Oystons Out

January 5, 2019

Is there still any Magic in the Cup? Does the prospect of a day out at Wembley still set you in thrall? It does for me but I am traditionalist (in other words … old).

I still love the Cup and although there are less upsets than in previous years it remains one of the centre-pieces of the season with today’s tie up at Blackpool way more interesting than a Europa League game.

And, of course, we all know which club has won it the most, and which manager. The FA Cup has been good to us.

Will it be this afternoon?

It is distressing to read (and hear on the Arseblog podcast) of the current state of affairs at Blackpool. The Oyston saga is a warning to all and an indication of how impotent the PL and EFL are when facing a corrupt owner.

One must assume the B’pool fans want to lose today so no  more TV money goes into the club. Non-attendance is costing the owner as is the lack of money from the sales of shirts, burgers etc. A draw today and the resulting income of a game at the Emirates would be a huge boon to the Oystons.

What would happen at Arsenal if Kroenke starts to strip the club of its assets and refuse to buy players? He can. He owns the place. Would lifelong fans and the thousands of tourists who go to games refuse to attend? Even if they did, would it affect change when the owner is a billionaire and the club runs on TV money? Do you think, in this highly unlikely scenario, that the PL would do anything but issue platitude whilst jetting off to another meeting in a 5 star hotel in Dubai?

The action of the Blackpool supporters is a credit to all football fans. Oyston Out.

This is Mr. Emery’s first FA Cup game, how will he react? Will he send out a team of children with Grandad Cech at the back of them? Or will he persuade Mesut and Aaron that they need match sharpness?  We cannot risk PEA and Lacazette. Terrier, Wardrobe, Xhaka and Kos need a rest. I predict a start for AMN, Willock, Corporal Jenks, Elneny, Saka, Nketiah and Medley.

Blackpool’s most famous player is Sir Stanley Matthews, the Wizard of the Wing. The man was Ronaldo famous in his time, a worldwide icon. I actually saw him play at Highbury but for Stoke not the Tangerines. Arsenal could use a winger of his genius now, could Saka be the man?

We should win this game.

Let it Be So

COYRRG

written by Big Raddy

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Posted by Erik the Red

Happy Invincibles Day!

January 4, 2019

So, the achievement of Arsene’s squad of 2003/4 remains without equal for another season.

Liverpool succumbed at the 21st hurdle thanks to a determined Citeh side keen to make a decent fist of defending their title and to 11 millimetres of a football which refused to cross a goal line.

The tide swung towards Pep’s side when Aguero lashed in superbly at the near post but Firmino’s equaliser had us all wondering if last night wasn’t to be the night when Liverpool’s Lost column clicked round to ‘1’. Leroy Sané scraped one in off the far post and via a small deflection to give us what we wanted in the 72 minute.

Dejan Lovren’s ‘Liverpool can go unbeaten’ claim a day or two ago now seems faintly ridiculous with the Christmas decorations still up. I doubt he was too popular in the Liverpool camp putting the bock on it, big-style.

The red mancs managed 24 games at the start of the 2010/11 season before losing to Wolves which remains second to Arsenal’s full season unbeaten in the Premier League era.

To go the full 38 games seems unbelievable and is rightly up there as perhaps Arsene’s finest achievement.

Maybe some club will eventually emulate the achievement of Paddy, Thierry, Sol, Ralph, Jens, Kolo and Arsene (amongst others) in the modern era, but until they do, let’s celebrate the glory of that magnificent accomplishment in the 2003/4 season with all our hearts.

p.s. it was LBG’s birthday yesterday – quite a nice present I’d say.

chas

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Posted by Bongo

What does January hold in store for The Gunners?

January 3, 2019

Three home games in the Prem plus a little trip down to the Olympic Stadium in East London. There is also the small matter of an FA Cup trip to Blackpool (which is nearly in Scotland).

