….well not until todays games have completed anyway…I am a bit of stickler for the Top of The League shouting, like in Tennis where a player gets a break of serve, its not really a break of serve until he holds his next service game, the same goes for being top of the League, we are not really top of the league until everyone has finished their games this weekend…by 4pm today hopefully we are top of the league. Ok Doomer bit over…..and back to yesterday’s game.

This was never going to be an easy task, with the “could go top” match previews hanging over the head of the Arsenal players coupled with the after effects of the midweek Bayern performance, the media were surely sharpening their keyboards to write once again that when put in a position of pressure we failed. Well that may have been what the media wanted, but thankfully the players and manager didn’t give them the ammunition.

We started brightly enough, pressing Everton in their third of the pitch and not allowing Howard, Jagielka or Stones time on the ball to pick out Lukaku and build from there, or play through their midfield, this meant we were winning back possession regularly enough and dominating the game. The team looked up for it, Giroud leading the pressing from the front but also helping to move the ball around the attacking midfielders giving a good platform to build on. In fact Giroud did a very good job of re igniting the Theo v Giroud debate which Theo looked like he had settled in recent weeks.

As the half wore on we were not really creating much in front of goal, and although Giroud was giving us that platform there were times where it appeared that Ozil, Santi and Alexis couldn’t perhaps find the pass they would have had Theo been leading the line.

We created a few opportunities but not really any clear cut chances, that was until Ozil found himself in time and space, Giroud made a good run having initially laid the ball off and pointed to where he wanted it, Ozil didn’t need asking twice and put the ball perfectly into the box, tempting Howard off his line and giving Ollie the simple task of helping it on in to the open net.

Within 16 seconds of the restart (as shown on MotD) Arsenal pressed Everton back in to their own half and after good work from Ollie, Alexis got fouled and we had a free kick in a dangerous area. Santi delivered an even better cross than his one against Bayern on Tuesday night and Koscielny found himself with a simple header into an again empty net because Howard had again vacated his line. I am not sure there are many players like Santi in the English Premier League, on Tuesday he delivered a bending cross from deep with his left foot, and yesterday he provided the same with his right foot. We are very lucky to have him. The fans responded in full voice and the Emirates sounded like a fun place to be.

Unfortunately as is often the Arsenal way we managed to conspire to make the game difficult for ourselves, with a few minutes of the first half remaining Ox found himself with the ball on the edge of Everton’s area, Hector available to his right and players closing, if he had managed to get a shot off first time then we would not have been chasing back towards our own goal five seconds later, instead Ox chose to shoot after a couple of touches in to a mass of Everton bodies when there were better options on, the ball broke to Delofeu who managed remarkably to stay on his feet for twenty or so yards before releasing Barkley, Koscielny had been dragged wide by Lukaku and Ox and Hector were in hot pursuit, they both probably had a chance to take the booking but allowed Barkley to continue, he took a speculative shot which would not have troubled Cech until it took a big deflection off of Gabriel and drifted into the gaping net. Some have drawn comparisons between the two incidents, saying that Barkley’s attempt was the same as Ox’s but because his resulted in a goal he was applauded whilst Ox was criticised, the difference in my opinion was the options, Barkley really had no other options and most of his team mates were safely behind him, therefore he bought a ticket to the lottery and won, Ox had options, plenty of them and at 2-0 up there was no need to try and force a third before half time.

This gave Everton a lift and made the game closer than it needed to be for the second half, Arsenal continued to play their football, as did Everton which made for a really enjoyable game of football, in truth either team could have scored the next goal, and both had opportunities to do so, Grioud denied by the bar, Ozil by the post and Lukaku by the post, Delofeu was was also denied by a good block by Cech with Kozzer and Nacho in close attendance.

The game ended with Arsenal fans cheering every tackle and interception to the rafters and the final whistle was greeted with a mixture of celebration and relief.

