It was odd to suddenly discover, that as an Arsenal supporter, I had an agenda during lockdown. With the various permutations of when, if and how the season would resume, it was pointed out to me by a good Arsenal friend that if the season were to be scrapped all clubs would start next season from their respective places that they finished at the end of last season — but — and here’s the kicker: with City being banned from the CL the club next in line would take that last precious CL spot – and guess who came 5th……………….Yep.
I toyed with this for a good while and then when my clutch at that last straw finally slipped I accepted football’s return with some excitement and have been trying to tell myself since Wednesday that it is better to have football back, even with the feeling of dejection that a loss brings, than have no football at all. I was starting to get somewhere with this sense of determination in an effort to force as much positivity into my life as I could. And then, just having watched Brighton take all three points with the last kick of the game all positivity vanished to the point where I am seriously starting to lose the will to live.
It’s good that Arteta is there; at least we are not all starting to run towards a cliff edge screaming change the manager. I couldn’t help but feel for him when his facial expression gave away his sense of almost disbelief as he grappled with the reality of yet another key player out for the remainder of the season. Was there anything good to say about the game, mah.
Leno: I find it hard to contain my anger at what happened, he was clearly pushed. How can I explain it: if I nudged you on purpose and you fell in front of a moving car, shrugging my shoulders and saying sorry would not cut it, the Brighton player should have been sent off at the very least. 9
Hector: lots of running, I am struggling to find the enthusiasm to do this. Pick a number?
Mustafi: ok
Holding: enjoyed watching him. Luiz set the bar so low the pressure was off. 7
Kolasinac: I was quite pleased with Said; I thought he did a reasonable job. 6
Guendouzi: also did a reasonable job, covered the defence well enough, moved the play forward. 6
Ceballos: do you still want Arsenal to sign him – really?
Pepe: I was mentally slagging this player off in my head about how ineffectual he is, running into blind alleys is a waste of time to say the least and then he scored and shut me right up. 7
Lacazette: lots of running and portrayed a sense of determination, who knows? 5
Aubamayang: slightly better than at City but it’s all about the goals, all about the goals Pierre. 6
And now I come to the only reason I have not jumped.
When all seems lost, when things seems they cannot get worse, when you have kicked the cat and said something that you regret to your wife, think of this one happy ray of hope.
Bukayo Saka………….thank you for being an Arsenal player, please stay.
LB
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I would be happy to go back to Highbury, with the same players as we has in 2003/4. I know some of then would be in their late forties but they would still be better. Not constructive but how many players we have now would perform in a top european squad?
Thank you LB ……….. gosh it’s really going to be a hard few weeks. Really tough to lose Leno 😦
Saka is superb 🙂 🙂 🙂 like you, I really hope he signs a deal with us.
As you say Saka was our ray of light yesterday, We all hope & pray he stays. I think he will but we will have to offer him a good deal , he out of all our players deserves it. It always takes a few days for me to want to watch footie again after days like yesterday. But we have to pick ourselves up as we go again on Wednesday
Thanks LB, your straw would have to be the trunk of a giant redwood to maintain my optimism to the end of the season. Like you, I have only sympathy not blame for Arteta. He identified at the outset that he needed to change the culture in the players … he could never have imagined it would be this difficult. Bring on the transfer window and let’s have a serious clear out and invest our faith in youngsters with the right attitude, as that is the only way we’re going to change things so deeply ingrained in our fabric. It’s about attitude not money, but having said that, we’re paying a lot of money for mediocrity at best.
Well done, LB, a real fans analysis and player assessment.
Mikel can only do his best with the players at his disposal, and it is tempting to get to the transfer window and have a cull of the squad, with the hope we can improve it.
The problem with that is – over the last few years we supporters have individually, and occasionally collectively, hoped; demanded; or prayed that the club hierarchy would do just that, and barring the odd transfer sally for someone like Pepe, it has just not happened, or we buy someone who does not cut it.
There are frequently disagreements between supporters as to whether the apparent lack of transfer money is the cause of our slow but sure decline, with some saying money is not the solution as the squad is good enough, [I simply do not understand that, as Chelsea were crap prior to a Russian oligarch buying that club, and injecting additional funds which turned them into Premier League winners, so too with Man City, Liverpool, Leicester, etc, etc – but each to his or her opinion, I suppose].
Anyway, the argument is moot, as I just do not see the Kroenke’s authorising sufficient funds to make a difference, and they hither too do not seem overly bothered that we have been a shadow of our former selves, as a team.
I fear we will have to sit and squirm with our changed circumstances as Newcastle, for example, bolstered by new cash if the Saudi deal goes through, blitz past us and shove us further down the league.
Grin and bear it folks, grin and bear it!
[No, Le Coq – that’s not spelt bare.] 🤪
Happy fathers day
The thing that amused me the most about writing that was that I wrote just one word on the game and that was “Mah” I would have used an expletive but head line post and all that.
I was hoping that football was going to lift my lock-down spirits, obviously not, but on the up side the local wine bar is open again with 120 different wines available to sample. Yayyyyy
Way to go LB 😁
Testing times in life and testing times as a Gooner.
My wife is in a self contained unit( one of our two annexes) about 70 feet away from me, she is shielded as she had a Liver Transplant, I really miss her……….cooking!.
For the company I have put a few life size cardboard cut-outs of her around the house, one at the kitchen sink which was not sucessfull as her hands disintegrated after one attempt at a dish!.
One in the toilet as a loo role holder, roll hanging on her wagging finger!
One in the lounge to fetch the TV remote for me and one in the bedroom to complete the menage a trois with the blow up doll!
So my only escape from the constant looks could kill gaze is My Arsenal!…………………….what did I do in anotther life to deserve this torture?
I missed the final goal as I decided the game was over when there was an injury in the 93rd minute. Looked like the Arsenal players agreed with me and were looking forward to a cuppa, but forgot about defending the last attack.
Going forward we looked decent, but didn’t get a lot of shots off. Defensively we were back to our worst. Bellerin & Kolasinac were out of position continually and there was no cover from midfield. The defending for the 1st Brighton goal was comical, Sunday league stuff. 2 attackers v 1 defender. Nobody can be bothered to rush out to face the extra player.
Like we’ve been saying for a while Arteta has a huge job on his hands. Time to ditch the leeches and get youth into the team.
HI all
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