Form is Temporary, Class is Permanent

The last two posts have given begrudging admiration towards  the positive developments happening down the Seven Sisters Rd, but let’s be honest … you can’t polish a Richard 😀 😀

Always in our shadow. Flash in the pan, One swallow – summer, a pig’s ear doth not a purse make etc I am sure you can add a few more.

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Our Trophy Cabinet (for Aaron)

You know the stats, it will take a generation of poor results for the heroes in Red and White to be overtaken by the incestuous, heathen hordes from Wembley.

We have had to wait for 50 years to see a Spurs team capable of finishing second 🤡🤡

As to their fans – have they developed along with their team? Sadly not. They remain fur covered knuckle-draggers, only slightly up the evolutionary tree from Orcs.

As to today, Arsenal still have selection difficulties. If fit, should AW find a place for Welbz? Iwobi is unlikely to start given his heroics midweek for Nigeria. Is Mustafi ready? Dare we play a back 4 given the current form of Eriksen (the papers over here are comparing him to Maradona!!)?

My Team:

Cech

Mustafi    Koscielny     Monreal

Bellerin    Xhaka    Ramsey    Kolasinac

Ozil

Lacazette    Sanchez

 

I know he is a  bit marmite but Theo loves a goal against Spurs and should certainly get at least 30 minutes. I really do not want to see Coquelin on the team sheet. We have enough strength to cope with Spurs attack assuming that the lads play as a team and CONCENTRATE.

As always, we have a very strong bench even without Giroud and Iwoi.

One fly in the ointment is the referee. How can Mike Dean get another Arsenal game? The stats show that this man is not just incompetent, he is also biased. The Man City game was evidence that refs can ruin what could be a good performance. We got stuffed at Stoke and the Etihad, and No, it does not even out over a season.  Whatever happens we can be sure Dean will be in the spotlight and it is a forlorn hope that he will shaft the Lillywhites. Grrrr

So, what do we expect from this afternoon (another stupid k.o. time)? Certainly a fighting performance. Some artistry and lightning fast attacks would be good. A few long distance shots on target (no Lloris). A goal or two.

Win, lose or draw, Spurs will always be in our shadow

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COYRRG

 

 

120 Responses to Form is Temporary, Class is Permanent

  1. Erik the Red's avatar Big Raddy says:

    GB:

    Thanks Raddy for the last 2 posts, and tomorrows intended post as I will not have time to comment in advance.

    So much to agree with in many of the comments in the Arsenal vs Spurs debate. All I would say is that in my opinion the permanent shift of power hasn’t happened, but at the moment they are the better team. They are a team that is functioning as a team better rather than necessarily being better man for man on paper.

    I feel we should use this as a kick up the jacksy because I feel our club have sat on their laurels in the last few years and we could have been so much more and so much better. What we have had over them recently is that we can pay more in wages and have greater squad depth but this could easily level out once they are in the new stadium so anyone assuming that we will always be superior is both arrogant and dangerous.

    This time it could be different and the balance may well shift if we don’t pull our finger out.

    As to the natural rivalry I am somewhere in between but Chas’ experience does sound a bit horrible.

  2. fred1266's avatar fred1266 says:

    Am a Trinidadian Ant

  3. Ant's avatar Ant says:

    You need to get to the pub more often GoonerB

  4. mickydidit89's avatar mickydidit89 says:

    Erik

    I see you decided to stick to the facts 🙂

    Great post. Thanks.

  5. Erik the Red's avatar Big Raddy says:

    Sorry. I was in a facty mood

  6. mickydidit89's avatar mickydidit89 says:

    No apologies needed. If I was being critical, I’d question Spurs apes being further up the evolutionary ladder than Orcs, but other than that, facty as you say 🙂

  7. chas's avatar chas says:

    Super stuff, BR.

    Always in our shadow, indeed.
    If there was going to be a power shift in North London it would take at least 20 years for them to catch up to our trophy haul, by which time I’ll be dead, so couldn’t give a shit.

    In terms of class, they will never overtake us, as that would be impossible. Chicken on a football as your emblem. Don’t make me laugh.

  8. mickydidit89's avatar mickydidit89 says:

    All true, Chas

    Ok, some fresh air, then back to put them in their place. God, they’re pathetic.

