Speroni Delays The Inevitable
Aug 17th, 2014 by 'holic
A minute left on the clock. It’s 1-1. I turn to the neighbour and say “The last time I left a game early, we won. I’m off to see if it works again.” So I skipped, not quite gazelle like, up the stairs and by the time I hit the bottom of the steps outside the roar from whence I had just come told me that once again I had secured an important triumph for the Arsenal.
That we were in such a position was owed a great deal to defensive determination, and no small amount of time-wasting, by the visitors. Alexis and Mathieu Debuchy once again served notice of a growing understanding on the right hand side in the early stages, but a string of half-chances were scant reward for our early pressure. Jack Wilshere came closest to opening the scoring but he was denied by Speroni, a central figure in the contest.
This being opening day, which we haven’t handled too well in recent years, Palace conjured up a goal from nowhere. A near post corner was glanced home by Hangeland, who had got the run on Laurent Koscielny. Some more work to be done, Bouldy, if we are to persist with zonal marking. Ten minutes to the break. Could we get back in it?
Thankfully the answer was in the affirmative, Kos himself getting on the end of an Alexis free-kick and contorting himself to make the required headed finish. Almost the final act of the half it ensured a positive reaction from the home support at the whistle.
The second-half continued in much the same vein. Palace were defending in numbers and in depth and with Speroni ensuring the clock was ticking away. Kieran Gibbs signalled to the bench that he was unfit to continue. Nacho Monreal was the obvious replacement. Yaya Sanogo, who had endured a difficult afternoon was next to go and Olivier Giroud offered a different threat. Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain came on for Jack Wilshere and that allowed Santi Cazorla to inject his guile into the central area.
Chances were created down the left as Alexis switched flanks and brought Monreal into the game, and a couple of excellent crosses lacked only a cool finishing touch. Then Puncheon rightly collected a second yellow for a nasty challenge on Monreal. I turned to the neighbour to say… and Aaron Ramsey converted the one opportunity he had all evening in time added on, courtesy of a spill by Speroni. Karma, indeed.
And so back to where the afternoon had started, The Tollington most definitely more full than the Grove. During the course of pre and post match ‘refreshments’, as is always the case, a lot of friends old and new provided chat, laughter, and a feelgood factor never far away. They came from the Netherlands, San Francisco, and Lincoln, or wherever it is Silva lives these days. A positivity is building that certainly wasn’t dampened by a scrappy 2-1 home win courtesy of me taking one for the team.
136 Responses to “Speroni Delays The Inevitable”
*chuckles*
Second…… And a repost from the other drinks…
Well that was emotional. Pissed off and frustrating for 90 minutes and then brighton joy for the rest of the day. For me 90 minutes for the team and important three points, next game please.
Regarding Sanogo, lest give the guy a break, season opener in front of an expecting home crowd, in a game he probably didnt think he would be playing. His performance was not helped by the stray passes from midfield and Palace see með to have two men on the player in possesion for the whole game.
This is a big season for Jack and I think everyone knows that, Jack included. I actually think that he will blossom when Özil returns when defenders will have to guard Özil, Alexis (i want to call him sanchez) and the Welsh Jesus…. This might free Jack considerably. Remember we are the same lot that wanted Ramsey sold 2-3 years ago.
Anyway, have a great day and thank you for the warm welcomes. This will now become my new ritual, arguing at the bar before and after games…. See you lot on tuesday.
Highest spot ever…
Woo hoo.
And I think a big Thank you is in order to Holic for ensuring the win.
Great post Holic!
Better games to come I’m sure! Glad you had a good day with the others!
…and please don’t talk to me about leaving the game early 🙂
No rant today then!
LeRant.
Ooops!
Thought I was on LeGrove.
Great 3 points well done lads,as for the holic pound I put a tenner on 5 nil and the wife had a good chuckle at my expense on the way back from the bookies saying she loved my optimism!
howdy ‘holic
this place must be a great hot house for gooner bloggers
putting themselves out on loan for a season
finding their blogging feet
bit shakey on their legs
nappy full
staggering tippy toed to arsene with his outstretched arms
you should be very proud ‘holic
yer posts and everyone’s drinks
are bloody brilliant
week in week out
oh
and when you post a drink
do you post it through a separate
“I own this gaff” portal
or
do you fill in the wee box at the bottom
like the rest of us
yup
still drunk 🙂
We saw the same game, maestro, and you timed your exit to perfection, just a few things in Footie are sweeter than our team scoring the winning goal against a time wasting ‘keeper in added time.
I posted this after the cut in the last drinks
Good morning all.
Dr F, agreed. But, just a little but 😉 , Ramsey always looks to me like he is going to fall over everytime he sprints, a perfect example was when he pulled off little flick in-between two Benfica players on his way to assisting our first goal he looked like he would fall over but as usual he managed to get there way before the Benfica player who seemed more comfortable and even had enough time to settle down, pick his spot and assist Sanogo.
Steve T @240, you’re right, I had others elsewhere in mind more than I had people in here.
Oskar, heh @ Jack as a striker. Trust me, the moment he gets in the opposition Box the Refs will stop calling those fouls for him. Anyway, that if he doesn’t lose the ball before he gets there, his decision making in tight spaces needs serious work. I expect Arsene to play him on the wings at some point this season like he did with Ramsey earlier.
Ambydex @ 243, Nice one.
LHTG, agree with you on Palace’ tactics, I think the main problem we had yesterday was NOT jack’s decision making, NOT Cazorla’s wayward passes or Sanogo upfront, the main problem was Palace’ 9 men behind the ball always approach and their kick every thing on sight policy, if you add those to teammates who are just getting to know each other on our part, early season rustiness as well as Speroni’s time-wasting which he started even before they scored(Arsene said he made it look like a work of art) you have the perfect recipe to a dull game in which Arsenal will never quite look they’ve got going.
“Oh
and when you post a drink
do you post it through a separate
‘I own this gaffe portal’ ”
Hahaha, I was already smiling reading cba @9 but that part had me laughing out loud. Thanks, cba.
Nice one Guv’nor. Only saw the highlights on MOTD – hardly worth watching after a righteous result now that Hansen has gone – and wasn’t really concentrating.
