All For One, Santi Orchestrates A Masterclass
May 4th, 2015 by 'holic
It is really difficult trying to work out how to review a game. Sometimes a simple match report seems appropriate. How many people will have watched it? Try and build a picture for those that didn’t. Then there are nights like tonight.
On social media it seemed as if everyone was watching us bid to seal a twentieth consecutive St Totteringham’s Day celebration. All the continents were certainly represented on my timelines. The nuts and bolts of what happened are already evident to you.
So it is the lot of the blogger to try and convey a sense of the nature of the evening, a very personal appreciation of a performance witnessed by most as it happened. That isn’t as easy as it sounds. The temptation is to gush about a team that clicked into gear and threatened to run up a cricket score (well, an England cricket score anyway!).
The first-half performance tonight bordered on the sensational. Yet there are those who will jump on any suggestion that, with the benefit of a settled starting eleven, we are getting to see what players with the ability of Santi Cazorla, Mesut Ozil, Alexis Sanchez, and Aaron Ramsey can achieve. “It’s just Hull. We’re flat track bullies.”
I don’t buy that entirely, but understand it. Hull came into the match on the back of two wins, including defeating Liverpool in their last home match. They won that game by doing the things that other clubs have done to frustrate us so many times in the past. Tonight they were set up to do the same. Not only did they attempt to deny us time and space in which to play our intricate passing game, but they allied that to a very physical approach indeed.
One cannot blame them for that. They are fighting for Premier League survival and will do whatever is necessary to achieve it. It is up to the referee to ensure that malicious play is kept to a minimum, and as usual I am happy in victory to express some dissatisfaction at the performance of Lee Mason in this regard. But enough of him for now.
Prompted by the mercurial Santi, gilded by the magical Ozil, driven by the industrious Ramsey, powered by the perpetual motion of Alexis, we wove pretty patterns around those intent on breaking up a spectacle that was evolving. These are now our four musketeers, reminders of days past, and hopefully deliverers of a great future. Not that Hull were toothless, and indeed with Brady providing a couple of quality early crosses we could easily have gone behind.
Yet the memories of the half will be of the interactions between Arsenal’s class players. Ozil, like a thief in the night, dispossessed the lumbering Huddlestone and freed Alexis. Livermore, booked minutes earlier for an awful challenge on Ramsey, brought him down from behind. No second yellow from Mason. Alexis, affronted, saw his free-kick deflected over the ‘keeper by Dawson. Justice and retribution in one.
It is impossible not to gush about Santi’s pass to Rambo for the second, but the Welshman still had work to do to fashion his also deflected finish. “You’ve only come to see the Arsenal”, indeed. The goalscorer linked with Ozil to turn provider for Alexis to get a second as an astonishing half drew to a close.
Now the second-half wasn’t as gripping as the first, but moments will remain in the memory, and none more so than Mesut’s unbelievable back heel pass without breaking stride. Pure playmaking porn. And yet Hull showed just why they are no pushovers by pulling back a goal through Quinn, albeit though Mason missed a foul by Meyler on Laurent Koscielny in the build-up.
Controversially the same two players came together again shortly afterwards and the Hull Man needed treatment for a cut below the eye for what appeared an accidental stamp by Koscielny. Mason should have stopped the game for a head injury, but didn’t. He isn’t biased, just incompetent. Hull’s crowd hated him as much as us, it appeared.
We might have added the three goals that would have taken us back to second place on goal difference. The attacking intent was there, and the arrival of Jack Wilshere as a substitute gave us a different threat.
Nobody was more surprised than I to pick up a few welcome pounds though as the game fizzled out on the 1-3 scoreline I had suggested a little punt on beforehand. That is perhaps the difference though between this side and the one that featured the likes of Vieira, Pires, Bergkamp, and Henry. On spring nights in good conditions they put opponents to the sword. Do you recall the six and seven-up shows against Southampton and Everton, for example?
Most importantly though we are now two wins away from securing third place and automatic Champions League qualification. Let’s leave United with the problem of a qualifier in August. Hang it all, let’s get the three wins and a draw that would secure second place for the first time in a decade. Then let’s go sign the couple of world class players who would surely take us one step further next season.
Yes, it is that sort of a night. Arsenal are back.
175 Responses to “All For One, Santi Orchestrates A Masterclass”
Awesome. First!
And an excellent post Guvnor.
I thought Rambo was back to his imperious best tonight –And SuperJacks late cameo was also inspiring – if only we had started this campaign at the same time as all the other clubs!
Next term looks better than promising
Inspired report Maestro. 🙂
Great report Guv’nor. Hit the spot; hit it full on and hit it hard.
And a very Happy, slightly late, St. Totts to one and all.
COYG
Nice angle Holic.
Four to go – three at home. Second place is very do-able now.
Jack looked fit and very willing when he came on but also showed with that first long run exactly how he gets himself injured so often – with a little help from donkeys like Dawson and McNair of course.
Great result – on to Swansea.
Thanks Trev, I wish I was at all five remaining games rather than one, or possibly two. Huge day Friday. I hope I haven’t upset the ballot Gods.
Good stuff ‘holic, cheers.
Great report Holic.
I know Sanchez gets all the plaudits but for me, Santi is the player of the season. He has given that midfield balance, leadership and creativity. Best money we’ve spent in years.
I agree Joe, but it isn’t the popular line. Cheers sir.
Excellent review ‘H. I especially loved your description of THAT Ozil flick.
For the record that was NOT me at #87 in the last drinks, I was at the vet with Öskar (the dog) when that was posted. Someone being smart. You might like to delete it ‘holic.
Not that ever seem to see the same Özil some of you see. Yes he had some nice touches, but for mine he still consistently slows down the attack. The difference when Jack came on must have been obvious to Mr Magoo.