Given the recent run of games, the opponent and the energy expended on Tuesday night, this was a very good result, if we are top of the league by the end of today does not impact that, its more fuel to the fire of belief spreading around the Emirates and the Arsenal blogosphere and fandom, lets hope it continues to roll on.

Man of the match is tricky one for me, Coquelin, Ozil, Giroud and Santi all in with a good shout. For me Giroud edged it, by way of explanation i liked his workrate and his distribution and his finishing, in the face of the criticism he has faced since the start of the season I think he deserves recognition.

Gooner in Exile

Morning all,

I very rarely worry about what other clubs do or don’t do as I always feel that the governing bodies will step in and keep them all in-line. Just recently I have been unimpressed with how these so called governing bodies have handled Chelsea football club’s Manager and his rantings about referees and their assistants.

Jose Mourinho has made statements about how he feels that the FA has a vendetta against Chelsea fc. He has openly suggested that referees have banded together especially to foil Chelsea’s progress. After a recent bad loss, in an after match interview, Mourinho went on non stop for seven minutes ranting about referee incompetence and how the referee had it in for them. He felt that the referee hadn’t ruled in favour of what he considered a blatant penalty for his team.

Now I feel its only fair to explain, that Chelsea’s start to the season has been the worst they have had in the Abramovitch era.  The amount of money that has been injected into the club to build Chelsea into a fighting force to be reckoned with is disgustingly huge. Many managers have come and gone, not many have been allowed to stay if they don’t bring in the expected results that their very rich owner expects.

Mr Abramovitch, has characteristics similar to our own Mr Stan Kroenke, where he seems silent to the media, almost as though they are mute. I am sure both these owners are anything but inside their clubs, but on the field of play they both have their appointed spokesman for their respected clubs, speaking on behalf of their views. Abramovitch has not so far condemned Mourinho.

Reports I have read suggest that fining a manager like Mourinho, who is a multi millionaire, is pointless as the amount of a fine means very little to a man who feels he is above all of them anyway. He has so far been handed a £50,000 fine and a one match suspended ban for his conduct whereas I remember during a match against Man U, Arsene Wenger was sent to the stands and was made to stand amongst opposition supporters which caused him great embarrassment.

A few seasons ago during a Champion’s League match Arsene Wenger upset the referee with words in the tunnel at half time, not in front of the media, down the tunnel out of view. This resulted in Mr Wenger being banned for the next 3 games from the dugout. Mr Wenger followed the instructions but was seen in the stands to be giving instructions on his phone, now that of course could have been a non related phone call, but was seen as coaching from the stands which was not allowed, so he was administered another games ban. Arsenal was knocked out of the competition, before the ban was over, but was still in force for the next seasons completely different competition, so he still had to see his first game relegated to the stands.

Bringing the game into disrepute needs to be dealt with, although I agreed with Wenger’s discontent at the time. It is understood that to show dissent to officials, even out of the glare of the public eye should still be punished. So why is Mourinho who has ranted in full view of the public and even after calming down he still rants that officials are incompetent and not worthy of officiating a Chelsea game given such light treatment by the FA?

The rules of football are clear. Managers whoever they are, rich or poor, should be treated equal but that appears not to be happening and I am furious that this is going away without punishment. Mourinho is struggling, of that there is no doubt, he blames medics, players, supporters, the FA, you name it he blames them and its time the cretin looked at himself. He needs to be brought in line and to stop trying to divert attention away from himself by blaming others and naming the perceived faults of Arsene Wenger.

He needs to take some responsibility for his own actions and the actions of his players and stop hiding behind his ‘special one’ status, for he is really just an arrogant man. Will it happen?

Written by Steve Palmer

Reading Arsenal blogs across the web can often mislead supporters. Many reflect Arsenal in a good light while others have a tendency to be quite cynical. Blogger’s usually find a site (and there are many out there) which sways to their own way of thinking – who wants to be constantly arguing with another who is adamant that all is not well?

