Sundays And Thursdays To Continue If No Europa Success
May 6th, 2019 by 'holic
The talk in the pub beforehand was of extending the season to the final day, to have something to play for at Burnley. The atmosphere was relaxed, although confident may be going a step too far.
Later in the afternoon the hope was extended by a fast start. Henrikh Mkhitaryan hit the post before we were awarded a ninth minute penalty when Nacho Monreal went down in the box. The speed of the award meant that 50 yards away it seemed nailed on. On my one viewing of match of the day after midnight it seemed inconclusive. Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang finished confidently.
The early promise soon faded though as we slipped into the overly cautious Arsenal. Lots of sideways and backward passes. Possession is king and any forward momentum is a bonus.
There was a flurry of activity as the half drew to a close, but Shkodran Mustafi, Aubameyang and Mkhitaryan were all denied. 1-0 up at the break seemed ok. Perhaps as in many of the early season matches we would come out of the blocks in the second-half?
Just past the hour Granit Xhaka, enduring a torrid afternoon, gave March the chance to hit the turf in the box and Anthony Taylor the chance to point to the spot. Murray made no mistake with the penalty and we were back to square one.
Unai Emery surprisingly didn’t respond with an immediate change of personnel. We did show slightly more urgency and Aubameyang will rue that he didn’t convert at least one of a couple of chances that came his way. Having remained inactive for so long Emery made all three substitutions with thirteen minutes to go. Instead of invigorating the side it appeared that we were even more disjointed.
Indeed it was Brighton who looked likeliest to snatch the late win and it was a glum home crowd of whom around half stayed on to watch the bloated post-match ‘celebrations’. There were presentations to the departing Danny Welbeck, Petr Cech, and an emotional Aaron Ramsey. Briefly spirits were lifted by a rousing refrain of “One Aaron Ramsey”. Tears were shed.
What have we done?
91 Responses to “Sundays And Thursdays To Continue If No Europa Success”
On a happier note a huge thanks to Bath and Steve T afterwards,
BtM, you will be delighted to hear that Steve’s wallet saw daylight. He did turn an ashen grey though when he realised Bath and I had double Taliskers. ?
A fine summary of a less than pleasurable match that demonstrated that this team is simply not good enough. That negative feeling is further enhanced by the deep feeling that the club is simply not good enough from top to bottom. Our downward trajectory is all the more depressing by being the mirror image of the upward trajectory both on and off the pitch of the Bindippers.
The evening was rescued by the pleasure of seeing the Guvna who I’m delighted to report was in fine form, Steve T, Rob, Lucy and Snowy. All denizens or visitors to this fine establishment which in stark contrast to the afore-mentioned football club is superbly run, packed with talent and a constant and reliable source of pleasure.
Cheers to Holics everywhere.
Well if the Talisker was open there was something good about the day.
I took the kids to Gifford’s circus in Stroud where Tweedy the clown had a fine performance. Xhaka watch out he’s after your place in the team.
About as much as anyone can say or wants to say Guvna. I lunched well too , one of my colleagues being over eighty and a long-standing supporter. I’m sorry I rushed off afterwards and didn’t pay tribute to those departing. I echo all that Clive said in the last drinks about Aaron .
Boy did we miss him at the pointy end of the season .
Cynic and I have compiled lists of those we’d send to the guillotine . It’s worth noting that we have the best chance conversion rate in the league Despite some wastefulness Auba and Lacazette are relative shining lights this season. Letting either of them go would be madness.
If either Mustafi or Xhaka is in the squad next season I will lose the will to live but I fear the useless Swiss will survive. A cypher of a player and lacking in character and responsibility. I’d like to postpone my decision to renew until I see the squad for next season’s opener but that’s not possible .
Maybe Baku will lift us and ensure a glorious end . I needed some of that Tallisker afterwards to lift my mood!
Yesterdays game and result was beyond poor. With everything seemingly in our favour against a team who only the previous day had escaped the threat of relegation, we played like the team of absolute duffers we truly are. No inventiveness or creativity, idiotic defending, no goal threat, (even on paper outside of Aubameyang & Lacazette), and Emery watching proceedings with an air of bemusement, seemingly unable to work out just what to do.