I’m relaxed about what this means fot the team – it teached me that the team, when only half – baked is capable of beat a poor load of bus-parkers. It would be time to give up if they weren’t.
I’m not blind to the problems that we are now only about three quarters of an injury away from, but I have no desire, or need, to prove my farsightedness by trotting them out (yet again in the case of some) and am more than aware that I am powerless to influence their solution. Failing to follow the, no doubt well-intentioned, advice of our multiply-named, er, friend I am happy to trust The Manager to decide whether those problems are sufficiently pressing to require an immediate solution, and if so, to resolve them.
Meanwhile it’s off to Turkey on Tuesday for the team, where I expect a match against a team of similar quality but more ambition.
COYG
Well out, ‘Holic. Score one for the 12th man.
Hehe cba 🙂
The normal box my friend, filled in as if a mere mortal 😉
awww shitebuckets ‘hol
there’s my magical mystical imaginings
dipped in the dung
you coulda lied fella
kept the dream alive
consider this a tutting at!
cba outdoing himself.
Haha
I gear that we are become too inward-looking and self-obsessed in this bar.
Yes, it is true that the swamp-dwellers managed a “dramatic last-minute winner” yesterday, so it is natural that we should not wish to raise our eyes too far from yesterday’s inevitable events in stoppage time at the Grove.
Let us, however, never forget the shocking events in the lunchtime game where the natural order of things and the immediate return to their pre-ordained place at the head of the table of Manchester Rowdies, headed by everyone’s favourite Dutch uncle, failed to materialise.
The world is a terrible place, my fellow bar-flies.
Never let us forget it.
COYG
I shall be encouraging ‘holic to leave the ground at half time in future
easy done
*points middle distance left*
did innis just fire a gunn ?
“Family outing” prevented me from seeing the match live but after returning from a bicycling/paddling tour of most of the metropolitan area, the wife decreed I had exerted myself enough to turn on the DVR and see the game in retrospect. Not the best performance overall but as AW says we were the only home team to win yesterday so a good win it was. Anyways maestro, my non-presence added to your non-presence in the final minutes must have done the trick. 😉
Come more often and leave even earlier, Holic, it’ll do our goal difference the world of good 🙂
Excellent report on a fine day out. Great to see so many Holics pre and post at the Tolly. Not the finest fare we’ve ever seen served up, but we’re sitting at the top of the league and I’m not complaining. On the evidence of yesterday, Palace will give many a real run for their money again this season.
What a very fine addition to the squad is Calum Chambers. Vermaelen and Kos made me nervous. Kos and Calum? Bring them on. BFG has a challenge on his hands to get his place back 🙂
Fine post, Guvna. I didn’t realise that you had taken one for the team.
’twas a far, far better thing….’
Great to carouse with Holics from far and wide.
We weren’t at our silkiest v Palace, by a long chalk but we kept at it, worked hard and got our just deserts.
Work to be done on the training ground.
Onward.
Thank Holic.
It was an honour and a pleasure sharing a bevvy with you again yesterday. Great to meet so many holics, all friends, old and new.
Will do a backdrink at a later date, for now, a nice warm down tipple or two with Lars, Wind and Tabs here in the Tollie is the order of the day.
Nice point in the post about the Alexis/Debuchy link up on the right. The fullback made a lovely run just missed by a 50 yard pass in the first half that made me smile – I think we might have improved in that position on last season. Nice to see Alexis switching flanks at the end as well. Went looking for the ball and really tried to get us the result. Clearly a wonderful player and I cannot wait to see him and Ozil together.
Now the frustration turned to euphoria has passed and the result looks better and better. It was a tough one early season and we showed some rust. Clear for all to see that Jack, Yaya, and Santi had off days, but I wouldn’t draw conclusions on that for any of them. We might need to scrap and fight our way through the next 13 days. We can start the fours and sixes flowing after that when all our big guns are fit and on form.
Manolas looks like a coup to me. An experienced but young player who can fight his way up a level to a top champions league club just what we need. Add in a striker and maybe a young midfielder to bring along for a season and we are sorted… Cavani looks great on youtube, although I’ve never watched him live and seen much but moments from a player struggling to impose his talent a match. So would be a more skilful Giroud/Sonogo then 😉
Interesting that Flamini left off the bench in favour of Le Coq yesterday. Might he spare us a few quid this season?
Forward
Afternoon Holics
A horrendous journey home , cancelled trains, non existent buses and arriving home after midnight could have been much worse had Rambo not been in the right place at the right time!
We made very hard work of that game. I understand that our possession stats were the highest ever in the PL, but we were totally thwarted in the penalty area, a real lack of penetration in front of goal. Should Arsene have given Campbell a chance up front ?
I accept that the bigger, stronger ,fitter Palace players gave us little room but guile from our attackers was in short supply. We will of course improve our fitness and with the return of Ozil we should look more enterprising. Why Santi was below par is disturbing and Sanogo and Jack have a lot to do to command a regular place in this side.
On the plus side Arteta, Kos, Debuchy, Monreal and in particular young Chambers kept the show on the road. Ramsey was Ramsey and Alexis, who was very closely marked, showed us there will be great times ahead once he has settled down. At the moment he is trying to do too much, we all loved the control off the chest but his crosses were wild and some of his passing was wayward.We will have to wait awhile before we see him at his best.
I voted Palace away fans, at the Ems, the best in the league last season and they gave their team fantastic support yesterday. I’m sure those of you lucky enough to follow the Arsenal on their travels will do likewise.
We need to be on our mettle at Besiktas on Tuesday and may be the Germans, or some of them, will be available next Saturday. We were far from our best but 3 points is all that really matters on the first day of what I hope will be a season to remember, for all the right reasons.
COYRs
A very fair and balanced report. In the previous drinks there was some negativity about opposition with limited expectations and no manager as if we expect all visitors to the Emirates to play attacking total football and leave big gaps to exploit. They are a well- organised team . Ok their time- wasting was annoying but the referee let them get away with it..or did he? Maybe the five minutes at the end took account of it although we only needed thirty seconds of it. Anyway I think we should get real. There will be a lot of games like this at our place this season. I suggest we get used to it.
