Arsenal Put Chelsea On The Spot To Win Again At Wembley
Aug 6th, 2017 by 'holic
The Gunners went into the Community Shield without Laurent Koscielny, Skhodran Mustafi, Aaron Ramsey, Mesut Ozil, and Alexis. Let’s hope we are able to field a stronger line-up next Friday.
Petr Cech started against his former club behind a back three of Rob Holding, Per Mertesacker, and Nacho Monreal. That was an unchanged back three from the clubs’ previous meeting at Wembley in May. Mohamed Elneny moved into the centre of midfield alongside Granit Xhaka.
Hector Bellerin featured as the right wing-back, and surprisingly Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain was preferred to Sead Kolasinac on the other flank. The front three saw Alex Iwobi as playmaker behind Alexandre Lacazette and Danny Welbeck.
Arsenal made a bright start pressing high up and finding some joy on both flanks. We were close to an opener on six minutes when Iwobi skinned Luiz but his cut-back just evaded the incoming Lacazette. Danny Welbeck’s header a minute later was safely pouched by Courtois. Iwobi played a one-two with Elneny and almost opened up Chelsea’s left flank.
When Azpilicueta hauled down Welbeck as the Arsenal front two broke he earned the first yellow card of the new season, not that it will carry forward. Hector Bellerin was the next when he arrived late on Alonso and Conte waved an imaginary card at Bobby Madley, the referee. Chelsea’s first serious effort came to nought when Batshuayi handled the ball in a vain effort to get the better of Mertesacker. When Fabregas attempted to play Willian in the alert Holding saw the danger and tracked the runner at the expense of a wasted corner.
As the clock clicked round to 22 minutes Welbeck teed up Lacazette who curled a beautiful effort around Cahill onto the post. A deserved goal was denied the Frenchman by inches. Shortly afterwards Alonso escaped with a few words of caution after a dreadful challenge from behind on Lacazette. Arsene Wenger showed a little more class than his opposite number.
Just before the half-hour the Arsenal were forced to re-organise when Mertesacker trudged off with a serious looking blood injury to the forehead inflicted by Cahill’s flying elbow. Mr Madley saw nothing wrong with the challenge. Sead Kolasinac came on to play on the left side of the back three with Monreal switching inside. Pedro was first to test the new set-up and he created a yard to get a shot away that Cech parried to safety.
When Willian took a salmon leap in the penalty area he earned a yellow card. Chelsea were posing more of a threat towards the end of the half and Cech had to race out of his goal at speed to deny Moses. Xhaka spared the goalkeeper’s blushes after a mis-kicked clearance in the last couple of minutes of the half.
There remained enough time for Iwobi to sting the palms of Courtois and Welbeck to blaze the ball high, wide, and not so handsome. Would the Gunners end up regretting not carrying the advantage they had deserved going into the break?
The answer came in the opening minute of the second-half when Moses reacted quickest to Cahill’s knock on from a half-cleared corner to drive the ball past Cech from point-blank range. The first goal is so often decisive in these matches. Yet more sloppy defending shortly afterwards saw Batshuayi draw a goal-line save from Cech.
Chelsea 1-0 Arsenal
Lacazette freed Bellerin down the right as the Arsenal attempted a response but Elneny’s volley went wide of the target. Iwobi’s attempt to send Lacazette clear was too close to Luiz and the threat was nullified. The French striker was looking lively.
Cahill, having taken one centre-half out of the contest, almost repeated the dose as he stuck the nut on his own partner, Luiz. The Brazilian, who himself had one eye on Holding with intent as he climbed, was eventually able to continue.
As the hour mark approached Elneny’s fierce inswinging cross come shot brought a very impressive save out of the alert Courtois underneath the crossbar. Chelsea broke down the right but Holding was again the man to clear the dangerous Willian cross at the near post. The match was becoming an end to end affair and Luiz had to be quick to block Welbeck’s effort from an Oxlade-Chamberlain through ball.
With 25 minutes left on the clock Arsene Wenger made a double substitution. With one eye on Friday Lacazette made way for Olivier Giroud, and surprisingly Iwobi was sacrificed for Theo Walcott, hardly a like for like exchange.
