Guest Preview – Gunners To Tackle Stoke Away
Feb 28th, 2014 by 'holic
Another guest post for you, for which I owe our very own generous benefactor Lars a debt of gratitude, and probably I will have to take the pressure off his famous credit card at the Citeh home game! I hope you enjoy his writing as much as I have. His English is far, far better than my Swedish. Thanks Lars.
So, a trip to the Britannia awaits for the Arsenal. We are traveling to a ground where we have only won once since Stoke were promoted in 2008, which was in early 2010 when we won with three goals to one. Cesc Fabregas converted a late penalty and Thomas Vermaelen secured the points in stoppage time after Nicklas Bendtner had made it 1-1 with a beautiful header in the first half. Other than that we have two losses in the league (and one more in the FA Cup) and a couple of draws.
The home team may be fighting at the opposite end of the table to Arsenal but make no mistake about it, these are not three points we can just expect to go and pick up without breaking into a sweat. At home, Stoke have beaten Chelsea and Manchester Utd, drawn 0-0 against Manchester City and but for a totally inexplicable foul in the penalty area by Jermaine Pennant deep into stoppage time would have beaten Everton as well. They have only been beaten twice at home all season so do not let their position in the league fool you, this is a very tricky fixture. Their problem has been the away form where they have only won six points out of a possible 42 which means they have the worst away record in the league, but only five teams have better home records in terms of points won.
Having said that, if we get anywhere near our best this is a game we should win. We have a few doubts, and may have to play either Thomas Vermaelen or Bacary Sagna at left back. Neither choice feels very optimal. They may both have played there with some success before, but Vermaelen is just back from a layoff that has kept him out for almost two months and may be better off starting in a position he’s more naturally suited to. Sagna is right-footed so will struggle to make crosses from the left. My guess, however, would be that if both Kieran Gibbs and Nacho Monreal fail their late fitness tests (unconfirmed information claims that Gibbs will be fit but nothing official has been said at the time of writing), then Arsene will opt for Bacary Sagna on account of Vermaelen’s lengthy absence. In midfield it’s anyone’s guess. We have so many options there that it is more or less impossible to guess what the manager will go for. Up front we’ll have Olivier Giroud and probably Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain out wide on the right with Santi Cazorla nominally out left but with license to roam.
Other than that, Mesut Özil is back after having been given a breather against Sunderland and since the manager did not mention Laurent Koscielny in his pre-match press conference I take that as meaning he’s good to go again. We will need a top performance once more from our central defenders as Stoke have Peter Crouch who has a very unpleasant habit of playing well against us.
Now, when the ‘holic himself does these previews he usually mentions where the Holic pound has been placed, but I am not much of a gambling man so no such thing this week (Ed. Check the drinks!). I will however predict that this will be a very tricky fixture and I for one would be very happy should the team travel back to London with all three points in the bag no matter by what scoreline. We need the three points to keep the pressure up on Chelsea, Man City and Liverpool while the home team will be looking to put some distance between themselves and the relegation zone so a win will require a lot of hard work. Let us hope the players are ready for this.
312 Responses to “Guest Preview – Gunners To Tackle Stoke Away”
Ed: For value get on 0-3 to the Arsenal at 16/1. That is the ‘holic pound this weekend.
Ach, beaten into second. Good work, Lars.
I’ll claim this.
Aaaaaah, beaten to it by a post that was informing us that he was beaten to it. sweet irony, well in Trev.
Nice one Lars,
Death to the Uruk Hai!
I was going to say that, H2H, but you be ……..
Hi All
Well put Lars, a tricky game without doubt. However our form against the lesser teams *I do not mean that in a derogatory way, just teams fighting to get in the top half*
We have done very well against them this season and I feel we have there number. In previous seasons I dont think I have felt this confident about getting the 3 points. We will not be bullied or pushed around by thier henchmen this season. Puttin it up`em as Sky pundits of old used claim was the only way to stop us is no longer the case.
We kick back and battle as hard as anyone so the kicky men will have to try somthing else. We no longer leak goals for fun and nor do we lay down and die.
That is one of our main strenghts this season we have remembered how to win ugly when they want to kick we can win, if they want to get the ball down and play, we can win.
The Holic pound sounds a good bet to me.
Cheers
Ian Wright, Wright, Wright
Nice preview Lars. A hard task ahead indeed and we need to start with the venom with which we started against Bayern and Sunderland, knock the stuffing out of them early and maybe Holic’s punt will deliver.
I admire your optimism A1971 @7, (and your Chavski analysis from the previous drinks). I hope you are right.
Pace, focus, hard graft and a sprinkling of Arsenal magic from our midfield magicians will be required for these three points.
COYG
BG I would be delighted with 1-0 to the Arsenal, but the voice in my head keeps telling me, NO NO NO we will win well Saturday.
Cheers for the preview Lars.
Make you right about Sagna starting left if Gibbs doesn’t make it – sounds a better option than an uncomfortable Vermaelen out there.
Up front I wonder if it might be the type of game where a more direct approach – Poldi left, Ox right – might reap dividends. That would allow Santi to move inside, and delay Ozil’s reintroduction for opponents less inclined to snap him in half.
Hope Flamini is preferred to Arteta too. Let’s make sure we give it back to the loathsome Orcs in spades.
Reckon ‘H is on the money, but just to be different I’ll go 4-1 to The Arsenal.
Quick question
How the hell dose Mark Hughes keep getting work ?
•They have committed more fouls than any other team in the Premier League (360) and picked up the most cards (58 yellows, three reds).
Sums up Stoke
•They have the best record in the league when facing opposition in the bottom half of the table – winning 13 of their 15 matches.
Sums up Arsenal this seaon, Hell yeah !
‘holic. Lars’ English is better then my….. English 😉
Nice one Lars. I concur, this one’s not going to be easy.
A lot of unnecassary rubbish in the build up too, a bunch of neandethals on a blog dedicated to oatcakes, (for those among us who are unaware what that is; an oatcake is a lump of baked vomit considered an orc delicacy), has once again questioned the audacity of Aaron Ramsey who shamefully had the nerve to break his leg and then after being booed on his return make a shush gesture to the attending rabble, a total faux par in Mordour or so it would seem. The blog has called on the armies of Sauron to boo the horrid Ramsey for disrespecting them, blissfully unaware that Aaron has as much chance of starting that game as they have of being able to walk upright in human attire.
They don’t like Arsene too much either and take great pleasure in calling him all manner of awful names, but I suppose that you can’t expect too much from a group that not only tolerated, but fully supported Darth Pullis and the utter dross he served up for years, before finally twigging on, turning on him and getting him sacked, which I thought was unusual at the time because their usual custom dictates that they should have ate him. In the end he was banised from the shires, but ended up in a Palace, granted a pretty poohy Palace, but a step up from that shitheap none the less. As for position of Head Orc, the dark one was eventually replaced by Sparky Hughes, If there was ever an example of the phrase “be careful what you wish for” then there it is in it’s full glory.
To be fair, not all of their fans, as I’ve read in other places, share the same view, but even they are shouted down or deleted by the eleven fingered moderaters on that cesspit of a site. I suppose every team has their mongs, but it must be difficult when they’re all related to each other, there’s a saying up there in the potteries; Incest is fine as long as it stays within the family.
Fuck it, let’s do those twatbuckets.
Great post Lars!
We surely will need to break sweat no doubt about that! We will have to watch those set pieces as well!
Holic pound sounds nice too!
Come on you rip roaring!
Thanks for the excellent preview Lars. They are going to try to Stoke the anti-Arsenal fires so we need to be on our game from the first minute, Mertescielny and SZCZ in particular. Considering the uncontrollables, the weather forecast looks decent and the referee is Mike Jones who I can’t remember who I can’t being particularly bad to us in past games. Santi for some early magic, I say. Come on Arsenal!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Why do i sense we will win this quite easily, i maybe way off mark come tomorrow around the same time but i just feel this team wont drop any points against mid/lower table teams and that just may clinch it for us.
Yes they are a decent side and yes tough to beat at home, the weather also being an ally for their style. We on the other hand though would need to weather the storm initially and then play the game we know we play better than any, the Arsenal way.
Flamini and rozza in the pivot pls, jack is my concern because those thugs will want to land on his feet at every given moment he has the ball, santi/ozil/giroud and with poldi to come off the bench when needed, i think we have enough ammunition to win the game. 1-3 should be a decent bet.
For all their vile abuses, hope the away fans sing one Aaron Ramsey at the 67th minute of the game for that was the moment when the madness happened.
Aaahhh Mr Shawcross did that bad Mr Ramsey have his leg in the way of your studs ? How dare he !
