Will We Be Taking Goals To Newcastle?
Dec 28th, 2013 by 'holic
So we are facing an ‘it would be good to win‘ match rather than the ‘must win‘ encounter at Newcastle on the closing day of last season. Only three points will take us back to the top of the Premier League following Manchester City’s single goal triumph over Crystal Palace.
We welcome back Jack Wilshere from suspension, which is just as well given the injury to Aaron Ramsey in the Boxing Day win at West Ham. Also Laurent Koscielny has trained ahead of the trip to the north-east. Good news indeed. The boss has the good type of selection problems in all departments. We will need them.
Newcastle are one of the form clubs of the top flight right now, having notched victories against Chelsea, Tottenham and Manchester United in recent weeks. They also have a midfielder returning from suspension, the feisty Cheick Tiote. That could see them revert to just Remy up front with Cabaye and Ben Arfa supporting from behind and the blossoming Gouffran from out wide.
After two tough London derbies in the last week Arsene may take the opportunity to make a couple of unenforced changes as well as that forced by the injury to Ramsey. Such are our midfield options I am not unduly concerned about the engine room. Could Lukas Podolski be asked to lead the line to give Olivier Giroud a breather? It may be preferable to take that option against Cardiff on new years day. The Frenchman’s ability to hold the ball up and bring others into play could be very important if Newcastle can build a head of steam and put us under periods of pressure.
The ‘holic pound has been considered long and hard. If I backed draws I would have to fancy an almost topical Lord Sugar (1-1 at Newcastle). I don’t, and at this stage of the campaign I have to believe we are capable of securing three huge points. In May we may have nicked a famous one-nil to the Arsenal, but these clubs often produce goals aplenty. I’m on 2-3 to the visitors at a skinny 25/1.
Those going can look forward to sunshine and what for Newcastle is a positively balmy five degrees. I will settle for central heating and five pints, or something similar. Wherever you are watching, let’s hope we get a result that will keep the pundits squirming nervously.
Have a good one, ‘holics.
283 Responses to “Will We Be Taking Goals To Newcastle?”
COYG
Yes !!!
NO !!!!!
Thor-hammer left foot. Now to read
Ha ha – sorry Trev!
Nice one, Holic.
Tiote may indeed make a recall for The Flamster more likely – don’t want him bullying our boys now, do we ?
When those bare chested Geordie boys get shoutin’ and hollerin’ up there it can get a bit hectic, and a tough organiser like Flamini may be just what we need.
Never as organised and switched on without him, methinks.
Come on you Rip Roarin’ Gunners, et misère à Pardieu. 🙂
Far too much coverage exists now and almost every detail of a game is pored over before, during and after it. This leads to very short- term thinking. That partly explains the media desire to paint United as on a roll when all they are doing is beating mediocre teams . Citeh also showed today that their vaunted squad might truly be rather reliant on two or three players such was the difficulty they had in overcoming a very limited Palace side organised and motivated by Tony Pubis,our sworn enemy.
If we can win convincingly tomorrow it will be a significant achievement as we then set out on a series of very winnable games which could propel us into a lead by early February that may be very important. I suspect Poldi will lead the line against Cardiff and may start from the bench tomorrow and I suspect Flamini and Wilshere will play the holding roles. If we had a different third round tie we might be able to rotate more but we would all be far from happy if we take our foot off the pedal against a Tottenham side who will be incredibly up for that match.
I’m surprised to see suggestions we ought to resign Vela. I don’t think English football suits him and I don’t think he was well – served by stagnating in that half life between the first team and U21s that squad members inhabit nowadays.
A big chance for a big statement tomorrow. If we. An win it could prove very big indeed
Newcastle are one of the form clubs of the top flight right now
Indeed they are. They have been flying under the radar a bit what with all the goings on and managerial sackings left, right and centre at other clubs but they have played some really good football lately and were given an easy ride on Thursday against nine men for about 50 minutes so they will be well rested. We will have to play well to win, but we are without a doubt capable of doing so.
Poldi will start off the bench, I think. I don’t agree at all that Giroud looked fatigued against West Ham or Chelsea, he is just lacking a bit of confidence in front of the goal. Other than that he soldiered on quite brilliantly in both games. But I do wonder what opposition defenders have to do for him to get a free kick, against both Chelsea and West Ham they got away with murder time and time again, it is absolutely unbelievable what they can do to him with no punishment.
ttg: I was thinking along the same lines as you regarding ManU. They may have won four on the trot and three of them away, but this is against Villa, West Ham, Hull and Norwich who, with the exception of Hull, are in massive slumps of form and yet the wins against both Hull and Norwich required a substantial bit of good fortune falling their way. Their defending against Hull and for large parts today as well was abysmal and had they played better teams they would have been slaughtered in both games. However, don’t underestimate the confidence such wins can give a team so I am not going to write their obituary just yet. It is not very likely that they shall have anything to to with the title this season but a top four finish is certainly not yet beyond them by a long way.
Great piece Guv. Wonderful point about the “good type of selection problems”; how long you must have been wishing to be able to type that once more.
I fear however that you will be disappointed in your hopes for “a result that will keep the pundits squirming nervously”. I’m cautiously optimistic about our prospects tomorrow, but should we get the result we need and deserve, I’m convinced the pundits will not squirm, nervously or otherwise.
I think that they lack the imagination and are blinded to the possibility that Arsenal will top the pile come May by their own prejudices.
In the unlikely event that the pundits do awaken to the possibility that they are wrong, they will simply invoke their “I don’t need to appear on MoTD when results go against my preferred team” clauses.
Two final points:
We shouldn’t condemn the pundits too strongly for their prejudices; after all, some of us, well me anyway :-), are equally blind to our own team/squad’s failings.
Strange to say, I have to exempt Robbie Savage from my general criticism of the pundits as he has been saying some quite pro-Arsenal things recently. I feel very dirty and need to go and wash myself copiously and thoroughly.
