It’s Grim Up North, But Gunners Go Top Again
Jan 17th, 2016 by 'holic
The morning started badly. Arseblog carried the potentially bad tidings, ‘Whispers this morning say we’re going there without Mesut Ozil’. At half-time in the mid-table clash at Anfield Sky confirmed our worst fears. Ten of the starting eleven in midweek were supplemented by Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain. Mohamed Elneny was named on the bench, but there was no place either for Alexis.
There are two sides to everything, I suppose, and the fear that we were facing Stoke without Coquelin, Cazorla, Ozil, and Alexis was tempered by the fact that they wouldn’t face further injury in the Potteries. Silver linings and all that.
The animosity that has existed since 1971, but has heightened since Shawcross butchered Aaron Ramsey in 2010, was evident from the off. It transmitted from the stands to the pitch in the opening scrappy phases of play. Wollscheid denied Theo Walcott a run on goal with a blatant body check, but the referee, Craig Pawson, chose not to demonstrate that he understood the laws of the game, or the nature of this fixture, by keeping his cards in his pocket.
It was the twentieth minute before an effort on goal of any substance was conjured up, Afellay blazing wide of Petr Cech’s left hand post. It prompted Arsenal into action at the other end. Butland had to be very alert to deny Olivier Giroud, put through beautifully by Joel Campbell who is proving to have a quality final ball in him these days.
Eight minutes later Aaron Ramsey saw an effort deflected away for a corner. This apparently classified him as a practitioner of solo sexual practices by those behind the goal who really should restrict themselves similarly, and preferably for life. Next to try his luck, but sadly off target, was Alex Oxlade Chamberlain. He avoided the ire of the locals, possibly because his father plied his trade here until mercifully being offered an escape route by Sheffield Wednesday.
Ten minutes from the break Joselu’s tame effort brought a comfortable save out of Cech, but the Gunners defence managed to give the ball away to Bojan, thankfully off target with his effort too. Lacking any sort of co-ordinated play, the match was a fractured, bitty affair, doubtless to the satisfaction of Mark Hughes who would not have wanted us to get into any sort of rhythm.
Goal-less at the break, the first forty-five minutes will never feature in a season highlights package. However, less than a couple of minutes after the restart we came close to opening the scoring. Giroud got a solid header on Ramsey’s corner but once again Butland produced a fine save to deny the Frenchman.
As the contest warmed up an Arsenal break foundered when Wallscheid and Giroud had a coming together in the box which ended with the Frenchman on the deck. Nothing doing according to an out-of-his-depth referee, nor seconds later when Walcott was tugged down just outside the box.
If Butland had produced the two saves of the match to date, then Cech was to level that particular contest with an outstanding double save in the 57th minute. The match had entered a new phase with both teams now searching for an opening goal that could prove decisive.
The substitutions were kick-started by Stoke. Bojan, perhaps a little frail for such a poorly arbitrated contest, made way for Diouf. A couple of corners were dealt with by an Arsenal defence showing admirable durability, if wasteful in distribution. To be fair the hosts too were holding up under occasional pressure, although the subtleties of the game remained a mystery to the intellectually-challenged baying and booing in the stands.
Theo was withdrawn to give Alex Iwobi a chance to make a name for himself. Whelan had to be on his toes to block an effort from the Ox. “COME ON ARSENAL” encouraged those in literates corner. Bellerin galloped up in support of the attack and won a corner. The visitors ambition was clear, but on both sides limbs were wearying.
With just over five minutes remaining the Ox set Campbell free on the right hand edge of the box, but our modern day Wiltord screwed his effort wide after cutting inside. That was a shame because nobody on the pitch deserved a goal more. It prompted Hughes to send on Adam and Van Ginkel for Arnautovic and Afellay, a safety first measure surely? No, Stoke created mayhem in the box when Laurent Koscielny headed a Whelan effort over the bar for a corner, and Rambo had to clear off his line from the resulting scrum.
Calum Chambers was sent on for the Ox, presumably to secure the point that would take Arsenal back to the top of the league, the third team to sit atop the rest this weekend. So it proved. The second-half had been more a spectacle than the first, and this didn’t deserve to be a 0-0 match, but credit for that goes to both goalkeepers.
To depart the Britannia, and it’s ‘special’ inhabitants, with a point has the potential to prolong our inability to defeat them away in our title winning seasons as highlighted in the preview.
I’ll take that tonight. To go there with that starting eleven and still secure a point is a marked upgrade on recent performances there. Bring on Chelsea.
122 Responses to “It’s Grim Up North, But Gunners Go Top Again”
Only way is up.. wait we’re there already!
😀
You saw it as I saw it, just faster and funnier:-)
Campbell and Iwobi two good performances.. !
Hope Alexis and Campbell start against the chavs and Ozil is back too.
We really must do our best to relegate them.. and get maximum points as well!
Up The Arse!
😀
A better draw than Wednesday’s at Anfield, I think. Some poor stuff from Arsenal particularly our passing which was very badly off beam. Arsene handed Theo a pretty strong message with that first substitution. Serial fouling was tiresome, but sadly what we’ve come to expect.
I’m hoping Ozil and Alexis will be available next Sunday.