There was also very decent backing for Sanogo which was right in terms of our wishing him well but I was commenting on my perception of him as a back- up striker who might have to play half a season on his own( and have you seen his injury record?). His is not a case of ‘ he will get better if we play him.’ He needs to go on loan and get first team football somewhere else and hopefully come back a better player. But as someone who has seen a lot of Arsenal strikers I regret I do not see Sanogo being on the roll of honour in years to come as one of our great forwards. No other top side in Europe would have him near the team at the moment. Neither should we- Bendtner lite in my opinion.
Fair comments all, Delia. Thank you.
BtM and Bath, I think I will be taking the neighbour’s advice and leaving at half-time in future. I shall be asking Arsene for an improved contract as clearly I am the key to us winning anything 🙂
A very enjoyable review holic, good stuff and it was a pleasure to see you yesterday.
I’m gonna formulate my thoughts on the game & the day later on, enjoying a lazy Super Sunday in the Tollie with Lars, his mate Martin, H2H & tabs 🙂
Heh for The Neighbour @ 19 😆
@28, recommend you bypass Arsene and go straight to Gazidis. If you need an ‘agent’ to do the tough rough stuff and lay the foundations for a super-rich deal, let me know 🙂 Even Real Madrid don’t have this piece of magicianship in their toolbox.
For a team that was completely nuked by exiting talent during the summer, Southampton looked mighty impressive at Liverpool today. Their academy and talent spotters are amongst the very best. They had enough chances to win (more than Liverpool) and should certainly have gone home with at least a point. It’s a competitive league.
Htm zi agree Re Southampton. Joe an is a canny manager.
Interesting to note how a Citeh side looking suspiciously similar to the one that played us last week is being praised for its strength in depth. What did they say last week?
Ooooh, Eduardo Vargas on loan. Sounds like a Wenger move. Or is it just two plus two equals Alexis’s mate?
#WhereMeManolas
Sorry BTM- my first sentence should read
Htm- I agree Re Southampton. Keenan is a canny manager.
Never trust the spell check on a iPad!
Interesting that so many players are now linked with us.. Rabiot now too. The times they are a-changing!
😀
Eduardo Vargas has a very poor goal scoring record in Europe. I think we can do much better
“Super Sunday in the Tollie with Lars, his mate Martin, H2H & tabs”
Wind, I foresee only a banging headache for you in the morning, my young friend. Save yourself 😉
Good to see you all again yesterday 🙂
“holic – hats off to your selflessness. Your quick thinking and dedication averted a genuine crisis.
Well played sir.
Re: Pangloss @18. Now that the season is started, these Manchester Uniturd losses can’t come fast enough. 🙂
Btm
It still went wrong.
I got your name and Koeman’s wrong. Who said Apple shares were a good buy. Profuse apologies.
Heh ‘holic, reading those words has just caused a minor spike in my temples! “Little bit foreboding…” as Arsène might say, good thing I’m on my way home haha 😉
The sentiment is shared my friend, cheers 🙂
Nice one, Holic.
Great to see everyone again yesterday. The pain killers required to keep me in my seat for almost two hours meant nothing stronger than orange juice for me, but the spirit of the Tollie garden remains the same.
We rest assured, Holic, that although you may leave the game early, the same will never be said of The Tollie. 😉
Safe trips to all those with homeward journeys still to come.
In truth, the quality of the football was a disappointment after all the super optimism that preceded it, but Debuchy looked a fine replacement for Sagna, Alexis showed glimpses but needs time to adjust to the constant, rapid closing down of the Premier League, and Calum Chambers – just, Wow! What a debut at 19 years of age – or any other age for that matter.
Evening, all.
It was a pleasure speaking to and seeing most of the regulars in the Tollie yesterday via Skype. At some points during the call I was too excited to speak coherent English, the buzz and bouncy atmosphere in there got through to me.
Special thanks to Wind for showing me round the place and making sure I said hi to every ‘holic present.
Hopefully I will be there in the flesh soon.
It was good to see you Cent. Look forward to your physical presence.
Hi Cent,
Was wondering why I couldn’t hear you at all yesterday before Wind pointed out you were only going to his headphones !
Plus I hadn’t heard him say it was you either when he first showed me the picture !
Good to see you, anyway – sorry I probably made no sense – you couldn’t hear yourself shout in there yesterday. 😉
Cheers, Bath.
No worries, Trev. 😀
Don’t sweat it Cent 🙂
Wind, 😉
The day started, believe it or not, with a 2 mile run after 3-4 hours of sleep. “On a matchday?” I hear you say? “With pints to be downed later?” Indeed, my recent regular routine is hard to break out of, even on a day that promised so much, for Premier League football was returning to these shores, and it may have been the excitement at that fact that kept me awake so long into the early hours.
Run completed, evidence of physical exertion washed away, I headed out to North London to meet H2H, but not before ingesting one of London’s finest pies at Piebury Corner. I’m not confessing to be a Suarez fanatic or anything of the like, but that ‘Dennis Bergkamp’ with roast potatoes and gravy, went down well. Tragedy was not too far away though, my relatively new Arsenal scarf, taken off my neck and placed away from the scene of the demolition to avoid any potential staining was unknowingly and accidentally splattered with the Piebury gravy, both on the red and… the white. I only realised when I picked it up to wrap it around my neck. After taking a moment to lament & then recover from said lamentation, it was onto the Tollie, to sup the 1st pint of the day and join H2H in watching the 1st game of the day.
The holics began to join us soon after, Lars with ‘the wallet’ with ‘holic arriving slightly later. One of my personal highlights of the day, as he has already alluded to in the drinks, was skyping with Cent and enabling him to ‘meet’ the regulars and give him a tour of the Tollie. When tabs, snowy, bath, BtM, TS and Trev appeared later, the technological trick was repeated in the beer garden of choice. It was too loud to hear Cent over loudspeaker so I had my headphones on & acted as the verbal go between for what he’d say and what the holics would say, but faces were put to names from approximately 3,934 miles away, and if that’s not a victory for the advent of modern technology, I don’t know what is.