Three points tomorrow please. Play like the Arsenal, otherwise I don’t care how the points come.
COYG
OFICIAL | Álvaro Morata ficha por el Tottenham y se incorporará al club inglés la próxima semana.
Don’t know a word in Spanish, this means Morata to Tottenham?
Good stuff ‘holic!
1 – 3 to us! The toon to gae doon! Howay the lads! COYBG!
Lurky, according to Google Translate it means he has signed for them and will join them next week.
Thanks Lars. It was false alarm. It appears to be April fools day in Latin America.
RMFutbol_es just admitted: ” ¡Feliz día de los inocentes!” Morata going nowhere.
I’m back, baby!
Just popping in to say hullo. Back later with more cogent thoughts.
Happy New Year, ‘Holics. Thanks ‘Guv for making this a righteous space.
Win the next match.
BMBD
Lurky: ah, now that you mention it I remember reading somewhere about today being such a day.
Here’s to 2-3, squirming pundits and Happy Holics.
I had planned to drive south for Arsenal Fife’s only “home” game of the season. However, Christmas lurgi and traumatic memories of Gatport Airwick hell after Chel$ki have combined to put paid to that. Central heating and five pints sound good.
I was a bit worried for the game,because of the good form Newcastle have showed recently,but then a remember a certain 7-3 thrashing we handed them last season. I don’t think Giroud is tired,if he is it doesn’t show that much, and I think this game would be a great opertunity for him to get out,get his confidence back,and most importantly score goals.
Have absolutely no idea who arsene will start with today, which is a nice problem we have not had for a while.
I would like to see poldi and theo remain wide and see nick B start up front. Santi, just like jack is not a wide player and his skills are simply wasted out wide.
Newcastle are such a dangerous side on their good days and they always seem to get up for arsenal matches.
I hope today is one of their shite days or even better, one of our best.
As an get alternative when back to full fitness, is there any reason why young Gnabry could not play as second striker.
If we are thinking that theo could play that role, Gnabry has better first touch skills then theo and he is quick and strong and loves to shoot.
I like the way Gnabry runs at defenders.As any fan will know,defenders hate anyone running at them with the ball and send them back pedalling.This will add another dimension to the attack,which inho,is too predictable and laced with too many passes.It is also slow . This opinion is also shared by other fans.
NU are on a great run and will be waiting to hit on the counter especially if the gunners indulge in their favourite game of pass and pass .This could prove fatal from past experiences and if Wenger aint careful,the points gap with the red face less team will shrink further.
I am getting sick of the rfl team.People who are new to the game will think they are the only epl team worthy of mention. I can’t wait for Arsenal or MC/Pool /Chelsea to win the epl come May. This will really make my day and that of neutral fans.
Newcastle fancy themselves these days as a football playing club.
good luck with that Sunday lunchtime, geordies.
over-cooked magpie on the menu.
I don’t see any reason at all why we can’t come away with all three points on Sunday. We know they are a decent side in in Remy have a potential match winner. But I’m sure their threat is something we should be aware of rather than frightened of.
Flamini to come in for Ramsey seems logical to me. That gives us greater stability and allows Arteta more freedom.
A convincing 3 nil to the mighty Gunners.
Bring it on.
A couple of late posts for previous drinks round…
1.
Sagna isn’t going anywhere. At his age he won’t get better opportunities than he has now at the Ems. I have never seen Bellerin so cannot comment, but I’ve seen more than enough of Jenks to wish we had a better back-up for Bacs. Seamus Coleman is an ideal Arsenal type (probably better than Bacs in his current form) and after the regulation Arsenal trio he was the first man picked in my fantasy XI. I’d love to see him in a red and white strip.
As for Agnetha Faltskog she already performs regularly in my other fantasy XI, never looking more ambrosial than in the very last song Abba ever recorded … http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1HnOFwqpLRQ
Öskar
2.
I too was mused by the Özilla to Manure rumour. But if we were offered a world record for him I’d bite Moyes arm off. Frankly I think we paid a good 10mil over the odds for him.
Öskar
Yes, the Geordies are in good form, but all we have to do is outscore them. And for various reasons I believe Theo and Poldi, with help from Ollie and Jack, will be up for this one and out to make their respective points.
Öskar
Cheers Holic!
Thought we’d done the Sagna thing to death already.
Dunnoe about today, except I cant take a side/club managed by Alan Pardew that seriously. They seem very up and down, but definitely on the up on current form.
Hoping for a win as ever. Come on you Arsenal!
Cheers Esso, et al.
Lazy day today, watching cricket (from SA, not our shower of shite) and football.
It’s a holiday at last.
Hmm..rumour going around that Özil did not travel with us. Odd if true, I know that AW needs to rest him at some point, but home game against Cardiff would be better for that I suppose.
Although what do we know, maybe he is already in the dreaded red zone.
Eandy: …or it could be that he’s just a bit ill. We’ll know in not too long, I suppose.
Cheers all and especially to ‘holic – I see Trev’s written the headline today.
So 3-2 to the Arsenal is the one to avoid. I’ll go for 2-0.
Doesn’t matter who plays – we’re too strong for them.
Özil – or too many pancakes:
http://www.101greatgoals.com/blog/arsenal-defender-per-mertesacker-explains-argument-at-man-city-with-mesut-ozil-bild/?
hahaha dk – got to love Per heh:D
Considering that NC usually play with two forwards, I would pick three CB’s for today’s game, with Flamini as a RB.
Woj
Kos, Mert, Vermaelen
Arteta,
Flamini, Gibbs
Ozil Cazorla
Walcott
Giroud
Morning all, and I bid you mid-festivities greetings.
Not me, dkgooner,
Must have been that Coleman everyone’s talking about. 😉
Midfield choices without Özil (don’t forget folks – he’s only been with us since the beginning of September):
Flamini or Arteta,
Cazorla, Wilshere, Rosicky – perm any 2 from 3.
Nacho can also play there, as can Gnabry.
Spoilt for choice.