Even if we squeak past Valencia on Thursday, our chances of beating Chelsea in the final with these players seems super-slim. So we go into the summer with a whopping £40m to spend on players who would normally be on the radar of the likes of Watford or Newcastle. Player sales? Who’d want most of ’em? Can anyone really see anyone in for Mkhitaryan – of course not. Mustafi – having a laugh mate! No we will be stuck with these duffers, so there won’t be any money from player sales to spend.
Right, the suns out, the dogs need a run on the beach, and I need coffee with friends followed by quite a few beers.
Good to hear you could at
least enjoy some of yesterday
Guvnor.
A bottle of Glenfiddich shared
with Mrs OM and the first 10
minutes of the game were
the only things I enjoyed.
Lucky Mrs OM tottered off to
bed at half time as the bottle
finished and I wish to Dennis
I’d joined her rather than
watching the single malt less
2nd half.
Though I must admit I don’t
really share the general dismay
of most at Aaron’s departure.
He had his usual season of some
good games, some bad, and some
out injured. Best of luck to him but
I hope we will get a more reliable
replacement.
Granit Xhaka has now given away four penalties in the Premier League since joining Arsenal in summer 2016, more than any other player has conceded for a single team in that time. [p
@Squawka
# total liability
We’ve “”Spursed” it in the last month but our position probably reflects our overall season – simply not good enough for the Champions League in our current guise.
I’d like a new defence but we are unlikely to get one and until we do we’re scheduled for Groundhog Day I’m afraid.
I’m with OM on Ramsey. There was a point a couple of years ago where I couldn’t care less whether he stayed or not and still feel the same. We should have got money for him though.
Let’s hope we at least have a final to enjoy, preferably against Franfurt.
UTA.
Thanks for the report and reporting all season Holic. It’s great you stay balanced and measured and glad you have recovered.
I used to have a nightmare where I somehow ended up on the pitch in a game at the Emirates, obviously pathetically off the pace and prone to ridiculous errors, with the whole crowd jeering and guffawing. I can now see that was Xhaka, not me. It’s a great relief.
To actually reach out and put his hand on the attacker’s shoulder, as if to say “Sorry mate” or “Ref, are you sure you saw that tiny, minimal leg contact, maybe you missed it son so here, hands up?”. Perhaps Granit will get a special sportsmanship award at the end of the season. That level of IQ is unbelievable and the club must act, first by dropping him for Thursday, then by writing off 15-20 mill on his purchase (ditto Mustafi of course, despite some plucky performances…he can never, ever be forgiven for Palace and the rest). I think Emery will be disgusted and go Torreira/Guendouzi on Thursday night.
The future now depends on how we deal with the past – and I mean the previous 5 years, not this season. It’s actually mainly about a small number of the players we have, rather than the ones we do not. Get these two off the Balance Sheet and pay somebody (we know which league) 150-200k a week to take Ozil for two years. In essence the club has to write off £ 50-60 million. I think Emery would do it, but will the club ? Two or three solid Emery signings and welcome back Bellerin, Holding and Nelson, plus a bit more of the young lads. Yep I can buy into that and whatever you say about Emery you cannot say he doesn’t shy away from difficult issues and decisions.
Anyway, COYG for Thursday and then the one-off in Baku, who knows ?
Thanks Holic for another difficult report and, as Scgooner says, another season of excellent reviews. I’ve been really struggling for time to contribute this season but always read and admire the balance in yiur thoughts.
The club is sadly in a mess.
The owner is interested only in the value of his shareholding which, being a prime piece of real estate on the edge of central London, is unlikely to plummet far enough to persuade him to clear off any time soon. More’s the pity.
Kroenke has allowed the club to deteriorate to the point where I sense many of the supporters, and certainly folks outside, struggle to take us seriously as contenders for the top honours.
A huge amount of work needs to be done in the summer on a squad that desperately needs rejuvenating and reinforcing. The promising Head of Recruitment we had has walked out. We are now seemingly to rely this summer, on a man who in January, along with Unai Emery, found us Dennis Suarez !!
Emery has somehow succeeded in making our defence even worse this season, while insisting on a pattern of play which has at the same time sucked all the creativity out of our forwards too.
A Europa League win will almost certainly guarantee him being here next season, but are the players really buying into this ?
On a different note, Aaron Ramsey.
I get the folks who aren’t that bothered that he is leaving – I thought myself at times that we couldn’t continue to rely on a player with a 50%ish availability record.
This season, however, he has been possibly in his best ever form and shown superb commitment, knowing that he was leaving in June.