Very sensible summary Holic.
We were way off full strength but looked very unlikely to score – only the two OG efforts. I thought Nacho was superb as he usually is, Cech ditto but beyond that I wouldn’t give anyone more than a 6.5 other than Joel who worked prodigiously hard and has perceptive passing ability.
Agree the ref was the wrong type for this sort of fixture – unless of course you didn’t want us to win ??
Most remarkable statistic from this match:
No yellow cards (!)
No yellows.. the ref forgot to bring it thats why.
And his whistle only works intermittently too… !
😀
Having seen the review of the Theo incident post match I have to say that was a penalty too, but at least I understand why Pawson didn’t see it that way.
This game was more even than the one against Liverpool where the draw felt like a loss as we were much better than them. The referees are killing the league the way they favor certain teams (Chelsea yesterday and Liverpool and Stoke against us) and screw others. If we do not win the league this year it will be, in large measure, due to biased and inept match officials.
We also need to improve our passing game. We are so inconsistent that we never know which team will turn up especially when our more technical players like Cazorla, Ozil, Rosciky etc are missing. With the fixture pile up looming Feb onwards things can only get more difficult.
I don’t know what has happened to Theo who has gone totally off the boil. Ever since he has started tracking back to defend he does look like scoring at all. I would not mind getting the old Theo back, the one who scored goals but did not worry about having to defend.
A special word for Cech who saved the game for us and Campbell who worked his socks off and also put in some quality passes. If we have not missed Sanchez it is mostly because of the shift Campbell is putting in on a regular basis.
Cheers H!
ksn,
Theo’s best game of the season was v Manure at home when he scored a cracker and defended forwad like a trojan. In that game he showed some semblance of a player paid richly to contribute. In other words, he’s capable. His commitment today was woeful and wasn’t a shadow of Theo at his peak. Sadly, today was more representative of most recent contributions. A real pity. Hopefully things will improve but I suspect he’ll be relegated to the bench behind Campbell when Alexis returns.
Yes, Holic, clear penalty. I was not surprised that it wasn’t given.
Of all the vile turds who watch football the Orcs chanting today that ‘ Aaron Ramsey,he walks with a limp’ are the most banal, Neanderthal and scum-sucking pricks
I hope the Stoke club have the balls to condemn them publicly but I expect it will fail to be condemned by the media.
Without wishing to be controversial I never fancy Theo in a game like this away from home. He is a bit of a physical coward and his big games as noted by Btm have come at home in high- profile matches.
In my team at the moment Campbell gets in before Ox or Theo. Excellent attitude and great eye for a pass which only he showed today.
Thanks ‘Holic Yep, that was a tough match. I was disappointed we didn’t win – and we would have done if the ref had given those two penalties.
In defence of Theo. . . I’ve also noticed that he’s been a bit ineffective recently. As others have said, the defending he’s doing is encouraging, but it does seem to make him less effective going forward. In the Manure match, he was playing striker, and I’d love to see him playing a match or two in that position where his newly-found tackling back works better than on the wing. But with Giroud in his present form, that might be a while!
Even so, in this match he should have been awarded a penalty – one of Theo’s greatest strengths is his ability to score when you’re least expecting it.
I really feel for the Ox. I just keep hoping that he’ll score soon, as I think that he needs something like that to boost his confidence.
And I’ll agree that Campell, on present form, deserves to start ahead of Theo and Ox.
Finally, let’s just celebrate that we’re top of the league, with our best players about to come back!
Evening Esso.
BtM, I’ll forgive Pawson the penalty on the basis that it took me three viewings, two in slow motion, to spot it.
Football fans are s funny breed. I’ve been stuck at work so not seen any of the match. I’ve had to rely on text updates and the radio commentary. I will watch the highlights when I get in.
Having missed the match I thought I would catch up with the views of those that did see it. So, what do I read in the drinks? The passing is woeful, step it up Theo, poor pass completion, Ox very poor, OG mugged again, Koss passing slapdash, piss poor performance, poor substitutions and some praise for JC, Iwobi and Nacho.
Today we had 55% possession and only 3 shots on target but all of this has little to do with the result? It’s all the refs fault. In fact, if we don’t win the league it will be down to the officials????? Sometimes I despair.
I will watch the game later and see for myself. The radio commentary did not hint once that the ref was poor but I guess it’s a case of interpretation. The fact that as H states above that it took three viewings, two in slow motion to work out that we should have had a pen tells you all you need to know.
Top of the table.
Alexis sensibly not risked,with another week to get back to full fitness,Elneny unused on the bench,getting a close up view of the physicality of the PL,and a week now to get integrated into the playing group.
Another tough physical test for young JC,which he passed with flying colours.
Our entire creative midfield missing
The Ghost of Wilson/Jennings/Seaman/Lehmann,with another A grade performance between the sticks,and another late cameo from a sparkling young player for the future.
The Boss with our injury list,also gets another 90 mins to confirm which players are incapable of playing at the technical level he demands.
We had by far the toughest 2 back to back away games,so to come out of them still top,albeit on goal diff,has to give the team the confidence that we can be right in the firing line for the Title come the Spring.
Steve,
Once you gave watched the game, you may understand.