But let’s not harp on that on St Tott’s Day, with Top 4 certain bar Poo scoring a heap of goals in each of their last 3 games, and us losing by the same in all of our remaining 4.
Let us instead congratulate Santi for a motm performance, and Lady Luck for smiling on us for a change with those deflections.
Oh, and yes, Alexis, you probably deserved a hat trick, but perhaps a simple flick to Theo for a tap-in might have been a better team option right at the end.
Öskar
The difference between Alexis and Santi is consistency. The latter can be a match-winner at his best, but gone MIA on other occasions. Alexis is always in there threatening, even when not at his sparkling best. I have no doubt who our player of the year is, and by a wide margin.
Öskar
… but all credit to Santi who, I read, has more EPL assists than any other player from any club since he joined us in 2012.
Cazorlicious!
Öskar
Don’t forget also we will get automatic qualification when we win the FA cup and that will let someone else in. I hope it’s not ManU.
Cudos goonerholic, u usually make my day after an arsenal game to be wonderful. I really enjoy reading your articles
Very good read, holic. And, belatedly, happy St Totts Day 🙂
“Pure Playmaking Porn”
you poet you.
wee jack was good. He should have earned 2 penalties too.
rambo looked really pissed off being haulded off. I was so glad seeing that. we need everyone being mean and competitive of their place in the team. COYG.
hauled even
damn you spell checking software
Nice one, ‘Holic. The first half was indeed sumptuous. What does this side need to acquire the capacity to put sides to the sword?
In fine form, ‘olic.
Justice and revenge in one goal indeed. I was still in the middle of mid cursing the physical play, before the ball doinked off Dawson’s noggin into the goal.
Similarly, after Ramsey (my favourite player in this team) was hacked down by a rather deliberate follow through by Muddlestone, said Arsenal player ran it off and scored pretty soon after. The look on his face as he pumped his fist said it all.
One of the many ungodly morning-time matches that I woke up to witness will remain in the memory. Satisfying to put rough and tumblers down and out for the count.
From previous drinks – @SanAntonio, there are three clubs in the Premier League who could easily afford to buy Ozil and at least four clubs abroad. None of them wanted him when he was sold (and he was sold by one of the Foreign Four) and, in the Premier League at least, neither of those who can afford to buy him two or three times over appears to want him.
Not to start a long argument or discussion, just to correct the view that “all our rivals would want him”.
Unless by “our rivals” you mean Spurs, Liverpool etc. And even then I reckon Liverpool could easily afford him as they seem to be able to find the money when they need to.
Great play by our lads yesterday in a game where the opposition could only stop us by continually kicking and fouling. The HFB was taken out of the game in the early stages with a few meaty challenges, but I think the real damage was done when he sidefooted an early chance wide and a Hull defender slid into him, catching him full in his ankle (I believe) with the ball long gone, an act that anywhere else of the field would of been punished with a free kick and a booking, but somehow when in the penalty box almost always goes unpunished, after that he was visably struggling, although he still managed to make his contributions with his clever movements drawing defenders away and creating chances for others.
The serial fouling continued, Hull played hard, and in their current plight I would not really expect anything else, but sadly for the game the man charged to keep it in check was woefully ill equiped to do so. It would be wrong to say that he favoured the opposition, because quite frankly he stunk for both teams. I can honestly say that I can’t remember an official having such a bad game, even in this season of inept judication, this was outragously bad. The Dutch Commentator couldn’t believe what he was witnessing and I’ve truly never heard an official being coated that way by anyone on TV in NL.
PL clubs scour the planet to bring in the best talent to enrich the PL, surely it must be time for the F.A to do the same with referees? The PL claims to be the best, fair enough, but how can you be the best when the officiating is bog standard? Surely there must be referees abroad that could come in and do a better job? After witnessing the performances of the likes of Taylor, Moss (Gawd help us in the final) Mason and co, then I can’t see how they could possibly be worse.
Fine form indeed H.
Are you, like the team, getting stronger as the season goes on? 😉
Good post H2H
Would you really want refs from Spain or Italy, who fall for every single dive and stop the game for the slightest physical contact?
We just need to root out the worst of the bunch over here. There are three or four refs who shouldn’t be on the elite panel and we all know who they are. Sadly, one of them has the Cup Final.
Mason was his usual crap self – not sure why anybody would be surprised at that. I think that the current crop of referees should be forced to play a game against a team composed of various premier league thugs who are given carte blanche to :-
* Crash into them after the ball has gone.
* Go over the top around waist high a la Cahill on Alexis this year.
* Leave a foot in after the ball has gone.
* Elbow them when challenging for the ball.
* Throw them to the ground at corners.
* Rake their studs down the back of legs and ankles.
And whatever else they seem to think is acceptable when currently refereeing games. Just to get a real sense of what it feels like. Would that make a difference? Probably not but I may feel better about it.
The best Karma today was when Meyler, who had been smashing any Arse player within a couple of yards and then standing over them shouting at them to get up, was himself invested by Kos with an improvement to his facial features. Ha ha said the clown? Oh yes.
It would only have been bettered if the deflection off that useless lump Huddlestone had ended up in the back of the net. Once a spud…
UTA.
Tottenham really are the gift that keeps on giving.
Last night they even gave us our first goal –
1 – Tom Hundredstone loses the ball
2 – Livermore brings down Sanchez to give us the free kick
3 – Free kick hits Dawson’s head and deflects into the back of the net
Stewart Robson on TalkSpite right now saying it’s the right time for Jack Wilshere to leave now as he will learn more about the game at Chelsea or Man City.
Sad person.
Excellent report Guvna. Your literary style does justice to the performance the team produced. Delighted the Holic Pound bore fruit.
We were a real pleasure to watch last night. Hull certainly overstepped the line on the physical aspect of the game and one of the pleasures was that we stood up to it and gave as good as we got.