So, New Years Day and Fulham at home. Writing this before the game, it is absolutely imperative that the manager plus his team (however patched up it may be), get the supporters back on side after the disgrace of that Anfield performance. (4-1, not to be sniffed at)

The first weekend in January we have a trip to the Lancashire Riviera in the FA Cup and a tea time kick off.  Blackpool are a club in turmoil at the moment with fans boycotting matches to protest against the current owner’s lack of financial investment and regard for the club in general. Read more here.

https://atthematch.com/article/how-the-oystons-destroyed-blackpool

Maybe the visit of the mighty Arsenal will stir the locals. If not, there could well be more Gooners than home fans in Bloomfield Road.

West Ham away the weekend after is a lunchtime kick off. We’ve done pretty well at the London Stadium so far with one thumping victory which Ant and me saw sat in with the home fans. We were virtually the only ones left in our row by the time the ref blew the final whistle. Last season saw a tedious 0-0.

The chavs at home on the 19th Jan is back to a tea time kick off. (Arsenal are always good box office – shame it’s not always for the right reasons these days). Chelsea have been on the slide in recent weeks but now seem to be turning things around.

The last weekend in Jan is for FA Cup 4th Round fixtures. Our participation will depend on how well we do up the Tower this weekend.

Our fixtures for January 2019 are capped off with a home game against Cardiff on Tuesday 29th and will be our third chance of doing the double over a Prem team after Fulham and West Ham.

chas 

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Posted by Bongo

Arsenal 4 Fulham 1- Player Ratings – Convincing or Flattering?

January 2, 2019

After that disgrace at Anfield against the country’s best team, a decent result was essential heading into a New Year against a Fulham side also struggling for confidence.

First Half

Both sides showed some nerves early on and it was a bit scrappy. Thankfully Sessegnon left his shooting boots at home. Suddenly Granit decided to risk a nosebleed by moving into the rarefied heights of the penalty area. Wobbly’s pass was cleverly left by Laca and the big Swiss had a fairly simple toe poke finish.

Courtesy of David Price @priceyd101

Arsenal’s play picked up from there and we should have added to the lead before half time.

Second Half

The second goal was a thing of beauty with incisive work filleting Fulham’s left flank. Auba’s clever pass to the Wardrobe put him in the ideal position to lay one on a plate for Laca.

After a couple of chances to extend our lead the Tinkerman brought on two forwards with a gambler’s throw of the dice. A sloppy pass out to the Terrier and a barge in the back won Fulham the ball and the inevitable, ‘brown trousers watching The Arsenal’ period of the game came as the lead was halved by a sub. Fulham scented a wounded animal, so the next goal would be crucial.

Thankfully Rambo came on as sub and almost immediately followed up an Auba pinger against the post and we could breathe easy once again. Auba then missed a little dink finish over the keeper before finally getting his goal via a deflection and a Papa assist.

4-1 and game over for a Fulham team which probably expected no less.

Reuters

Conclusion

A fine result considering the less than perfect performance, though why we can’t see out winning positions without giving everyone kittens will, seemingly, forever be a weakness.

Ratings

Leno – competent, making crucial stops when the game threatened to slip away from us … 7

Maitland-N – right wing back or right back, equally adept – starting to get some confidence back … 7

Papa – far happier playing lesser strikers and his first assist for twenty years … 6

Kos – our captain is slowly beginning to find his feet again … 7

Shkod – Injured or another half-time tactical admission that we got things wrong in the first half? … 6

Wardrobe – majestic at wing back – like a runaway train on the burst, setting up chances with its front wheels … 8

Guendouzi – heart of a lion – more to come from the young man … 7

Xhaka – his goal should have been the cue for a landslide – he himself could have had another – excellent through ball in the second half to set Laca free … 7

Wobbly – big chances galore came from his feet in the first half – much improved … 8

Laca – Fine goal and perhaps didn’t moan quite as much when he was subbed …. 7

Auba – a goal machine – he’s going to run away with the golden boot if he can sharpen his finishing even further … 7

Subs

Terrier – clearly he needs a rest as he’s been carrying some of the team on his tiny shoulders earlier in the season … 6

Rambo – instant impact at exactly the right moment – thanks for all the goals Aaron … 7

Saka – debut boy got a brief taste of the high life … 6

chas (who largely saw the game through BBC goal flashes and Arsenalist clips on Twitter)

 

How lucky are you? Double Bubble and a rather more sombre reflection on the day’s proceedings from LBG, your man at the stadium……

At the start of the day Chas asked for a “game to be proud of”. I will include the word proud for as long as is possible, but I’m afraid readers may see it disappearing into the ether quite quickly in my assessment of the game.

