Time To Break The Mourinho Bogey
May 5th, 2017 by 'holic
With all that is going on around him at the moment I doubt Arsene Wenger is overly thrilled to come up against a manager he has yet to beat in a Premier League fixture. The loathsome Mourinho brings what he says will be a squad team to the Grove on Sunday. The situation is not dissimilar to last season’s match at Old Trafford when we got beaten by a below strength United side.
The difference is that, by his own admission, the Arsenal manager knows this is a must-win fixture for his team. Progress to the FA Cup Final is something to savour, but the top four place so cherished in the last nineteen years is at risk of escaping our grasp and United are one of the teams we have to reel in if we are to salvage that consolation.
It looks very much from the pre-match comments as though we will persist with the back three that brought successive victories against Middlesbrough, Manchester City, and Leicester, but was horrifyingly exposed in the North London derby.
If that is the case then Skhodran Mustafi could make an immediate return from injury in the centre of the three enabling Nacho Monreal to return to the left wing-back position he looked to have enjoyed in those three wins. Failing that surely Rob Holding deserves another chance?
There is a problem in the centre of midfield as Granit Xhaka has been ruled out by injury. Mohamed Elneny might enjoy a return alongside Aaron Ramsey, but the boss has utilised Francis Coquelin ahead of the Egyptian international on occasion this season.
With no word of Lucas Perez then a decision needs to be taken about who partners Alexis and Mesut Ozil in the most advanced roles. Olivier Giroud? Theo Walcott? Danny Welbeck? Or perhaps Alex Iwobi on the left with Alexis returning to the centre? Your guess is as good as mine.
As for United, looking good for a place in the Europa League Final, they are definitely without the suspended Fellaini, and the injured Rojo, Ibrahimovic, and Young. They are also likely to rest key players for the home leg of their Europa League semi-final against Celta Vigo. They know that winning that competition guarantees them a Champions League place next season.
The ‘holic pound
A home win would take us to within two points of United with a game in hand, but we also have to overhaul at least one of Manchester City and Liverpool who currently sit third and fourth. Anything less and we will have all but mathematically condemned our top four bid with just four matches left to play. Therefore I have to back that first Wenger win over Mourinho, but regardless of the eleven they put out they will provide determined resistance.
Listeners to the Bergkamp Wonderland podcast this week (see below) will know I am on a hard fought 1-0 win for the Gunners. I’ve taken 15/2 on the bookies second favourite outcome. They are more drawn to a 1-1 scoreline.
There, that’s about as positive as I could be. I will see some of you there on Sunday, hopefully.
Have a good one, ‘holics.
135 Responses to “Time To Break The Mourinho Bogey”
Forget it,Wenger will never end Maureens unbeaten run in the league,the best we can hope for is a draw.
Lanzini pricks marshmen in the 66th minute. One to make a gooner grin?
West Ham should have scored at least two more here.
From previous drinks – I wouldn’t trust Josh Kroenke to negotiate the purchase of an ice cream.
HAHAHHAHAH.. Spuds!
😀
They could and should have been buried in that game.
Brilliant result.
Ha, ha indeed. The best antidote to our blues. Great to see the spuds unravel yet again. Unbelievable.
Thank God for West ham. Someone had to put a stop to the shitty lane crew if we couldn’t do it.
Holic… clock saved for another year
Good old Hammers. It’s funny that the Totts have had their season ruined again by a mid- table rival from London who played for their lives. That’s what happens if you’re that hated.
We could end up with a trophy when the Totts won’t but we’d probably swap our seasons even if we did which underlines why people sneering at our record of CL qualification need to get things in perspective .
As for Sunday I’m going, not looking forward to it remotely. My heart wants us to win but it’s always a struggle against a Mourinho who has his excuses ready already should we lose. My heart says the Holic pound will come in , my head says 1-1.
For those in the bar of an erudite disposition,there is an excellent article on Arsene Wenger by Barney Ronay on the Guardian website.