Excellent drinks there H2H @24 and Noosa @28. Drinks of your choice on the bar.
Trev. “Learn more at Man City”… like Sturridge et al?
Robson´s logic as wayward as his hair…
Oskar i am sorry but i continue to disagree on your views about Ozil. For me he was imperious yesterday and i say the same as i do always about him. It is his ability to create space for others which makes him special. He always and i mean always has players next to him and even in that the way he most often manages to pick the right pass is the sign of a fabulous player. He is that kind of a player and will remain the same. It is for us to use his abilities and make the best out of it.
Cazorla, ramsey and Sanchez excellent. Monreal fantastic and for me he is the one least heralded in the second half revival. He has been magnificent.
I do not want to look ahead to the next season but rather stick to the next 4 PL games and the all important cup final. We should win our home games and hope city drop atleast a point which would mean the game at OT becomes irrelevant. So hoping for that and still drooling over the passes from Cazorla and that flick from Ozil, have a nice day.
Trev, Stuart Robson must be the most bitter man alive. Has he ever said anything positive about Arsenal?
Lars, a long, long time ago, in another galaxy.
Well H, given your uncertainty over how to approach this one I must affirm that all doubts were misplaced and that you, sir, nailed it. A thoroughly enjoyable report, much obliged.
We were great. We won. Lee Mason completed a standard Ronseal job. What did you expect from Lee Mason?
The patron saint of vanquishing scumbags passed through yesterday, his significance and the assurance of his visit explained to a couple of no-brainers who, upon understanding, thought the whole thing was funny, with no frame of reference as to the jubilant nature of one more St. Tott’s Day rolling round. Ah well.
All is good. A week to be ready for another Monday Night Showdown. Erm, sorry, I didn’t mean to come over all Sky Sports…
Happy St Totteringhams!!
😆
Lovely summing- up of the match Maestro and the usual healthy disagreement in the bar. I think the second half of this season represents real progress and although I have been on Wenger’s case re transfers in several close seasons of the past he is absolutely right to get frustrated when after a performance like that he is asked about transfers!
This squad does only need a couple of top- class additions, if they are available. He doesn’t need to bring in lots of players and it would be stupid and quite uncharacteristic of him to do so. I also find it odd that poor old Ospina is copping flak when he has the best goals conceded record in the Premier League. If we could get a truly world-class keeper perhaps it might be worth a thought but I’m not sure its the priority some do.
As for OTD I guessed that was a troll last night but also guessed he would be underwhelmed by Ozil.I thought he was great
You win, ttg. I noticed that “Oskar” was posting at an odd time yesterday, but thought he was genuine and being ironic/self-depracating. You win.
COYG
PS I hope the real Oskar (the canine one) came away from the vet with a clean bill of health.
Trev’s point about the Spuds was hilarious.
Livermore is a nasty piece of work who creates very little of merit. Hundredstone makes the BFG look like Usain Bolt and Dawson took his header well giving the keeper no chance . Hull should keep their eyes peeled there will ba a lot more useless Spuds on the market this summer- Walker, Lennon, Soldado, Paulinho. Lamela , in fact almost all of the nomarks they bought with the Bale money. They need to clear the decks to bring in more dross .
But one mark of respect- I hope Jimmy Greaves is restored to health soon. One of the greatest strikers I have seen, even if he played for the wrong team, and a funny man as well. Get well soon Jim !
I really enjoyed this post Holic! You are in fine form yourself Guv.
My favourite lines were “Mesut’s unbelievable back heel pass without breaking stride. Pure playmaking porn.” Porn indeed.
Mesut Ozil is symbolic of “poetry in motion” on the football field. Smooth and classy operator, rather than the headless chicken his critics seem to want him to be. I’m grateful that I get to watch him playing for my club every week. COYG!
The Vieira, Pires, Bergkamp, and Henry comparison is not really fair considering they had 12 draws in the unbeaten season.
” St. Totteringham’s Day” is rightly being celebrated today for the 20th year in a row. Cameron should advise the Queen to honour AFC with knighthoods for each of the Board of Directors, an honorary Dukedom for AW ( Duc de Avenell Highbury Islington et Londres ) OBE ‘s for every employee and player, and order a week locked in the Tower for all Spuds personnel for being so abysmally and consistently poor.
Lastly, on our next 2016 21 st anniversary of St. Totteringham’s Day the Mayor of London and the Lord Mayor from the City together to unveil a new floor to ceiling stained glass window of the Arsenal Football Club coat of arms in Westminster Abbey, followed by a Thanksgiving Service for us once again setting the standard for excellence and keeping UK football free from the evil influence of the Gob Stoppers from N.17.
Maybe we could erect a little shrine to St.Totteringham on the surrounds to the stadium and the Swampies could genuflect there every time they visit us?
I think there’s often a dog turd on the corner where St Thomas’ Road joins Gillespie Road. Surely that will suffice? We can’t possibly have chickens sitting on basketballs in our environs.
new ownership? i’d be down, if he’s willing to boot the fat orange one.
http://www.espnfc.us/arsenal/story/2434364/aliko-dangote-africa-richest-man-still-plans-to-buy-arsenal
Watching Football Mavericks on ITV 4. Proper football, proper footballers, proper commentators. I’ve never seen that view of Charlie George’s Cup Final goal before (behind the goal at the opposite end).
Some great memories.
scg@47: Be careful what you wish for. Dangote, who made his fortune in cement, didn’t become Africa’s first self-made business billionaire by accident.
Great idea for a St Totteringham shrine, Ttg, but I’m sure it means more to them than us and a spot outside (or even inside) WHL would be more appropriate. We could donate it to them, in the interests of neighbourliness. 😉
Öskar
Can he be as bad as fat orange, Ned?