Be proud AAers of the result and three points, of some evidence of determination to rectify the travesty of a performance that was Anfield.

Be pleased with another goal from Aubang ( even thought he should have had an easy hat-trick) and Laca being given enough time on the pitch to score his goal before being (ridiculously) substituted. (Be pleased that he thought about kicking up a right fuss on seeing his number, but refrained when he heard the whole ground boo the decision, and instead went off graciously).

Be pleased with the short period of time AM-N was able to influence the game further forward before being dragged back in the rearranged defence.

Be pleased Fulham were useless in front of goal and Leno had little to do. (Two x Sessegnon chances put away early on and we could have lost!)

Be pleased that Kos is back, even if puzzled by the couple of pub defenders playing alongside him, which makes him more nervous than usual.

Be pleased Ramsey mishit a shot and scored.

Sorry, that’s the best I can do on the “proud”ish front.

I have an opinion, on why much is not right currently and will share when others have disagreed with everything I’ve said!

LBG Ratings

Leno – What he had to do was fine. Goal was up the other end and, although looked somewhat chaotic, didn’t seem he had added to that … 7

AM-N – Some good things going forward, breaking inside. Shame dragged back, where he is wasted, but still kept his end up defensively … 7

Mustafi – No pace, poor positioning, no sense of danger. Always tackles to the ground. Rarely gets the ball … 3/4 

Sokratis – Didn’t win anything in the air. Always tackles to the ground. Sometimes gets the ball … 4

Kos – Some good work. Unlike the other two, does find his own players mostly with passes going forward … 5/6

Wardrobe – Some good work going forward. Not a very good defender … 6

Ouzi – A good game generally. Looking to play “dynamic” passes and succeeds generally. Makes some mistakes (He’s young), but positive, which is what I want from him … 7

Xhaka –  Slows everything down, shovels poop, passed back more often than forward. Is simply not good enough, not quick of thought and action enough to be “the Controller ” in the deep-lying central position. And because he is (trying) to do this job, displaces Terrier to the right, which wastes him through lack of contact with the ball … 3 (for his goal)

Wobbly  – End product, passing, shooting, dribbling generally poor. Knocked off the ball several times easily. Dribbles round and round and round and up his own backside … 4 ( for his pass for Xhaka’s goal, and probably something else that I’ve forgotten)

Aubang – Goal. Missed goals, closes down occasionally. Would like to see more heart … 6/7

Laca – Goal. Works hard, makes runs, rarely found due to people like Xhaka not looking up unless opposition back off and then Laca’s runs are marked … 7

Subs

Ramsey – Goal … 6

Terrier – ( couple of poor tackles on him. Lucky not to be injured …. again) … 6

And the winger Did he touch the ball?

Graham Scott? more like Terry Scott                                                            Photo by Justin Setterfield/Getty Images

Referee – Absolute pants (original choice of description didn’t pass the censors – ed). One penalty waved away. Tackles from behind allowed throughout the second half … 1

Written by a slightly miffed (it would seem) LBG

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Posted by Bongo

New Year Wishes

January 1, 2019

In this first post of 2019 I would like to thank you. Thank you for reading AA, thank you to those who commented and an especial thank you to those who wrote a post.

2018 was a tumultuous year at Arsenal, I expect the same for 2019. Hopefully no managerial change but equally hopefully, a change of on-field personnel. Arsenal have created an entirely new management set-up, brought in the very best chaps to change the club from Arsenal Wenger. They have in Emery a man who will not be concerned about damaging egos and will bring AFC into the modern era.

My targets for AFC up to summer will be a Top 6 finish, a good run in the Europa and most importantly an indication of an Emery team; one which is based upon organisation and a solid defence. He must be massively frustrated by the goals against column.

In summer I would like to see us loan/sell at least 5 players with a similar number coming in.

By Xmas I would like to see us less than 16 points below the PL leaders and playing the Arsenal way. with a cohesive defensive policy, creative MF’s and the same two excellent strikers.