Kolasinac is an interesting prospect. He doesn’t get out of the way of any collisions and both Pedro and Willian learned that the hard way. Chelsea brought on the former Real Madrid striker Morata for a 20 minutes cameo.
In the 75th minute Xhaka’s thunderous piledriver brought another fantastic flying save from Courtois at full stretch in mid air. The Gunners deserved an equaliser for a spirited display. They remained adrift, however. The Chelsea goalkeeper was much quicker to react to goal attempts than he was to take goal kicks.
Pedro’s disgusting scrape down Elneny’s Achilles rightfully earned a red card, and a minute later Giroud and Kolasinac were on the end of a beautiful flighted free-kick from Xhaka which the new boy headed home firmly to equalise. It was no more than Kolasinac and the Gunners deserved.
Chelsea 1-1 Arsenal
With just over three minutes remaining the promising Reiss Nelson, recently promoted to the first-team squad, came on for the hard-working Welbeck. In the first of five added minutes Walcott scuffed an opportunity to snatch a dramatic late winner. A second effort a minute later was better struck but was blocked, and then the same player was denied a third opportunity by a fully stretched Azpilicueta.
The match petered out to an end not befitting a fine contest. A penalty shootout (I should have put the ‘holic pound where I suggested it might be successful in the preview) ensued. Petr Cech won the toss for the choice of ends and took the action to the Arsenal end. The new ABBA system saw Chaill take the first successful kick before The Gunners had two opportunities to take the advantage.
Walcott drilled home the equaliser before Monreal gave us the advantage. It was time for Chelsea to take two, and Courtois blazed his effort into the joyous Arsenal supporters. Morata’s dreadful debut miss meant the Arsenal had two penalties to win the Community Shield. Oxlade-Chamberlain slotted the first, and Olivier Giroud sank Chelsea’s hopes of a season-opening trophy 4-1.
Shoot Out: Chelsea 1-4 Arsenal
Not for the first time the Gunners have hinted at a squad depth to be wary of, but we should once again will be cautious of making too much of this performance in a warm-up match for the new season. The real business starts on Friday, but we could not have made a better impression today. A third win over Chelsea in under a year provides hope for the coming challenge, if not expectation.
Well played the Arsenal, FA Community Shield winners, 2017.
81 Responses to “Arsenal Put Chelsea On The Spot To Win Again At Wembley”
One post one trophy!
Well done!
😀
ABBA!
Sweet Caroline!!!
The Guardian
Arsenal are going to have a lot of fun with Kolasinac. His first touch tends towards the avant-garde, but he is both terrifying and full of conviction
Sort of a footballing Charles Manson then?
We got a tank in Kolasinac.. and he moves well too.
.. and tanks, as we well know, never get out of the way!
😀
We’ll never forget him when he’s gone and it’ll be a case of… *ahem* Tanks for the memories.
Great win and the better team won. We played without Sanchez, Ozil, Kos and Ramsey and still outplayed them at times. Lacazette looks good to score a few this season.
Onto the league now, can’t wait for Friday.
Get a few transfers in and out Wenger and we are good to go.
We’ve had worse days, I suppose…
‘Holic, you’re in mid season form with match report speed!
From beyond the chevrons of the previous post: Chelsea does not look all that impresssive. They are showing that their two titles in the past three seasons was heavily influenced by Costa’s cuntiness, and they will sorely miss that.
The Winners Take It All in new ABBA Penalty Shootout ??
Second trophy on Tottenham’s new home ground already.
Great report in express time Holic.
This was an encouraging performance given we were missing five key players and we really do like Wembley! Nine games in a row we have won there. The Totts will do well to beat that this season.
Kolasinac is something else, a real asset at both ends and Elneny was neat and effective. We need a little more strength in midfield in my view and I hope Wenger can bring it in. The two signings look excellent but I think we need a couple more. But this was encouraging
Elneny!
And it looks like we may arrive at our first game on Friday with four players missing ( two undercooked, two injured) plus Kos suspended . Does any other side regularly start seasons with half their players out?
