Let Jack Be The Conductor At The Bus Stop
Jan 19th, 2013 by 'holic
Another derby day approaches, hence the lucky pie and mash are on the go as I start to assemble my thoughts on our latest visit to the bus stop in Fulham. In the aftermath of our performance against Manchester City a week ago there was much pessimism in the air. Understandable that. We hadn’t beaten Swansea in three attempts, and following the cup replay it was a trip across London to possibly the side that played best at the Grove this season.
A week on we have had some degree of hope restored by an influx of good news, starting with that cup triumph against albeit a weakened Swansea side. I thought the positional changes that were forced on us may have given us a formation to see us through to the time at which Mikel Arteta, and possibly a new face or two, can provide us with a further lift. Tim Stillman developed the theme with some style in his weekly Arseblog column.
On the same evening Chelsea surrendered a two goal advantage against Southampton. So disappointed were the visitors at not leaving Stamford Bridge with three points they sacked their manager. I’ll remove tongue from cheek as I make the obligatory reference to the fact that Chelsea have won just once at home in six attempts under their latest temporary boss, Rafa Benitez. If we are at one end of the loyalty to managers scale, our hosts tomorrow are very much at the other.
Then on Friday we had confirmation of the much-rumoured deal to keep Theo Walcott at the club. Regardless of your view of what he is worth it cannot be argued that Theo found himself in a most fortunate position as negotiations developed. We needed a sign that we could at last keep our best players, and now that the core of six young stars has been tied down long-term we can breathe a little easier in that respect.
So we head down the North End Road in a much more positive frame of mind than seemed possible so few days ago. The boss, having stumbled upon a set-up that seemed to improve us on Wednesday, needs only to decide whether or not to juggle a couple of faces. Is there a recall for Lukas Podolski and Laurent Koscielny? I would suggest we revert to an old-fashioned idea. Why change a winning side? A stronger bench would give us the opportunity to juggle things around if and when required. Jack Wilshere deserves the opportunity to orchestrate another performance from those around him.
There is talk of a recall for John Terry. We can only hope that is the case. He was as significant a contributor to our 5-3 win in this fixture last season as the now departed scorer of a hat-trick. The sight of him chewing the cud provided the wallpaper for my work laptop for weeks afterwards. His return would be welcomed by the home crowd though, who like some of ours have expressed their concerns with some gusto in recent weeks. They really, really don’t like Rafa, a point I’m sure the travelling Gooners will play on.
Now the ‘holic pound should be pointed at a 2-1 win for us on the basis it must come good soon, and it doesn’t look an unlikely outcome. Rafa was never too adventurous against us in his Anfield days, and it must be a possibility that he will ask the midfield that ripped us apart on the counter at our place to adopt a more cautious approach. However I was called out on my repeat forecasts, and so am looking at something else. The sensible will be quite happy with the 31/10 available against us just winning the game (click on the Gunners Gaming banner above to snaffle that great deal, thanks). Personally, I will also have a little back-up on 0-1, 1-2, and 2-3 just for a little added fun while I am watching.
Unfortunately I will miss another afternoon in the Shed, preferring what looks like a proper day out at Brighton next Saturday. To those of you making the short trip across London, I hope you have another great afternoon, as last season. The arrival of winter means a number of the rest of us will probably appreciate watching in front of a warm and cosy fire.
Have a great one ‘holics.
294 Responses to “Let Jack Be The Conductor At The Bus Stop”
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First??????
Second!
Blimey. Better read it now.
Nice one Holic.
I’d be all for an unchanged team tomorrow – with Walcott coming in for Walcott;)
Europa league?
exits to read post
Hehe. That would be good, z 🙂
Nice preview ‘Holic, cheers.
Disagree with you on only the one thing. All understandable hatred aside, I do think Terry the Racist does have both a galvanising and an organisational effect on his team, so would prefer him to remain sidelined, looking brain-dead in the stands.
As for us, difficult to argue against remaining unchanged.
Goodies vs Baddies. 2-0 to the Gunners. Love it.
Pint of black please and one for yourself Sir.
Hatred, maybe. Really believe he’s past his best and we could spring players in behind him while he tries to stick with Giroud.
On the other hand you offered me a pint, so i agree with you 😉
Good preview ‘holic. I could start to get a little excited if I didn’t fear the consequences for my health.
COYG
Nice preview holic.
I think we need to come out all guns blazing. It’s a negative place to play football at the moment and the crowd will not need much to jump on their backs. Any team that sings ” your just a far Spanish waiter” to their own manager had issues.
Tomorrow will be a tough test and a good way of finding out the direction we are heading in. Let’s hope for a Swansea 2nd half performance for the whole game tomorrow.
I think we all know it could go the other way tomorrow. Let’s worry about that if and when it happens. We did them there last season, and have the ammunition to repeat that performance.
All we need now is for someone to fire that ammo, or else…
Old time wisdom works for me. I’d be very happy with an unchanged team with the anticipation of Ramsey, Podolski and Alex The Ox featuring around 70 minutes to put some additional sheen on the scoreline after we’ve locked the win down tightly.
Ollie G is due a brace tomorrow, Holics.
Apologies for my stupidity but why didn’t kos get 3 games for the straight red?
Holic @8 heh 🙂
Re Terry, certainly past his best as you say, so I hope it pans out as you predict.
U are on drugs if you think we will get anything tomorrow, i feel another hammering is on its way for us, in arsene we rust.
almelal@13 – has to be “serious” foul play or violent conduct for it to be 3 games I think.
Denying goal-scoring opportunity = 1 game.
The defence is pathetic, wenger has single handedly ruined that foundation, he won’t let bould take control and drill the defence, and that is unforgivable, such a jealous man, he’s in his 60’s f.f.s, he still acts like a baby, just because someone else gets a bit of praise, old fool.
One rule here, Lopez, in case you haven’t been before.
Regardless of your viewpoint debate with respect and no abusing anybody connected with Arsenal.
If you can’t do that there are other sites that would suit you better.
Good blog, agree with most of the discussion. I hope Walcott starts to play like someone with his pay check should.
Sorry to see the sad people doing the ‘first’ thing it is so 5 year old. I hope that your readers are not all that age.
Lopez – you did see Chelsea’s recent home games against QPR and Southampton? Tomorrow’s a hard game, but it’s definitely not impossible to get something from it, especially at a place where the crowd seem to hate their own manager at the moment.
Sorry my bad, everything is just fine with the club, is that better?
it’s definitely not impossible to get something from it.
We won’t win, i will leave you with that. WENGER OUT…
No more horses. It’s all about buses.
Riding?
Cheers for that mate.
Have to agree with Tabs, last season apart, that massive cunt Terry has a fairly good record against us, when he’s on the pitch, so I hope he aint.
Lopez, swear I just heard someone with your level of intellectual prowess waxing lyrical on 606. Oh sorry, no – that was Robbie Savage.
Is Lopez Roberto? A lot of nonsense is being spouted.
Haha, Esso.
No Ollie, not Roberto.
The world is full of idiots who know it all, I should never forget.
Ollie 23…… No puns please about buses…..to try and out pun Trev , you would be off your trolley. He is the country’s top coach!
Good work Holic.
Afraid I also have to agree with Tabs and Esso re Terry. He should really be about as ring rusty as Metal Mickey’s bum in a bath full of brine, but he does inspire that despicable mob – both team and crowd.
Jack the Conductor at the Bus Stop. Hopefully the Driver too. 😉
Fare enough, Uply. 😉
That’s just the ticket Trev 😉
Heh!