Thanks Pangloss for thinking of Öskar (the dog).
Nothing to worry about, he was just in for his two-monthly Cartrophen injection (post cruciate ligament repair and for ongoing arthritis). Vet says he’s never seen him looking better … fighting fit, and twice as noisy!
His injections work so well I’m thinking of having them myself. 😀
Öskar (the owner)
The risk with an African owner is he’ll want all African players, and we’ll lose the whole team for the African Cup in January. 🙁
Apart from which I reckon the present system is working well enough. At least Stan leaves the running to football professionals. Seeing Abramovich’s smirking face after the chavs clinched the title was bad enough…
Öskar
That is silly, otd. Our larder isn’t stocked with *any* American or Uzbek players now…
I’m very happy to hear, from the ‘real’ Oskar, that the ‘original’ Oskar is well.
I always suspected that Otd and I would agree on many things once the differences in “some key areas” were left behind us, and his second paragraph above is the first concrete example of this. It encapsulates my views perfectly. I read the ESPN FC article about Dangote with some amazement, unable to find any content in it. I’m amazed that anyone would take it at all seriously.
COYG
Fx: Pangloss awards himself “topping-up” yellow card for excessive use of italics and the third person.
Sorry everyone, but I can’t understand a word anyone is saying at the moment. I’m still too busy drooling over THAT backheel flick from Özil.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=J6XfOYjOs8M
…Scrumptious!
😀
One back heel and you’re drooling, Lars? It was lovely, yes, but rather put into context by the video which followed in BB’s link … https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7IM4krAUgvc
One swallow doesn’t make etc etc…
Öskar
Congratulations Öskar, you have drawn me into this unending and pointless debate.
I haven’t watched the link you posted, but I feel I can predict its content from its title: “Crisiano Ronaldo: King of the backheels”. I imagine that your point is that Ronaldo is better than Özil. Fair enough, you are entitled to your opinion; I haven’t watched the two sufficiently closely and with sufficient of an open mind to form an opinion myself.
I seriously recommend that you review your debating strategy. You’ve had a hard enough time of it persuading anyone on here that Özil isn’t worth his fee. You’re likely to find a discussion that “Ronaldo is about twice as good as Özil” even harder to carry in your favour.
Why ‘about twice as good’? Well, while money shouldn’t be the only criterion, it is at least measurable and fairly objective. When Ronaldo was last transferred, his contract went for £80m. When Özil was last transferred, his contract went for £43m. They were of comparable age, so that ought to be a guide as to their relative worth.
Please, drop it. Thanks.
A volleyed backheel from a cross-field ball, taken at full stride and right into the stride of Alexis Sanchez –
worth £42million all on it’s own !
Good afternoon playmates !
It’s been a while, I know, but I felt compelled to have my tuppence worth on the latest ownership speculation.
If we are to believe the rumour mongers, it seems there may be a Nigerian gentleman who has a savings pot that makes Silent Stan’s bank account look like a kiddy’s piggy bank.
Apparently, once he has invested his next $15,000,000,000 or so, he is planning to spend the residue on purchasing our beloved Arsenal FC.
My initial reaction to this news is, as ever, that we don’t want his sort round here, thank you very much ! While I have come to find an uneasy regard for Stan, this is surely a step too far.
While it would always be a pleasure to welcome Mr Kanu back to The Home of Football, I have no wish to spend Saturday afternoons at The Emirates rescuing my ears from the sound of thousands of screaming bloody vuvuzelas, courtesy of our newly attracted followers.
I have great reservations also about what might befall our stadium during the summer months. We do have to accommodate the odd music event to maximise revenues, but the thought of that Nigerian band “Procol Harem” playing on our turf, frankly fills me with dread.
Had I realised what a nasty, violent bunch they were, I would never have bought their records in the Seventies.
I’d better leave it there, I think, as I may otherwise find myself under a considerable quantity of the cement from which our possible owner has made his fortune thus far.
Victoria Concordia Akers.
🙂
Very good Trev
Been missing PHW for a while now!
Heh @ PHW!
As soon as media cretins see Arsenal are in with an excellent shout of finishing in second place, they start to denigrate the importance of finishing in second place. Fact is, the team that finishes the season well almost invariably starts the next one well. Hence, the importance of Arsenal finishing in second place. Despite what the media cretins don’t understand.
Speaking of Silent Stan Kroenke, he is reportedly threatening to move the St. Louis Rams, one of the other jewels in the crown of his sports empire, to Los Angeles in order to extort public financing by St. Louis for a new stadium for the club. St. Louis of course is a rusting old city with nearly no ability to do such a thing. Media reports say his agents are busily pursuing this options while Kroenke himself sits on the sidelines silently. I must say that part sounds eerily familiar.
Calling all Kiwis
I will be in NZ from 12-26 May covering the games v Utd, Sunderland & W.Brom. – Bad planning I know but unavoidable.
Is it likely that any of these games will be free to air on TVNZ or do I need to go stream hunting? Is there another way?
Also. does TVNZ run a highlights show?
Thanks in advance for any guidance.
UTA.
http://www.arsenal.com/news/news-archive/20150506/behind-the-numbers-the-100-club
For the statistician in you!
😀
We should make a bid for Vermy now..
That would really add more depth in our defence.
😀
hey Noosa — those games can be purchased individually through the website Premier League Pass — about 10 bucks per game I believe.
Alternatively,if you are in Auckland, you could come round to my place to watch them!