Whatever you think of him as a player, he has always been a thoroughly admirable and courageous person, fighting to come back from an horrendous injury that would have finished most.
It was sad to see him so clearly upset at having to leave the club he loves. He will hopefully always receive a warm welcome whenever he returns. All the best to him and his family in Itlay.
A fine time to fall back into a pattern of positive thinking. When the ostacles appear to be the highest only a positive mindset will give us a chance, as ‘holic might have written once or twice. COYG
Ostacles = obstacles
The spillchucker shoulda done its effin job.
Aksherly, our defence is currently one goal better than last year, so a clean sheet next week and Unai will have improved us.
Stastistically anyway.
Poor defending is an ostacle that can be overcome.
Cheeky bid for Leroy Sane, who can’t get into City’s team ahead of a teenager?
Well that was a fairly average goal from Kompany.
I was thinking about posting something about trying to take Bale on loan next year but thought it was too silly, then you topped it bt8. 🙂
If someone was quick enough to get a photo of Steve getting a round in it should be framed above the Tolly bar under the legend “Great Moments in History.” Sounds like a big highlight on a day otherwise completely lacking in highlights.
It’s been very tough to endure watching Arsenal in the last six League games. In particular, our very own X-man can be almost guaranteed to serve up an X-certificate moment and I’m not one for horror movies.
Watching Leicester at City – concluding that Leicester players + Braw Laddie Big Bren look like a better combo than Arsenal players + Unai Emery.
Never mind, we’ll be back in the CL when we win Europa!
Trev@10: The irony is that Emery understood that Ramsey was best played in his best position, as a No 10, something that happened too rarely under Wenger.
It has been a dismal end to the season. ‘Holic, you have been the beacon of light when everything else has been the onrushing train.
One last hope. We stick five past Burnley. The Neighbours get stuffed 3-0 by Everton and we end up fourth on goals scored.
I’ll get my meds…
For those interested,
There is a heartwarming goodbye from Rambo in his own words,reflecting on his 11 years at the Club, on the Arse website.
Absolutely no doubt where his heart lies,and his opening up about his horrendous injury,and how long it took him to truly recover,allows you to understand what he went through.
Compelling reading.
Fine stuff H after a dour 90 minutes of football. Lacklustre does not do it justice. Most above echo my views. We all know the problems. We all know the players that should be out the door. Will it happen? Who knows. The way we are run off the pitch is appalling and until that is sorted we will always be up against it. Again I agree with many when they say that we are not even remotely close enough to being considered as genuine title contenders. The fact that we are 28 points below Citeh tells you just how far adrift we are.
The after match jollity was far more enjoyable and entertaining. It’s an honour to be able to treat the Guvna and the one and only Bath to a double of your favourite tipple. It all turned out to be a thoroughly enjoyable evening.
“What have we done?” You asked Holic. Rambo has now missed 4 league games since getting injured. During that period, out of 12 points on offer, we’ve taken 1. We managed, for reasons best known to god knows who, we managed to extend Xhaka’s contract. The major disappointment with the final result was that many just upped and left at the end before they could pay tribute and say their goodbyes. I don’t blame Randy for leaving one bit. Since the deal was announced he has been the consummate professional. The fact we have let him walk away for free will always be right up there with some of the biggest cock ups that we have ever made. Buffoonery at the very top level.
If we manage to get the result we need on Thursday then I would take a bunch of 16 year olds to Burnley and give some of those some much needed rest.
Onwards and upwards. There still might be that silver lining.
Imagine being a Liverpool fan.
One league defeat all season and only second. Imagine how that must feel. Remember when we were better than the 1999 treble winning United and won nothing? To cap it all they will go out to Barca tomorrow.
We have a big game of our own this week though. Tomorrow at Pride Park. The U 18 final. They’ve had a great season and if they win they take the national title. Clive and I will be following closely !
Ned have you got any of those meds to spare ? ?
long oul day today
long oul day everyday gettin
fuckin struggled walk de the beach
some semblance of health
for herself
the rest o the ungrateful cunts
too
.
make it to sixty
they fuckin think they get something
fuckin HUGE awakening
i spent the money i made
not on me
THEM
ungrateful is the word
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
*buys canoe*
*fakes death*
* wants peace*
(not “oh my god , give peace a middle class chance , let’s have a vigil , a march , a …
little/no understanding “)
.
.
.
.
no
.
grown up
calm
.