  9. chas's avatar chas says:

    Train journey finally coming to an end
    COYRRG

  10. Erik the Red's avatar Big Raddy says:

    Time for a cycle ride. Back for K.O (I hope)

  11. GoonerB's avatar GoonerB says:

    Haha Raddy 🙂 Thanks for putting my comment up again. Anyway the arrogant and dangerous comment was meant as a generalised thing aimed at the whole club and Arsenal community as a whole and not any individual………apart from that bloody Ant who oozes danger and arrogance, that is why the women are all over him in the FFB and why I don’t go to the pub with him as much anymore 🙂 My chances always seem to increase when I hang around with Terry, as long as he doesn’t speak to any of them 🙂

    I of course fully expect you to fill your boots Raddy when talking about them.

  12. GunnerN5's avatar GunnerN5 says:

    Team

    Cech
    Koscielny (c)
    Alexis
    Ramsey
    Lacazette
    Ozil
    Monreal
    Mustafi
    Bellerin
    Xhaka
    Kolasinac

    Substitutes

    Ospina
    Mertesacker
    Wilshere
    Iwobi
    Welbeck
    Maitland-Niles
    Coquelin

  13. GunnerN5's avatar GunnerN5 says:

    You were on form with your team selection Raddy -100%

  14. GunnerN5's avatar GunnerN5 says:

    Walcott is either injured or completely out of favour.

  15. Erik the Red's avatar Big Raddy says:

    Not too difficult GN5

    Oh and Good morning

  16. mickydidit89's avatar mickydidit89 says:

    Sanchez, Mesut, Lacazette. Excellent. 3-1 at least

  17. mickydidit89's avatar mickydidit89 says:

    It doesn’t get much more exciting than 15 mins before KO in the NLD

  18. mickydidit89's avatar mickydidit89 says:

    Ooer Erik, they just showed the Eriksen Denmark hatrick. Great goals all three. Nice result for your homeland

  19. mickydidit89's avatar mickydidit89 says:

    As usual I’m watching on liveonlinefootie and as per last three games I’ve watched, there’s a 5 second time lag between sound and visuals

    Any ideas, and I’ve tried the refresh stop reconnect thing

  20. mickydidit89's avatar mickydidit89 says:

    Come on you Gunnnnnnnners

  21. Erik the Red's avatar Big Raddy says:

    Micky I have the same but only when on full screen

    COYRRG

  22. mickydidit89's avatar mickydidit89 says:

    Thanks Erik
    Weird but true

  23. Erik the Red's avatar Big Raddy says:

    Laca should have scored. Lovely move

  24. mickydidit89's avatar mickydidit89 says:

    yessssssssssssssss

  25. mickydidit89's avatar mickydidit89 says:

    superb header

  26. mickydidit89's avatar mickydidit89 says:

    ohhhh yessss yessss yesssssssssssssssss

  27. Erik the Red's avatar Big Raddy says:

    Get inn 👏👏😀

  28. Erik the Red's avatar Big Raddy says:

    Superb. Deep deep joy.

  29. mickydidit89's avatar mickydidit89 says:

    How much fun was THAT 🙂 🙂 🙂

  30. fatgingergooner's avatar fatgingergooner says:

    A perfect first 45.

    If we are solid second half then we can catch them on the counter and finish the game.

  31. Eddie's avatar Eddie says:

    I cannot believe it 🙂 🙂 is that really our team in red and white?? brilliant, absolutely brilliant, including the referee

  32. LB's avatar LB says:

    100% team selection, congrats BR

  33. GoonerB's avatar GoonerB says:

    So far so good. Showing what we can do. 1 more goal this half should seal it. Still nervous at 2-0

  34. mickydidit89's avatar mickydidit89 says:

    Blimey, crowd fantastic

  35. Erik the Red's avatar Big Raddy says:

    FFS Coquelin for Lacazette. I hate that.

  36. VP of Oz's avatar VP of Oz says:

    its a great game, a great result so far.
    We’ve really adjusted to this shift really well

  37. VP of Oz's avatar VP of Oz says:

    so much TALK but its the results that matter, thank you Arsenal and its goodnight from me

  38. mickydidit89's avatar mickydidit89 says:

    Faaaanbloodytastic

    What a superb performance

  39. fatgingergooner's avatar fatgingergooner says:

    Absolute perfection.