More holics in Popsie and West Stand Tone were also sighted before all too soon, it was time to depart for the Home of Football with H2H. As we walked to the Clock End, he again pointed out more of the visible changes in the immediate area from the time when he lived there to the present day, giving me a 3rd valuable North London history lesson. Turnstile M was entered, the stairs were climbed and after an innocent mistake by me, we took our rightful seats a row lower than the ones we first sat down in 😛
The match started off well, but any hopes of a high scoring victory were dismissed after the first 10 minutes had passed. I’m loathe to admit it, but in the minutes prior to Hangeland’s goal, I had a dark thought in the back of my mind about whether we might have returning to the 2011-2012 vintage of Arsenal for some strange reason. A lot of the passing was off as well from our players, Alexis, Yaya and Jack being some of the main culprits. The simple things were being done badly, and naturally it induced a degree of worrying. The corner that lead to the goal was avoidable in my opinion, and so was the goal itself. From Szczesny’s bad clearance straight to a Palace player to Sanchez letting Hangeland go, and nobody being on the line when the ball was swung in, things could’ve been done better in that instance in my opinion.
But thankfully Sanchez & Koscielny combined to dispel any negative feelings with an excellently headered goal of the back of a great delivery from the Chilean, depriving Crystal Palace of any psychological advantage during the interval. I embraced H2H then the guys to the right of me who I’d been chatting with during more lacklustre parts of the 1st half (let’s call both of them Charlie for both lack of actual names & reasons I’ll elaborate on later), and one of their mates a row below (also Charlie) embraced us so tightly that I thought I was going to pitch forward into the row in front!
Gibbs departed at HT due to injury, Monreal came on, and we came into the 2nd half with more purpose I felt. Balls from our wide players fizzed across the face of goal like an alkali metal across the surface of cold water, and we lacked players making the runs all the way to the goalline to put them in the net. Crystal Palace were sticking tightly to Tony Pubis’ gameplan, Charlie 1, 2 & 3 were sticking what I’ve named them for up their noses off their membership cards/driving licences, to my surprise. I’d never seen something like that happening in the stands before to be perfectly honest. Things were looking bleak (or would that be beak?), but I wasn’t in any doubt that we would win as added time approached, we were in control of the match at that point. Funnily enough, H2H actually called the goal within 2 mins of it going in 😀
Puncheon deservedly getting sent off turned out to be just the thing we needed as we were able to make our numbers count in added time, Aaron Ramsey coming good for us yet again with a vital goal 🙂 I was so vivid during my celebrations that I knocked H2H’s phone 3 rows forward! X_X Luckily he was able to retrieve it without too much trouble & thankfully it wasn’t damaged (use a phone case people.). Full Time came, H2H chatted with the families next to and behind us & high fived the kids as we were leaving, the youngest lad exposed his dad as a Manchester United supporter as he looked on sheepishly and laughter was had by all. The Tollie was rammed packed as we approached, H2H indignantly protested the fact that we had to queue to get in as he was the 1st person in the Tollie on the day, but as sympathetic as Lynn the bouncer was, we still had to queue haha. A short while after and more pints were soon in our hands. Later in the evening as the holics had started to depart, I saw tabs verbally take down Tim Payton (heh), I discussed some choice points with the man afterwards, I got to meet and chat with both the Gooner on the Road + Tim Stillman and his lovely wife-to-be, and as time flew it was soon time to leave.
H2H and I walked up to Finsbury Park to get a bite to eat in one of the chicken and chips shops, kindly paid for by him. I didn’t realise how hungry I was after an approximately 10 hour pub session and we were joined in conversation by a homeless gentleman across the shop, asking for change & advising us on the best chicken burger in the shops at the same time 😕 Soon after, it was time for the two of us to depart. I said my goodbyes to H2H outside & after embracing him, he went off towards his hotel and I went to the bus stop.
I don’t think I realised how tired I was during the whole day, because what followed onwards was the stuff of nightmares at best. My natural predisposition to fall asleep nearly anywhere was helped by the copious amounts of alcohol I’d drank during the day, so I’d get on a bus, and helplessly drift off to sleep… only to be woken up by an annoyed commuter next to me during the journey or a disapproving bus driver when the bus was terminating. A 29 to Trafalgar Square. A 12 to Dulwich Library. Another 12 to Oxford Circus. (Yeah, all the way back where I’d come from and past there. Seriously.) The 453 to Deptford Bridge. Eventually, I gave up and decided to walk part of the way home, & it must’ve been that cold night air that enabled me to stay awake on the final bus I got that night. Ironically, it took me so long to get home, I started a new bus pass on my Oyster card, the cut off point for Oyster card tickets having being passed.
Even in spite of how the night ended, a great day & evening was had in the company of friends old and new, a good result was accrued by the Arsenal and that’s what mattered the most. It’s only a few weeks until I’ll be back for the 2nd leg of our UCL qualifier vs Besiktas JK but I’m already looking forward to seeing the holics in the Tollie and the Arsenal in the Emirates again 🙂
Excellent first review of the season, ‘holic. I can’t believe you left early though, just because it worked once guarantees nothing. I hope that’s not your philosophy in casinos… 😉
To bang a drum I picked up earlier this term I couldn’t help noting that Neuer, Boateng, Lahm, Müller and Götze all turned out for Bayern today (as they did in the German Supercup earlier in the week), with all playing the full 90 minutes except Lahm (subbed after 80). And our three won’t be fit for a CL qualifier on Tuesday? I still say they’re being mollycoddled.
Öskar
Well played, Guvnor. I seem to recall you gave up your season tickets, but given your obvious importance in securing squeaky bum wins, may I suggest we supporters begin a fund to ensure your presence at the Ems on Sep-13, Nov-22, Apr-25 and, for no other reason than to enjoy the ritual humbling of the Tiny Totts, on Sep-27? We would then be guarantied that at worst we don’t give up any points to the mancs and the chavs this season. And no, I’m not about to ask for your bank account number.