Let’s start with a win this afternoon.

Unknown.jpeg

A Proper Arsenal Goal

Many a slip twixt lip and cup, and we know Arsenal can slip up but Fulham have to be good opposition after the recent humiliation. Despite the mounting injury list, AFC should not lose in the manner of L’pool. A player of Sokratis experience should not be conceding 2 penalties (yes, I know they were both bogus).

GN5 gave us the stats which indicate a positive result. We need it.

Wishing you all a very Happy New Year and a fine victory this afternoon.

Let it be So.

 

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Posted by Erik the Red

Our home record against Fulham

December 31, 2018

Fulham were formed in 1879 as Fulham St Andrew’s Church Sunday School F.C., founded by worshippers (mostly adept at cricket) at the Church of England on Star Road, West Kensington (St Andrew’s, Fulham Fields). They won the West London Amateur Cup in 1887 and, having shortened the name from Fulham Excelsior to its present form in 1888, they then won the West London League in 1893 at the first attempt.

The club gained professional status on 12 December 1898, the same year that they were admitted into the Southern League’s Second Division. They were the second club from London to turn professional, following Arsenal then named Royal Arsenal 1891.

Famous names like Johnny Haynes, Bobby Moore, Rodney Marsh and George Best had been part of the team through the years.

Our first league meeting with Fulham was in Division 2 on March 14th 1914 and it ended in a 2-0 victory for Arsenal. Overall we have played them 27 times at home and Fulham have never won a single game; they have managed just 5 draws and have been outscored 67 to 23.

Arsenal v Fulham 1914

Complete league results

Fulham’s Bobby Robson clears the ball from Arsenal’s Jon Sammels

 

At the time of writing Fulham’s 2018-19 record is W2, D5, L12, GF17, GA43 and they are in 19th place.

I cannot envisage anything other than a victory for Arsenal.

GunnerN5

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Posted by Bongo

An Egregious Abomination at Anfield – Ratings

December 30, 2018

First Half

Poor old Ainsley, scores his first goal in a game he’ll never ever want to recall again in his entire life.

Here’s Auba’s heatmap from that first half. Four of his 9 touches were restarts.

Second Half

Shame you can’t just throw the towel into the ring like in boxing.

Conclusion

Can’t quite decide if it was the ref or the kit which caused such a cataclysmic trail of ignominy. 🙂

Here are a few stats from Orbinho on twitter to contemplate………..

Goals conceded at Anfield last six seasons

Arsenal 22

Swansea (5 games) 16

West Ham 16

Everton 14

Man City, Watford (3 games) 13

Newcastle, Spurs (5 games) 12

Stoke, WBA (5 games) 10

Southampton 9

Arsenal have played 10 games away from home in the Premier League, scoring 22 times, conceding 21 goals and keeping zero clean sheets.

The last time Arsenal conceded more than 30 goals after 20 league games was in 1966 (39)

Michael Oliver has awarded seven penalties against Arsenal in the last 10 Premier League games he has officiated.

This is my favourite – finding some light from somewhere …………

Ratings

A two for everyone apart from threes for A.M-N for his goal and Wobbly for his assist.

Getty Images

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Posted by Bongo

A Tough Early Evening Up North..

December 29, 2018

We should start today’s post by saying farewell to Mr Hill-Wood, a true Arsenal stalwart and the last of the traditional Arsenal men. His father, Dennis, was AFC chairman which means that Peter was born into an Arsenal family. He was involved in bringing George Graham, David Dein and Arsene Wenger into the club. On a personal note, as a teenager I washed cars on Sundays in Hampstead Garden Suburb and HW was one of my customers!

He needs his own post as Mr Hill Wood has been hugely influential in the development of AFC into the monster it is today.  One for GN5, I think.

images-1.jpeg

Two AFC Greats

Tough game today. Hands up who thinks we can even get a point. Not many of you. My hands were firmly on the keyboard.

In yesterdays post, GN5 highlighted our miserable PL record at Anfield. Apart from one very significant game in 1989, it has not been a happy hunting ground. And we go into the game suffering a serious depletion in available players with Ozil the latest to be unavailable.