    The performance we’ve wanted for a long long time. Off the ball we were stunning today and every player was focused, resilient and worked tirelessly. The best disciplined defensive team performance I’ve seen in quite a long time.

    Get in Arsenal!

  40. Erik the Red's avatar Big Raddy says:

    Great stuff. Should have been many more than just the two. Lloris saved them on a number of occasions.

    The whole team played well and as I said in the post “We have enough strength to cope with Spurs attack assuming that the lads play as a team and CONCENTRATE.” They did.

    FairPlay to Dean, he refereed well.

    Happy Days

  41. GunnerN5's avatar GunnerN5 says:

    Fantastic result, and a dram or two of Glenlivet before 8:30am – sets the day up quite nicely.

  42. GunnerN5's avatar GunnerN5 says:

    Player Ratings

    Arsenal: Cech (7), Koscielny (7), Mustafi (8), Monreal (7), Bellerin (7), Xhaka (7), Ramsey (7), Kolasinac (7), Sanchez (7), Ozil (8), Lacazette (8)

    Subs: Coquelin (6), Iwobi (6)

    Tottenham: Lloris (6), Trippier (6), Dier (5), Sanchez (6), Vertonghen (5), Davies (6), Dembele (7), Sissoko (6), Eriksen (6), Dele (5), Kane (5)

    Subs: Winks (6), Llorente (6), Son (6)

    Man of the match: Mesut Ozil

  43. GunnerN5's avatar GunnerN5 says:

    The player ratings were from Sky Sports.

  44. Rasp's avatar Rasp says:

    Afternoon all, apologies for ,y late arrival.

    Thanks for the apocryphal PM Raddy 🙂

    I shall be watching the game later. Deep joy at the result … richly deserved by all accounts.

    Ozil … and the team …. worked their socks off ….. great job … now do it every week 🙂

  45. OMG you cannot believe how damp dreary and disgusting the weather is here in North London but what an amazing ray of sunshine at The Emirates 😁

    Fully deserved, the team worked tirelessly for each other and the crowd were tremendous, didn’t stop singing where I was.

    Just heard a Potch moaning about the officials – his team didn’t turn up ha ha ha ha ha

  46. That’s my first eleven ….. I hope AW thinks it is too 😉

  47. Aaron's avatar Aaron says:

    What a delight!

    Solid team effort everywhere. Even enjoyed the yellow cards.

    Great finishing, and a fantastic save from Cech to keep the clean sheet.

    BR thank you for the trophy case picture as I have never seen it before.

    Some power shift going on. poch’s miserable record continues to go south against the top six. He has stated that the trophies Arsenal possess do not mean a thing compared to the EPL and CL titles, but the thing is, they are never going to win them anytime soon…

    What a glorious day it has become.

  48. Ant's avatar Ant says:

  49. chas mobile's avatar chas mobile says:

  50. Ant's avatar Ant says:

  51. Ant's avatar Ant says:

  52. chas's avatar chas says:

  53. Red Arnie's avatar Red Arnie says:

    Thanks Raddy, brilliant, cannot complain. 🙂

    Yes, class is permanent. Forever in Our Shadows. Serves them right for withdrawing some numpties from the England squad. Lack of pride, lack of class! 🙂

    I would have been happy with 1-0, but 2-0 was better, reminded me of Theo’s gesture. 🙂

    I said earlier that I expected 4 points from the 2 games. In the event, that did not happen. But we can live with 3 points.

    Onwards and upwards.

  54. Ant's avatar Ant says:

  55. Ant's avatar Ant says:

    Red Arnie..
    Bearded lovely
    Red Arnie

  56. Red Arnie's avatar Red Arnie says:

    “Even enjoyed the yellow cards”. 🙂

  57. Red Arnie's avatar Red Arnie says:

    I loved that, Ant. You bros are stars!!!

  58. Ant's avatar Ant says:

  59. Ant's avatar Ant says:

    Arnie is our hero

  60. chas's avatar chas says:

    Who was your MOTM, Ant?

  61. Ant's avatar Ant says:

    Mike Dean obviously

  62. Ant's avatar Ant says:

    Jasper Carrott changes his tune..

  63. chas's avatar chas says:

    Because he didn’t shaft us for a change?

