother is dead you liar!! I almost believed the story, disgusting.
Raddy – Endurance is the one I read.
Ah, Thor Heyadahl. Kon Tiki. First book I ever read. I was 14.
first book at 14??!! bit slow, aren’t you 🙂
first girlfriend?
Very slow. By the same age, my intellectual brothers had read The Complete Works of Biggles. Yip, the lot.
I had a friend who really looked like a man. She is a lesbian, but she is very feminine, much more feminine than me in character. She is sweet, loves kissing, romance, cooking, shopping, dancing and wants to have lots of babies.
But she won’t, because she is muslim and her parents are still alive.
Why does she look like a man, a gorgeous man, it has to be something with the chromosomes
I think at 15 I won some writing competition in Poland, very brainy girl. What happened to me?? I got a life 🙂
Don’t stop there Eddie
AT 14 I was more into Big and Busty
ha ha ha Erik
Funnily enough, I enjoyed picture publications too
Tell you what, football talk doesn’t half lower the tone
Theo through the middle
Anyone? Any takers?
Eddie, after my first wife and I divorced, she got remarried. Obviously though, after me, she could only downgrade, so ended up leaving him and despite begging me to take her back, I could never forgive her for not accepting my honesty over my sleeping with other women.
She then met this really butch woman and next year there getting married. I am really happy for her. She will get all the things she could never get with me, good DIY skills and a nice selection of Rugby tops
“I could never forgive her for not accepting my honesty over my sleeping with other women”
Unbelievable. Some women are plain unreasonable.
Must dash. Most enjoyable it has been.
We use to have this kid in our school who wrote his first book when he was thirteen. You could tell he was special because during English class we would write stuff like”and the werewolf came through the window and I legged it. It was a very dark night”. Then he would read out his story and it was like someone had injected him with an abnormality “The waves crashed against the cliffs, and the realisation that love was imminent filled the air with a fusion of wondrous excitement and dread” He also had very effeminate hands.
A few years later I heard he got banged up for nicking some geezers car whilst off his head on meths. Very sad.
Life world be a sadder place without Terry.
Very insightful analysis LB.
Think if Ox can start adding goals to his game we could have some fun with Ox, Ozil and Alexis behind Giroud. Simply because as you say Theo’s touch and passing let’s him down. I know others give the ball away but Theo’s passes so often seem to have no reason.
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-latin-america-38140981
Morning All,
6.52 LoL
6:16 ?
6:52 totally get 🙂
Micky. You need to follow the link
Just did. Ooops.
that is so awful, only 8 survivors
Terry – try to be serious for once – is your ex really going to marry another woman? if true then I think it’s great!!
Eddie. Why is that great? After your experiences with Lezzers I would have thought you would be less than impressed.
p.s.and n.b. some of my best friends are lesbians
raddy – it’s because I wish I could do that. There is no way I would ever live with another man, but I do get lonely. Another woman would be nice, I think, but the you-know-what part of it doesn’t sit comfortably with me, not at all. And tits.
On the tits issue we have to disagree 😀
I fail to see what more people would want from a football blog
micky – football?
Oh Eddie, there are plenty of sites for those sorts to go 🙂
he he he he 🙂
ok then -have you ever been pissed off with women enough to consider moving in with another man?
You mean, as in touching? 🙂
I’m afraid no woman has ever moved me enough to change direction, any direction.
Come now Micky, be honest. I thought you were a public school boy 😀
I was and you know what, the rapey paedo teachers put me right off 🙂
Rasp had a comment yesterday that was taken down to be used as a post today
That’s what I thought anyway
Chas, the taker downer, may have just fancied deleting a Rasp comment. For fun. Odd sense of humour that fella
Hey, knobhead from Devon, it appeared from your comment yesterday about removing Rasp’s comment that you had some plans to flesh out the comment into a proper post.
Not, for one second, did I or anybody else for that matter, think you meant that the comment could be used as a post on its own. ☺
ooohhh, not sure whose side to take in this. I have absolutely no idea what they are talking about, but I think I will go with DidIt, he has nicer hair than chas
Chas you donught – micky is right, you were to publish rasp’s post, where is it???
oh lordy
Can’t see where you, or anybody else, read I was going to flesh anything out.
Misunderstandings do happen sometimes. No need to come over all sensitive though
I think I better say sorry….oops
Better hair!! Are you sure about that Eddie?
Haha, what did ‘I have a plan’ at the end of the comment to take it down mean?
You have a plan to replace Santi’s creativity?
Actually, I thought Rasp’s comment would make a good talkie
Bugger me if I can remember what it was about
Ah haaaaa, remembered 🙂
Do away with the No10 altogether
Instead of 4-2-1-3 which is how it pans out now without Santi, there is a massive disconnect between the 2 and Mesut
Play one proper destroyer behind a 2 with Mesut as one of them, then three up top but with the central bloke (Sanchez) doing a bit of false 9
We’d go from
Ox Sanchez Theo
…….Mesut
….Granit Elnen
to:
Ox Sanchez Theo
…..Xhak Mesut
……..Coq
So glad I didn’t turn that crap into a post 🙂
Sounded perfect.
What sounds perfect?
Not my bloody viola. The bastard.
Practice.
Looking forward to L’pool vs Dirty Leeds.
Here’s Rasp’s comment………
Rasp says
Here’s the most worrying statistics ….
