Swansea. What a shame. Lovely small club, promoted to PL. Get big name manager. Do exceedingly well considering budget. Sell best players. Don’t re-invest. Manager wants better players, owners want profits, manager resigns.
Then it is all downhill. Managers come and go, results don’t improve. Relegation highly likely.
So far this season Swansea have had 3 managers and are in dire straits (60 y.o. Mark Knopfler as their play maker). That’s what happens with crap owners. It could happen to any club.
Arsenal. What makes our club special? A history of careful stewardship. What would have happened had Usamov taken control? We will never know.
Today’s game is a potential banana skin. Swansea have some confidence after their win over CP. They also have a new, very good manager in Paul Clement, Quite why he left Bayern Munich where he was assistant manager to take over at Swansea is a mystery . At Derby, he only lost once in 19 games!
We have the usual injury list but welcome back some faces. Hector and Kos return having put pen to paper. I would play Gibbs and give Monreal a rest
My Team:
Cech
Bellerin Mustafi Koscielny Gibbs
Ramsey Xhaka Coquelin
Perez Sanchez Ozil
Why drop Iwobi? I don’t know, just so Ramsey can get a mother game under his belt. There is likely to be a midfield battle and we are away so I would pack the midfield, hence Coq/Xhaka.
We need to win today (as always) but it will be no easy victory.
COYRRG
Arsenal News 24/7
arsenalarsenal.net 
Thanks BR
The fact that they have a new manager could be seen as a useful thing for us as it might focus the attention just that little more rather than Swanning down there expecting three points. Couldn’t resist, probably should have saved it for later.
Thanks Erik
Don’t like those stats of their manager when at Derby
As for the team, it’d be great to welcome back Mesut, but where are you suggesting Ramsey plays?
I reckon Ollie will start.
My guess at Wenger’s team
——————-Cech
Bellerin, Mustafi, Koscielny, Monreal
——–Ramsey——- Xhaka
——————Ozil
——–Perez, Giroud, Sanchez
That really is an all guns blazing line up
I thought Coquelin was still injured?
Hoping Danny gets more playing time as we’re inching closer to my dream front line of Sanchez Perez and Danny (any order)
Today, a win would be massive, as home games to follow against Burnley and Watford could see us climb the table
I’m loving this supposed bust up that is going on at the bridge. I can’t work out how much to believe it.
The way they are going they will have enough money from China to build that new stadium without putting their hands in their pockets at all.
Come on Leicester
Cheers, BR.
Swansea have been a tricky side for us to play against.
I’m hoping we can lift our performance level with the return of Mesut, so that even if they raise their game (as they always appear to against us), we can still overpower them.
Failing that, a last minute spawny winner will do. 🙂
p.s. I know you always delibrately spell Usmanov, ‘Usamov’ and I still can’t work out why. Is it a pun on him being a user?
p.p.s. I’ve no idea who the 60 y.o. Mark Knopfler is but it still made me laugh.
my favourite news doing the rounds (in summary and probably not accurate) –
> Ozil wont re-sign unless AW does
> AW says Ozil needs to score more goals if he wants a pay increase
> AW signs Cohen Bramall from Northern League Premier Division club Hednesford Town for £40,000, AW says has “similarities to a young Ashley Cole”.
> AW no truth in Arsenal’s rumoured pursuit of duo Morata/Belotti and listed Yaya Sanogo and Chuba Akpom as reasons he does not need to bring in attacking reinforcements in January.
AW is unique in how he develops and builds the AFC team
https://twitter.com/MelOreilly1970/status/820228682413383680
Great stuff, thanks Raddy 🙂
New manager syndrome … that’s twice this season for us!
Yes, I agree today will be tough …. but really just what our boys need to show the doubters we can dig in and force a result. 1 nil to the good guys 🙂
Cech, Gabriel, Mustafi, Koscielny, Monreal, Ozil, Xhaka, Ramsey, Iwobi, Sanchez, Giroud.
Subs: Ospina, Maitland-Niles, Holding, Reine-Adelaide, Oxlade-Chamberlain, Lucas, Welbeck
No Hector. Must be crocked. Same with Coquelin.
Would like to see Perez get a run of games because he can cross and we look very light on the right side of attack.
Ok here we go
I never get quite so excited when I see a team sheet and Aaron and Ollie start
Three points is what matter today not beautiful football, so hope we prevail
Who Gabriel in for
OK what wrong with Bellerin
Well it’s all going to have to happen through the middle today – we have zero width!
Thanks Raddy. I think Clement wants to be a 1st team manager and has to step out on his own at an initial level that is not too high but not too low and if successful will look a good prospect for a big club with his experience at the highest level to date.
I don’t like the new manager thing as I think it works the other way that the team gets a sudden new impetus. Would rather he was arriving after we have played them.
Don’t really like the team again. Ollie once again promoted to 1st choice CF from the start and Sanchez pushed back wide. Sanchez is fine from the wide area as well obviously but what about the wide right? Who plays there? Certainly no-one naturally adept at the role. Again the same lack of balance for me.