Ozil. Knee knack? I thought Emery said his substitution at half time vs Brighton was tactical. What do you believe?

But Ozil-gate is for another day.

Can Arsenal reproduce the fine performance of Liverpool at home? A game we should have won (yet another). If, a huge if, we have a couple of returning defenders we have a chance, but this is unlikely. The biggest loss is Bellerin. Against a side blessed with pace we will struggle, especially against Mane and Salah.

images.jpeg

Liverpool’s defence is the best in the PL, a testament to their buying policy (Red Arnie). A winning team has a quality defence, witness GG and early AW, Klopp’s team play flowing attacking football based upon a very athletic, dynamic back 5. It works.

An example of the excellence of Liverpool’s current policy of spend, spend spend is that of Shaqiri. They have a very similar player in The Ox, who cost over €30m, Ox gets crocked for a season and L’pool buy a costly short-term replacement. Will Arsenal  do the same for Holding and Welbeck? I doubt it.

Can they win the PL? I hope not as it will cost me a fish 🐟.

Can we afford to play both PEA and Laca in this game? I would but I believe that attack is the best form of defence (once said to me by the Spurs legend Dave Mackay). Laca can be played a little deeper and take the Ozil role.

My Team:

Bent

Licht    Greek Bloke   Koscielny

Curly   Xhaka   Terrier   Wardrobe

Ramsey

Lacazette   PEA

This requires the old Swiss FB to spend much of his time in his own half and not play the over-lapping FB role. He hasn’t got the legs anymore. AMN (Cons) is a possible but he hasn’t the experience or the black arts of Lichtsteiner. However, this team is lop-sided and perhaps AMN would add some right side threat. Otherwise Ramsey will have to do so.

If we get a point it will be a victory. 3 would be heroic.

COYRRG

 

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Posted by Erik the Red

Our away record against Liverpool

December 28, 2018

Early Liverpool

The origins of the city of Liverpool date back to 1207, when King John issued letters patent advertising the establishment of a new borough – ‘Livpul’. Soon after, in 1235, the building of Liverpool Castle was completed. This stood on the spot where the Victoria monument now is (on the aptly named Castle Street) and was removed in 1726.

In its early days, Liverpool comprised of just seven streets, which are all still there today – Bank Street (now Water Street), Castle Street, Chapel Street, Dale Street, Juggler Street (now High Street), Moor Street (now Tithebarn Street) and Whiteacre Street (now Old Hall Street). It would remain a relatively small and unimportant city until its rise to prominence in the 18th century as part of the booming transatlantic trade.

In 1715 the first ever commercial wet dock was completed in Liverpool on the River Mersey, originally known as Thomas Steer’s Dock. The dock accommodated up to 100 ships and was originally a tidal basin accessed directly from the river, and by 1737 via Canning Dock.

In July 2004 Liverpool received the UNESCO World Heritage accolade after a bid centred on Liverpool as a Maritime Mercantile city, reflecting the significance of the city as a commercial port at the time of Britain’s greatest global influence.

The World Heritage Site stretches along the waterfront from Albert Dock, through the Pier Head, up to Stanley Dock and through the commercial districts, such as the Ropewalks area, to St George’s Hall.

Liverpool FC’s origins lie with their neighbours Everton. Founded in 1878, Everton moved to Anfield in 1884, a facility owned by the club’s president, John Houlding, a former Lord Mayor of Liverpool. In 1892 a dispute arose between Houlding and the Everton board of directors, over the club’s tenancy of the ground. The annual rent had risen from £100 in 1884 to £250 in 1892; Houlding wanted to sell the ground to the club, which in turn wished to agree a long-term rental. Houlding would only agree to this on the basis of a rent at a level unacceptable to the club. Negotiations having failed, the directors decided to leave Anfield and find another ground, leaving Houlding with an empty stadium. His response was to form a new football club to occupy the stadium. He attempted to retain the team name “Everton” by registering the name “Everton Football Club and Athletic Grounds Company, Limited” with Companies House, but the Football League decided that the name belonged to the departed Everton club, which acquired new premises at Goodison Park. Houlding therefore adopted the name “Liverpool Football Club” for his new venture.

