Finely Tuned Engine Room Keeps Arsenal On Course
Sep 18th, 2013 by 'holic
We could not have made a better start to what is undoubtedly a very competitive group phase of the Champions League. Amazing to me was the surprise that greeted Marseille’s enthusiastic peformance in the opening hour. They are a good side who troubled us similarly a couple of years ago before we took the game with an Aaron Ramsey strike at the death.
Who could have guessed this match would follow a similar pattern, although I thought we started as well as the hosts but quickly settled back to prevent the needless concession of the opening goal. Key to that was the role of Aaron Ramsey, who settled in alongside Matthieu Flamini and strengthened the spine of the side. He would be freed in advanced areas later to devastating effect.
On the break the partnership of Jack Wilshire and Mesut Ozil hinted at a bright future. We had a couple of decent shouts for penalties when Theo Walcott was tugged back, and Per Mertesacker copped for a high boot in the face. Neither were awarded and it was just as well that Valbuena, Ayew, and Gignac spurned opportunities to strike for Marseille.
The second half started similarly with Fanni so close to the far post, but Arsenal had drawn the sting of the home team and gradually took control of the crucial midfield area. We produced the perfect opener when Jack Wilshere freed the excellent Kieran Gibbs on the left flank, and when his cross was not dealt with Theo Walcott was on hand to Volley home in spectacular fashion. Now it was time for Wilshere, Ozil and co to slow the pace of the game and retain possession.
A single goal advantage is always nervously held at this level, so when the man of the moment, Aaron Ramsey, strode forward to crash in his sixth goal of the season the collective sense of relief was evident. It was no more than the outstanding midfield deserved though. It seems that is the case game after game at the moment. Who would have thought a month or so back that a side missing Mikel Arteta, Tomas Rosicky, and Santi Cazorla could be clocking up a tenth consecutive away win?
There was a late scare when Rambo was harshly adjudged to have tripped one of the Ayew brothers allowing the other to convert the penalty. It was, however, too little too late for Marseille. Like me after a long and exhausting day, they were spent. I doubt though they are enjoying a glass of gorgeous Islay malt and looking back on the day with anywhere near as much satisfaction.
Five difficult matches remain in the first phase of this competition and it looks as though three more wins would be enough to take us through to the last sixteen. As the injured return and add depth to the squad the confidence that we can achieve at least that must be growing. So too is the cautious optimism being inspired by the young Arsenal playmakers.
Keep it up lads. How far can you take us?
231 Responses to “Finely Tuned Engine Room Keeps Arsenal On Course”
First?
2nd
First?
Current odds on Mourinho being sacked by Christmas?
http://www.theguardian.com/football/2013/sep/18/chelsea-basel-champions-league
Masut Ozil sneaked through the spell check. 😉
Great piece Holic proud of the boys they dug deep and got rewarded.
Bring on the orcs.
A trophy 😉
Oh, I actually read the post and got third, not bad.
Very fine review, Guv. A good performance by the boys but Gibbs stood head and shoulders above everyone else for me tonight, he made countless interceptions/covering clearances and that goal-line clearance was points saving. Going forward, his cross led to Theo’s goal and his assist for ramsey’s goal was just perfectly weighted. Hats off to him.
Theo got a bit lucky there but still a great assist!
Great write-up ‘H. And the very flakey wireless connection here in the depths of NW Scotland held up for a nice little score.
It seems that gour-and-a-half weeks in football really is a long time.
COYG
And hopefully just hopefully they can take us to their GLORY DAYS 🙂
Thanks H2H. Buggered if I can proof read at this time of night.
Hope you were all on the ‘holic pound, now in profit for the season after the first triumph!
Cheers ‘holic. Great write up. Boys did us proud.
And thank you too Aaron, for sticking with us with such quiet resolution, when the doubters were calling you out. You deserve to be part of a Twinvincibles side young man. And Gibbo too, who was most definitely my MOTM this eve.
See you all Sunday.
There was a late scare when Rambo was harshly adjudged to have tripped one of the Ayew brothers allowing the other to convert the penalty.
Ayew is Ghanaian for Chuckle.
You will indeed snowy, cheers.
Hehe, Cynic 😉
What, we won? again? zzzzzzzzzzzzzz…
Glad to see the ‘holic pound is in the black. Now maybe you can spend some fecking money on fixing up the HT Mark III. 😉
BMBD
Sleep well, ‘Holic! You’ve put in a full shift, as well 😉 Kinda fun to read your synopsis, before I actually, SEE this match. Will compare notes 🙂 As for your rhetorical question, how far our lads will take us; best get your passport in order 😉
Per kicked in the face and Theo held back are NOT penalties, but a dive after Rambo got a foot to the ball first IS … such is the effect poor reffing can have. Should have been 0-4.
That bright red whistle the ref used had me fooled. A couple of times I thought he’d pulled a red card!
Gibbs, Rambo and Per were our best (even allowing for Per’s cock-up) with Özil having a relatively quiet one. I hope he’s not feeling the extra pace of the EPL already…
Valbueno looked useful for them, as did Imbula and Fanni. But Fanni is already 31 and the other two are midfielders of which we already have a plethora, so nothing to want in Marseilles. Unlike Dortmund where I feel Reus and Subotić would complete us.
Biggest worry now is more injuries when the Stokers start hacking us down at the weekend. We will win, but at what cost?
Öskar
Bring on Stoke örcs!
Hey, just saw Kieran’s save (most impressive!) and both our goals. Beauties they were, honestly. 🙂
We live in hope, Oskar, we just need to conquer the Orc’s without injuries then we can afford to give the spine of the side a week of well deserved rest.
You can say that again and again, Nursie.
I had a bit of a problem with the first half performance because there was such a huge distance between the midfield three.
All in all, a great result! Win your home games and you’re through.
A great win by the lads, marred only by yet another ref getting conned into awarding a ludicrous penalty against us. How Ramsey getting the ball is a penalty, but Per getting kicked in the face is not, is way beyond me. As for the extra officials behind the goal, a more useless idea has yet to manifest from the cretins at UEFA. Apart from banning the Boss for spurious reasons.
In any event, we got the job done in a highly professional manner, and recorded our 10th successive away win in the process.
I’m beat. Good night all.
An Irish tea for a nightcap, if you please, Guv’nor.
MB
A bunch of Hansens if you ask me 🙂
The pig was blind, the place was bouncing and so was Feelgood, with Roxette looking on sheepishly, as the Guinness flowed.
Oh, and I bumped into Blogs.
Nice one Arsenal.
Good stuff, Zico.
Name dropper… 😉
BMBD
HT Mark III? It looks like there could be enough passengers. 🙂
Ramsey.
I really do believe I’m still guaranteed a seat on the HT. Few have said “Ah, that’s just football” as much as me when we’ve lost against the run of play. Oh, and celebrated as much when we’ve won.
Ah, who am I kidding. Every single Arsenal supporter deserves the HT.
You beautiful rip-roaring.
I have already sent some female llamas off for insemination…time to prepare for celebrations.
Stock the CMC, get the Feelgood Foundation off their arses, find the officers for DLL Ltd., locate some more Californian, and let’s get the show on the road. We’ll go as far as our Welsh talisman will take us.
Where’s the damned train, boss?
BMBD
Arsene must be supremely chuffed. Pure class he is.
BMBD
Ramsey has just been on another level this season. It helps that I really love him to the ends of the earth and back, but am so happy for it. Extremely harsh penalty in my opinion, otherwise he had a rather good game. As did Wilshere, I’m hoping this and Sunderland is the start of some good form…baby steps! I learnt from Rambo not to get impatient. Gibbs…take a bow son, MOTM by miles! That goal line clearance might have taken years off my life but good on ya son. He saved us tonight in my opinion. Overall, a gutsy and good performance from the lads. Dortmund lost… oh my the group of death is wide open..
That pen for marseille was an utter absurdity.
Ball first by rambo. No real contact. Dive by the marsielle player.
A travesty really. Fucking uefa.
Pinot tonight. Afterall basking in the post filing glow. And its only weds!
Zico, where were you standing? And it was indeed good to see Arseblogger but now an appearance by ‘Holic himself is an absolute bloody requisite! Speaking of, I don’t know how ‘Holic manages a great write-up so soon after a game when quite a few of us have a hard time remembering how to just get home let alone the ebbs and flows…
What was surprising was how efficiently Arsenal in the second half picked up the pace after a tired, lethargic (perhaps understandably so) first half. Could it be that Arsene is engaging in a Kinshasa style rope-a-dope? Not a bad thing to do in away games in the group of death or, as Dortmund’s video would attest to, the group of sheer class…
And could we all give massive props to F.C. Basel?! Even I will now concede that FCB is the greatest team in Switzerland (for now), even though Switzerland is also home of the legendary F.C. Servette, the creator of the European Champions League and the primogenitor of…the great Philippe Senderos.