Will be interesting to see if Podolski starts. We don’t know his fitness levels after the long lay-off but I would have thought he could do 60 minutes today. Giroud and Walcott have to start.
I hope they do come at us – that will open the game up, which is usually to our advantage.
I’d still pick Arteta over Flamini – I thought the Flamster lost his defensive discipline a bit against City, along with Nacho.
I see what you are getting at, Lurky, but I don’t think playing an entirely new tactical formation in a game like today is the best of ideas.
Interesting Lurky – I’ve also been thinking along those lines – 3 CBs.
But I doubt that Arsene is :).
dk, my guess is that Poldi will start on the bench today and then possibly start against Cardiff. It does seem as if Arsene is much more cautious in bringing players back now that we have some options, which I would say is a good thing. Give them time to build their fitness and confidence properly and I think in the long run we’ll benefit from that.
Time will tell Lars.
That is very true, dk. I just wish time would move a bit faster right now, almost two hours to go and I have absolutely fuck all to do here but sit and work myself up into a nervous frenzy about the match 🙂
Reports on twitter say it’s already 1-1
Lars, dkg,
I can’t see Arsene going for 3-5-2 either, it’s a huge risk by our standards.
It is just that sometimes, not always, I want him to exit the comfort zone and be more creative and adaptive to the opposition.
Yet another ‘season defining test’ today for this squad. In truth, if we are to walk the talk, we must take something out of this match. Three points are not beyond us as I think that the press are hyping up Pardieu’s (Credit Arseblog for spelling) team and if we play to our potential, we should beat that lot. But we need everyone to turn up.
Kos is fit but I think Arsene will stick with TV5 as the man in possession and playing well. I agree he will go with a double anchor of Flam and MA8 as this game will be won in midfield. If MO11 has not travelled that will allow Santi to regain his central floating role (and hopefully form). I would stick with HFB up front and rely on him to feed Feo and Poldi to score the goals.
Whoever is out there we need top performances to take all 3 points. If we really click, we should have a happy end to 2013.
COYGs
Right – I’m off to a ‘viewing centre’ ahem.
COYG
Wish I could be off to my usual “viewing centre” as well. It’s been a nice and rejunvenating ten or so days here in the countryside but flippin’ hell I miss being at the pub with all my mates when the games are on. I’ll be back there for the Cardiff game though so only this game left to watch on my own.
No Ozil in the squad!
Arrived safely at my country home. Checked out the nearest viewing center and saw it is in good shape. Had some food. Now to get some rest before the game starts.
Come On You Gunners!
Lars and DC, 😉
Szczesny, Sagna, Mertesacker, Koscielny, Gibbs, Flamini, Rosicky, Wilshere, Walcott, Cazorla, Giroud
No Arteta, Kos is back.
Ozil not there, no Arteta. Mmmm…
Huh, Monreal, Ozil and Vermaelen not even on the bench.
Slight shoulder problem for Özil, while Monreal and Vermaelen are ill. Not good, second time this season we have illness going round the squad just in time for a tricky away game.
I’ve just lowered my expectations for this game. Would be happy with a point as the things stands.
Think this game will tell us a lot about where we’ll be come May and what, if anything, we need in January.
It’s bound to be a tough one and you just have to hope that our greater experience of playing games in quick succession outweighs the fact that our legs have absorbed more football since August.
I can see Theo extending his run of form and Santi grabbing a first goal in what feels like forever. I’m also sure that the HFB will be looking to end his mini “drought” (although if this is a drought then god knows what Torres has spent the last few seasons going through).
Players to watch for them are Sissoko and Remy. I also think our left winger will have to put in a shift to track Debuchy, which is why I hope Poldi starts.
Carry on where we left off in that last twenty vs the hammers and we’ll be fine.
COYG
Even with four established players out today we still have a fairly strong bench. That’s good. The starting eleven we have is also perfectly capable of getting the points, although I do worry about the illness having spread like it had for the ManU game.
Smash the Mags!
No Ozil or Arteta… well, well there goes my fantasy cup competition.
Oh well, come on Arsenal.
BMBD
Bloody hell. Did we forget to order the vit-C tablets?
Afternoon all.
Not that surprised Ozil is missing, he looked like he needed a rest, Arteta will be a big miss.
_____
iLG.
My FFL team has taken a kicking the last few weeks, I came home to find both keepers were injured, changed things up a bit, Negredo as captain (was only a sub) Rooney out, Toure out, Ozil out. ah well, it’s all part of the game.
_____
COME ON YOU GUNNERS.
Mesut out for 2-3 games with his shoulder. Bummer.
Subs: Arteta, Podolski, Fabianski, Bendtner, Jenkinson, Miyaichi, Gnabry.
Arsene just said that Özil is out with shoulder problem and should be out for 2-3 games..that is a big blow in my opinon..but looking at our squad today, they should be more than capable of winning.
Agreed re Ozil. Hope we’re not about to discover the painful way how much he actually does for us. Got to look to Santi to make things happen.
Come on Arsenal. Let’s shoot down a few Magpies.
Come on you gunners.
COYG – get at them
interesting team selection and bench for us and some unexpected absentees.
C’mon you Gunners
My father in law, a Geordie, is at this. He’s visiting in a couple of weeks time. Just told him not to bother showing up if the Toon get anything here.
Come on!
Different look to our MF today. But still high quality.
COYGs.
good morning, holics. come on you rotated reds!!
Holic and BTM on powdered milk??????
Whatever next????
😀
Afternoon everybody 🙂
A win please!
Hope we laced up the shooting boots today and go for rebounds! That was missing before Poldi came on vs the hammers
Not as much pressure on arsenal as expected.
Newcastle allowing us to run at them
how is that not FK on Theo?:O
Why am I surprised? The ref missing the most blatant foul on Walcott is nothing new.
Maintaining the dependable poor standard of officials all over this country!
good pressure, not enough shots. we were lucky deny by couldn’t bring that down, he was in.