And for your guide, just because the radio doesn’t state certain things doesn’t mean they don’t happen. It just means they’re being selective. Like completely failing to describe the appalling time wasting Newcastle did the other week from around minute 10 onwards.
To be fair to the ref, although probably without reason, it’s possible he was all too aware of the history and thought, “If I give a yellow card for that block, what the fuck do I do when it gets really tasty later?”
And then it didn’t.
I agree with Clive. Citeh had two home games, one fairly easy, we had two tough away games. Leicester had one tough and one easy. We dropped two points to them both over the two games but Citeh playing the same teams we did ( one at home) got no points . Leicester drew with Stoke away and lost to Liverpool away so our results were not a disaster.
A lot of observers are failing to understand how tough this league is now. The old preconceptions that half the games are walkovers for a title- winning side are no longer valid. This league is thrillingly competitive and we are getting back to who are the best coaches not just who has spent the most money because everyone has more money nowadays- witness what Bournemouth have just spent.
Cheers H. Nice summary.
Lots of effort. Depleted team. Hard-fought point (which I’ll take happily).
Top of the league.
And a special mention for the Stoke ‘fans’. I suppose that as individuals they cannot all be as disgraceful as they are when in massed ranks. Mob mentality must kick-in.
But whatever the reasons for their behaviour they made me ashamed of football today.
Just back from The Brittania. Snow and ice everywhere but thankfully no chill wind so it wasn’t as cold as feared, although walking back to the car was tricky.
I wasn’t sure what to expect from the Stoke fans, given their reputation. I found a schizophrenia. Outside the ground, they were smiley, friendly, helpful and no bother at all. Inside the ground, although not as loud as I’d been led to expect, they were vile e.g that Aaron Ramsey chant referred to above.
The Butland save from Giroud (a worldie, the HFB did everything right), the Giroud penalty shout (it wasn’t) and the Theo arm being pulled back ( a clear pen) all happened in front of our eyes in row 6. Great saves from Cech were at the other end but still looked superb.
My “at the game” view. Stoke were as likely, perhaps more likely, to score than we were and both teams had strong periods. I regard it as a point gained – we could easily have lost. Worst two players in yellow? Theo and Ox. Best two? Cech and Campbell.
Still top of the league. Next three games all at home. We move on.
UTA
Still out of breath.
Good draw.
Tough game.
Bring on those peasants in blue.
Professional point pretty pleasurably procured prolongs our place at the pinnacle.
Not a bad result, all things considered. All things including our woeful record in this fixture, being without our two world-class payers and at least two more who would usually start (so make that nearly half our best XI), the ‘pressure’ that has often got to us at this point of recent seasons, the fact we would have dropped to 3rd if we lost, and that both Manc clubs and the chavs had been beaten here this season. And, in support of Theo, that our most talented striker continues to be played out of position.
As others have note young JC might have been better swapped with Ox in midfield – either from the start or, in light of proving obviously more suited to the role, at half-time.
Just glad we got out of the game with the point that took us back to the top and with no (apparent yet anyway) injuries.
How long out for Özil dare I ask? And I thought Alexis was a possible starter a game or two back, so what’s happening there?
Oskar
Stoke looked a much bigger team than us on TV, is that a fact or an illusion to do with colours or something? Not surprisingly we were bullied a bit but I didn’t see anything to say Stoke were any tougher against us than other teams this year. Hard, but fair I thought most of the time. Arsoles in the stands booing Rambo, but also booing Nacho just as loudly – what was that all about?
Oskar
Oh yes – almost forgot – the new Özil song is the dogs!
Beat the bottom 10 home and away; beat the top nine at home and draw with them away — and you should win the title. So a point a piece from Merseyside and Mordor is far from all bad.
And Cech and Butland (and de Gea for United against Liverpool) underlined what a top-class keeper does for a team.
Fine report Guvna. The game I saw.
Happy with that point given our record at that venue, our accumulating critical absentees and the weak referee (I trust you understand the observations now Steve T).
TTG@12 makes good observations about the vile nature of the local fans apart from the slur on Neandertals whose archaeological record suggests that they cared for their injured, sick and elderly and would be a whole lot more pleasant than the vermin in that stadium.
Surely Stoke FC will condemn this reptilian behaviour so as not to be seen to condone it?
Just watched the MOTD highlights. Now I know it’s only the highlights but I’ve not seen anything to suggest that the ref was to blame for us not winning the game. From the full commentary, highlights and all the reports I have now read or heard I would suggest that those in off yellow and blue made far more mistakes than the officials. I will watch the full game when I get the time but I’ve not seen or heard anything to suggest that the officials were weak or inept.
Having viewed all of the stats then today has to be a point gained. The two Giroud chances brought excellent saves. Cech was again top class for us. What a difference having that one of quality makes, especially in games like that.
On to the Chavs. Hopefully with Sanchez and Ozil back fit.
Cheers Holic.
It was a point deservedly won against a team with whom we have a poor record from our visits of late. Also psychologically, to come away from Mordor with both a point and limbs fully intact, should be a boost to morale.
On the negative side our away performances of late are lacking the air of a title winning team but hopefully we will improve on our travels once the walking wounded return (cough). Fortunately no one else either is showing any consistent form, so all still to play for.