Lonestar,
I can bring as many Californians as you like.
I’m sure Scrüz is in.
H2H can provide a few flavors I’m sure.
Keep it up lads. One game at a time. There are going to be tougher stretches, but let’s keep moving along. Good times this year, I can feel it.
Really love the team chemistry. This group really works hard for one another and wants to accomplish something TOGETHER.
CHEERS ALL.
One game at a time but enjoying everything I see so far!
The confidence the players have developed after beating Bayern last season is clear to see. They seem to fear no one at the moment…
I’m having a laugh at the media right now. Their media-darling Special Needs One has Chelski flubbing around at the moment with no wins in 4 games and losing at home to Basel, while Arsenal (who were tipped to not even win a game in the Champions League) is enjoying a good start.
The Chavs must be glad they have a chance to defend their Europa league title though 😉
Welcome aboard NorCal! I agree completely with your assessment of the squad…
Whisper it now, but I have it on good authority that the double is back on. It’s back on I tells ya.
This is from “back in the day” and goes out to all HT Mk III ticketholders:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=B-DpRcxK_N8
BMBD
Excellent stuff, Holic. Got up at 2.45am on a cold Shanghai morning only to find that CCTV5 had failed to deliver. China’s stream qualities are poor and I have up at half time. Your report was as good as being there. What “cautious” optimism. Unbridled for me. 🙂
Drink!
Its a shame we’ve sent the Coq out on loan, otherwise he could have got stuck into Fanni.
Heh Esso.
Bias of the French commentary was borderline unbearable. (didn’t even just moot our possible penalty claims while their was definite…), but there was only one thing I didn’t really enjoy last night: not being there 😉
Ba-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha-sel!
Hose-ay doesn’t seem so special right now, does he?
Many good posts in the aftermath of the game but a special mention for Cent@183 in the last session, that was a brilliant little piece of sarcasm 🙂
15-2-1 in our last 18 competitive matches and yet we are in crisis, have no real DM, a second rate striker and a shit defense.
Is it all smoke and mirrors or are we actually a good squad. My analytical mind would say the later. Team chemistry and togetherness is now at a great level. We have found a good mixture of experience, youth and desire. Let’s hope it long continues. Now let’s beat those orcs and get healthy.
That was our tenth away win in a row, dating back to our win over the CL champions in Munich. A club record (actually 9 was) and still counting.
I tend to agree with you NorCal.
Öskar
Morning all.
Been really busy recently so struggling to catch up. I listened to the game yesterday and managed to watch the second half. Spot on Holic from what I heard and saw. This. Was always a massive game for us. No game in this group will be easy but to have a good chance of going through I think we need to take 6 points from Marseille and hope they take points off Napoli and Dortmund. Ramsey again awesome. Gibbs fantastic and two great finishes.
It’s been really funny listening to the chavs on the radio, both last night and this morning. I wonder if they would have been as charitable had they just lost to Everton and Basel and Benitez had still been in charge???? What a classless lot.
Finding the new direction of the bar interesting to say the least, re Lonestar @33 and his llamas (heh), following on from pineapples and honey. Add grammar and poets it’s a heady mix. Looking forward to the next instalment.
Onto more prosaic matters, fine result – like last Saturday another difficult game neutered and claimed (keeping in the new theme). Interesting to hear Aaron’s comments about the pitch afterwards – that may go someway to explain the sluggish nature from Arsenal at times through the match.
Impressive turn-around from Mr ‘H for the match summary. As always concise, articulate and perceptive. Deserved the malt!
Good morning
Absolutely Cream Crackered myself since you ask.Got home at 2 in the. Morning and had to set the alarm for 5
Got to Marseille early so as to assure parking near to Ganay,the visitors entrance only to find at the end of the match 40 minutes after the final whistle that we were escorted right to the other end of the ground.
Fortunately football crowds have moved on from the 1970’s and you CAN walk in darkened streets past packed bars full of home supporters wearing your Arsenal colours without incident.
As for the match the TTF were Fairly subdued in the first half.The impression I had from the stands{there was seating but everybody was on their feet) was that Arsenal were taking the match too lightly with fancy flicks and not enough off the ball running.once Theo knocked in the first goal the TTF got properly behind the team and the OM supporters lost their enthusiasm.We were all pretty nervy until the one and only welsh wizard magicked a goal out of nothing and we were away and dry.
Right I’ll post this now it is starting to get busy hère
Fantastic game last night,love the team chemistry this season. Up the arse!!!
What orc??? We got ozil,we got rambo and a fukn flame…bring on shawcross u miserable waste of good skin!!!
Come on you riproaring!!
Great win, solid defensive display by and large. Gibbs was outstanding, Wilshere imposed himself far more than in recent outings. Under normal circumstances a draw would have been a good result but in this group, a win was vital. Qualifying will still be an uphill struggle with the other teams we have to face but a super start.
Must say that from an offensive standpoint, it is brilliant that Ozil keeps drifting wide, giving Rambo/ Jack/ Santi (in the future) space in the middle, even if they star out wide themselves. Really excited about this team!
Qualifying will be an uphill struggle for Napoli, Dortmund and OM.
Not for the Arsenal. Lots more to come from this squad. Imagine having this midfield starting and Arteta, Cazorla and Rosicky (when fit again) on the bench. Or being able to rotate without weakening the team.
I’m off to light a candle for Giroud’s Knee (sounds like the title of a movie).
Morning all.
😆 @43 Esso.
Steve T @ 48
I must disagree with you as vociferously as is humanly possible. We don’t need to hope anyone does us any favours, this team will get through the group, and get through well, entirely on their own lofty merits.
Looks like the baseless meedja negativity has been slipping in under your radar. Have a cold one on me.
DK, as usual I concur.
Very happy for the meedja and other teams to belittle us and underestimate us, that suits us nicely. I can’t say the same for our own fans though. Saying things like “a win was vital” is disingenuous – you always need some wins in the Champs League!
This group will of course be hard, but people need to make like George Michael and have a little faith. Marseille are inferior and will be VERY lucky to get anything at the Ems. Napoli may have made some major signings but do they have the togetherness to match us? The only team really on our level is Dortmund and we already know how to beat them.
They hate us because they are not us.
Fine account H. I very much doubt the Marseille crew savoured the cratur as much as you did last night. Slainte big fella.
I watched a grainy picture (reminiscent of 60s European leg broadcasts but tinged with colour) at some ungodly hour this morning. No sound (which I discover is a marked improvement in the experience) as WoB was curled up witha mask over her eyes trying to catch up on zzzz. She was woken by my response to Rambo’s goal though and settled back into a contented slumber. The pen was a ridiculous decision and demonstrates the need to make the game ref-proof at all times.
Great result. Big 3 points.
THMBD
Porco and DK knows.
Cheers, Lars.
This was tweeted on twitter last night. I, too, like it very much.
The future is ours….
PS. NOT my alter ego! 🙂
Russell @Dynamite_76 14h
Szcz – 23
Gibbs – 23
Jack – 21
Rambo – 22
Özil – 24
Theo – 24
The Ox – 20
I like this very very much.
A bath in Hanoi? I hope it comes with a happy ending!
Didn’t get to watch the game but look forward to it after I get a few hours of sleep. Enjoying this season thus far.
Media schmedia, this blog (and a few others) is all I need.
I rarely watch that parody show that used to be MOTD, and the tabloids are just there to make me chuckle because we prove them wrong so often.
Win or lose, I’m enjoying seeing the heart on display by our boys.
And with that, I’m off to take my meds….
And…
Zelalem 16
Gnabry 18
Jenks 21
Agreed bstrum… also many at the club apparently have high hopes for Bellerin.
Important to add.. Poldi & BFG – over 100 caps for Germany
Ozil – more than 50 for Germany
Santi – more than 50 for Spain.
Arteta – immaculate hair.
Gibbs and Sagna were fantastic yesterday. Nobody could get by them, absolutely resolute defending
Jack is slowly getting back to his best, our first goal started off with him driving at defenders and freeing up Gibbs
Walcott, what a cracking finish
Ramsey – First name on the team sheet
Flamini played a solid game but I do think we miss Arteta in that position. Flamini lost possession a number of times in crucial positions, albeit ran back to cover for his mistakes
One game at a time
heh Catalan, Arteta comment killed me 😀
Yeah Catalan 😀
Harsha – quite a few misplaced passes in the first half, which Ramsey’s post-match comments about the condition of the pitch may explain.