Cynic@3: I don’t know if this is reflective of Josh Kroenke’s negotiating skills but when he and his sister sold their two-bedroom New York apartment in 2010 that they had bought in 2005 for $2.7 million, they got only $2.5 million for it, having first listed it for $5,000 shy of $3 million. So they lost 7.4% on their purchase price, whereas the average two-bedroom Manhattan apartment fell only 6.2% over the period (there had been the little matter of the global financial crisis between the Kroenke siblings buying the apartment and selling it.)
Clive@10: Interesting read. And rather sad in its way.
Not sure Ronay shouldn’t be deducted erudition points for writing ammoniac regret when the adjective is ammoniacal, and I think he really means unrinoid.
Nice preview H.
Let’s be brutally honest. No one has a clue what will happen on Sunday. Any result is possible. Which Arsenal team will turn up on the day??? Who knows? It’s a far bigger mystery than any of those that ever confronted Scooby and the gang.
What I do know is we will give Maureen bucket loads of stick.
Not sure what my plans are for Sunday yet but hope to catch up with a few of the regulars for a Scoop in the Tollie at some stage.
Enjoy boys and girls.
Delicately phrased preview and optimistically pitched punt, Guvna.
I really, really want Arsene to finally beat the reptile in a PL match but I fear his bus will be parked with the aim to rope a dope with rapid break-outs when we lose possession during our interminable passing across the arc of frustration on the edge of their box. We’ve seen it far, far too often.
I wish I believed that our tactics will change to address this predictable challenge.
Fingers crossed that your bet comes home.
COYG
Great preview Holic!
Well done The Hammers! At least they showed some heat and desire and did what we couldn’t last Sunday! Nothing better to brighten up the mood!
Bring on the Mancs! If plays Nacho as CB I’m going to loose the plot!
Apologies about the spelling mistakes!
I’m sorely tempted to check the result before deciding whether to bother, or not. Watching another losing effort would be ‘death by a thousand cuts’ I’d sooner avoid thank you.
Playing three at the back at home will be suicidal. It makes no fucking sense depleting the defence when defence has been our major problem all season. It’ll simply lead to Manure parking the bus, crowding out our attacks, negating our speedy players, and then having less opposition to bypass with their counters.
Very crafty of Moaninho to say he’s playing a second XI, btw. More pressure for ours, less for his and excuses already fabricated. I’m sure the cunt wants to win this as much as we do. Finishing ahead of Manure this year may not be a great result but there would be some satisfaction in it.
Just win it guys.
Something about the arc of frustration struck my fancy.
and the interminable passing across it.
90 minutes of sending high balls into Giroud, or 90 minutes of AW and SB slurping highballs on the touchline. It has got to be one or the other.
Its about time Wenger beats the so.Since the so came to England,the fm hasn’t beaten him even once.All records are meant to be broken.Spurs are going to finish higher than Arsenal for the 1st time in years.
Similarly I was over the sun,sorry,moon,when WHU beat Spuds.The latter had won 9 games in a row and were confident of making it 10th. The hammers were more direct and aggressive compared to the gunners who put on a tepid show.
I know of no club where the manager can elect to choose his exit.When you consider how top performing managers have been booted out,it makes you wonder whether Wenger is God.
There ist only one God at Arsenal, Mg, and His name ist Dennis.
Yep, blessed be his name.
The only thing he can’t do is fly.
Cheers H!
At least the cheeky cockerernee east end murdering scum did something right for a change.
Meet our new back 4 … https://www.youtube.com/embed/5748lK9HpOg?rel=0
… nothing gets past them!
Might be a while before cusop pops by…
Well, at the risk of being unfriendly
another 22 years will be fine GH.
Chris,
I think three at the back is strengthening the defence because you have three central defenders and have cover if they breach the first two. This of course depends on how and where you deploy your wing backs in a 3-4-3 but the rationale for playing three at the back is to provide extra defensive ballast not less. The problem with our 3-4-3 is that it leaves you a man short in midfield and we don’t have top- quality midfielders who can dominate possession. I like the system if we’re going up against a strong, attacking side.
Saw this on Untold- not their usual sort of chart.