What say we leave Poldi on the bench, and bring him on t’ram home the winner ?
Great idea Trev….rings my bell! 😉
Ok, you win, old stager. 😉
Haha Trev….I’m stopping off now before the guv bans me for cringing all the other drinkers. I think I can hear him groan from here and I guess I’m abut 100 miles south of him. Have. A good evening.
Ref bus puns: One request, Stop!
🙂
Relieved to see Theodawe can actually write after all, I was worried the delay might be down to his handwriting being as all over the place as his footkicking recently. I hope it means he can now focus and do what we all know he can. And a bit more regularly.
I confess to being amused, and pleased, to see AW’s focus now firmly on red, white and blue instead of rouge, blanc and bleu as it has been too long, imo.
Oskar
Vydra..another brace for Watford today…he is not Arsenal material kind of striker yet ..but the potential is huge ..I wouldnt mind if Arsene bought im out from Udinese and then loaned him somewhere for a season or so ..or used him directly ..that kid scored 16 times in championship already.
Due to Engineering works, the HT shall be temporarily renamed the HB.
I so hope we win tomorrow (I’ve had no more away matches than at that aggressive, hateful hut) and actually I think that we will. A fresh start for me for Theo. Score or not, cost or not, he has my total support. Good luck fellas, do us proud (or be like Jack as it’s otherwise known).
Good post,as per usual “holic. Too close to call for me. Spuds might even win which would be good for the league but hateful for us. Just retuned to NZ from a week in Sydney, Australia. Temperature on Friday was 45.6C (114F). I understand conditions are a little chillier in Blighty right now. The poor dears may need thier gloves. Whats my point? None really. I think I may be getting a little jaded with players on 100,000 a week. I’m glad Theo signed and hope he justifies his stupendous salary immediatley but scoring a couple at the Bus Stop. Are he and Diaby “like new signings”?
I was listening to some Chelsea fans who suggested they would like Lampard to move to Man Utd and score the winner against them in the Cup Final. A few hours later they had lost to Swansea. I didn’t believe a word of it but there is no doubt that they have a major grouse against Benitez and Abramovich.Funny that most of us would welcome our Russian oligarch as a much better alternative to Silent Stan.
Football fans are hard to please and so are owners—Southampton being a topical case in point.
I never expect much at the Bridge but Drogba is gone and Theo does do well against Chelsea. I agree that we ought to keep the same team as we played on Wednesday and personally aid be happy with a point.
NO NO NO TTG.
“Most of us” would not elcome any Russian oligarch, not even an Uzbek one.
Thank you Oxon. Saved me a job.
Happy to be of service guvnor
I don’t think if you polled Arsenal fans now that you would find this. I think fans would be very split.If what you are saying is that this is undesirable I can quite understand. But I think a significant number of fans( misguided or not) would take Usmanov in place of zkroenke.
The fact that Usmanov is promising the traditional cure-all of a massive injection of unearned capital, and yet there’s still debate as to whether most Gooners want him in, is to my mind testament to the tremendous fibre of those who follow this great club.
Not so easily seduced by the dangling of shiny baubles as other certain club’s fan bases.
If we win nothing for another 10 years I will remain deeply proud of the collective response to Usmanov’s advances.
As for tomorrow, I’m calling it a tight 3-2 win to the forces of light, with OG and Theo among the goals.
COYG
TTG, cards on the table, would YOU take Usmanov over Kroneke? Here’s why I wouldn’t, and why I believe you shouldn’t.
As far as I can make out, Kroenke is a businessman. He wants to make money. Everything I’ve seen about him suggests he takes a long-term approach to his investments. Now, if he’s to make money out of Arsenal in the long term, he needs to ensure that Arsenal are around for the long term. I want that, and I believe ALL Arsenal fans do too.
I have no idea why Usmanov wants to get involved with the club. His strategy to secure control appears to be to present himself as someone who “feels the pain” of Arsenal fans and wants to throw lots of his money at the club to reduce that pain. Why on earth would he want to do that? Apparently he’s a Manchester United supporter. Again, why would anyone smart enough to accumulate enough money to be able to throw significant amounts of it at Arsenal decide that he wanted to do that? What’s in it for him?
If I could understand his motivation I might take his expressed desire to come in and help a little seriously.
Then again, I might not.
…and what N7 said
I sometimes do wonder what might have been,if Diaby hadn’t suffered that horrendous injury at Sunderland 5 yrs ago.
I am convinced that AW had hime eramarked as the long term replacement for patrick.
He had all the attributes,tall/athletic/quick/great ball skills.
Anyone who saw him in the CC final against Chelsea,when he completely dominated a top class bunch of Internationals in the Chelsea midfield,couldn’t have failed to be impressed.
Only when he went off injured,did Chelsea reassert their authority and come back to win the game.
I really really hope he has finally had the correct operation to fix the ankle,and has got his body rhythm and balance back.
A lot of people on here have been critical of his propensity to get reinjured all the time,but nobody apart possibly from Trev,knows how difficult it is after a long term injury,for the body to readjust.
I suffered a bad back injury in ’84,did the disc at L5/S1,base of the spine,but the surgeon wouldn’t operate becaus ethe succes rate of the Op i had to have,was only about 30%.
So for 8 yrs,till ’92 i had to live with the injury.
After an 8hr op and with a titanium plate inserted in my lower back,i had to re learn all the things my body had forgotten to do.
Plus,becuase the injury was on my left side,the right side of my body had to overcompensate to cope with the workload.
I reckon it was a good 3 yrs before i felt like my old self,and i had the confidence to go full bore with my Marathon running and gym workouts.
So i really do have great sympathy for Abu,and it shows the mark of the man that Arsene is,that he has stuck by him in his times of great disappointment and frustration.
As the Boss said on the website,Diaby has done nothing wrong,nobody works harder in training,he is totally dedicated to the Club,non smoker/non drinker/stays home at night/never gets into strife.
I would really really love him to have a long term injury free run in the first team,because like this great Bar,which would be a lesser place without some of the great bloggers on here, without the big ‘ D’ in full flight,i believe the Arse is most certainly a lesser team without him.
Cheers
The Sweeper
What a great post Sweeper.
Hats off.
And again, what N7 said.
COYG
Cards on table my answer is I dont know enough about Usmanov at this stage.. I certainly believe that anyone owning 30% should have a seat on the board. I’m not remotely impressed by Kroenke as an owner. He is a collector of franchises and we are just another franchise.He rarely comes to see us,he has not entered into the sort of dialogue he promised to AST and there has been very little investment into the club. The term businessman covers a lot of evils and it could well be argued that Usmanov is a lot better businessman than Kroenke.
Usmanov is demonised to a certain extent by the thought that he is Abramovich with knobs on. A classless dictator who rides roughshod over the feelings of the fans and the traditions of the club– not that Chelsea has much in the way of tradition!
He may well be but if he were to bring back David Dein and appoint him as Chairman,invest a large amount of money into the club to make us competitive and respect the traditions of the club which are very important –and clear– to us as supporters ( I have been one for 54 years) then why would he be worse than an absentee landlord with a ventriloquist’s dummy as CEO.
Oh yes,the argument that Uzbek money is dirty money of course applies and we don’t know enough about Usmanov other than he must be a tough hombre to have survived in the murky world of Russian politics.