Excellent report, Guv’nor. Into your stride from the off.
I assume Pedro gets no suspension as a result of his red, as this was a non-competition match. (And I don’t see how anyone can argue it wasn’t a straight red when he raked Elneny down the back of his leg with the ball nowhere near. FA rules say Any player who lunges at an opponent in challenging for the ball from the front, from the side or from behind using one or both legs, with excessive force or endangers the safety of an opponent is guilty of serious foul play. And serious foul play is a straight red.)
And Cahill should get a retrospective red for the elbow into the BFG’s head.
I guess they will use the “non-competition” argument to excuse that one as well.
Still, it was a worthwhile exercise as it re-stirred some proper hatred for the historyless, financially doped, blue corner of west London.
The clash of heads between Cahill and Luiz could have had far worse results than it did and is exactly the kind of challenge that has to become an offence. Sure, players know they have to win, but there has to be a balance struck between “will to win” and a blind, reckless, full-tilt challenge with the head.
There seems to be a pattern developing here – Cahill doesn’t seem terribly bright, does he ? Maybe he’s taking the John Terry role a touch too seriously …..
Excellent write-up, H’ – finally got to reading it.
ned@16, martin tyler was saying yellows don’t count towards the new season, nor a red from two yellows. but a straight red apparently does. if true, that’s 3 games out for pedro; too bad, he’s such a class act /eyeroll.
Cahill is two headed monster with four elbows and way too many knees
Gary & David instant circus
Archaos Unlimited
El que?
Excellent report guvna. The match I saw. A very nice day out in the sunshine, all the better for the unhappy chavs roaming the streets of Wembley after the game. We played well, would have been unlucky to lose and deserved the victory. I have to admit that I found the penalties hilarious. It was clear beforehand that the chavs would need to blast at least one over if we were to win and it was sweet of Courtois to oblige so well.
I really, really like the look of Kolasinac. I am confident that the Panzer tank will become a cult hero for Gooners. Meanwhile Lacazette has a nice first touch, good movement, a nice burst of speed and an eye for goal. Nice effort off the post. He will get plenty of goals this season.
We’re off the stocks. COYG
And Cahill is the England captain. Useless and crude . No wonder England struggle
Excellent report. I preferred the young ladies’ legs on offer at Kingsbarns today over the twenty-two hairier pairs hoofing it around at Wembley. I haven’t seen the match but I don’t think I need to watch it after the superb detail provided here by our barman. Great stuff, Holic. Thanks for the effort.
Hoofing it, BtM? You’ve been watching too much SPL quality product mate. You need at least to watch the BBC highlights in 8 minutes. Hopefully they will give Xhaka’s skills and Kolasinac’s power a decent display – though no doubt Murphy will be whining.
SCG@16: According to the FA’s memorandum for disciplinary procedures, a straight red in a non-competitive match, like the Community Shield, carries a one-match ban from friendlies. The suspension doesn’t apply to league or cup games. Tyler is right that yellows, including second yellows, incur no sanction.
Just heard my headline quoted on the BBC commentary – and I thought it was original – had no commentary where i was watching this adternoon ?
Oh dear, oh dear,
The whining jibes of Lawrenson on co-commentary are back in plentiful supply.
Here’s to another season of shining wit – as Dr Spooner would have said.
??
Excellent match report H
As for Mr Kolasinac,the finest compliment i can pay him is that he would have been the first name on the Ramblers team sheet back in the day.
Built like a brick shithouse,and looks like he could run through one.
The boss has confirmed in his after match prezzer that Ozil and Rambo are definite non starters on Friday,but that Per should be right.
He has a few selection headaches ove rthe next few days.
He also confirmed that several players would be leaving the club before the transfer window closes,as the squad of 33 is far too many.
Going to be an interesting 3 wks.
ned, i trust you and the monks much more than i do martin tyler, with respect to such arcana, and just about anything else. thanks.
The whining jibes of Lawrenson on co-commentary are back in plentiful supply.
