Gunners Breeze To Expensive Triumph
Mar 8th, 2016 by 'holic
Arsenal made six changes as expected to face Hull City in the FA Cup 5th rd replay. Calum Chambers came in for Hector Bellerin, and there were also recalls for Mathieu Flamini, Joel Campbell, Alex Iwobi, Theo Walcott, and Olivier Giroud, a new father to Evan on Monday.
Walcott, in need of a boost to form and confidence, had the ball in the net as early as the third minute but he was clearly well offside. He then started a move which ended with Iwobe putting Campbell through but the Costa Rican curled his effort wide of the far post.
In the seventeenth minute a sickening clash of heads saw Per Mertesacker and Nick Powell given lengthy treatment for blood injuries. A quiet affair then burst into life and David Ospina produced a fantastic double save before a third Hull effort hit the target but was ruled out for offside. Mertesacker’s inability to deal with the chipped free-kick resulted in his replacement by Nacho Monreal.
Mohamed Elneny was first to see a yellow card for a tug on Meyler who, not for the first time in the contest, somewhat surprisingly crashed rather clumsily to earth. Olivier Giroud followed him into the referee’s book for an unnecessary trip on Davies.
Then a moment that screamed ‘karma’ as Meyler’s horrendous back pass presented Giroud with the goal he so badly needed. Five minutes before half-time the Gunners were ahead.
Hull City 0-1 Arsenal
One almost became two, and from an unlikely source, as Kieran Gibbs thundered a left-foot drive against the Hull crossbar. Hull’s attempted response saw Bruce flash a header wide from an offside position. Arsenal hit the break in front.
The start to the second-half was a painful one for Monreal who was felled by a bad challenge which rightly earned Diame a yellow card. When Maguire flattened Walcott the card was given another airing. The resulting free kick was cleared only as far as Elneny who hit a dipping volley that Jakupovic had to scramble to tip over.
In the 54th minute the alarm bells were ringing as Gabriel limped off to be replaced by Aaron Ramsey. The reshuffle saw Flamini move to right-back and Chambers to centre-half. Diame then tripped Giroud on the edge of the box but received a ticking off rather than a second yellow. Good refereeing by Mike Jones, I thought.
Meyler departed the action to be replaced by the pacy Aluko just before the hour mark. Within minutes he produced a cross from the left that Ospina climbed to grasp out of the cool night air. Shortly afterwards Powell dragged an effort wide as Hull threatened an equaliser.
Hull came closer when Ramsey’s clearing header was a coat of paint away from the far post. The hosts were applying the pressure now and three thousand voices raised a clarion call, “Come on Arsenal”.
Come on we did. Gibbs broke and fed Walcott on the left wing. Theo’s cross took a deflection off Maguire and Giroud moved Evan and earth (sorry about that!) to finish with a subtle volley. His barren spell is now well and truly over, and hopefully Theo will get a lift from his contribution, not his last on the evening.
Hull City 0-2 Arsenal
Sadly as the Gunners celebrated Ramsey limped off, and Jeff Reine-Adelaide became Arsenal’s third substitute with nearly a quarter of the game remaining. The tie was sealed when Campbell played the pass of the night to Walcott who finished for the goal he so badly needed.
Hull City 0-3 Arsenal
As the match limped toward it’s inevitable conclusion Joel Campbell tried his luck with a free-kick from thirty yards, and Iwobi drew a save from Jakupovic. With two minutes remaing Bruce deflected Walcott’s fierce drive inside the near post and, like Giroud, Theo had bagged a welcome brace.
Hull City 0-4 Arsenal
Three thousand weary but happy Gooners made their way home as Watford supporters started the process of buying tickets for the quarter-final tie at the Grove on Sunday. But will tonight have been an expensive on for the Gunners? Will we have four fit defenders at the weekend?
Cheers ‘holics.
165 Responses to “Gunners Breeze To Expensive Triumph”
well, that was a quick shot there, mr. holic…
Breezin’ 😀
Speedy Gonzalez barman here!
Well done sir.
And well done Arsenal.
More work for the physics though.
And those twats with the banner please just fuck off.
From previous drinks…
I see Iwobi and Adelaide getting more games.. the injury list is depressing!
Well Watford next then.. bring them on!
Oh and Elneny still needs more games.. I think he lacks a bit of pace if he is to play deep… and he gets turned too easily. But he’s good going forward!
Play Campbell and Iwobi!
?
Iwobi with a good contribution but my spellchecker says his name should be Iowa.
god bless all here
*chuffed*
?
Elneny is good and will be great.
Mark my words.
@SSY
I certainly do hope so going forward! He needs more games for sure.
😀
Asked about Aaron Ramsey’s injury, Wenger says he has a thigh injury and is “a bit more concerned”.
Per and Gabriel looks ok though.
Another injury of a player not warmed up properly like Theo and Ox at Hillsborough.
A team for Sunday might be
Ospina
Bellerin Chambers Mert Gibbs
Coquelin Elneny
Campbell Ozil Sanchez
Giroud
Subs
Macey Monreal Flamini Walcott Iwobi Welbeck Reine Adelaide
Sorted ! Barca will take care of itself
Elneny ready to step up into AR16’s shoes?
This two straight FA Cup games will feel a bit strange but could propel us all the way to Wembley in the span of a few short days. Come on you Glorious Gunners!!!
ar16 ?
?
aaron ramsey, cba
Just think, if we had not mucked about at home then we would now have 3 less injuries to worry about?