From now on, we the faithful Stoke fans will berate him for being so foolish !
Are you ok now Sir Shawcross ? We do understand his wasnt the first leg you have broken but you are not that sort of player.
Hopefully they don’t snap ozil’s leg in two, don’t know why they are still in the premier league. I will take 3 points any which way I can get it.COYG!!!!!
Great job Lars. Thanks for the post.
Cheers, everyone.
Nice one Lars.
Defensive shuffling?
Can see a muddy 1-3 win after going a goal down.
Ox and a Giroud brace.Or the other way round.
Either way, three points and back to civilisation.
Schz
Jenkin BFG Kos Sag
Wilsh Flam
Ox Ozil Poldi
Giroud
That should do it
H2H #15 Heh! I think Lars’ English is better than mine, innit 😉
Nicely turned preview, Lars. Think there will be no more than a goal in it either way. Last season the two sides produced just one goal between them in the two league games. And Stoke hasn’t scored more than a goal in any of the five most recent league games. The monks predict a 1-1 or 1-0 away win this time around — but then that is what they said last week. Would be very happy to see the ‘Holic pound land.
H2H, ‘Holic: Reminds me of a line in an old Tony Hancock episode: “You could tell she wasn’t English. She spoke it too well.”
Evening Holics
Well played Lars, just hope the Flamster is at left back if Gibbs doesn’t make the start and Poldi and the Ox make the line up.
Feeling very optimistic about tomorrow having just seen Roger defeat Novac in a brilliant match in Dubai, a very good omen! A double victory Saturday would be just perfect to celebrate my 72nd birthday on Monday!
How stupid to have the Newcastle game move by Sky to a Monday night and if we don’t make the Cup Semis the Kings Lynn Gooners will be on the first Sunday train,if running, for the West Ham encounter, a 12.00noon start!
As always COYRs
Here is a random stat: Over the past 25 full seasons, Arsenal has won almost three times as many top-flight games as Stoke has played.
Happy birthday in advance, Delia.
Delia @27 – here’s hoping the team set the weekend up well for your birthday on Monday. Many happy returns.
Heh ‘holic.
His accent is not as dodgy as mine either. 🙂
____
Have a great day Delia and many Happy Returns.
H2H: well, at the Tollie your accent did get more and more Dutch as the night went on 🙂
Happy Birthday Delia and many more!!!
Nice one Lars!
I am worried a bit about the left back situation. Hopefully Gibbs is fit
Three points, please Arsenal
Hish accent was very shtrange, Lars, for schure….
Heh.
It was all that Dutch courage I was being fed. 🙂
I isch heeving no idea wat you ish meaning, zico.
“Lars -H2H: well, at the Tollie your accent did get more and more Dutch as the night went on”
It started out as Dutch and finished up as Double Dutch. 😉
I can’t win.
I speak in my native tongue in England with a Dutch accent and here Dutch with an English accent.
It’s enough to drive a man to drink…….
So not really a problem.
And with Dutch word order …. 😉
No, that was just me paying homage to Yoda. 🙂
Lars [ The Swedish Holic ]
Superb preview my friend,A Gold Star for you.!!
Just to add a couple of stats to the drinks above.
Stoke have not kept a clean sheet in their past 14 games,conceding 26 goals,so we shouldn’t have any trouble scoring up there.
The last 5 times Hughes has faced off against the Boss,the thug has won 3 and drawn 2.
Don’t underestimate the depth of animosity Hughes has towards the ‘Urbane’ one.
He has a record of abusive/spiteful language towards AW from the touchline during games,and his teams have played with the same amount of violence and intimidation,which in many cases was borderline GBH.
So we have to fight fire with fire,just as the GG Ramblers did all those years ago in the Sunday morning Premier League,when the Bully boys from Edgware/Burnt Oak/Colindale/Brent and Hendon Central came calling,thinking they could kick the shit out of us.
Funny thing was,they all ended up with more players in the Casualty Ward than we did.!!
So tomorrow it will be shin pads back and front,just as Big Raddy pioneered in the late 60’s early 70’s,and an All for One and One for All battle Cry as we leave the dressing sheds and go over the top into battle.
May ‘ Proper ‘ football prevail and the Good Guys come home sore but Victorious.
Cheers
The Sweeper
Lars, very nice preview. Not only is your English perfect, sorry to say you also look more English than Swedish. However, in contrast, Schur H2H definitely sounded more Dutch as evening wore on……if it had gone on past midnight, a translator would be have been required 😉
As for the trip to Moridor, most important is for all the players to return with all their limbs still attached to their body. Points gained after that will be a bonus, albeit one I expect us to achieve. The Orcs track record against the better footballing teams at home is damn good and therefore a 2-0 win will be a fine result for the boys in yellow & blue.
Must finally wish Delia a fantastic birthday on Monday.
Nice one Clive, sir, a great rallying post.
—–
Heh, Uply.
Sweeper, much appreciated!
Uplympian: what do you mean “sorry”? Aren’t the English famous for their generally good looks? 🙂
Well in Lars, that was an enjoyable and informative read.
I share Vinay’s optimism, which just adds to the excitement and hope that we put one over on arguably the most vile football team ever to have existed. And not to be outdone, their chairman has managed to open that old wound and tried to paint Shawcross as the victim. Again.
By now this fixture should have reverted to its rightful status as just an unpleasant trip to some godforsaken northern shithole where it rains more often than not. But no. Some knuckle-dragging retards in their ranks are still trying to demonise Ramsey, ensuring their eternal status as terrible, terrible cunts.
They enjoyed a spell as our bogey team, it ended some time ago.
Great preview Lars. For me Sagna has to start if Nacho and Gibbs are both unavailable simply for his with rate and ability to get up and down the flank. Also this may be more a reflection of how poor his crossing is in his normal position but in the few instances he had played on the left his crossing has actually seemed better with more consistency getting it past the first man. Thinking a gritty 1-0 is in order.
Clive,
“So we have to fight fire with fire …”
That’s what my dad always used to say – and that’s why he was thrown out of the fire brigade.
Clive: The further down the Northern Line they had to come the softer they were.
Hughes’s overall record as a manager against us is six wins, three draws and 11 losses in 20 matches, in which his teams scored 23 goals and conceded 34.
Nice work Lars, very well previewed .
I fancy us to win 2-0 but I always say that. But Zim going to say it again!
Stoke fans must have some sort of subconscious desire for fame by association. They sure as hell won’t win any due to their own efforts.
So desperate are they for attention that they are reduced to hero worshipping a thug for breaking an Arsenal players leg, and got themselves a mention on MotD by their hilarious mimicry of our manager.
Their chairman has almost surpassed his crass refusal to criticise the actions of his more neanderthal players by replacing the shell suited chav who used to occupy his manager’s technical area with an equally objectionable substitute.
What exactly does this outfit offer the premier division of English football, and how the hell do they stay there ?
Answers on a bog roll by tomorrow morning, please ….
Thnks H2H,
Evening Trev,
How’s the Knee.??
Evening Ned,
Very true Mate !!
Although True Storey might have something to say about that.!!
On the game tomorrow,if Flamini starts he will need to be very disciplined and not get himself involved in any midfield spats,we saw his impetuosity cost us dear at Southampton and beyond,so with the
Ides of March about to hit us head on,we will need him on the pitch not in the stands.
It’s funny though,thinking back to the mid 60’s early 70’s,how good a footballing side Stoke were,as our League and Cup games against them would testify.
I wonder what Banks/Mcilroy/Dobing/Violett/Greenhoff et al,think of what passes for football being served up at the Britannia stadium these days.
The knee is completely Donald Ducked, Clive.
All down to waiting now.
Dead right about Flamini too. If he plays in midfield, the Flamini – Adam confrontation could get a bit lively.
3-1 to us of course 😀 !
Good stuff, Lars.
Games against Stoke or any team managed by Mark Hughes make me wish we, fans, could somehow give our players a rest and get on the pitch ourselves. Our players are just too professional for them. If fans could get on the pitch we wouldn’t care about fair play or maintaining our reputations as professionals, just kick every one of them orcs that dares to even attempt anything that might bear any form of semblance with rotational fouling or any of the numerous dubious tactics Mark Hughes will so obviously employ tomorrow.
We will need the Ref to be at the top of his game tomorrow and not be afraid to dish out the cards early in the game. And for our boys, you know the kind of mood you’re in when you’ve had enough and finally decides to beat up the bully who you knew you could beat all along but just allowed him to take a part of your lunch because you didn’t want to soil your family name by fighting in school? That’s the kind of mood our boys need to be in tomorrow.