But yes, defence superb again – funny how the medja seems to think we have a problem there. The only problem we have is with referees.
http://www.football365.com/mediawatch/8929672/Mediawatch
Ha,, John Cross’ laziness in all its glory
Dr C,
Youth, experience, a desire to play as a team and a real drive to win something.
I like it!
Well, then we have Arteta’s hair. 😉
Ollie @69, can’t those two Papers fire him for that farce?
Afternoon All,
Great report ‘H. Very little to add, I think you summed it up perfectly.
Game of two ‘alves innit.
First half, slow and ponderous (save for a good opening 10 mins) with misplaced passes all over the pitch. During this testing period, I thought Jack was our brightest performer.
Second half much more assured, with the excellent Rambo and the Flamster establishing control and Mesut popping in all sorts of unexpected places to probe incisively.
Gibbs was superb throughout, Giroud put in another almighty shift, and a word too for the Keeper who was solidity personified.
And what Mr Bure said on the officialdom – woeful throughout.
Ozil the goldfish FishGod is delivering. If this keeps up much longer I may well have to soften my stance on Religion 😉
All aboard the Happy Train …
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=i1rkfQ1CCcQ
Afternoon all. I haven’t been able to stop smiling all morning. I share an office with two Chav fans and they’ve been crying into their papers all day. One wants Mourinho out and is cursing Roman for letting Rafa go to Napoli. The other says they need new players(?!), and insists that the likes of Schurrle and Willian are rubbish. Both of them agree that Mata has been badly mismanaged by Josie so far and are wondering why Eto’o was signed when they had a young, Premiership-experienced, bull of a striker in Lukaku. If memory serves, we were heavily linked with the young man until he chose the Bridge. On a personal note, I am rather glad that he hasn’t been given the chance he deserves at the Bridge, if that serves to help him decide to run down his contract and seek solace with the number 1 developer of forward players in the British Isles in our very own Professor.
A source of equal amusement was a tweet from Lord Sugar about how Arsene is the greatest manager in the Premier League. Something about Prophets lacking honour in their own homes springs to mind at that. 🙂
Have a pint of Strongbow ready for me if you please, Guv’nor.
Now, back to the game. Having rewatched the game, I was able to pick up a couple of other things. Firstly, Marseille, while being a cut above Fenerbache, lacked a little bit the tactical nous to really attack us down our left side. Too often, our players got pulled to the right of the field, and better play from them could have seen us punished. Jack in particular seemed to get sucked into the middle far too much for someone playing wide left, and he could do with learning some of Cazorla’s discipline when we don’t have the ball. I have observed that when Santi plays wide left, he tends to pull wide when we don’t have the ball, ensuring that the central players are free to overload the opposition when they come into our half, while providing protection to Gibbs. He doesn’t do it all the time, mind, unlike Podolski, but he does it often enough that Gibbs isn’t exposed 2v1 all the time. Perhaps with Özil on the pitch, Jack feels the need to defend the middle more, but I’m sure Messrs Wenger and Bould would not have been too pleased with seeing two players bearing down on Gibbs all the time.
For Ramsey’s goal, watching it again highlighted a couple of things for me. Firstly his awareness of the space behind the Marseille midfielders when he pinged the ball back to Flamini was top notch. As soon as the ball left his boot, he sprinted laterally into a huge expanse of greenery, and Gibbs also had the requisite technical skill and vision to execute a pinpoint, first-time pass into Ramsey’s feet. That sort of understanding isn’t built up overnight, and when Özil fully clicks with the team, we are sure to go up a few levels. Once Ramsey turned, he had a lot of work to do, and this is where our HFB was absolutely brilliant, yet again. It seems to go largely overlooked, but his movement was vital in creating the space and time Ramsey needed to get into position and unleash his shot. When Ramsey got on the ball, Giroud was to his right, and as Ramsey began moving forward, Giroud sprinted across the defenders, who followed him expecting a reverse pass. This left a great big, Mendez-sized hole in their defence, and Ramsey was able to steady himself and put his foot through the ball. The slight deflection on the shot was probably critical, but such is his form that Lady Luck is probably down to her birthday suit in his bedroom and calling him Daddy every night.
As for their penalty, well, on replays, the decision looks worse and worse, especially when you consider that the same ref refused to give a penalty in the first half for their player leaping and kicking the BFG in the head, and also failed to give a foul when another of their players attempted to separate Flamini’s head from his shoulders, and then somehow missed a blatant handball from Ayew, followed by a clear foul on Flamini, which in turn led to Valbuena having a shot on our goal. It was almost like the ref kept looking for ways to allow them even the score, and Ramsey got to be the scapegoat this time, leaving Koscielny bereft.
It is also amusing that the media continued their narrative of us having a thin squad, as though we’re supposed to go out and buy a new player everytime a member of the team gets injured. The only place I would say we’re truly light is at centre forward, and I’m sure I wasn’t alone in cringing everytime some clogger in white put a foot near Giroud. We have Podolski, Cazorla, Chamberlain, Arteta, Diaby, and Sanogo out injured. Those players would make for a quality bench any day of the week. If we add a striker in January, I will be chuffed to bits, but for now, we can only play the next 3 months with the players we have available, and we can only try to get our injured players back fit as soon as possible without jeopardising their long-term health.
Bring on the Orcs on Sunday, and here’s hoping Ramsey scores against them as well. It would be no more than he deserves after what Lenny and Pubis put him through.
Whew! Where’s that pint, Guv’nor? And could you draw me another as well? I fear this first one will disappear in a rather unsightly hurry.
Is that a new theme tune we´ve got going there Tabs?
Marvellous.
Well, as it seems that Mk III is on the move and building up a little head of steam (careful!), I´ll go and get me dirty white smock on in an attempt to look like I know what I´m doing, and will put in my shift in The Quackery.
Who´s got what nowadays?
Nice work Mr Bure, especially your observation about our left side. As huge a boon as it will be to have Arteta and Cazorla back, I think Podolski might be the player we miss most right now.
One quick Özil observation. In his first two games his performance has hardly been “good” by his own standards. As has been said in this bar plenty of times already, he’s still learning his new teammates, environment, language, et al. And yet he’s still managed to have a telling impact on both of those games, by virtue of his intelligence and incredible quality. That’s what players of his ilk give you. Even in games when they aren’t at their best (for whatever reason), they find a way to make an impact. Much as we may hate to remember it, that’s what RvP did and did often for us. We’ve missed having a player like that in the squad. Great to think about what it’ll be like when he is at his best…
COYG!
Btw did you notice Jack’s reaction to Theo’s goal? Worth a look…
Spot on Mr Bure – great post.
Dr C – An old fave Doc, made it’s debut in the heady summer of 2011 when the world was crashing in on us 😉
Who´s got what nowadays?
Dunno Doc, but don’t worry, I’ve still got your back. 😉
Feed Ramsey that bouillabaisse and he’ll score every time. Clams yes but especially the extra muscles. 😉
http://img.foodnetwork.com/FOOD/2010/05/05/0057536F6_Bouillabaisse-with-Rouille_s4x3_lg.jpg
It turned out OK in the end, a slice of luck here, a Feo classic there,a mighty display from the 3 other Brits and we were home and dry!
Sunday can’t come soon enough, though I shouldn’t wish away time at my age. See you all at the Ems on Sunday. I expect the King’s Lynn Gooners will want to partake of the Sunday roast at the Hemingford Arms pre match but I will be with you all in spirit ,those of you drinking elsewhere.
As always COYRs
Mr Bure / G-Lincoln
I actually think we’re far more exposed down the right side.
Consider the left wing for a moment: We have anyone of Ozil; Caz or Podolski who can play wide in that role with Gibbo / Monreal / Vermy sitting in behind for support.
Now consider the right wing: We have Theo; Oxlade……..with Sagna / Jenks / Flamini in support.
What we really need is a striker, who is predominantly right-footed that is versatile enough to also play on the right wing. Its no coincidence we were after players like Suarez and Higuain. They’re both right footed players who can also play wide on the wing.
Evening all,
Some cracking drinks there. Thank you.
And congratulations to Felix Nyrvana, winner of the 2 Young Guns tickets to the Stoke match on Sunday.
Well done Felix.
A clever ruse, claiming that his players lack maturity when the fact is, several (Terry, Cech, Torres, Eto’o) suffer from an excess of maturity, while the rest of them are probably wondering if Mourinho himself is now out of touch.
http://www.theguardian.com/football/2013/sep/19/chelsea-jose-mourinho-basel-champions-league
MrBure@the epic 73: Spot on about Giroud’s movement. It has improved by leaps and bounds from last season. I don’t know whether that is just having the acclimatization of a first season in the Premiership under his belt, or whether he has been given schooling on it in training, but it has moved him up a level as a striker.
