FA Cup. It has been good to us in recent years having only lost once in 4 seasons, can this run continue?
Away at Forest is a potential banana skin, especially as Mr Wenger is expected to rotate his squad. Xhaka, Ramsey, Giroud, Kolasinac, Koscielny and Monreal are all injured, so the potential for rotation is limited. Wilshere needs to be rested and with Xhaka out we will struggle to be creative. Should be interesting to see if Iwobi, Coquelin and Elneny can find space and provide the ammunition for the front men.
I know nothing about the current NF team. Once Cloughie left and they dropped out of the PL I lost interest. Thankfully for the Forest owners, their fans have not and they average over 25k attendance at the new City Ground (more than 7 PL teams).
Forest have a caretaker manager having sacked the previous incumbent, (what a lovely word) Mr Warburton after 9 months of difficulty. This is often bad news for The Arsenal as players try to impress the new manager.
My Team:
Ospina
Debuchy Chambers Holding
Nelson Coquelin Elneny Maitland-Niles
Iwobi
Welbeck Walcott
Not sure about this attack as Mr Wenger must have a reason to freeze out Walcott, if it is because Theo is leaving then he is unlikely to play. In which case we are struggling to find a fit forward. Could Nelson be played upfront or Akpom? Mr Wenger has stated we are not interested in signing Aubameyang.
Both teams could use The Lord
Mr Wenger starts his 3 match touchline ban, punished for telling the truth. Referees have ruined our season which may cost Arsenal millions of pounds. Where is their accountability (a post in the making?)?
Can we continue AW’s astonishing run of never having lost in the FAC 3rd round?
Hope so.
COYRRG
Arsenal News 24/7
arsenalarsenal.net 
Very nice curtain raiser, Raddy. 🙂 We know nothing about NF, which may just work fine. Look forward to watching the young guns. COYG. 🙂
On Wenger’s ban: time I think for some bright good guy fan trying to take refs to court. Worth an attempt just to find out what happens.
On Films, Raddy: http://moviesonline.tf/
Eddie: No, I think the film is not quite about that. but, dear oh dear, are you making the cardinal mistake of reading up the storyline before watching a film? almost as bad as not watching an Arsenal game, and then reading an extended review by a worthless journo before watching a recording of the game! dear oh dear! 🙂
supposedly Sven Mislintat’s first signing as head of recruitment is Konstantinos
You’ll need to ask Sven on whether we should sign a forward and who it will be:-)
have I mentioned the Aussie Ashes (that ties into AA), the Marsh brothers, centuries galore and 140 degrees Fahrenheit…
no rain to save the tourists like it did back in 2005…
Warne to Collingwood: “You’ve got an MBE, right? For scoring 17 at The Oval? That’s embarrassing.”
BTW, Raddy, when is Bron/Broen Season 4 starting to get aired in Denmark?
Arnie. What an amazing website. Is it legal (as if I care ⚖️)?
Arnie. 11.28. Started last sunday, second episode tonight. First episode was fantastic.
VP. I will find Sven’s email and ask him.
Raddy. All is “legal” in love and war! 🙂 🙂 🙂 Look forward to Bron season 4. 🙂
no arnie, I have seen the movies. didn’t know a thing about them before. STill think they are arti farti cocaine induced bullshit.
BR, try sven.mistletoe@arsenalFC.com.au
another great post BR and I agree on AW telling it like it is
talking about telling it like it is, there is a hell of a catfight going on with Mou and Conte
thanks Raddy. Banana skin?? Please no, we have more banana skins than St Lucia.
Wenger never, like in NE.VA? lost in 3rd round of FAC? Wow, didn’t know that. In that case we must win, no choice.
ha ha Eddie. 🙂
Hi, VP of Oz
You say “supposedly Sven Mislintat’s first signing as head of recruitment is Konstantinos”.
Arsene says he will put him out on loan. Erm…
Remember when on a particular deadline day Arsene was on the golf course and received a call from (possibly) Ivan.
“Welbeck is available – do you want him”.
The response was something like “Up to you…”, allegedly.
In other words.
Deja Vu (sort of) ?
———————————
Eddie, your funny winking mate has attached himself to your post.