Ive given up expecting em Eandy
Take care boys
missing that final ball so far.
Why do we pass so fucking much in the box. FFS
The ref is worse than blind, he’s biased!
Good start. Jack looks lively. Better since Cazorla has swapped with Tommy.
there is a shot. unfortunately jack scooped it.
what a dive
Got to watch Debuchy. Warning signs are there.
Any links for streams, a friend needs one?
better, and nicely brought down by og.
Here Cent http://www.wiziwig.tv/broadcast.php?matchid=232250&part=sports
Studs up are fine then ?
another foul on OG not punished. ..ffs
Thanks, Eandy, I’ve sent it to him.
Santi down ref doesn’t give a toss
wounded soldiers all over the field of battle, so to speak.
and now he hurt himself ..damnit
Lee Probert is a fucking cunt one of a kind.
aaaaand og gets a yellow for that. nice.
Hahaha! Giroud tried to escape a yellow card there 🙂
Twisted his ankle badly there OG 🙁
Bang
Boom?
Commentary team DESPERATE for a Giroud injury.
Sure we get the first yellow! What a cunt
Toons there for the taking, just need someone to provide the quality finish
CoR in the glory position. Well played.
Lolz, tabsed it
Dubuchey running free around gibbs.
Fuck off Sissokho
Uggh, Tiote foul goes unpunished again….
Is Tiote invisible to this ref?
This ref is giving fuck all.
Chieky bastard!!!!
FUCK OFF ref..seriously
Damn it
I’ll be the first to say it – we miss Ozil.
Wilshire caught flat footed and saved by awesome woj
whew
poor b koz, brilliant by koz, and good work Chezza.
PHEW
Survived a last minute scare there. Whew….
Why is Wilshere constantly falling? Stay on your feet ffs.
And agreed, we do miss Özil, thats the thing he does for us, even by not being in spotlight all the time, he opens up spaces for others with his movement and brilliant touch here and there.
Newcastle pressing us well, hopefully wont be able to sustain it for whole game and spaces will open for us later in the match.
Tiote is a fooking cheat and should be off.
Arsenal look very average. Poor id say.
Whoever stole our player Feo – please return him asap!
Another one to the lengthening list of incompetent referees. I’m all for playing advantage but not to the extent that it means tackles are flying in all over the place. Someone could get a serious injury if this continues.
I’m surprised Tiote gets to play as many games as he does. I’d book him for coming on the pitch.
No stellar performance from us this far, but quite a good first half against a very inconsistent referee and a decent enough Newcastle. Loads of things to nitpick about, but it looks quite good this far if you only remember that all these silly little things we do that look so stupid when the angle of a pass is a percentage or so off are goal chances as well, they just don’t seem as close as a saved shot does. Having that said, we haven’t created that much, but give us another half and a Podolski and we’ll get a a goal or two. Just hoping we won’t let in as many.
Points there to be taken for the long happy haul back home. Come on boys!
Seen better, seen worse. Both teams struggling to find their rythm and both teams at times too stretched for any meaningful passing game to develop. I like that we are taking a few shots from distance when we can’t find a way through but I want there to be a bit more movement. Giroud, unfortunately, is having a really off day and spends far too much enery on whining to the ref. He is a red card waiting to happen if he doesn’t snap out of it.
Glenn Hoddle can’t even speak English.
Any more details on ozil shoulder injury?
Given players out, a point here would be no disaster.
Having said that, I feel there a three points here for us. Got to get Cazorla in the game, which probably means moving him inside. Poldi on to stretch the play and pin back the roving Debuchy.
Expect something from Theo second half. He’s been quiet so far.
Report on first 45 mins:
Only a few flashes of our potential.
Must do better.
Go do it.
Giroud must have beaten up Probert’s mum over Christmas and Tiote promised to get him back.
Can’t understand the refereeing decisions otherwise.
How many fouls is Tiote allowed ?
Williamson came through the air on Giroud – is that not a card. It’s a foul, and it’s dangerous – I thought that was a red these days. Not even a yellow issued.
Must try and get hold of a copy of the “When playing against Arsenal” rules as I am getting more and more bewildered. 😉
Ozil has a shoulder injury????
And what bath just said.
Theo completely free on the right and OG didn’t see him
not really clicking for us in final third.
Lots of denilsonesque sideways and backwards passes with no penetration in behind the defence
well, that’s gouffran neutralized.
Krul has been wasting time since the first minute.
Rozzer giving Tiote taste of his own medicine..I like.
Get in!
Og og og og og og og
OG!!!!
we’ve got a HFB…
How much behind is my stream?
COYG lets lead into the new year
We are playing newcastle DWS !
Heh Aussie 😉
Og just scored in my home
What a miss by OG !
that should have been two, damnit.
Wilshere needs to be subbed instantly. Worst player in the shirt.
just pass it in the net, dont try fancy flicks darn
That must be 12 fouls now by Tiote.
Flamster got the ball O.o
Probert has now lost control by his own incompetence.
Tiote just gets away with fucking everything
Rosicky has been everywhere. Top performance.
Hey Dws – one thing for sure by the time your stream catches up tiote will still be foulin arsenal
so we are now fouling like Newcastle and are being given yellows. gotta love the ref’s proberty…
COME ON YOU REDS
I was expecting that from the first minute Aussie 😉
Sadly I am right with it
fucking lucky chezza
That’s the compolsury Woj brain fart out the way. 😉
Oh CHEZZER !!!!!! WTF !!!!
Arsenal with 5 at the back inc. jenkinson on right and sagna a 3rd central defender
claps off og
Rosicky working his tail off and trying to pressure; well done Mozart!
He looks knackered scruz.
and happy, aus!
Even thanked mr probert on the way off
THREE POINTS
WE ARE TOP OF THE LEAGUE, SAY……
we’re top of the league… say we’re top of the league…
Gutsy win and no 1
Huge result.
Time to believe
Yes!~!!!!!!!!!
Fuck yes. Top of the table.