But there is a really important debate here. I have very reluctantly conceded over the past year or so that we are gradually failing as a power in the football world. Over 54 years you have a fair number of fallow periods and I’ve seen a lot worse sides than this. But if you ask me if I want a uniformed commissionaire,an old Etonian chairman and self- sustainability ( as Gazidis defines it) while an American with no emotional commitment to the club calls the shots from 5000 miles away Im very unsure if I do. The pitch that the current regime are making to Arsenal fans seems very flawed to me .
There is a great risk that an Usmanov run Arsenal might be a very unsatisfactory model itself but I don’t think we know what that might be yet. Only a couple of years ago the old buffer PHW was saying Kroenke wasn’t ‘our sort’ but then embraced him probably as the lesser of two evils. But frankly does that make his judgement right?
A long and slightly equivocal answer but I would reiterate that you would get a very emphatic yes to Usmanov from a significant number of fans at the moment.
“If we win nothing for another 10 years I will remain deeply proud of the collective response to Usmanov’s advances.”
Beautifully put N7.
Marvellous post Sweeper. Agree with every word. Really hope the footballing Gods can start to smile on Abou. Wonderful player.
Ps- Usmanov has had a box at Arsenal for some time and I was informed he was a supporter of he club. He’s seen a lot more games than Kroenke.
N7 and Tabs
thnks mates.
I know it is wishful thinking,but Abu in the wilderness for 5 yrs,
TR7 out for what seemed like forever a few yrs ago,TV missed a
season,Jack out for 14 months.
What a diff they would have made when we were close in a few competitions in the past few yrs.
Luck’a a fortune they say,but it hasn’t smiled on our Football club recently.
Now for the first time since i can remember,we are virtually injury free
coming into the crucial months of the season.
We just need the self belief that we are good enough to compete with the best.
Believe it or not,we have lost only 3 of our past 19 games away in the PL.
We also have the best winning record at the Bus Stop,[ 7 ],than any other PL team,and we have also scored the most goals. [ 27 ].
We really need to beat one of the top 3 teams to give the boys the momentum going into what should be a cracking next couple of months.
The Bus Stop is as good a place as any to start.
TTG,
Can you explain to me why Usmanov wants to throw his cash at Arsenal?
You obviously don’t like the current chairman or owner. That’s fine by me. Equally obviously, I don’t like Usmanov; thank you for not attempting to persuade me to think otherwise.
You say that Usmanov would be likely to do several things, and ask why that would be worse than the current management/ownership. Well, until I understand why where he’s coming from I have no reason to believe that he will do those things.
You complain that Kroenke hasn’t done several things that he promised the AST that he would. I hadn’t heard that, what are they?
And finally, the probability that the Arsenal chairman considers Kroenke the lesser of two evils doesn’t make his judgement correct. I haven’t mentioned any misgivings about the source of Usmanov’s wealth. You introduced the subject, presumably to dismiss it; apparently Mr Hill-Wood isn’t as ready as you to turn a blind eye. I’m with PHW on that one, whatever school he attended.
Oxon Gooner–I like a good constructive debate and it is hard even at a club with a lot of very decent, concerned fans not to get the silly emotional and frankly ignorant opinions you get on some websites. That. Great strength of this site.
It’s also very clear that you’ve really thought this through very seriously and I can see why you might have misgivings
Re th specifics; Kroenke promised to meet face to face with the exec of AST but those meetings have yet to take place .
There was a lot of speculation about the source of Usmanov’s wealth raised when he first became a shareholder . He served time as a political prisoner in Russia and a good search of Google will probably reveal some of the concerns about the derivation of his fortune.
Why would he invest in Arsenal? It might be ego. He might see the fun and frolics that Abramovich has had and want some for himself. He might want to be the owner of one of the great clubs in World football. It might support other business interests he has. It might be a self- indulgent hobby. It might give him the respectability he craves.What might we do if we had 10% of Facebook apart from anything else?
My final point tonight is that David Dein who I have great respect for and who is a huge Arsenal fan and who was the genesis of the rebuilding of Arsenal in the 1980s and thereafter believes the ONLY way to compete in Arsenal’s situation is to bring in an investor who can compete with the other mega- investors. I find that very sad but probably realistic. He knows much more about modern football than I do.ironically both Dein and Us,Andover want Wenger to be the manager so those who suspect he will immediately bring in Mourinho or Klopp might be in for a surprise.
Us Andover is an iPad distortion of Usmanov. Sorry!
TTG. Always a pleasure to have a good discussion. It’s even better when you obviously disagree with someone pretty fundamentally but the conversation remains completely civilised. A great shame that it comes as such a surprise when it happens.
I am peripherally aware of the misgivings as to the source of Usmanov’s wealth.
I’m much more inclined to be hopeful about Kroenke, whose motivation seems to be entirely the prospect of making money than about Usmanov, who, we speculate, may be in it for fun, to boost his ego or to try to gain respectability. (My italics.)
I used to share your feelings about Dein, and I concede that Hill-Wood as turned right around in his thinking about Kroneke. At the same time, Dein has turned right around in his thinking about which foreign billionaire he supports to take over the club. I choose to be concerned about Dein’s judgement, you appear to be concerned about Hill-Wood’s. I know that I don’t actually know the facts behind these two changes of mind, and I suspect that you don’t either.
You ask me to trust the traditions of the club to Usmanov and urge me to abandon Kroneke because he has yet to speak to the AST.
You haven’t convinced me.
Thanks for the opportunity to discuss this. I think I’ll pack it in now and go to bed. (Gooner Terry, if you’re there, and I sincerely hope you are, you can put those nails away now.)
Night all.
PS TTG, thanks for explaining about “Us Andover” – I was utterly confused. Bloody iPads, eh?
Clive – brilliant, every word.
I said here the other day that it must break Arsene’s heart that he/we never managed to get Cesc, Jack, RvP and Diaby fit and in the side together.
They would have walked the league and very probably still been here.
And that is not some wild notion fantasising about players from all corners of the world. They were all here, at the same time, but it just never quite happened.
Great posts, too, from N7 and Oxon on Usmanov.
Some very decent counters too from TTG – personally, although I am unimpressed by Kroenke so far, my instinct is quite against the Uzbek, and I think that comes down ultimately to something N7 mentioned in his comment.
I was out in the town centre here today with my Arsenal hat on, due to the extreme cold, and every time I saw a Chelsea counterpart – something that never happened before the arrival of the Abramovich wallet – I wanted to stretch a bit taller and get MY hat in the way.
Childish maybe but, I thought, I love Arsenal and I’m proud – N7 – of what we are trying to do.
Win or lose, we are earning it.
The joy, when we do win something again, will be absolutely huge.
Far better that than winning the league with a grumpy expectation borne of a billion quid given to us by some mega rich gas/oil baron on an ego trip.
I think we will lose but I think we will give a good account of ourselves. I can see the the Chavs nicking this one but it will be very close.
Come on you gunners – as long as you leave it all on the field, I wont have any complaints…
Btw, I wouldnt be surprised if the PA at Stamford Bridge take sly digs at Arsenal tomorrow because of the CL thing.
Chin up travelling gooners.
Being realistic about the way football has been going in recent years I cannot see the present Arsenal management model doing more than juuuuust about keeping us among Euro’s elite competing for the major prizes … hanging on by our fingertips, but grabbing at elusive straws more often than not.
Some say FFP will solve the problem, but I doubt it. The smart arses will work around it as we’ve already seen with Etihad. We are extremely lucky to have had arguably the best management of any club in Europe for the past 16 years, but to make us truly competitive still requires the obvious … a MAJOR financial boost of the kind which has made champions of perennial also-rans in recent years. The only questions now is where will this come from?