With Virgin’s fourth price rise in under two years looming I fear BBC whinge-ometer highlights is all I’m going to be having shortly.
Haven’t heard Lawrenson’s comments, but Stu Robson’s constant sneering on ESPN’s coverage makes me puke.
Not sure how much we can take from this performance. Up to Pedro’s red card we were after all losing to a pretty disappointing chavs side who will plainly miss Costa and will probably struggle if Hazard also goes. There was precious little to enthuse about as far as the Arse who started the game. I mean, if we were going to start without our leading goal scorer was it also necessary to leave our second and third best scorers on the bench? Plus the 4th and 5th unavailable… Instead we get the overrated Ox and Danny (who can neither create nor score consistently, so what is the point of them?) thus putting the onus for goals firmly on the shoulders of Lucozade, who looked fizzy enough without much luck. A pity he’s not taller btw.
Like most I am delighted to find Per in such good form after all his time out and would not be disappointed to see him permanently in the centre of the back 3.
Alarming to find that we already top the injury list with 7 – Per, Coq, Rambo, Mesut, Gab, Jack and Santi – all but one almost certainly unavailable for the seaon opener. Fuck fuck fuck.
Jack? whoda guessed it!
Any real positives at all for you Chris???? I mean, we beat the Chavs at Wembley in the charity shield? It can’t be all bad surely???
Thanks for the report H. I’ve just managed to catch up with the motd highlights. Not always the best barometer but I don’t have the time to sit and watch the whole game.
From the highlights and the reports I’ve read it seemed an entertaining affair. Our new boys seem to have bedded in okay. There needs to be some more coming and goings but I’m sure that the most interesting parts of the transfer window are still to come. I sincerely hope that this is not another one of those seasons where we strike early and then sit back.
The one thing I really do hope that we do is to keep hold of Ollie G. Unless we are bringing in a replacement I think it would be a massive mistake to let him go. I also think we need to get players contracts sorted. I really don’t go with this letting them see out their contracts stuff. The thought of letting the likes of Alexis, Ozil and AOC negotiating a free transfer at Christmas is just bizarre.
So on to next Friday. I hope the Rev AL is back for the Leicester drinks. It would seem fitting. It would also be great to see Brother Holland return to the bar.
Have a good day people.
jolly jolly jolly
wembley winning ways unwaning
ho ho ho
will the league form follow?
The signs are promising yet the questions marks remain. Arsenal winning is always the best sight on earth and however said its just a glorified friendly, need to look at both the teams and the managers to understand it definitely was not. Conte and his boys looked distraught and we looked quite happy for sure.
End product is the main worry about Danny or else his work rate cannot be questioned. He is far better than Ox and Theo for me and should be retained than the other 2. Afterall we nicked him from the enemy as well. Elneny just wants to play for us and will play GK if needed. Retain such players please.
The game itself was a lively affair, the ebb and flow was an excellent watch for a curtain raiser game. We seem to play far more compact than expected though the central midfield enforcer still begs to be filled.
Lacazette will score atleast 20 goals this season, it may not be against a city or united but it will be against the likes of brighton, stoke or everton and it is at those places where points dropped have hurt us more.
Xhaka is a player. He would have got used to the pace of the league and if he develops a bit more discipline, boy we have some player. Sead is a joy to behold. He may not be a great player but he is a battle tank who will bulldoze his way through and have we missed such a player or what.
No sign of jack at all yesterday, the end is near for my dear boy. Looks like Alexis is set to stay for a season more but we will lose a few more end august. Now for that CM and Lemar please and we can sell Ox who looks least interested to play.
Chelsea have spent no money
Abramovich is getting divorced
2+2 = ALIMONY!
Another vote for Arsenal to keep Giroud and his tare talents. Lacazoud to the fore, if not Gizette first.
tare talents = rare talents
A glass of you choice on the bar for your kind words, SCG.
Talking of the arcane, I see the changes in business rates will save the club an estimated £58,812 a year — almost enough to pay Gibbs’s wages for a week. Still having to shell out £3.32 million, though.
Vinay@35: Jack is still out with a broken leg.