I find it difficult to see negativity in a football club that finish top four for close on twenty years, and in those twenty years, have won Leagues, cups, doubles, and had a season unbeaten in the League,  A title that Arsenal created in An Invincible season, and named the team, The Invincibles.

What tends to happen after victories, is spells of near misses, In Arsenal’s case, our spell of near misses, coincided with a rebuild of the stadium and a move. In the last twenty years we have also made changes of owners and shareholders. Changes also with supporters, as new ones come and old ones pass. Usually a Gooner does not pack in his or her support, season tickets yes, as the price can effect many on budget, but when tickets do become available, are usually snapped up, and the ones who have let their ticket go supports from home.

Many supporters have hobbies of some kind. Mine is Fishing. I class myself a Specimen Hunter. I have fished, off and on, most of my life, and the similarities between the two sports are surprisingly similar. When I first started I didn’t care what I caught, but as time went on and I started to realise just how many species there were, I planned my fishing trips for certain species and fished till I caught that particular type.

Football is similar where the team tend to target what they feel is their best chance and field their teams with their best players they have where an angler will choose a bait that they know will appeal to certain fish. This way of planning may cut your chances of catching other fish but, like in football, may also reduce your chance in other competitions.

Once a specimen, the bigger the better, was captured I moved on to the next species and so on and so on.  Finally an angler picks out his favourite, and mainly fishes for them. Football again similar, where a cup is won, the priority then moves on to the next competition. The league in football is classed as the Holy Grail, as consistency all season gives more chance of winning, that of course is like an angler catching a fish that is bigger than his personal best.

Even in fishing the sport is competitive. Many want to catch bigger and better than the others. Football is very similar and the supporter wants bragging rights, the same as a victorious angler.

Money is, of course, a factor in both sports. The more you spend the better the equipment, the better equipment the better the chances. Of course in both sports again the word Luck is also a factor, as who knows what will happen before you start. Will the fish be biting or will the team play like they should, will the fish take a certain bait on the day or will the other side have injuries, all this down to luck on the day.

An angler will look at records other anglers have broken, record size fish that are recorded in angling echelons and they will hope that their next fish will be bigger, much like a footballer who also has his goals, both want to be recorded and put on pedestals for others to ponder other.

Someone said to me a long time ago that you only get back what you put in which I guess means the more effort you put in the more you will receive. Maybe a bit of truth in that, but I still believe luck beats all. Luck will keep you injury free, luck will score you goals when you least expect them, and luck will win you Leagues and cups. Of course luck will put the angler in the right swim on the right day and with the biggest fish. And luck will also see that big fish in the anglers net.

Being an old Arsenal fan, I hope Lady Luck follow’s us all season, I also hope she helps me on the bank as well. Tight Lines and fierce shots and be Lucky.

 Written  by Steve Palmer

You have to admit, Manchester United straight after a Champions League home defeat looked ominous. As a club, Arsenal have suffered too many dark days against United, and it has been a bit too one-sided. They have dominated us, and have had us supporters do some serious soul-searching on more than one occasion. And naturally, finger-pointing and vitriolic anger has been aimed at manager, Arsene Wenger.

How the debates have raged between those who think Arsene is like Mohammed Ali, and those who think he’s clinging to a job he doesn’t deserve.

We’ve had more than our share of Champions League disappointment, so much so, that the competition itself doesn’t quite generate the excitement among the fans that Europe’s elite tournament should. If supporters were full of volcanic lava after the Dinamo Zagreb match, the Olmpiacos game just led to much confusion and more frustrated resignation to the point where the Champions League has practically been written off.

Manchester United is a game that gets the hairs on the back of your neck bristling in anticipation. It’s one of the stand-out fixtures that the world temporarily stops for. It matters big time.

It is also a fixture with a lot of poignancy for United supporters of a certain vintage, because 57 years and eight months ago, the two clubs played out a nine-goal thriller at Highbury, United’s last game before their ill-fated Munich air-disaster. I bet Bobby Charlton remembers. I bet JC, GunnerN5 and Kelsey do too.