To my mind Kroenke has had ample time and opportunity to be our sugar daddy, but apparently has no desire to stick it in where it needs to go. What is the point of the man if he’s not going to submit to our charms? If he believes the club is bound to grow (thereby increasing his asset balance) without feeding it I don’t believe he understands much about football … not in England anyway.
I don’t know or frankly care how Usmanov made his rubles, and I’m certainly not privy to his Arsenal intentions, but my guess is that he’s the more likely of the two to be looking for reflected glory and prepared to pay for it with hard cash. He also comes armed with DD as an added bonus.
Oskar
When you do something the right, just and honest way, you don’t feel a boost from it in terms of feeling, it is the inherently normal thing to do (in terms of our humanity). Only when you depart from the normal, and do something the not-so right way, do you notice the absence of the inherent right. The latter path is how I’d view success that came about from Arsenal abandoning its beliefs and views and just becoming another Sugar Daddies plaything.
With Arsenal, Trophies not won the Arsenal way would be hollow in all terms of the word, because they weren’t won the Arsenal way (splashing the cash). Usmanov doesn’t even appear to respect the self-sustainability of the club, the board recognise that, hence why his Fat & Orange (I don’t know the actual name of his group 😆 ) aren’t wanted.
Even in this trophy drought, I’m still proud I can say I support a club that lives within its means, is sustainable and does things the right way in general. Its the silver lining, the saving grace until our patience is rewarded and it becomes sheer Gold, making our trophies shine more brightly than most because of the circumstances in which they were consecrated 🙂
Excellent post Holic, please don’t injure yourself/get injured Diaby! (Same opposition as the last injury)
Also, excellent drinks Clive, Oxon, tabs, Trev, N7 & well thought out arguments TTG & Oskar even if I don’t agree with them.
Wind knows
I’m not sure I’ve ever read an article whereby Usmanov or Red & White explicitly lay out a plan for throwing cash at Arsenal and the problems we have.
I think it’s a bit irresponsible for some of the more ‘respected’ contributors on here to mislead those that don’t know how to use google or tend towards herd mentality.
I do recall R&W wishing to raise funds in 2009 to help pay down debt and thus afford the club the ability to compete with attracting top talent (Melo was the name mentioned by Wenger at the time I think). This was rejected by Ivan.
Of course a rights issue can also act as a means for someone like Usmanov to acquire the shares he requires to go over the 30% limit, but by itself a rights issue is a means of raising capital through existing shareholders. It’s used by many firms, both with and without strong balance sheets.
It’s not an open Roman-style chequebook. It’s not an assault on the values or principles of the self sustaining model. It was rejected as it may have lead to share dilution (from Kroenke point of view) and in any case as majority shareholder kroenke would have had to stump up the greater amount of money to maintain his stake should the rights issue have been accepted.
The truth of the matter is that had we invested more in the team since 2009 I think we can all agree that we may have had a better chance of winning a trophy or two. I also contend that perhaps we may have stood a better chance of keeping together a very talented squad.
It’s wrong to suggest that having Usmanov means a free spending era. As TTG pointed out above, if we are using money to keep score, then it is fair to argue that Usmanov may be the better businessman of the two. The fact he owns less of Arsenal maybe comes down to personality rather than business acumen.
Underinvestment in a business and allowing/ overseeing a steady decline is nothing to be proud of. Destroying a successful brand and establishing yourself as a feeder club for the European and even domestic elite is not something to be proud of. It is a situation that was and still is avoidable but requires the clubs sole strategy to be greater than relying on Platini to ride to our rescue.
Usmanov may not be the answer but neither is playground nobility or falsehoods and scare mongering.
Two nil to The Arsenal.
Two nil to The Arsenal at the bus stop.
On the subject of Kroenke, it’s also wrong to blithely assume the club is in good/ better hands whilst under his control.
We have no idea to what extent his holding in Arsenal or any of his franchises are used or could be used as leverage in other deals he may be involved in. It’s not unheard of to use a valuable (debt free) asset as leverage or security.
No doubt he has the Walton family to fall back on if things ever went truly tits up but even so to cast a suspicious eye over one owner without equal measure being given to the other seems a little, well one-eyed.
Just saying.
Great post Clive, agree with your views on Diaby
I think we have a chance as long as we don’t shoot ourselves on the foot like we most often do!
We have lost 5 games till now of which 3 have been at home! Away record has been pretty good
May I say what a pleasure it is to have such intelligent and measured debate about things Arsenal. Stuff that’s very important to us all but conducted in a spirit of fraternity and civility which does the users of this site and its founder great credit.
I rarely comment on other sites apart from Online Gooner where I write articles without pen name but I did find it necessary to rebuke someone on Le Grove for wishing Wenger a fatal cardiac arrest last week. This still shocks me a week later that people can descend to such depths.
I think we reached a natural conclusion on the Usmanov debate but I did want to say one further thing re Dein I had some dealings with him several years ago when he was the mover and shaker at Arsenal and let no one be in any doubt that he loves the club with a genuine passion. OK he made large amounts of Wonga when selling his shares but he created a lot of the value. He was opposed to the Emirates move and this isolated him from Fiszman . I still regard Highbury as our spiritual home and always will and Dein felt that the debt accrued by the new stadium would drag the club down and lead it to being non- competitive. Can we not say he was at least partially correct?
He is fiercely loyal to Wenger and acted as a confidante to a very private man . In fact he still does but he was much better at doing deals than Gazidis,Law et al and was the one who forced through the Bergkamp purchase and the Sol Campbell move. We have lost a huge amount of effectiveness in the transfer market since he left the Board. I suspect we are just about to witness the fourth unsatisfactory window in a row from an Arsenal perspective although I hope to be pleasantly surprised. What needs to be appreciated is that Dein knows what actually goes on and backs Wenger to the hilt which suggests that our manager may be drawing flak away from the Board that he does not fully deserve. Anyway that’s enough politics lets hope for redemption at the bus stop!
Usmanov is on record as being a United supporter, before he started sniffing around gaining control of Arsenal. His subsequent platitiudes towards the club and team are just that and no more.
I despise all foreign ownership but the difference to me between Silent Stan and that fat cunt are like the difference between a heavy cold and terminal cancer.
He has never promised to tip money in a la Abramovich or the oil barons. All of his offers to date have come with serious attachements in terms of rights issues, enabling him to wrest control of the club, his true obvious motive. What he would do after that is pure speculation and the fact that ‘a significant amount’ of current supporters embrace the belief that he would write a blank cheque for the club’s expenditure in wages/transfer is, again to me, symptomatic of the current nature of supporting, rather than something to hang one’s hat on.
For better or worse, and I think we all know current opinion on that, Silent Stan was Danny Fizman’s chosen successor and it will take a lot more yet for me to lose faith in that. I’ve been on the verge of packing it all in for while now. Should the Uzbecki filth ever have any role in directing our club, I’m off for good.
Some great posts.
And a lot more snow here this morning.
Morning all, long time reader, first time poster.
My view of the Cold War in the boardroom? Its difficult for any of us to really understand the motives of either party. What is clear is that the day when football clubs were run by self made fans has long gone. The age of the Globo-multinational is with us, and has been for some time.