SteveT@33 and bt8b@37: We should definitely keep Giroud. There is a reason that he starts for France ahead of Lacazette.
@39: That’s £3.32 million on the rates. Gibbo costs only 3.1 million a year.
Shit, Mike Dean to officiate our starter against Leicester. Another lousy start to the season guaranteed.
We’re reportedly already looking to dump Puma, which was an odd choice anyway with their skin tight crappy shirts, to go where we should have gone in the first place. Adidas.
Still got mine. Still fits.
http://www.subsidesports.com/uk/88-89-arsenal-home-shirt-used
Mind you, the story is by Charles Sale so it might be horse tits.
ned, cheers. and one for you…i’ll set a dram of willett’s 8-year-old rye on the backbar for later. sláinte!
Thanks Holic for an excellent report.
We had a great day out at Wembley and can’t wait for the real action to start on Friday. The Bosnian is going to be a big hit with the fans and Lacazette needs both time and Ozil to do “a Dennis”, in the same way as he used to feed Wrighty, then the Frenchman might score a few goals this season.
In no way should we dispense with the HFBs services, he adds a completely different dimension to the attack and his height is an added bonus to defending corners.
Off to the athletics tomorrow night, it’s all go this week.
COYRs
Excellent choice, SCG. The monks are already fighting over who get first sip.
ksn@42: Some reason for foreboding. We have only won 25 of our 61 games Mike Dean has reffed. Leicester have won 15 of their 30. He has only given us three penalties in those 61 games against seven for Leicester in their 30.
Cynic@43: There is still two seasons to run on Puma’s £30 million-a-year deal, so I guess the lawyers on all sides will be going over the small print to see what the penalties are for breaking the contract early and whether Puma has any rights to match any contract-threatening offer. This smells of gazumping.
(whisper it ned, but there’s a full bottle behind the panther sweat on the bottom shelf. the monks need not fight over it…)
Cynic. I’ve read that in about 3 separate places now. Apparently we are going back to Adidas as of next season. I do hope that is right.
Ned, I would never question your vast knowledge but are you sure there are 2 more years? My understanding has always been that this is year 3 of a 3 year deal?
Fair point, Steve T (#33). 😀
We had a super shoot-out, all 4 pens fired in with authority (yes, even Ox’s). Per looked well in control before the Cahill king-hit, following up his triumphant FA Cup final. Good to see the club captain actually on the field and not the succession of not-up-to-the-jobs who have worn the armband. Lots of enthusiasm from the likes of El Niño and Ox. Good to see most of the squad back in town ready for the start of the season, unlike in precious seasons. Those that aren’t in the bloody physio room already that is.
And best of all Kol-assassin-ac looks just the enforcer we’ve been missing since Paddy left. Too soon to make him captain? Only for so long as Per plays regularly in my book.
By the way, why haven’t we signed Virgil van Dijk yet? Isn’t Soton our feeder club any more?
Steve T: It was signed in 2014 and widely reported at the time as being a five-year deal, eg,
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/sport/football/teams/arsenal/10599389/Arsenal-sign-Puma-deal-worth-30-million-a-year-as-replacement-kit-supplier-for-Nike.html
On that basis, we are going into year four this season, so one more after this. I would imagine, given how much integreated marketing there is these days between the clubs and apparel makers, including tours, the lead time for renewal or replacement of any deal must be a couple of seasons.
Changing sponsors mid-deal is not that unusual. The latest version of one of the main annual surveys of the global sponsorship industry says 45% of ‘properties’ (clubs in the football context) are considering switching sponsors early.