He’s following you after your recent comment.
big al – I know, the geezer is beginning to make me sick
I suspect it is one of the Vines brothers winding me up, but moving the winking so-and-so close to me
http://www.espn.co.uk/football/story/3339733/the-most-expensive-world-xi
Thanks Raddy, your team looks like a good shout. Wouldn’t Theo want to give a good account of himself even if he is leaving?
I’d hope our priorities for the season are EPL and EL = equal No.1, FA Cup = 3, and CC 4.
It’s right to rest players for this game. In terms of salary and transfer value, your team should win comfortably … but will they play as a team?
I think we have a slightly greater chance of getting CL football next season by winning the Europa cup than the EPL after Liverpool’s transfer bonanza selling Coutinho,
Let’s hope its an enjoyable game today and we can transfer the skills of the training pitch into the game. Forest will want it, they’ll work hard and try to deny us space and time to negate our greater technical ability.
Did anyone see the interview with Jack Wilshere … a matey sitting on stools affair, not a serious interview.
A couple of things surprised me. He said that most of the other players would consider him to be Arsene’s ‘pet player’ …. Per Mertesacker is the one who decides who should get fined, not AW, …. and most surprising of all, when asked who was the most technically gifted player he’d played with, he said Santi without a doubt. He didn’t mention Ozil until prompted but repeated that Santi was the better player.
rasp – I would have thought Ozil is more technically gifted, but Santi is more productive. He doesn’t disappear in big games and can create with a flair. Actually, I don’t know what I am talking about, but I am sure Jack does. Santi it is then
Hi Eddie? We’ve all known Santi has been a huge loss …. on the pitch and in the dressing room.
team?
stream working so far. COYG
CANt believe we haven’t put anyone in that space at the near post. Could see that coming a mile away. Awful organisation.
Good response.
Good end to end game so far
Great work from Ospina, not so good from BFG😟
Not comfortable even though we are playing ok going forward. Some of the stuff down the left with youngsters has been tidy. Again giving up easy chances at the back though. We don’t even make teams work to get clear sights of our goal.
What are we doing? We are fucking appalling in defence. Holdings clearing header is a shocker. Put it wide, not straight to the edge of the box. Amateur hour.
Wonderful finish by the Forest chap.
We need to step up the pace if we want to stay in the Cup
Doesn’t matter what pace Wenger play at if we aren’t a capable of defending against a Championship side. It’s laughable.
Every time Holding has played this year he has looked no better than Championship level. He is not ready for our first team yet, regardless of how well he did at the end of last season.
FGG. You are correct that it was not the best clearing header but the finish was excellent and had nothing to do with our defending, though we look pants at the back
Sometimes we have to accept the quality of the goal.
I fear for us second half as BFG gets even slower.
I don’t be care how the good the finish was BR. What I want to know is why the ball came into the box, why the header fell to the edge of our 18 yard box, and why 2 Forest players were unmarked at the edge of our box with nobody in sight. Those are the things that our team and supporters should be worried about. Let the Forest fans enjoy the goal, I’m seething at how shit we are at the back and how nothing is done about it year after year.
Can’t believe I’m saying this but I think I’d stick Chambers on at RB and bring Debuchy in to play CB as he’s far quicker than the 2 have there right now.
We get people in good areas driving at their defence but then Welbeck and Walcott are too busy trying to run in behind instead of showing for the ball and playing a 1-2.
I would do the same.
I am equally concerned about how little impact our front two Internationals are having.
Time to get Perez back from Spain 😳
I get that most are not happy with the D, but Arsene has not had the luxury of playing the same back 4 or 3 for the last few years. Impossible to build any continuity or telepathy needed to have a well rehearsed D.
Good game to watch regardless, I enjoy seeing the youngsters play-Theo, Wellbeck and Elneny are not showing anything special today-so far.
I dont rate Elneny. Doesn’t score or assist, just passes sideways a lot. Welbeck had little service and Walcott is rubbish. There’s nothing on the bench either so not looking good.
FGG if AW had only read our comments 😩
Their youngster has been the best player on the pitch.
We are pure shit. Meaningless possession … no penetration … players like Welbeck and Walcott who have gone backwards … terrible defending. We know we have a slow defence yet we don’t play a defensive midfielder to protect them.
Watching Mertersacker is like watching your dad play football!