I wouldn’t discount the Uzbek out of hand, I doubt the Yanks route to millions is as white as his teeth would suggest (indeed, the US don’t have the best record for ethical capitalism; a sweeping statement sure, no less true though). The Uzbek seems to have some degree of business acumen (he must have right?) so who’s to say he wouldn’t be good holding the reins?
Don’t get me wrong, the Yank hasn’t done much wrong in my opinion, I reserve that critique for others on the board (IG & PHW mainly). Some other owners could take a lesson from the guy on how to keep out of things that he knows nothing about
So as I said, who knows eh? I cant pretend to know enough about it to get all flustered like some others (on other sites of course).
On a football front, I’d like to see Podolski up front today. He’s the most natural goalscorer we have at the club. I’m a big fan of Giroud, I think he’ll be a big player for us, but I like Lukas in that role today.
Also, now that we’ve realised that Santi is better coming in off the wing, that leaves Podolski without a first team berth, and we need that left foot hammer on the pitch surely?
‘Holic loving the site.
Esso knows.
Our spiritual home may be at Highbury but Dein would have had everyone schlepping out to Wembley every fortnight……
Just sayin’
Lest we forget:
http://www.craigmurray.org.uk/archives/2007/09/alisher_usmanov/
Morning all, always good to wake up and find people can express opposing points of view without resorting to disrespect.
Thanks for that.
zico knows.
Fuck off, ‘holic! 😉
Good debating all, feel like I want to contribute something but pre-match tension is starting to set in so I can’t really put anything coherent together at the moment 🙂
Drinks on me as usual.
Clive. Excellent stuff re Diaby. If he had not struggled with injuries and had developed into the player we had all hoped, he would probably be plying his trade in Manchester or Barcelona by now. No doubt their money would have been offered to him as it has been to others.
TTG. Excellent stuff. I am not a fan of either Stab or Usmanov. Like Esso I would quite happily rid us of foreign ownership. But I think it is incredibly difficult when you have someone like Usmanov who has monster wealth, who owns virtually 30% if the club and is completely frozen out by the current regime. I just can’t see how that works. Usmanov paired up with Dein. Now I fully accept that he is someone who divides opinion but he is an Arsenal man through and through. I personally have no doubt that his thoughts were putting the club first regardless if what we may or may not think of him.
Great preview, goonerholic
@ 52 Goonersince54
My sympathies. You’re right to highlight how horrible the situation must be for Diaby himself.
@ Oxon gooner
Agree, agree! That’s a general comment. 🙂
@ 66 Wind
Yes, yes, yes – exactly how I feel!
@ 73 Esso
Spot on.
This is a philosophical disagreement about how Arsenal should be run. SK is a supporter of the self-sustaining model, therefore it is irrational to berate him for not putting money into the club. Usmanov hasn’t put any money into the club either, despite supposedly being in favour of the sugar daddy model (according to some – personally, I don’t think he is). If he wanted to help the club financially, there are many legitimate ways in which he could have done so – purchasing lots of the flats, sponsorship of some kind. SK doesn’t take money out of the club and has explicitly said his purchase of Arsenal shares was not leveraged. Usmanov complained about not being able to take dividends. He used to talk vaguely about “making money available”, by which I assume he meant the rights issue which he subsequently proposed, but he did nothing to clear up the misconception of some fans. When he was asked recently whether he wanted to put money into the club, he didn’t say yes, just avoided the question. He may have become a genuine fan in the years since he started buying shares, but when he first came on the scene, he pretended to be and was found out. All that is the sort of behaviour that makes me distrust him.
As for a seat on the board, if having a stake of 30% entitled him to a seat, he’d have one. I can’t see what he has done for us that would justify fans calling for him to have the power he craves. I also think it would make things harder, not easier, to yoke together people who seem to have a mutual personal dislike and who disagree about how to run Arsenal.
My guess for the lineup is:
Chesney
Sagna Merts Kos Gibbs
Coquelin Diaby
Walcott Cazorla Ramsey
Giroud.
And now to start getting a bit tense…
I have zero trust in Dein. After all, he may be paired with Usmanov now, but he’s also the one who brought Kroenke to the table.
Dein acts in the interest of Dein more than in the interest of AFC.
Not sure I agree Ollie. For me Dein is an Arsenal man and always will be, regardless of what people think of him. My guess is that given the opportunity Arsene would take him back in a heartbeat.
Nice preview Holic.
COYRs
GO WIN, ARSENAL.
For the line up, I’m guessing:
Ches
Bac
Kos
TV5
Gibbs
Diaby
Ramsey
Wilshere
Santi
OG
Theo
Hearing a lot of people saying this is a must win if we want top four. I don’t buy that – a defeat here would not be terminal, even if the LWCs win later in the afternoon.
The game at the Swamp is likely to be more significant in determining our destiny in my book.
That said, let’s not put it to the test – a win today and a chance to laugh at John Terry again. That will do.
COYG
Wow, the level of latent xenophobia exhibited by many “respected” posters never ceases to amaze… and disappoint.
Come on you Reds.
BMBD
Anyone here know if The Tollie will be showing the game? No Internet at Home until Later Today/Tomorrow and I could only watch 1 Half or so at the Library 🙁
Wind – there’s a load of Arsebloggers heading for the Tollie. If the game’s on will definitely be on in the Tollie.
Xenophobia cannot be simultaneously “latent” and “evident”.
If we apply the same yardstick, are all those who criticise Silent Stan and/or Arsene also exhibiting xenophobia? I think not.
Usmanov has given ample indication he’s a bad apple. His point of origin is irrelevant.
Sorry, “exhibited” rather than “evident”.
Sky Game = on in the Tollie, surely, Wind.
Thanks Esso & Ollie, I’ll be heading there then 🙂
Esso, you going?
Wind great post above.
heh, Lars has got PMT! Who knew? 😉
CoMOnUReeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeedS!
NorCal, FunGunner, Trev, thanks for your thoughts about my post 🙂
Unchanged team, but Poldi and the Ox are not on the bench, both ‘ill’.
Thought there would have been a goal by now 😕
For those that ‘despise’ foreign ownership, is it just the foreign owners you ‘despise’?
What about foriegn managers and players? What exactly is it about them that you despise? The fact they are foreign? If so, how do you despise someone just beacuse they are foreign?
Also am I correct in understanding its ok to run around and play or manage an English club but its not ok for a foreigner to own one? If that’s the case why stop at football. I mean shouldn’t we despise any foreign ownership – of everything? Yeah fuck it that’s the answer. Let’s repatriate everything.
Unless I’m mistaken these clubs are businesses that have issued share capital right? Their not nationalised industries are they? Hmmm didn’t think so.
I hate to be the one that tells you Santa doesn’t exist boys and girls but I think this is what they call capitalism and the free movement of capital. Marxism lives on through the hearts and minds of goonerholic patrons. What a world. Hahahaha.
That is unless you are suggesting we should have followeed the A.Bilboa model. Exclusively Basque players and ownership. But of course your not, because then there would have been no Henry, Bergkamp, Vieira, Pires Cesc, Van Pussy etc and most importantly no Wenger.
Out of curiosity when was SK seen sitting with the rank and file in the clock end or the north bank? I don’t ever recall seeing him at the visitors end of the Shithole or Old Toilet. I suspect if you dig deep enough maybe SK first love with ‘soccer’ may not have been with Arsenal. Then again maybe it was.
But it seems like you can’t win. If Roman says he’s a chavski fan then we’d all accuse him of behaving unethically and complain that he’s bought titles and cups. If you’re not a fan and a businessman like the Glazers for example, your accused of being a leech. Seem to me the days of a Matthew Harding are over. At the bigger clubs anyway.