Convincing in the end and hopefully a boost to confidence. No doubt world domination is just around the corner again????
Nice write up sir.
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fatso’s the man’ll like that
*writes song*
Nice summary Guvna.
Rambo will be out for 3-6 weeks though it may have simply been tight rather than a complete pull. There’s a 2 week inter lull after the Everton game that will allow a few recoveries.
baff
bless you
ar16 indeed
When’s Wilshere and Santi coming back?
Santi 2 April
LJW when West Ham visit us next season?
And isn’t Iwobi the dog’s bollocks?
Best to come through since Cesc IMHO.
Iwobi is brilliant, he’ll definitely be needed.. looks like sooner rather than later too!
Please no more injuries!
Iwobi and Campbell excellent I thought, bath. 🙂
Shame I had finished the piece and hit publish as the final whistle blew. The line about 3000 happy Gooners would have read very differently thanks to those banner twats.
Gabriel Hamstring… oh no…!
Iwobi my MOTM today. Both him and Reine-Adelaide are very good at keeping possession and running with the ball, and Iwobi’s passing and vision are advanced for his age. Good combination of strength, skill and attitude.
I thought Elneny played very well, kept his discipline and composure quite well in the second half even in many tight combative situation. Doesn’t dwell on the ball and has an impressive range of forward passing. That volley was impressive and he had scored a few screamers like that for Basel.
All the four goals were good, if the first one a bit fortuitous…but for me the best of the lot was Theo’s typical finish after the Ozil-esque assist from Campbell.
Nice to see Theo and OG looking good.
Iwobi, Iowa, Iota … whatever the spelling, I think Ilovaya!
Most surprising one was Gibbo’s long distance curler that thudded against the bar…don’t ever remember seeing him doing that. Nacho we know has a very good long ranger in him…in a recent interview Arsene said he thinks Nacho will be successful as free-kick expert or something like that.
Hopefully Rambo is back before Everton away. Got to win that to go into the break with optimism.
Guvna- apologies for not thanking you for a lovely piece. Spot on summary .
Wenger acted with a lot of class tonight unlike the BT interviewer who could have let that one pathetic ( and recycled ) banner go. . Those must be away fans who go to every game to get tickets for such a small ground. No wonder my friends who go away say the atmosphere can be poisonous between the two sets of people who go with Arsenal colours on. That is no way to treat a man of that quality …..we won a tricky away tie 4-0 after fielding a weakened team and sustained three injuries. I’m disgusted with those muppets.
Pity most of the away fans can’t see it and chant against it. Best not to try to remove it. Would get messy.
Rambo will be out for 3-6 weeks unless he came off as soon as he felt the tightness. The only game we will miss him is Everton away but then there’s an Interlull to help with the rehab for all our crocks.
Campbell was indeed excellent Guvna. He’s done himself no harm. A keeper imho. Not that kind of keeper.
Great quick write Holic!
Glad to see Theo and OG on the score sheet they certainly needed it for their confidence levels!
I doubt BGF is really injured few days and he should be back to his best, however I’m not so sure about Gabby and Ramsey, just as he started to play well there he goes off injured.
Whenever Ramsey gets injured it’s a six week job possibly because of the problems caused by the horrendous Shawcross maiming he suffered. He is not a quick healer and sadly Gabriel appears another injury prone fella.
Monreal and Chambers weren’t playing against much but did well and I agree about Iwobi and Campbell. Iwobi looks as if he can play right across the three behind the striker. He has two good feet. Campbell has a lovely eye for a pass which we have benefited from several times like we did in Athens .
As bad as he’s been recently, and as pissed off as I’ve been with him, Theo MUST play on Sunday after scoring twice.
Unless we want to throw away the confidence boost that is.
I wonder if our season just turned on that shocking Hull backpass? About time we caught a break. Campbell has that touch of quality.Still Danny, Hector, Sanchez, Ozil not played tonight to bring in.
Hope WBA game is after the international break. Guess it has to be with Barca next week.
Sunday’s team
Ospina
Bellerin, Chambers, Kos, Gibbs
Flamini, Elneny
Campbell, Iwobi, Walcott
Giroud
That’s what you get when Ollie and Theo play together instead of rotating at CF. Took most of the first half to get it going, but it’s still the best strike partnership we have. Never mind the endless criticism of Theo through the drinks, regardless he was playing on his wrong wing (again) and whoever was on the right was decidedly worse for most of the game, but was one of our best according to some?
Iwobi looked good, but still learning the game, El Niño continues to impress me, going backwards and forwards. Cal muddled through, OspinO in excellent form thank goodness and even Gibbs did little wrong.
And a shame, Dr F, that his cracking volley didn’t go in. We score very few from distance, in fact I believe we have scored least goals from outside the area than any other team in the Prem. Any other team that matters anyway.
Interesting to see who plays against Watford. Interesting to see who is fit enough to play! Hopefully Per will just have a headache for a few days and Nacho or Cal to play alongside. With a semi-final at stake (and an almost impossible prospect on Wednesday) I expect to see our strongest side.
Today was our sixth game in 18 days, and we have three more in the next 9 days … 9 successive games at a rate of one every three days! That is TOTALLY RIDICULOUS and unacceptable, imo. Time to reduce the number of teams in the Prem, lose the League Cup (or make it an u-19 event with some older a la Olympics) and perhaps others here have some thoughts?
Not going to happen so long as money rules, but still TOTALLY RIDICULOUS and unacceptable.
Oskar
If anyone deserves to allow themselves a pun or two it’s definitely you guvnor!
