Didier See His Face At The End?
Oct 19th, 2011 by 'holic
I think this season is something of a reminder for old boys like myself. The days of inconsistency, even struggle, that occasionally surfaced in the pre-Wenger era have been replicated of late. That has meant considerable disenchantment among those unfamiliar with such feelings. Hopefully one or two have started to get it tonight. The feelings football generates remain powerful, perhaps even more so, when you win against the odds.
I won’t pretend I enjoyed the opening phase of the game in the Stade Velodrome. Both sides traded possession, but the hosts were hunting the ball down with a purpose that perhaps we lacked for a while. It was end to end, but when the home side were enjoying a healthy share of the ball it was a nervous watch. This was a bit like watching Arsenal of the mid seventies and eighties when we often did not control ownership of the football in a way to which we have now become accustomed.
Slowly though you could see players realising that early carelessness had not cost us, and we started to quicken our thinking and movement in the tight confines of a congested midfield. Penalties could, and probably should, have been traded. The one involving Jenkinson was less blatant than at the other end, but I suspect we would have moaned had we not been given it.
Mention of Jenkinson provokes the first serious praise of the night. The lad has taken some over-the-top stick in places. He is not the finished article, but there is something of a young Pat Rice about him. What he lacks technically he makes up for with sheer effort. His performance tonight belied his lack of years and experience, and it was sad to see him depart with what looked like a nasty knee injury. The prospect of us being without a right-back for any length of time now is a real concern.
The half-time whistle gave Arsene and Pat a chance to encourage the side out of their shell a little more in the second-half. Well that, and a seriously cautious approach by Didier Deschamps side after the break. I don’t know what he said to his troops during the interval, but they lost the urgency to compress play with the same level of intensity, almost as if they were suddenly scared of what Arsenal might do to them on the break.
They were almost proved right a couple of times when goalkeeper and skipper Mandanda had to be at his best to block from Walcott and van Persie. At the other end the magnificent Mertesacker and Koscielny effectively snuffed out any threat in front of Szczesny, who must have expected to be busier as the game progressed. A very contented ‘holic contemplated a very welcome point given the scoreline in Greece.
Then came the moment when the second-half substitutes fashioned the last gasp winner that means so much in what could be a long and hard season. Djourou, astonishingly carded for his first challenge, a seemingly perfect sliding tackle, capped an unexpectedly impressive cameo with a cross from midway in the Marseille half. Gervinho ‘dummied’ so convincingly that the ITV pundits misread it as a lack of control, and the unmarked Ramsey cut in unmarked from the left flank to finish at the far post.
It was so late that the home side had no opportunity to attempt to find a way past the twin defensive rocks, and Deschamps slipped away, muttering nasty things as he headed to the fridge for a healthy portion of fromage.
We may not yet be the Arsenal that we have come to take for granted under Arsene’s reign, but that just makes such wonderful smash and grab triumphs all the sweeter. It was like the nineties all over again.
“ONE-NIL TO THE ARSENAL!”
228 Responses to “Didier See His Face At The End?”
Arsenal News 24/7
Yes i did. Get in.
First?
well thats a turn up!
Apres moi la deluge!
The Ex Juve tart was upset. D.D. phone home!
1st?
’twas not a happy chappy
First? And couldn’t agree more…
He looked like a bulldog licking the p*ss off nettles.
Grrreat win lads, proud of you!
Wow! Told you mates “no worries”, whew! they marked our lads tighter then one of Madona’s corsets. Holic, totally agree with you, esp. about Jenkinson, he played his heart out, god bless him. And Ramsey has totally vindicated himself. now lads, do you believe what i’ve felt in my gooner soul all along…that Arsenal will not only make it out of the group stage, their going ALL THE WAY!
2nd, story of my life! Ah well another time maybe.
To more importent things(?) what a result, as the comentator mentioned (almost under his breath) at the end “thats 5 wins out of 6”
whisper it, just whisper it, but things are getting better (ambles away to see what happens next…..)
Oh well…4th place. Not too bad is it?
GET IN! I may not be the oldest gooner around here, but I’m not spoiled and I absolutly love results like this. 1-0 is all that it takes.
A round on me barkeep!
Nice to see us nick one at the end. Puts us in pole position with two home games left against the toughest opponents in the group. Should be a confidence builder for Ramsey and the team.
Holic, make sure to get to Wembley to watch my Bears on Sunday.
I liked the Jenkinator or JebouΓ© from the Udinese match on. I think he’s definitely one for the future.
Or now.
Unless he’s Vermaelened.
I’ve just bought Ollie and the lads a round in Marseille!
Don’t know if you saw it but the supporters had a banner reading “We Want Eboue”…..I don’t know if I want him to play, I’d rather see him do one of his theatrical warm-ups…
Don’t think Jenks’ injury will keep him out for too long (fingers crossed of course).
In the meantime, if DJ carries on playing like that he can stay at RB. Great to see his confidence returning and with his height, he should be a great asset on Sunday.
UTA! Drinks all round please Barkeeps.
Congrats to Jenkinson (who I thought did well for being so young and inexperienced, and also played his heart out) and to Koscielny for a rock solid performance
If we have a chance this year it will be Ramsey, he is just comming back, a bit of a Ramoo but soon a Rambo. He has almost single handly lifted his country 45 rankings as the youngest Captain. He has scored some ….. slightly important goal this year. Remember he kept Jack sidelined when in form. Ramsey is our own Giggs and say what the fuck you want but I’d take Giggsy any day. (not to my house or around my wife)
ARSENAL ARSENAL ARSENAL
Good man, Dubs π
Gedo, I saw the Bears in the first AF game played at Wembley in ’85. I would defo have been there this Sunday but for one thing. Arsenal are at home, and I will be on one at the pub after the game π
BTW Jenks a phuqn BEAST
Horrendously boring game. Happy with the win.
Bloody hell Jenkinson, hope it’s not serious. We’ve got serious injury hoo doo this year.
Maybe this is the price of van Persie being fit for a season: we break absolutely everybody else?
Djourou does not convince as a right back. I’m desperately trying to ignore the obvious comment about him not convincing as a centre half either. But Kos and Per are looking like a good pairing. How long till the Verminator’s back?
When was the last time we nicked a win in the 92nd minute as opposed to conceding!
Great result, pretty average performance – but then this was away in the CL, need to take that in to account too.
Winning ugly, hell: just winning, is a great feeling.
Truth be told Holic, if I were able to fly across the pond this weekend, I’d be at the Emirates as well….
Reesult!
DreamWright, only 2 teams in the PL stand in our way of the #3 spot. Chelsea and City. El Nino is on fire and city’s back four resemble the NFL. our loss to Manu was an abberation, nothing more. Bartender, please fill me mates’ glasses, as they are a very thirsty bunch. Cheers!
good arsenal blog not like most others undermining the team
I thought per got beaten far too easily and far too often, at least four times he was skinned, he even did a couple of air tackles and if squillaci, djourou or koscielny had put in the exact same performance as per did tonight they would have got slated big time
koscielny was outstanding
Have said it before, and will say it again…. shades of 86 / 87…..
Glad we won…in the 90th I was imagining the forthcoming “we played with the handbreak on” response to a generally frustrating game.
MOTM Kos all the way so far ahead that our goalie wax absolutely a waste of time!