I defer to Ned on these matters but this does make a point.
n PL over last 5 seasons:
It’s Wenger’s record against the top teams in recent years.
Vs Chelsea
P10 W1 D2 L7 = 0.50 PPG (Home P5 W1 D2 L2; Away P5 W0 D0 L5)
Vs Spurs
P10 W3 D4 L3 = 1.3 PPG (Home P5 W2 D3 L0; Away P5 W1 D1 L3)
* Haven’t beaten Spurs in the PL in the last three seasons, since Pochettino arrived.
Vs Liverpool
P10 W3 D4 L3 = 1.3 PPG (Home P5 W2 D2 L1; Away P5 W1 D2 L2)
* Haven’t beaten Liverpool in last two seasons, since Klopp arrived.
Vs City
P10 W2 D5 L3 = 1.1 PPG (Home P5 W1 D3 L1; Away P5 W1 D2 L2)
Vs United
P9 W1 D4 L4 = 0.78 PPG (Home P4 W1 D2 L1; Away P5 W0 D2 L3)
* Since Fergie retired, our record vs struggling United has been P7 W1 D3 D3.
Vs Current Top 5 Over Last 5 Seasons In PL
P49 W10 D19 L20 = 1.00 PPG (Home P24 W7 D12 L5; Away P25 W3 D7 L15)
So the current top 5’s record vs us is P49 W20 D19 L10 = 1.61 P
@TTG.. that’s some crazy stats. Whoa! Horrible and right there lies the reason why we will never win the PL under Wenger ever again.
Northeast England pro-Brexit vote soon to be followed by Northeast England Premexit? It is becoming increasingly likely that the three relegated teams will be Sunderland, Middlesbrough and Hull.
@33. I wonder if there is any connection there between the two events?
Nobody with any sense reads Untold, surely? I just had a quick look and found this
Untold Arsenal’s mission is
1. To support Arsene Wenger in all he does.
So if Arsene Wenger murders half of London…..
End of visit.
I also support Wenger in all he does except to run Arsenal.
Those of you with dirty minds may have noticed the abbreviation Sky are using on the scoreline thing of their League Two broadcast…
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Yvc9vBi53Kk
Cynic
The Untold Nutters are there to remind the rest of us that we are sane but I sometimes read their rubbish or a laugh. I was surprised to find anti- Wenger comments there . I think the anti- Wenger group are called the AAA. I thought they ran athletics.
Bit late to the parade and off topic did anyone watch last nights West Ham match and tell me how Lloris stayed on the pitch after he completely took the WH player out and nowhere near playing the ball
It must that Spurs players can’t be sent off , might be wrong but I think no Spurs has been sent off for 2 years
You can’t put words “spurs” and “player(s)” in the same sentence.
It is sodomy and it is against the law.
TTG@31.
A depressing read although sadly, not surprising.
“the rationale for playing three at the back is to provide extra defensive ballast not less” – TTG #30
Only if the FBs are primarily defensive. As wingbacks they spend a large proportion of their time upfield as wingers (which don’t exist under the system) with the outer 2 of the back 3 spreading themselves to cover providing even less central defence. Wingbacks are prone to getting caught out in counter-attacks. The Barney Ronay Guardian article Clive references in #10 more or less agrees with my view that AW’s 3-at-the-back is more a desperate gamble than a positive strategy.
Months ago I suggested playing an extra CB as a sweeper with a single DMF, and I still think that would be a better option than the set-up Spurs ran rings round. Not to mention it could have prevented Aguero’s breakaway goal in the $iteh game.
I just cant understand why AW has not been in contact with Chris for advice.
Just to be clear- “back three” means three centre backs. With the addition of the two wingbacks (who have an obligation to attack AND defend, this adds up to a five man defence. Which, incidentally is one more than four.
…and when the wingbacks are performing their winger roles the 3 CBs have to spread themselves to cover 4 positions.
For an understanding of 3-at-the-back I recommend this article … https://www.theguardian.com/football/blog/2012/aug/28/football-back-three-manchester-city
…as well as the aforementioned Ronay article which explains how AW has got it wrong.