The width/narrowness of the team that many have commented on seems to be a result of Özil’s arrival. We are now playing more 4-2-2-2 than 4-3-3 or 4-2-3-1. 4-2-2-2 folds back into 4-4-2 when we don’t have the ball whereas the other two formations become 4-5-1.
bt8b, dare one suggest that Mourinho looked a genius when Chelski had a monopoly of the best players because they had the only MegaSugar Daddy in the Premiership? Now that monopoly has been broken, he looks less clever.
bt8b: Mourinho sacked by Christmas? Take at look at the odds:
http://www.oddschecker.com/football/english/premier-league/next-manager-to-leave-post
Then take a look at the odds for AW being the next manager to be sacked. Pretty long odds from every book maker — except Sky, which has him among the ten most likely to be sacked next. Does that smack of institutional Sky bias against Arsenal or what?
Hi Holic, , I know you have followed Arsenal for a half a century, I am trying to make an all time XI for Arsenal (I know, I know), can you tell me who was better? Liam Brady or Robert Pires? It is a tough choice but I am leaning towards Brady.
NBN. Purely hypothical questions, of course. And I see that AW has just a little longer odds than Paolo di Canio to be the next Chelsea manager. 😉
Should have supplied that link in case you wanted to make a cheeky bet.
http://www.thesackrace.com/teams/chelsea
*applauds Mr Bure* mate, you have your way with words, a bottle of Guinness is waiting for you, on Lars’ tab.
Aamir, I picked them both 😉
http://goonerholic.com/2008/06/dream-a-little-dream-of-me/
From all my research, I have come up with this XI
4-2-4 Formation
GK Jennings
RB Pat Rice
CB Tony Adams
CB Sol Campbell
LB Eddie Hapgood
CM Vieira
CM Fabregas (personal favorite)
LW Cliff Bastin
RW Liam Brady
CF Bergkamp
ST Henry
Joe, NBN et al. Agreed about the shape of the team. We are playing what amounts to a 4-2-2-2 in attack, though not quite, since (1) jack and Ozil have alternated in playing on the left side at times (with both, of course, tending to drift inside and neither play in a proper wide position), and (2) Theo is playing more often as a wing than as a striker, though he does like to make those inside runs. So really it’s a kind of modified 4-2-3-1, a functional, if not ideal one, that we’re being forced to play in the absence of any left forward players at the moment.
Seriously Moose, your obsession is unhealthy. I’m doing you a favour here. Go see the doctor. Get some help before it is too late.
Samir
Being as old as Methuselah’s Dad I would suggest
Seaman gets the nod over Jennings ( Pat was slightly past his best when he joined us ble it he was a great goalie )Similarly I love Pat Rice but there have been several better right backs. My favourite was Viv Anderson but Dixon was better than Rice. I would always find a place for Bobby Pires but the rest of your selection is none too shabby.
Good report Holic. I enjoyed the game and agree we underestimated Marseille. I’m starting to believe ( and I have been out on the piss tonight) that we might see a very surprising season with the expected top 3 all struggling and Arsenal and Liverpool running them close IF Giroud stays fit and we strengthen up front in January. SAF might have been worth even more than we ever realised to Manure.
One thing I can’t get over is what the refs in the European games behind the goal do. Surely he saw Per kicked in the head feet away from him. And surely he should have seen Theo tugged. I actually thought the ref was even handed until the last minute but that was a joke decision.
But compare him with Anthony Taylor!
Sorry I mean Aamir- iPads!
Charges up-field…
Slings an arrow of a ball toward the area …
Great post by MrBure @ 73!
I’m sick as a dog today and just lying down at home reading this blog so please continue drinking!!!
Guinness on me, I’m having a dayquil in the corner.
I leave you with this: http://football-talk.co.uk/83004/video-individual-highlights-of-gibbs-flaminis-displays-vs-marseille/
Kaff, kaff
Tabs it for me sunshine.
Who’s got what nowadays?
I’ve been cleaning out the Quackery as fast as I please these days, but I will say the Spuds, duds, idiots and general malcontents have mostly emptied themselves lately. The Villa game gave them all one last shot at glory and malcontent but the squad has now put those fools back in their holes and Ramsey has dropped a deuce on their faces. The HT Mark III is gaining speed, hop on board or get smashed. Or hop on board AND get smashed. This baby is gaining momentum. Toot toot. 😉
Well in, CoR. Get well soonest.
Oh I see you self-assisted, the Dubious Goal Committee will hear your plea shortly!
Not bad Aamir (*92), except I would have Sansom at LB, Logie in for Fabregas, Pires on the wing and I’d play 4-1-4-1 with God leading the line. So that’s:
Jennings
Rice … Adams … Campbell … Sansom
Vieira
Pires … Bastin … Logie … Henry
Bergkamp
And I’d be very sorry not to find a place for the Romford Pele… ?(
Öskar
?( = 🙁
Still enthralled with this:
http://youtu.be/gVU_0UdmraM
Pure class. Here’s hoping the group finishes thusly:
1. The Good Guys
2. Dortmund
3. Marseilles
4. Rafa
BMBD
But we got three points though!
Pablo – If you believe that Daily Star nonsense, I have some prime beachfront real estate in Nevada to sell you.
Wenger’s going nowhere.
BMBD
Rather interesting that in absence of Akpom who was with the senior team, it was Gnabry (I think he could not be registered for CL due to some technicalities) who played as the striker for the U-19 match against Marseille and scored two excellent goals.
One can actually see Gnabry becoming a very good striker — pace, power, tricks, sometimes erratic but often great finishing. He is also developmentally ahead of Akpom at this time so may get the nod to play that role in League Cup matches in Sanogo’s absence.
Jack Kelsey between the sticks, ttg?
Lonestar @ 111: I do think Arsene may want to hold off renewing the contract until the end of the season (at which point of time he can best judge his own performance) or until he receives more support and clarification from the board about signing the type of players he wants.
Given the amount of vitriol and backlash from the supporters he was subjected to in the summer primarily due to executive faux pas, he and his family may think that no love (or paycheck) is worth that much trouble.
We all of course sincerely hope none of that to be the case, and his affection for this club and these players have a much stronger force than the negative hysteria of a portion of fan-base and the media.
Faustus – I take your point, but I can’t see Wenger going anywhere after the Ozil signing.
A 3-star Michelin chef wouldn’t go out and buy a Wagyu ribeye and then let some other hackneyed chef prepare it. It just woudn’t happen.
BMBD
I also suspect Özil wouldn’t have come without some assurances that AW would be there beyond this season. The only circumstances in which I can image AW not staying would be if we won the CL this season. Then he might consider it job done and time to retire.
You must be deluded or blind if you think this team is good enough to win anything.
Ned knows.
BMBD
Wally doesn’t.
BMBD
Conte would be an excellent choice, pablo, but if and when AW leaves will be decided by AW, not by the board. The man has earned the right.
I also sincerely doubt that any new contract would come down to the terms of it … it will just be a case of whether AW wants one, and I’m sure he does as I believe he still has significant things he wants to achieve at the Ems.
Öskar
Oskar knows.
BMBD
*taps white stick on ground and pats guide dog*
Heh been reading interesting statistic in todays sports paper.
Apparently Aarons goals are “killers” of famous people. Whenever he scores in CL, someone famous dies O.o
Osama bin Laden, Steve Jobs, Gaddafi and Whitney Houston all died within three days of him scoring.
Most recent goal against Marseille coincided with the departure of the Muhammad Ali conqueror, Ken Norton…scary stuff.
Lonestar knows who knows.
“Aren’t guide dogs usually labradors?”
“What have they given me then?”
You either know the joke or you don’t 😉
Oskar and Lonestar both know, as probably does the Guvna, though he isn’t saying.
TLWCMBD
Shocking realisation than in this country we now have school holidays on October 19th for two weeks (we used to have just about a week first week in November not that long ago…)
Totally ridiculous, the school year has just started, really. And fucks up any plan I had to go to Norwich.
A month in advance, the cheapest I can get to travel over is €212.50, that’s the one way, I didn’t even bother checking the return in these conditions.
I noticed a hike at holidays time last year already, but it didn’t use to be like that a few years ago; now it looks like Eurostar is going to be that sort of price any fucking weekend when the French holidays start.
Fuck right off.
Good match and good to see Theo back on scoresheet again.