Sorry to start an old theme again, but is there noone but LJW capable of looking up and seeing runners ahead – Theo was just allowed to show his speed once when he nutmegged the full back himself but never got another run, and several time RVP could have been away if he got a pass over the top
Rambo(good taff that he is) said after that he anticipated that cross – yippee
COYR
goalie was..
@eduardo Speeds not his bag baby…. He was a MOUNTAIN today and commanded the air. I thought he was immense.
cognac – shades of mine and TS’ conversation a while ago. Not always Theo’s fault.
I think the season would look a lot different if we had LJW there…..
@ Soul. Heh!
Like a teutonic Tony Ad….
@Catalan Gunner I’d take a TA in any form!!!!!!
ARSENAL ARSENAL ARSENAL
Did I mishear someoone mention that Marseille hadn’t conceded at home for 2 years?
ok so 1 win (slightly scabby) away from home doesn’t make everything rosey, but with everything that was said after the Theatre Of Nightmares result who would have given us a prayeer of being where we are now in this group?
Have you ever seen Tony and BFG in the same room??
@Catalan Gunner No, I got ya, or Sheryll Crow and Tom Petty.. The rebirth of BFG/TA a monster.
a morph of all that is man and defense
g clarke, welcome mate, very astute observation on your part, we have a doctor on call 24/7 if you ever require his services. as for me, i’m the resident cheerleader!
heh! π
Soul @ #32 – Excellent! π
Catalan @ #34 – Whisper it but, yes… possibly!
Altogether now:
We’ve got a Big F*cking German,
Big F*cking Ge-erman,
We’ve got a Big F*cking German…
*repeat to fade*
G clarke…. take yourself a pint from the bar. Take a seat. The Dr (one of them) will be along later..
Catalan – I’ll buy into the ‘shades of 86/7’ theory. Especially if the five years to come are similar.
We’re doing it (5 wins out of 6) with essentially a new team in many parts. Long may we say ‘Rosicky had a good match’ too…..we’ve waited Tomas – I hope you roll right along.
Any one know the deal with Park. He is on fire and gets no sniff. Is he injured or just communication? (I mean he may not speak English but he does French and at Arsenal that should suffice) Hnest question he seems a player but gets no chance any ideas
Eric Cantona, Zinedine Zidane, Matthieu Flamini, Samir Nasri, Ken Dodd, your Didi-men took a hell of a beating π
@Goonerholic That was funny! Cheers
eduardo, Koscielny was rock solid. he is underrated by some, but i see him as one of our best defenders. BTW all, if you were bored or restless, don’t blame our lads. Marseille were incredible with their defending. neither Chelsea or Manu were able to score against them. credit were credit is due. now we have to worry about Stoke, which one of our lads will fall victim to their vicious tackles.
@arsa e barca how very very sad…… but true. Maybe we will play Pong and he he can get “up in em” a bit. Hell we can take em with 10
Always strange pitch side appreciation of a match to tv.Everytime i’ve seen the big fucking german on tele he’s looked ponderous position wise and poor passing choices ,but those who were at the match found him impressive.Tonight he was imperious in the air and always picking the safe pass,Kos was always one of my favourite players,composed and elegant and ready to attempt the more positve pass.I saw elsewhere that Song was excellent but for me I expect much more of him.Jenkinson gives everything ,is solid in defence and plays as if he were a supporter.Hope his knee is not as serious as it looks.Santos looks like he has the experience to make Gibbs battle to get a start.Ches wasn,t really bothered in the second half when he was up the arsenal fans end.Otherwise the midfield and attack didn’t really function,Arteta didn’t impose himself,we need someone in midfield to accelerate the ball,every time the defence provided agood ball out it got stuck in midfield ,anyhow a win is a win,Terry Neil and George Graham would have been proud of the lads.I think the backline is coming together nicely and from there you can go forward.Dire match but I loved it
Arsa @ 25, 4th place’s not so bad then. Though, I don’t agree that Torres is on fire (just yet). Without taking anything from his goals, I think Genk were absolutely abject in the first half.
@DreamWright phuq chelsea, torres, and scouser he rode in on.
ARSENAL ARSENAL ARSENAL
NIGHT
Guys
Long time no chat I took myself to have a dig at Le Grove:
http://le-grove.co.uk/2011/10/19/at-last-arsenal-sign-a-world-class-player-can-we-win-tonight-and-top-the-group/#comment-989290
What a bunch of Wankers!
Long live the King LOng live Holic the KING!
Pretty surprised by the scoreline over in Greece. Perhaps,the reigning German champions don’t travel so well… Looking forward to nicking 3 points off ’em at the Grove.
Now we turn our attentions to Tony Pubis & his Rugby playing Orc army…
@ArthurTheGooner was going to bed but cant find your link…. I think removed.
Finally our luck may be turning. Last year the handball against Jenko would have been given, Santos would have been sent off for a second yellow for his handball and it would have been us conceding in the 3rd minute of injury time. Having said that it is still alarming to see us turn from being the 2nd most attractive attacking side in Europe to one devoid of ideas going forward in a matter of months. Yes i know it was an away performance in europe but I’m not just talking about today. We finally have a full back who can deliver an accurate cross in to the box but what’s the point? I could have freeze framed on at least 6 occasions in the first half alone when either Jenko or Walcott were in a good crossing position when Van Persie was the only Arsenal player in the box surrounded by 5 or 6 defenders. That would be bad enough if we had Carroll or Crouch (God forbid) to aim at but when was the last time we scored a header from a cross? Stats prove that 90% of goals are scored from inside the box yet most of our players seem to freeze at the thought of crossing the white line, either with or without the ball, it’s as if it’s been coached out of them. All great goalscorers are poachers and RVP needs some help in the box. God knows we’ve got the players who could do damage inside the 6 yard box but they alwyas seem to be stuck out wide. Look at recent seasons, Bendtner, Eduardo, scoring for fun for their national team because they play IN THE BOX not at right wing or left midfield and now we have the captain of Korea who grabbed a brace and the Ox with a hatrick in U21 who can’t even get in the squad and when they do where do they play?out wide! Even Gervinho or Walcott (who is a better finisher than crosser and should play through the middle off RVP) should be given a chance to come off the wing because they are too easy to mark out wide. Not whinging just pointing some stuff out which just seems so obvious it’s frustrating. COYR!!!
@ArthurTheGooner on the same thread every time I get a new IP or computer, I can not sleep until I have been banned by Arsenal truth . com (did not want to link it)
I have not felt this satisfied with a result for ages. The performance was not great by any stretch of the imagination. We were quite frankly poor at times. Our final ball was dreadful and our crosses were not that much better. But that can all be worked on. What really impressed me was the attitude. That is probably the best “team” performance I have seen from us in ages. It has been said countless times that all the good teams can win ugly and can pull a result out of the bag when they do not play well. We managed to both tonight. We fought as a team, we battled as a team and the team responded. Form is temporary is another old favourite. What I saw tonight was a group of players who actually played as a team and played for each other. A rarity in recent weeks.