SV@40: Last time a Spurs player saw red? 2014-15 season. Vlad Chiriches was sent off for a second yellow vs Stoke in May 2015. The previous straight red in the Premiership was Kyle Naughton’s against Stoke in November 2014.
In the Premiership all-time list, Spurs rank 10th with 59 red cards. We are second with 83, three less than Everton.
Chris @45.
As opposed to 2 CBs spreading themselves to cover 4 positions when both our FBs are caught too far upfield when our attack breaks down on the edge of the opposition box and we are faced with a breakout by 4 speedy opponents.
I think we have seen that scenario far too often over the last decade. Every so often Bellerin’s pace helps salvage the situation but far more regularly our 2 CBs have had to face the breakout alone and we have conceded.
I would far rather face the breakout with 2 fellow CBs than with just one.
Simple maths. No matter whether viewed from the northern or southern hemisphere.
The way our FBs have played for years as our width in attack , it’s astonishing that we haven’t introduced a back three long ago.
Our particular problem with the back three is that is exactly that far too often, and we get stretched all over the place. Bellerin in particular is far too attack minded to play that system without a lot of coaching of the five as a unit, and when it has been apparent that coaching is something we just don’t do, a back three/five is only going to work through luck rather than method.
A disciplined back three would work. The play where you like and track back when you feel like it method is doomed to fail.
Cheers Holic !
Good luck with the pound.
We might need a bit of luck with the game.
Personally, not listening to a word Mourinho says about his team.
I already know he’s a poisonous little scumbag. That is all.
Here we go again, rail replacement buses and not a lot to look forward to when you eventually arrive at the Ems . Thank heaven for my travelling companions and the Hemmingford Arms.
With no chance of a CL spot, Sunday football and travel disruption will be the norm next season. I am wondering whether I need to put myself through the mill to watch this team. The prospects for change are bleak.
As for today, it would be great to put Maureen in his place what ever side he might field. Apart from Wembley this side has a terrible record against the top 7 teams in the league and there is nothing to indicate we can reverse that trend this afternoon.
I can also see Hector wanting a move if we persist in playing a back 3. Looks like another redundant shirt for the charity bag,(remember Nasri).
Fed up from King’s Lynn.
Chins up people. It’s revenge day.
Not sure we’ll win by 6, but I’ve got a 6-1 feeling, which will do nicely.
Great stuff, as always Holic.
Cheers.
http://i.imgur.com/SijT7tf.jpg
It’s the wurst, I tells ya!
😀
We’ll put Moaninho in his place!
Up The Arse!
Giroud up front = defeat IMO
@PMI Gooner.. I will have whatever you are drinking. More like a boring ass 0-0 draw. We might even lose the damn game. Not looking forward to the game involving two tired ass coaches..
Holding plays, Bellerin benched, Welbeck up top.
United not as weak as many so-called experts predicted, although they do have a rookie in defence.
Fucking Ramsey starts…
33Cech
16Holding
6Koscielny
18Monreal
15Oxlade-Chamberlain
29Xhaka
8Ramsey
3Gibbs
11Özil
7Sánchez
23Welbeck
Substitutes
5Gabriel
12Giroud
13Ospina
14Walcott
17Iwobi
24Bellerín
34Coquelin
Arsenal
Petr Cech
Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain
Nacho Monreal
Rob Holding
Laurent Koscielny
Kieran Gibbs
Granit Xhaka
Aaron Ramsey
Mesut Özil
Alexis Sanchez
Danny Welbeck
Subs: Ospina, Bellerin, Gabriel, Walcott, Iwobi, Coquelin, Giroud
Why Gibbs?
Gibbs on the left or Gabriel in the middle. What would you choose?
Gabriel and you?
Liverpool drew.
I would have gone with Gabriel as well. I would also have put Sanchez up front though.
5 wins out of 5 needed. It’s a very tall order but not impossible. As long as the chance is there I’ll be getting behind the team and keeping my Tuesdays and Wednesdays free next season. Come on Arsenal don’t let us down this time.
Right behind the team, Barman but being realistic, I am going to keep my Thursdays free too.