Heh, “moved Evan and earth” – brilliant! I love a good pun, me.
Which reminds me, I heard the other day you can’t run in a campsite, you can only ran. That’s because it’s all past tents.
I’m here all night, you’re too kind.
Oskar @ 37: Theo played well in the second half. We all know on his day he can be a decisive player. The problem is the “consistent in patches” mode he gets into. Hope today’s goals will give him the boost he needed for the last stretch.
By the way, what exactly do you have against Joel? This is his first full season for us and by al means he has exceeded expectations. He is only 23 — and as such should not be seen as Theo’s direct competitor, combination of injuries and poor application that kept Theo back from really moving ahead and taking on responsibility as he should — and he has been hard-working, committed and with increasingly convincing quality on display. He scored an excellent goal against Swans, played intelligently today, rotating well with Iwobi and Theo and delivered the pass of the game. He always give you a 6/10 at least…
Dr F @39, it’s the distorted view even on the super HD ultra wide screen antipodeal TV.
🙂
Oskar@37: Joel Campbell was on the right wing and yes, overall he played better than Theo. As Dr. Faustus said, Joel produced the best pass of the game in assisting Theo’s first goal. It would be great if you watched the games objectively, rather than with an agenda.
Theo took his goals well and all credit to him, but there is no need to discredit a player who has been doing very well, in order to praise your favourites. It’s alright to say Joel played well and Theo scored two goals and had an assist. Thus, he played a decisive part in the game. These points are not mutually exclusive. COYG!
Cheers Holic – extra fast without loss of quality.
A satisfactory but can do better performance. The score line flattered us a little but I will take that any day over a loss, particularly in a knock out competition.
Ospina made crucial saves when required and generally the forever switching defence acquitted themselves. Elneny looks a tidy player who could kick on as he gets used to the EPL and Iwobi looks like a youth set up player who could well make the grade. Campbell puts in a shift whenever he plays and certainly is a very useful squad player to keep for next season.
Hopefully our strikers each scoring a brace will bring them out of their stupor and back to level they can produce on the infamous consistent inconsistentcy.
Here’s hoping the injury news will not be too serious.
For mine JC is a flashy player who promises more than he delivers, who made his name on just one excellent WC performance which he failed to repeat in later WC games and hasn’t come close to either since joining us. Yes it was a decent assist today, but hardly Özilian given it was the obvious ball to play and he wasn’t under pressure. What else did he do?
It seems to me that Theo has been played constantly out of position, either at CF (he is NOT a cf, whatever he thinks himself) or on the left in place of Alexis (competing with Özil who always favours the left side), and rarely where he belongs at RW. I presume this is because AW believes he’s more capable of covering the left than JC. And he has clearly been told to do more defending, which he will never be good at. No better than JC who did zero defending today, forever leaving the left open for Hull to attack. The amount of space he gave their LW was criminal.
All of that said I will repeat what I have said continually … that Theo’s best position is as a sub coming on late when the opposition is tired. OR starting when there’s no one else due to injuries. But always ahead of JC, Ox or Rambo at RW. Danny just might be ahead of him at the moment, but he’s not as good a striker as Theo.
Just my opinion of course. 🙂
Oskar
It doesn’t matter who is “better” or “worse” really, it’s about how well they play when they get picked. Campbell may be a more limited player in many ways but you just don’t see Theo do it enough.
That finish tonight was what he should be doing far more often, but too often he does absolutely nothing. At all.
And I’m a fan.
Oskar @ 43: Subjective opinions about who has more match winning potential etc. is a great debate, but many of the factual statements you make are not objectively accurate.
Joel first came to notice as a teen-ager in a friendly against Spain, where he had the better of Puyol at the peak of his power. In all his loan spells he had progressively improved, and was impressive (in the context of the Greek league) when playing for Olympiacos.
He had a decent world cup, playing in a very hard-working lone striker role in a team built on hard work, graft and some counter-attacking nous. He played well in all the matches, most importantly he worked extraordinarily hard often as the lone outlet for attack. Him an Ruiz were Costa Rica’s best players. Other than the Uruguay match his second round performance was excellent as well, ending with him scoring in the penalty shoot-out after 120 minutes of non-stop working in grueling conditions.
He is nowhere near the final article. But he has shown a tremendous ability to learn while always playing with full commitment and impressive amount of tactical discipline. He doesn’t quite have Ox’s or Theo’s unpredictability but he doesn’t share their inconsistency either. After the Swans game Arseblog ran the numbers and in that match alone he has more contributions in terms of interceptions, passes, tackles etc. than Theo in his previous three matches combined.
He is anything but flashy, if anything plays well within himself. He should not be in starting eleven for a PL or CL winning side, but he is a reliable squad player to have and all the signs are promising for a 23 years old.
And thankfully, he doesn’t break down every few weeks.
Put him in his correct position regularly, Cynic, and perhaps he’ll feel more at home and help recover his best form, instead of looking like a lost sheep among a pack of wolves. Try JC on the left and see what happens.
Buying Riyad Mahrez or Lucas Moura (both within our financial compass) and having Theo sub for them late would be my ideal, unless we can go really big with my perennial request for Reus to play LW (with Alexis RW) and Hummels to fill the desperate need we have for a world class CD. I just don’t see JC or Ox or Gnabry or whoever being more than second rate fill-ins.
Oskar
As usual,Oskar can’t wait to point out where we are all mistaken.
The most myopic and agenda driven of all drinkers in the bar.