Can’t wait for the 1-1 in Newcastle jokes to begin.
H2H@163. Heh!!
Great victory ..this one will do lads a world of good.
Defense was immense today!
Did better.
Big win.
Well done all.
What a game!
I have no nails left!
We are top of the league we are top of the league!
OK Lurky.
Alan Sugar probably thinks it was 1-1
Yes, we took goal to Newcastle and brought three points home.
As we say in these parts, it was a big ‘un.
and SOOOOOPA Tom Rosicky
totally gutsy, gritty performance by the boys in red today. rozza was absolutely a Titan.
Whoa!!
Arsenal!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Damn that made me nervous
Rosicky MOTM. Kos not far behind. Wilshere must do better, lost count of how many times he was dispossessed.
Rosicky was the man.
And Absolutely nothing came down sagna side all day.
He is the king. Sign him up Arsene!
Well .:. For a couple more.
Koscielny is surely ‘world class’ now if that term still means anything.
The Steve Bould impact is now in full effect….what a great win.
Top of the league everyone!
An important away win at a tough ground.
Don’t let anyone try to tell you that was easy
Character, despite an awful display by the ref.
Three Arsenal players booked and Tiote gets away with so much. He was determined not to book him whar´tever he did, no matter how many fouls.
agreed, lurky. and he kept running into cul de sacs, killing any momentum we would have.
whar´tever = whatever
Well, it wasn’t pretty but we got the points! Bet Alan Sugar was dying to tweet “1-1 at Newcastle” there towards the end. Woj almost gave away a ball, but in his defense the ball took a bobble just before he hit it – but the again not at all in his defense he should perhaps have tried to sidefoot it towards the right instead to minimise the risk.
My hands are shaking like you wouldn’t believe because I was britting shicks like crazy towards the end. I was absolutely convinced they would score from that last corner. But three points it was and we will go into the new year as league leaders. This is a good thing.
I will now be served some pancakes for tea. That is also a good thing.
Until Wojs lucky escape I actually forgot Remy was playing and I think Gouffran still tries to escape from Bacs pocket.
TR7 and Bac shown today that they really really deserve new contract.
Tough job – BIG result.
TOP OF THE LEAGUE – WELL DONE REDS.
Wilshere seems to want to look like Mr Cool all the time. Laid back style, little flicks that no-one is expecting and then complaining that they’re not expecting it. Stiil attracted into groups of 3 opposing players. I’m beginning to run out of patience with him.
Not smash and grab. but felt like it. Will the press give credit for a grind it out performance? Of course not….
Memo to Lee Probert: you ARE allowed to show yellow cards to the home side.
Lars@193. Pancakes for tea? Is that where Mesut is?
Wilshere worked hard and was always available…we just bagged our toughest 3 points in months…so why the need to complain? He attracts players around him and takes fouls nonstop….this was a very different setup today and we got the win.
That was UGLY!!! But 3 points is 3 points. Back to bed for me. Have a good day Holics.
Defences win titles, and we have the best defence
Eändy@194. True, but I’d forgotten that Walcott was playing until the goal.
And Santi was also a bit invisible, except when Debuchy and Tiote were kicking bits off him.
just pickng nits, Tim. still shaking, as lars said. definitely a gut check for our side, successfully passed.
How old is Rozza again? He was everywhere! Really hope he wins something this season…
Either a trophy or a contract!
Brilliant goal. Brilliant win. Top of the League at the end of the year and STILL some bleat.
Not me!
Arsenes tactics in subbing Feo for the Corporal only invited pressure — today we got away with it — TR7 was superb- big three points – Chezzer almost cost us – one nil away from home, that’ll do!
dk, no Özil here 🙂
I think Jack is suffering from the same overambition as Aaron did for a while. He should take a leaf out of Ramsey’s book and start doing the simple things first and build from there.
Mertesacker and Koscielny our joint men of the match for me.
TR7 MOTM, closely followed by Kos. Great character and discipline shown all around.
BTW, it felt like we were trying to play a sort of 4-4-2 for most of the time as Theo spent little time either offering width or giving Sagna protection. The whole point about the inverted winger runs are they need to be chosen at the right moment and not make that predictable. If Arsene hasn’t asked Theo to play like that today that was tactically an awful performance from someone of his seniority. But I suspect it was deliberate.
It felt like we ourselves too didn’t want to stretch the game along the flanks but hoping to score a goal or two playing down the middle and then protect the lead. Does make sense given the increasing injury list and having two more matches to go within a week.
Halfway through the season, going into 2014 on top of the table.
Have it 🙂
it’s a fine feeling, holic. especially as they’ll keep writing us off…”there’s no way arsenal will win the title………is there?”
ha!
Seeing Tiote pissed off after being kicked up by TR made my day…that is exactly the kind of attitude I hate from these so called DMs.
If you want to go about kicking opposition players about, be prepared to receive some aswell and not bitch and moan when someone gives you a taste of your own game.
Feng @ 204: Why not both, eh? 🙂
If Theo and Giroud were both on their games a bit more today (the off the ball runs were missing, interplay was poor, understandably due to the fatigue factor) there would have been a few more goals. TR7 and Santi did create quite a few situations around the penalty box that with more incisive runs and link-up in penalty box should have given us a cushion.
Trying to eat and back-drink at the same time 🙂
IF: I agree we invited pressure, but that was, I believe, a calculated gamble. Newcastle were always going to hurl long balls into the box anyway and wouldn’t have cared about Theo up top so Arsene opted for added aerial strength. Not sure I would have made the same decision, I would probably have taken off Cazorla instead but then again Santi is usually better at ball retention so you can argue for many options with some validity.
Phew Before the game would have settled for a point but to take all 3 is wank material – One Nil To The Arsenal don’t you just love it 🙂 !!
Big props to the Centre Halfs fucking Trojans the pair of Em,
Up The Arse,
Most points and joint best defensive record.
Cardiff, Villa, Fulham, So’ton, Palace next PL games, with a little local skirmish in the middle in the FA Cup.