Also, to all the…um…mortals who post their evocative game experiences, many thanks for enriching our viewing of the game from distant shores…
Damned right, Oskar, not sure why taking Mertesacker to Turkey is considered the last resort when Koscielny is doubtful and Gibbs is injured, especially since Mertesacker reportedly stays in excellent shape during the off season. Bayern played a friendly against a third division team on Sunday, but still, as you wrote, most played 90 minutes.
Actually, scratch that, Bayern’s game was a cup tie…
I know we have done really good with our transfers this time around. But I just don’t understand why we didn’t get a center back all this while, knowing fully well we were going to sell Vermelaen. Just a little strange to me that we are off to Europe for an important match and we might end up with monrel as a CB, just saying.
SAG – when interpreting AW interviews and reading between the lines of not telling the journos too much, i believe the following maybe close the answer you are seeking, or not.
– diaby was supposed to be fit and not need anyone to fill in for him.
– chambers was purchased as a RB who could fill in for DM or CB duties if required
– AW expects or expected Per and Kos to be back fit and ready ?
– AW expected gibbs to last longer than half a game and not require the services of nacho so early.
– he has expectations for others in the existing squad who are down the pecking order to be used in the CB role ?
You are of course right, it does not make a lot of common sense to be honest.. But injuries once again do not seem to be on our side.
Wind. Epic – as usual. Well done my good gooner.
Always a good read for those of us from shores afar.
And i think Aussie maybe onto something.
Gibbs with no WC action. Should be fully fit. Going out with a hammy … Somewhat unexpected. But thats why we have Nacho. Give the man a chance – hes up to it.
Cheers all.
so if Gibbs is out and Kos is suspect injured at best,
that would mean Nacho will fill need to fill in for Gibbs on the left,
Chambers will stay at CM,
our only options for CB will be
Per to be brought back early
or
the only other possible option could be coquelain ?
Wind – Excellent work on the match report. Looking forward to seeing how it ends (only made it through the first 17 pages of the novella). 🙂
Without any information about the inner working of the club, I’m still guessing that Arsene had a plan to deal with the loss of Verm, but unfortunately either 1) contract details of the new transfer are still being negotiated, 2) the deal is contingent on Arsenal making the CL, or 3) Barca forced his hand early when he was hoping to wait for another week or so and have Per match fit (15 mil for our 3rd CB who is also injured is a hard deal to pass on). Or maybe a combination of all three.
Having both Gibbs and Kos injured in the first week is unfortunate (I wanted to say expected, but am trying to keep the glass half full). Does anyone else think that maybe we need an upgrade on left back? With Gibbs appearing to work the Diaby fitness plan and Monreal not pacy enough to handle the left side when our left midfielder goes missing on defense, maybe we should be upgrading in that area?
Regarding the match, Sanogo, Santi, Jack, Alexis, Rambo, Kos, Debuchy, left back (see above), Arteta, as above.
Chezz – maybe the Aussies in the bar can provide a better narrative of the appropriate time for a walkabout?
Chambers – the young man is a talent and I hope he continues to get the opportunity to grow once we have the BFG back in the lineup.
We did not play well, but on the other hand we are off to our best start in 5 years.
COYG!!!
Another Wind Epic! Nice one, mate.
Sorry to hear about the extended journey but extremely glad to know it was a result of a great day had in the company of friends.
More media hatin today!
We are the only team to have been reported in the media from this weekend as failures. Utd on the other hand described as intending to brush off a ‘momentary blip’.
The fight starts here Gooners!
Victoria Concordia Creset!
Wind – I am sure I spotted you on TV 🙂
Fabulous and interesting long post Wind, feels like I’ve been there on my own.
At least now I know who wrote the script for Titanic the movie 🙂
gravy
alkali metals
charlie and snoozin on the night bus
as usual a crackin good read , Wind
top stuff fella
cheers
🙂
Aussie, I see where you are coming from, but I would expect a transfer like Sanchez to be more dependent on CL qualification. Gibbs is beginning to look more like diaby,this dude can’t stay healthy for nothing, I hope he gets his injury problems behind him. I feel way better when he is there than monrel.
Besiktas is not to be taken lightly, they are focused and our squad is not really up to speed yet. The injuries to our defenders are also worrying…nervous time ahead!
As Arsene said, it’s win at all cost! So hope we don’t pick up another injury before our game against the toffees!
Whatever happened to Manolas or Rabiot… come on get it done!
The critical thing tomorrow is to keep the tie alive. No silly gung-ho forays to win at all costs or to pull a goal back. An away goal or two would be a nice bonus but our priority must be to get a result that allows us to win the tie at home without too much effort or too much pressure.
Homer @ 57, thanks haha, hopefully one day you’ll be writing up your own Emirates odyssey 😉
ecg @ 59, novella! 😆 Haha, thanks man, I hope you enjoy the end 🙂
Cent @ 60, thanks buddy 🙂
KG @ 61, who knows mate 😉
Lurky @ 62, the Titanic movie script? You humble me, but I could only aspire to such lengths of longness haha, thanks man 🙂
cba @ 63, thanks mate, if you hadn’t mentioned the Blackberry a few days back, I wouldn’t have been inspired to type the day up 🙂
bath @ 66, completely agreed, a result and performance similar to last season’s away game vs Fenerbahce would be highly encouraging.
If you read most reviews and bother to hear the so called pundits, Alexis was poor. For the rest who watched the game and remember it was his first game in a new league, then i think he was excellent.
Chambers though MOM for me, excellent and calm, all though the way daily fail is projecting him, the next big hope of England, i think is to early.
Debuchy had a good offensive game but then opposition would have noticed his fallibility defensively when he gets out of position far to often. he needs to be told that his defensive duties come first all though i must confess his crosses were excellent.
Besiktas with more than 70000 fans against us will be a tough test and with news that Per is set to travel, we may just need to play this safe and come away with a draw. Home leg should settle the issue.
Rabiot, Vargas and Manolas latest names to be listed, well who among them can play Dm??? no one as far i see it but then i am not the boss and i sit here and wait. Khedira now available at 8 million, well lets not regret later if he goes to a united or a chelsea or even a spurs.
Sag- Gibbs is one of the best joggers down the tunnel I have seen in my time.