Lets hope it proves an irrelevant factor today but in the long run it will prove relevant and costly I think.
What really going on
We could do with a bit more pace in the final third, I’m hoping to see Welbeck and Perez later.
We need to do anything other than what we doing now
The question is why later Rasp? Why not now, why not from the start? Not many top teams these days set up without pace or with limited pace options.
Have we scored? Not watching. Thought I caught wiff of the handsome French dude doing the business.
An injured Giroud puts the good guys ahead 🙂
Well delighted that we are in front and that is about the only positive of the first half.
Two attempts at goal. Loads of possession, no penetration.
Mustafi would be a liability against a better team, and if I were Clement I would be making sure Dyer played on the other wing because Gabriel is no FB.
Still, could get better, couldn’t it?
It COULD Erik 🙂
I’d take the three points right now and forget about the quality
Might even squeeze in some music practice second half 🙂
And definitely not a penalty but I was worried.
Micky. I read through much of a turgid first half 😦
Reckon the Ref made the most of the Tescos Quality Street Christmas offer
Yip. it’s awful to watch
I might try your one eye on trick 🙂
different ball game this half
A little fortunate but who cares. Strange that we scored after I was shouting at the TV for a series of missed chances!
Does Iwobi get two assists for the own goals?
Seriously
Is perez on the bench?
OK as ask I see him come on, why didn’t he come on to replace Giroud
Perez and Danny
Very nice
Sanchez attitude stinks
Fantastic second half performance …. hard to pick man if the match … Iwobi?
Yea Iwobi was good, hope he actually gets a goal
The XhakSey combo is improving but Swansea were awful.
4-0 away and three very important points
Nice win. Only negative the injury to Giroud.
Same time last season we were top but had 2 points less
Could have saved up one of those spawny deflections for a more crucial time, maybe.
Can’t pick and choose, I suppose.
Yep, Iwobi gets two assists.
4-0, still room for improvement but lovely result.
We will need two spawny deflections at Stamford Bridge. Perhaps I should make a sacrifice beforehand. Any ideas?
Sacrifice one of Micky’s broken purple plimsolls – he won’t miss ’em.
Sacrifice one of Terry’s hairpieces – the footballing gods might even mistake it for a small mammal.
How about LB’s last remaining, unburnt item of Arsenal paraphernalia?
Good idea. We should ask LB.
Another stat. Last season at this point we were +16 GD, this season +26.
So more points and more goals. Of course we are not going backwards!
Hehum, my ears are burning.
I’m most likely alone in this feeling but I’m getting fed up with Sanchez’s moping around – he is acting a little God like and it can’t be good for the rest of the team.
Hey, just checked out Spurs’ next fixtures
City away and Sunderland away while we have Watford and Burnley both at home. Ground to be made up perhaps before we go and demolish Chelsea in Fulham
GN5
It is a bit pathetic, but so long as he acts like a man whilst on the pitch, it is very much overlookable
Mmmm, Chavs have Hull home and Pool away
Things could still get very interesting
Watching the Chavs today, I think the League is all over.
They smashed Leicester and re 13 points ahead of the “rampant, resurrected” Man Utd
I don’t care if Sanchez plays the spoilt brat as long as he performs on the pitch.
My guess is that he is already on his way out – I hope not, but his body language is awful.
Well that was OK.
We had lots of good movement and interchanging between players and could have scored a few more with some better final balls.
Not sure what’s going on with Sanchez. It may just be his general demeanour and if there were no contract talks the media wouldn’t be paying that much attention.
But I will say that a man who is as careless with his passing as Alexis is should try and avoid looking so grumpy when others fail to deliver it on a plate for him.
There is something in drafts if someone wants to add some pics and publish it tomorrow.
Hi Rocky
You have an amazing way of summing up the game in 100 words.
As Brian Ferry once sung, I’m just a jealous guy.
so there is a new movie coming out called Arsenal.
https://youtu.be/UvXKEwnxtu0
Morning all, needless to say I’m still busy….this weekend spent building office units….New Year new storage appears to be the motto in the Exile house.
However I am realising more and more my official Jonah status.
Watched Everton game, watched City game, didn’t really watch Bournemouth game, andyesterday whilst listening to radio in first half we were awful, stepped out of earshot come back and we are winning. Second half starts I have radio in lounge but kids want a film on. Radio off, goal flashed up on phone for 2-0. I didn’t switch radio back on 4-0.
As for Alexisand the sulking, he wants to play 90 minutes of every game, should re really be worried about that? We often complain about our players being too soft, Arsene has a constant battle keeping Sanchez resting, by all accounts he can’t even stop him coming in for training when he has given the team a day off.
See you all when I can.
Oh and one other thing, I listed to pundits discussing Ozil and his apparent wanting to know what AW will do before he signs. They all accused him of hiding behind the AW contract, and that he should make his intentions clear.
Look if I am a footballer paid many millions a week and can literally choose who I play for, I’d wait too. If I like my existing manager but I am perhaps worried that a new manager might not be of the level I have become accustomed to I might well hold back before committing.
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