As for the moronic chanting by the Orcs, don’t hold your breath for their club or the FA to take it further – just look at the inaction over the years of the sickening chants against the boss at Old Toilet. I think Slur Alex only called it out in his last year there.
A game to forget, take the point and move on.
It seems like the big winner of the day was Delia winning both wine and fruit. Add a couple of Roman gods and you’ve got an instant party.
UTA.
‘A practitioner of solo sexual acts’
Haha, very nicely put Mr Holic – euphemism gold!
@17, Sweeper, Spot on! I’m loving the colour of your paint pot and the swish of your brush.
The Ramsey/Flamini axis offers some scope for improvement. I suspect Arsene will be testing Ramsey/Elneny pretty hard during training this week to see whether that might be an option for the visit of the Boys from the Bus Stop next Sunday? What do you think?
Well I’m feeling pretty good about yesterday. We’ve been playing mediocre stuff all season long. Yesterday we dug out a result thanks largely to Cech. We’ve been missing 7-8 top players all season. Our midfield is currently dysfunctional. And somehow we’re top of the league with the walking wounded set to return. A good result this weekend might lead to some momentum.
Just had a thought. We went top without scoring a single goal.
Attention ‘Holic
http://www.bmj.com/content/352/bmj.i143
🙂
Coates has apparently condemned the chants.
http://www.theguardian.com/football/2016/jan/18/stoke-peter-coates-chants-arsenal-aaron-ramsey?CMP=twt_gu
Well done Coates.
Sound summary ‘h!
What’s with all the Feo14 hating and bashing? Feo’s all about pace and movement. Last I remember, Alexis ain’t much bigger than Feo to withstand Middle-Earth!
TTG, yes I do think Feo would have won us the game as it became more open in the second-half if Iwobi had been subbed-in for the Ox to play in the #10 role. Iwobi’s quicker passing and ball-movement, as witnessed the Sunderland FA Cup tie at home, would have latched better onto Feo’s runs. Feo14 is class!
A point won than 2 dropped, it is just that the 2 points dropped at anfield makes this look a little less precious. I believe we played well and overall withstood a back to what they truly are long ball stoke, an absolutely inept ref and a couple of our own players who were average to say the least.
Ox and Theo need to take a hard look at themselves. Arguably campbell is not as talented as them but he more than makes it up with effort and hard work. These 2 just run, try fancy stuff and when it does not come off, make an excuse of a tracking back. Theo just ambles back and that is not acceptable. This attitude needs to change for if it doesnt, they should not play for the team. Maybe i am harsh on them but come on they do the hard part but when it comes to a simple look up pass, they cannot?????
Kos has not been his self in the last few games and that is a worry.
Cech, Monreal and the much maligned flamini and Per had very good games and you got to accept, cech in goal is the biggest assurance you can wish for.
last but not the least, those despicable stoke a–h—s. They are pathetic and calling themselves human beings itself is a disgrace. A man breaks his leg and you make fun of that??? they should have suffered the same and then would have realized why he wouldnt take an apology.
Slight knock is the worst headline i want to hear about our players, it usually means ages before they come back. Pray to Dennis, that Ozil indeed had just a knock and is back for the chelshit game.
Don’t quite get all the qualified praise for Campbell. In my view, he is either doing the business or he isn’t, and I say he is. Technical ability, graft and strength all rolled into one. He has been one of our better players for the last month or more.
Agree bt8@43. Joel has been a revelation given all the negativity about the decision to keep him and lend out YaYa and others. His form has minimised the impact of Alexis’ injury and absence.
Campbell has done the business against weakish teams.
Wake me up if he shits all over Barcelona or starts scoring goals regularly.
In the mean time, this is funny shit. Bolton Wanderers have spent more days on top of the Premier League since it was formed than Spurs…
http://i.dailymail.co.uk/i/pix/2016/01/18/13/304CF80A00000578-0-image-a-55_1453124211825.jpg
Dapper Dan, I’m with you on Feo.
Thought for sure Ox was coming off. Except for that one cracker of a shot he took, he looked way off the pace all day. Passing was poor and he wasn’t available/covering enough ground in the midfield for me. (e.g., Santi, Ozil, Rosicky seem to always be there for a pass or making one: Ox is still working on that). Feo’s movement in the final 1/3, while not perfect, was at least offering options. I too thought, come on AW – sit Ox and bring on Iwobi. Oh well.
Amy Lawrence’s piece on the Guardian about Ox is somewhat baffling. Looks like she was trying to squeeze water from a stone on that one, and its one of the few times I’ve read her stuff and thought, “wait, whaatt???”
Feo is now playing some defense, or at least getting back, covering, and taking men on. He’s no Monreal, but he’s doing the defensive work he’s supposed to do, (and everyone complains that he didn’t do) and now that he is doing it, we all give him a demerit. If was getting the odd goal here and there, he’d be Theo the Wonderful.
Feo needs service; he got none yesterday. With Ozil and Santi back in the side, I expect his drought to end. (or at least, I hope it does!)
Bath. I’m less thrilled by Coates than you are.