He’ll bite back because he always does.
Utterly pointless to attempt meaningful conversation with him.
An expert on everything it seems……if only we weren’t all so stupid!
Do us a favour Oskar,apply for Wengers job and make this club great again!
It’s not an agenda, IF, it’s an opinion and everyone is entitled to one. And you are welcome to disagree, as you never cease to do while never failing to be rude about it. Why is that, does it make you feel superior?
Oskar
In terms of speed Joel will never be able to match Theo or Ox, in terms of technical ability and vision he has already surpassed them both, he has a trick on him too he can ran at the defenders and can give you a good tackle when defending and he tracks back. For me he a bellwether all around player.
Bellwether = better
bloody iPhone dictionary ?
JC for me all day long, Brings far far more to the team – But how nice it is to win again 🙂 Hopefully we can go ona little run to the seasons end now,
Up The Arse
A fine, if somewhat gray and damp Hull morning. And that must be the smell of victory in the air? Never new that victory had such a fishy tang. Eau de deux year old haddock.
Gentle trundle home in time to take my seat for the FA Cup home win on Sunday. (I feel in my water that the Holic pound is going to be on 2-1) (again 🙂 )
Put him in his correct position regularly, Cynic, and perhaps he’ll feel more at home and help recover his best form
After ten years we still don’t know what that is, and neither does the manager.
Personally I think he can play anywhere along the front three, and has proved he can score goals on the left as well as the right. Logically the left should be better for him because he can cut inside and shoot (Man City etc)
If he had a bit more fire in him I genuinely believe, with his ability to finish when he is on it, that he could be very like Thierry Henry. He has the pace, his finishing reminds me of Henry quite often.
Shame he hasn’t got that fire in the belly. He’d be world class if he did.
As it is he looks tailor-made for Liverpool, and you can’t give a more damning verdict on a player than that.
All in all a very satisfactory night. I just wonder what might have happened had Hull equalised as a result of Rambo’s sliced clearance, fortunately we will never know. Lets hope the goals spur on Feo and the HFB, we need their positive impact in these coming weeks.
Love Iwobi, there are shades of Dennis about his play, he needs to be nurtured.
As for the re-cycled banner, a ridiculous jester when we need absolute unity from the fans as well as the squad and management if we are to get anything from this topsy turvy season.
On to Sunday and Watford, have now got to inform Gooner Kevin that we have rail replacement buses for part of our journey !
COYRs
Iwobi was the best player on the pitch. No sign of nerves and assured in his thinking. Can he sustain this in the league? that is different story but the signs looks promising.
Ramsey’s injury was a huge dampener. Just when you start thinking we should now look to end the season in a flourish, we get this. This does mean coq end elneny will feature in the pivot until either ramsey or santi come back.
Watford home sunday and then Barca. Same team as last night for the cup game? Of course assuming that both Gabriel and Per recover and coq instead of flamini.
Good one holic. An expensive victory but one we early needed for the confidence. It’s incredible what a lack of confidence can do with lads who evidently have so much quality. Hopefully we can take as much as possible from this game, in terms of morale, back to the Emirates for our clash against Watford on Sunday.
Theo has flopped. Period. Could be injury-related I don’t know, even tho straight line speed is still there. One goal was a deflection off Bruce and the other was a Campbell creation. Maybe fate and in-your-face form could serve up some surprises for us here, eg, Nacho and Chambo could well be better than Mert/Gab. Gibbs probably worth playing seeing as he’s fit for a change. Even Kos has been erratic and gets injured once a month, like Ramsey. I say give Iwobe Aaron’s shirt now. JC should definitely start ahead of wonderboy TW14 but not a teacher’s fave is he ? Do not get carried away with last night, it was Hull’s 2nd XI, the scandal is the draw at the Ems. God knows what state we’ll be in for Goodison, could be the end of the usual 4 or 5 match relief bounce (yea, including valiant show at Noucamp). The Manager has to get his selections and rotation right but he will start prioritising FA Cup now probably. Not my way but heyho. Losing interest again rapidly. T’is the time of year.
http://www.standard.co.uk/sport/football/arsenal-squad-held-cleartheair-talks-in-bid-to-save-season-reveals-theo-walcott-a3199251.html
“[The manager] probably knows about it anyway. The manager respects the players’ privacy and what is happening personally among us all. It was a meeting to express how everyone was feeling basically and it worked.”
——————
It hasn’t worked yet… it is working though … keep it up!
If it was “behind closed doors” Theo, why tell everybody about it. What is it about that number no.14 shirt ? Like TH for his comment, you might get a little slap u naughty boy. Shut the f**k up and do some running around pls.
Where are Gnabry and Zelalem?
Nice report thanks, Holic.
It was radio and phone contact only for me last night – and yet to see the highlights, although it didn’t sound like there were many of them in the first half at least.
Still, a win is a win and we needed a win. Any win.
Shock of the night must have been Arsenal players getting injured – Ramsey has finally picked up his thigh / hamstring for 2015/16. Still, we now only have One league game over the next three or four weeks and he was looking a bit jaded.
The lack of a fit centre back at the club should ensure that we go all out attack against Watford on Sunday. CoqNeny to continue in midfield with Joel right, Alexis left and Danny or Giroud up top. Ozil or Iwobi supplying the bullets – what could possibly go wrong ?
I’m predicting, but importantly not betting on, a 14-13 win to The Arsenal.
Actually, Oooooooospinaaaaa has done really well so far. A back four of Bellers, Chambers, Monreal and Gibbs has to be good enough to swat the Hornets. Doesn’t it ?