We ought to be able to give OG a rest in amongst them. He’s looking tired so full marks for the goal today – no-one has deserved one more.
Plus the Ox should be back soon to further strengthen the squad.
The Guvna knows.
That will be one happy dressing room.
Poldi-Bendy-Gnabry as the front three against Cardiff? Or would that be too risky?
Hopefully TV5 and Monreal overcome their illness before Wednesday as Gibbo is most likely to be out and Per needs a break.
dk: I thought Probert started the game well and caught the little sly kicks from mainly Tiote but he let it slip more and more as the game went on and how Tiote got off the pitch without a booking I will never know. Really don’t understand the yellow for Rosicky either in light of what Newcastle got away with.
I’m feckin’ thrilled with that win! Feckin’ get in! Showed alot of character that many will not see from the performance but I’m proud of the lads and OG! COYBG!
Now for the Mugwashers to beat the Chavs and end Maureen’s unbeaten run at the Bus Stop!
Doc Faustus: That would be the stuff of dreams really, for Rozza to have put the injury demons away, won something, and carved himself a place in Arse history. After so many have left, it will be the stuff of fairytales for those who’ve kept the faith to be rewarded. Next up…Diaby! 🙂
But as Simone says…one game at a time!
Just had a look at the table and going into the Chelsea game, Liverpool are actually only two points ahead of ManU and one point behind Everton. Hadn’t really realised they had slipped that far (in relative terms, of course) after being top on Xmas eve. A win would of course lift them to third and still only three points off us at the top but this illustrates how tight the league is at the moment.
It also shows how much it means to win games like the one we won today. ManU won, ManC won, Everton won, and it’s likely one of Chelsea and Liverpool will win. We may not have extended the advantage but we have negotiated a tricky fixture where both Chelsea and Liverpool dropped points.
Oops, 1-0 Liverpool after just a few minutes.
1 0 mickeys
Must say I do wonder what will happen when Gerrard is fit again. Their game seems to flow a hell of a lot better without him and his constant 70-yard passes, but does David Brent have the cojones to drop him?
Was wondering the very same Lars. Some of their fans were saying he was slowing them down several weeks before his injury.
Feng @ 221: One of my favorite players of the Emirates era. A brilliant footballer (whose very best years we unfortunately have lost due to the injuries) and just an excellent team player. Fantastic attitude, focus and drive. To see TR7 and Sagna win a PL or CL with Arsenal would really be very satisfying.
We created very little and were far from our best but HFB’s delicate flick from Feo’s free kick gave us that goal,which could be significant in the final show-down in May.
Our luck held out despite TPIGs brain freeze and thanks to a battling display at the back ,in the final 15mins, we held out for 1-0 to the Arsenal.
TR7 gave his all and Santi tried hard to get something going up front but a combination of foul play,Tiote in particular and strong defending snuffed out our efforts. Mr Probert seemed oblivious to Newcastle’s strong arm tactics and the game became rather tetchy with Rosicky, Flamini and LJW feeling hard done by.
Why was Gibbs subbed and is the HFB likely to be available on Weds? With Ozil and Rambo unavailable let’s hope Poldi and Gnabry are up to 90mins against Cardiff. See you all there!
As always COYRs
Lars & bath — Football is unforgiving. Whatever Gerard’s mystique is amongst the Liverpool fans and management once he is back and playing any drop in their performance and result should see him dropped to the bench. The question is media, and the fact that this is the WC year and (pity for England’s sake) Steve G is still a central player in the national set up so there would be immense pressure.
I still maintain that Liverpool would soon start dropping unexpected points. There is a brittleness in their defensive set-up that is being well masked by to be honest quite inspired attacking performances.
“What a great attack”, said the pundit on Swedish TV. Ok… one guy runs in a straight line, loses the ball which takes a lucky deflection to an unmarked team mate. Yeah, the planned it exactly like that!
Very good finish, though. Nothing lucky about that.
Mingolet is wank.
Chelsea score and Everton go 4th!
The Chavs are a bunch of ginormous cunts with a star on top! A very merry feckin’ Xmas! Wankers! 😎
Totnum score from a penalty? You don’t say!
And Soldado has scored – from a penalty! It’s the only way it could have happened.
Men and boys here.
The negative – the true enemy is revealed
The positive – the media will stop creaming themselves over the Mickeys and Rogers
From today’s game, we really need more pace upfront throughout the whole match. Feo’s withdrawal really revealed that. Defending deep with no outlet for the counter is unacceptable and in the modern game, there’s no way any quality side can achieve anything without at least one such threat up top. The Chavs v Mugwasher’s is exhibiting that beautifully for all to see.
H2H, he really should have saved that, shouldn’t he?
Faustus: I agree that Liverpool do look suspect in defense quite often. They are also far more dependent on a small group of players than other teams up there. Sure, we have Giroud that is difficult to replace but we are far from as dependent on his goals as Liverpool are on the goals that primarily Suarez scores.
Chelsea so far today and us earlier in the season (and Hull, come to think of it) have also shown how to stop Suarez. You make sure he doesn’t get involved too much in the game in the first 15 or so minutes, that tends to frustrate him and he starts to sulk and moan more and more as the game goes on.
Dunno.
Maybe arsenal lacked its fluency in the passing.
But this was the sort of match that we always shipped a goal at the death. That we can finish these off when under pressure indicates strenght and a winning mentality. Howany times have we leaked goas in these kind of matches? A lot in recent years.
Not pretty but still a win. I’ll take it!
Lars @ 237: Very true about Suarez. However in his current form you do need a defender of quality like Kos — just how good is he nowadays? — to keep him silent or press very high up in the opposition to force him to drop back and not receive balls in dangerous positions. The thing with him though he definitely knows and feels the gap in quality with the rest of the team and in very tough situations it makes him lose his composure…
I think this Chelsea side will drop points especially in away matches. The threat of Man City is that if they start winning away games comfortably and become fully confident of their abilities then they can really put together a run. However Pellegrini’s inexperience with PL( and the unconditionally attacking mindset) especially over the Spring schedule where the bottom teams would fight maniacally for survival should work in our favor.