“You’re telling me something that I’m completely unaware of. I’ve no idea that chant had taken place, but we wouldn’t approve of it at all.”
I could hear that chant on my TV. So how he missed it from inside the ground is beyond me. And the use of the conditional ‘would’ is unimpressive. ‘We WOULD not approve IF the chant had happened’ is very different to ‘We DO not approve of the chance that DID happen.”
He ends with “But this is not something we would want our supporters to be doing.”
Oh WOULD you not Peter? And under what circumstances WOULD you not? Like, I don’t know, IF they were actually doing it, you mean?
Either you do want them to do it or you don’t. If you don’t then grow a pair and say so definitively.
Cynic.
Not sure that the arguments against dry January are hugely sound. I was amused that after paragraphs about how it is unclear who it targets the next argument against it was that heavy drinkers who quit booze completely may experience seizures. True. But only true of people who suffer from alcohol dependence (which is a serious physical condition that can be clinically diagnosed).
How many people who are addicted to alcohol and drink enough on a daily basis to suffer serious withdrawal symptoms without it have been persuaded by this campaign to embark on a dry January? And has there ever been any suggestion that this group is the target audience?
Neither did I like the inference that people only do this due to peer pressure. Personally I would give anyone who decides to go for it the credit for making their own choice for their own reasons.
A few points about possible ways Dry January could be less helpful than some people make out fall a long way short of satisfying me of the claim they were meant to support, ie that Dry January does ‘more harm than good.’
I reckon that article is the health news equivalent of ‘Lewandowski to sign for Arsenal.’ Lots of people will click it because they would like it to be true. But it has no substance.
Double vodkas over ice and mugs of tea have been lined up alternately on the bar. Holics, choose your weapons…
@47
chants not chance.
Screw it. While I’m here… I’m in for the half century!
Fair points @47, GSD. You have dissected his statement in a manner that my cursory scan did not.
Heh at the line up on the bar. I’ll have a mug of tea. Cheers.
Good choice Bath. You won’t regret it- I lashed out on the Yorkshire Gold!
Any chance of a Latte GSD?
I’ll have a Dry January and Coke please.
Certainly TTG. I do make a good coffee, though I say so myself.
Heh @ Cynic. Some hipster barman must have invented the ‘Dry January’ cocktail by now! So cool it’s hard to drink.
Homer @46,
Spot on about Feo needing service. Seems that “he’s damned if he does or damned if he doesn’t”. Poor little fella!
…and it was, surprise surprise, Theo who laid on the pass for Ox to nearly convert. But only JC’s pass to put OG in gets mentioned in dispatches.
Theo needs to play further froward, imo. Playing so deep defensively all the time is a waste, imo. On the only occasion he switched to the RW against Pool he laid on that beauty which OG botched.
Oskar
Theo’s not that little, Dan. In fact he’s about 3 inches taller than Alexis.
Oskar
BTM @ 35
Elneny has not played any football since early Dec,so doubt he will play him in a game of this magnitude.
If we are winning comfortably with around 15 mins to go,he may bring him on for a taster,but i expect his first appearance would probably be the Cup tie against Burnley the following week.
Perfect game to ease him in to the system.
That gives him 2 full weeks to get his fitness levels up to Arse standard,rather than Swiss equivalant.
If Alexis is only 80/20,i wouldn’t risk him either.
He can be eased back in via the less intense atmosphere of the Cup tie as well.
Dapper Dan.
Theo was very quiet against Stoke but you still thought he looked like a matchwinner. Everyone sees it differently. But for every one who has damned him either way there is someone who will praise him either way. Mainly Oskar, wink.
Given their performances on Sunday evening the choice of subbing Theo or Ox was like me with my slippers before going to bed… just take them both off.
That makes a lot of sense, Clive. I’ll look forward to seeing him start vs Burnley.
Monday Night Football on Sky.
Swansea v Watford.
“Expert” pundits? Jamie Carragher and Brenda Rodgers.
Have Sky ever been responsible for a more cheap rate, budget production? That is what you call tightening the purse strings.
http://www.standard.co.uk/sport/football/tony-evans-time-for-wenger-to-call-guardiola-it-would-take-his-arsenal-legacy-to-another-level-a3158861.html
Interesting article that I’m sure will divide opinion.
Well, you never know, Steve. 🙂
Stranger things have happened.
Shit! Now Glenn Frey has died. 🙁
Hotel California was a song for the ages, Bath. Old age isn’t for cissies.
Truly was. My icons are crumbling!
The Big C takes another Desperado..
All dying in their mid to late 60’s.
How the hell is Keith Richards still alive. ?
Keith Richards is alive? I thought he was a fossil…
Oskar
All these youngsters dropping off the twig Clive, I think we’d better sit down…
Oskar
The high temperature here the ladt two days has only slightly edged above zero degrees fahrenheit and it turns out the house is not as well insulated as I used to think. Warming trend on its way though, they say it could go above zero degrees centigrade on Saturday. It sounds so warm I might stop shivering in anticipation.
Ozil appsrently will wear electric green laceless boots against Chelsea. Can we expect the boots or the Chavs to be the more mesmerized?