.
to the joy of many i’m sure
and the implications thereof
i find the internet draining
really increasingly so
i vomit here in bursts
but i really find it draining
and
i’m aware
(if you weren’t)
i say things here
as an exercise in draining you lot also
.
.
.
.
so
have a half an apology
.
.
.
.
.
i’m
in reality
an ugly wee fat cunt
but i had ye going for a while
ya fuckin bunch o closets
?
.
i have instructed ‘holic
over the years
of his evening constitutional
to deposit the floral bouquets
sent by several of you
on random graves
and the petal bereft
.
.
.
and keep
all yer names out of it
ya strange fellas
.
https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=U9oZB5zKF2E
.
.
for dave’s mammy , baff , zico and btm
.
.
hurtling towards 40 years ago
https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=dRFxuOCUHf8
still brilliant but
no
that’s recent
.
ach
sure
it’s all rubbish to read of a morning
cept Liam , Tayto and Horslips
sam spudz and fizzle sticks
no
.
.
i’d fuckin still have my accent
not a fuckin tame paddy pulling pints
.
.
.
bloody hate Irish accents??
.
good old northern accent
inspires fear, respect and wha?
.
.
YOU HEARD !
“we’re expected where?”
.
.
.
.
loadsabillybigbollocks now
no ones shooting back
with expensive products in their beards
.
.
.
lotta times
i’ve had a fuckin horse of a beard
for no other reason than
i didn’t shave
.
.
beards in my recent eyeball experience
belong to people
on top of their hygiene regimen
same clowns keep
tattoo people busy
.
.
sheep
.
.
.
https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=VA3j8lYUJe0
if you haven’t thought the same
yer a fuckin liar
emaciated cunts
arms inked to fuck
.
.
industry study pending
in a former polytechnic
.
skinny tattooed cunts getting fat
and the old switcherooooo
only people i know
get tattoos
i remind them to wise the fuck up
but what can you do
when your care the fuck level is really non existent
.
.
needy twats
p
i
n
g
agus
P
O
N
G
be interested to see
what big fat lumps
think of their tatts
when they invariably slim down
so they can play in their vulgar gardens
with little Braden Hayden and Jayden
cos
they doh wanna die
*boo hoos*
before they go to the break in their weight loss/gain telly show
https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=awi14wDTxNw
.
.
.
.
my opinion is a secret
as i’m sure you don’t believe
what i will say though is
my hair is similar and my blood/alcohol level is similar
.
.
.
what ?
every fuckin thing i write here has to be sideways
FUCK OFF
i’m dull like you
.
.
.
.
(you know i’m not and you know i’m a fuckin fanny magnet down on his luck former male model)
(these things are self evident)
tune for herself
https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=8bmbSC9c2ys
or
https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=XcMNfX5yh28
we’re all putting stuff on
no need for a set to
‘holic
fuckin zap all that shite
i’ve been sat top of the hill out the back
can see the ocean and surrounded by cattle
beside me
the noise of them munching is brilliant
it’s not really the done thing but
over the years they’ve got used to me
if loads gather
i have to stand up
wave my arms and roar
they bugger off
thank fuck
they’re big bastards
it’s light now . I’m setting back in
.
fuckin lookin forward to a snooze
been up a day and a bit
the bit was the last six hours
i fuckin hoovered swally
that’ll be it
Jesus you’ve been busy CBA 😀
CBA,
I hope to god that I never hear Christy Moore’s crap ever again.
This fella Davy Spillane, however, is proper.
https://uk.video.search.yahoo.com/search/video?fr=mcafee&p=davy+spillane#id=50&vid=19b01926aaff21c37853c8b67ee561ce&action=view
Cynic, while we are at City’s door we might as well pick up Vincent Kompany who may be out of contract. Maybe verging on too old but he should be good for a year at least, unless he prevents us from signing a younger central defender. We could use both.
I have followed Arsenal for 24 years now and all these seasons have been filled with the whole set of emotions, am sure we all know what that means. The thing that I’m finding difficult to accept is that Sp*rs are better than us. How did we make this happen?? Coz I believe its all us…we had the initiative: new stadium and all…world class players…so much history…pure class!! How did we go from the final in 2006 to also-rans…look at Liverpool right now..even if they end up winning any cups they will still count as one of the best teams in the league and in the world…why??? Sp*ds never won anything yet on any day I am afraid they would destroy us without even trying…us against any team right now jus seems like an inevitable result…bad season…bad several seasons….so much promise patters out in a whimper
I went to refer to the Holic Clock (Big club my arse…..) to quote the time since Spurs last League win only to find it wasn’t there. I recall seeing some commentary on how to make it reappear but that has disappeared into the mists of time. Can someone enlighten me please?
cba, did you notice the scary resemblance of Graeme Souness to Chick Murray in your clip?