* chews nails furiously *
And yes, why does it have to be Theo Walcott, yet again, the silly boy, telling us all what HE needs to do.
And why do the ‘senior’ players have their chats in private ? Isn’t everyone involved in the team ? And if Theo regards himself as a senior player he better start acting like one. Sharpish.
Personally, I can think of no better way of creating cliques in the squad than having little seperate, private meetings.
Another strike from the Grim Reaper in 2016.
R.I.P. George Martin, the fifth Beatle.
One goal was a deflection off Bruce and the other was a Campbell creation.
If Ozil had done what Theo did last night we’d still be mopping the jizz up a week from now.
Theo does it and it’s somehow not to his credit.
If you think that first goal was entirely Campbell’s and you want to ignore the finish, that’s entirely up to you.
BJ @63, at least you can’t blame Aaron for that one!
Was BJ@63 the Cause if so id happily go out that way 😉
Heh Chippy@66.
And I bet you still will be, mate!
I would describe myself as a big AW fan, and I was disappointed to see the -ve banner at last night’s game.
But I have to admit that I wouldn’t mind , one day , seeing Walcott getting a kick up the behind from someone like a Diego Simeone..
Barack o ‘ Barman
Gnabry trains with the team but has not made the squad yet and rarely made the West Brom squad yet. And he was out all last season.
Zelalem’s has been on loan with Glasgow Rangers all season. I’m told he looks classy but lacks bottle.
Apparently according to Henry Winter Monreal limped onto the team bus last night and was kicked early on so I suspect he won’t be risked on Saturday. All this stuff about Theo misses the point that he, Ox and Ramsey always get injured together and he is overdue. Frankly if the stories about Guardiola coveting Ox are true I’d bite his hand off if he had in it a cheque for something stupid like £ 30 million. He won’t stay fit long enough to make something of his career.
One day someone will work out what we pay per day to our British core.
Gibbs has stayed fit this season and played well last night but Wilshere has a mega contract and hasn’t kicked a ball this season, Ox is injured again for weeks, Ramsey will inevitably be out for longer than predicted, Theo will croak soon and Welbeck has just got back after being out nine months. It would be hard to make it up
TTG, I hope Theo does not croak, only crocks.
April 24th away at Sunderland. It’s shaping up as the match of the season, if for no other reason than the return of Eboue
http://www.bbc.com/sport/football/35764416
Clear the air talks back in the day when Frank McLintock was Captain were routine – “would you give us the room please Mr Mee?” “certainly skipper”. Is it an urban myth that he once picked up Charlie George by the throat and pinned him to the wall?
Good on Cech, Per, Tommy and Miquel – that’s what senior pros are for.
Countryman , if he didn’t Peter Storey would have .
Anybody else get the slightly sinking feeling that Laurent Blanc might be the guy to take over from Wenger, when the time comes?
PSG dissection of CSKA Chelsea quite delightful but I wonder if we could interest CSKAC in an exchange of Theo for Willian. 😀
What 2 records do Arsenal hold,that are unlikely ever to be beaten. ?
GS54. Unbeaten season? Tenure of manager in the 21st century? The first one is a definite never to be beaten so that couldn’t be it.
Clive,
In 1934 seven Arsenal players represented England in the international v Italy notoriously known as the Battle of Highbury. Straight first pick – no subs in those days. Can’t see that being beaten.
BT8 ,
That’s one.
Uply you old Pensioner you.
I was thinking more recent than 1937. !!!
Rambo 6 weeks ;(
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/football/2016/03/09/arsenal-news-aaron-ramsey-faces-six-weeks-out/?
Now I’ve read it, it could be 6 weeks. Sensationalist headline.
@Clive: Unbeaten season + 3 FA cups in row in a couple months. Is that it?
Thought the telegraph still had standards.
Clive…1934 was even before my time 🙂
More upto date & co-incide with the unbeaten season, that unbeaten run stretched to 49 games, and it took a diving granny shagger to end it.
Bath @ 83 those days long gone – disappeared along with actual telegraphs.
I’m currently in Paphos and intend to visit the House of Dionysus and the
Tombs of the Kings. Have you been and anything special not to miss?
Ttg@33: Gabriel did his hamstring last season. Out for 12 days and missed three games. Injury record before joining Arsenal? Out 2 days and missed one game. Total.
BO’B@60: Zelalem is on loan to Rangers. Gnabry was on loan to WBA but returned last month, having only made three appearances and not getting in even one full game.
Last time we were looking at putting out such a makeshift defence, we made it to the CL final.
Clive: was the other one ‘Arsenal Number One’? It reached No. 46 in the UK singles chart in 2000. Or was that one record that should be broken?
More pertinent Bath is why you are reading anything published by the
Tele in the first place. !!
Matt,
no mate,it is a record we already hold,not one that may happen.
Uply,
The other record i was alluding to was within the past 20 yrs.
Re your visit to Greece,
you might also want to seek out and pay homage at the tomb of
Arsenius Saint Wengerous the 3rd,who rose to prominence just after Jesus rose from the dead.!!
I am surprised at you Ned
The Monks are not renowned for a sense of humour.!!
ttg@69: Back of an envelope calculation: Gibbs, Chambers, Wilshere, Ramsey, Ox, Theo and Welbeck collectively cost £70,000 a day in wages.
Uply@85. Never been. Well jell. Enjoy.
Bloody freezing here.
My knowledge of Greek sites is rudimentary.