You could see how seriously Rambo is taking his football this season by his reaction after the match, because he conceded the penalty.
A goal against the Munster’s and and another from Theo should seal it. Not a great fan of Hughes either but these are the types of matches you have to win on the way to the top.
Would prefer Flamini getting the nod over Arteta to start but if we have to sub jacky boy again, then Arteta will he a good option. 🙂
Wally by name.
Heh @Esso and Toby!
Mr Receptacle – good job! I assume you incinerated the medical waste?
Who knew that Lonestar knows who knows and doesn´t know what´s what? What?
Shocking repetition from the I-phone again from me. Kmt!
Heh, the proposed winter date for the $atar WC will clash with the Winter Limpics according to IOC. There is a God.
Oh well. I’ll just watch the images of baeutiful Russian girls sipping hot chocolate in their warm jackets at the winter Olympics then. 🙂
Wagyu ribeye. I’ll have to try that. Along with some smoked Labrador.
Good morning everyone. As we prepare for the visit of the Orcs (shoring up the battlements, and stocking up on cauldrons of oil) the news from the Boss is that Mikel “The Metronome” Arteta is likely to make the bench. As he builds his match fitness, it is quite nice to wonder who ought to make up the midfield alongside Ramsey when everyone is fit. Such is our Welsh Messi’s form that dropping him seems unthinkable.
On another note, I had the misfortune this morning to read an astonishingly daft article in the Online Gooner. I will not soil my comment by pasting a link to it here, but it did make me wonder about a few things.
Is there something that comes along with buying a season ticket which automatically confers on its holder a certain superiority of opinion which dwarfs that of those who only, say, buy the occasional ticket and replica shirts? I have noticed a trend of critics of the team stating that they have held season tickets for x years, and been supporting the club since the mid-whatever decade they choose to claim. I would say that if you’ve held a season ticket for as long as these people claim, you would be fully understanding of the nuances in football, and the ebb and flow of things, and therefore a calmer presence, not the knee-jerking teenagers they seem to be instead.
The writer of that piece even took shots at Arseblogger, claiming that Blogs had moderated his tone and even renamed his blog in exchange for patronage from the official site! Well, he also revealed that he is a member of the AST, so that explains where he is coming from. The AST has slowly become a cancer in the club, constantly issuing statements revealing the bloated egos of its leadership, and their hyperinflated senses of self-importance, which are apparently seeping into the membership. Anyone who’s read Arseblog for a number of years will be aware that this summer he was so highly critical of the goings on at the club that those used to his normally balanced tone would have cringed at the evident snapping of his patience.
I read Arseblogger and ‘holic because I know that they are balanced, and fair. When we lose a match, there is no sense that toys are being chucked around the bedroom floor with reckless abandon, and when we win, the crowing is loud but brief as they urge us all not to get carried away with a result. Those who expect relentless criticism regardless of realities on the ground are always disappointed, but to suggest a blogger, especially one as fiercely independent as Arseblogger, is on the take, is a most grievous insult.
NBN @111
Very good shout re Kelsey. I didn’t see much of him but what I did see was very good.
I am particularly thinking of the Seaman we had between 1990-5 when he was imperious. The pony-tail years left a bit to be desired.
Jack Kelsey used to run the old Arsenal shop at the Clock End. Lovely man
On a more sinister note I think this has surfaced before.http://allafrica.com/stories/201309200387.html?viewall=1
I still hope Aaron keeps scoring but its bad news if you are famous!! Thankfully no one has ever heard of me.
Mr. Bure @133
I write as a fan of fifty five years and a season ticket holder for twenty two…….. And I agree with every word you say!!!!
In defence of Online Gooner which I often write for they should be a broad church and theoretically take articles from anyone. They would publish Tony Attwood if he sent something in. But Arseblogger is largely an admirable blog. Our patience and belief was sorely tested this summer and we didn’t do everything we needed to. But now is the time to support a team who are giving everything for the cause
I share your taste in Blogs (also read CLF) but this is the place for the cognoscenti!!
@TTG, I agree that the Online Gooner should be a broad church, but the message from the pulpit there is that if you have something nice to say, please jog on. They publish negative article after negative article, and the one time they did publish something supportive of the team, I suspect it was only because the writer of that piece included in it that he didn’t expect to get published by them!
The editor is openly disrespectful of the manager, and derisive of the team. You can tell that having to write about our current winning run (only 4 games, mind) galls him no end. Consider his view after the Sunderland game that the ref ought to have played advantage after blowing the whistle. If that doesn’t betray a total lack of understanding of football (and a consequent disqualification from writing anything about the game) I do not know what does.
The Online Gooner is supposed to be a fanzine, written by and for supporters of the club. But it has been turned into a shameful soapbox for the AST, who can see nothing right about the club, and believe (thanks to their rubbish being lapped up by an eager media) that they are more important than they really are. I suppose at the end of the day, winning trophies silences the malcontents and professional critics, but isn’t football meant to be about a bit more than that?
I’ve been a fan for about 18 years, ever since the 1995 Cup Winners Cup Final, and I fell in love with Arsenal despite Nayim (who I later found out was an ex-Sp*d) scoring from halfway, and costing us the win. That was my first ever Arsenal game. We used to get highlights of Serie A back then, and I developed (and still retain) a bit of a soft spot for Inter Milan, but I’m a Gooner through and through. I guess it also helped that we signed Kanu who was a personal hero of mine after the Olympics in 1996, but with or without Kanu, I wasn’t giving my heart to any other club. And my mother and older brother are Man Utd fans, as is my sister, and my younger brother supports Liverpool.
I’m not going to sit here and write that everything has been hunky dory over the last few years, or that mistakes haven’t been made. I won’t even deny that the Boss should have gambled a bit more when it looked like we really needed it, such as that period when we had the Arshavin at CF experiment. He should definitely have been more ruthless with players who weren’t up to it, but every manager has his blind spots. We should probably have won a couple of League Cups in the last few years as well, but on the balance of things, I would say that we are one of the best run clubs in the world. And while this may be a red-tinted view of the state of affairs, I will not apologise for believing that everything necessary to ensure that my children and their children will get to enjoy the experience of supporting this great club is being done. And if you need any proof that we are a great club, with a great manager, take a look at one Mesut Özil and how it took one phone call from Arsene to make him decide to come here. Look at the legion of ex-players who speak of their time with us with reverence because of this same “lost the plot” manager.
One day, he will hang up the puffy jacket, and Arsenal will move on. But, when that day comes, it definitely won’t be at the behest of a few idiots waving season tickets in the air and shouting “Venga ahht!”
MrBure
Amen! Those words would have come from me if I only had been as educated as you seem to be 🙂
Great stuff!
A large one on the bar for MrBure, please barman. Well said, Sir!
Mr. Bure
I’ve raised this issue with Kevin directly and he tells me that he prints what he receives and that the vast majority of what he receives is critical of the club.
The last time I wrote I was congratulated on “rare balance” by a number of those commenting which I took as a compliment. I think above all the blogs are for Arsenal fans who (should be) united in their love of the club . When I see some of the stuff that is written(especially in the comments) I feel ashamed to follow the same club.Holic achieves that balance effortlessly here as do the guest contributors because they are manifestly Arsenal fanatics and the club means a great deal to them.
Inevitably mood is driven largely by results but, for example, however well we are doing at the moment I still feel we were wrong not to buy a back-up striker and that would obtain even if we win the title
Spot on Mr Bure. I have long since given up buying the Gooner at matches or visiting the online version. It is dispiritingly negative and a long way from constructive criticism.
My regular haunts are this excellent establishment and Arseblog (I am lost without my daily fix of Arseblog – whose achievement of daily posting of rational, uplifting and often hilarious observations for over a decade is a remarkable achievement) with only occasional trips to a Cultued Left Foot, Gunnerblog, East Lower and arse2mouse. I rarely go elsewhere though I am sure that there are other sensible bloggers out there amongst the chaff.
I have yet to find anywhere with as rational and informative discussion and respectful and stimulating debate as this August establishment. The arses are fun to visit and the personalities are interesting but the Best discussion and debate is here.
The’Milky Bars’ are on me!
Ttg:
The polar ends of the “Wenga Out” or AKB brigade can be equally vitriolic to the exclusion of any common sense.
I’m largely supportive of Wenger, but like many on this site, that support comes with some differences of opinion.
I feel that some of the more seasoned contributors on here speak respectfully of the OG’s initial intentions. However in recent times, I think its descended into the mire and has been pursuing an agenda for quite some time alongside “Le Groan”. Little sense of perspective, balance or equanimity.