I have many times questioned Kos. I have said that he has potential but has a lot to do. Tonight he proved he can do it. His decision making was much better and his reading of the game was also very good. He may well have been helped in this dept by the big German next to him. I was again impressed by his performance. Santos showed his maturity. An early booking and I would not have been the only one thinking that he would not make the full 90. But a measured and sensible approach saw another solid performance. The Jenk continues to impress. He will continue to develop but I would suggest that you would struggle to find someone with a bigger heart. Well done young man.
We won tonight because we would not settle just for a point. No one sulked because it was not going as we would have hoped. They battled to the end. I for one find that very encouraging. I have always believed that football is a lot to to with the mental aspect. Tonight we saw signs that it is coming back in droves. Kick nine bells out of Stoke at the weekend and a few that had written us off may well sit up and start to take notice.
And just when I thought it could not get any better I am treated to the news that the Spuds have actually given away 1500 tickets for tomorrows blockbuster at the shit hole. Big club???? My fucking Arse…
Keep the faith…
*boilk*
It was a weird one but we got the result we needed.
One nil to the Arsenal! Now can someone get Old Twitchy off Sky Sports please….he’s screwing with my already hungover head…
First time posting on here and i’d like to say that this has to be the best gunner blog going around. matching my sentiments (most of the time). good to see the boys showing a bit of spine, big, big away win, in the hardest fixture of our group stage. Djouru at right back? maybe until vermaelen is back, then play kos and per in the middle?
watching the genk game, they were terrible, blackburn could have torn them apart. They gave chelsea so much space.
anyway icy cold beer for me, please, let’s hope jenkinsons knee needs nothing more than a bandaid.
Evening all,
I thought we were the much better side second half and the fact that Arteta played deep shows someone is learning.
Disagree about the Mertesacker gripers, he did his job again which is what he does every time he laces them up and crosses the touchline. Kos was MOTM for me and Gervinho’s liveliness makes me think some pudgey Ruskie needs to ride the pine for awhile so as I can squander my hard earned elsewheres.
Alas, for poor old CJ. Struck down with the curse of the Arsenal. Will it never pass away from us? Dear Lord I pray it will.
Well, on to Potterville or is that Pooterville? Lennietown? Pubic city?
Barkeep, a Whiskey sour on True Storey!!!
Excellent Steve T @ #57
Especially that last paragraph π
FOYS, FIOS
Cognacgunner @ 30. It worries me a lil’ bit also that no one in the team seems to be able to read & pick the runs of VP & the other forwards with the ball over the top, something Cesc was pretty good at. I believe Song is capable of making such passes, re his assist for The Ox’s goal against the Greeks. I’d also like to think Rosicky & possibly even Arteta has the vision & technical ability to make such passes.
I think it probably has more to do with the confidence of the above mentioned players & a better understanding of each other’s game, which all have to do with more playing time together.
Though, I’d say i’ve been disappointed with the range of passing Arteta has shown so far.
Welcome melburn, have a pint of London Pride from the bar.
@52: ATG, that site is vile….I saw some posters saying they hope Arsene dies of a heart-attack and shit like that. I think that site is where gloryhunting cunts go to die…
Oops, looks as if we’re home this weekend dang me!
@CoR #63
I saw that too. And then the guy says he not a doomer?
What kind of “fan site” is that?
Best place for Gooners!
Sorry too drunk to recollect! One of those nights!
Time to hit the fucking munsters where it hurts! π
Have a great night ‘holics…
Management hates me she thinks I should Marry Arsenal I said:
HEEEEEEEEEEELLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLL YESSSSSSSS!
Another ‘spot on’ post ‘Holic.
And Deschamps ‘went off muttering nasty things’ – did ‘e, eh? π
Some nervy moments but it feels good to go away from home and fight for a 1 – 0. Especially with 10 men. As you say, very reminiscent of bygone days.
The ’10’ men refers, unsurprisingly to Arshavin, who contributed absolutely nothing. How can that happen to the instant star who breezed into the Emirates spraying brilliant first time passes and scoring incredible goals.
I agree with TS and Catalan that some of Theo’s ineffectiveness is not his fault, as he rarely gets an early ball played into the space behind the opposition defence. Credit to Jenkinson who was the first for some time to try to do so tonight.
Not the most beautiful game to watch tonight, but a few scrappy 1 – 0s could be just what this team needs. Perfick!
Great write-up ‘holic. Although I only got to see the last half hour live I have a feeling I got to see the best part of the game. Especially the last minute. But I have the whole thing on the DVR to watch tonight after the little one has finally nodded off. Bring out the beers! π
Arthur – good to see you have your priorities sorted π
In the last half hour Koscielny was indeed magnificent, and I don’t think he has gotten the credit he deserves. He is definitely one for the future as well as the present.
Nice write up ‘holic,, I have one tiny gripe though, I thought Per had a bad game, by his high standards, he got done quite a few times and fortunatly we got away with it.
ATG. Please, please please (and this goes for everyone) never post a link to that site again, I’ve tried to avoid it, but as a courtesy I always click on all links posted on the drinks, I wish I hadn’t, what a smug little wanker. Some of the comments are just disgraceful, are these people really Arsenal supporters?
Steve T. Once again we’re in agreement. There were a lot of abject performances out there tonight, but boy did they fight for each other. I was dissapointed with Song and Santos (what happened to the Dos in his name?) for their early bookings, but they kept their heads for the rest of the game (behalf from the silly handball) Song especially was massive, as was Kos and Jenks.
Rosicky was again our best player in the midfield, Arteta was a bit anonymous, but still did some of the important leg work. Theo and AA seem to be the whipping boys for tonight, but RvP wasn’t that great either, but for me that’s not that important, we lose as a team, we draw as a team and tonight we won as a team.
OK, as a spectacle it was as ugly as Susan Boyle french kissing a wasp chewing bulldog, but fuck it feels good. 3 games gone, a home win and four points stolen on the road. Who could possibly ask for more?
Next up the Munsters, who lest we forget, still have a game to play in Israel Thursday night. We are used to three games in a week and European adventures wheras they are not. Onwards and upwards my friends.
Line up the voddie shots if you please barman.
Cheers.
sorry woke a bit to piss and saw this on star MARSEILLE 0 ARSENAL 1: LUCKY GUNS BUT RAMSEY TOPS IT OFF. It states we got lucky with penalty on Jenks and Andre should have been gone……….. I dont agree but ok…. not one mention of the CLEAR ASS penalties Arsenal was denied. WTF is up English Press? French, German, and Algzzzz are all giving Arsenal great praise but the countries own press tries to destroy the team.
sorry country’s
Oh yeah, before I forget….
How bad were the referee and the other officials tonight?
Free kicks were been given for absolutly nothing, JD’s yellow card was beyond ridiculous.
Why have extra officials behind the goal when two pretty straight forward penalties (one for each side as ‘holic pointed out) weren’t even spotted?
Blatter you have a lot to answer for.
Agreed about Rosicky’s performance in the last half hour. It is wonderful to see him emerging again in the last two games. Pirouette city!!
H2H, I’m agreed that Djourou’s yellow card was beyond ridiculous. One of the better tackles of the season, without question.
soul.
The meeja in the UK are a bunch of knobends. You’ll just have to get used to it I’m afraid.
H2H, What is with this sentence?
as a spectacle it was as ugly as Susan Boyle french kissing a wasp chewing bulldog
?????????????