KenyanGooner@55, we have regressed over the last few years but I think you are a bit too negative about our team.
You are right about Liverpool having gone way ahead of us. We were at par with Pool four years back but now they compete with the best in the world and we are fighting for top four in the league and that too not convincingly. We gave them a fight at home but were decimated at Anfield. They not only have a good first team but have built a very good squad
We thrashed Spurs at home and outplayed them away but didn’t win due to a missed penalty and ref error. So I think we are on par with Spurs and they definitely won’t destroy us. The one area where they are ahead of us is in defence and worryingly nowadays we capitulate and Spurs keep fighting.
A lot of other teams like Wolves, Leicester, Everton etc have almost caught up with the top six and next season even a top six place may be difficult.
There is a lot of work ahead for Emery over the next few years in rebuilding the team, improve the defensive side and giving the players belief that they can match City, Pool etc.
Kenyan Gooner
It’s no great surprise about our club.
Wenger stayed too long and we gave 100% control to Kroenke .
I had immense respect for Wenger who built the modern Arsenal .
I have less than zero respect for Kroenke who basically invests nothing and sees his capital rise every year . While he remains as owner we will never win the league or CL and will gradually become less and less of a force .
Emery isn’t a miracle worker ( nothing like it) but Guardiola or Klopp would struggle to make this squad challengers and they are much better than Emery . The only way we can challenge again is if Kroenke leaves and we get an owner who is an Arsenal fan rich enough not to care about spending a shedload of money. The only person who fits that bill is IBtm?
U18s losing 3-1 close to half time. Were 1-0 up after 3 minutes. Emery out ?
4-2 down we just missed a penalty
I would give an arm for half the spirit L’pool are showing tonight. Watch and learn boys, watch and learn
And remember that no lead is safe.
“People will barely be able to comprehend it, but they won’t be able to deny it.”
bloody twats, they’ll win the fucking thing
Probable Liverpool v Spurs CL Final. Can this season get any worse?
I felt sorry for Barca, especially Suarez…..Nah, loved every minute of it
Emery the Memory, eh?
Liverpool were simply magnificent. I’m genuinely delighted for them. The result last week was a travesty and tonight Klopp showed what a superb manager he is.
They have written a few legendary moments into their history and this must be right up there. Driving home tonight that utter idiot Adrian Durham counselled Liverpool not to play Alexander- Arnold and to effectively keep it tight and not get humiliated. What an attitude and what a prat that man is. Football is about doing wonderful things on wonderful nights. This was one.
As for Barca there are a lot of cheats and poor characters in their side. Bottle job supreme
Just shows what hard work,spirit and motivation can do!
“I’m genuinely delighted for them”
I am not.
@ TTG
It’s difficult not to enjoy that comeback – extremely impressive. However, it wasn’t much different from the first leg : the losing team spurned the best chances and then paid for it.
I can’t immediately agree with your statement that the likes of Klopp/Guardiola “would struggle to make this squad challengers”. They’ve just beaten Barcelona 4-0 with 3 players signed from relegated clubs (Shaqiri, Wijnaldum & Robertson), and without two of their best strikers !
We’ve had the most creative midfield in the league since 2012, with Cazorla, Wilshere, Rosicky, Ramsey, then came Özil as well. What we lacked were proper strikers. Still managed 4 FA cups. When the likes of Aubameyang finally arrived, we lost Cazorla to injury.
This season we have the right strikers, but someone decided to let go of Cazorla, Wilshere, and bench Özil for half a season.
Well done to Pool
Not many sides capable of reducing Messi and his Barca pals to looking like little more than a Sunday morning Pub side.
I have a couple of long time Scouser mates,and even they had virtually given up after the first leg.
A very motivational manager in Klopp,who if he keeps this up,will soon be standing alongside the Immortal managers like Shanks and Paisley,to name just 2.
It is going to take a long time i fear,before my Club are anywhere near the heights that they achieved tonight.