Melbourne clearly the place to be as rhe BBC reports temperatures reached 34C courtside at the Australian Open. And bra sizes had almosr nothing to do with it.
Electric green boots? Ozil could wear a pair of old slippers and they’d still be electric.
Ohhhhhh we’ve got Ozil, Mesut Ozil, I just don’t think you understand…
http://www.skysports.com/football/news/11670/10136107/emmanuel-eboue-would-love-arsenal-return
The latest from Sky. What a signing this would be if Ivan and the boys could get this done.
?
Absolutely classic. You cannot beat this for stupidity.
http://www.liverpoolecho.co.uk/sport/football/football-news/whats-jurgen-klopp-two-liverpool-10748551
Stevet@75: Some how this could only be Eboue:
The 32-year-old was released by Galatasaray last summer after spending the entirety of the 2014-15 season playing for the club’s U21 side.
Nacho signs a new long-term contract.
http://www.arsenal.com/news/news-archive/20160119/nacho-why-i-wanted-to-extend-my-stay
A big hurrahhhhhhhhhhhh for Nacho, what a turn around, he was considered a liability and now is among the first names on the team sheet. It is all his hard work, determination and being un-fazed.
Mesut back for sunday is great news but the chavs will block him off having matic and mikel stamping on those very shoes, we need others to take responsibility and that is where i think we should risk Alexis. Games against Bournemouth and Burnley coming up means if at all alexis has any discomfort, he can be rested again. Chelshit is a must win game.
Congratulations to Nacho and to Arsenal for re-signing him because he has been nearly always a switched-on player and that is one quality we can always use.
If Caulker played striker for Liverpool why are we not jumping at the chance to sign Eboue to play striker for Arsenal?
No answer required, thank you. 😀
Two very revealing quotes on the Nacho re-signing from the BBC story.
Nacho said: “I met the boss (Arsene Wenger) three years ago and I have a really good relationship with him and I’m really happy with him. For these reasons I extended my contract,” he said.
Wenger said: “He is a very important player at the club because he can play left-back and centre-back. He has the consistency in his performances that is requested at the top level.”
Gibbs is only slightly less pleased.
😀
Oddity of oddities:
Physioroom.com lists Arsenal at 16th spot in the Premier League injury table with only one injury, that one being Jack Wilshere who is listed as scheduled to return to training on 13th Feb 2016 (less than a month away). Unlike other years, I trust that does not mean our injury cycle is set to start again. Another look at squad rotation could be in order.
BB, It may not the best news for Gibbs in some ways, but I must say he has been a great asset to our squad this season much as Monreal was last term even if he has not played as many minutes out of position – in left midfield – as Monreal played last season at centre half. The biggest contrast has been between Gibbs’ excellent attitude and Debuchy’s, which I would characterize as less than excellent.
Gibbs is not good enough for permanent first choice. If Monreal had not extended, we would have been searching hard for a left back this summer. Wont have to now, for a couple of years. Unless Gibbo sulks and slings his hook.
8ball, something is wrong with the physioroom database so you can not read anything at all into what it says. For example, it doesn’t list Luke Shaw for ManU who is out for the season. It has also listed Aguero as injured with no return date since last week even though he played on Saturday. Et cetera.
Gibbs is very good left back and being 26 I don’t think he would tolerate bench much longer so we’ll be searching hard anyway.
Pity though. Lad is 8 years with us.
Bt8b
Quite right , I guess the urgency for Debuchy is to be playing first team football regularly and he may have been asked to do this by Deschamps because he wants to play in the Euros. Gibbs is on the fringes of the England team but has stayed much more loyal ( certainly in public) and is unlucky to be a second choice…but there is clear blue water between Nacho and him. I think Nacho has been terrific for the last year, he is a decent understudy at CB( much better than Chambers in my view) but the best left- back in the Premier League and one of the best in Europe. Delighted he has signed a contract. The Spanish press has been full of rubbish about him signing for Athletic Bilbao. Glad it proved to be wrong.
Injury- wise today’s news seems to be that Welbeck, Wilshire and Coquelin will be back in three weeks. After that only Cazorla will take longer. But somehow I suspect we might see Santi playing more than Jack this season so fragile has he become
Cheers for the report guv’.
The tone for the game was indeed set in the first few moments, the ref failed to stamp his authority and from that moment on it was anarchy. It wasn’t exactly the Stoke of old and we gave as good as we got, but the game decsended into a series of niggly fouls and off the ball knocks, a scrappy, turgid game that was pretty awful to watch.
On our faults, our midfield “balance” is all wrong, Coq and Santi bring out the best in each other, where as Ramsey and Flame’s double act seems to magnify their weakness’, it’s not a terrible partnership, but it’s far from a match made in heaven. This hole in midfield directly effects the players in front of, and behind, them. Per and Kos miss their forward/sideways pass to the always available Coqzorla, Per looks a bit lost on the ball and Kos has been giving the ball away far more frequently then we have been used to.