Cheers H.
1-0 to The Arsenal. Welbz to score.
Fingers crossed.
UTA
I plonked on Welbeck to score first and Arsenal to win 2-1 at 45/1
I won’t be keeping my Thursdays free even if we are in the Europa League, ksn.
*LIKE*
Great save by De Gea.
Though my interest has been waning over the last 3-4 years, I still find it difficult to miss an Arsenal game, Barman.
Xakha is a brainless sod
Cynic chill out here is a shot of wisniowka!
What is Kos doing there? Totally switched off.
The backpass was junk but Kos was on his holidays there
Indecision between Cech and Kos almost got Rooney in. Terrible defending alround.
Will lull us into a sense of comfort and try to nick a goal with Martial/Rashford’s pace. Our high line defence has been the basis of Mourinho’s dominance over Arsene.
Goodness Ramsey is awful
Welbeck’s missed bicycle kick looks onside…would have been his best ruled out goal… if only he connected.
🙂
Ramsey has made very good runs from midfield and drawn a top top save from De Gea. He is the one causing maximum trouble for their defense and Carrick is busy trying to track him rather than playing through balls forward.
Need to be alert at the back with our high defensive line. Alexis seems to be playing too deep – him and Welbeck could really benefit from the space created by Ramsey’s runs. Big second half coming up.
Xhaka!!! Get in, doesn’t matter how it comes.
Xhaka should shoot more often..!
😀
Welbeck!!!’ 2-0.
Great work and cross by Ox and sweetly connected by Welbeck.
Wrong way round for my bet but who cares.
Ok.. Henceforth De Gea is nicknamed “Crabs” ..he’s great going from left to right and vice versa.. but not the top!
🙂
Ox .. Danny … magic!!
Goal difference may count at the end….better rack up more!
Cynic have a bottle of Wisniowka on me! ?
BB – Another in the top corner would cry out for, “It’s up for Crabs now!”
I’ll settle for a cup of tea and a saucer sized chocolate chip cookie, ATG. Thanks.
Knee up the bumhole for Sanchez there.
Coq on for Xhaka. Hope Coq keeps his game in check and doesn’t do something silly.
Rashford is really quick.
Bellerin on for Welbeck and Giroud on for Ox.
Thats a good one @Cynic.
😀
ha
f
maureen’s fat arse
just took the big one
Finally Wenger gets the better of Moaninho in the league. Great day with both Manure and Pool dropping points.
Never imagined we would play such a tension free, flawless game that we did. Ramsey, Ox, Xhaka and even Gibbs had a good game. Our passing and movement and our defensive covering were excellent and not surpringly, given Manure’s fixture list, we appeared to be the more eager lot. More of the same please in the remaining five games, please.
4 more wins
Welbeck played well, too.
Really liked how we controlled the game after we went up by two goals – good game management, something we neglect when we are a goal or two ahead against lesser sides. It’s always a fantastic feeling to beat the moaning one. He had probably sensed this coming before the game and was consciously playing down the importance of this fixture. Now that he has lost,he has the excuse ready for himself.
Another important facet in today’s victory was the fact that we won despite Alexis having a poor game. Usually when he has an off game,we seem incapable of winning. The performances of Ramsey, Ox and Xhaka were really good, alongwith decent performances from Welbeck (who thundered in the header beautifully), Ozil, Gibbs, Kos and Nacho. Cech also chipped in the saves when needed. Overall a good team performance. Time to build on this in the run up to the Cup final.
Good. Well done Arsenal.
“Never imagined we would play such a tension free, flawless game that we did”
Not actually a surprise, Arsenal do this every time the pressure’s off. Funny that Wenger bangs on about mental strength when it’s the exact opposite that his management has instilled in this and other Arsenal teams before.
Still, nice to finally beat Mourinho. He’ll deny it was important, of course.
So we weren’t better than them according to Moaninho.
Well..I’ll be hoping Celta Vigo will be better than them come thursday… and comprehensively too!
😀
Finally.
Phuq Jose.
Come on Ajax.