TTG,
A bridge too far for the youngsters tonight against a very strong Derby team,but still an excellent season,and the under 23’s were runners up in their league,so all in all pretty successful season on the boys side.
SSY
Maybe it was because I remember 1989 and a Liverpool crowd staying to applaud us after the most awful of experiences in Hillsborough and then the agony of last minute defeat but I don’t begrudge a side who play like that what they deserved.
Being an Arsenal fan is about showing class. Now if it was Tottenham tomorrow that’s a different matter. I shall be at the Oval !
Salah was wearing a t-shirt with NEVER GIVE UP printed across the front. There must be a secret in there somewhere. Congrato them and no sour grapes from me.
“There must be a secret in there somewhere.”
no, not in there, but somewhere
oh sorry, i know
only a positive mindset……………………………
grapes, anyone?
It’s difficult not to enjoy that comeback
Not for me it ain’t because I expect Spurs to win tomorrow, which means either the enemy will win Big Ears or the most irritating manager in the league will finally win it.
I also think they might fluke the title on Sunday, if only losing one game and probably having 97 points can be called a fluke
It would appear our former player Edu,has agreed in principle to become Arse new Technical Director.
He will start after the Copa America finishes in early July.
Fair warning that I have just got home in London after travelling for more than 24 hours. And that my body thinks it is about 8am tomorrow morning. Also, I have had no sleep and a couple of gin and tonics (until I knocked a bottle of ginger beer out of the cupboard when reaching for a tonic water and, after it fizzed open, have moved on to gin and ginger beer)
For the first time I am really jealous of Liverpool. That club is doing so many things right and is eroding my general dislike of them and the entitled fans of theirs that have put me off over the years (the same attitude as United fans but with about 13 less league wins over the same period). I was amazed to land back in Blighty and see a whopping 4-0 over Barca.
How many times have we played Barca in recent years? Liverpool tonight got a turnaround that I have hoped for us to get on so many occasions but we have never managed it. I am thrilled for them. Thoroughly deserved. Well played.
If they play Ajax then I won’t much care who wins it. If Spuds get the result they need… well, we will all be poo fans for a night, won’t we? That is the first time I have written that sentence!
Our last month of League fixtures has been a huge let down. From a great position we have supremely Spursed it up.
I have issues with what Emery has done but am nowhere near to writing him off yet. I think he will learn a lot from this year. TTG, whose opinion I have great respect for, reckons he is nowhere near as good as Klopp or Pep. I would argue that they both had rough first seasons in the Prem. What made them become managers of the two best teams by a country mile was the fact that they learned from the experience. (Plus a huge outlay on rebuilding their squads)
As manager of Valencia or Sevilla it may be appropriate to keep things tight. PSG is a bit of an outlier as that club dwarfs all others in its league. Perhaps Emery reverted to Valencia tactics against smaller teams but infused us with some of the PSG mentality in big games, ie that we can duke it out with anyone?
I do see potential for him as a manager who can find his feet and rebuild the football side of our club which is an off the field mess. I am happy to give him another season of the benefit of the doubt. Including a couple of transfer windows. Not a free pass, but we have seen so many clubs in the last few years get rid of managers at the drop of a hat and I do not want us to be a club like that.
My council, unasked for as it is, is to give the man some more time and support, whilst keeping a keen eye on what he does with both, and see how next season goes.
For me, if we win the Europa, it will have been a successful season.
Valencia first, but we are in a good position and I am quietly confident.
As for a one-off game against Chelsea? Well, for my money, anyone complaining that Emery showed a small time mentality in our last few league games who is simultaneously writing us off in a cup final against Chelsea should have a look at themselves.
This is the same Chelsea who most have written off as a sporadic shambles all season? Whose manager has been actively booed by his own fans on multiple occasions? Who was appointed in the same summer as ours yet who has been consistently short odds to be the next Prem manager fired? (Ours is nowhere near) The same Chelsea who have had 46% of their goals scored or assisted by one player (hazard, of course)?
If we get past Valencia and Chelsea get through I won’t be worried at all. That does not mean I expect us to hammer them, but I’d love to play that lot in a cup final. Seriously, I do not get the gloom around that prospect at all. Do we expect to win the Europa without playing anyone decent? Chelsea are nowhere near Liverpool, Barca, Man City etc. They are Europa League standard. So are we. They are well doable. I reckon there are some people getting caught in their own gloomy narrative here. Boy do things move fast in football. I hope the players are not buying into this resentful doom-mongering from the stands (or, more accurately, the keyboards)
Let’s just knock a couple in against Valencia and go from there, eh?