For 17 years, between 1996 and 2013, it’s been Fergie versus Arsene. On reflection, it isn’t really a fair fight. Ferguson did a fantastic job, but between Matt Busby and Alex Ferguson, United were a bit like Eric Morcambe’s piano-playing. They were playing all the right notes, but not necessarily in the right order.

What Ferguson did much more competently than his predecessors was harness United’s financial muscle and make it decisive. Because of this, you have to put Manchester United alongside Barca, Real Madrid and Bayern Munich.

After the ‘here-today-gone-tomorrow’ David Moyes stint, the Glazer’s went back to the more familiar route of hiring a big name manager, Louis van Gaal, who has managed most of the world’s major club’s and more recently, took the Netherlands to a World Cup semi-final. But boy does he love to spend.

Unlike Ferguson, van Gaal and United can no longer rely on local talent, the well is running dry. Plus the heat has been turned-up quite a few notches from the noisy neighbours and recent billionaires, City.

In his first summer Louis van Gaal spent a quarter of a billion, investing in a club that just 15 months earlier had been runaway PL Champions. And there was a significant spend this summer too. As well as an expensively assembled squad, they also managed to keep hold of Goalkeeper David de Gea, their player of the year three years in succession.

But what really gets up the noses of opposing fans is that they’re media ‘luvvies’. Ever since I was a little boy all I can recall among the football reporting genre is gushing sycophancy over everything United. An attitude of ‘whatever else is happening in English football, the biggest story is always at Old Trafford’.

It grates hard, and it’s one of the main reasons this fixture resonates so deeply among the Arsenal faithful. Regardless of who the manager is, it’s Manchester United, and if you don’t support them, you hate them. For me personally, heading into the Manchester United game, I saw it as one to get out of the way and put behind us.

I recall LB being extremely bullish immediately after the Olympiacos game and predicting a win. I wanted to believe him, as we all would, but there was absolutely nothing I could think of to support that level of optimism, particularly recent history.

With all the statistical and logical evidence weighing against Arsenal, I declined an invitation to watch the game, and chose instead to listen to 5Live, knowing that if it got too bad, I could switch it off.

Then something incredible happened. Something completely unscripted, something so big, it shook the watching world.

Something clicked that had never before clicked among this group, and Arsenal supporters were treated to an exhibition, the like of which was last seen at Highbury.

ARSENAL 3-0 MANCHESTER UNITED.

How beautiful does that look? It looks even better when you never expected to see anything like that result.

Alexis Sanchez is an incredible force of nature, and the effect his presence is having is palpable. The biggest transformation we’ve seen since Sanchez’s arrival is that of Theo Walcott. He has suddenly stepped up. He has menace, he is no longer the peripheral weakling who drifts in and out of games, he may yet save Arsenal millions of pounds in their search for a prolific striker. I think Theo’s change of attitude is as much down to the signings of Alexis Sanchez and Petr Cech, the winning mentality they bring with them, the level they expect from their team-mates. But he wouldn’t have done it without his own desire to knuckle down and learn, and with Alexis and Thierry Henry he has two of the best.

As LB has said, this result is huge and shouldn’t be played down or forgotten about too quickly. Arsenal have laid down a statement of intent, the mood is changing. Players like Mesut Ozil, Alexis Sanchez and Petr Cech signed for Arsenal to win titles, and a performance such as that against United can only reinforce belief. It has broken a huge psychological barrier, and if they can remain relatively injury-free in key areas, Arsene’s summer transfer business will look incredibly shrewd.

And for his dedication to detail, and his devotion to Arsenal, Arsene Wenger deserves that result against Manchester United. October 4th, 2015 might go down as a significant day in Arsenal’s recent history. It could just be the day when they re-discovered their inner-beast, the ability to tear teams apart regardless of their reputation. The day Arsenal realised they have the ability to go on and win the Premier League. Like wounded lions they roared, and suddenly the mind-set is different among players and supporters. It feels like a genuine title-challenge may be on and a massive corner has been turned.