They would be an even earlier start than Gold Coast times tho — 3am kick offs mostly.
scg@51: probably not as bad as the orange one, though Dangote has plenty of critics in Nigeria. He comes from an old merchant family in Kano (no, Trev, not Kanu) and got his start thanks to a generous uncle who bank-rolled an import-export business (nuts, of the eating sort, flour, sugar, etc) when Nigeria was under military rule and the army kept a tight rein on the economy. As he expanded into transport, cement and manufacturing somehow he always seemed to end up with a monopoly or near monopoly of whatever he traded in. Wikileaks published a U.S. diplomatic cable from 2007 that said Dangote worked a “corrupt political economy to tilt the business playing field in his favor and sideline potential competition.” His detractors say he ruthlessly crushes rivals, his fans say he is straightforward, honest and unsparingly competitive, according to this CNBC profile: http://www.cnbc.com/id/101581305.
bt8b: American pro-sports has a long history of its teams moving city or threatening to do so if its wealthy owners aren’t properly pampered by local taxpayers. It is why Los Angeles now has the Dodgers and the Lakers rather than Brooklyn and Minneapolis respectively.
Ned, You are correct in everything you say but Kroenke is in effect trying to double the evil effects of what the Dodgers and the Lakers did, by returning the Rams to the city where they used to play before moving to St. Louis. There is only one precedent for this behavior that I can recall, when Al Davis moved the Oakland Raiders to Los Angeles before moving them back to Oakland a decade or so later after several bouts of stadium extortion.
Kroenke was not the owner when the Rams moved from Los Angeles to St. Louis, so the comparison to Al Davis is not completely fair but this city-hopping is an extreme case of the club ownership having all the power and devaluing the fans.
I was a resident of Baltimore when the Colts moved to Indianapolis. If memory serves, prior to that the Los Angeles Rams’ owner (Robert Irsay) swapped teams with the Baltimore Colts’ owner and after several years Irsay moved the Colts to Indianapolis, which would put Irsay in about the same category of extreme corporate greed as Al Davis.
ned, thanks for 70. i tried to find dirt on the guy, and it does seem to be a mixed bag. gets awarded african of the year, for what it’s worth, but crushes his opposition (into cement or flour, it would seem).
i don’t begrudge him his start, either. given the cnbc article you mentioned, he seems to have pissed off the american government, which one can view as a feather in his cap, not a detriment, depending on where you stand.
but as pangloss points out, there was little of substance in the espn account. so probably nothing to worry about.
as for kroenke, he’s indeed working the same furrow as al davis. and given the franchise model of the nfl, it works to hold municipalities hostage, because there’s always a municipality that’s willing to pay for it. for example, the city of arlington, tx (lonestar’s near stomping grounds) put up bonds of 1/4 of the ultimate building cost, and “approved the increase of the city’s sales tax by 0.5 percent, the hotel occupancy tax by 2 percent, and car rental tax by 5 percent” to pay for the dallas cowboys’ new stadium. that’s a lot of valuta, though the obvious argument is that the stadium brings in more than that in business (not least by sales, occupancy, and car rental taxes).
it’s not unlike our scummy northern neighbors trying to squeeze the council to pay for their naming rights stadium, without the threat of moving…
I hear Joe Lewis is moving the swampies to Milton Keynes for a season . Maybe we could move to Bletchley or Rushden so we could still be their neighbours – and clearly finish above them. Stan clearly has previous in doing this but probably doesn’t know where Milton Keynes is. Lucky fella.
They could claim we were really not a Northants Club. ‘ They come from North London’.
Don’t know why I’m thinking about Swampies so much they are not usually a blip on my radar.
bt8b: Rams were in Cleveland before Los Angeles, but I take your point that Al Davis is in a class of his own as an owner.
scg: I think the Dangote-to-buy-Arsenal story has been whipped up beyond all credibility. He said he would be interested in buying it one day/some day if the price was reasonable, that he might look at a deal once $16 billion of other business investments were out of the way, and that there was no deal ‘in the pipeline’. That is a long way from ‘Dangote targets Arsenal’ regardless of what the headline writers say.
IF @ 69
Thanks for the information and the kind offer although I’ll be in Kerikeri so unable to take advantage.
I’ll check out the Premier League pass site.
Cheers.
UTA.
As I said in #58, it was a lovely back heel. Just unfortunate it was juxtaposed in the link with a dozen or more Ronaldo backheels of at least equal class, and a couple quite amazing. Do I think Ronaldo is a better player? Of course he is, as most people agree. But then there’s only one player better than CR7 in the world currently, so that’s no criticism of our man.
In fact I see Özil was named Vitality Player of the Month and the PFA Fans’ Player of the Month in the latest Arsenal Newsletter. Well done Mesut!
Öskar
Noosa … You are equally welcome to drop into mine in Wellington to get your Arsenal fix from Premier League Pass. And if you can avoid hearing the result you can watch them anytime in the week they’re played.
There’s no free-to-air EPL in NZ, although Sky (if you have access) does play a 3-hour ‘Arsenal TV’ programme which will include the games you want to see. BUT they are run at least 12 hours, and often up to 24 hours, after the event.
Öskar
This is especially for oskar the dog.
http://www.footytube.com/video/ozil-doing-godly-things-vs-hull-354027?ref=wv_rel_mp
Forever in our shadows …
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ePidFr5cO5g
🙂
Like I said, abc, he had some nice touches and a lovely back heel against one of the bottom clubs of the Prem. And received awards for the month from a couple of sources. Congrats to Mesut Özil. I hope he keeps it up.
What more do you want me to say?
Öskar
Oskar @ 79
Thanks for the info – much appreciated.
UTA.
Have to say I’m still buzzing after watching Lionel Messi put Bayern to the sword last night. The quality of his performance was just astonishing. You certainly get the feeling of being privileged to watch one of, if not the greatest, players of all time. And he’s being doing it now for 10 years. We’re spoiled.
Agreed Joe, as much as I despise Barcelona as a club, you can just sit back and revel in brilliant individual performance like that.