Our own fans singing ‘we’re fucking shit’
Senior players should be embarrassed.
Can’t watch anymore of that. Awful.
This is the worst Arsenal performance I’ve seen since the Bradford game …. an absolute embarrassment
The wages some of the guys are on-walking back, not putting a solid foot in, making runs behind or anywhere. No drive or hunger. NF has some hungry lads. Laughable.
4 penalties in 2 weeks??WTF
If walcotT had finished both runs he would have had 2 goals…lazzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzy.
Have we had a player who could put in a decent cross since Sagna? Arsene needs to take a long look in the mirror and do the decent thing at the end of the season.
At least none of us will shed a tear if any of the senior players there today leave.
Walcott has always lacked balls …. he should have thrown his body at that ball
How bad can a performance be? Mertersacker needs to retire now, Debuchy needs to leave (who’d have him!?), 10 years later and Walcott still doesn’t understand how to play football (run in behind, run in behind, run in behind), Welbeck just hasn’t worked out for us but I do like him, Elneny is bang average. Ospina the only one who did ok. The youngsters will learn but at the moment they are being shown how to play by terrible senior players, so what hope do they have?
Wenger let down by average players and his desire to be faithful to them. He used to get rid of players when they hit 30 or put them on 1 year deals, regardless of how good they were, but no such sign of that ruthlessness when it comes to average players who underperform. I don’t understand it.
He admits that you can’t find hidden gems anymore, yet he still tries to. £2m for Holding, £6m for Elneny, well you get what you pay for these days, and so it has proven. If you want a world class player, then pay the money. Simple as that.
Well at least that eases the fixture congestion so we can really concentrate on finishing outside the top 4.
The good players who would cost upwards of £50m don’t want to come to Arsenal. We are a club that has gone stale. Our best players want out and a high proportion of players are out of contract in the next two years
😂 FGG
Thanks Erik
Oh ffs
Thank god you need internet access for bt sport
What the feck exactly we’re we saving our good players for? The caribou cup? Race for the league?
This was the fa cup. OUR cup
Bloody cosmic
I did not see the game, but was concerned at the reliance on the youngsters, although I can understand why, wit the Chel$ki game this week.
However, put a few of the top players on the bench. Wilshire, Sanchez and a defender to come on if things go bad, as they did at the end of the 1st half.
I think this was a bad decision and got what it deserved.
The Arsenal are not finishing in the top 4. only way is to win Europa, but with Atletico in that is not happening either…..
I suppose when you assess the line up should we have expected much else? Zero pace at CB, boring midfield players, Walcott, and a rusty striker. The likes of Nelson, Willock and AMN tried their best to spark us but it’s difficult to do the job on your own.
This club really needs a new sense of direction. Thankfully they seem to be making a lot of changes behind the scenes and hopefully that will spark a change in attitude. Either we get rid of Wenger, or we at least get rid of the average players and give him better talent to work with. We need to get past this whole contract debacle and move on with or without these contract rebels. At the moment though the lack of new contracts leaves us in limbo as we don’t know if we need to replace them or not, which affects all the potential transfers we may have.
Another dreadful decision by a referee, 3 weeks in a row.
Doesn’t excuse a poor performance when the senior players let us down, but we had 10 minutes + to get a draw, instead we got shafted by another shite ref
Can anyone see Wenger leaving before the end of next season? Never broken a contract, would he start now?
I am not sure I want him to leave but I would be delighted if we had a BoD which had the nuts to sack him.
Loads of rumours we are negotiating the sale of Sanchez with City. Part of me hopes it’s true as we really need to start fresh with players who want to be here (probably not many after today!). Not like we have too much to play for this year. Not sure if we can attract the huge players as Rasp said but we are still a massive club and we can still attract what we need.
Dry January is going to be impossible if Arsenal play like that every week!
booom!! ouch!!!
Forgot to thank you for the pre match, BR.
Very prescient.
Banana skin.
https://pbs.twimg.com/media/DTAS4GFWkAAXztZ.jpg:large
see micky, the pics address has to end in .jpg or .gif not ‘large’ 🙂 🙂
Morning All,
Needed a slider to start the day and Chas came good.
Deeply disappointed by yesterday’s performance and result. Only Ospina and M-N impressed.