Vodka shot for me please. π π
ATG @69: Join the crowd on that one! Marry Arsenal? When are they proposing???????? π π
8ball.
Tantamout to saying it was not easy on the eye.
H2H.
Somehow it sounded even uglier the first time. π
IF i marry Arsenal, does that mean i have to say goodbye to my Pato?! someone in legal please check on that.
mates, it’s a wrap from my end. rest assured i’ve read everyone’s comments and continue to learn about the beautiful game from all of you, i really mean it. after all, FOOTBALLISTICALLY, WE ARE THE ARSENAL!
Just wondering if “One Aaron Ramsey” is particularly applicable today.
As in One Aaron Ramsey; Nil Marseille. π
That was a gritty performance. If the extra official can’t spot a clear handball in the box, what good is he? And the yellow for JD was utterly stupid, a cleaner win of the ball will be difficult to see, especially with the visit of Tony Pubis’ rugby playing Orcs on Sunday.
It was rather poetic that Aaron, The Fivehead, and JD all combined for the goal, as we are often told that Wenger never gets his substitutions right. I thought JD showed good pace and strength at RB, but was really sad to see CJ depart. The lad does have some ability when it comes to whipping in a cross on the run, and I do believe he got us a lot of throw-ins and certainly won the bulk of our corners. Speaking of corners, we do seem rather rubbish at them at the moment, and can’t seem to hit the BFG with any, despite the fact that he towers above everybody in the box. I think that is an area we can definitely look to improve on.
As soon as we scored, I was yelling at the tv, “Keep it tight at the back lads! Don’t throw this away!” but I need not have worried. I can’t remember a game in which Chesney was so untroubled. The few times he was called upon to deal with crosses, he did quite well, and I think opponents have now given up on the view that Arsenal’s goalkeeping is a weak spot.
A word must also go out for Song. After he picked up that early yellow, I feared the worst. But, he turned in another magnificent performance, cleanly winning the ball, turning their players away from our danger area, and winning freekicks off them. There have been 2 Alex Songs at Arsenal: the first one was the horribly limited player who had his nadir on a terrible away day at Fulham, and the very next game, the current Alex Song emerged. I have watched football for most of my conscious life, and followed Arsenal for 16 years, and I have never ever seen a player change that rapidly between two appearances in the same season. Song has become one of the finest defensive midfielders in the world, and a credit to his boneheaded manager who stuck with him when everyone else urged him to get rid. Sometimes, Arsene’s stubbornness pays off big time.
Next up, Dave. What can you say about Dave? Immense, magnificent, an utter Trojan in defence, especially in the last 30 minutes. He reads the play so well it’s almost like he can read the opposing midfielders’ minds. And the lad is quite quick as well. He put in one hell of a shift tonight, and I think he’ll give Gilberto a serious run for his money if we ever had a “Most Under-rated Arsenal Player” award.
In conclusion, I’m more chuffed than a badger in mating season at the win, which is why I’m still awake and turning in my own drink at 2.40am local time on a workday.
I’ll have a pint of the black stuff, barkeep, and you can pour one for yourself.
Come on you Gunners!
Wouldn’t it be ironic if this turns out to be the trophy-winning season we have been waiting for? When it does happen, we certainly will not have certain discarded or departed players to thank so let’s get it done boys!!
@bt8bbgfg
Ironic would not be the word.
Try Miraculous.
Cheers mate.
I don’t know if anybody mentioned it but I think a word needs to go out for JD on his great work on the build up to the goal.
Great defending by the back 4. The European game suits our defenders a lot more and you can see that in the results we get.
Didn’t really have a lot of penetration but had some.
Great 3 points. Confidence builds confidence and sure does give a lot of confidence to the team.
Another thing is I think Santos surely stakes a claim to be in the starting 11.
And although Arteta hasn’t brought a lot when we’re in possession I love his work rate and most importantly his defensive awareness.
The amount of times he instinctively covered for Jenkinson/JD when they charged forward was heart warming to me. We finally have someone who recognizes danger apart from Song and Jacky.
Holic, I’m pretty sure it was lack of control on Gervinho’s part, but who cares π ?
I’ve found out why Theo is so bad this season!
Theo has always been poor out wide when he needed to take people on and deliver crosses. He got stick for it and rightfully so, but he was forgiven because of his goals.
His goals are mostly goals where he cuts inside and is sent one on one with the keeper (i.e Spurs, Newcastle, Shaktar etc.).
Other than RvP who’s apparently not suffering at all from Cesc’s departure, there is one player who’s having a horrible time without Cesc and that’s Theo.
There isn’t anybody who’ll play those passes to Theo so he can’t make up for bad deliveries and lost balls with goals.
Once Jack comes back it’ll be different though.
Snir Geuli
I really watched Arteta tonight and would agree…his work off the ball could easily get missed. He knows where to be and when, reduces angles for opponents and anticipates extremely well. I also watched Arshavin….every time he went to ground, he’d gradually get back up….walk for a while…and be absolutely out of position for the next 30-45 seconds of play regardless of what was happening.
I wanted Arshavin to be a success but goodness surely time is running out as anything other than a 20 minute sub?
Let the lurking begin….
Tim
I think that shows you the difference in personalities between AA and TR.
I wrote after Sunday that TR has finally got his act together (as did Gibbs ever since Santos was signed) once he realized his place isn’t guaranteed.
He had a place guaranteed whenever Cesc didn’t play in the hole, and he didn’t play a lot like we know. He was so guaranteed that spot that he usually played that role when Nasri was fit. Nasri often played on the wing while TR played in the hole.
Same thing happened in the beginning of the season after we sold Cesc and had no one but TR to play in the hole, he was guaranteed a place and didn’t justify his place with his performances.
Ever since we bought Arteta he must have realized his place is under serious threat and has been excellent every time he came on (as did Yossi and of course Gibbs who has a hard task as Santos is playing great – was very pleased with him both on Sunday and tonight).
AA on the other hand hasn’t staked a claim to be in the starting 11 for the last 2 seasons.
He lost his place against Chelsea when we started playing Theo, RvP and Nasri up front and never busted his ass off to win his place back.
This season he lost his place to Gervinho and as soon as you thought he might fight for his place after his performance on Sunday he comes back with this kind of performance like today although he has to realize that this is his chance because Theo is so poor. For some reason he isn’t taking his chance.
Like I said, it’s probably the difference in personality.
@ The law: “Pubis’ rugby playing Orcs” – Quality, or as the teenagers say, “L.O.L.” (am I showing my age?)
Well pals it wasn’t the most flowing game you’ll see but to be fair we should have scored a couple more than we did. I can’t really fathom why OM did just about the square root of fuck all in attack when you could see that they had the potential to be dangerous.
Theo was unlucky not to get one after the defender had a mare and basically teed him up with only the keeper to beat, who, er, ‘made himself big’….yes, in public.
I thought the BFG put in a decent performance but I don’t want to see him up against a pacey winger ever again.
Was VP offside too much, or did his teammates sell him short by not trying to release him quicker? I think the old “running through treacle” attacking play is not completely out of our system.
And the boy Ramsey, what can you say? Perfect first touch to set himself up for a thoroughly emphatic finish….
…cue silent but insane cheering and jumping around on tippy-toes by me and my mate as we try to celebrate without waking up his kid.
COYG!!!!!! Oh, and of course FYR.