They weren’t aware they were displaying any, Clive. 🙂
Is the other record we hold Deck of Cards by Max Bygraves?
We had Cassius Clay beat Henry Cooper on our pitch 21/5/66.
No-one else will ever do that again.
I’m glad you included the word ‘sites’ in your #91, bath!
Oskar
My knowledge of Greek is virtually zero, Oskar.
Mine is entirely zero, bath, although I know a few words of the language.
Oskar
@Clive: only club never to finish below Tottenham in the premiership?
Double nines? Lucky cat, if so.
.
Late again……..
Congrats pimp, going wide but deflected in. They all count the same on the score sheet.
£70,000 a day equates to £25,550,000 a year, Ned. That’s more than Trev pays for his ST!
Tell me you don’t own any Max Bygraves records, Cynic… 🙁
Oskar
My Mum liked Max Bygraves – Tulips from Amsterdam and You Need Hands played to death in my house – and Petula Clark.
You don’t seem to hear of them these days – funny that.
UTA.
Ahhhhhhhh – i luv the smell of hamster jam in the morning.
It sounds like goalkeeper David de Gea could be in for another will-he, won’t-he, tug-of-love between Manchester and Madrid when the transfer window reopens.
De Gea’s girlfriend Edurne Garcia, who is based in the Spanish capital, once described Manchester as “uglier than the back of a fridge”.
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So long De Gea…! She’s not too far off too.
😀
There may or may not be a 45 of Deck of Cards in my house, Oskar.
Uply, It may be a little early but if you are a bird watcher the area of the mosaics is the first landfall of migrants, take your bins with you.
If you have time the most interesting sites in Greek Cyprus are the Troodos painted churches, absolutely stunning and unique. I envy your trip.
You can always do more, but fair do’s this is good. All away tickets for Arsenal supporters next year £26 (new premier league £30 initiative plus further Arsenal £4 discount). Will save Arsenal fan attending all away league games £370.
http://www.arsenal.com/news/news-archive/20160309/arsenal-announce-new-package-for-fans
Clive
Have we solved your riddle yet? We have the unbeaten season. I was thinking we were the only team to give house room to Gus Caesar but that was over twenty years ago. Was it getting to three Cup Finals in four years?
Ned/ OTD
Those stats are truly frightening. Over £25 million a season for blokes who don’t total much more than a season’s worth of games between them.
I’m very worried about Nacho’s injury. I think we have had everyone but Hector injured this season haven’t we?
In his injury update Arsene did not class Nacho as injured. It seems none of the CBs is badly injured and Ramsey has not been fully assessed. Koscielny is being held back for the Nou Camp. Lucky him!
Do you get penalized if you forgo a match? shit, I will love to forgo the damn Barca match and get ready for Everton. We will be tired as hell after all that chasing that would take place. I know wishful thinking, no more injuries please. Same players year in year out getting injured, you just cant make this shit up.
I know that the travelling fans might be upset but with the flurry of important games coming up I would save our best players for the FA cup tie and the Everton game next weekend and I would play only a few of the first choice team on Wednesday. I suspect Hector, Alexis, Ozil, Ospina, Campbell, Gabriel and Nacho would be keen to play in the Nou Camp because of their previous Spanish associations. I would add Chambers, Coquelin, Elneny and Giroud to that group and blood Iwobi and Jeff early in the proceedings.
If anyone thinks Arsene will field a weakened side against Barca, I think they will be sorely disappointed! Having said that I wonder how strong even our best team will be and given our injuries, would not be surprised to see a youngster or two start the match.
First things first….Bring on Watford!
😀
I liked the group we had on field at the end of the game Tuesday. Campbell, Iwobi, and the Jeff in particular moved well with each other; Iwobi’s run straight up to the D into the space vacated by OG dragged up the defender in the middle and led to the channel for Joel to hit Theo. Elneny with the two young guns was a potent, active, and somewhat ball-tricky midfield trio, and they well supported the front three. I also thought Calum had a fine game in the CB position; in addition to his speed, his fluidity on the ball was nice to watch.
As long as we have to play the “best team in the world”, we could do worse than putting that same team out there (but with Hector and Nacho in their right places, and Ozil in for the Jeff). It may lead to disaster (oh no! they might beat us!), but it might lead to a gutty performance, two goals scored to tie the tie, then extra time and a win by our gunners when Ospina saves from the biter after Iwobi sinks our 5th penalty…
I like the cut of your jib, scruz.
Rambo 6 weeks, possibly more according to blogs (reliable filter). 🙁
ugh, bath. i appreciate 116, but 117? that sucks.
elneny, iwobi, and the jeff…sounds like a band name. let’s hope they can play on song!
Scruz,
I like the trend of your argument too.
I won’t see the game because I’m in Cheltenham preparing to lose money the following day and if a Champions League tie against the best team in the world can ever be irrelevant this game is. I said that too when we nearly knocked out Bayern but this is as a game that we probably couldn’t win by three goals even if we had our best team , playing at its best.
You can’t afford to put young , inexperienced lads in like Macey or Willock because it could scar them for life but something tells me that Iwobi, Jeff and Elneny are made of the right stuff and may rise to the occasion. We could also use Flamini because he might as well play somewhere, Arteta if he is fit and Calum Chambers and Gibbs are both very decent players. I see a big improvement in Calum this season and he has a good temperament.
But Watford and Everton are way more important than the game in the Nou Camp
I say play the strongest team available against Barca. Miracles do happen; after all, a team that was all but relegated last year, might win the Premier League this year.