When you originally came here and mentioned you wrote for them, I honestly thought you were on a wind-up! No-one can doubt your tenure as a fan, your obvious knowledge that has accrued from that, and certainly I think that this site is richly enhanced by your many fine contributions. But to suggest that the OG, is a broad church, under which many contributors offer diverse and differing opinion, is just not true. In fact, you would be hard pressed to find an article remotely positive about the Manager and the fact that you got congratulated on your “rare balance” seems to prove the point all the more.
As for the second striker, we tried to sign 3 world class strikers and a back-up option on loan. I would much prefer to see us bide our time and sign someone who merits the money, rather than chuck huge money on a second rate player. We do have options outside of Giroud. Signing thoroughbred strikers is not easy. Isn’t it great that this is the mark of player we can aim for now? Its not long to January.
Another nice post Mr Bure. Your beginning to make a habit of this!
One of the many fine sounds that makes me smirk into my laptop these days is the sudden whir of back-peddaling from the many critics in light of of the Ozil signing and the resoundingly positive effect it’s had on the club.
I was listening to Merse during the week covering the Marseille game and I almost had to wipe the wax from my ears in disbelief of the positivity pouring out of him.
Long may that continue!
Goonerholic is living proof that an understanding of history is critical for an understanding of the present. Not a minor achievement for a writer of a football blog.
Here, here 8ball.
I do know what I know. I also know there are known knowns and unknown knowns. But the most important thing I know is that one must always be onguard for unknown unknowns or fat-tailed events (Black Swans).
It’s the unknown unknowns that get you in the end.
BMBD
If the waitresses here had a tad less facial hair , I’m looking at you Wolfie, then this place would be perfect. Even MNB….. Nah he still annoys. Carry on good patrons. I love this place.
Cheers
Puuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuubtime 🙂
Dr C,
All medicinal “waste” is always consumed either by burning (puff, puff Tuesdays, imbibed ( drink MFer drink MFer- Wednesdays), injected into the neighbors ( this is not fit for champions Spursdays), or made into slow release patches ( this has to last all damn weekend Fridays).
I think today’s patches are purple. ;).
Respectfully yours,
Mr Bin Basket
Thanks Mr.Bure that was good, looking forward to another win this Sunday. Common you Arsenal!!!!!!!’
Where in Say-Town are you, SanAntonioGooner? I’m in Dallas, but I do make it down on fair occasion to mix it up with the Austin Gooners.
BMBD
8 ball @ 142: Precisely! That is one of the main reason why the blog-meister and the patrons are such a fabulous company.
I think it was Fuentes who once wrote: “Novelty for its own sake is an anachronism. A past reviewed is the only guarantee to true modernity.”
Applies to all institutions.
And Arsenal is an institution par excellence. It is much more than a football club, but has a balanced self-awareness (and I suppose a quintessentially English sense of self-deprecating irony) to not take that power to the extremes of its maudlin possibilities.
I. Love. This. Club.
TTG @ 139:
I wholly agree with you that our failure to land a more established striker to back up or compete with Giroud is worrying, but if you look at the names we were linked with, it shows that we certainly did try. That we didn’t succeed and have to rely on Ollie to carry the load for the next 3 months isn’t so bad if he stays fit. On that score, I’m sure everyone here cringed each time he went down on Wednesday night. There was one moment when he went up with the keeper, landed a little awkwardly and appeared to be limping, and my heart just about smashed its way past my front teeth, such was the terror. Thankfully, a few minutes later he was sprinting after the ball and we all heaved grateful sighs of relief.
It’s been mentioned before that one thing Wenger loves doing is developing players. In this regard, Sanogo’s injury couldn’t have come at a worse time for him and us. Unlike many who have apparently written him off due to his being “free and French”, I rather like the look of him. I think he could do with a bit of bulking up, and his understanding of where to run and when is definitely miles off Olivier’s level, but he is under the right manager for those qualities to develop. He did rather well at the U20 World Cup and I for one am keeping my fingers crossed that he develops into the utter beast he is in Football Manager 2012 🙂
As for Kevin’s claim that he prints what he receives, I would say that he gets those relentlessly critical and negative articles because he has himself demonstrated that he is relentlessly critical and negative. Accordingly, those of a similar bent have gravitated to him, knowing that he is far more likely to publish something critical than something positive. For example, we just beat Marseille (not the toughest team in the world by any stretch, admittedly) and the next article he publishes is one criticising the Board and the Manager, and accusing other bloggers of being on the club’s payroll! If that doesn’t tell you the sort of clientele the Online Gooner now serves, nothing will.
I stopped reading ANR when I realised just what a self-serving prick Pyles was, as he demonstrated time and time again through his vitriolic criticism of Henry. This was probably due to the fact that he proclaimed loud and long that not even Wenger could turn Henry into a striker, only to be proved utterly and catastrophically wrong. He never forgave Henry and Wenger for that and he soon began sniping at Henry and damning his performances with faint praise, while slowly getting his own narratives about Wenger’s tactical incompetence out into the wild.
Seeing as the Gooner under Kevin’s editorship is heading the same way, I will stop reading it. If I want to read hysterical criticism of the team for beating “poor” or “substandard” opposition like our own quality had nothing to do with it, I can always visit Le Groan.
Joe
You articulate my dilemma well.
Do you stop writing for something in the belief that it is too anti-the club or do you stay to argue a balanced view? I’ve done the latter. I think in the edition coming out tomorrow the two pieces I’ve done are very much of the sort of stuff we find on here in tone. One is on the match that shaped my Arsenal supporting career(Arsenal v Bolton in 1963!) ,the other on the Transfer deadline Day. Not specifically Arsenal’s fortunes but the whole circus.
I do understand your point of view and I write less for it now but I quite like stirring up the anti- brigade with what I hope is commonsense. I’ve been writing for it almost since it began.
A number of the leading correspondents-Mike Francis, Mike Slaughter,Phil Wall,Howard Lamb, Charlie ?????? and Bernard Dawes are die-hard Gooners and very nice people. There are others ,especially those who have come to the Mag more recently and of course the Spy who are probably an acquired taste for many.
its not a sexy international forum like this and I do have to say the contributions of our overseas Gooners really help to make this a special place. Maybe getting regularly to THOF makes us too blasé?
fine posts, mr. bure. agree with damn near everything. a box of california’s finest on the backbar shelf for you, just above the glenfarclas.
amerikanskis, the game’s on cnbc (lowd or hd) at 5 sunday.
an excellent win, thanks to rambo for another performance. motm to gibbo. and botm to le guv, here and hearty and hale. hope you get some young’s into you on sunday!
MrBrue: I would like to propose an alternative to explain the origin, sustenance and vital need for the vile publications you mention. Yes, I said vital need.
The explanation is scatological. Literally. Even literarily.
That is, just as the organic body needs to produce and expel fecal matters, a socio-cultural organization has the same need for waste production and waste expulsion.
The organism that is Arsenal fan base is healthy in general, hence it produces just the right amount of shit. And just because it produces the right amount of shit, it stays healthy.
Doctor Faustus @ 152:
I shall defer to your expert medical opinion on the matter, sir.
Diet, week two. No beer since Sunday, but I have already had Monday’s this evening. Must not undo the good work 🙁
Thanks for some quality drinks again today. Mr Bure, you have set the bar high. I have to say though that at their request I had a double page spread in the Gooner last season. They do want to present a more balanced approach. It needs the positive guys to send them pieces to publish.
Animal, vegetable or mineral? A propos of nothing at all a song about the latter.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SmwlzwGMMwc
Looking ahead to the weekend and beyond, with Wenger needing to keep the run of the team going, with Arteta back in the squad, who should be picked in midfield? For me, Ramsey is a nailed on cert, I think for now his partner should be Flamini. Once all are fit, little Jack might have to spend time on the bench.
I suppose we are going to see same midfield trio like in recent games, so Flamini, Jack and Aaron, with Flamini or Jack being subbed for Arteta around 70th minute mark.
eändy knows. i’d like to see jack get less work, flamster can stay deep and arteta can work with mesut. he hasn’t had a chance to express his creative side as much, so it might be a nice change for him, and keep him under perhaps less pressure when stoke lumps it forward. and until he’s really recovered, less pressure is good.