Fuck Stoke.
Maccabi are playing them tonight in the Europa League.
I wish we could injure them before their visit to the Emirates but somehow I have the feeling it’s gonna be the other way around π
To be honest, I’d love to get a result tonight, but as funny as it may sound, I’m more concerned that we won’t suffer a season ending injury to one of our important players.
Yes, I’m THAT scared of those Rugby players.
Get in Rambo!!!!!!!!
Snir, why you LITTLE!!!
Hello folks, holic, nice write up and thank you.
I think we have this Santos playing great thing all wrong. Yes he played well enough to not pick up a second yellow but, some of his passes, especially in the first half were, well dreadful. Dont get me wrong, great touch even better first touch but, he’s Brazilian so what do you expect.
I also don’t think the BIG SACK played horribly outside of that one replay they showed of him getting turned inside out.
Arteta- whoa, he’s more than willing to track back and earn a paycheck but, he passes to the wing rather than trying to play the ball directly. And most of the time that may be ok to spread out the defense but, RVPs hanging on the edge of the trap waiting for that ball. However, OM played a great trap against RVP and we picked the worst possible time to put in a cross almost every time.
KOS- immense but, when is he not, really?
JD20-if we hadn’t regained possession before his cross it wouldn’t have been so upbeat in this bar…. We would’ve had Leonard Cohen rather that Ian Curtis on stage.
I love this club more than most anything except my future wife (maybe), my son and beer but let’s take off the rose tinted glasses and speak the truth a bit. I love this blog behind those things mentioned previously but, just my bit of criticism whether it be constructive or not. The tattoo over my heart speaks of my love of the club more than anything else. This is all a matter of opinion and mine alone but,that’s why we come here… Drinks for all on Lars, of course.
…101 is the new 100. And it’s the best room number.
As has been opined by a lot of ‘holics on here, a great result notwithstanding the quality of the game itself
Jenkinson is fast becoming a favourite
I struggled for streams yesterday, and I finally managed to get one 15 minutes into the game. I hate stream hunting
Re:Theo – I agree he receives a lot of flak, but his game is not based on taking on defenders after he gets the ball, as Snir points out. He has to be put in behind a defender. So essentially he is a wide striker. This rarely works in a 4-3-3 but he is one of the lads who can score goals. He has to be in the mix for me
As for Andrei, well what you can you say about him? π
Roll on Sunday. Beat those fucking orcs
YDWBHL – How are you mate?
I think you’re just a bit too harsh.
Granted, criticism is necessary at times, but I’ve always said that this Arsenal team may not be more exciting or as exciting as last season but it’s stronger both in determination and work rate and it showed, and for me, I’ll take that every day of the week.
As for Santos, I don’t know about others, but when I was trying to gather some info on him, one thing kept coming back, average at defending at best.
I’ve seen him now and almost expect for him to get beat on 1v1 every time.
What I have seen, to my surprise and happiness is that he isn’t that average and he’s proving a tough player to pass as you can see by his tackles both yesterday and Sunday.
As for the passes, I think that’s more to do with understanding because you can see he has the Brazilian vision, he just needs to adapt to his team mates’ tendencies.
Arteta – I have noticed that away from home he is a lot less adventurous with his passing and maybe that’s the reason he didn’t try those passes to RvP. Overall, I’m very happy with his work rate and the offensive contribution will surely come.
PM – Fantastic. The European game is a lot easier for him.
Kos – You know what I think about him :).
As for JD – I think he did quite well at RB. I mean, we often make excuses for Theo and NB52 for playing out of position, so what about JD? He played quite well and it was his determination that made the goal. His performance yesterday at RB was without a doubt a lot better than the last time he played there (Blackburn).
True, we had problems in possession but Marseille were really pressing high up the pitch but more importantly were pressing lively and not jogging around, they harried us into losing possession, something which would be tough for every team in the world.
What I’m trying to say is, while we weren’t our free flowing great, I’ll take a hard fought, gritty win every time and that’s the way it should be.
Harsha, drop me an email, I’ll help you with that mate. There isn’t a game in the world that I don’t find a stream for, no matter the sport (except for that Shrewsbury game!).
Had a very long day at work yesterday, followed by a couple of hours at the pub with a very happy ending to the game (no, Wolfie, not that kind of happy ending!). Much less busy day today, so now it’s time to catch up on the drinks and enjoy the victory for a bit!
Barman, cup of tea please while I do my catching up!
A brief venture to the bar between airports – excellent result and team performance, with special mention for Koscielny who showed us what a nice problem we are going to have when TV is back, assuming he can play like that consistently, which I think he can if he gets to play in a settled back four.
Happy Train from France was full last night (and much cheaper than Eurostar, Ollie) so onwards to the Grove on Sunday.
The Dr Feelgood tour moves on to Cork – what are the chances of being able to see our game when there will be the Manc love-in on every screen in town?
Enjoy the Tollie meet you lucky, fun lovin’ criminals – will be thinking of you as I quality test the Murphy’s. 8)
To add to our repertoire of acronyms, eg UTA, COYG etc, can I propose FOP? “Fuck Off Pulis!”
Great to read this blog rather than all the haters who seem to be out there. Awesome grinding, dull win. I’ll take that result all season long. Let’s hope someone breaks Shawcoss’s leg this weekend and we get another victory.
Morning Holics!
Hungover from hell, anything from the MC that can help?
We are making steps in the right direction but there is still quite a long journey ahead.
I’ve always said that Kos will one day be a great defender and he has nothing yet to make me change my mind.
The BFG is a good player and it seems to me that him and the aforementioned are striking up a decent partnership, and I noticed last night that they kept in line and within a reasonable distance of each other more often than not.
When JD had to replace the irrepressible Jenks my heart sank remembering his last performance at right back, but I needn’t have worried; he looked like he wanted to be there and played with spirit, energy and enthusiasm. He also supplied the cross that led to Ramsey’s goal. He too will play a role in this teams progression.
Ramsey too played with energy and desire and seems full of confidence just now. I hope it rubs off on some of the others.
Unfortunately energy and desire seem to be two things that AA doesn’t understand – perhaps someone should explain it to him in russian?
The team finished the game a lot better than they started it and considering the changes in personnel and the confidence shattering occurrences of late I thought they did well and showed plenty of the grit and determination that hasn’t always been there in the past.
ATG
Help yourself to what ever you fancy – then report back to me as to their effectiveness.
Nothing like a good guinea pig.
Next!
Right, caught up now.
Firstly, let me say that the headline for this piece is absolutely brilliant!
SteveT@58: totally with you about the mental aspect, I also think football (and most other sports, for that matter) is very much about mental states. Our biggest problem so far this season has been the lack of confidence but I see signs of that starting to improve. We are not there yet, but we are definitely moving in the right direction. And also, remember that when you have been down in the dumps like we have and then manage to turn it around then you generally become incredibly strong instead.
Arthur, stay away from Le Moan for the good of your own mental health!
Absolutely shit referee last night, as some others have pointed out. I just could not believe the yellow on Djourou, and quite frankly the yellow on Andre Santos was not a much better decision. Where the fuck was he supposed to go? The Marseille player more or less threw himself into the path of Santos and then went to the ground like he’d been shot.