No none does it like him for his measly 80k per week after 45 mins of hard work each season
Vinay, we could sign Ronaldo and Messi and unless they each scored five on their debuts the pundits would be all over them for playing badly. Arsenal has gone from a selling club to a buying club, and that wrecks the narrative of the soap operas that the football shows have become.
re: Besiktas. What Bath said @ 66.
Wind: Exhaustive read. And all that on just a 2-mile run. 🙂
This stuff about Kosc and the BFG is a bit of a worry. Asking for trouble later if we overplay these two on a scant pre-season… The fact that you can be overplaying people after 1 game of the season tells its own story I think, they get injured we have no one else to blame. My beloved BIG Ivan made a hash of this, we always knew we needed a defender with TV leaving, so why wait until we hit a crisis point – after 1 game?
Team tomorrow?
I’d go: Schez, Debuchy, Chambers, BFG, Monreal — Arteta, Flamini — AOC, Rosicky, The Panther — Jimmy Giroud
UTA
Hi All
Not the best performance I have seen from my beloved Arsenal not that I give a flying ______ fill in the space yourselfs.
3 points is 3 points and we have them so who cares, I work with a couple of Palace season ticket holders *True season ticket holders, not like every Chelsea fan in the world who used to be a season ticket holder yet sold square inches of their pitch because they had no money* So I had to listen too how lucky we were, I was quick to point out that we played so badly I could have cried. However I did let them know that they would have had to leave thier half of the pitch to score and 11 men behind the ball doesnt make for good watching but we won so again who cares.
Besiktas next and I think we will see more gaps to explore fingers crossed so onwards and upwards.
COYG`SSSSSSSSS
Wind
if my selfish goading
sparked yer typin’ fingers into action
i’m chuffed
always a well written funny immersive read
decent thing ye did for Cent too
good sorts in here , landlord 🙂
in a similar blaaa
in the Tollie
i’m hopin’ ye all
use yer ‘holic nicknames
not yer real names
when talkin’ to one another
mind you
having said that
i always thought
trev and joe
were the only ones with made up nicknames here
😉
yours
Mr. C.B. Arsed
I tried, cba, but noone believed me 😉
Hi holics.
Three times now, within the mere space of 72 hours, the Goonerholic has managed to shock me!
#1 On Arsecast, he proclaims he is surprised that Arteta was chosen as captain.
#2 He readily admits (again!) that he left our match EARLY.
#3 On twitter he RT”s a pic of Piers Morgan! (after admonishing his followers not to RT ‘him’)
Truly don’t know how many more ‘surprises’ my poor ticker can take ; But I’m more than willing to take a gamble 🙂
Now Wind, before I tackle (love football puns, me) your epic experience…
Delia, you never fail to grab my attention. You are of a select group who is qualified to give the team, ‘The Halftime Talk’ 😉
Trev, It has been my experience that knee surgery takes longer to recover than hip replacement. Yet you are always so positive! xx
76
trev (knée liam brady)
nö?
😉
.
hope yer well fella
whatever yer name is
🙂
.
howdy
nurse abb
hope yer well as well 😉
After almost three weeks at Arsenal and one game in anger, Shad Forsythe’s influence is already being felt as Arsenal manages to squeeze out three and a half games out of four defenders – heh heh heh, couldn’t resist given the slightly premature overhyping from some quarters (his four fitness pillars of “mindset, nutrition, movement, and recovery” being such a vast improvement over the previous pillars of alcohol-induced befuddlement, pork pies, marathon PlayStation sessions, and hitting the bars)…
Wind,
Your Oyster card expired while you were travelling home on the bus ?
My passport ran out while I was reading the report !
So H2H was surprised to note that horses were no longer pulling the cars around Highbury, smog no longer descends at dusk, and Arsenal shirts now have writing all over them. 😉
A good man is H2H, and it would be interesting to know what had really changed in his Highbury 2 History tour.
I will be taking one very good piece of advice from your report though, and that is to make sure I grab the nearest pair of Charlies whenever we score in future.
Good stuff though, Wind. 😉
trev
was the Noone that believed you , Peter ?
gullible fella Herman
doesn’t get out much
🙂
Stromberg,
There were quite a few new stretches in evidence in the warm-up on Saturday, designed, I read, to more closely mimic game situations. They did not, however, seem to reproduce those contortions on the move, which I found a bit surprising, and the jogs and sprints looked largely familiar.
As, it’s a shame to say, did Kieron Gibbs’ exit with a hamstring strain. As far as I recall, he hadn’t been anywhere near the ball, in the second half, before he went off.
If he was carrying the injury at half-time, he shouldn’t have come back out. If he wasn’t, it’s all a bit worrying.
Never mind Shad, maybe we should give Bruce Forsythe a try – he can still dance ok. 😉
(Just kidding – before anyone jumps on me). 😉
Heh! cba. 🙂
Cheers, Nursie. 😉
You have to stay that way when you wake up after a six hour operation and your leg looks like an exploded beetroot pie !
There were times, abb ……… 😉
Oh cba, Every Monday, we should be so lucky to have you around! ♥
Wind, How is it you can make me misty eyed one second, and chuckling the next. Like other far away holics, have said, thanks for taking us along xx
86
*blushes*
*shuffles awkwardly in own feet*
*offers hearty handshake*
😉
cheers nurse abb
🙂
Trev, a nurse at work (she’s only 40!) had her knee done 5 months ago. She’s now facing another operation 🙁 I don’t like taking care of knees. That horrible machine we use to increase their ROM. Pure torture. I sincerely hope you have a much better outcome xx
cba, I listened to The Mamas and Poppas’ ‘Monday,Monday’ this morning after work.
I think it would be a real treat, if you came up with your own ode to Monday 😉 You must include your cows, in this ditty! 🙂
abb’s ditty
monday tuesday
cows still shitty
🙂
all they do is moo and eat
and shite
earler today
big shittin’ machine
spray painted her own calf
right square on it’s head
looked like the wee critter
had be picked up
by its back legs
and half dunked in dung
watery dung
wee soul was the only white calf too
cattle
strange people
Trev, I think Gibbs limped off before half-time.
91, Gibbs limped off second Half.