In front of them Theo is dropping back ever deeper completly negating his (imho way too limited) strong points, Ox is so out of form it’s embarrasing, I’m not going to lambast the lad, but he really needs to get his act together, I know he’s still only 22 but he has been with us a long time now, it’s high time he pushed on even if it is just a slight improvement. OG’s doing a good enough job up front, which I again feel is detrimental to Theo’s place in the team, as CF he was having much more of an impact on games. The one bright spot up front is JC, on recent form he should be the one to keep his place when Ozil and Sanchez return (stop sniggering you in the back, it will happen…I hope).
With all our injuries and the fact that we are still top of the shop there are a lot of positives to be taken from last week, but I can’t shake the feeling that we threw two points away at Anfield against a very limited scouse collective, Ah well, onwards my friends, here’s to an injury free week with a return of a few of our walking wounded to face the dispicables of CSKA Fulham.
UTA.
Three weeks, TTG?
Say it isn’t so.
H2H
I know it’s the dreaded three weeks!
Aaagghhh!
Lars. Is the TTG database still functional then? 😉
Let’s hope so, 8ball 🙂
8ball
TTG database is only functional if you can fathom the seemingly limitless typos. Wink.
Good build-up play going on here.
Intricate stuff indeed.
That’ll be “types”, no, GSD@96?
Just call me Mr Fox (in the box)!
GSD, Panglossdroid ii
How very dare you ?
Lars/8Ball/TTG
A far superior site for injury updates is
http://www.premierinjuries.com.
Injury lists are not always very revealing. We have less players out than a lot of teams. But how many teams best three injured midfielders match those missing from our last game- Ozil, Sanchez, Cazorla?
None. Not even close.
Don’t tell me that missing Welbeck and Wilshere for the entire season so far is less damaging than WBA being without their 3rd choice left back, 3rd choice keeper and some Ecuadorian winger who’s played 67 minutes of Prem football in his life.
*The above example may be entirely fictitious*
*The above example may have been sourced from physioroom.com*
*The above example may be entirely fictitious AND have been sourced from physioroom.com*
Well said Physioroom Stunt Double.
Oskar
TTG@89: Spanish press commentary about Nacho returning to his homeland is an endorsement of how good a player he has become. Absolutely no doubt that he is our first choice left back. Interesting to note his comment about learning English had helped him so much. Being able to talk to fellow defenders is important. Who would have thunk it?
Completely understand why Debuchy wants to leave. He would have signed on the understanding that he would have a couple of seasons as first choice while Bellarin learnt his trade, and then would have a lucrative transfer as France’s first choice right back. Then along comes an injury. Hector grabs his chance with both hands and that initial calculation is out of the window. The football gods, as we know, are cruel.
What H2H said @91. Le Coq and Santi have a chemistry that you wouldn’t have been able to predict.
Worth checking out at Arseblog News: Arsenal vs. Bald Referees vs. Hairy Referees.
Hair-related puns alert @107
Methinks Mo’Crazy Eyes’ Elneny would definitely be a hit with us….here he is trying to look his congenial best: http://i.dailymail.co.uk/i/pix/2016/01/14/11/3028B22A00000578-3398430-image-m-63_1452771483603.jpg
😀
Cheers Clive, that does indeed look like a good site. No fucking auto-play videos either as physioroom has.
101
you got off lightly
.
here’s what happens
when your internal spill-chicken
really shits in the nest
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-lancashire-35354061
.
.
and i thought oskar’s grammar police
ruled with an iron red pen
?
As always, H2H knows.
wahay !
no. 111
the number of 0.1666 recurring of the beast
NFL announces they will locate a “franchise” in the UK within 5 years. My advice: Hold out for a CFL team. The game is more entertaining, and Canada still being part of the (British) Commonwealth you will be subject to less obnoxious cultural contamination.
Paul Hayward is one of the more measured football columnists and this is a reasonable assessment of Wenger although it downplays the reasons for his frugality and the achievement of building the new stadium without being saddled with massive debt
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/sport/football/teams/arsenal/12108238/Arsenal-manager-Arsene-Wenger-is-still-his-own-man-and-for-that-we-should-be-thankful.html
This is long but worth a read. Published on football365.com and written by one Dale May. If you’re reading Dale, this is a great email.
Love letter to Arsene
In the last few days it’s dawned on me that although I love Arsenal and support Arsenal and will always look out for their results in the future, I think I am actually more of a Wenger fan than an Arsenal fan. Should Wenger leave Arsenal in the next year and go to, say, Nantes or Lille or Montpellier in the summer of 2017, then I think I’d start supporting his new club to the same degree I support Arsenal.
I’m very fond of Wenger, and I’m very protective of him when he gets ridiculously lampooned in the press or set unrealistic targets or risk further ridicule. It’s already a well-established pattern that the biggest spenders finish, pretty much, in that order every season. Arsenal are the fourth biggest spenders on wages, with the fourth biggest (in terms of personnel) squad, with the fourth largest income and then, generally, spending anything from the 4th to 9th largest amount of money.