But as for the handball on Jenkinson, that was the correct decision. The way I see it, Jenks actually tries to get his arm out of the way and it is a rather slight touch, so that should not have been a penalty.
Snir@105, great post.
zico, we’ll have a drink on your behalf on Sunday!
Cheers Lars, but more importantly make sure and give the baseball-capped twat an earful! π
Great to see you, zicomeister. Have you heard from TaBS lately?
zico, will do my best to make myself heard from row 20, West Upper!
*sulks in corner at lack of take-up of new acronym*
CG…. don’t go all “Draped in Darkness” on us!
FOP !!! π
@sir snir
I think TR7 has tried his best even before the advent of Arteta and Benayoun. He is simply finding his form and a bit of confidence now.
The fact that the team played with a more defesive shape and dropped the high line shenanigans helps him get the ball in a postion were he can look up and do something with it instead of being under immediate pressure. Song and Arteta have had a lot to do with that.
I understand some of the critizism of Per tree but good Lord does he ever get a rest? It’s true he’s not very fast but between club and country he has to be tired. His postioning,calmness under pressure and awareness are A-1 with me and I’m inclined to cut him some slack.
And as far as fear is concerned I’m not at all intimidated by the Stoke rugby team but the All Blacks scare me like hell.
Oh yeah, what IS the deal with Arshavin?
Dr C, I’m not a needy attention-seeker, honest…
FOP and BMBD
Hi Holic,
Haven’t heard from tabs since before I headed off to the sun – saw some strange sights on tour but no sign of Wolfgang and the ubiquitous Speedos.
I do hope he/they are ok.
Say hello to CFPB and the rest on Sunday π
1-0 to the Arsenal, oh yeah!
Snir Geuli @ 105: On the button in all respects.
ND @ 112: Sharp observation about Kos and PM. Defence is starting to show signs of organization at last. Last night when one defender got beaten there was generally a second line of defence to cover, which hasn’t always been the case this season.
Overall, this team is slowly starting to gell. Had it not been for the disruptions in the summer, it might have started to gell before the season began, but better late than never.
There isn’t much not to like about an away win in the CL against the main rival in our group. Neither Chelski nor the Mancs could score in the Velodrome last season, which makes Ramsey’s smash and grab winner even sweeter, to my mind.
A very large glass of your finest claret today, ‘Holic, if you would.
Afternoon all!
Ah, zico is back. Time for some extra fun π
Camberwell – will accept your acronym on the basis we modify it to:
FOPYC π
Lars, I think we need to stat firming-up our arrangements for Sunday. I guess I owe you an email π
Still basking in the glw of a well-earned 1-0 win – tremendous.
Cheers all, drinks are on the bar and CMC is open.
Hello new Tweeting chum.
TS – agreed. I think the addition of the “YC” adds a little je ne sais quoi…actually I do know what it is: it’s his rightful moniker, that’s what!
And drinks on the bar, what a ledge. I will sup deep and long (stop sniggering at the back).
Rums of various flavours for all.
Possibly from there : http://www.cityvox.fr/restaurants_marseille/la-route-du-rhum_200096250/PhotosLieu
Although it now has a different name, front, etc.
Good food in big portions too.
My mistake, actually, seems to be this place:
http://www.lafourchette.com/2_restaurant/restaurant_Marseille/restaurant_Le_Sud_du_Haut/14305/
Still it’s fucking hard to google a place when it’s just changed name/look/owner. It just says ‘RHUMERIE’ now.
And while I’m doing the spamming, I recommend the Hotel Oceania.
Good location, cheap enough all considered, very clean and modern, and also very friendly yet professional staff.
In fact, in all the hotel shit or good I’ve ever been to, this is probably the one where I’ve felt most welcome and best served.
Charming people, all 4 or 5 I have come across. Smiling, helpful and genuine.
I enjoyed the check-out too :
-were you here on business?
-no, I was here for the football.
-oh, shame about the result…
-…no, I’m an Arsenal fan, it was great! π
Ollie, With gloating like that it’s a wonder the hotel staff didn’t bustle you off into a nearby alley for a lesson in manners. π
During the game the TV commentators said Arsenal’s record in France is undefeated in 7 matches. So that makes us 8-0, not too shabby. π
Hello Ollie, how’s the head after two nights on the lash? Looked like there was a ‘top jostle’ going on when Rambo banged the winner in π
Sounds like you had a hoot, judging by your tweets over the past couple of days…. and you’ve got to do it all over again this weekend. Poor you π
Camberwell @ #127
I’m all for TLAs but Pubis is a special case who is well deserving of a FLA.
Come on The Maccabi Tel-Aviv. Smash those Munsters tonight!
Storey@125, I am still waiting for that email π
Head’s starting to bit a bit painful.
I might go to bed early.
In fact I just had a kip.
Now I’m hungry…
Sunday should be relatively reasonable, right?
I fear the bad influence of the barman though π
Looking forward to meeting the man with the biggest wallet in the world too.
Oh, hello Lars!
Is the European summit in Brussels?
That and the start of the French holidays could explain the ridiculous Eurostar price next weekend.
Half term in England Ollster, might have an effect.
Ah, both ways then. Thanks Esso.
Top Result last night in a pretty pivotal game which should make progress alot easier than might have been, Credit to the boys as it’s never an easy place to play and to get the three points was a massive bonus, Now onto them c@@”s from the potteries
Up The Arse!!
Evening ‘holics,
Settling down ready to watch my newest team on ITV4.
COME ON MACCABI π
Fulham beaten in Poland. Shame.
There’s a few hundred Maccabi fans in the Britannia.
Stoke score in eleven. Maccabi scared to death of any cross. Think I’ll listen to some choons instead π
“Maccabi scared to death of any cross”
hmmmm
heh
Watching Bratislava vs PSG here, I may give up before the end though.
Oh, perlease, washed up….
They have now let another one in. both free headers from balls into the box. I cannot watch any more π
Hellollie π
Just turned it on, why have they made the pitch bigger? got to be about 6 foot (2 metres for the younger generation!) wider and longer, are they using it to practice for the Emirates?
Still buzzing from last night, such an old fashioned way to win that it’s left lovely repercussions. Older Arsenal (and Clash) fans might like this post as it talks about my introduction to Highbury all those years ago.
http://www.theclashblog.com/palmers-green-1971-if-only-i-knew-who-was-down-the-road/
Hello, Ollie!
You might find that my wallet is surprisingly small, it’s a bit like the TARDIS in that respect!
Just checked the Met Office forecasts, looks like it’s going to be a little windy on Sunday with gusts of 31 mph winds. We’ll have to hold our pints tight if we are outdoors π
Have to admit to being slightly worried though that we shall fall into the same old trap of thinking that everything has turned around after a good European performance and that we can cruise through a game against an opposition we are expected to beat. We’ve done that many times before, let’s hope we’ve finally learned the lesson. Nothing but three points will do on Sunday, it’s as simple as that. Just match them for work rate and we will win it, but don’t and we’re in trouble.
Nobody expects us to beat Stoke, Lars, so we might be OK. π
GR, UEFA regulations on pitch dimensions. The Premier League is not as fussy about the runway they normally have for throw-ins.
Great stuff, Tim. Enjoyed that a lot.