I know it’s nice – great in fact – if we keep Sanchez, but is anybody else confused about how we can be a sensible, self sustaining business on the one hand and on the other pass up a huge transfer fee (could be really silly with what’s going on at the moment….60,70 or 75 mill easily if you time it right) ? Yes we save 5 mill keeping Sanchez on his old salary, yes he’d be expensive to replace but I still don’t understand what we’re trying to do here. How is passing up 75 mill quid sensible ? I suppose we have been paying very high fees for the likes of Xhaka, Mustafi and Lacazette without picking up Worldies by any means so have we also thrown caution to the wind ? Indeed, you could argue that paying mediocrity such high wages 5 or 6 years ago was also a massive change. Wages they can’t hope to achieve now if moved on, even after massive inflation. Perhaps we have just totally mismanaged the salary + transfer fee equation ?? Indeed by having Alexis on 140k for 6-12 months with others like Sead (apparently) on 120k, Theo and Hector on well over 100k we kinda compound the error and perpetuate this elite communist structure ! Anybody got any thoughts ? Slightly Confused Gooner here, if slightly encouraged by pre season ! COYG.
Firstly I don’t see Alexis fetching anything like £75m, Scg. There’s not exactly an auction going on for his services currently. In fact Shitty seem to be the only club prepared to pay serious money, the rest are looking to pick him up for a bargain basement price. And Wenger won’t sell him to Shitty.
At 28 – 29 in a few months – he’s on borrowed time as a valuable asset. So what would we replace him with? Someone the same age, or older, at a similar price? Or someone younger at considerably more? Either way we end up losing a player we know in exchange for one who may, or may not, work out and it’s impossible to say which would be more profitable.
But suppose he does stay now, which is what most of us want, who is going to want him the following season as he tuns 30 anyway? Not many. In fact his best option then could well be to stay with us at whatever bloated salary he can negotiate with us now. So we could easily get to keep him, longterm.
It simply isn’t a case of sell him we lose, keep him we lose. I think AW is doing exactly the right thing … making him stay and maybe keeping him as a result. All only at the cost of, say, doubling his salary. And I don’t believe it’s that much of a gamble.
Maybe Chris, thanks…Bale is 28 and going for upwards of 100 mill…hope you’re right anyway and there isn’t a twist when the first real post Neymar switches start clicking into place. Still don’t get it completely and not sure he’ll be a happy bunny. However, perhaps the club have come up with a very smart conditional escape package depending on League position at XMas or something. Still say it’s 50 mill down the swanee tho ! I have no doubt somebody would pay 50 or 60 + in this market, even with only 1 year left. This is one unbelievable player. Cheers.
Someone not moving for £75 million: Jermaine Pennant, formerly of this parish but now 34, has signed for Billericay Town of the Bostick (Isthmian) Premier League on a free.
SCG@54: As Chris indicates, you have to look at the net spend, not the gross, and at both the transfer fee and the salary. Unless AW thinks he does not need to buy if Alexis goes (and he may think in a year’s time that we don’t if Iwobi and Nelson come on enough or one of the youngsters break through, Danny makes good and Lacazette delivers), then we’d probably end up spending more on both wages and the fee for the newcomer than we do on Sanchez.
Ok, I suppose yes NBN, thank you. Plus I expect if Alexis subsequently leaving (for nothing or tiny say at XMas) is happening directly because we are not (re)qualifying for CL, then the club and Wenger might be of the view we won’t want to be paying anybody mega,mega wages but there again we’re hanging on to that flat structure, even if that’s economically sensible going forward if we’re not CL. But then if we want to be economically sensible we don’t let a prime asset suffer a 50 mill depreciation charge do we ? The Ozil situation is interesting too, do we smash the current wage structure for him and leave him as a complete outlier on 250k a year well over 100k more than anybody else ? I presume that’s what’s being attempted in negotiations right now with the German, but with nothing much larger than that on the table for Alexis. At least that would bring this silly flat structure to an end and surely we’re learning our lesson right now about paying 70-100k to rather sub standard players. Interesting times for the moneymen at Ashburton Grove, that’s assuming they have any influence whatsoever over Le Boss ! Thanks again anyway and you make a very good point about Lacazette and the mercurial Nelson perhaps growing wonderfully into their roles.
ozil 250k a year….LOL 🙂
Not sure why people are so prefer Adidas kits. Here is one vote for the Puma.
Because Adidas kits are class and Puma used to supply The Shit from up the road. And they are shite designs too 🙂
Far as I am aware the deal with Puma runs two more years but has a break clause. We pay them, they go away, Adidas come in. Works for me.