“No matter what it costs.” That’s what AW says about what it means to defeat Besiktas to get into the Champions League.
http://www.bbc.com/sport/0/football/28784340
Implications? Maybe Flamini will be deployed on a kamikaze mission?
Not sure the red card would be worth it though? 😉
The Besiktas ground being under renovation the game will be held at:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Atatürk_Olympic_Stadium
AW says Mertesacker is “willing to play.” Just wondering, What does that imply about the willingness to play of Ozil and Podolski? Of course, this could just be another case of confusion caused by ze English as a Second Language but it’s a fair enough question if you take things at face value.
Willing and able to play might have been closer to what he really meant??
i should point out
and
i’m sure most
don’t need told
i live on a farm
hundreds of years old house
hundreds on top after that
and a hundred more
oldest for bloody miles around
walls several feet wide
but
i am not a farmer
i am in the middle of it
literally
sheep and cattle
ducks and geese
bounce me half door open
source of not inconsiderable amusement
to the real farmer and his missus
both in there 70s but could
batter ye physically and intellectually
they don’t like football though
eejits !!!!
(ye didn’t hear that from me)
😉 seriously !
bt8b,
Flamini may very well have to play a part, can’t see Arteta playing 3 tough games in a week give or take!
Am scaring myself the more I read about Besiktas, time to think good thoughts and hope Kos is substantially fit!
We really need a CB and maybe even left back now that Gibbs is out(for how long?!!) as the games are coming hard and fast…!
@90 CBA
Thought you were aptly describing Liverpool there!
Yet another piece of Evidence : http://www.caughtoffside.com/2014/08/18/liverpool-legend-slams-terrible-arsenal-debutant-alexis-sanchez/
🙂
fleet of foot indeed
gentleman farmer’s goal
knockin in the rebound
of the chicken’s initial
volley off the half door?
Is this a picture of Steve Bould:
a. trying out his skills with a can of vanishing spray
b. about to take a hit of a “controlled substance”
c. celebrating a successful “full-head” close shave
http://e0.365dm.com/12/07/496×259/Wenger-Bould_2800450.jpg?20120723212910
To add a positive note Arsenal have won every single game they have ever played in the qualifiers for the CL. Mind you at 1-0 down against Udinese a couple of years back things got very sweaty. Presumably Besiktas are of similar quality to Fenerbache and we did alright there last season.
I’m confident the lads will take care of business but don’t expect go see Kieran Gibbs before I leave for holiday in October. He’s a very slow healer and lay- offs tend to be very long with him.
“We are not here to take selfies with Arsenal on the pitch, we are here to battle to the end,” Bilic told press ahead of tomorrow’s game
“Don’t expect our players to take selfies with Alexis Sanchez and Arteta, we believe we can qualify and will do everything we can to make it happen..
Them’s fightin words from Bilic!
Up at ’em! 😀
Back home now, had a great weekend in London as always. A very long day at the Tollington with beers and mates new and old with a trip to see us get the three points in the middle of it all. I expected a hard-fought game and that is what we got and the three points were really all that mattered. We can do much, much better but like someone on Twitter said it seems the league has started too soon for almost every team. Neither Liverpool nor Man City impressed in the Sunday games, but I am not going to draw any conclusions from just one game – although I must say that I saw very little in the way ManU played that suggests they have adressed any of the issues that derailed them so completely last season. They still look incredibly soft in the middle of the park and their squad is paper thin. Again, it is just one game but van Gaal has got A LOT of work to do to get ManU back into shape.
Lars,
Methinks we can take Man U out of the equation for top 4, mainly because they can’t seem to close out deals for the top players they need! Good news of course, especially if it means Van Balls leaving at the end of the season! They lose more cash from their sponsors and the downward spiral continues… at least that’s the ideal situation anyway!
Pool looks good(they still can’t defend but they have not lost pace on the counter!) along with the oilers and we can probably add chelski and with us that makes the top 4! That’s my very limited observation from just a single game of course. 🙂
Am hoping to be proven wrong on chelski.. Go BURNLEY!!!!
😀
A reading of the first division results by James Alexander Gordon, who passed away today. The voice of the BBC Word Service for all football fans for two generations.
https://audioboo.fm/boos/451178-james-alexander-gordon-classified-results
We need a win tomorrow, not ifs ands or buts! And hopefully we will defend set pieces better after that wake up call last Saturday. 🙂
bt8b, i can remember listening to james gordon when i first started following arsenal in 1999, every saturday morning to see if they’d won. we’d listen to the bbc for the news, and finish off with him. love his intonation, and still mimic him when reporting scores to my son 🙂
holic, thanks for taking one for the team. we certainly needed it after a somewhat dire, and costly game.
wind, epic post up there above, taking about half the column inches of the entire comments section 🙂 glad you had such a fine day out.
So, cba lives on a farm
And twice a night
He’ll chance his arm,
To get to the pub
Through the piles of shit
Left in the fields
By the cows – so be it !
Filled full of ale
He’ll return in the night,
But the fields now are dark
And his sole source of light,
Is the moon overhead
Or his phone as a torch,
His target, his refuge
His nice dry front porch.
But the cows in the field
Have had other ideas,
They’ve watched this man’s night moves
For several years.
They know every step
That this ol’ drunk will take,
And they’ve planted the route
Full of juicy cow-cake.
“Shit! Bollix! Feck it!
Oh, sweet holy Jeez!
I can’t feckin’ believe it,
It’s up to me knees!”
So goes the cry
At the end of the day,
As the cow-cake from hell
Engulfs cba.
So learn from this folly –
Cow shit has no charm,
And don’t get pissed nightly
If you live on a farm.
😉
Arsene Wenger has confirmed that Kieran Gibbs is facing three weeks on the sidelines while Yaya Sanogo has also picked up a hamstring problem.
——-
I did not know hammies were contagious!
Looks like we are not taking any chances with Besiktas and will wager a defensive signing is on the cards as well.. left back instead of CB?!!