Especially second goal was incredible and it actually reminded me of Jacks goal against City at home this season, same movement from left foot to dink the goalie by the right one, only difference is that he did not make Clichy look that much like a fool like Boateng looks like now.
howdy ‘hol
nice write up
.
howdy all
nice noodlin’
.
cheerio now
vote early
vote often
.
*puts on wig and fake nose*
Messi magic aside, how come the mighty pep guardiola has not been chastised for his stupidity???. When we conceded the 3rd goal against Monaco, the team and Wenger were criticized by all and sundry whereas yesterday in a ucl semi final in the 93rd minute we had 8 bayern players in the barca half. Blasphemy i must say or should i say Wenger and Arsenal have an all together different yard stick. Not just this, he started the game trying to man mark barca players at the nou camp, well it lasted 15 minutes and Neur’s brilliance or else the scoreline could have been one of tennis.
Another monday night game makes the weekend boring. Gary Monk has been one of the best managers of the season and he brings a swansea team who have had their best season in years. Ramsey doubtful for the game makes it convenient for jack to start. He is playing for position even for the next season and hence he needs to perform in the games he gets a chance to. Theo??? well god knows or should i say Wenger knows.
Spertz are moving to Milton Keynes?
They’ll be known as the MK Donkeys.
Vinay… Good point. Guardiola should be chastised for the tactics that let that third goal happen, so long as Wenger was. Maybe the press actually will chastise Pep if Bayern do not win by at least 4-0 in Munich. Messi’s blitz was quite something especially considering the quality of the opposition.
h2h 🙂
Pep The Magnificent has been getting it pretty hard over here.
Generally for the back 3 gamble but not chasing the match at the end.
Said above – different standard for PTM. Ridiculois.
Watched the match with a long time barca supporter. Several it turned out. My lord but are they the most entitled, snobs around. Rival the liverpool morons – and that is sayimg something!
Unrelated note: press saying the manyoo has a done deal xsfer for memphis depay from PSV. How does that work?…the window isnt open yet.
democratic doins done
.
back in the south
though
here
further north than the north
yeah
bla
.
ukip leaflet on pile on the mat
failed to sway me
.
the wee canvasser musta hadda a piss takin satnav
.
one glance at the murals
woulda informed him otherwisely
get back in yer car
doorstep ye not
research up the shitter clearly
.
osmonds’ teethed hens
behind rockin’ horses wi shovels
more feckin likely
.
anyhoo
.
out the back now
beer on the go
sun shinin’
bumble bees buzzin’
.
have a goodun ‘hol and ‘hols
.
see ya
.
UP THE ARSENAL
+
(where’s nurse abb? )
Unrelated note: press saying the manyoo has a done deal xsfer for memphis depay from PSV. How does that work?…the window isnt open yet.
Signing a contract isn’t the same as moving. You can sign contracts at any time but you don’t change clubs until the next window.
Re: Democracy, cba@92.
I’ve never really forgiven Oxonne following an incident in which a canvasser from “the other side” came to call during the campaign for the first General Election after we moved. It’s always been an ambition of mine to be driven to the polling station by a party I don’t support.
Unfortunately, before I had the chance to waste ten or twenty minutes of his time, good my lady wife, told the candidate that it would be a cold day in hell before either of us even considered voting for him. We haven’t seen him or his party workers this time around.
Hey ho.
On a more footballistic note, thanks Lars@93; I guessed that was what was going on. Good to see someone confirm it.
COYG
i been wonderin meself
where the good nurse is
particularly after the catalans
stuffed ’em knowing she came on
here the first time sayin
her two clubs are
barcelona and arsenal
and on an even par til
an impertinent so and so
convinced her to change her
monikker to arsenal beat barca
Howdy 🙂
moving ?
lars
cos
i plan on bustin
moves
shortly
and my windows are so so
aaaaahhh
howdy pan G
and
8ball
.
titans all
97 eh
.
cynic
ye around for the ton?
no
?
AW on Le Coq’s emergence:
http://www.arsenal.com/news/news-archive/20150507/-coquelin-sticks-to-what-he-s-strong-at-
Reminds me of the year Song made his breakthrough at the DM position after a similar number of years of treading water. It has been a joy to watch each one of them make that breakthrough after so much trying.
I’ll ave that.
No I won’t. 🙂
disrespectful 8ball
h2h is in bits
.
for shame
Ha ha.
not entirely sure
what a dutch horse looks like
.
but
.
i’m guessin
the body free version
will pillow near you shortly
.
ton stealer
(on behalf)
.
“stir the sauce carmine”
.
oops
national stereotype mix-up fiasco
chips without mayonnaise not the netherlandish
way but health experts of any mettle might disagree
speaking of holland sauce
🙂
i make a mean chip
maris pipers
canny fuckin beatem
🙂
the unwashed love em
little or no respect
for me
.
dont take thee a wife
dont breed
its feckin endless
.
oy yoy yoy
.
🙂
fish finger anyone ?
mind you ‘hol
fresh fish off the boat
fuckin tasty
.
(arsenal reference)
.
i love this place
esso and trev walloped it
.
cheers ‘hol
i can’t say howdy as often as i’d like
.
top man
Pangloss
What a great idea! Actually I could improve on it because we have postal votes . So they could drive me there and back and waste time and petrol and I’s already voted! ( for someone else) no Brilliant stuff.
I fear a fit of depression tomorrow and no game until
Monday in fact I have missed the last few games at the HOF. My wife just can’t get used to having me home on Saturdays. She thinks I’ve split up with my mistress.
thunder T
i used to be a telly person
were you in advertising
I hope you all went out and voted. Unless you’re a Tory or SNP, in which case I hope you stayed in bed.
🙂
where were you cynic
ton misser
.
i voted
.
where votes count
.
mystery mps
.