Lars, It’ll take more than a little breeze to empty my glass before I do. Bring plastic on Sunday. I feel a diabolical thirst developing π
One-day weeks rock. Tomorrow is my first and last day in the office for the week.
I was in a conf call for about an hour while sipping a beer in Marseille, mind.
cheers ‘holic – you remind me it’s never a bad thing to dig back to find the way forward
Just a half day for me Ollie. Looks like my iPhone may ship tomorrow so I’m off on a sim-only hunt in town.
Aiming to hit the pub at 11 to half past on Sunday, but will keep in touch when I am above ground in case tube closures cause delays.
Noted. St. P 1130 for me so 12 in the pub
Evening Holic
Re your query about Tabs and his whereabouts,i think you will find in his last post a wee while ago,he mentioned he would be off air for a period as he had some family matters to attend to.
I miss him as well.!!
cheers
The sweeper.
Thanks Clive. Really hope he is ok.
thank you gh,
an infrequent poster but constant reader.
Just one thing to say to all and that is ‘be grateful if you are a gooner because we are unique’
yes we are Liam…..
Welcome liam, and thank you.
liam, unique is my middle name (eh, eh). Holic i propose a full spread on sunday. Ollie can prepare some of those french dishes he was lucky enough to consume while the rest of us made do with whatever. Cheers!
TABS –
if you drop in here, ‘things’ are clearly not ok, but I, like many above, really hope you personally are.
zico – good to see a brief appearance.
@163 arsa e barca
I thought “e”was your middle name. π
===
Tabs indeed mentioned in a previous post that he was busy, but I second the sentiment that he is missed and I too hope all is well, hurry back mate..
====
Holic, if your iphone is dying, then may I suggest you try a different brand. I had an iphone but traded it in for an android (galaxy SII) a much better device.
Unlucky Snir, Maccabi couldn’t get anyone injured it seems…
I’m looking at the lineups for Stoke (that played Maccabi) and Arsenal (that played Marseille). My guess is that we might be playing a Stoke that looks like this:
Sorenson, Upson, Huth, Shotton, Shawcross, Delap, Wilson, Etherington, Whitehead, Kenwyne Jones, Crouch
And we might line up with: Szcz, Kos, Djourou, Mertesacker, Santos, Rosicky, Song, Gervinho, Ramsey, Arteta, RVP
Will this be enough to grasp the sword of 3 points from the lair of fire-breathing man-ogres? Or will we be lucky to escape with a mere draw?
Fine game…marred in the US by commentators with absurd anti-Aresnal bias. Their voices were honeyed by the Tottenham Hotspunk running down their throats.
@CoR
If the lineup you suggest actually starts they will be the more rested team despite having played a day later.
Could/should we not bring in some fresher players and still compete for all 3.
Where is Park,Ox,Myachi and/or Benayoun?
Some seem more indispensible than others (BFG,Song,Kos and Santos because of the injury to Gibbs) But what is the sense of building a bench that cannot be trusted to play at a time when we have many injuries and a full fixture list?
I have this feeling that Park and Miyaichi will only get to see the Prem after proving themselves in the Carling Cup. Will we start Benayoun in this one over Rosicky you think? As he’s been playing well I figured Rosicky might keep his place for a bit. I think Oxlade might play but it depends who’s going in at leftback. If it’s Jenkinson then maybe not, if it’s Koscielny/Djourou then maybe…
Ok, this doesn’t surprise me at all.
Maccabi is a team I support, therefore it can’t defend set pieces. It’s been like that for years. Every team I support can’t defend set pieces.
I think Stoke’s reputation has a lot to do with it though (you have no idea how much EPL Israelis watch, everybody knows about Stoke’s style of play), it must have contributed.
This game came at the worst possible time for us as we’re in a really bad run of results as opposed to the magnificent start of the season.
With all that, I don’t think Stoke’s visit to Tel-Aviv would be as easy.
Holic and Holics, thanks for the show of support π
As for Stoke, as I thought, they injured our most important player.
Why doesn’t that surprise me? I just hope we escape injury-free on Sunday!
Snir, I forget to wish you happy new year as well man. I play futsal with a couple of Israelis who told me about the celebration but I forgot to mention it. I think I spread myself thin across the global Arsenal blogosphere so I often forget when to say what…
I really hoped Maccabi would injure a few Stoke players but c’est la vie…
@169: I meant to write “it depends who’s going in at right-back”
Must reread before pressing send…damn you coffee hands!
CoR – We have another chance in two weeks π
I’m sure Stoke will find it extremely hard at our home ground. It is very hard to win there.
If we do injure them, great. But that would already be after the AFC game.
Still I wouldn’t mind seeing some Stoke players getting injured π
It’s always good when bullies get a taste of their own medicine.
Let’s see if Stoke can handle a wet Thursday in Tel Aviv π
Btw, I actually found something remotely readable on the Online “Plastic” Gooner…
http://www.onlinegooner.com/article.php?section=blog&id=344
Funny you mention it.
One thing I immediatley noticed is that our players played with shirts under their kit and gloves as opposed to Stoke who played with short sleeves!
They’ll melt in Tel-Aviv. Way too hot for them.
@snir Sorry about the loss, and as I can’t disagree w your response to my post I don’t have much else to say but, I would like to see some creativity out of OUR-TETA.
However, I did win a DB10 testimonial shirt on eBay for Β£31 so it’s still a great day.
@176: YDWTBHL, I’ll give you 31.50οΏ₯ for that shirt π
You may have a deal my friend, throwing a 2nd birthday party saturday for my little goon and let’s just say the price of beer is getting ridiculous. But then again… Any other bidders?
How many ways do I hate Stoke? There are too many to list, so here’s the highlights:
1. Shawcross.
2. Shawcross.
3. Pulis.
4. Pulis.
5. Delap and his ludicrous throws.
6. They’re dirty.
7. They’re dirty.
8. They’re dirty.
9. They have pure muscle between their ears.
10. They make Lenny look like a sensitive new man.
11. Did I mention they’re dirty?
12. Their manager is a gum-chewing, cap-wearing chav.
13. Shawcross is a cunt.
14. They represent everything that’s wrong in football.
Feel free to add your own reasons, I probably left out a few hundred “cunts”.
UTA. FOPYC.
Camberwell.
I think you forgot Tony Pulis.
And Shawcross.
Sounds like Pubis already winding up his neanderthals, quotes on BBC
Pulis said: “I watched the game in the rugby union World Cup semi-final being spoiled by a red card and we’ve seen two tonight here.”
Jerome was booked for dissent and picked up a second yellow card in the 43rd minute when Greek referee Anastasios Kakos ruled that he had caught Ziv with his arm.
“I didn’t see a bad challenge all night – 24,000 fans have come to watch tonight and you have to show some respect to them,” added Pulis.
“I think we have to be very careful that we don’t spoil what we have got in this country, which is honest competitive people, who want to make challenges.
“That is the big thing about professional football – it is a game of challenges.
“It is not netball, where you can stand off and try to stop them without touching them.
“If we take challenging out of the game, I don’t think it will be anywhere near as good as it can be.”