Its a new world. Adapt ot die.
Arsenal subs: Mannone, Koscielny, Jenkinson, Santos, Frimpong, Ramsey, Arshavin
I would say nb1 scored a cracker of my assist, but it seems like it didn’t fully go over the line. 😐
To those above who have voiced (drunk?) their agreement with my position on the Kroenke/Usmanov question, Thank You. To those who have voiced their opposition, well, I’ve explained above why I think you’re wrong.
I have no pay TV here, and an excellent record for jinxing things when I watch a stream, so I’ll follow either here or on 5Live.
COYG
Great preview ‘holic’, in as much as I concur to Jack being the conductor, let Theo step up & be named the driver this afternoon.
And with respect to financing and the rest,
North Bank 1 @70, TTG @72 & Steve T @81 #onpoint
All others hold some sort of water too. Great debates.
Great stuff Esso.
Come on Arsenal, let’s beat these filthy, poisonous, cancerous, gangster-led, playground-eschewing, nobility-scorning, money-throwing, slag-shagging, racist-excusing, ref-libelling, abyss-living cunts.
COME ON ARSENAL.
That bench doesn’t look the strongest hol.
Oh and what tabs said.
Come on you GUNNERS !
Heh Tabs, didn’t know you had a soft spot for the Chavs. 😉
Trev 🙂
Bit annoying that now we manage to get nearly everyone fit, players fall ill 🙁
That bench however shows we need to sign players. No game changers there I’m afraid (no, don’t mention Arshavin please 😉 )
Great post ‘holic and excellent debate above which, like Lars, I won’t get into due to the proximity of the kick off, only one thing to add;
COME ON YOU GUNNERS LET’S SMASH THOSE C#NTS
Anyway, salvation will come from the starting 11 then.
Come on Arsenal!
Streams here:) looks like bloodzeed moved to AceStream soft ..hmm *ponders* http://www.wiziwig.tv/broadcast.php?matchid=183912&part=sports
N7 @ 91 & 92 – Thank you for the obtuse comments there. I’ll leave the ownership discussion with that as nb1 has put the issue to bed quite well.
Let’s do these jokers.
BMBD
I think that things look promising the other side are blue with fear before they start
Coyredddsssssss
COYRs!
C’mon lads! Hi holics 🙂
Diaby using the Kos embrace 🙁
OH how could you
OOoooooooooooooooooo.
Good work by Feo, unlucky OG
SHIT SHIT SHIT
oooh OG!:(
SHIT!!
sod it me Via was fouled
Ramirez stampled Coq 🙁
COYG
Good shot Santi!
I hate predictive crap
“Predictive crap” Sounds nasty Cognac, I should get it seen to. Is there a doctor in the house?
Shit! Far too slow from arsenal. Looks like an early grave for arsenal
No pen he slipped
2 poor decisions from Martin 🙁
Fuck, I thought he was gonna send Woj off.
Not looking good this.
Diaby barking orders, but then giving the ball away (twice)
COYG
What the fuck are they doing Jesus!
Well…fuck 🙁 come on lads..turn this on its head!
OG this match is not helping and the guvnr has lost h his bet
morning, all.
we are dire. and he slipped. sigh.
Wake up ffs!
Can this get any more painful. 🙁
Referee BS aside were not ready to play
C Ashley gets the clap
Sagna streets ahead in the worst cross of the season competition.
Time for mr £100000 a week to step up
They end up streets away.
Dire so far
What happened to pressing the ball
what happened to our w pressing game w
snap ATG
Out “pressing” seems to consist of running up within two yards of the player on the ball and then watching him do whatever he wants.
We’re getting the run around, but it should be 1-0 Arsenal. Ollie G’s miss at 5 mins then two non-goals. Southampton came back from 2-0 down. Can we?
Sagna’s crossing is the worst I have ever seen
Trev, then if we win the ball – give it away again….better in last five minutes. Obviously the tactic was to let Chelsea tire themselves out….
Get Jenkinson on
Ouch, Sagna in trouble (he was for he was fouled too)
Jenks to come on maybe?
Nice of Theo to watch Chelsea break away from him.
He’s really good at jogging.
We are too slow on the ball no plan when going forward
Oh cheers BtM, I hadn’t spotted that. 😉
Lets hope we turn up 2nd half
COME ON ARSENAL
We are being closed down in a instant its painful to watch
BTM, Top 3, 1 Trophy & Ollie G 20 Goals. For someone so long in the tooth, please stop spouting this nonsense. We’re a Top 8 team unless we add some Top Quality players.
Great skill from conq but it aint good enough time for some lifting words from AW
two soft goals. sagna has lost a full yard of pace. a really disappointing first half 🙁
I’m beginning to think that Theo has offside bonus in his 100k contract. Let’s have better and bolder performance on the 2nd half.
Need a serious team talk now
Right then, it wasn’t pretty, but we’re not out of it yet, just ask Soton, and while I’m trying to stay positive may I also remind you that we have been a much better team in the second 45mins of our recent games.
Sagna not having his best game, Diaby also looks out of sorts, LJW trying but not able to make a telling contribution. The Coq is putting in a shift and if Theo can time his runs a little better then we might get some joy in the second half.
COME ON YOU REDSSSSSSSSS.
we are getting badly outplayed …61% possesion to bus stop is ridiculous ..I really hope Arsene will give them some proper rollicking for them to turn up in second half
“More aggression” Arsene has called for.
What exactly does that translate to in FrenBelgSpanGerLish ?
Seems to mean ‘stand back and let them play’.
Very, very disappointing.
and for your 100 k here is the introduction to the offside law
Lets hope it’s the proverbial “game of two halves”.
ambydex, don’t you mean “bould-er”?
Well, what can you say that has not been said a million times over the last few years, yes it was a bad refereeing decision that the Coquelin fould went unpunished but the same defensive frailties left us one down, there was then another unforgivable defensive lapse that left Szczesny unprotected.
And as for our new £100,000 a week signing, utter rubbish.
This side are a group of mildly talented individuals, they are most certainly not a team, as long as we play this version of Wengerball where we slow down our play to allow the opposition time to regroup we are never going to get back into the top four.
As posted above, there are no game changers sat on our bench and if the best we have is currently on the pitch…..we are fecked.
Very disappointed with 1st half soft goals fly in yet again I know Conq was fouled but we can’t fall asleep like this.
Vinny, if it wasn’t for blind optimism then us footy fans would have hardly anything to look forward to.
Let BtM do his thing, I for one enjoy his glass half fullism.
Thank you Gary Neville, it was a clever dive and not a foul by Szczesny
If there is a Snow god please feel free to dump about 20ft of it over west London, Bullied, Want it less and fuck all discipline.Watching us defend reminds me of Zaire in the world cup utterly clueless, There’s space all over the park for them cunts to exploit its so easy it’s laughable, The gap between the midfield and defence is wider than my waistline 🙂
All that said if we get an early goal in the second half they will get nervous Come On You Reds !
Oh and the twat in blacks had a Mare !!
scruzgooner @173: That too, my friend 🙂
Ah Vinny, as soon as we go down you come back! You bring a big smile for me too. Right enough, we’re dooooomed!
You’re sitting pissing yourself and ‘m sitting here thinking we can still win this.
OK, new half, new chances.