NBN @ 70, heh! 😉
cba @ 74, selfish? Pfft. It was the least I could do, for both you and Cent 🙂
@ 75, funnily enough, it normally is the holic nicknames! Bit of a terror when you’re introduced to someone not on the drinks by your holic nickname 😉 I respond to both easily in the Tollie these days 😛
Trev @ 81, passport!!! 😆 And there I was, trying to be concise… 😉 A good man H2H is indeed, I’d like to know how the Holloway Road has changed from what he knew… Heh, thanks mate 🙂
@ 83, surprised that Gibbs didn’t go off at HT (even though in my match report he did 😉 ), in my opinion he should have. There was a partial collision between him and Alexis around 8 mins when they were both going for the same ball that he landed badly from on his back, that fall could’ve potentially lead to his hamstring injury.
abb @ 86, aww Nursie, it was my pleasure 🙂 xx
Cent @ 91, I thought he limped off at HT as well mate. It’s probably because he was so much less effective, if not invisible in the 2nd half due to the injury that we both thought that he left at HT. If by any chancce I got you mistaken because of that error in my match report, I apologise.
Well in cba for the century (Y)
scruz @ 110, haha, thanks man 🙂
*applauds Trev @ 111* 😆
Trev.. hahahah!
Poetsies… this bar is fulls of ’em! Must be the optimism bubbling at our prospects this time round, breaking out the good stuff too!
Cow pies, cow pats and cow shites,
These are scousers’ delights..
😀
Sanogo ruled out of Besiktas trip as of course is Gibbs. We seem to be cursed by players that are abnormally vulnerable to injury
scruz You are not the only one mimicking his intonation. I do it too but I don’t have anybody around here who understands the reference. RIP to the man who touched so many through the power of his voice.
Kos, Sanogo, Gibbs all out or carrying injuries and we’ve played one game !!
Kos had a great run last season but the other two seem to be perma-crocks. 🙁
bt8b, it’s pretty much the only reason i say “nil” rather than “zero” when reporting scorelines. rest in peace, indeed.
Cesc magic at Burnley. Regret. 🙁
Kos is in the squad, Trev. Sanogo just resting. Reason he started on Saturday was to give Ollie a breather 🙂
Oh, fair enough, BtM.
Kos will need to be careful if he had an inflamed Achilles a week ago.
BtM: on the other Burnley are fecking rank. I haven’t seen such awful defending since… well, since we went to Stamford Bridge last season 🙁
Hope Mesut can do as well as Cesc in that first half …
Vinny @92, thanks for the correction.
No worries, Wind, I genuinely thought Gibbs didn’t make it to half-time. I clearly remember him running(a funny looking run) straight down the tunnel, my first thought was maybe he was pressed and could no longer hold back the shite but immediately I saw Nacho coming on I knew it was an injury.
BB, if I remember correctly then Slaven Billic coached Croatia or Portugal at Euro 2012, right? If that’s right then I remember thinking at the time that he wasn’t fit for the job and he was trying too hard, and failing woefully, to come across as Maureen 2nd coming. I could be wrong though.
We’ll in cba, for the ton!
Lars, glad to know you enjoyed your trip.
Trev, top work @ 111.
The Daily Fail has a competitor. The even more pathetic Daily Express has an online headline about Arsenal stars FIGHTING in training ( their capitals). In reality it is of a light- hearted episode where Rosicky and Giroud have got LJW in a playful headlock.
How utterly pathetic
Spot on Bilic, Cent. After the Euros he got Locomotive Moscow job with little success. Don’t following him since he is in Besiktas, but he is a sort of Maureen wannabe, I agree.
Lots of scared people on twitter about Chelsea I see. Comparing them to Germany, regrets on Fabregas, saying he is better then Ozil, that Costa ten times a player Giroud is.
So, I just dropped by to check the atmosphere in the bar and I am not surprised that it is calm. Let it continue that way.
bt8b @ 108, thanks for posting that. May he rest in peace.
So, an expensively assembled squad of mercenaries is apparently having a good game against a newly promoted side, give me a break.
If we played Burnley with exact same scoreline it would be reported as “only Burnley” and “Arsenal are flat track bullies”.
Last year there was massive wankfest about City, this year its going to be Chelsea love in. British media, at least in my view, is pretty much the worst bunch of jizzrags (copyright H2H) I have had the unfortunate pleasure to encounter through my internet journeys and the constant need of “having a narrative” is one of the main reasons I avoid streams with English commentary at all costs.
@123 – Spot on as always, Lars. as I said! Great to see you at the weekend. Don’t leave it too long before we see you back.
Too true, Eandy. To be fair, though, this Chelsea side does look very, very good, and did so even before they beat a newly promoted side 3-1. 🙂 Much as it bothers me to see Fabregas in Chelsea blue, his ball to Schurrle was no less lovely.
But I said it “bothers” me. It doesn’t make my blood boil. My wife doesn’t need to hide all the kitchen knives or lock the bathroom cupboard. My feeling toward Cesc isn’t “hatred.” Naturally enough, he loved Arsenal and he loved his hometown club Barcelona, but now neither of those clubs need him. So he’s simply playing football as a professional—as most footballers do.
So yes, thanks to all those here who are keeping their cool about it. I’m sure we can expect more moans and groans to the effect of “Fabregas is better than Ozil” every time Cesc plays a particularly good pass or Ozil makes the smallest of errors. So be it.
Meanwhile, cheers Trev for 111. Effortless stuff there. 🙂
Burnley were wide open and contributed to their destruction. Easy to look like a good team against them. Not a good yardstick.
Very good ( although quite critical ) analysis from the interesting DesiGooner:
http://desigunner.wordpress.com/2014/08/18/arsenal-2-1-crystal-palace-match-thoughts-and-individual-analysis/?
Evening all.
Still only see brief glimpses of the game so I’m grateful for a fab write up Holic. Gazelle like???? I’m sure you were very dainty on those dancers. As I remind my two regularly, the older I get the better I was.
Like a few others in the bar I struggle to see how after one game we have two down with muscle problems???? I really don’t get it.
BTM. Cesc can’t be playing for the chavs. You must be mistaken. When his DNA kicked in he said he would never ever play for another side in the premier league.
Tuesday is a massive night for us. We need to ensure we are professional and put up a performance. There is no reason why we should not expect that.
>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>
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Goonerholic: Eat, Sleep, Breathe, Drink, Arsenal