Come on Liverpool.
Apropos of the bitey one, if ‘Pool lose this one and drop out of the CL spots, maybe he’ll start agitating for a move again in January, especially if Real show interest. Can’t put anything past that guy (unlike his goalkeeper).
Hope Gibbs is ok for midweek. yes we didn’t create many chances and I thought we didn’t know how to pass the ball in final third. Newcastle on the other hand defended very well and other teams will certainly loose points over there.
We got lucky but we worked really hard for this win for my TR7, Santi, Per and Koscielny were top notch. Lucky escape for Wojtek but some times you need it and we don’t really get it that often.
We took our chance and defended like monsters!
WIN THE NEXT GAME!
COME ON ARSENAL!
Indeed he should of, Lars.
A very over rated keeper,.
Yes he’s a decent enough shot stopper, ut absolutly useless under pressure at close range, plus his distribution is utter toss.
Hard fought win, seemed a bit of a struggle up front, well taken goal though. Why was Giroud trying that bizarre act? I thought he wanted a card! Flamini was good as was rosicky. I like how woz cracked that shot straight at the striker. Happy new year indeed.
H2H: I thought he started the season quite well, but he’s gotten progressively worse. What on earth he was trying to do for the second City goal the other day I will never know.
Bit of a shame that Totnum are winning and also scoring a couple of goals, but at least that means Stoke are losing. Silver linings and all that, I suppose…
Now Fergies gone I see Webb is jumping in bed with the Special Cunt – How on earth didn’t he give the scousers a Pen,bottle job
Well, I guess we all knew, deep down that once Arsenal’s easy run of fixtures came to a close and they started playing against big clubs, they’d fall apart and those days of topping the table would be a distant memory. Still, it was nice while it lasted.
What’s that you say Skippy? They’re still top? Well, wait till the halfway point of the season.
What?! It IS halfway through the season? But surely that would mean Alan Hansen is wrong. No, can’t be.
Bring on Cardiff.
COYG
Pangloss @247 😀
Don’t have the habit to hate any manager out there, but Maureen is so hard not to hate. Come on football Gods, let them finish outside the top four this year.
Giroud deserves enormous credit for not only hugely improving his hold up play, but also his acting skills. There were at least two occasions today when I really believed he was injured as he, indeed, might well have been.
On a serious note, the treatment that Williamson and Tiote were allowed to dish out was ridiculous. I’m sure I saw Probert telling Rosicky that he was being booked for THREE! fouls – oh, my aching sides!
Another ref with double standards. Tiote was way past Last Chance Saloon at HT.
Trouble is though, Pangloss, that we haven’t played any of those teams in the relegation zone yet, who are really scrapping for it. They will surely expose us ….
What ? Them too …….
Chippy: Webb lost it towards the end there. Cahill should have walked for his tackle on Suarez, and to be honest it should have been a penalty for Suarez when Terry wrestled him to the ground. Don’t think it was a penalty for the Eto’o situation though, Suarez exaggerated that situation far too much.
Trev: sure, but there is no way we’ll get through our group in the Champ… oh.
That was the sort of win that when other teams do it is said to be what title-wining teams do.
I remain very happy for the ‘experts’ to continue to write us off. It’s great to fly ‘below the radar’ at the top of the league.
Carry on, gents.
OK guys, very funny, (247, 252, 254) but joking aside, we have to keep our concentration with all these so-called easy games coming up. There is no doubt that, on paper, we have the easiest programme of the top group the next 5 PL games and maximum points could well see us opening up a gap again before the Feb/March programme. But it will require a sustained effort from all – including us willing them on.
Added to which we will have to assimilate all these new players we’re going to buy in January into the squad. The winter silly season opens on Wednesday.
Hahah sorry for bringing comments from other blogs but this one really cracked me up.
“Giroud was our super hero today. He’s half man half peacock. He is The ManCock”
(yeah, I really like silly humour)
In response to a very interesting comment at 257, it is probably a blessing in disguise that we will be playing after City in our next two games, so that will help the lads keep the focus.
Another 3 pts in the bag, luv it
Eändy@258. He certainly wasn’t half-cocked today.
(Got that one from a Xmas cracker.)
Well, half the season has gone. We are top of the league going into the new year and very much still in the race for the title, and hands up anyone who honestly and seriously believed this was even remotely possible after we’d lost to Villa. Even in the last days of August there was little but doom and gloom surrounding the club, but then one Sunday afternoon it all changed in a matter of hours. First we dispatched that lot up the road and then the rumours started growing and more and more reports came in confirming we had struck a deal for Özil. BAM! We were back in it and sooner than we knew it we found ourselves topping the league.
But what will happen from here on in? Well, the January window may of course change things around for good or bad. For example, we may laugh at Tottenham but in all honesty they do have the foundations of a rather good team and they are only three points off fourth after all. On this note it may also be worth noting that Super Success Story Liverpool are only two points ahead of ManU and Spurs who are generally labelled as massive flops. For this reason, I think this Xmas period may well have been very damaging for Liverpool because the psychological implications of falling behind either of those teams could be absolutely disastrous. Hell, even feeling the breath on their necks must be a bit hard and quite frankly that could have become an issue for us as well had we not won those six points over these past few days. Can you imagine the boost for Tottenham should we all of a sudden have found us just three or four points ahead of them? As it turned out, what many had labelled as “Dark December” or somesuch (but they’ve got their cliches mixed up, it’s November that is supposed to be our nightmare month) in the end yielded three wins, two draws and only one loss in the league which is far from a disaster considering who we’ve played.
Not really sure where I am going with this to be honest but in any case we must make sure we don’t rest on our laurels now. These next few games may look eminently winnable, but any lack of focus will see us punished. We are a bloody good team, let’s go out there and show everyone else just how good we are!