Both Welbeck and Walcott have regressed over the past couple of seasons. We looked completely innocuous in attack.
Iwobi?? It’s a mystery how a player who started his career so well and clearly has enormous potential has lost confidence and ability.
for some reason /I cannot copy more abusive jokes that were sent my way today. Lucky you.
Do you remember times when the young Guns were as good as the starting XI?
Even the FA admitted that had they had a video technology, that penalty would have never stood. Mind you, it would be retaken and most probably still scored.
Not a retake Eddie. A free kick to us if he’s double kicked it.
oh really? In that case the ref should be shot dead
Tell you what, I’ll be bloody livid if we field the First XI in the Worthington Cup, meaning we now give it higher priority than The World’s greatest knockout tournament. Livid.
Just passed a BT van. Hopes for reconnection up 70%
The media reaction, and some of the fans as well, to the defeat yesterday is somewhat over the top.
Henry Winter, in the Times, I agree, hardly a fan, did not even mention the 2nd penalty, either as to whether it was justified in the first place or whether it should have stood because of the fact that it was not properly taken.
Clearly, AW had to choose between Wednesday’s semi final and the FA cup and chose the former, although, possibly he did not count on his players being as bad as they were.
The truth is that, despite winning 7 out of the 10 games they played, the 2nd 11 has been getting steadily worse and worse from game to game.
It was a risk, and with the team minus, Goroud, Wilshire and Coquelin there was not much chance of success against a well drilled Championship side, who play together every week.
I doubt if that team that was used would get very far against any championship side.,
By the way, now that Dean has admitted that he was wrong, will the FA rescind the yellow card for mert?
maybe
hopefully
AW was giving them a chance and if they couldnt perform they would be sold this month
Who will buy them and why would they leave given the wages they earn at AFC?
There are reports that Coquelin is going to Wham …. let’s hope that means we are bringing in a top DM
Cheers Raddy
Disappointing result. Our performance was like the pampered life of a 17th century Viscount, slow to gay.
When we should have been steaming in we instead had some courtesan adjusting our tights and moles
At least those 17th century Toffs if slighted would seek “satisfaction” You tell Walcott his shit performance demanded satisfaction at dawn he would explain hes straight.
I love Arsene, but this week I’m going to write to him begging for half an hour with these so called players. One short session with me and the namby pampy half wits would soon realise what it means to pull on the shirt of Alex James and King Brady.
They will also find out that wearing white tights and 17th century French wigs doesn’t make you a “batty boy”? just that you have a fine appreciation of Georgian silverware.
arnie!!!!
the film site is indeedy very good, but the hell do you play forward? I watched the beginning 4 times now
Perhaps didit will know
I spoke to other Gunners today, they are all gutted. The general consensus is that Wenger will go full steam after the European cup. He’d better win it or there will be a blood bath
This partly explains why Jon Moss didn’t see the Forest player have a double touch on the penalty – he wasn’t even looking at the kicker, too busy looking at Ospina.
Two lickle stories about my matchday experience yesterday.
First of all the Wenger Out fans in the row in front of us singing “We’re f*ckin sh*t, We’re f*ckin sh*t, We’re f*ckin sh*t”
and “How sh*t must you be, it’s only 4-2”.
They certainly took a perverse delight in proceedings.
The second was on the bus home. A young female Forest fan was sat with her Dad in the seat in front of us, talking to another fan across the aisle. She was genuinely disappointed she hadn’t got to see Ozil, Ramsey, Sanchez and the other first teamers. The Dad was also commenting on how hilarious Arsenal Fan TV was and a must-watch, saying that the same fans are interviewed each week especially after a poor result, and they never fail to lay into the Club, the manager and the players.
The pre-match beers were by far the highlight of the day.
Everything else was tinged with sadness.
Quite right chas. I usually enjoy a good hypocrite, especially ones that cure me without asking how the soft toy got in there, but these Arsenal fans wringing there hands in despair is laughable.
People should chill out. There’s plenty of women out there. If it’s not women that do it for you? good news, Toys R Us have staved off liquidation.
Arsenes era is coming to an end and those that want it to end quicker than 2019 are quite within there rights to do so. However, the great man has been absolutely fantastic for our Club and once gone his reverence will grow stronger and memory will grow fonder.
Terry. Well said.