Aaron Ramsey.
Arsenal legend.
His injury record no longer matters. My opinion that he has never shown us his true ability and season defining potential (in another version of the universe he has multiple league winners medals and more Prem goals than Lampard) no longer matters. The lack of fee we are getting no longer matters.
Can any of us change any of those things?
Given a choice between whinging about what is, or what could have been, throwing around blame and fostering disagreement and discontent, OR acknowledging that with 11 years service, two cup final winning goals, and a final season where his commitment has put others to shame (not just in our team but around the world of money-grubbing mercenary footballers) Aaron Ramsey bleeds red and is a true gooner… well, I know where I stand.
I have cried with him. Cheered him on. Raged against the world when he got hurt. Watched him become a man. Seen him do things Messi would be in awe of. Seen him play atrociously for 88 mins yet still demand the ball in the 89th. I have seen him give everything he has, every time he pulled on the shirt. I have seen him represent this club around the world, on the pitch and in publicity events, promotions, African football academies and children’s hospitals. I have seen him come back from injuries that would have destroyed lesser men. I have seen him fight, fight, fight for himself and the badge. I truly believe that, were he still with us, Rocky would look at Rambo as one of our finest. Aaron Ramsey knows who he is, what he is and who he represents. And I have seen that every single day since he signed for us.
But I have never seen him hide. I have never seen him say a bad word about our club. I have never seen him in the tabloids for doing something that he should know better than to do (or get caught doing!). I have never seen him shirk responsibility for a bad performance. I have never seen him acquiesce and accept that our place is not at the top table. I have never seen him stop trying to be the best player he can be.
He is one of my all time favourites.
A true Arsenal Legend.
I raise my glass and bow my head to Aaron Ramsey. And I wish him well in everything that is still to come in his life.
GSD @ 82 – You have said it far better than I could have. A gin and ginger beer at the bar for you.
I have been a Ramsey fan since he joined Arsenal. A guy who ran his arse off every time he was on the pitch and was willing to do whatever the manager asked. I remember the season after he recovered from being Shawcrossed when Rambo played every position at some point during the season except for striker and keep. All the spectacular goals and the FA Cup winners. And one of the most professional players around. I wish him well at Juve. I fear it may be a long time before we replace him with similar quality.
GSD. A glass raised to you, and a replenishment of the gin and ginger beer. Excellent points all around.
What GSD said @82.
iBtM, and all who are missing the clock (I think this is an osX thing), courtesy of Pangloss back in March…
When I came to look for it, there was a discreet “Download Adobe Flash” icon which I clicked and the clock returned, showing a much larger number than I remembered.
Thanks, Holic. Will give it a go.
What Ned said @ 85 about what GSD said @ 82.
Ned, re forecasting in the style of Yogi, the man who sold me the crystal ball said “This here crystal ball is to crystal balls what Stradavarius is to violins. It’ll cost you four pounds ten but you’ll never regret the outlay.”
🙁
A sequence of good stuff there, GSD. Jet lag works wonders for you! Spot on with your last para @ 80, time and a keen eye with as much support as the self-financing model will allow.
Re Barca, having thumped them in the first leg at home, I’ll never forget sitting in Camp Nou when the Swiss Cuckoo Clock Maker (as Holic Christened him) sent Robin Van Persie off for not hearing his whistle over 90,000 baying Spaniards.
And then with one minute to go, Jack laid the ball on the penalty spot where Robin should have been – but he wasn’t, because he’d been sent off by aforementioned SCCM – so the ball came to Bendy, who did a Bendy and the opportunity evaporated and, again, we didn’t go through against them.
And even worse, next thing I heard was Peter Hill-Wood saying “We’re not going to break the bank to keep Robin at Arenal” so off he went to Manchester and promptly won the league for them. And that’s when the shit began to flow down the hill from the top. So Arsene didn’t win the League that season and eventually the knuckle draggers started flying aeroplanes with banners all over the sky.
So yes. Time and a keen eye and we’ll see where we go from there. Gin and tonics, you say. Good man, I’m on my fourth. Slow day.
🙂
Spurs outfield players to pop out to view the tulips now and again?
There must be a nice Swiss referee to accommodate them, surely.
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