Up The Arsenal.
Don’t hold you breath, Cent. Yellow cards against Stoke our last five league games with them: 10, of which those in Stoke home games, 3. Yellow cards against Arsenal in our last five league games against Stoke: 2, of which those at Stoke, 2.
Excellent guest preview Lars, very informative 🙂
And on the subject of guest writers & posts, I really enjoyed your effort in the last bar Zico, top stuff. I’m similar to Porco in terms of being an Arsenal fan from South London. Although these days it isn’t as big a deal when South Londoners are getting bollocked for casting their support to teams more ‘North’ of London should I say when there are perfectly good clubs in London to support. Like… The Arsenal of course. Fulham. West Ham. Crystal Palace. Charlton. Leyton Orient. The list goes on… 😆
Well done, Lars. Nicely written post.
Mark Hughes, it seems, is keen to show off his newly acquired reverse psychology techniques. Good luck with that. It’s time to put the scourges of middle earth in their rightful place; on their bums.
Happy birthday in advance, Delia. Have a nice one.
COYG.
Excellent preview Lars. I agree that it will be very tough and hard to get a result.
5-0 to the might Gunners. Fuck em. Horrible twats.
Bring it on.
All joking aside I think that looking at our next run of fixtures, today is a must win if we still hope to around the top. We need a performance and three points.
That said, I stick by my original prediction.
😀
I’ll have what Steve T is smoking. 😀
Morning all from a damp, overcast and cool Athens.
Congrats on a nice preview Lars.
Havent posted for a while but like the majority, no doubt, never miss a drink, virtual or otherwise. On which note, heard the James Joyce Irish pub up in Athens was trashed the other night, possibly something to do with the visiting Manc tourists. Will see what the situation is after the game today.
Meantime havent been able to get the Kos song thing out of my head, would be great to do something special for him.
I reckon the Away Boyz are definitely on the right track and woke up with this in my head a la CBA:
He came
Over from France
Your strikers
Dont have a chance
So lets
All have a dance
(insert suitably amusing dance move here)
We’ve got
Laurent Koscielny
We’ve got
Laurent Koscielny
We’ve got
Laurent Koscielny
We’ve got
Laurent Koscielny
etc
etc
etc
(Hovering over coat on peg)
Great job, Lars. 0-3 it is, Holic!
Nice one from Lars…great post short and sweet the Holic way..however here is why we may not find this game so hard…http://gidigooner.blogspot.com/2014/03/match-preview-stoke-city-vs-arsenal-win.html
Match day. Last day of pseudo-bachelorhood before the return of Mrs Rosso and Rossette from a far-flung corner of South America.
1st of March, spring is round the corner and we have a foray into Mordor to contend with.
COME. ON. LADS.
Interesting to see that Niall Quinn tried to get Stevie Bould as Sunderland manager in 2006. Glad he turned him down. I think he will be our next manager
Hi All
Has anyone got any team news ?
Cheers
Afternoon all.
Game not on the box over here today, so a stream hunting I must go. 🙁
Heavens to Betsy! It’s a bunch of orcas on the horizon. Must get the speargun!!
Game is on the box over here and thanks to Faustus’ instructions he gave on here a few months ago, I know which series of buttons to push to find it. Thanks Faustus and good luck H2H with your stream hunting. Hope you don’t find any orcas in there. 🙂
Whoops. It turned out the orcas were just orcs. Speargun should help in any case.
hellas. Good to hear from you again, and that’s another good Koscielny song. Too bad all the other players collectively don’t have as many good songs as Kos has now. 🙂
hey all,
streams for those in need 🙂
http://www.wiziwig.tv/broadcast.php?matchid=244858&part=sports
and
http://livetv.sx/en/eventinfo/216680_stoke_city_arsenal/
lets do them orcs!
Mesut Ozil is back – but only on the bench for Arsenal at Stoke.
Stoke XI: Begovic; Cameron, Shawcross, Wilson, Pieters; Walters, Nzonzi, Whelan, Adam, Arnautovic; Crouch
Arsenal XI: Szczesny, Sagna, Mertesacker, Koscielny, Gibbs, Arteta, Wilshere, Rosicky, Cazorla, Podolski, Giroud
Flamini not as a starter? Hmm, I would rather have him on to taunt Stoke players. Good lineup tho, how good is it to have option of fresh Özil coming on against tiring Stoke players?..and Ox, and Sanogo..and Gnabry 😀
Subs.
Fab, TV5, Flam, Ozil, Ox, Gnabs and sanago
Subs:
Fabianski, Vermaelen, Flamini, Ozil, Oxlade-Chamberlain, Gnabry, Sanogo.
Sanogo clearly now above TGSWEL in the pecking order, it appears.
Gnabry and Oxlade-Chamberlain to provide late horsepower?
Come on Arsenal.
H2H. Two sources better than one? 🙂
indeedy 8ball.
Dydd Gŵyl Dewi hapus to all Welsh ‘Holics.
Looking at that bench today reminds me that we at last have real depth to the squad.
“The first mate’s name was Sparky
By Christ he was a trooper.
He jerked and jerked until he worked
Himself into a stupor!”
Eandy, Flamini is sitting on six yellow cards. Another one today against the Orcs would be a fair bet. So AW may be trying to slow Flamini’s progress to the 10 yellows by mid-April that would bring a two-game suspension at what hopefully will be a very busy sharp end of the season.
Good call NBN,
I suppose he might introduce him later if the more defensive cover is needed.
Yep.
That’s a bench that you can call on to change things up in a number of scenarios.
This is winnable.
COYG!
COME ON!
Time to switch to my phone…….
COME ON YOU GUNNERS
good morning all. first time back in the bar after a long, tiring work week. great guest pieces by lars and zico! and lars, looks like the “rotation” le boss chose to do is, well, not a whole lot. COYG!
Coyg
Stoke fans are total mongtards.
stoke running around at a pace no way they can keep up.
Stoke looks pretty disciplined … for now anyway.
Come on arrrrrrrrsenallllll!
sigh. where’s abb when you need her?
I do hope she’s well.
What scruz said
Unlucky Santi
Nice try santi
nice thought, santi.
not gellng for us out there.
Not happy with number of passes we are giving away not with their usual snide tackleson our guys
Very scrappy
somehow I don’t think the route to goal for us is through the air.
ooo Poldi
damn, come on Lukas!
Unlucky lukas
fucking cunt, adam.
How the fuck is that a free kick to them?
Ooh OG good pass
They’ll tire in the 2nd half… we just need to keep pressing!
Selfish, selfish Santi….
Typical orc cunt.
Fockin’ Orcssses…!
At last a yellow
What a half this is, like a derby match!
Exciting
finally, a yellow…porters arguing it’s his first, fuck off.
pieters, rather.
Whew! Breathtaking first half. Santi really should’ve put his chance away.
Stoke can’t possibly keep up that kind of pressing second half so we should try to pick them off in the second half.
pretty dire from us, but are they cloggers or *what*
Anyone fancy doing a little 1st half summary? All I’ve got is 5live and my phone for updates.
Points awarded for succinctness.
A bit poo that to be honest. Scrappy, sloppy and disjointed, but that’s what you get when you play those clubfooted hunchbacks. Their crowd seem to be enjoying it, there used to it I suppose.
most important thing is that we haven’t conceeded. Just like the coowd with their bile and boos, the toke players won’t be able to keep up that tempo. Be patient, string a few passes together, keep possesion better and we can have ’em.
Come on you Gunners!!!
I sort of think my 119 sums it up 😉
Stayed up till 6am with my housemates drinking for what god forsaken reason I don’t know, but it lead to me missing the first 20 mins 🙁
Although on the basis of summary drinks from the bar matchday holics, I won’t be needing to check out the full 1st half on Arsenal Player come the stroke of midnight UK time…
Welcome back Scruz 🙂
cheers, wind 🙂
and what the heck, have another on me ;). hair of the dog, and all that!
3 huge points sitting out there to be taken. Not a super inspired first half performance but good enough to put us in the position we are now, which is a good one if we can step it up and string a few more passes together to give us better control of the game.
scruz,
your stream was brilliant last game – do you have one today ?
I’ve met the usual impenetrable barrier of ads and update demands etc etc etc
I know I’m no good at this but bloody hell, these streams are a nightmare – nothing ever just runs ! 🙁
2nd Half resumes.
COME ON LADS!
come on you yellows!
Come on Olivier X_X
sorry trev, watching it on nbc live sports extra on the iPad, don’t have to stream it from a bootleg…
We need to up the tempo and not sit back so much!!!
Come onnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnn!
that was too fucking close.