  64. Ant's avatar Ant says:

    The bookings compared to fouls was usual.. but

  65. Eddie's avatar Eddie says:

    raddy at 2:12 – my sentiments exactly 🙂 I panicked when I saw that substitution. And then Iwobi on?? Strange, but hey, no complaints here, fantastic game

    My ex always used to say ‘you don’t give a shit what happens all season as long as you beat Spurs’. Spot on! 🙂

    I thought Bellerin was amazing, in every action, all over the pitch, played his heart out

  66. Ant's avatar Ant says:

    Eddieeeeeeee

  67. Red Arnie's avatar Red Arnie says:

    ha ha ha ha ha. 🙂

  68. chas's avatar chas says:

    I thought as far as MOTM is concerned Mustafi rose to the NLD occasion or Coquelin for coming on and proving Wenger right (and me wrong) 🙀

  69. Ant's avatar Ant says:

    You’d be even worse than Micky as a manager E.. and that’s saying something

  70. Red Arnie's avatar Red Arnie says:

    My MOTM was Jack. For just being himself. 🙂

  71. Ant's avatar Ant says:

  72. Ant's avatar Ant says:

    My MOTM was Arnie

  73. Eddie's avatar Eddie says:

    ant – why?? I think I am perfectly suited for the job

  74. Eddie's avatar Eddie says:

    I must add – I don’t like Iwobi. Not sure what the rest of you deluded mob is all about praising him, he is nothing special

  75. Ant's avatar Ant says:

    Well.. apart from your lack of knowledge of football, coaching skills, discipline, diplomacy, insight, tactics, teamwork, team bonding, loyalty, technical insight, motivational skills, fitness conditioning, mental insights, experience, language skills and general attitude.. 🙂 🙂 🙂 :). ; you’d be perfect,

  76. LB's avatar LB says:

    I hadn’t read Chas’ comment before I wrote that.

    Great minds…………

  77. Ant's avatar Ant says:

    Agree LB that Ozil and Shod were our best two players.. both magnificent.
    But of course Ozil never turns up in the big games..not!

  78. chas's avatar chas says:

    LB
    I’ll nick your comment for a post I that’s ok

  79. Eddie's avatar Eddie says:

    ant – can you elaborate on ‘mental insights’? wtf is that??

  80. Ant's avatar Ant says:

    Knowing which players can cope with different matches in terms of the opponents, location, opposite number and tactics

  81. Erik the Red's avatar Big Raddy says:

    Ant. My MotM was Harry Kane. A superb performance though it could easily have been Allli.

    Eddie. I really like Iwobi and think he will be an Arsenal great over the next decade.

    VP. I guess you are no longer a rugby fan 😀

  82. Ant's avatar Ant says:

    BR agreed lol 😂

  83. Erik the Red's avatar Big Raddy says:

    12 games played. We have played Liverpool, Chavs, MC away and Spurs at home. So 4 of the top 5.

    Augurs well.

    Burnley away will be a challenge and be the 5th of 6 teams played with 22+ points .

  84. Ant's avatar Ant says:

    Love The Arsenal

  85. chas's avatar chas says:

    So ‘mental insights’ is the only bit you disagreed with?
    💅💃🏻💃🏻💃🏻💃🏻💃🏻💃🏻💃🏻💃🏻😬

  86. Eddie's avatar Eddie says:

    ant – bullshit 🙂 almost the same 11 play every game no matter what opponent

    so give me example of players that could not cope today in terms of the opponents, location, opposite number and tactics, go on make me laugh

    A good player is a good player, no matter what. Do you think Messi would struggle against Stoke or Watford?

  87. Erik the Red's avatar Big Raddy says:

    Is there any other type of insight?

  88. Eddie's avatar Eddie says:

    no, that’s the only one I could not understand. Discipline, loyalty and language skills accusations are plain insults, but only if Ant really knows what he is talking about. Which I very much doubt.

  89. Eddie's avatar Eddie says:

    yes raddy, ant listed insight and mental insight.

  90. Ant's avatar Ant says:

    The psychological component in modern day sport is critical.. check out Ray Parlour and his experience with Eileen Drewery

  91. LB's avatar LB says:

    Just when I thought I was out

    They drag me back in.

    This would have worked far better as an Al Pacino gif but I still haven’t worked out how to copy and paste them.

  92. Ant's avatar Ant says:

    I would be a useless manager

  93. Erik the Red's avatar Big Raddy says:

    Right. There is some cooking to be done. I think a chicken curry to celebrate.