Chris,
It is being widely reported today that PSG have offered £80 m+ for Sanchez and I have volunteered to drive him to St. Pancras. If that really is a serious offer then we would be mad to refuse it and hopefully we might be able to add Rabiot into the deal or Matuidi although his agent doesn’t speak to Wenger or vice versa.
Not sure what news you get in NZ but there is enormous interest in Sanchez from PSG, Citeh, Chavski, United and even Barca. How PSG could possibly buy him as they also want Mbappe ( I don’t mean afford I mean be allowed to buy under FFP) is another question. If I were Cavani I’d be a bit miffed but we’ve reached an era where oil- rich spivs are dominating and reconstructing world football. How I will laugh when we see fossil fuels phased out and their fortunes dwindle. The problem is by then they may have won 10 Champions Leagues. UEFA has created a monster . Do they care or is the genie now out of the bottle?
Cynic@62: I’d be amazed if it didn’t have a break clause; two key questions are, what are its terms and how much notice has to be given. I assume it is too late to change horses (or at least shirts) for this season so that only leaves the 2018-19 season covered by the contract. If we really are getting the reported £60 million a season from Adidas, we can buy out the final year of Puma’s £30 million a season deal and it will still be a wash.
If we do switch, I hope we don’t see a return of either those awful 1986 stripey Adidas shorts nor the 1990s away kit monstrosities.
https://www.vintagefootballshirts.com/uploads/products/images/1991-93-arsenal-away-shirt-l-18641-1.jpg
https://www.vintagefootballshirts.com/uploads/products/images/1993-94-arsenal-away-shirt-l-18954-1.jpg
I have the crushed wasp shirt and adore it. I wore it to a match just the other day 🙂
The other one I used to have but it was too small for me so I sold it.
A personal favourite away shirt is…
https://www.vintagefootballshirts.com/uploads/products/images/1997-99-arsenal-away-shirt-l-19058-1.jpg
Which I will be wearing at a game this weekend
It now transpires that the £80 m rumour was a silly Chilean one and in fact PSG have left the Sanchez building. That’s typical of the lazy reporting where supposedly reputable newspapers/ websites in this case the Indy, parrot any old rubbish they find on the internet. The more sensational the more clicks you get from idiots like me. Frankly I think there wrre more ITK journos before the internet slipping the commissionaire a few quid to tell them secrets. Come back Desmond Hackett ( metaphorically speaking as he died some time ago!)
Once Neymar signed for PSG then
Alexis wasn’t going anywhere this
summer as we seemed determined
not to sell to PL teams and only
PSG of the top CL teams seemed
prepared to pay his wages.
I don’t need the badge kissing,
heart thumping bollocks as I can
do that myself. Just play well, knock
the ball in the net, that’ll be fine by
me. Of course it’s a bit careless to
let 2 key assets reach this situation
at the same time and I’d prefer to
get at least one signed this month
but then i don’t know the details
and it’s just a show.
It’d be a better show if supporters
were the stars, then i could thump
my Arsenal badge and tell the press
I don’t care if Manure are offering
400k a week I’ll never sell me
Arsenal jammies.
On the other hand I do care about
a home win to start the season.
It’s been too long. 3 points and
Laca amongst the goals would
really cheer me up.
Pity Ozil seems to be out as we
will lack a bit creatively but in
that case I expect us to work harder
and hope Laca, OG, Theo or
Danny can get us a couple of goals.
Seemed probable TTG. Standards have certainly plummeted among our friends in ‘Fleet Street’.
Good stuff Osaka Matt. Pint of your choice on the bar.
OsakaMatt@68: You have to go back almost a decade to get 3 points from the first league game of the season with any consistency:
First league game won:
2016-17 Match Day 3
2015-16 Match Day 2
2014-15 Match Day 1
2013-14 Match Day 2
2012-13 Match Day 3
2011-12 Match Day 4
2010-11 Match Day 2
2009-10 Match Day 1
2008-09 Match Day 1
2007-08 Match Day 1
Thanks Bath.