The Chavs are 1-0 up, you know what you need to do lads.
Chelski just scored…ffff!
Trev;
http://www.stadium-live.com/Channel2.html
Come on lads!
time for a poldihammer.
Bring on the Ox and Ozil!
Need fresh blood !
Ozil stripping down
mesut getting ready. ox or serge too please.
Great save from Szczesny.
Phew, lucky there.
Oz for Poldi
Stupid Fulham.
no poldihammer.
Filthy Orcsssessss….!
Adam you cunt.
adam you dirty cunt
Charlie Adam is a cunt.
Ok…it’s unanimous.. we have established what Adams is!
Chezza 🙂
and the orccunt is off.
Let’s nick a win Arsenal!
Ox for TR7
The Ox is on for Rosicky.
Fuck penalty
Great
Stupid ref
Kuntz
well..fuck
no fucking way.
Well we deserved this it was coming
We got to win this one if we want to challenge…. COme ONNNNNN!
wow, after calling it like he has all game, he gives a penalty for *that*? wow.
This is the worst feeling I’ve had all season. That kind of goal. THAT kind of goal. In THIS game, with Chelsea bagging three.
Against fucking Stoke.
Sanogo for Jack
“Alan Pardew has just head-butted David Meyler. Yes head-butted. Inexcusable from a manager.” …. WTF?
It’s all going off now.. LOL!
Sanogo on for Wilshere, two up front, come on lads!
Fark ‘in ell BB! 😮
Well,there goes the league title…back to the usual scrap for 4th…really sucks!!!
OOOOoooo Ozil.
no fucking runs. they’re all just standing around. and that was a clear handball no excuses.
We should never allow this to happen in the first place
We really do need a favour from Southampton this evening
sigh, the wheels of the arsenal supporter bus are coming off already?
Fuck me it pains me to watch how lethargic and completely clueless we are
5 mminutes…COME ONNNNNNNNNNNNN!
5 min et
Come on you gunners
If we cant handle pressure in the run-in are we ever going to win any more title i wonder..
Arggghhhhhhh!
Ahh Sanogo, you could have been a hero… 🙁
Noooooooooo, what the fuck!!!!!!!
Sanòooooooooooooooooo. No
Fuck that little voice in my head !
COYG
Ffs.
MEH.
I FUCKING HATE STOKE.
Fully deserved ! We have shown fuck all
Seconded H2H.
well fucked. SHIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIT.
bullshit
Shit shit shit shit
Damn damn damn
Bugger bugger bugger
Bastards bastards bastards
I hate Mark Hughes
Well we deserved that by the way we played. Guess there goes our title hopes as well am afraid. Seeing that we have the worst goal difference of the top four.
Our players are tired.. Period! We need a bigger squad if we want to challenge on all fronts. Too many games with too few players!
Well there’s still the CL and FA Cup! We’ll get us something this year!
FFFFFFFFFFUUUUUUUUUUCCCCCCCCCCCCCKKKKKKKKKKK !!!!!!!!!!!!
Fully deserved. No complaints. No drive, no speed, no desire. And all that after a full week rest.
Not many good signs and displays but one thing is for sure, Ox should be a definite starter.
Pardew’s team won 4-1 and he headbutted a player… imagine what he would do if he was losing…!
LOL!
Very disappointing result . We don’t score anywhere enough goals because our strikers aren’t good enough. We are now looking over our shoulders. If Spurs win tomorrow and we lose to them it’s back to the perennial scrap for fourth with the LWCs. Let’s hope we can come back from this result and don’t let it define our season.
Come off it with “there go our title hopes” and all that bullshit rhetoric guys, fair enough we’re 4 points behind, the distance between us & the current leaders can’t be closed down in a single game. But, we’ve still got to play them, and they’ve still got to play two teams that are scrapping for fourth in Liverpool & T*ttenham, the former who are back in the mix as of late, along with teams who as of now, the 1st of March, are going to be actively attempting to stave off relegation.
Keep the faith, at times like this when the situation isn’t even as bad as it could be, or don’t bother to grasp it in the 1st place.
I’m off for now. Gonna try and not let this shitty result influence the rest of my weekend, time to do the food shopping I’ve been putting off all week.
If Liverpool win tonight we’re realistically 4th.
We need to stop kidding ourselves with the title talk. The Champions League is more lucrative than ever before with the new BT Sport deal. We need to make sure we’re in it.
I am afraid Arsene should assume the blame for this. The team played Stoke’s reputation of physical violence instead of focusing on the football. And why Jack stayed on for nearly 80 minutes is beyond reason. He had an awful game, strolling around, not pressing, not covering for Arteta or Rosicky, the passes not coming off.
Even before the penalty the warning signs were there, Crouch had a simple tap-in header that he tried to score with his right foot and another cross for which Szczesny was lucky to escape with indecision.
Team composition was all wrong. Why not play Flamini in a match that is expected to be so aggressive, why not start with Ox as the only one who can powerfully dribble through a defense knowing full well what Stoke’s tactics would be.
PL would be a climb after this.
I really don’t understand the tired players excuse. Who is tired?
Podolski? Chamberlain? Wilshere? Cazorla? Rosicky? They barely played in half of our games this season.
Ozil just got 10 days off. Giroud had a rest before. Why they should be tired and Hazard who just made two assist for Chelsea and is playing for the whole season like MAD is not.
No, it is not an excuse. We lost simply because we were not good enough and Stoke were. They had a game plan and were fighting hard. Their plan was to be well organized, press us in the middle, stay focused at the back and try to hit us on counter or after a brake.
Did we had a plan how to win this game? Arsene? Anyone?
I’ll say it again, we’re definitely missing some players. Whether it’s due to tiredness or skill but that’s that. We don’t deserve to win the league with displays like this BUT I would have no complains if we did. 🙂
Still i feel we’ll get something this season.. just not the league title.
But then what do i know.
Lurky @ 196: I don’t think the one week gap always works in the favor of the playing team. The team can lose the rhythm, which is a big problem for us as our entire game is based on mutual understanding on the pitch. We had started tentatively and without conviction — just like the Liverpool away match — and had to find our way into the match. At this stage of the season the team should be more well oiled and ready to go. The team management should really take the blames for the obvious lack of preparation.
We’ll shock everyone by dumping Bayern out of the CL…
Just play every german player we have.. they’ll sure be up for it! 🙂
Very disappointing. Simply not good enough today. Well short of a trophy-winning performance.
Just couldn’t get it together today sadly.
Ox was the only bright spoy.
Wonder if Whelan and Adam will be brought to book by the TV Review Panel. 100% chance if they played for us. Low chance here I reckon.
Sad day.
*weeps into pint*
Lurky @ 202: Exactly! Tiredness cannot be an excuse at all. We definitely had a strategy, and that involved playing a faster tempo more pressing game which TR7 tried to, but many of the team members had no desire to speed things up or go for the 50:50 challenges.
Giroud had a poor game, but there was no one from the MF even making the runs into the box the few times he could get to the crosses.
We tried to play it safe and unfortunately at this stage of the season a title chasing team must be more assertive.
Stoke away is always tough. They have now beaten Chelsea,United and ourselves but we have to win games like this to be title contenders. The lack of goals is a real issue for us. Our goal difference is way off the other teams contending with us. Very big game against Everton next week to create some new momentum
Newcastle manager Alan Pardew: “I tried to push him away with my head and I shouldn’t have done that. My team were terrific and it’s only myself who had a poor performance.”
—————–
Hhhahahahah… next time we should all try to “push ’em away with our ‘eads!” .. nicely said.
Lifts head. Curses softly. Whispers, “we can still win the league. bmbd”
[goes back to bunker]
We’re missing theo and ramsey…sad fact 🙁
8 ball @ 69: Thanks for the kind words. My pleasure.
A sunny day here in Boston and rather pleasant at 0 degree C … a brunch outside with the family to forget this rather nasty match. We had failed to prepare for this match, and there should be no other such performance until the rest of the season. None.
BB @ 211: Yes, that is true. But again none of those should stop us to identify the problem that we now had displayed in two tough away matches: not turning up at the start. A top level team cannot play with so little pace and desire while chasing a title. It is inexcusable. A hard fought defeat is acceptable, but to stroll around for thirty minutes without any desire to pressurize the opposition goalmouth is really a very bad performance.
March is going to be very very hard, if tiredness had somthing to do with the result today *I`m not buying that by the way* How the hell are we going to survive this month.
I agree with other posts, Poldi, Ox, TR7, Jack and Santi havent been playing week in week out. So thats why tiredness cant be used as an excuse. The defence could do with a rest they have played in nearly every game but the midfield has had plenty of rotation.