He doesn’t mention the Arsenal game but this is pretty entertaining. The cake looks fake though.
http://www.theguardian.com/football/video/2013/sep/19/james-richardson-european-paper-review
@scruzgooner, I agree, I feel jack needs less of a burden placed upon him so a spell of being in and out of the side might serve him well for the remainder of the campaign
Kiefer Sutherland plays for us 🙂
https://pbs.twimg.com/media/BUoYFASCYAA2uIz.jpg:large
Jack Bauer would come definitely in handy against the Orcs:
http://jackbauermerchandise.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/06/tv-show-24-wallpaper-27.jpg
BMBD
@’holic,
All I’m doing is trying to keep up with the high standards you have set and maintained in this establishment. That you consider my comments to be setting the bar high is therefore one of the nicest things anyone has ever said to me, and if it were possible for a black dude to blush, I’d be beetroot red right now. 🙂
One thing that’s pleased me no end about our current run is that the team seems to have gotten over that disease of treating certain teams as easy meat, only to discover rocks seeded liberally within the anticipated juicy sirloin. We’ve approached each game with the same grit and determination, and I’m getting the feeling a game is coming where we simply won’t stop scoring. Personally, I hope that’s this Sunday. Nothing would be better than sending those foul creatures back “oop norf” having delivered to them the sort of spanking that would make them think long and hard about the next time they have to face our Guns.
Bring on the filthy Orcs! I can’t wait.
Six of the best is exactly the spanking those Potters deserve !
Experience suggests that the time not to start predicting large margins in our favour is the same time to beware of a rude awakening. No matter how well we are playing now this is still the same team that has stumbled on occasions like this in the past. Here’s hoping they have learned a lesson and this will be a performance we can all be proud of no matter the score.
8ball still knows.
BMBD
8ball, yep. i’ll be happy with a clean sheet and a goal for us, game after game. there’s no shame in that.
Sage words 8ball.
I bowever am felling the mojo – as is our man Feo.
Two for him. And one for OG.
Mike dean will utterly screw us – as is his MO – resulting in some referring travesty and much head-slapping. .
3-1 to the good guys.
Cheers all.
my parents just returned from a visit to my mother’s ancestral homeland, grantown-on-spey (she’s a grant on her mother’s side), and thought to bring me something nice. and, very much so, they did.
they brought me one of these:
http://www.whiskyglass.com/
and one of these:
http://www.royalmilewhiskies.com/product.asp?pf_id=0030000005675
now, i have no experience with glenfarclas, and it’s just little tasters, but i can get the 12, 17, and 105 cask here locally. at least.
so my question is, should i drink the 10 and 12 and save the 105 for something special? are they all special?
thanks, mom and dad.
Scrüz,
Yes all mom and dads are special. 😉
One thing I have observed about OG is the regularity with which he collapses in agony at least once in practically every game … only to recover and play on as if he’d been attacked by nothing more than an angry rabbit. Either he’s a real actor, has legs made of carbon fibre, heals faster than a vampire, or he’s able to play with broken legs.
Very curious.
Öskar
A hat trick for Theo, now he’s finally found the range. And no injuries please Dennis.
Öskar
True quality from MrBure and an insightful diagnosis by Dr. Faustus@152. I’m only afraid that it is possible that the good doctor may not be recognizing a bacterial infection with Vibrio cholerae, which I’m sure he knows may produce up to 20 litres of diarrhoea a day for an untreated person…and vomiting, to boot, but that may also be a reaction to Pseudomonas tabloidosa, a bacterium that first infects the eyes or ears…
Scrub,
Glenfarclas is a wee gem. As good as, but less well known than the heavyweight Macallan and Glenlivet.
They are all good. I don’t know the 105 and as I am travelling cannot access my books that would review it. The 17 will be even smoother than the 10. If they are miniatures, why not taste them together and decide your own favourite. It’s an excellent example of a top Speyside dram.
Darn iPad!
-b
+z
McBure – share your sentiments down to the very last syllable. Anyone taking potshots at The Arseblogger is on dangerously thin ice in my view. He is a legend amongst Arsenal bloggers — one of a select band (“Holic,ACLF. East Lower, Arse2mouse) who show incredible tolerance and intellegence in each post they write. Arseblogger is considered “king of the hill” by many thousands of fans. You have my permission to locate the miscreants,pull down thier pants,and warm their heels to Putney Bridge!
You are lucky indeed to recieve an honourable mention from ‘Holic, even if your skin pigmentation wont allow you to blush – blush on the inside!
Hi all!
Sorry I have been away. Busy simply isn’t the word!
Anyway, been waiting for the opportunity to write the following “offering” and here goes:
(Tabs has surely already fallen asleep as I have yet to employ a content editor for my posts, so I guess it is safe to get to the point now!)
– I want to hold my hands up and apologise for a few things to all involved at the club and all that had to “listen” to me over the past couple of years.
– I want to hold my hands up for claiming that Ramsey simply wasn’t good enough. Far from it, he is the all-new Bryan Robson and it is a pleasure and a joy that he plays for our fine club.
– I want to hold my hands up for claiming that Wenger had forgotten what it meant to build a team. He is clearly still in the process of doing just that and, whilst we are still about 3 players away from being the best that we can be, I think it obvious to even the most blinded of doubters that we are now in the full throes of a plan that I expect to be fully enacted by the start of the 2014-15 season. Whether that team will sweep all before them or not is another matter, with the increased competition in the EPL it is doubtful that anybody will be doing that for quite some time, but I expect us to consistently figure as competitors and that is all I ever asked for.
– I want to hold my hands up for thinking that we would never buy a world-class player again under Wenger. Ozil is certainly super-duper-pooper-scooper quality and bought after the bulk of the season tickets were sold and done. Certainly not simply a PR move, although I am still unable to believe that the PR card has not been heavily played over the past few transfer windows for that reason.
– I want to hold my hands up for thinking that we had become a club without direction. We clearly had/have a direction, we simply had to wait until we could steer up the final part of the course to see that vision.
– I want to hold my hands up for thinking that we couldn’t get a world-class player to sign for us without changing the manager. I still see my reasons for feeling that way as fairly solid, but Wenger has certainly pulled a trump-card out of his sleeve and I believe that January may be the best transfer window since his first and second.
There is so much more, I am sure, but I think that you get the general gist of this. We are still far from the finished article and I genuinely don’t believe that we will actually be that close to the top of the table come May 2014. I doubt that we will end the trophy drought either, mainly due to the lack of a quality back-up for Giroud who will surely start to feel those legs in about another 12 or so games. I cannot see LJW being the leading light needed quite yet either but the veritable riches we find ourselves with in midfield may well offer us and him the patience required for him to “do a Ramsey” and find some real form in time for next season.
At the end of the day, as I said all along, I just want the club to show willing, show us the desire that we have is matched by those that have the power to fulfil or destroy all of our hopes and dreams. I think we are getting closer all the time and that is a fucking exciting place to be living life right now!!!
Stick one up the Orcs on Sunday (and with Flamini around they may just find us to be a VERY different proposition in midfield than in seasons past) and give Swansea a decent game (two games that we have been fairly uncertain of for a while now) and we may even see this current team experience the kind of confidence jump required to pull us through until the January window…Who knows?
And that is the best part isn’t it?! WHO KNOWS?!?!?! What a ride it will be finding out!
COME ON YOU GOOOOONNNNERRRRRSSSSS!!!!!
@ Thierry Wrightkamp Give Wenger more leeway, when are you retards gonna realise Wenger has shot his bolt.
Walter…
Shhhhhhhhhh
Do you hear that, Walter? That’s the deafening sound of nobody listening to you. Back to your morning cartoons now.
Walter, retards never realise anything but you wouldn’t have realised that, would you?
TW, good stuff, I think you will disappointed if you’re looking forward to us making signings by January but good stuff anyway.
Is MNB back?
TW
Nice to hear your positivity in this oddly dvided club of ours. Much more positivity around now but that doesn’t mean our frenzied debates through the summer or after Villa were misguided. Maybe the fan reaction helped convince the Board about what needed to be done.
I think it’s a bit illogical to expect everything at a club to be all right or all wrong. It’s always somewhere in between, while Wenger is a wonderful manager and has transformed our club aspects of his personality drive me potty. I love my wife dearly but the same applies. Events change a lot. If we hadn’t signed Ozil because of a hitch or if Giroud breaks his leg tomorrow then everything alters slightly. But we can take great satisfaction from having a manager who invests faith in boys like Ramsey and backs them against a lot of criticism ( none from me) . Similarly there is a turning against LJW among some idiots. He will come good and Wenger will help him to do this.
Yes there’s a plan and I feel this season might be much more open than the pundits suggested. I have faith in Wenger to take us forward but reserve the right to point out the odd thing if I spot it
COYG!
well if it isn’t a big howdy doo to yoo
morning ‘hol and ‘hols various
just thought i’d say hello
(put your scattergun down clive – i’m not stoppin’)
anyhoo
hope you’re all well
cheerio
Glad to see you are ok, cba.
Morning all.