I was busy having a poo. Too much information I know, but it’s going to be a night of shit so I got mine in first.
votes in the six counties
are much more
than
elsewhere
.
politics
sectarianism
murder
NO MORE
green gooners will recall 70s80s
sorry ‘hol
sorry
Well cba, if the BBC exit poll is right we probably have a Tory/DUP coalition on the way. Lovely.
god help you all
*god rings in sick*
You’re alright cba. Take it easy son. 🙂
People, don’t get up/down about an exit poll. They have been horribly wrong in the past.
Whatever has happened is the will of the people. Thank goodness we live somewhere where the result is not a given.
My Thursday post has been foiled by circumstances earlier. Watch this space tomorrow for a five pinter on something! 😉
go for it
ya oul tart
🙂
cheers ‘hol
love this place
🙂
seriously
cheers big man
.
night
No problem my friend.
You always will be ya silly bugger. 🙂
Stone me, I’ve woken up in Nazi Germany!! 🙁
Maybe you should move to Alberta, Cynic, where Conservatives have just been annihilated in provincial elections.
every cloud cynic
.
http://m.belfasttelegraph.co.uk/news/northern-ireland/dup-mp-gregory-campbell-wants-sale-of-ouija-boards-regulated-31094502.html
.
count yer blessings
dup
bunch o loopers
http://m.youtube.com/watch?v=Pra1yh1Xesw
East Londonderry MP is clearly barking up the wrong tree because it is high time the appropriate government agency simplified the spelling of ‘ouija’ which has always been a source of high anxiety, speaking on a purely personal level.
he’s barkin’ alright 8ball
only spelling i know
yes yes indeedy
*checks attic for others*
“He isn’t biased, just incompetent”. Nice one holic, kind of applies to a lot of people outside the football pitch too. Good game, am sure we will give the bus boys a run for their, well, title, if not money.
how about that snp? plucky bastards…kingmakers, too, if i understand rightly.
y’all’s politics are more entertaining than ours, by far.
Wrong, scruz. Not kingmakers. I suspect no more entertaining either, when you’re actually affected.
In the U.K., with a first-past-the-post voting system, it is all about having your support geographically concentrated, scg. Scots Nats won 56 seats with 1.5 million votes; UKIP won one seat with 3.9 million votes. The Lib Dems won eight seats with 2.4 million votes, the same number of seats as the Democratic Unionists managed with 184,000 votes. The U.K. now has a government with an overall parliamentary majority that two out of three voters didn’t vote for. Almost makes the U.S.’s electoral college system look a paradigm of equality.
Did not realize that. First time!
[ The Arsenal manager named an unchanged side for the fourth Premier League game in a row at Hull City on Monday, the first time Wenger has done that since taking over in 1996. ]
http://www.arsenal.com/news/news-archive/20150508/-i-have-no-problem-changing-players-
NBN @ 136: Wouldn’t US Senate & House be FPTP as well? That is how all the alleged gerrymandering happens, right? But probably the problem is not perceived as acutely because there are only two parties for all practical purposes. I could be wrong though.
In large and complex democracies FPTP throws some very strange power equations…in India for instance for decades the Communist Parties used to have strong influence in forming coalition governments despite enjoying only pockets of political presence (primarily Bengal in east and Kerala in West), and as a result contributed much more significantly to the government policies than their strength of representation across the nation would call for. Whereas that definitely had seriously negative impact on India’s financial/economic policies their commitment to social-cultural progressiveness acted as a bulwark against the nationalistic homogenizing tendencies of the Hindi speaking cow-belt…
pangloss, i just looked again; i’d thought cameron didn’t get a majority. ugh.
and people poke fun at our system and our government so much i didn’t think it was out of bounds, not least with what we’ve were “affected” by from 2000-08 and with our current congressional makeup…
we’ve were… oh, man. *we* were.
Dr F@138. I doubt there is a perfect system anywhere. There have been 16 U.S. presidential elections in which the winner has won both the electoral college vote and the popular vote without actually winning a majority of all ballots cast.
As the old anarchist joke has it, why vote? The government always gets in…
i’d love to see a system that apportions control based on voter percentage (of those having voted). so conservatives would get 37% of the seats, labor 30%, and ukip 13%, etc.
but that’d be too simple, eh? and wouldn’t take into account the vagaries of the united kingdom, what with scotland and all.
Wanting to regulate ouija boards ?
That’s the spirit. 😉
Not a cat in hell’s chance of doing it though …….
*notices bar is completely empty and prepares to wait another three days for our next game*
This Monday Night Football is utter pants – in case you’re reading Rupert.
NBN @ 141, right. 🙂
About anarchist jokes, this one is my favorite:
Two friends at fin-de-siècle Austria, passionate about political ideologies the way young people at that time still could, are having a heated debate in their favorite Vienna coffeehouse.
Friend 1: We need to blow up this stupid Empire!
Friend 2: You must be a democrat.
Friend 1: We need to blow up democracy, everywhere!
Friend 2: You must then really be a communist.
Friend 1: No, no, the idea of communism deserves to be blown up as well!
Friend 2: You really are quite the anarchist!
Friend 1: I will blow up anarchy too.
Trev @ 144 — I hear the Haitian ouija boards are quite the rummy thing…
scruz, we have exactly that system here in Sweden and there are downsides to that as well. Any party with more than 4% of the votes get seats in the parliament proportionally to the vote share. The drawback to this is that it is very difficult for any party to form a majority government (there are currently eight different parties with seats in the parliament) on their own which means there will be coalitions. We haven’t had a majority government here that wasn’t a coalition since the 80’s which means a lot of negotiating to get things done which has led to the public perception that all parties are becoming more and more similar. We also currently have a situation where a xenophobic and fascist party called the Sweden Democrats have become the third largest party and neither the right nor the left have enough to form their own majority even with a coalition which makes governing very, very difficult. The cunts in the fascist party are essentially using this to try to sabotage and blackmail their way to power and very few would be surprised if an extraordinary general election would have to be held in not too long.
lars, thanks. seems there is no equitable and problem-free system. either it’s the tyranny of the minority party in a coalition, the rule of an non-majority winner, or something like our electoral college system, where someone can win the popular vote and lose the election (i.e., gore in 2000).
btw, we’re in stockholm for a sunday evening in july. any recommendations for supper? we’re staying at the nordic c. near the terminus of the train from arlanda, and have from 3pm onwards sunday and a touch monday morning before we have to get the train to the airport…but i think that’ll be breakfast at the hotel, and maybe a walk around gamlastan.