We need the driving force of Ramsey back, our midfield currently is slow to get in the box to support.
Moral of the story, well there isnt one. I dont know the answer.
Cheers
Doc @ 213, Could not agree more with what you’ve said. It just seems to happen time after time. Whether it’s tactics employed or style or even desire, all I can hope for is that this is the last year that we implode. Technically we are fourth if Liv and City take their chances.
On another note, still I am hopeful for some silverware. BUT i would say that if we won the league with performances like this then i don’t think we deserve it. Call me old fashion but I’d rather go down fighting..! We need a dose of desire and some passion.
BB @ 215: Agree with the tactics – desire comment, but cannot really agree with the “if we win the league with performances like this …” part. Not really.
If we win the league that would simply mean we have been the most consistently better team over the entire season. Even in our title winning years we have had poor performances, and ManU recently had won a bunch of titles with away performances as dire or worse that what we had offered today. If we beat Spurs, Chavs, City and Everton and win the league as a consequence we will deserve it all very much. 🙂
Something was off today attitude wise, and again I blame the preparations. You cannot put together a title chasing run with so much passivity.
Doctor Faustus. You can’t press with Rosicky only. Arteta knows his job when we are trying to press, Giroud too, but it requires one weak link and the whole concept of pressing falls apart. Today we had not one but two weak links in Cazorla and Wilshere.
I mean, Cazorla understands pressing but he simply doesn’t have the stature to do it properly and Wilshere is sometimes so tactically inept and other times so slow that I need to recheck my convictions that a certain Brazilian that we got rid off this summer was the slowest player I’ve witnessed to play in Arsenal midfield.
Argh!!! Liv 1 up !
Seems my optimism of yesterday was misplaced. Didn’t see the game, my stream gave up the ghost after 10mins, so relied on the “Player”. Sounded like a very scrappy affair where we didn’t get started.
Oh dear Suarez just scored!
Looks like a fight for 3/4 place again.
Roger won but that was a struggle. Not the best of afternoons.
Doc @216 …. and ManU recently had won a bunch of titles with away performances as dire or worse that what we had offered today.
—————————-
Heh.. that’s what I don’t want us to be remembered by is what i mean, yes we win but nobody thinks we (..ManU for that matter) deserve it. Want to win something like we deserve it, if we could only muster the performances that’s needed! 🙂
So guess we’ll just have to take the FA cup and CL instead, if we win those it surely won’t be like today’s performance. 😀
Uncle Charlie@200 knows.
Time to wise up people and see exactly where our realistic priorities lie.
Lurky @ 217: Exactly, Jack’s unwillingness/inability to improve the tactical side of his game is getting alarming and he really shouldn’t be starting from us for a while now. Unless the ball is on his feet his movements as well as the discipline are all questionable. I am sure he is learning through these experiences but they are becoming a bit of a costly tuition sessions for us.
We really haven’t found the right balance and variation in the team’s play since Ramsey was sidelined. We had some good performances but the collective control over the matches and the consistency is gone. I think in the run-in the mindset need to change and we need to start matches with higher tempo and incisiveness, and less with the slow build-up and score goals in the second half approach.
Evening all. Off out shortly to an evening with Kenny Sansom. I will try to gather my mixed thoughts about that and put a piece together at some stage of tomorrow.
Hope you all have good evenings/days planned…
Question is where the Wilshere from last winter is? He was the boss back then and it has changed so much it hurts.
Ramsey and Walcotts injuries probably ended our challenge in the league. Hopefully we still got the energy to get 3rd and the FA-cup when Ramsey is back.
In the summer we need to get speed and forwardthinking players that can take on a man on their own and make the run deep. Only one we have now is Oxlade and look at the difference he did when he got on. Other then him everyone stands still and wait for someone else to do the work.
Let’s look at this team for what it is, a team for the future.
COYG!
Poor game all round from the starting 11 and the manager.
Arsene got his team selection all wrong and gave all the initiative to Stoke. We do that and we always lose up there. Arsene should really have known that by now. No longer in our own hands for the title but really when you watch a match so devoid of directness from all with attacking drive, until Ox-Chambo came on that is, when we’re so close to a great season, and the international break coming up next week, it leaves one feeling fecked off!
Poor performance. Thought the starting XI was all wrong and we seemed unaware of the scale of the challenge; Stoke are no mugs at home. Inbreds, maybe, but not mugs. On that narrow pitch I thought Ox was a gimme – sadly not. I’d have started Ozil too.
Huge ask to win the league from here, so I just hope to god that we beat Everton next weekend and keep alive a hope of some silverware.
Hugely disappointing.
Oh, and it was never in a million years a pen, but there’s no much point moaning about it – it’s gone.
Chin up, and on we go.
COYG
No use blaming the official. We didn’t show up and didn’t deserve anything from the match. No movement no urgency. People are slagging off Giroud because we didn’t buy a striker, well you can’t score alone against 2 DMFs and a back 4. We have no forward thrust without Aaron and Theo. That also renders Mesut useless without somebody to aim at. Tall mountain to climb but I’m not as disappointed as some of the long term Gooners. I’ve never actually seen us lift a trophy so my ignorance is bliss 🙂
Liverpool showing Arsene and that lads how it should be done when you haven’t had a midweek game! Genuine title contenders this term!
Will have to wait to comment as the usual barrage of demands to ‘register’, ‘upgrade’, ‘download plugins’, ‘upgrade flash players’, and adverts for russian women, gambling sites and Mac Doctors prevented any sight of the game via a stream.
How do you folks ever manage to actually find one that you can just watch ?!
90 minutes of frustration with streams and reading through the comments so far, has not left me in the best of spirits.
It does appear, though, that the team has once again failed to inject any urgency into a performance that really matters.
My gut feel is that we do not have the players with the physical pace and power to stand up to the biggest physical challenges – either the cleaner or the dirtier ones.
DanC, Liverpool are showing that world class strikers wins you games.
They are title contenders and like it or not play some fabulous football, type of football we used to play but we don’t play it anymore.
Even when we win, it is not that breathtaking football I am used to see from Arsenal. Shame that.
on a disappointing result…
I felt we had a good defensive performance and overall we are unlucky to lose this game. Offensively we didn’t create enough and our offensive game was poor considering our standards. At the end of the day we didn’t score because of that. We conceded a goal that was a nice gift from the referee but it can happen.
Come on Arsene stop making excuses
I just wish he would the take it like a man sometimes:
We were shit!
ATG, at least he did not mention the fycking handbrake.
buggeration
What a player. It pains me to see other clubs with strikers of this quality. Fuck.
Down to third here we come
don’t wanna read
the drinks just now
cos
if its a heap of
lets move on
chin up
shite
i’ll fuckin spew
It was noticeable in that video of Dennis Bergkamp’s passing masterclass to which I posted a link earlier this week how many of his passes were to a runner getting in behind the opposing defence. Until the Ox and Ozil came on, we weren’t getting anyone in behind the Stoke defence. The Ox’s pace was a factor, and to the point of others above, we lack pace with Theo injured if he (and Gnabry) aren’t on the field. But it is harsh to criticise Giroud when our game plan was, in effect, to bounce the ball off him through the Stoke defence, and he was getting scarcely any support from his midfielders in the form of making those forward runs behind the defence.
Jack is a pale shadow of the player he was before his injury. Let us hope he is having a Ramsey recovery season, and he will be back to form next term. He is relying right now on a physicality he just doesn’t have. That might mean, as others above suggest, that he is lacking in tactical nous. Older heads around him need to keep him playing more within himself if that is the case, even though that is counter to his natural instinct. He is doing the team no favours with driving dribbles through the middle third that are now invariably ending with him losing the ball before he gets into the final third. Contrast that with the Ox who dribbles through the final third, not up to it.
We were just a point from the summit, so it was disappointing to witness such a lacklustre performance. I know we’ve only won once at that ground since they were promoted (Ramsey game I think), but if we have made such improvements as many think, then surely we needed to win that.
I think realistically, we’re in scrap for 4th spot, maybe 3rd — talk of the title seems a little misplaced sadly.
Ramsey and Walcott — as many have said are a massive loss. Disappointed with Giroud. From what I saw, he spent most of the time on his arse. Poor old Kos — how many penalties has he conceded at Arsenal?
Shocking day and the arses are down.
FML
Our form since the beginning of the year has been poor. We seem to be running out of steam/ confidence at exactly the wrong time whilst the chavs and liverpoo are starting to get a bit of momentum.
What ever the boss said bbefore the Napoli and Bayern game he needs to replicate before the average matches as well.