I know it’s not a popular or pragmatic approach, but we should give it a go and see what happens.
Bath gooner @113 and SAG @119,
Couldn’t agree more with you. AW himself feels we have a 5% chance of winning so there is no point in fielding our first eleven against Barca, especially with so many injuries. We should play our A team against Everton and give ourselves a decent chance to stay in the league. There is hardly any time (less than 72 hours) to recover from the Barca game before we play Everton. Interesting to see what AW does.
A sensible article on Wenger. Don’t agree with it completely but it is certainly balanced
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/football/2016/03/08/is-arsene-wenger-guilty-of-crimes-against-arsenal/
ttg, agreed about macey or willock; they’ve not been blooded in the heat of first-team competition, and this will be intense. but what better way to give the chance for the youngsters to raise their game than in the camp nou?
Dortmund 1- totts 0 30 mins, Aubemeyang nets.
Oh God, it’s Jeremy Wilson. I’m surprised he doesn’t use the term “fake eleven” instead of decade.
Andre Marriner to officiate against Watford on Sunday.
Totts being put to sword 0-3.
Always wished we could get Reus. A player that would add some class to our forward line. Big fan of Marco.
Interesting to speculate what would happen if Tottenham had got anything like the injuries we have had this season ( or Citeh or United) They have been completely overrun by Dortmund
I agree with you Impec1 about Reus, he’s a Rolls Royce of a player.
I don’t agree with you about the Nou Camp. Getting a chasing ( and Barca are two levels up from Dortmund) and returning on Thursday morning to play Everton away on the Saturday is folly in the extreme. It would obliterate our league chances, such as they are
i’m with ttg on the barca game. we’ve got the goods in depth, let’s use them. if a miracle occurs, we can regroup and get ready for the next round.
oh, and reus is class. i’d be very interested in him, certainly moreso than in goetze. but i don’t think either are coming our way.
TTG @119
No the question hasn’t been answered.
The unbeaten season was one,but no one has picked the 2nd record we hold that i think is very unlikely to be beaten.
To narrow it down even further.
It happened in the the past 10 yrs.
Spuds got their priorities right tonight.
Rested a lot of their first 11,but still fielded a side that UEFA couldn’t accuse them of throwing the towel in.
They should beat Villa easily on Sunday,and Leicester at home, should flog a very poor Newcastle side.
So we are going to be playing catch up in April,particularly if we beat Watford on Sunday,as the semi final falls on the w/end we are away to the Hammers,which will mean another catch up game to fit in.
Going to have to do it the hard way.
You admit one, Cynic, so will I. The very first record I ever bought was a 1955 78rpm shellac disc of Rose Marie by Slim Whitman. Actually I wasn’t alone, it held the Guinness world record for the longest time at #1 in the UK hit parade for 36 years! Not that I’m excused for that, and I certainly no longer have it.
Oskar
The spuds played only three of the team that faced us last weekend. I will be disgusted if we do the same against Barca. Play to win, please, even if we lose the tie overall.
Oskar
Clive, we had 12 successive away wins in the EPL during 2013. That seems almost a lifetime ago. Is this the one??
Delia – thanks for the information. Hope to go there tomorrow.
Today I went to the World Heritage Site “Tombs of the Kings” – was quite impressive.
Got quite warm by the end of my visit and found an Irish pub almost opposite. Nice Guinness swallowed and at 3.50 eur pint tasted even better 🙂
Pool bossing United 2-0; if not for de Gea, would be 6-0. How Arsenal lost to this United shower is incomprehensible.
or clive, is it the champs league unscored-upon hours that stand at something like 10 1/2 with flams, senderos, kolo, and our old cliché in defense?
Spuds should be ashamed but hey in a way they are doing the right thing and it’s plain and simple tactic to save your best players for something you have a chance of winning. However we are in a different situation all together looks like they have capitulated before the game kicked off.
With 5% of chance I think they youngesters should get the nod with few senior players for the mix, football is a strange game and you never know what you going to get.
We lost to United because they had more urgency in their game and wanted it more than us and there is nothing we can do about it now it still pains me that we looked extra ordinary on the day. We need to bring that hunger to every game from now on and I sincerely hope that will be the case!
COYG!
There’s nothing like a bit of browsing the internet to get some perspective 😉
Mancs are in depressive meltdown right now. Not reached the bottom yet but at least they’ve accepted their fate and while few cling on the hope of a summer clearance followed by a spending spree, many are beginning to realize how hard it is to climb back in the top 4. They’ve understood than no amount of money will get them the best players, the luck of landing Di Maria was a wasted one off. Despair is a mid word, 75% of redcafe members predict a West Ham win, half by 3 or more goals…
Chelski’s comrades are still certain they’ll get straight back in the top 4, it’s owed to them you see. Ramires gone? He was not good enough, there are much better players wanting to join a mid-table club. They’ll get Antonio Conte and with him of course Pogba, Verratti, Lavezzi and a few other top stars that are fed up with playing in the CL. Also Conte’s style is perfectly suited to Chelsea since he is a tactical genius, Mourinho parked the bus, Conte will park the plane! To be a fair a few of them are mindful of FFP and the new stadium so perhaps the quarter billion spending spree they dream of could be in jeopardy, just maybe?
@Bayonne: De Gea is the only reason United are above Liverpool in the table at the moment.
@Steve T: Just read that next season one will have to fork 26 quids to watch an away game. Looks like a good bit of news for a change, doesn’t it?