How any Arsenal fan can think Wenger is ‘tarnishing’ his legacy is beyond me. When he’s gone I won’t give 2 shits about the seasons where we won nothing and finished numerous points behind the leaders because I will be too busy remembering the Invincibles, the double winning teams and the 3 FA Cups in 4 years. Oh, and the stunning football. He could carry on for another 10 years and do nothing and I would still love him.
I always moan about this current team and the decisions being made, and tbh I would be quite happy if Wenger went, but it’s not out of anger, or hatred, or any sort of malice, it’s just that I think the game has changed and we need to change in order to keep up, and I’m not convinced Wenger can do that.
Whenever he does leave though, I will be toasting a once in lifetime manager who I was lucky enough to be born in the same era as and who allowed me to watch my team playing some mind-blowing football.
Spot on Ginge, wonderfully put.
If any one in the future deserves to be a Ghost and haunt the marble halls of the Emirates by passing through walls claiming he did not see it, or scare a late night security guard with the rustle of a broken zip, it’s Arsene
Brilliant comments, Terry and FGG. 🙂 I would not mind Wenger going. Everyone has to leave at some point. However, I would be very unhappy if there was no proper succession plan in place. Not appointing a regular stream of numpties just to keep the seat warm. Like other clubs have done.
I hope it is this proper and orderly succession that is taking time and effort, and I am patient. 🙂
BTW, I share with Micky the gutted feeling. This is our cup! Bent referees just make this so much more unfair! Even more than the crooked fans!!
Eddie. Yes, I faced the same problem. Now, I usually download the movie on my computer and then play it from there. It takes the same data transfer, but is much more stable
Wenger will have two legacies. The first ten/eleven years which were absolutely brilliant. The second half will be remembered for his arrogance, petulance, narcissism, excuses, and the teams descent into irrelevance.
The sooner we see his backside the better. I want my Saturday’s back. Barring a complete implosion, that’all be another 18 months. Credit Gazidis. He was good to his word and seems to be building a proper, modern organization. Maybe Wenger will feel so out of place he decides to move on.
Morning All,
Great comments about AW from FGG and Terry.
Well if the 6.58 is not a headline post, I don’t know what is.
LB is right.
yes, indeed, agreed LB. But not for today, obviously. The flavour of the day is Chav-bashing. 🙂
sorry arnie, is there something important happening today? Surely you don’t mean the caraboo cup? mind you we might see all the big guns tonight
Tonight?
What is happening tonight?
tomorrow, arnie mislead me, typical man
sanchez to City by the end of next week. Really? do they really need Sanchez? I’d be gob smacked if that was true
Gabriel Jesus is out for another 6 weeks so Sanchez would make sense plus Aguero has been prone to small injuries…
I think that Guardiola shold be given a huge amount of praise for the work he has done with Sterling, De Bruyne and to a lesser extent Sane. He has turned Sterling into a potent force that reminds me of the best Pedro at Barcelona, whereas De Bruyne has assumed the Iniesta role to perfection…
Meanwhile Iwobi, Walcott, Jeff are really struggling to improve with AW
Our best line up is
Cech – Bellerin, Mustafi, Kos, Koli – Xhaka, Monreal, Wilshere – Ramsey, Sanchez – Lacazette
If Sanchez leaves, put in Ozil for him
RC78 – I agree, de Bruyne and Sane are just amazing. I think they were very good to start with, but Pepe polished them to perfection. No idea how, but he did. Sterling I still have my reservations about, but admittedly less than I did a couple of years ago.
Iwobi is my pet hate. Add Welbeck and Walcott if you must. Dismal.
As mentioned in a post earlier – we have the team to win the Europa League because our hungry players are playing it and they want to show that they are top players
Ospina – Debuchy, Chambers, BFG, Koli – Coquelin, El Neny – Walcott, Wellbeck, Maitland – Giroud
Our bench would have: Bellerin, Kos, Monreal, Ramsey, Wilshere, Ozil, Iwobi, Lacazette
I think we can win it
Eddie – I just don’t understand Walcott and Wellbeck. They are very good players but they just seem deflated these days while they have everything to prove. I think they should play with full focus and energy in the EL and win it for us and then they could leave. To be honest – should be the same for Sanchez and I am secretely hoping that Sanchez comes to PSG rather than City as City is a direct rival in the EPL and PSG is my home team and is about to sell both Lucas and Ben Arfa and maybe Guedes
Sterling’s stats are outstanding this year – he is creating and scoring. He is City’s lead scorer and does so from a wide position…His problem still resides on his football brains but he is getting much better under Guardiola and understands better that movement is not only running fast…
oh dear, I got the day wrong! 😦
Eddie. “typical man”! ha ha ha. 🙂
RC: and Iwobi! Why was he playing so deep? I thought we did interchanging positions!
