Today’s post from our very own Blackburn George.
It never rains but it pours.
It is pissing down on Arsene at the moment. And the Press together with a large section of our fan base have stolen his umbrella and are enjoying the soaking he is getting.
The result of yesterday’s game was disappointing. No one can be happy with a home defeat. It hurts. It hurts me, you, the players, Arsene, everyone.
The trouble is some people think it’s only them who feel the pain. And act as if it’s them who should be given the ice cream and jelly.
We were not bad yesterday. In fact for much of the second half, we were quite good.
Bayern Munich are probably the second best team in Europe at the moment. That they are slightly ahead of Arsenal should not be seen as an indication that we are poor. We are not.
We conceded two unfortunate goals. But perhaps the score was a reflection of the game overall. No point dwelling on our shortcomings, or dreaming of what might have been.
We lost.
As I see it, we suffered because we did not have full backs that could deliver into dangerous areas, and we, until the introduction of Giroud, did not have a centre forward that could hold the ball in forward positions until the midfield could arrive to support him.
If we need a forward with both pace and the ability to hold up play, I think we will have to buy him in the summer. I believe that we will then have all the options we need.
Again we saw what a difference a fully formed midfield genius Thomas Rosicky is. And how much difference just one top player can make.
This team needs to be allowed to grow together and develop, without losing key figures. That, and the inevitable improvement by our young British players, with the addition of one or two top quality players, should see us compete at any level.
You either believe, as I do, that we are on an upward curve, or you are convinced we are on a downward spiral.
We trust the manager. Or we don’t.
So it’s Mission Impossible in the return match.
But I seem to remember the Mission Impossible team always came through. Here is hoping.
Chin up people. We have each other and Arsenal. That will do for now won’t it?
Positively Arsenal 
We have worked to do George, hard work, good work, and we will begin that project on Saturday
I have no doubt
LikeLike
Nicely put George. Work in progress
LikeLike
Cheers George. Good stuff. I needed a shot of positivity today. We’ll get there. Just hope Arsene has time on his side
LikeLike
Tmely , relevant post George. Tough times but not a disaster. We have to rally the troops as we have our league position to fight for and BM in 3 weeks. Nothing is totally lost. Let us go down fighting.
LikeLike
Simple and timely, George. Thanks!
I thought we were going to get the second goal and get the draw but it was not to be, such is life. The club is definately moving up, the second half displays have shown that we are good enough to compete with any team but the players are not believing from jump street. What we needed was to come into this game on a win streak, because the truth is the teams confidence is not where it needs to be due to untimely losses, not that there is a good time to lose, all the same). It has been a tough season and I commend them for their fight. Lesser men would have thrown in the towel.
Arsenal!
LikeLike
AW says the problem with our defendingis nerves, I think he is right because none of the goals came because we were sliced wide open.
Shotta, I am hoping that we can go up fighting, it will be tough. I am actually excited by the upcoming match in Germany.
LikeLike
Just what the doctor ordered, George. Both the post AND the jelly and ice-cream.
LikeLike
Shotta, I have to commend you, you have said from day one that it was a work in progress and that when it was suggested that a clear out was needed that the ups and downs were to be expected. These same players next season will be a totally different proposition, having gotten a season under their belts. I also believe that these rough times will build the character and unity in the team.
LikeLike
PaulN – Thanks for observing the Freudian slip. As you known “Rasta no go down”. It bothers me no ends that so many view yesterday as a disaster. It was disappointing but at the end of the day we have a return leg. Improbable but not impossible to overcome the deficit. At the minimum it is an achievement that of 4 English teams at the start we are 1 of 2 still in it. Much as they are guffawing at our loss there are 18 teams in the BPL dying to be in our position. 16 years straight under Arsene. That is why we must rally the troops for Saturday. He who has the last laugh etc.
LikeLike
I’m not fussed about the jelly and ice-cream myself, as long there’s some cake. Chocolate preferably. Ta.
LikeLike
Exactly Shotta.