Good job football clubs run on a system of absolute monarchy 🙂
Dr F@147: back at you with:
Why did Proudhon drink only green tea?
Because all proper tea is theft.
I’ll get somebody else’s coat….
NBN @ 152: That was Trev-esque … 🙂
Elections, Pffft. It doesn’t matter who you vote for you still get socialists. True of all three countries I have voted in – UK, Aussie, NZ.
Whatever happened to benevolent dictatorships? Always centre politics these days…
Öskar
Rule of thumb for US presidential elections, scruz … If you have what it takes to become POTUS you cannot be trusted with the job. 😉
Öskar
ain’t that the truth, otd.
Test
So … i am not banned.
Grand!
OTD
You are a kiwi I understand.
Well, as far as the postus, i have to say that you are nearly right.
But one shouldn’t forget that some fine folks have held the highest office this land. Fine folk indeed!
I cannot name any at the moment, mind. But surely, many fine for folk.
:).
Full disclosure – i voted for obama. Hes a hard man to admire, admittedly. But his heart and mind are in the right place. And full disclosre part 2 – im no bleeding heart liberal/commie. I make way too much dosh for that.
Lars @ 149
Given your repeated accusations of sexism towards my reference of Petr Cech’s girly hat, I am shocked at your gratuitous use of the C word in your post above. I wonder which may be worse but, of course, I can foresee your answer.
Nostradamus, I wouldn’t expect anything less than you being able to forsee things with that name.
But for what it’s worth the usage of the C word is an interesting one. I agree it can possibly be deemed sexist but many disagree. I have discussed this with female friends and some agree and some don’t (though they all definitely agree that using “girl” in a derogatory sense – which is what you were doing – is wrong). In my opinion the C word is no different or worse than saying “arsehole” or “dickhead” about a person.
That is my opinion, just as it is my opinion that calling someone a girl as a putdown is sexist and wrong.
Not a Kiwi, Homer, I couldn’t be more English (on every line of my ancestral tree going back to the Middle Ages). Also an naturalised Aussie. I just happen to live in NZ, for which you can blame a woman.
I’m sure some of your presidents were indeed fine upstanding citizens, when they took office anyway. Not that I can name any either, and definitely none since WW2. It’s the nature of US politics that does for them. With the need to satisfy so many competing interests their own quickly get subsumed into some kind of Illuminati/Bilderberger/Bohemian Grove/Skull and Bones/PNAC fantasy of world domination.
I think it’s long past time the USA was broken down into, say, 6 different countries. That would keep them them too busy squabbling amongst themselves for North American domination to be causing trouble elsewhere in the world. 😉
Öskar
scruz, you should definitely do Gamla Stan. There are plenty of restaurants there where you can have dinner in rather nice surroundings. You can easily walk to Gamla Stan from your hotel, it’s about a ten-minute walk and you’re there.
Oskar@161 ,
In Canada , we have British system and it works fine . A party without a popular majority can govern . The system works fine for two reasons :
Canadian are a very reasonable , moderate and fair people ( British descendents have British character , hahaha !!! ) .
The system doesn’t allow lobbies like in the USA , you in Parliament has to listen to your people and nobody else .
The USA is now a broken system , unfixable . It is a variation of the British system . For long time it was a functional system , allowing a working and functional government .
It is now a disfunctional system for three reasons ( as Oskar has said indirectly ) :
The American people is no longer a sort of one melting pot people , it cannot integrate all sort of very different people , per example , the 50 millions Hispanic have a life of its own .
The political system is strongly influenced by lobbies and no longer listen to the very people casting the vote .
Mentally and intellectually , the American , since WWII , were so dominant in everything from technology to music and film , refuse to evolve ( I am the best , why should I evolve ) and behave like the Chinese a century ago . The US is a modern country and there are strong forces pulling it forward and at the same time you have mentally immobile people .This is the recipe of a fractious political system to the point of unfixable .
Lars @ 160
As any crossword fan could tell you, the only four letter word that is exclusively feminine, with the middle letters u&n and which is acceptable in any polite society is AUNT.
Fair enough, Nostradamus 🙂
Nostradamus,
You c’aunt be serious ! 😉
@cba
Big hug from Nursie for ya, via twitter.
Oh, cba 🙂 ♥
Thank you for that! 🙂
Aunt you say?
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3Q5ZFYFatvI
NSFW
Cynic, 🙂
🙂
aww brilliant
cheers esso
good man yerself
.
please give herself
my absolute very best
.
as you and trev said
‘holics are fine fine people
and nursie is top of the list
.
so
give her a big hug from me
and a collective mooooooo
from
the donegal gooner moosive
.
🙂
Hi cba,
How’s that neck ?
howdy trev
.
neck hugely improved
manageable now
certainly wasn’t before
massive difference
cheers
.
as i just said
the ‘holicnation is priceless
testament to the main man
life changing advice indeed
from
the pun meister general
.
🙂
.
cheers again
Good stuff
With apologies for tardiness, added to server outage last night, have a report on an event I was invited to but sadly couldn’t attend. Arsenal in the Community does fabulous work for Islington locals, and now has a new base. >>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>