Sorry, dkg@257.
C’mon chaps, focus.
Nice on Lars @ 263.
dk has the answer – or part thereof @ 259
-on, +one
-263, + 262
doh
Done a bit of back drinking, some interesting thoughts in the previous bar, some I agree with, some, well, I don’t.
Steve T.
You and me, mate. I thought the summer dealings were indeed a shambles. To use a silly analogy:
We have a bike, it’s a pretty decent bike, which gets us from A to B, to make our bike better we could really use a fresh pair of brakes. we shopped around for brakes but for various reasons the brakes we wanted were unatainablre, one of the shops we were looking for brakes at offered us a bell., not just any bell, but a super shiny top of the range, ring it and watch everybody get out of the way, bell. This bell was pretty expensive, but it was such a great bell that it improved the overall performance of our bike.
Now, we can ride down a hill, with the knowledge that a ring of the bell will alert pedestrians/traffic to get out of our way, it’s all very nice, but still, there will undoubtedly come a time when we will really need a pair of brakes!!!!
=====
Doc Faus.
I enjoy your posts, but sometimes i believe you want to over anaylise a little too much. OG is not smudger, nor vice versa.
To compare a player from this era to a player from the past is as futile as it is irrelevant. I believe such an anology stems from a cultural difference between supporters from the old world and the new.
The current day fascination with stats is bourn (IMHO) from the globalisation of the game. The PL, for lack of a better word, has been Americanised and I personaly don’t think anyone is better off because of it. Stats are suddenly the be all and end all of the game, even though many of these stats can be totally misleading, I personally prefer to use my own eyes.
I could happily live my life not giving a toss about knowing if Mohamed Ali would of beaten or lost to Rocky Marciano in a heavy weight title bout, but such trivia and speculation, because that’s all it is, fuels never ending discusion on your side of the pond. Please forgive me if this sounds condesending, because that it is not my intention.
=====
Oskar.
10 mil too much for Ozil??
No, No. No.
Plus, if you think that Sagna has no options, then think again.
He may be the wrong side of thirty, but with his experience and skill set he could walk into almost any team all over the world.
PSG would offer him the world. plust here would be a lot of teams offering him a more then decent wedge to join them for a two/three year period.
With the money he would make on a Bosman he’d actually be pretty daft daft not to go.
=====
@various
Nice debating about what we need, but I’m really not going to speculate on who will be available to come in during next months’ window, however, those expecting a world class signing could be well advised to lower their expectations, world class players are not really known to switch clubs just a short time before a WC……. just saying like.
And…..
Good stuff from Lars, N7, Uply, Bath, Pangloss, Joe, Esso and others, plus our resident poet lauriet and punmeister supremo: Trev.
Sorry if I forgot anyone, I’m still a bit craem crackered from my vacation.
Drinks all round.
Lars – solid post (as usual). And thats not to excclude others.
I say cheers to you and all the others as well.
Though only your tab can handle drinks for the house!!
H2H: what ? Getting new brakes? I thought we had been trying to get rid of that bloody handbrake for years 🙂
Cheers bath, and dk – good point@259.
Homer brings up an important point@269: there are drinks on the bar for everyone!
Heh Lars, like I said, “silly analogy” 🙂
Good stuff @ 263
Don’t forget Alistair Hurrah! Mark my words I’m as certain on this as I was on the Bale transfer in August. Yes ok I got the wrong club re Bale but Ally is nailed on…probably.
Was flying over St. James Park en route to Scotland during the match today so I have to wait until MOTD2 ( where I always value the punditry ..not) to see the performance but back- drinking after the match gives you a real flavour of the game.
I already know that several people vied for Public Enemy Number One;
Lee Probert
Check Tiote
Glenn Hoddle
and the BFG/ Kos are restored to their place as the best central defensive partnership in the Premier a League. Still we’d better watch out there are mid- table teams to play. They are ones that get you. Mark my words.
So Ally Hurrah can’t get here fast enough can he?
I really like Jack but FFS, today he was utter pants, he lost the ball umpteen times and just kept running into traffic. We needed better.
True, H2H – you did say it was silly 🙂
A good battling 3 points. Some strange refereeing decisions. The only reason Tiote escaped any action can only be that probert ran out of fingers to count his fouls on????
Tommy R motm by a mile for me. He was everywhere today. He highlighted massively today why we need a new striker in January. Bendy comes on with 5 to go. He lumbers around for the time he is on the pitch. There was a spell at the end where Newcastle had the ball in their own half. Bendtner should have been chasing and harassing. He just stood in the middle and watched a man several years older who had played every minute hare around all over the pitch. So so frustrating.
Not a great game but a tough, hard fought 3 points.
Top of the league going into the new year? Not something if I’m honest that I expected but immensely welcome all the same. Long may it last.
H2H. We sing from the same song sheet my old friend.
Re. the Sagna debate, I too would love to see him stay, but if he goes, how about Debuchy? Looked very useful today, although MoM was a bit much. Should have been Per or Kos.
Bendtner doesn’t do “run around the park”, only does “lumber”. Must be all that sawdust between the ears.
Lars.
You and me. Right there!!!
And the rest of you lot.
To the mighty Arsenal!!!!
H2H @267. – really good stuff.
Totally agree, and not just because of your kind words @268. 😉
Steve T – spot on re Bendtner unfortunately.
He only had to do five minutes – five minutes when he should have run like a madman to close players down.
I would have TR7 sharing MotM with Kos and Per though – they were both top notch.
>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>
Those worrying how we would go without Özil now have their answer … about the same as usual. With a better result than our previous three games, even allowing for the usual dismal performances from Jack and Santi. How either of them stayed on for a full 90 minutes ahead of Flam beats me. Some worrying moments from Sir Ches also. All in all a hark back to ‘Lucky Arsenal’, imo.
Nice ones though from TR7, Merts, Kos, Bacs and a lot of hard work by OG who deserved his goal and was my motm.
Öskar