COME ON YOU REDSSSSSSSSSSS
here’s to a better second half!
we can do it lets go you reds
BTM, calling it as it is. I forgot you’re not allowed an opinion in here.
Cashley Hole’s got a Butthead hair do.
@ 153 Bergkamp’s The Man
ha ha
Come on, Arsenal!
Better!!!
COYG
Symptomatic of our new mindset, we get a throw in in their half and play it back to the keeper, ridiculous!
Coquelin doing some good things.
Better tempo.
Where is Rosicky ?
189, apparently he suffered a knock in a warm up a week or so back
Ramires is a c*unt!
He’s a total c*nt too, 😉
Still too fucking static
Come on lads!!
Nice move, shame.
FFFEEEEEEEOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO
Theo, thank you!
Walcott!!!!!!!! pays a little bit of that £100k back 😉
*well* played, theo.
who would have thought that FEO
Feo! Yaay!
THEO!!
Get in theo
Much better, let’s have it more, and don’t forget, bould-er :p
Tags Scuz
See what happens when you start scrapping!
Theeeeooooo!
£100,000 a week. Cheap at twice the price !!! 😉
Come On You Reds!
aaron in for who?
Great assist from Cazorla
Coq out (great efforts by him). C’mon Aaron, I believe in you!
We’ve been in it since the kick off, more fight, more movement and more balls.
Now some more goals please.
COME ON YOU REDS
Oh no, Theo AND Coquelin injured?
well in, cog.
Oh what lovely play by our lads, keep it up!
cheers, nurse!
Poor Coquelin – hope it’s a just a bruise on his foot or something. It would be so cruel if he couldn’t play after two such good showings.
atkinson sucks as a ref.
Even from cognac via Bulgaria you can hear the away supporters
Hi scruz 🙂 Agree Fun 🙁
Ref’s a cunt, Feo been hacked from behind twice, and nothing given.
@ abb
(waves) 🙂
Coquelin was fouled many times and no cards given for any of them
C ash the clutch strikes again
Hey Fun. Was just wondering about AW’s half time pep talks. I need a copy of it for myself 🙂
What a turn around.
What was that first half all about ?
Top that glass up again BtM. 😉
Chez very brave there.
@ abb
Wish the pre-match talk worked as well, eh?
Chesney has been sensational recently.
is this a new signing coming on
Arshavin in.
Well, he should be used to the weather.
Fun, we think so much a like 🙂
AA23 – our snow expert is on. 😉
how is that foul by Jack? O.o
Can the 2nd half Arsenal please turn up for both halfs plaese
Atkinson, how could you miss that, you were standing behind them
Ramires seems to be unbookable, how much does that cost?
8 minutes to score 2 goals. And not concede, of course.
Briliant save Vermaelen
Rafa having trouble with his Spanish and goes back to basics with a B
Tommy, thank God
VERMINATOR!!!!!!!!!!!
Heroic TV!
Played Gibbsey.
COME ON ARSENAL!!!!!
Wasn’t Cole booked for the pull on Theo ?
Memory knack, clearly ….
.
5 minutes! C’mon lads!
As much as I am full of praise for our second half performance, it does not forgive the first half which was as awful as the second was good.
I reiterate my belief that fourth place is beyond this current Arsenal team, and I fear we are not going to be making any signings that we so desperately need.
Where was the motivation a London derby should ensure?
fuckity fuck.
Not enough tbh second half was good but first abysmal, the fact is we will never fucking learn.
Feck.
hand round his neck we have been robbed by a blind ref
Oh, so many what ifs there. When we go for it, it works for us. We’ve got to start faster.
Sadly it smacks true that Chelsea cannot get a win at home to lower class opposition but can beat Arsenal, who really helped in that defeat.
We now sit on our lowest ever points total under Wenger, and second half fight backs mean nothing when you get nothing for it, we were under par and a draw would have been gripping stuff but probably undeserved in the end.
atkinson with two huge bad calls, but our horror of a first half wasn’t down to him. i hate chelsea.
Yet another disappointing result why did we start so fucking slow only God knows. Every game is same old story.
Damn shame, if we’d played for 90 like we did for the last 45 then we’d be laughing.
Gonna go and enjoy the snow now, have a good Sunday Holics
Shit ref. Again.
But that doesn’t excuse that first half.
Time to put hand in pocket, surely? We have a lot to do these next three months and the game at the crumbling shithole increasingly look even more of a must-not-lose than normal.
Off now to cheer for the Scum. Come on you traitorous Dutch twat. Do us a favour.
And when we go for it, we do everything better – defending as well.
11 points off 3rd place BTM. What do you suggest? The 3rd place team took all 6 pts from our 2 Games.
Yeah, good luck to Tottenham…….NOT
Till next time guys
First half was absolutely fucking dreadful. No excuses for that from top to bottom of the whole club.
Every game it looks like we think we can just walk into the pitch and win without a fight. Until we are one or two goals down, and then we start to play with desire. It’s not good enough.
Wenger will point out the foul that led to the first goal, but what were we doing sitting back and handing Chelsea the game?
Sagna was pretty awful in my opinion, no real end product from his crosses, and he had plenty of them.
And Giroud needs to score with the chances he’s had. Disappointing from him I think.
Martin Atkinson has also lost his eyesight it seems.
Not even ffs, just sighs.
Effing marvellous.
Ramires fouls Coq for their first goal, dives for their penalty, and gets Man of the Match.
Joke.
Not to excuse our first half though, which was inexplicable given what we were capable of in the second.
Arsenal bloody Arsenal.
Joy and Pain.
Much better second half shows what can be achieved If Your Up for it deserved a point in the end but sadly another game and 3 points go begging, Oh well onto the next one Up The Arse !
Trev, I have absolutely no idea how Ramires didn’t get a yellow card for the whole game. He committed at least 3 more indiscretions.
We should play 2 2nd halves in every game, it’s frustratin how we didn’t show up in the first half.
Positives:Gibbs,jack,Rambo,shez,theo,coq our heartbeat all done well, it was our senior pros who let us down today,bar tommy v.just saying cause there’s going to be a lot of negative crap talked.least there is a brighter day with these lads who to me,look passionate.
Keep your comments coming folks. Don’t have it in me right now to comment much, but I still read everyone’s thoughts with great interest.
I remember Ramires also whacking Wilshere in the face. How the fuck wasn’t that spotted? Everything went against us. We played awful in the first half, Atkinson was a cunt, and Ramirez won MOTM for fouling everybody and deserving a red card.
Fuck.
Looking forward to the FA overturning Theo’s goal midweek.
To me we also need to replace Sagna. He’s a warrior and will always be a special player to me, but his performances this season were terrible for his standards. He doesn’t appear to have the fight in him anymore, like his heart isn’t in it.
Watching our team from 2-3 seasons ago dismantle like this, his reaction is just about understandable. The Board and the manager looks to have minimal ambitions nowadays. I remember when Man City won last year Sagna tweeted how much he would love to celebrate winning with his Arsenal mates. And then we handed the Scums the title on a silver platter, selling them a player who swept away all individual titles in England last year.
Someone in earlier drinks mentioned how our players didn’t seem to care anymore when we lose. It’s horrendous, but almost understandable when the people in power at the Club doesn’t seem to bother much as well. Surely it rubs off to the players’ attitudes too. Gazidis likes to treat Arsenal as a franchise, almost like a corporation. And it seems our corporate culture is a failing one, infecting old timers like Sagna best.
oh boy, currently tied on points with liverpool.
We love you Arsenal, we do! We love you Arsenal we do!