I think when you look at Liverpool Brenda does seem like he can play more than one way. They started 4-4-2 today, and changed it when sterling came on and got a goal straight away. He also has players that play in the way he wants, and that fits the system.
I hoped the pasting at anfield would regenerate us. It’s not looking likely at the moment and it is a bit dispiriting that our form has dipped at exactly the wrong time, especially at a time when we have been strong in the last 2 seasons.
If your the manager what do you have to say to get a spirited performance out of professionals fighting for a league title.
It’s not good enough really.
The British media are loving our apparent demise and Liverpool resurgence. This prick on sky is straight from the Richard Keys school of hosting. Dickhead.
NB
Interesting stuff, however we got to look at ourselves no one else for that matter to really figure out what is happening here. I don’t want to be negative in any way here, I hate being negative but we are like you wrote going down hill rather than upwards and what pains the most is the fact that these players sometimes forget they can do a great deal better and that they are still in the tittle race.
Ok we have bigger games coming but like before we just give the other team initiative to come at us and take advantage of it, I honestly thought we have learned from those mistakes.
Yes Stoke beat Chelski and Man U however at this time in the season we should be firing on all the cannons we have and 110% every leage game is required, nothing else and nothing more!
With Man City having two games in hand and the way we have conducted ourselves reality really bites.
Hey on the bright side of life Man U is who the media should concentrate on. Excuse me Man U who?
No one in the bar everyone has got the hump he he
I’m going to open my Polish bottle of vodka hopefully no one will be around to read my gibberish later on 🙂
Na zdrowie Holics fuck the Orcs! and the rest of them for that matter!
At the moment we don’t know what arsenal is gonna turn up, the one vs Napoli/bayern or the handbrake underachievers. Too often lately it’s been the latter. Like others have mentioned is it a case ofstrategy, attitude or something more deep rooted.
I think what’s so frustrating is that I’m having the sinking feeling that the team don’t seem really up for this scrap. Every game with 10 to go is a cup final, and has to be approached that way. Leave nothing out there. I don’t know we’ve got that mentality anymore.
Maybe Im being too melodramatic. Maybe I remember past run ins when we lefty everything out on the pitch. I remember Freddie with his red hair. Sigh. I miss that red hair.
“We love you Freddie, because you’ve got red hair, we love you Freddie because your everywhere, we love you freddie cos your Arsenal through and throoooooough”
Damn it. When I’ve taken things in, I’ll post
do apologise ‘hol
but
i find the
knee jerk
oh so level headed
reactions
bizarre
atg
open it
horse it into you
big glugs
good man
had a bottle of
zubrowskie ?
bison grass
last week
wee drop
apple juice
delicious
am
medicating
my mind
just
now with homemade fuel
Spot on Lurky @230.
We lack the threat of pace in the final third and the ability to break the backline with it. Our passing just isn’t quick enough like Barcelona for monotony so without Theo we’re toothless against well drilled, spirited home-team defences. That’s why leaving Ox or Gnabry out of the starting line out, with TR7’s incisiveness was a huge error. Arsene has to take the blame squarely for that !
hours walk
to the bar
hi-vis jacket
the clothing
de rigeur
not a fuckin chance
i’m on the dry
I’ve not seen any of the game. I will watch the MOTD highlights and that’s it. Stats on the beeb show us with 57% of the possession but only 2 shots on target. Now I have been saying virtually all season that our shots on target stats just aren’t good enough. Today would seem to be a prime example. Theo is of course a big loss but for too long now we have always been 3/4 players short.
In my opinion we need to be realistic. A top four finish is imperative. With the March we have today was a must win for me. Having failed so miserably we need to consolidate and really dig deep. Otherwise, come the end of March we could all be pulling out hair out.
Time to lick our wounds and move on.
I’ve watched this movie before so I know the ending. Forget first place, its time to seriously worry about being able to claim a top four spot! Not expecting too many wins from the next four league matches if today is anything to go by. Looks like the old Arsenal is back alas.
two exercises in precision
walloped
the wee drinks yoke
from a goodlypoke
i have a wee phone
and
indeterminate accuracy
nope
.
need a keyboard
Full credit to Stoke they wanted it more. Yes it wasn’t a penalty but they created the better chances, they played with the more commitment and greater tempo. Even after such a pathetic display and limp defeat, i loved Wenger’s quote about the boys shooting instead of passing today and implying that was totally wrong. Shots lead to goals and goals win matches, Arsene.
For this limp-less performance to be forgotten, lessons must be learnt. At least third in the EPL and a cup now will suffice!
Like I said after the Pool caning, we’re no longer in the title race and need to watch our backs for 3rd or 4th. This was NOT the way to go about that. I’d be more worried if we weren’t so far ahead of Spuds and Toffees, but more efforts like today and we won’t be for long. To throw it all away now would be an effin disgrace.
No Flam and Ox starting? What was AW thinking? CL? Puhleeze…
Oh well, there’s still the FA Cup.
Öskar
Dapper DanC I would take 4th now over winning the cup. Sorry, this is what football has come to. Winning a cup but missing out on the ECL does not equal financial success nor footballing kudos
NB1, you are right that we are running out of steam. Every team has days when the opposition doesn’t let them start to play, but what was so disheartening today was that for the longest time there didn’t seem to be anyone trying to take the game by the scruff of the neck to turn it round.
NBN, Ox was trying. That boy is going to be great for us. He plays with no fear, never hides and is always positive.
Ozil can learn a thing or two from him.
As for Poldi, I think this is his last season with us. Some may not agree, but I clearly see why he is not Arsene’s first choice. I would personally go for Konopyanka in that position. Natural winger, just what we need. Having seen Draxler vs Madrid, I would never pay even half of the money they ask. Overrated and over hyped.
Tried to take some time and digest the match. Not much to add to the above except that I am still in disbelief at how a bunch of big, lumbering, orcs out ran us (especially in the first half) and, dare I say it, played more intelligently for most of the match.
Oh well. No doubt the boss will work on it this week and I expect a different Arsenal will be out on the pitch next week for the Cup match against Everton. And there are still plenty of matches to be played with the teams above us also dropping some points, but we cannot afford another match like today.
COYG!
right
i’m off
to
le grove
le home of football
learned men all
you’ll miss me when i’m horizontally gone you will
30l water
6/7 kg sugar
half a tub yeast
three weeks
lid
rest
is up to you
then
🙂
Lurky @ 260: Earlier, before the January window opened up, I had said that I think we do need a genuine left footed winger even though Poldi can play that role. Poldi’s limitation is the lack of ability to dribble and directly run at defenders and not just behind, it is really the main attacking limitation of this side. Theo’s game in that respect has improved over last couple of years, but Ox is better in it on the right wing.
We get by a lot playing Santi or Rosicky on the wings because they are just very good footballers, but to be a champion side one needs that variety in attack and giving up the left wing in favor of (at least tactically speaking, not necessarily in footedness) inverted wingers all the time make us very predictable. Gibbo does his best — even though his attacking game was sub-par today — in overlapping and Monreal is tricky enough in attack, but there have been quite a few matches where the predictability down the left has stymied our attacking impetus.
The next five games are going to be fun…
ecg @ 261 — The worrying thing is we said exactly the same thing — “but we cannot afford another match like today” — after the Liverpool match. In the final stretch of the season we shouldn’t be saying something like that twice in such close succession.
Like you, I am still optimistic, and I think if we play to our full potential without a single lackadaisical performance, and show enough tactical maturity and variation we can take this down to the wire in terms of PL title, but there really is no more margin for error. Chelsea, City and Pool will slip up at least once and Pool has matches against the other two, so we can still take advantage but we cannot afford any more mistakes.
We are consistently inconsistent.
Arsene is the king of lowering fans and players expectations of what defines success as he takes on his new multi milion dollar contract.
The Sunnysiders will be back about thursday after their self imposed media lockdown with lots of ” he knows” and ” he knows best”.
There may even be some stats about how good stoke are cause they beat chelsea and Utd.
The definition of stupidity is making the same mistakes consistently and expecting a different result.
But dont worry fans, we have kallstrom and diaby to return soon….again.
Doctor F: I know, that is the frustrating part. It seems we are in a pattern of play well for a couple of matches then we drop one like today. I feel like we are falling into a mindset of a desire to not lose, instead of a desire to win.
I hope Wenger decides to shake things up a bit. I would like to see Ox get a regular starting position. And I think both Santi and Jack need to be reminded that they are not guaranteed starters.
In any case we will have a better idea of where we stand at the end of March. It’s going to be a tough month, as Cynic noted above.