I am actually surprised how people are saying we were totally outplayed yesterday. I know stats don’t tell the whole story but it sure does tell some of it and they show we had a go, too late but we still had a go.
LikeLike
There you are….I was wondering where you had gone my old mucker Pedantic..
LikeLike
Hello Georgaki ,welcome aboard.
You may find this more to your liking!
LikeLike
PaulN – Well I can agree that we were outplayed in stretches especially in the 1st half but we could easily have equalized with Giroud’s blinder just after he came on. Goals change matches but apparently it doesn’t apply to Arsenal when we have to soak up pressure.
If we had scored, all of today’s critics would have a different script congratulating Arsene for being a tactical genius etc. You just can’t win.
LikeLike
I agree Shotta, we were outplayed in the first half but there is no way we were in the 2nd. We were the more dangerous team in the 2nd half until the 3rd goal.
LikeLike
Sorry about today’s post,I only had half an hour to write it and get it to Andrew before he became unavailable for the day,Thanks to him for putting it up and fixing it up too.
I f any fan was embarrassed by last night performance,they need to have a long hard look at what they expect of this current team .
I can wait for the team to grow .And I have a lot less time left than most of the malcontents.So why they can’t show some patience is beyond me.
LikeLike
I hope Arsene fucks off, we have a merry go round of managers like Liverpool currently has and we drop down to 10th in the table. I want to see where these Wenger out wankers are going to hide once that happens.
LikeLike
I don’t know,I leave the country for 5 days and we go out of the fa cup and get beat 3-1 by a fantastic German outfit, well I’m back now and jelly and ice creams a good start but we’ll need music,Russ Abbott’s “atmosphere” please Stew-I’m gonna put on my Wonderwoman outfit to lift moral,we’ll win on Saturday and the spuds will feel our breath on their greasy necks and we’ll see the wenger smile again,okay Frank take it away; Arsenal! Arsenal! Arsenal! Arsenal! Arsenal! Arsenal! Arsenal!
LikeLike
I know what you mean Gains.But I dont want that.
If and when he does go ,I just hope we get someone half as good.
LikeLike
I don’t know what all the fuss is about. It was a great European football evening. If people can’t enjoy matches like that then I have to wonder whether football is really for them. As for the AW ‘must go’ brigade. Really?
Roll on the replay.
LikeLike
Waaan Arsene Wenger…theres only waaan Arsene Wenger…waan Arsene Wennngggeeerrrr…theres only waan Arsene Wenggeeerrr.
….emailed the club that today too
LikeLike
btw anyone trying to organise a protest can fully expect a protest about the protest. Just so that they know!
LikeLike
Frank, my friend and I were talking about how great Arsenal v Bayern was compared to the crap on display at the Bernabeu last week.
George, I know that the great majority of Arsenal supporters aren’t wankers like the ingrates who make up the vocal minority, but I feel as if we need a supporter cleansing. All the plastics who hopped on during the Arsene era or were already there and became spoiled, need to be bled out of the club. I just can’t fathom how supporters can actively undermine the club just because the manager is not to their liking or they’re not getting the players they want.
LikeLike
Could the blog send an email or letter of support to the Club?
LikeLike
i feel you, Gains. What I loathe is the thought of these clowns celebrating when the team does win something.
LikeLike
Hello Georgaki – great to see you! Hope you make yourself at home here!
Must confess that I, in moments of rage against the ragers, also share Gain’s sentiments about AFC doing a Liverpool. It’s not what I actually think in the cold light of day; Liverpool have largely been in the wilderness for an awful long time now so we have to watch what we wish for. But boy, it would serve certain quarters right.
I thought it was a terrific match last night and fair-do’s to the Munich supporters who appeared to virtually ignite their quarter close to the start and kept their end up for the whole match. BM are indeed top, top quality and deserve much success. Obviously they have to get past us first; given that we will have little to lose I think it could well be one of the games of the season and I have certainly not written us off. I’m not saying BM were lucky to win last night but they certainly had the rub of the green on their side. If that gets reversed in 3 weeks time …
At the end of the game I felt strangely sad. As people traipsed out of the rows of seats I saw one old boy take on four ‘lads’ who had clearly been on the team’s back all game. He never let up and the doomers didn’t know what to do, being shouted down by someone’s granddad. They looked suitably embarrassed, is all I’ll say.