Win % with Santi in the side = 65.5%
Win % when Santi doesn’t play = 40%
Who’s going to replace his creativity? Apparently no-one in the available squad (we’ve just about tried them all)
Bring back Jack … Cesc …. ? ….
I do an awful lot of practice. It is still a complete bastard sometimes though.
Oh, well played Chas. Thank goodness no-one bothers emptying the office bins 🙂
Yes, I remembered my plan correctly. Drop Mesut a bit deeper as he’d be a connector, which is how I see Santi. Ok, he doesn’t get to dick about in the No10 role, but hey
I think Mesut playing further forward has been hurting us, as we do seem to have lost even further linkage than that lost when Santi got injured.
I still think Ramsey is the key, but he never seems to play in a set pattern, so being a part of a chain isn’t really on at the moment.
If you were to associate each Arsenal player with a part of the body, what would they be?
Santi – heart
Mesut – the intuition
Theo – right ear?
Ollie – ?
ha ha ha 🙂 Ollie 🙂
Quiff?
at long bloody last Santi gets what’s due to him. Pity it had to happen in his absence. Best playmaker appart from Cesc we ever had. Cesc was even better
Brilliant, LB. Late to the show, really really late, apols. But just enjoyed a brilliant read. 🙂
Everything good except Eddie Howe. No way! If Bournemouth stays up or if it doesn’t. Not enough class for me. And here’s also why.
http://www.arsenal.com/news/features/20160728/andries-jonker
chas – not even close 🙂
arnie – that photo is awful, they look like Dumb and Dumber
very sad about Chapecoense
Eddie. 🙂 If he produces another couple of players like Iwobi, who cares! 🙂
ha ha ha. Terry. 🙂 long johns? me. 🙂
and Micky. this is classic. “Chas, the taker downer, may have just fancied deleting a Rasp comment. For fun. Odd sense of humour that fella” ha ha ha 🙂
Eddie. never to speak ill of the dead. but never also to utter the name at all. dead is dead, fater all! 🙂
OK, Chas, some fantastic proper techie footie bolleaux in the past couple weeks. I wonder whether this is effect of riding on Ant’s back. Or the result of a crocked knee. 🙂
And now we have two real experts in proper footie as well, GiE and Fred. nice. 🙂
Eddie, how about this?
Chas. That was very bad news. I was hearing on Talkshite. Infuriating. Very bad.
Are Rob Holding and Perez starting tomorrow? Any other exciting youngsters?
Andy Caroll is likely to be fit for the weekend. Bloody typical.
Ball to Steward wins by a distance 🙂
I know its inappropriate to talk soccer at this time of day, but I do love the League Cup
Hope he rests Mesut and Sanchez
I like 6.56. Haven’t seen the word Cellophane in many a year
6.51, The old man is punching well above his weight. Wonder how he won his medal.
6.51. Young Chas.
Tonight’s match not on UK TV and looks as though there are few streams available.
Medal from Waterloo according to the caption under the photo.
I like the League cup, but also think it is a distraction. And danger, we almost always manage to pick up injuries in the process.
Advice to Arsene – play reserves and don’t give two shoots about the result.
that Waterloo – what were they fighting about? Why did they want to defeat Bonaparte? And England – Prussia coalition?? All wrong
Medal from Waterloo eh. I was wondering the same thing. Then, what nationality. I go Prussian
Ooo, it’s not often the word Prussian will appear in two comments, from two different people, in the same minute, on a football blog.
Eddie
Bonaparte was French. The English invented sport, and top of that list has always been Put Frenchie Down
micky – are you avoiding answering my questions?
Michael Parkinson on BBC talking about Ali, some classic extracts from live interviews. Muhammad Ali, my hero of all times, I think. And he was so gorgeous when young, a superior human being
I am an ejeet. I really expected an answer.
Eddie
What was World War 1 about?
Funnily enough Eddie, the other day Erik touched on the first book I ever read, Kon Tiki Expedition, and now you the second, The Greatest, My Own Story – Ali
just a little bit about the road rage attack I was subjected to – I told many people about what happened. ALL, including my son told me I was stupid to drive after the man trying to get his registration. ALL said I should have just let it go, repair the car and try not to worry about the banana boat arriving to take me back to Poland in 2 years.
Bollox to that. I think I have done the right thing. This is exactly what most people do – let it go, forget it, too dangerous. NO!! If it happened today again I would do exactly same thing. The rest is up to the cops, who trust me, are in no hurry to do anything.
chas – feck knows. Killing of prince Konstanty of Sarajevo? Are you saying they just let a bit of steam out going killing others? Just to air the the atmosphere a bit?
LB
Can Erik have permission to use Maitland-Niles (Conservative) in his line up?
Brings a massive smile to this bloggers face.
Micky
The Tuesday club pipped me to that one.
Motning all. Pass to steward my fav as well. 🙂
Eddie. We chased after as well, and would do so again if such things happen. Immigrants we may be, but it is our community, our society, and the quality and safety of our neighbourhoods is our responsibility.
I may be wrong, but I think more Gooners would give chase to the barstewards rather than not.
Mrs Arnie requests updates to photos of the kiddo Gooners club. 🙂
Who, what, The Tuesday Club?
(watched Chas link)
arnie – for mrs arnie. My granddaughter asked me if I had a hat for her. I opened the drawer with lots of different hats for her to chose, but straight away she went for this one:
🙂 🙂 🙂
thank you Eddie. 🙂
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