Ecg – the mindset you correctly refer too is it is commonly called choking in all other professional sporting teams except arsenal.
This is the time of the year arsene will start talking about how lucky we are to have qualified for champions league.
I.e- a lowering of expectations.
Aussie: There does seem to be a wee bit of choking. However it is not the end of the season, we are only 4 points back, and there are still big matches to play. I’m going to choose to remain my glass-half-full, positive, optimistic, sunny-sider self at least till the end of Match. 🙂
By the way, “choking” does not apply to all other professional sporting teams. At Tottenham it’s called “normal.”
Oops, that should read, “… end of March.”
Dr F, we didn’t ALL say what you said in #267 after the Pool match. I for one said we should forget about the title and make quite certain we don’t lose 3rd or 4th. And the way to do that is to concentrate on winning games like today’s. I didn’t see us concentrating on winning today. I suspect we played with one eye on next Saturday’s and the following Tuesday’s matches, with AW resting players and those that played conserving energy.
I sometimes wonder how AW briefs the team before matches cos the number of times we play the wrong kind of game from the outset is disturbing. Today was just another example.
Of our remaining targets the FA Cup looks far and away the easiest, but our priority HAS TO BE staying in the top 4. We can win the Cup with just a modicum of luck, but it’ll mean nothing if we let the Spuds get past us for 4th. That would represent our most ignominious failure in recent history. Maybe ever. So whatever the results of our next two games we bluddy well better show more fight in our remaining premiership games than we showed today.
And AW, FFS BUY A STRIKER IN THE SUMMER. Even if it means selling Özil to raise the money. In fact Özil plus cash should get us just about anyone you could name.
Öskar
On Feb 2, we were Top of the League after beating Palace.
It was nice while it lasted, but as for the last 9 years, Arsenal’s demise is as predictable as the changing of the seasons. One day this nonsense will come to an end.
How apt the accusation of “Specialist in Failure” is now. For the 9th year we enter our annual scrap for 4th. Every season is so predictable. We even have the same points tally as last season, have we progressed?
Considering the resources that are available that are never fully used, we are a Club run for profit.
We need change, we’ve become the Valencia or Shalke of English football.
Where does the line get drawn, when is one failure too many?
I can write the script now for the next 3 years if Wenger stays.
Vinay- it was an interesting comment from Mourinho about “specialist in failure”.
The sunnysiders on here leapt to arsenals defence by criticising Mourinho, but nowhere did i read where the sunnysiders provided any evidence where or why what Mourinho said was incorrect.
I would like to know of any senior manager in the world on $8+ mill per annum who has not achieved their target for longer then 8 years and is still employed.
Gareth- arsene gets $8+ mil per annum to speak so elequently each season at this time of year about why a top four finish is great.
I give him until about wednesday when he will start rolling out his previous career highlights from about 10 years ago when he was a creative and ruthless winner who was ahead of his time.
Aussie: Perhaps the team’s targets have been different than those that you would advocate.
As for the “specialist in failure” comment I think the point was that it is not really cool for a manager to diss another manager for no obvious reason. As for the evidence that Maureen is incorrect, I would suggest that others may have different definitions of success and failure, and they may not be the same as your definitions.
Since when was success top 4 or trophyless for 8 years.
Let’s be serious.
ECG – arsene is the king of lowering your own expectations.
Be careful as he is very good at it.
That’s why he is still employed and not a recent trophy winner.
He has Stan the man baffled with his brilliance.
He is an illusionist.
Aussie: I would like us to win a trophy as much as the next person. On the other hand I am proud that Arsenal is a self sustaining club that doesn’t rely on oil barons and Russian mobsters to buy a team. Plus we built a world class stadium. And all the time remaining a competitive team.
Given that only 3 teams have won the Premier League since Arsenal last won, does this mean all the other 17+ teams are also failures? Would Wigan be considered a success or failure after winning the FA cup last year and being relegated?
We are all entitled to our opinions on the success and failure and I respect others opinions, but that doesn’t mean I have to agree with them.
Btw, this is in response to your, “Let’s be serious.”
Aussie: Thanks for suggestion to, “Be careful…” in regards to Arsene. I will take it under advisement. 😉
Our gutless performance yesterday was like a stab in the heart. we could have played for 2 days and we would still not score.
Arsene can cry all he wants about the penalty but he went there to not lose and got what we deserved.
for me the worst was seeing us play without character.
i can take losing but losing without a fight when we are 1 point off the top. sad and bl**dy frustrating.
team selection was all wrong yesterday. you can understand why Arsene hardly plays podolski. but having said that if santi had squared the ball to him in the first half it would have been a goal.
we have lost our momentum but a couple of good results will bring it back.
need a miracle.
Our priority is NOT winning trophies, they do not compare with simply being one of the top clubs in world football. Very few clubs win trophies in any year you care to mention, many of them have never won a trophy in their entire existence.
Arsenal has a proud history of achievement matching most of our premiership rivals. In 5 years time we will celebrate 100 years in the top flight of English football. That’s nearly twice as long as any other club. We are the only club in more than 100 years to go through an entire season undefeated (2003/4). Assuming we qualify for our 17th successive CL at the end of this season, and Man U do not (as both seem likely), we shall take over as the longest serving British qualifiers for Europe’s most prestigious competition. No, we have never won it but we have been extraordinarily unlucky on several occasions, notably having our keeper sent off after 15 minutes of the 2006 final (and still leading until the last few minutes).
That we have remained a top 4 club throughout a period dominated by the outrageous spending of the Glazers, Abramovich, Mansour and the rest of the olig/arab/us mega money merchants – while financing and building a new stadium and managing Arsenal like a business not a hobby – is nothing short of remarkable. And something which makes true Arsenal supporters very proud indeed.
I suggest anyone who believes that winning trophies is the be-all and end-all of a football club’s existence should take their allegiance elsewhere. And please don’t come crawling back when nouveau-riche club you choose gets sold by its bored owners and ends up insolvent and wound up.
Or just be patient. We’d all like to win trophies. So would all 92 of the clubs in the FA’s 4 divisions. But 89 or 90 of them have been less successful than Arsenal for longer than most on this blog have supported the club.
It’s not a level playing field currently, and that is what weighs most heavily against us. But that doesn’t mean we should sell out. I’d rather support a club with Arsenal’s integrity than win baubles to decorate some billionaire’s office.
Öskar
And it starts- defending our proud history from beyond 10 years ago and our self sustaining top 4 model.
That took about 2 days less than expected.
Congratulations to all those expecting nothing less than A top 4 finish.
You must be so proud and pleased that arsene has delivered your wish.
It is now official – arsenes lowering i expectations has been fulfilled.
We should throw a paltry for him right now and invite mourinho and mark hughes.
They will congratulate him on his self sustaining model.
OTD: Well said!
Otd:
Current Premiership clubs that have won the Premiership/old First Division more times than Arsenal: 2;
Current Premiership clubs that have won the Premiership/old First Division, but fewer times than Arsenal: 8;
Current Premiership clubs that have never won the Premiership/old First Division: 9.
Arsenal’s history speaks for itself, Aussie. It only requires defending from those with no sense of history. Unfortunately there are rather a lot of them.
We don’t expect to finish top 4 every year as a matter of right, but we do hope to as a result of excellence on the field. Winning a trophy would be a bonus to be proud of, but without a level playing field the odds against that happening are overwhelming and we don’t get our knickers twisted when they evade us. Instead we remain quietly chuffed about always being in contention regardless the odds and hope for better things in the future.
We’ve had our great days in the past (within living memory of even the youngest here) and since these things tend to go in cycles we expect to see them again. Personally I have no intention of dying before Arsenal wins the CL which, if that wish is to be fulfilled, better happen in the next 20 years! I am in for the long haul and remain supremely confident.
Öskar
Oh, and win, lose or draw we also play more attractive football than most, and entertaining the fans is at least as important as cups in the cupboard, imo.
Öskar
OTD: I hope Arsenal win the CL well before your, “Drink by (date)”!
Cheers!
Oskar- thanks for the history lesson.
Enthral long and full of nostalgia and great stats.
Here’s a stat for you to ponder – how many managers in any business in any business category get $8+mil plus bonuses and do not hit a single target and are still employed by the same company.
Maybe all those with no sense of history would like to see some current history get written.
What is so wrong with that.
ECG raise a valid point above – arsene and arsenal look scared to lose which is why it looks like we choke at every big opportunity to win.
Oskar – I guess if ou were entertained during the stoke match we have different standards of attractive football, or do you not count games in 2014.
so mad right now. we need characters in this team. not poseurs.
when the going gets tough the whole team hides. from the manager downwards.