To put that in perspective, when he first joined we were second in all of the above categories (to Man Utd), and we usually finished second, and sometimes won the league. When Abramovic took over Chelsea we dropped to third, and largely finished third. When Sheikh Mansour took over Man City we dropped to fourth and, largely, finish fourth. It’s nothing spectacular, but it’s safe to say Arsenal, by the press’ own standards, finish on par. But for the English Press this just isn’t good enough. This season for example, he simply HAS TO win the Premier League otherwise it will cast a shadow over his tenure, and Wenger will forever be remembered as a man who couldn’t get his team over the line. That is, pretty much, what was being spoken on Sunday Supplement this weekend. Contrary to their opinion, it’s Man City who simply HAVE TO finish first, and Man Utd simply HAVE TO finish second, Chelsea simply HAVE TO finish third, and Arsenal fourth. Of course this is Arsenal’s best chance in a long time, and they very well might do it, but no – they don’t HAVE TO, Man City HAVE TO. The pressure’s on them.
I also get very annoyed at people seemingly forgetting the last 10 years of self-imposed “relative” austerity. Very simply put, Arsenal spent an absolute fortune on a new stadium which took ten years to pay off. During those ten years, we had to sell our star player pretty much each summer just to balance the books and reinvest in a substandard player. People often forget, Wenger hasn’t tried to win the league in over 10 years, he’s tried to finish fourth, because that’s what his budget allowed. Of course he came close to winning once or twice, and Arsenal famously implode around March every year. To repeat, he’s built a squad to finish fourth. No wonder they couldn’t get over line, they were could never be expected to. They are players who can finish fourth. He financially could not compete with Chelsea, Man Utd or Man City, and the only way to compete with them is to spend the money they spend, so Wenger – by and large – decided to ignore those three, and targeted finishing fourth. If you finish fourth then you qualify for the Champions League. That generates money. Getting to the knockout stages generates a bit more money. Selling your star player generates a bit more. At the end of that cycle you can pay off a tenth of your stadium debt and then buy a slightly inferior player to the one you’ve just sold. It may now mean that you cannot finish first, but you were only aiming for fourth anyway. Hence the “fourth placed trophy” he was ridiculed for.
If you’re going to lampoon any manager (and to be fair to you F365, you do) then lampoon Kenny Dalglish, Roy Hodgson, Brendan Rodgers, Juande Ramos, Andre Villas Boas, Martin Jol, David Moyes and whoever else was given 6x the Arsenal budget to finish fourth and blew it. Those clubs must be looking at Arsenal’s paid-for stadium, debt-free accounts, gigantic revenue streams, Mesut Ozil and Alexis Sanchez, and wondering firstly how they didn’t finish ahead of Arsenal when we were fielding the likes of Squilachi, Senderos, Silvestre, Eboue, Fabianski, Benayoun, Frimpong and Kim Kallstrom (who signed for us with a broken back), and secondly why they did they wait for Arsenal to get debt-free before deciding to embark on a similar stadium-enlarging exercise of their own. Spurs – for example – are going to have to wait at least eight years before that extra revenue becomes theirs to spend entirely.
The job Arsene Wenger has done at Arsenal has been immense and revolutionary. Not perfect. Very frustrating at times. Stupifying even. But immense. It’s very easy to sit there and take all the plaudits and the job offers from Real Madrid and Barcelona and France the season after you’ve just gone unbeaten with one of the top 5 English club sides ever assembled, but to reject them and stay on, knowing that the best you can hope for is fourth at a scrape whilst selling, over the course of ten years, a collection of players who if he kept them would have probably won the Premier League, is simply staggering. Can you imagine Jose Mourinho doing that? Can you imagine Pep Guardiola doing that? Ancelotti doing that? I can’t. Plenty of managers DO do that of course, but not at Champion’s League level.
So, yeah, to answer the question in the previous mailbox but in a bigger way – yes, Arsene Wenger was indeed right all along. I can’t fault him at all. A giant of the game.
Dale May, Swindon Wengerite
An interesting read Porco but a great deal of waffle for large parts. I am a massive Wenger fan. He is without doubt the best manager we have ever had. I have no doubt that in many many years to come he will remain the best manager in our history. But I question the loyalty to our great club of anyone that pens an article stating that they would follow the manager if he left rather than follow Arsenal.
We have had ample opportunity over the years to strengthen our squad and I have never subscribed to the thought that we had to sell our best players just to keep our heads above water. What kind of a business gamble would that be? The board have clearly stated on more than one occasion that this is not the case.
Mr May clearly has a passion for Arsenal and is even more passionate about the manager. However, to form an objective opinion he might want to take his blinkers off.
Just saying.
Interesting stuff @116 Porco. These Swindish Gooners certainly have a way with words. :0)
Neat goal in the Cup yesterday by our loanee Maitland-Niles, about 30 secs in.
http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/0/football/35358722
An interesting article @115, TTG.
I have issues with Paul Hayward who should have more intelligence than to have joined in the hack bandwagon that persistently criticised Arsene without any recognition of the restrictions imposed by the stadium move. He writes well and is less smug and smarmy than his erstwhile colleague Henry Winter.
Following up on PR’s@115, here is a 2012 article about the study that first quantified that players’ wages largely determine a club’s league position.
Still well worth a read, including the parts about AW, identified as an ‘overachieving’ manager but also noted as competing for much of his time at Arsenal against another of that ilk in Fergie.
http://www.ft.com/cms/s/2/f340caae-47cd-11e1-b646-00144feabdc0.html
Ned, you’ve ruined the new post! 😉 >>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>