We love you Arsenal , we do! Oh Arsenal we love you.
—
“I don’t think the current team have the same strong characters Arsenal once had. They have very good footballers for sure, but they need leaders. And not just one – you need five leaders up and down the pitch. The board have to help Wenger. They need to invest.”
Sol Campbell.
I can’t really argue with any of that and the first halves against Swansea and today, along with numerous other performances seem to fit Sol’s words perfectly for me.
First half we were poor. Slow to the ball, could not win a second ball and were second best all over the pitch. Mata was tearing us apart. We were out done by 2 poor decisions but as others have alluded to already, none of that excuses very poor defending, yet again.
Second half was much better. Why we can only play for one half is a mystery to me. Or is it? Is it really that much of a mystery? No, sadly I guess not.
Dreadful first half.
No use bleating on about lost matches. Up next, west ham
And can someone please explain to me why we are so terrible at set pieces? Corners, free kicks etc? We had a throw about 5 yards from the Chelski goal line. 5 touches later it was back with Shezza? Perhaps an extra hour each day at training would do the trick??????
How’s this for leadership?
After the challenge on Coquelin, I would have expected someone to look to lump Ramires one and take a card. If the red won’t protect you then you need to find other ways to protect yourself. Coquelin is a kid and the senior pros should be looking after him. It’s the same at every level of the game.
We are too bloody nice and we let teams target our players: generally LJW.
Blogs making the valid point: one attacking option on the bench today, and he’s a bloke who’s running down his contract.
N7. If you want my opinion that is not leadership in the slightest. In fact I would say it is petulant and the opposite of leadership. Leadership would have involved organising the defence to ensure that Mata was not given 20 yards of space in which to do exactly as he pleases.
Coq may very well be a kid, but he was one of the only players who looked like a man in the first half. Agree with the rest, someone should have cunted Ramiez in his basterd, Ashley Butthead too.
The attacking option point some have been making for two seasons now. Hardly new. If RVP had had his customary injury period last year we may have struggled to have finished 8th or 9th.
You can win games from the bench, today there was very little chance of us doing that. Ramsey did ok when he came on, AA did FA. With respect to the rest of them, there was no game changer on the bench. If Giroud had went off, who would of replaced him?
Don’t agree Steve.
You need to be prepared mix it in midfield. It’s what Vieira would have done today.
I’ll take the organised defence as well though, if I may.
RvP had one chance against the spuds, and he made it 1-0. There is almost little doubt he would’ve buried the chance Giroud had early on against Chelsea. Not saying Giroud is useless, but RvP is the best player in EPL. Really I shouldn’t be surprised to see we are lacking winning mentality right now, we sold him to manure after all. I’m more surprised Wenger isn’t solving this issue by now.
We sell winners and replace them with unproven players and potential. This is now our business model. And the culture we create on the pitch and within the squad is far from a winning one.
Remember TV’s look when an interviewer ambushed him and told him of RvP’s departure to manure? If we want to win the title, that’s something we shouldn’t be doing. The players know it too.
Meanwhile Fergie came second by goal difference last year and opened his wallet to buy the best player in the league. Wenger would consider 3rd a success any year now, and stop short of buying real winners to lift us to trophy-winning heights. Says it all really.
Meh, I really hope wedo something in this transfer window and salvage something from the season. Come on Arsenal, come on Arsene. It really hurts right now.
I agree N7. We do need players who can mix it. But for me mixing it with strength and desire is not “lumping” an opposition player. Especially one on his own sung heap who will squeal like a pig and in this day and age more than likely end up being sent off.
Read what Paddy said to Gary Neville a few years back at Highbury. That is what I am talking about. Then ask yourself this. How many in red today would go into battle for Arsenal if the need was there? When you have answered that then you may well have found just exactly how many leaders we have?
Vinny, I suggest you take a look at the size of the gap between Spuds and Arsenal last season. I recall you were predicting huge implosion and WE’RE DOOMED even then. I recall I was predicting third.
For me this is all just fun. If we win, magic, if we draw, great, if we lose – shit, we’ll win next week. I love my life and find that a positive outlook on everything brings me personally huge success. Sometimes that does require a consistency of positive vibe that’s a little difficult to maintain in the face of constant bleats. But hey, it works for me.
I also respect greatly the way Arsenal is being run and being managed right now. The two team’s we’ve lost to in the last week do not compete in the real world. They buy, quite unashamedly, their success. Frankly, even that withstanding we could and should have won both both games, even with ten men against the Sheiks.
Do i wish, RvP, Cesc, Nasri, Song and Cole were still playing for Arsenal? YES. Do I think we would be leading the league and favourites to win the CL if they were? YES. Is life like that? No. Could it be worse – YES – IF you adopt a mindset like y….many.
P.S. what has tooth length got to do with anything 🙂
Always interested to read your views Steve.
Not sure I agree re: when to leave a foot in, but I do agree with your broader point re: leadership and the lack thereof.
As Little Red Riding Hood’s incognito “Granny” would say;
“All the better to bite you with”
*sad attempt at long tooth humour*
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Sounds simple, Derrick. The Famous Red Grouse took a 70M pound gamble on a 29 year old with a doubtful fitness record – and at the moment, it is paying off. Big time. No question.
If Manure end up trophy-less at the end of this season. It might not look so great over the next three years as an aging player sits on the bench earning 250k per week while Ollie G slams then in. Ollie’s first season in the league is better than the Skiunks. 🙂
I wonder what your commentary might have been had RvP stayed (would have cost Arsenal less than Manure but still around 55M) and then been out for the season with injury? As I say, No doubt you would have praised Arsene’s tenacity in the boardroom? Right now Auld Purple Nose is looking golden. Let’s see if he still is in May.
To their credit, much as I “hate” them, Manure do at least play in the real world. Their owners are a liability (check out TaBS fabulous “mortgaging the house to line their pockets” piece). They are able to do the two fundamentals 1. Attract and 2. Retain excellent players. It really is as simple as that. Arsenal have been able to attract the best talents in Europe. They haven’t been able to retain them.
How do Manure do it? They pay top dollar salaries. How can they afford to do that when Arsenal can’t? Sponsorship revenues principally. They’re able to pay top dollar AND pay off the heavy debt the Glazers have lumbered them with because their sponsorship (biggest factor), TV income (second factor) and gate money (3rd factor) all leave Arsenal’s in the dust.
How can Arsenal do better – Steve T would tell you that Indonesia holds the key 🙂
Very promising game from Coquelin, following on from the midweek win. Let’s hope it’s nothing serious.
Diaby getting caught in possession again – oh me oh my.
And watching Sagna trundling back (for both goals and on a few other occasions) like he’s on mogadon is just so sad. Spare him Arsene – he can’t do it any more. Whether it’s his body or his heart, I don’t know, but we need some speed and crossing ability. Bring on the corporal.
And what the hell is Niall Quinn thinking of with his MoM? Trod on Coq’s foot, knee in OG’s back, several other fouls which WERE penalised without him even getting a warning – not visibly anyway. Speechless.
Oh well, next 3 PL games at home.
Bac is really struggling and it’s heart wrenching to witness as he’s been one of the true soldiers for so long. His crossing is atrocious. In the Swansea game it was interesting to see him switch the ball to his left foot and produce better crosses than his supposedly stronger right foot. Well,at least his left footed crosses didn’t hit the first defender. I think it’s time to give Jenks a run and rest Bac. Jenks crossing would benefit Giroud.