Jose did looked phuqed ? today as did his team.
Now it would be hilarious if Celta pull off a sucker punch win against Moaninho…
Great Job Boys! Me wee boy really enjoyed that! Especially after the Spunks’ loss to the Hammers on Friday night! Feck off Mourinho! ?
Now:
1. Top 4 ahead of the two financially-doped Manc clubs □
2. A record breaking FA Cup win against the Chavs □
3. Wenger moves upstairs to become a Board Member & the Director of Football □
4. Leonardo Jardim to become the new head coach in the summer □
5. Kylian Mbappe signed in the summer □
6. Alexis Sanchez signed to a new 4 year contract □
7. Mesut Ozil signed to a new 4 year contract □
Lubbly jubbly! ?
Up the Arse All Day & All Night.
AFCOF.
Celta aren’t that bad… they did beat Barca 4-3. So they are capable of scoring goals.
It’s not a long shot, and Moaninho will rue the day he (mis) prioritised the league.
Moaning C…
Up The Arse!
😀
If that’s your idea of luvly jubbly I’ll stick to tea.
3, 4 and 7 are … yuk.
For me.
Cynic,
Early Grey please! ??
I’ve arrived home from the HOF surpringly buoyant given the ennui I’ve been experiencing recently. Goals change games as they say and that deflection did us a mighty favour . The second goal was excellent and nice for Welbz to score against his old team.
It was a decent team performance and we defended better today. Holding and Nacho supported Kos well.
I thought Ox was MOTM and Ramsey worked very hard. Sanchez and Ozil were our poorest players especially the Chilean who took the wrong option almost every time he had the ball. Nice to enjoy a game in a nearly full stadium. The fans are still being very well- behaved inside the ground. I do hope it can end well
Decent game and all round performance.
Top work from the home support forcing Sky to apologize for all the bad language – even the Utd fans in the bar of my choice were laughing.
Evening all.
Not long in from the game. My planned trip to the Tollie both before and after the game due to family issues. That meant arriving via the Arsenal station for the first time in a long time. Unfortunately as I made the short journey towards the stadium I found myself at the tail end of the ridiculous Wenger out protest. Rarely have I ever felt so embarrassed supporting my team. There could have been no more than 150 spoilt little wankers who had decided that the best way to plan for a game at home against the Mancs was their pathetic little tantrum. I hope that some of those involved read this. If you do then you’re an embarrassing bunch of wankers. When you see grown men waving A4 bits of photocopying paper with ‘Wenger Out’ crudely written on, then you know you are dealing with two bob fuck wits. Support your team and save your opinions for the pub.
The game was a pleasant experience all ends up. It’s the first time I’ve actually seen Holding close up. He seemed comfortable and assured. Overall it was a good, solid team effort. A decent 3 points and if it is to be Arsene’s season then nice at last to get one over the special cunt at long last. I’ve not heard what excuses he has come me out with but I’m sure they will be plentiful.
Good days have been few and far between this season. This was one of the better ones.
Games like this remind me that the team still matters, even if less than it used to. Finding yourself shouting “You absolute dog’s cunt!” at a misplaced pass (sorry Aaron) just before half time is…. funny. Ish.
So Phil Neville thought Sanchez was outstanding today. Ye Gods! Even Keown sang his praises. A lad playing his first league game had him in his pocket . Ridiculous .
We are Arsenal! Phil Neville doesn’t care!
He’s a manc from long way away!
Arsene beat Moanihio at last
He will always be a sour cunt!
Kids please dont read!
Cynic
You need the medicine cabinet where is Lars and his credit card?
TOP Geezer Steve T!
Too right about Sanchez, TTG #116, the kid had him on toast most of the game.
If Danny could score Giroud specials like that more often I’d forgive him being hopeless the other 99 per cent of the time. Same nearly applies for Ox’s assist – if only he didn’t lose the ball so often the rest of the time.
Good luck Xhaka, he needed that one – even if he needed the deflection to get it in the net.
Rambo outstanding today and easily our motm.