Our away record against Liverpool is less than stellar. Our last win was on September 2nd 2012. In the EPL era we have only won 6 league games in 26 attempts, and our overall league record including stands at 24 wins in 94 games.

Our last game was a 4-0 thrashing, am I confident? – not in the least.

Liverpool are this week’s Champions Elect what with City floundering.

Since Liverpool last won the League title, we’ve won up at Anfield 7 times in the top flight (once in the old First Division and 6 times in the Prem) plus victories in both the FA Cup and the League Cup.

There’s always hope when 22 men stand over a pig’s bladder in the middle of a field. Who knows, tomorrow could be our day!

GunnerN5

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Posted by Bongo

Brighton v Arsenal – Match Ratings

December 27, 2018

No expectations going into this game. We don’t generally fare very well over the Christmas rush. Too much Xmas pud and brandy leaves a stodgy feeling on Boxing Day. Then again, maybe Emery had them all eating healthy pasta and fruit, so they’d have plenty of carbs to burn.

First Half

I didn’t see much of the game at all but from what I did see, it seems our predilection for giving poor opposition a chance was clearly manifest in a half we should have been far away and sailing over the horizon before gifting them a goal. Perhaps this tendency wasn’t anything to do with Arsene but, somehow in the genes of the Club?

In our long unbeaten run we were often defying the expected goals with lethal finishing. That run has come to an end at the same time that relatively straightforward chances are not being snapped up.

1-1, you’re kidding, aren’t ya?

Second Half

Didn’t see any of the second half, but the full time score tells me everything. From the stats it appears we created almost nothing of note. Thank Dennis, I had something better to do with my Boxing Day.

Conclusion

We came, we saw, we capitulated to mediocre opposition. Thank the lord I didn’t have to suffer watching that garbage. Half time subs seemed necessary and effective in previous games but are now starting to look a bit clueless and desperate.

Ratings

Leno – Made the finish easy for the Brighton player but he had been exposed … 6

Licht –  Glorious assist for the Brighton equaliser    … 4

Kos –   Rusty … 5

Papa – Adequate but without a huge amount to do … 6

Kola – Not as effective from left back … 6

Terrier – looks knackered after being given the early part of the season to acclimatise … 6

Xhaka – magnificent passing stats but how many did any damage to the opposition? … 6

Guendouzi – heart of a lion but needs some help from his more experienced colleagues – can’t drag the team up by the bootstraps on his own … 6

Mesut – subbed? – back spasm or more dissention within the ranks? … 6

Laca – Huff ‘n puff – his substitution took away something … 6

Auba – lost his strike rate – had to score that second … 6

Subs

Iwobi – sometimes you get the impression he’s a bit pants …  5

Rambo – sometimes you get the impression he hides … 6

Maitland-Niles – his injury has knocked him back somewhat … 5

chas

Here’s FGG’s assessment of the situation which gives far more sense than you’ll ever get from me……..

At the beginning of the season I said this year is about improving and regaining some sort of football identity within the team and I didn’t really care where we finished in the PL just as long as we could see the club has a vision and is moving forward. At no point did I think ‘it’ll be sorted by xmas’ and at no point during the long elunbeaten run did I think ‘we’ve done it. This is the new Arsenal’.

We are a work in progress and probably will be for another 12 months. There have been some really good signs of improvement in the side, espescially when we don’t have the ball, but there are still lots of things for Emery to sort out which will take time. Of course Lichtsteiner is average, but we can’t forget that Wenger left us without a sub RB. The lad has been brought in on the cheap as a stop gap and I’ve no doubt a more long term replacement will be found very soon.

One thing I am struggling with a little is Emery changing things constantly throughout the game. We’ve gone one extreme to the other! Seeing a half time sub now and again is good to see, but sometimes you have to give the players a chance to grow into the game and trust that they can find weaknesses in the opposition themselves. Bringing Lacazette and Özil off every game just seems to be angering the players and I don’t think it helped the side at all today. As soon as we lost them we seemed incapable of getting the ball to feet in between the lines, something that both of those players are very good at.

fatgingergooner

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Posted by Bongo

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