Intersting there was another quote when I read the report this morning which is not there now, something like, “……..footballs not all about passing”
Yes its all about challenging but not snapping players legs in half, knobhead
As for “honest competitive people” err, no doubt he’s referring to Shawcross
Tony Pubis is a massive cunt
That is all
http://www.francefootball.fr/#!/news/2011/10/20/225243_les-supporters-vont-faire-greve.html
Marseille supporters in ‘we’re a bunch of cunts’ shocker.
So they can be even more silent in their stadium (a stadium that isn’t designed for noise anyway…)
Hey Ollie, seeing as my French is almost non-existent now (and I had to resort to Google translate) do you have any idea what “the strike of enrouragements” means? Je ne comprends pas mon ami….
‘encouragements’ CoR. That’s basically ‘vocal support’.
So they’ll be in the stadium but refuse to sing/applaud, etc.
Although I suspect that implies they’ll also refuse to ‘
boo, so still an improvement π
It feels weird to start and end the week on a friday.
A very sunny one at that.
‘Arshavin has a great attitude’, heh.
H2H @165, hi mate. the ‘e’ is spanish for ‘and’.
Well said Harsha & Camberwell.
Let’s not forget to remind Sh*wcr*ss that he is massive, leg-breaking, self-fingering, CU*T too! π
Lars/Holic – You have mail re: Sunday.
hellasgooner, i read about that at the potter’s (pitiful) website. Mr. Pulis either needs an eye exam or some mental health counseling, i suspect both. these guys really scare me; not because of their technicality(we’re far better), but because of their dirty play. you know, people say we use injuries as an excuse for our lack luster start this year. but think about. our lads have yet to have a chance to have the same starting lineup consistently. takes time to build up some cohesion amongst the players. ie ces, nasri, and rvp last season.
From Blogs this morning:
“…..as we prepare to face Tony Pubis, the scuttery, be-capped, rimblistering, dwarfish twatspatula and his team of heaving giganto cunnies.”
Yup, that about sums it up for me.
@187 arsa e barca.
I hate to be pedantic, but “and” in spanish maybe phoneticaly pronounced as “e”, but it is in fact “y”, so if that’s what you’re going for then your monniker should be arsa y barca.
How about arsy barca? π
That would work too, TS.
How about fuck Barca?
That would work too, wouldn’t it? π
p.s: Arsa e Barca – don’t get offended, we’ve already been through that road π
Snir pulls no punches when it comes to Barca.
He doesn’t even go down a road, he goes through it. π
Ha, ha, yes to all of you. you lads certainly keep me on my toes. now if you exert some pressure on Pulis, i’d be very greatful. BTW, AC Milan is giving FCB a run for their euros. perhaps no barca in the playoffs…?one thing for sure, WE’LL be there at the end, up the arse!
Merci for the explanation Ollie! Let’s hope we passed our bad luck on to Marseille. It would be poetic justice and vindication for Arsene’s suffering now and back as Monaca manager eh?
Just watched Mike Basset England Manager btw, fucking funny π
I believe Arshavin hasn’t lost it, he’s just mislaid it and he just needs to find it π
one more thing mates, i have yet ‘sung’ my praises about ‘Song’. so many times last season, i found my self twisting my hands and muttering outloud, “why the hell did you just do that” as he cheaply gave away the ball, whether on errant passes or poor shots on goal. he has improved tremendously this season, more conrol and composure.
Is it?
Eat my cannon! Boom, boom, goes the cannon for 200 drinks, boom,γboom…..
Well in CoR.
But I think theres a rule about assisting your own target.
Heh H2H @ #195
Snir, bad luck last night. I so wanted M-TLV to give Pubis, Lennie and co a good thrashing. Never mind, we can do it for Rambo and M-TLV on Sunday.
COYRRRs!
PS: Unlucky Ruben Kazan who nearly gave our w*nky neighbours something to think about. Did you see the no. of empty seats BTW? Big club my ar*e π
CoR, self assist for the double ton? Mmm, I want to say ‘boo!’ but you seem a decent sort π
HAGW
H2H, We all know you won the real prize anyway at 201, but I must point out that CoR not only self-assisted but also told us to eat his cannon in bold letters. Not quite proper form, I must say. Two demerits. π
Pulis is a thug and a hooligan. His attitude is soooo neanderthal.
He seems to think that playing football with skill, good timing and technique will take the “Challenge” out of the game. He obviously doesn’t see tackling as a skill, only as an excuse to clatter into the opposition as hard as possible and hang the consequences – broken legs, busted ligaments and so on. It’s all just ‘part and parcel of the game’ to him.
I must stop now before I say something I might regret or my blood reaches boiling point thinking about him and his team’s thuggery.
Aw man, I’ll rein in the cannon of victory next time. Sorry for the faux pas fellas! 許γγ¦γγ γγ m _ _ m
To be fair though, I was just hitting Walcott speed to collect my own pass π
I am delighted to make the first drink from my new iPhone in this fine establishment among friends.
“HAGW”…Have a good wun? Had a great wank? Huth’s a Giant Wanker?
Do my guesses come even close??
Heaven’s Against Gifted Wingers?
Heroes Always Get Well-hot-girls?
Camberwell,
Had a great wank? Only TS knows for sure, unless he was peeking through CoR’s window, in which case he must know anyway. π
Have a good wun? To quote H2H, I hate to be pedantic, but that doesn’t quite make it. π
Nice one ‘Holic, did you end up getting a 4S?
By the way.
Did you all realise that Stoke have never taken a point away from the Grove and the only goal they ever scored at the HoF was a penalty?
4S indeed H2H. Bought sim free from Apple and on a sim only deal. Now I just have to port my number over and work out how to get my contacts on here off a Nokia π
H2H- shhh, don’t jinx it.
Looks like you got an evening of one finger typing ahead of you mate, unless the Apple has an email/phone number app, then you can input them via your computer/laptop.
===
Snir, I don’t have the power to jinx, if I did do you really think that the LWC’s or Stoke would have enough players to be able to put a team out?
Show-off, ‘holic π
heh, I’m getting stuff from a customer site in Poland that has a name ENDING in szcz….
Oh well, looks like being a five or six pint preview π
Playing FIFA 12
I liked Fifa 11 better
No one at the bar, innit?
I’ll have a drink, thanks, Harsha.
In honour of that place cold BydgoSZCZ.
A new iPhone for the Holic and I am writing this on the iPad I went out and bought today – but don’t worry, I made sure I will still have enough money to buy a couple of pints on Sunday!
‘holic and Lars – welcome to the world of Apple-related technological befuddlement…
Especially for you both:
http://www.thedailymash.co.uk/news/science-%26-technology/ios5-ends-steve-jobs-tributes-201110144420/
Hope there’s a Larswallet app – could be handy on Sunday π
Snowy, I’ve had an iPhone for about 18 months so Apple befuddlement is nothing new to me π
Lars that’s fantastic news – must mean that the Larswallet app is completely debugged by now!
Hope we can give it a serious downloading at the weekend π
Pul’is effin’ plonka!
UrEDS!
While we all wait for the words of wisdom from the βholic Maestroβ¦something from Twitter to consider:
βRamsey scores against Man Utd, next day Bin Laden dies. Ramsey scores against Marseille, next day Gaddafi dies. Who is Ramsey’s next victim?β
Personally I wouldnβt mind that much if it were Pulis. But, heck, let the conspiracy theories beginβ¦
UTA
π
It’s up! >>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>> The six-pint preview.