Don’t know if the bar stocks
it but a pint of ichiban shibori
goes down well on a hot
summer afternoon in Osaka.
Thanks too NBN. We used to
be good on opening day but
I didn’t realise how iffy we’d
become. Possible correlation
with the start of lucrative
overseas tours perhaps but
we should sort it out starting
Friday!
H – You have no doubt seen this but just in case not
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GzF0AETdRF8
This article is interesting – not because I have the least faith in McNulty’s judgement (he who forecast Leicester’s relegation the season before last!) – but because of the transfers in and out of $iteh and the Chavs. http://www.bbc.com/sport/football/40816204
6 IN and 22 OUT for the former, and 4 IN and 28 OUT for the latter. By comparison we have just 2 IN and 8 OUT. Loans are included, but they’re impressive numbers of shed dead wood by others. Why can’t we get rid of ours?
Alexis conveniently out of first 2 league games with an abdominal strain.
Abdominal strain? He’s becoming a right pain in the gut, Clive. I guess this means he’s off then.
If he indeed is off, expect a signing to come and then he is let go. Would that be Lemar or anyone else is anybody’s guess but this just maybe the script.
Alexis should realize he was an outcast at barca and we made him the superstar that he is currently. I expect no loyalty from him but the least he can do is stay another season and help us win the title. The reason for clinging on to him is this late getting a replacement and that to like for like is close to impossible.
On to friday and what would we give for a win. We need to win our first 2 games before we go to anfield and beating the foxes and the potters would do a word of good to the morale before we go play hopefully a coutinho less pool. Now Laca get those scoring boots on.
Finally a chance to catch up with the drinks.
TTG @63,
I know you don’t normally do jokes in here but my sides are aching from this gem of yours –
“How PSG could possibly buy him as they also want Mbappe ( I don’t mean afford I mean be allowed to buy under FFP) is another question.”
That old FFP one just never fails …. ?
OsakaMatt @67 – not funny at all, just very good.
Scgooner, Ned and Chris – good job on the transfer, er, policy.
I suppose an egalitarian wage policy in an industry of stars was always bound to fail. The ideal was nice – a team, or squad, bonded by a lack of jealousy – but when your prodigies don’t develop as expected, you finish up with exactly what we have – a lot of players who cannot be sold because there are no purchasers prepared to match the wages.
Ramsey, Oxlade-Chamberlain, Gibbs, Wilshere, Walcott, Jenkinson – the much lauded British core at the centre of the “no stars” ideology.
Precarious business, football management.
Chris@73
Thanks for this article. I ignore anything he writes but the stats are formidable for transfers out by Citenh and Chelsea. Arsenal’s model is more dysfunctional because Wenger approves everything and often gums up the works- like he is now.
I was interested to read about the development plan for Cohen Bramall. Apparently he was pencilled in as deputy to Kolasinac but Nacho has ( rightly) got that gig and Gibbs is to be sold and Bramall loaned out. Wenger has changed his mind about where he is going and now believes Sparta in the Dutch league is the best place for him . That all seems very coherent but not if one man decides every step. The other two sides have DOFs who take care of a lot of the bits and pieces. We have brought in a contracts guru but presumably you have got to get to contract stage before he can work his magic.
Love him as we do old Arsene can be a real roadblock to progress because until we’ve shipped out the deadwood which has been there since May, we won’t bring in new stars other than the obligatory one to boost season ticket renewals . This is not unconnected with the increasingly poor starts we make each year which Ned kindly illustrated. The start of the season comes a few games too early every season . We all remember the 8-2 humiliation where we had to wait to see if we qualified for the CL proper before we bought and put out that awful side at Old Trafford . I’m not that convinced we are much further along this season
At least we sorted out the deal with Cavallaro Napoli
dutch goodfellas?
Chris@73: I think you have to exclude loans from the counting of cleared dead wood. You still own the loanee. I am sure the Chavs are happy to be rid of Terry’s £150,000 a week wages, though. Matic was on £90,000 a week, but I wouldn’t have thought of his as dead wood.
It’s back! >>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>