# c – b – a
# easy as 3 – 2 – 1
i refer the honorable gentleman to the comment i made some moments ago
re – howdy
(and by the way – you rock a mighty fine umlaut)
*boilk*
cba!!!!!
le ollie !!!!!!!!
*waves at Lars, boilkily*
Welcome back CBA, hope we won’t have to wait this long before you make another appearance.
thank you very much cent
nice of you to say
🙂
circumstances dictated my absence
was a city slicker for a while
i’m now back in the land of the morning mooooo
in the bosom of the cattle
yup
cattle have bosoms
and they go mooooo
in the morning
and indeed all day
(clive loads a cartridge)
Heh, cheers, CBA.
I feel for you Snowy. I can only imagine that degree of boilk 😉
It’s shaping up to be at least magnitude 6 on the boilkometer Boss 😉
Ouch. 🙁
Cross-field pass into the path of…
Pre-Tollie training innit? Us athletes gotta keep pushing the limits you know …. 😉
I bet Wolfie is looking forward to the Norwich game. He will be able to enjoy the silky caressing of the ball by a certain Van Wolfswinkle 😉
Well in Chrisgooner 🙂
* slides on knees towards corner flag, fists pumping the air*
Sorry I’ve been away for so long everyone, moved down to Plymouth last Saturday (has it been a week already? 😛 ) and have been embracing the student lifestyle with open arms, and a pretty open mind for that matter… 8)
Its been nice to be able to watch games on TV (Sky is inclusive in the house that I stay in) especially as I won’t be able to get back up to London so much, especially for the weekend games, don’t think my timetable will permit it.
But the Sunderland game was streamed at a friend’s shortly after I’d arrived (departure time tweaked so I wouldn’t miss Özil’s debut) and the Marseille game was enjoyed in the company of my housemates. Both were excellent performances from the team, the only slight being some of the refereeing decisions in both games, for better or worse for the team. But one constant in both games has to be a certain Mr Aaron Ramsey 😀
I had tears in my eyes when I watched him break his leg as I’m sure many other Gooners did, and anger in my heart as I saw him berated and abused my his own ‘fans’. But all that negativity was eradicated by the pride I felt in his performances and the way he has managed to turn around the opinions of the fanbase, so much that he is rightly considered undroppable from the starting line up by most, and the 1st name on the teamsheet by everyone else.
Long may this positivity around him & our club continue, along with his goalscoring form 🙂
Kolo Toure playing right back…now why didn’t WE think of that?
Doh, we did, early on, before moving him to the middle with Sol…
Soton 1-0 ‘pool
McLovren scores his first and Osvaldo thought he scored a second a few minutes later…Arsenal could go top tomorrow…
Ref at Anfield giving the scousers all the help he can, twat !
Oh, how delightful! cba is back 🙂 Wind, too 😉 Hello everybody! Now to quench my thirst. And pools lose, yes! 🙂
Been impressed with Southampton. They’ve completely outplayed Liverpool. People wondered what they were doing getting rid of Atkins? Well they seemed to know exactly what they were doing because the new lad Pochettino has done some job and transformed the way they play. That young player we’ve been linked to Schneiderlin is very good too.
Liverpool’s flash in the pan is over already lol !
We’ve not won our game, yet. They’re still top of the league.
Thierry, umm you can put your hands down. We have (most of us) to some degree, have had to eat some humble pie, re Wenger 🙁 Very happy to see you here! Ttg @ 184, you speak for me, as well. Joe @ 210, Swansea has impressed me! chrisgooner @ 211, don’t dismiss LFC, think they will be contenders, once Suarez is off suspension. Now to refill my glass … 😉
Wise words Cent. I’ve seen far too many unmatched chickens in my time. We have a job to do – lets go to work on the Orc destruction before we assess where we stand.
TLWCMBD
Darn iPad again – un hatched not unmatched! Talking of chickens……
TLWCMBD
Mourinho has found another Spanish scapegoat – Juan Mata, their best player last year, doesn’t make the squad. I guess that was better than his plan B: benching Cech…
I bet Mata has the odd regret about turning down Arsene to join the Chavs for Russian loot.
Nice to see some old regulars and friends of mine drop in.
Cheers all.
Bent should have just scored for Fulham. Damn.
Cheers, Norcal and Bath.
Heh @bstrum.
Cent’berry
I actually think that there will be a couple of great signings in January, especially if we can scrape through until then with the squad that we have. Ozil was a big noise in a fairly quiet summer and a signal to some other great players that we may well be worth looking at again.
The likes of Lars Bender must surely think it a big deal to get the chance to play alongside a stalwart (at only 24!) of the German national team.
Well, we will just have to wait and see…
Ttg:
With you 100% there sir!
I actually made a point of “apologising” for specific things as I do not believe that the club has been managed perfectly for a while now. Bad decisions are just that; BAD! There were some things that I regretted, with the benefit of 20/20 hindsight, and for those I felt the need to “come out”!
I too believe that the healthy debate ALWAYS goes some way to influencing things, although with AW as stubborn as he is, I wonder if it just reinforces his decisions when we concur en masse and he just ignores us when we don’t?! We will never know, but the debate should always exist, if for no more than to give us good reason to come here!!!
Drink on the bar 🙂
Abbs:
Thank you…they were actually beginning to ache a little!!! HAHAHA!
I think as football fans we are more than entitled to our opinions and I think that really what I was getting at was that there was a moment back there when I decided Wenger had taken us as far as he could and should go. That it my greatest regret.
TW, I will be really surprised if we make any sigings by January because;
1. we only lack back-up in upfront and Sanogo and Bendtner seem to have taken care of that.
2. The top players, who I believe, we will go after will all be Cup-tied by then.
3. It will take a massive unlikely turn of events like an injury crisis worse than the one we’re in already, massive fall-out between the prospective players and their clubs or something of that nature, for any of them to move in our own terms by that time because we will be looking to get value for our money based on their possible contribution(s).
4. Knowing Arsene, he won’t risk disrupting the harmony of the dressing room by making huge movements in January EXCEPT our current squad becomes shit or injury hit all of a sudden.
5. We have more depth than people realise.
@thierry. If it’s hard to bring in world class talent in the summer (and our initial failure to do so this summer is exhibit A), it’s much much harder in January. There’s very little talent available, prices go up, there’s less time to make a deal. I think Wenger will have a look around, but unless the stars really align, like they did for Ozil, I’d be very very surprised. Next summer? Hopefully. We can be encouraged by the fact that the club is clearly trying to bring in a top striker, and is willing to spend the $$ it will take. But we’re going to have to be a little patient.
I’ll be a gooner for the rest of my life though. So I’ve got time.
Ha. What Cent said (and said better than me, too).
Worth remembering that we got through last year with an even smaller strike force than this one. Not ideal, of course, but it’s hardly the travesty the media like to make out.
Amen Thierry. I’ve got some regrets, too. Never doubted his (AW) commitment to AFC, or his brilliance. He is stubborn, doesn’t know how to delegate (only took one week off in the summer, for himself!). But I love him. Not ready emotionally, to say goodbye to him … On a cheerier note, have finished the drinks. Time well spent 😉 @ 35 (Hitomi), haven’t seen you here before, but you have a easy conversational way about you, do come back. Now if it were possible, I’d make my rounds, from table to table, stool to stool, and chat it up, with all of you 😉
Cent @ 223: There is actually a super-top-quality world class striker who is not cup tied in Europe who may become available again in January, and however malodorous the aroma of his being may be I have a hunch we may have not seen the last of this episode.
The trick really is Giroud’s fitness. In seasons gone by in recent past Arsene had taken extraordinary gambles about key position and have managed to pull through at least with respect to CL qualification, but with Ozil around such gambles I think would not be an option. As many more insightful than myself had commented already, there is no way we will be able to hold on to Ozil if we do not show enough courage and ambition.
I think we will see one established striker — Sanogo and Bendy are far from that and it would be quite a miracle to see them turn into able deputies in the next few months — joining us in January. Unless of course the above-mentioned miracle does happen. If not top quality, at least someone who is in the middle of games and scoring goals to offer viable insurance against an injury to Giroud.
ibath@175, thanks. decided against cracking one last night, but am going to start with the 10 tonight. maybe the 12, too, though that might be injudicious.
Dr F, you make very valid points but barring any injury crisis I’d still be surprised if we signed anybody of note in January.
Dr. F @ 227, and the malodorous one would make Giroud happy, by some accounts, but could we make sure this is worn on the pitch at all tmes: http://www.dhgate.com/product/resin-hannibal-mask-halloween-mask-the-silence/113007699.html …
Evening chums >>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>