But for mine the Manure bench said it all. Moaninho was clearly hoping we’d gift him another win rather than risk his Europey ticket into the CL. Thank Dennis we manage to deny him, cos I couldn’t bear listening to yet another AW rationale for defeat.
What I mean is, we played well enough to beat the Manure team we faced today. But not a lot to get too excited about in the manner of it.
Now let’s see if we can do the same against the Saints on Wednesday, and the same after that against Stoke, Sunderland and Everton.
Sanchez was so deep in the lad’s pocket, he’ll be picking lint out of his hair until Christmas.
A joke spawned by the signs in a 1970s laundrette, if ever there was one.
Chris@ 121.. If we have been doing what we did today all season we won’t be in this shitty situation. Glad we beat them, but expecting us to win the rest of our league Matches? Hmmm I don’t see that happening. Hopefully we can get a couple of wins, which might give us some confidence going to the FA cup final. Really don’t care where we finish this season.
I say lets enjoy the moment it does not happen every day that Arsene beat Moaningone!
I know the season has been off par by a long way….at the end of the day you cant please everyone!
Can I enjoy the win but still be pissed off with the dressing room selfies?
Cynic
If you really care about that sort of thing more than welecome to fella!
😀
A cup of tea and biscuit is on the bar for you! 😀
I do, it smacks of self satisfaction and preening. Win something meaningful, then do it with my blessing.
*munching biscuits*
The only downside to the game this arvo is the fact that Man U can play any 11 on the pitch and still cause us issues as on the other hand Wenger has still not figured it out! 3 points is all that matters for me!
That is why we still a long way away…however….
F………..you Mourinhio! He still has time to take a dig the special one at getting sacked!
Night all….
The only reason to hope for more wins this season is for the wins themselves. I can’t abide another half season of us making up the numbers in the CL then having our gulf in class exposed annually by a team two levels above us in the knockouts.
http://www.bbc.com/sport/football/39839264
..what an utter C…!
Celta to do the trick come thursday and put you in your rightfully deserved place Moaninho.
Hello All.
I am much less serious in my support than I used to be. And I also do not have any expectation of us to challenge for any trophies with our current owners (FA cup runs notwithstanding) Nor do I expect the ownership to change, as they make good money out of us. All of which heavily inform my completely changed hopes and aspirations for the team.
I really hope we start playing Welbeck at CF regularly. He tries really hard, is a team player and a top bloke. I like supporting him. He represents things I think are good for Arsenal. And he is a good player, if not a great one. I also reckon he might become more prolific if he gets his confidence up and goes on a goal streak. Although he might not. He finishes so well sometimes, and so poorly others, which way might his consistency come down on?
If we had a team of Welbecks and Koscielnys then I would be happy to support them every week, even if they aren’t all World Class, or likely to beat the moneyed teams to the title. I’d just like full effort from a team of good players.
If we get anything beyond that then great. But I reckon I’d be setting myself up for disappointment if I expect anything more. My interest in BusinessFootball is shrinking constantly and Arsenal this season have offered so little to counteract that, mainly because they just do not achieve the basic requirements of commitment and effort.
Whoever is in charge next year I would like to see us go back to basics. We have a template. Let’s go back to what works.
1-0 to The Arsenal, anyone?
Nice one GSD 🙂
>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>
A most enjoyable day out. A fine lunch with an old friend, a win over the Portuguese worm by a team that out in a shift. Although we could have been 0-2 down at HT from two defensive gaffes, I thought we shaded the first half.
I’ve never seen a Manure team so badly shaken by going 1-0 down (lucky deflection but the shot was on target and that’s what can happen if you shoot hard and accurately against a massed defence) and the second goal effectively killed them followed by an excellent piece of game management which saw us run out well deserved winners in the end.
It was good to see that we have finally learnt that we can take the sting out of the game and don’t need to take risks to get a third – tho Holding did have a rush of blood taking an extraordinary run into their box. Our defensive work restricted them to a series of well managed corners and a couple of Rooney long distance pot shots that went over.
A good day all round. Extra marks for Rambo (is the real Rambo back?), Ox, Xhaka and Koscielny.