I like versatile players but I also believe that players should be given a chance to play in their best position.
We know that
– Bellerin plays best in a back four as a full back
– Kos is best as a LCB
– Xhaka is best a as a RCM
– Wilshere is best as a LCM
– Ramsey is best as a CAM
– Ozil is best as a 10
– Iwobi and Sanchez are best as a LFW
– Walcott and Lacazette are best as a 11 but with another striker
– Wellbeck and Giroud are best as a 9 but with a CAM playing closely behind them
why we play them in other positions baffle me
Play your best players in their best positions and then make the necessary adjustments around them
Ox is playing best as a RCM – a bit like Gerrard and now he is doing rather well in Liverpool
Is Aubemayang going to waste his time and talent in China as he is now in his prime? I hope not. I hope that AW is going to splash the 65 Mln poinds required NOW to get him. We could then get rid of both Walcott and Sanchez…
FYI – Fellaini available. Who is in?
RC – really? I didn’t see Sterling’s stats, but I though Silva and Aguerro are City’s top assets. I am surprised, really am
yes arnie, typical man < my fav type of an animal
there you are:
Alex Iwobi: Arsenal forward faces fine over pre-match party claims
not only does he look thick, he proves that he really is. Get rid of him please!!!!
Ox – playing best as RCM with the Scoucers? I dont think so, really much the same old, but really grass on the other side, IMO. 🙂
Red Arnie,
Totally agree. He’s done nothing for Liverpool really and will be due an injury anytime soon. This media narrative that he’s doing so much better is nonsense. I saw a stat about him doing loads of sprints and covering more ground, but that wasn’t really his issue. His problem is his terrible final ball/shot. I’ve not seen any evidence that has changed.
I keep seeing articles about how Liverpool should spend the Coutinho money. I might be wrong, but haven’t they already spent it? They were -£40m net in the summer on transfers, they’ve just spent £75m on VVD, and they’ve got nearly £60m to go on Keita in the summer. Plus they’ve just extended the stadium. Doesn’t leave much change in my eyes. Maybe Ox was bought replace Coutinho?
?? they are most Europeans’ favourite ingredients. Spuds, pork and carrots
ox to replace coutinho? are you having a giraffe 🙂
Exactly Eddie! Can you imagine the Liverpool fans if that turns out to be the case?
no fattie, Klopp needs a haircut, not brain surgery
I checked Sterling stats and RC is right, their top goal scorer, blimey me, who would have thought that a frog could actually turn into a prince
Still trying to work out 6.23
Watch how MC give away the penalty vs Bristol.
Almost €100m of CB’s making two clangers, one after the other
Fifty of each
Morning All,
Still working on 6.23.
morning raddy, I don’t get it either 🙂 perhaps there is no hidden meaning to it, it is just that scoucers have relatively healthy varied diet? The question then remains – who tf cares?
6:23
The meat Ox?
The carrots David Fairclough?
The Spuds Sammy Lee?
Still no internet. Poss another week. Some great comments
oh micky, that is ridiculous!!!
Why do they cut you off? For not paying the bills?
Big sod off storm after Christmas with big sod off tree taking down the fibre optic cable. Whole area dead. Children practically leaving home.
I can only connect up by tethering phone while huddled by a window in one corner to suck out last drops of 3G
but you have beautiful views, right?
just pay the fooking bill, we need you back
Surely you all know by now that a self-righteous prick would only be trying to subtlely point out that there’s no ‘c ‘ in scouse. ☺
Is there a game on?
Or is the answer ‘yes’, but no-one gives a tinker’s cuss anymore?
What’s the betting VAR throws up some controversial decision this evening?
Chas. I believe there is a game, in which case, I had better get writing something short on a busy morning
There is a New Post
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