Ok rant over. Have to get on with my life. I dont earn 50K per week to go through the motions.
S’ppose 59 points from 28 games and being > 2 points per game is still bloody good in the era of the sheikhs and the oligarchs. Would have taken it back in august, old cliche but true. The problem is le Boss has f*cked up large in 2 of the last 3 games. Terrible selection blindspots at a bad time. Giroud, we know, would have buried the BM pen and, incidentally, the promising young Sanogo scooping the golden shot at team redemption over the bar will serve as a wake up call for Wenger on that particular hobbyhorse he’s all excited about. But yesterday ? I knew he’d “punish” Flamini for breaking ranks and giving out too much v Bayern. Dressing room harmony, spirit and all that. He (Flamini) overdid it in fact, but especially so for the Wenger way. And I am aware that him plus Arteta isn’t right for all games. But for this one Flamini was perfect ; Whelan, N’Zonzi, a filthy Charlie Adam as it happened….we walked into it, without our one guy perfect for the trench warfare. Add to that…zero pace. We need to have one or both of Ox and Gnabry, especially against slowish opponents and its a no brainer with Theo out, in my opinion anyway. He obviously thought we could do a Barcelona on Stoke and really bury the Potteries demons from down the years. That’s a bit arrogant, if I’m right, and called getting carried away after Sunderland. Plus it totally goes against how we’ve done the business this year away to West Ham, Newcastle, Cardiff, etc. Selection has to be spot on at this time of year. Here’s hoping he gets it right next 3 massive games. And, yes, that will mean many people’s poster boy one JW on the bench. He’s just lost at sea right now. Oh, and by the way, i’m a Wenger fan..always…but jesus…
@Aussie
We were shit yesterday, I think everyone is in agreement on that point.
I don’t understand this seemingly pathological need to trumpet the triumph of your pessimism (sorry – “realism”) after each bad result. People aren’t morons because they have a bit of optimism, and it’s deeply tedious to have to slog through all this point scoring after a defeat. We lost, we all feel like shit about it.
Good luck with your aim of getting the manager fired. I’m sure it’ll make you feel a lot better the day he eventually leaves. For what it’s worth, I think he got the team selection all wrong yesterday and the subs were too late – pop the champagne corks.
Oh, and you’re misquoting Einstein, which I suppose also serves as a pretty handy “definition of stupidity”.
On to the next game.
COYG
@296
How on earth do you know he’s punishing Flamini for shouting too much vs Bayern?
Is it possible that maybe he feels Flamini can’t play 3 games in 10 days and was resting him, Ozil and Ox for the two games he felt would be toughest? I thought the starting XI was wrong, but isn’t it enough to say “he got it wrong”? Do we need to make up insidious prejudices which caused him to do so?
Scores?
No
Wow! That was some culling and then some more.
Still get pissed off just thinking of the game, haven’t read any papers or done any back-drinking and not likely to for another while. It was a shit performance from start to finish, by far the most hurtful loss of the season for me. Yes, worse than City or Liverpool. We could have started the Ox or Gnabry or whatever but the team we had out there should be capable of far more than one proper shot on goal for 90 minutes.
Bollocks bollocks bollocks.
n7 – your inability to understand my point of view is equally matched by my astonishment at a point of view that suggests our glorious and historical significance as a club is a valid excuse for our performance against stoke and our lack of achievement in the past 8 years.
You may choose to call that point of view half glass full or a seat on the sunny side board.
Why do so-called sunnyside holics on here always resort to “find another club elsewhere” as a response to other supporters questioning a poor performance that has been witnessed before in previous unsuccessful seasons.
Hence the reference to arsene and arsenal making the same mistakes year in year out for the past 8 years.
As vinay rightly said- we have seen how it ends for the past 8 years and its not a good ending.
Our record against stoke at home is a very good example of going to that place with the same type of team and same game plan and coming away with the same poor result at a critical time int he season.
What do you call that – entertaining and attractive and clever.
N7, thanks for asking those questions, they’ve been on my mind since. I’ve also seen people here saying the team were not well prepared for the game, I’d also like to know how they came to this conclusion, did we have less recovery/training sessions than we normally do? Did the team eat a different pre-match meal, Lasagne perphaps? Did Arsene forget to put on his lucky socks? How exactly do these guys know we didn’t prepare well for the game?
Shoots
Well in, mate!
Looking at our recent record and upcoming fixtures it seems like our customary spring deflation is well underway. It’s so reliable you can time the annual bloom of your daffodils by it. No doubt we’ll stumble a bit more, fall out of contention for a week or two, then put an impressive run together to clinch 4th on the last day of the season.
I’ve really enjoyed this season more than any of the last 4 or 5 – it really has stood out – but I’m afraid the final third has an extremely familiar ring it. I’ve been described as “relentlessly positive” but to hold out hope of an improvement in terms of end-of-season results doesn’t feel like an expectation that will be met.
Oh well, better than being a Stoke fan! Onwards friends. Let’s cross our fingers that we turn up for the Everton game! COYG!
@Aussie
A veritable barrage of straw men.
I’ve not told you to find another club. I’ve not suggested anything as a valid excuse for the Stoke performance.
I’m not sure why you felt the need to describe the optimists as “so called sunny siders” when you’re the person who uses that descriptor the most.
I don’t believe a single person has called you out on this thread for “questioning a poor performance”.
Persecution complex all your own.
Lars, you don’t even need to back drink. You’ve summed up perfectly what have been said.
The most hurtfull loss of the season so far. We were shit. Ox should be a starter.
That what happens when you apply the same tactics against two totally different opposition, Sunderland at home and a week later vs Stoke away.
Neither the Ox nor Gnabry started v Sunderland and we had no problems with lack of pace then.
Cheers Cent!
Cheers Lurky.
Porco, out annual spring deflation? Yeah, you mean like in the last two seasons where we made up ten and seven points respectively on Tottenham? Besides, I thought it was November that was supposed to be when we always collapsed. Because that is what the papers told us at the start of the season. I mean, before we had got through November, that is, when it was suddenly December that was our annual breakdown. It then got moved ahead again to the less specific “spring”…
I hope we all now understand why Poldi doesn’t start games more often.
Apologies all, it’s a glum one. >>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>
N7 – i did not say you made the “look for another club” comment.
You wont need to back drink far to find it and you can also enjoy a beautiful and magical recap of our glorious history and some wonderful stats about why we are the greatest club ever and somehow the relevance to the shit house stoke performance.
For what its worth, i do not think a sunnysider is simply one who is optimistic.
The term is applicable and relevant to those who believe in arsenal and arsenals consistent lowering and accpetance of our great clubs expectations.
Which ever way you look at it n7, the team we sent out at stoke should be equally up to the task of beating those thugs, any day of the week.
For me stoke is a truly despicable club and team and the memories of poor ramsey and shawcross is unforgiveable and unforgettable.
If the team cant get pumped for those bunch of pricks, nothing will.
i have to agree with all of what oskar’s saying here, and i’m glad that for the most part everyone on this site doesn’t lose it every time the team has an off day. the problem for me was the absolute toothless display against united at home; i could live with the freak scorelines of the city and the liverpool games, but it’s hard to stomach watching the team dink the ball back and forth between the centerbacks as the game wraps up as if we’re scared to try to win…at home. to me, the aspirations were gone after that game, not so much the liverpool game.
this is getting to be exasperating though. the manager just got everything wrong yesterday, and the players didn’t help him, but what’s worse, it looks like no one’s really interested in winning. and i know all the pundits hyperventilate that city has aguero out, when we have 6 starters or subs out at any given time, to say nothing of arguably our two most important players, ramsey from this season and theo our leading scorer from last season. but none of our players seem to be urging us forward. it was sickening to see the look on Kos’ face when the ref blew for the penalty because that smile of disbelief at his bad luck summed up the club for the last however many years now.
so yes, we’ve been unlucky, and yes, we’re taking the straight and narrow while the oil-doped teams just throw truck loads of money away, but then we have to stop and ask ourselves how do we make excuses for brenden rodgers’ liverpool finishing above us this season? and it’s looking like a fairly good bet at this point. readers on here were thankful that we weren’t in the perennial fight for the fourth spot this year. well, we’re right back in the same spot again. i hate to even go further with this because chelsea will clean out their lousy strikers in the summer, and united and city are also sure to invest millions to say nothing of liverpool.
only thing i can say is that we need some more urgency in the squad, and to sort out our awful, awful injury problem that none of the other top clubs seem to have.
My jjrqceri are nice, sophisticated and the Fashion is terrific. I’ve gotten several compliments.