    Until later

  94. GunnerN5's avatar GunnerN5 says:

    Chicken curry sounds good Raddy, what beverage will you have?

    We are also having chicken and whatever else we can find to make a soup.

  95. Eddie's avatar Eddie says:

    Ant @5:21 -is it fuck. What psychological training did Messi, Ronaldo or Bale need? You give them a ball and they play, superbly. All of them played exceptionally well under very different managers. Wimps like Iwobi probably need some pictures drawn for them, but even that is not working very well.

    You can’t polish turd

    I am taking bets again – £10 each that Iwobi won’t last 2 years with us. Another Frimpong, Akpom and Sanogo

  96. GunnerN5's avatar GunnerN5 says:

    Eddie, Let’s hope he dosen’t become another Walcott.

  97. GunnerN5's avatar GunnerN5 says:

    The day is getting even better Man U 0 Newcastle 1 after 16 mins.

  98. GunnerN5's avatar GunnerN5 says:

    Are Wenger”s jeans a fashion statement?

  99. Eddie's avatar Eddie says:

    GN5 – I don’t know, Walcott had his moments. Akpom, Frimpong and Sanogo didn’t. You’d always have a couple of Walcott’s in the team, but they are good – even the opposition don’t rate them and then they have their moment and shine. Theo is ok

  100. Eddie's avatar Eddie says:

    a couple of Walcotts .

  101. mickydidit89's avatar mickydidit89 says:

    I agree with Eddie

    Football management must be piss easy

  102. mickydidit89's avatar mickydidit89 says:

    Bet Henry, Adams and Bergkamp did psychological training and shit

  103. mickydidit89's avatar mickydidit89 says:

    he he he bloody love it

  104. Eddie's avatar Eddie says:

    did they fuck
    None of them could speak English when they first joined the Club

  105. chas's avatar chas says:

    NEW POST

  106. GunnerN5's avatar GunnerN5 says:

    Eddie I was a real Walcott fan for many years and I felt that his injuries held him back and while he does score the occasional goal he has never reached the levels that were expected and he still makes the same infuriating mistakes game after game.

    He may need a run of games to improve his game but frankly I don’t see that happening. There’s no mention of him being injured so it appears that he has gone from a maybe to a nobody.

  107. Eddie's avatar Eddie says:

    I don’t think football management is easy, but I’d say it is 30% intuition, 30% motivation of the players, 30% coaching/training and 10% circumstantial luck. Hello Rasp.

  108. GunnerN5's avatar GunnerN5 says:

    Adams spoke English Eddie – it was just a little slurred 🙂 🙂

  109. chas's avatar chas says:

    Soz, I’ve interrupted a conversation.
    Please move to the new post.

  110. LB's avatar LB says:

    Frimpong, Akpom and Sanogo

    This is quite interesting. I don’t seem to remember ever saying at any point that any one of those had great talent, I remember thinking they had great promise though which I suppose is the difference with Iwobi, he has great talent but he lacks confidence, the later can be gained but the former cannot. (I know this wasn’t aimed at me)

    I think I would take that bet about Iwobi being at thof in 2 year’s time.

    The thing that annoyed me recently was that if you look at both lineups against City that Iwobi was the only player in development. He is not the finished article. And that was is the difference; we play players in development and teams that win the league do not. Leicester are the exception that proves the rule.

    That game still annoys me.

    I am having dinner made for me tonight hence the time to write comments.

  111. GunnerN5's avatar GunnerN5 says:

    Football management is impossibly difficult and the proof is the continuous turnover. Managers like Ferguson and Wenger are very rare as the pressure is relentless. None of us will ever experience the levels of stress they have to endure.

  112. chas's avatar chas says:

    LB
    Don’t you think Sané, Gabriel Jesus and Sterling (to a certain extent) are all in development?

  113. chas's avatar chas says:

    So much for me putting up a new post!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

  114. Where is it? Irish just tweeted me about it 🙄

  115. LB's avatar LB says:

    Not really, I don’t think Sterling and Sané are still in development. Maybe Jesus but he didn’t start.

    I thought there was less between the teams than the final score suggested and I looked for reasons and one that came to mind was Iwobi, he wasn’t at his best and the reason imo was his immaturity.

    No idea why I am stressing about this when we have just humiliated the neighbors.

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