All we gotta do is replicate that second half against Hull about 16 or 17 more times and we should be done and dusted.
Morning Matt.
The announcement re away ticket prices I think is a big step in the right direction. I would love to know at board level what conversations have and will take place re the subsidy? I have not done an away game this season for several reasons. The maxi one being that you just can’t get tickets.
The point re away ticket prices does raise the question about home prices. My seat is in block 4. My view of the pitch is as if you were directly looking at an area between the six yard box and the penalty spot. In effect I’m directly opposite the away fans. Again, whilst I applaud the decision on away tickets at the moment for a cat a game I will be paying twice as much as an away fan for effectively the same view? So, when the likes of The Chavs are in town their fans will jump on the same tubes to get to the ground but their seat at The Grove will be £30 whilst mine will be £65! On that note I’m one of several that I know who have declined the clubs polite invitation to part with cat B costs to attend the Watford game on Sunday.
Re the mancs and their fans. I’m sure you would not have to trawl for too long to find similar views on our beloved club? The thing perhaps for us to consider is that the mancs are closer to us than we are to Leicester. Perhaps of more concern is the proximity of West Ham?
We may not want to laugh just yet at the plight of others.
That will teach me not to change it back???
GOTCHA !
146 ???
Steve T ,I bet you shout offside once or twice each game.
But your point about away supporters paying less does work the other way with the cheap entrance fees up north for our supporters.
What winds me up the most is that we give away supporters prime positions, yet when you go to Munich ,Milan,Barcelona etc you are placed as far away as possible in the back reaches at the top of the stadium(a lot of stairs for the older supporters)and spread out wide so you can`t generate an atmosphere.
I would like ideally that if we give great spectator positions to away fans ,they should be obliged to reciprecate.
http://www.arsenal.com/news/news-archive/20160310/alexis-i-feel-guilty-if-i-don-t-score
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We need more players with this attitude! Mea Culpa!
Why do we actually give such great seats to away supporters?
BRING BACK THE HOOLIGAN CAGE (oops caps) and stick them in that I say
They are pitchside going backwards in line with the penalty area.You can see them on the television.The one time I visited the Emirates they were a hundred times better placed than me and my boy.When we are placed like that on one of my european awaydays I consider us very fortunate but this only happens at the smaller stadiums unlike the Emirates.
WUIF, I see the away fans precisely where you say but why does Arsenal have a policy of putting them precisely there??
Off the topic but hey …..
http://www.sportskeeda.com/tennis/comic-maria-sharapova-gives-fans-heartache
bt8@153: my guess it is to do with getting away fans out of the stadium and then off the concourse over the bridge and into the nearest rail station in the easiest way for police and stewards.
In injury news, Mertesacker and probably Gabriel available for Watford on Sunday. Kos probably out. Ramsey out for ‘four weeks’. In non-Arsenal injuries time, how many months longer is four weeks than three?
@NB Ned: Lol. Seriously we need Ramsey to be back after the break, without him, Cazorla and Wilshere we’re seriously depleted in midfield.
@Steve: I went to see us play against West Ham a few years back, I had a seat exactly opposed to yours I believe, just next to the WH fans (pretty excited mob I remember, quite a few heated exchanges between fans). The nice part is that everyone around was standing. It’s a nice spot but I agree 65 quids is too much and quite unfair too. At least they won’t increase the prices for another couple of years but still.
Anyone checked Kelechi Nwakali, the Nigerian starlet who just signed for Arsenal?
On youtube (I know…) he looks like a younger Pogba: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TLktX9wGb0M
@Clive: “Tottenham have finished above every team in England apart from Arsenal since Arsene Wenger’s arrival”
http://metro.co.uk/2015/05/05/since-arsene-wenger-has-been-manager-tottenham-have-finished-above-every-team-in-england-apart-from-arsenal-5182278/
I sense some resistance to the idea that we choose a weakened team at Barca. Our situation is very different to the Spuds. Dortmund are a very good side but weaker than Bayern who we beat at home but lost to away. We had a strong team against Barca in the first leg but we are in a hopeless position and we gave a huge game on the Saturday lunchtime after playing in Spain on Wednesday evening. If we were going in on level terms Or with any sort of chance on Wednesday I could understand the willingness to sacrifice our domestic season. I don’t want us to lose 6-0 at Barca with a weakened team but who would remember that if we did the double? While we might not do the double we certainly have no chance if we send our best team to the Nou Camp. We risk, injury, tiredness and for what…certain defeat against the best team in the world…possibly the best forward line there has clever been at club level. So please be realistic and think about the dilemma facing Wenger in sensible terms
Any team that goes into a game thinking “certain defeat” is a team not worth tuppence.
In my opinion.
Therefore I expect a full strength side to start in Spain. If we pick a weak team we have no business being in the Champions League at all.
If anyone is watching Reading v Palace Mike Dean is giving one of the most inept refereeing displays I have seen for a long time.Even by his standards it’s pathetic
Sorry Cynic that’s idealistic rubbish. A team with our injury problems has to prioritise and no one in their right mind could prioritise the Barca game in the circumstances we face. If we didn’t have six first choice players out it might be different.
The team we send out should give it their very best efforts of course
who says we don’t pick our best team? maybe that best team has ozil and alexis, iwobi and coquelin, campbell and giroud? or another mix? my guess is arsene is going to be picking on form and how close people are to the fabled “red line”.
and, agree with ttg@163: the team we send out should give it their very best efforts. of course.
Mike Dean star of the show again. Dearie me. 🙁
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