If winning the PL means sacrificing Europe, so be it, there’s nothing better than winning your own title.

Naturally, we all want Arsenal to win the Champions League, it has after all become club football’s most prestigious trophy, but with Spain and Germany housing the three most powerful clubs in world football, we have to be realistic.

The biggest thing about this result though, is belief. United are always the yardstick to measure where Arsenal are at. A defeat – which many, including myself, predicted – would have left Arsenal in no-mans land. Still doing enough to finish top four, but no visible progress and no title. However, a win – well done, LB – creates a very different landscape, a buzz of excitement, one where sometimes people like me have to humbly bow our head and feel a slight sense of embarrassment for ever questioning Arsene’s wisdom.

As I said on the day, I’m delighted to be proved wrong and the result offers renewed hope. This performance underlines Arsenal’s title credentials and elevates Arsene right back in the game. More of this and supporters will forget why they ever wanted Arsene to leave, but patience will be a key issue in an increasingly unpredictable PL, and the old cliché OGAAT is very appropriate this season having seen many false dawns.

Arsenal often strike when people least expect, and this feels like it could be one of those times.

Is the Emirates about to welcome its first PL title?

Written by Herb’s Army

Morning all,

I see many supporters are a little uneasy at the moment, bad results seem to do that. We have all seen bad results in the past and I am pretty dammed sure many in the future as well.

Usually after bad performances the old stick comes out to beat our Manager. You know what, at times, I would like to wield that stick as he gets right up my nose.

Wenger has supposedly, more power at Arsenal than many others have in their clubs, whether that is correct I can only assume. Over the years and especially these last 5 years more and more talk has been about a new broom.

Now I am not against change and if Wenger went today Arsenal would still survive. Would Arsenal improve or would they struggle?  Who knows, we are not clever enough to know.

Arsene Wenger has been a good Manager in my eyes, when I say good I mean consistent and isn’t that what we want for a football team. He has been managing for ever so he knows his way around a training ground, but is he finished? That is the big question we have to ask.

Many will undoubtedly say he has to go at some time and of course they are right, nothing lasts forever and would we want it to. Nobody is irreplaceable, as death has shown us if a guvner or an owner dies, some body will step up.

I feel it is at this time where I have to ask, what do we want from Arsene’s replacement? A fair question I feel. Is it a more modern man, who has fresh idea’s, a man who can handle young men and get the best out of them, a man that can turn the team we have into league Champions and a man who doesn’t need a tanker truck filled with readies following him around?

Many establish that Arsenal are a wealthy club. On the books we are probably in the top ten most wealthiest, so where is the problem? As many have said Wenger is a pensioner and in all rights should be put out to grass.

Supposing we were to replace him with a man as said above, and our form actually went down , perhaps missing Europe for a few years, say we went down a division would that worry you at all, or would you concede that the new man needs time, much the same as Wenger had.

I can see that that is probably the line many would take, he needs time, and I myself would probably say the same. And lets face it a young modern type manager has a lot of time left so no problem.

Now lets say the new man comes in and makes a massive impact, Arsenal soar to the top of the league. He buys a few players and all our problems are solved. Our wins in the league and in Europe and all the cups herald us as the very best. How pleased would we all be? Blimey I am gagging at the bit here.

Yes of course that could happen. Why shouldn’t it? Look how many other clubs have done it, it happens all the time doesn’t it? Of course it doesn’t we all know that, but a nice thought though.

We, of course, will need a change of manager no doubt about that, but what we must realise is that things will change which is what most supporters want, but lets not kid ourselves, it could be a lot better , but is also could be a lot worse,

Our change is just around the corner, get ready for it, as it could be a really long and bumpy ride.

Written by Steve Palmer