I was sad that despite terrific endeavour on the part of our boys, it wasn’t quite good enough and you could just imagine the hammering they and Arsene were set to get in the media. And yet, as any ful can see, they are a work in progress which, if we fast-forward 12 months with, as George says, one or two additionsin the summer (which I reckon AW has already identified if last year is anything to go by), then last night will be seen for what it most surely is; a staging post, along the way.
And regardless of what happens in Germany this time around, Villa had better watch out on Saturday …
LikeLike
Thanks George.
Plus or minus one Messi and this current Bayern squad are probably better then this seasons Barca.
LikeLike
Yes, big ups to Georgaki. My apologies mi bredrin! good to see you!
LikeLike
ok that means my 3-0 to the arsenal was fro the return leg then… remember we always play better in the second half… or in this case leg.
my other team Watford are improving gradually too.
LikeLike
Need to big up Georgaki and Goonerkam for joining us at PA. I have missed them. Respect to the max.
LikeLike
Going back to G69 and bringing up the Liverpool situation. How is it that they don’t get half of the treatment that Arsenal do? I don’t hear pundits deriding them, not at all. Quite strange.
LikeLike
Yes, TS.
I hope we go back to our normal front 3 in the return leg. I would like them to have to deal with OG for the whole match. I would like to see some more size in the mid with Diaby coming in alongside Wilshere and Arteta, or Rosicky and Arteta. I know that leaves out Santi, but I feel these players would do better against BM. More pace and power.
LikeLike
and hopefully Gibbs is back by that time.
LikeLike
I wonder if I might make a comment, which may or may not inadvertently cause consternation on a blog site committed to positivity?
Excuse my temerity, but here goes! 🙂 [Damn, that’s torn it – already a direct clash with Pedantic G, who abhors smileys — oh well, in for a penny, in for a dollar] 😀
First off – thank you for the Post, it carried a very good message, while being light hearted and not preachy,’ as would anything promising jelly and ice cream, altho I like a little cream on mine, too.
I could only watch the game on TV, and, altho’ not normally too preoccupied in introspective analysis, I found, for the first time ever, that I was watching it mostly in silence and with a strange, detached air of resignation.
Our guys worked their socks off. They really cared about the game and its result. They clearly wanted to please the manager and me, the ‘silent ‘ fan, as well as the more animated Gooners in the Grove and the TV bound.
What then did I make of the game — without being summarily kicked off PA for being unduly critical?
I saw, and felt, what other fans of the teams who faced our wonderful Invincibles must have seen and felt. We faced a seemingly well drilled, physically bigger and fitter outfit, who were technically very proficient, and ruthlessly determined to execute their game plan.
We, on the other hand, were fielding a much changed defensive line up, once again, together with a relatively new forward line up.
On the night we were beaten by the better team, and there is no point trying to deny that, but was it all doom and gloom? Most certainly not! All three of the Bayern goals, altho’ well taken, were the result of defensive errors which will not necessarily reoccur in the second leg.
And, the German team may well have beaten almost any other team on the night, and must be one of the favourites to go on and win the CL. So, no disgrace there! 🙂
How have I done guys? Can I come back again — or just sling my hook? 😀
LikeLike
george, what they need is a shrink..i dont think ice cream and jelly is enough for these naughty “kids”
dont worry i can feel hillwoods wrath at disrespectful fans coming soon, he aint the type to munch his words….he will give it to them nice and proper.
in fact, id luv it ..id luv it i… if he told them all to fuck off out of the stadium and return them their money ..i aint even worried about any pr disaster..i feel the silent majority will back him up and the manager.
in the words of shara nelson
“and if you hurt whats mine ill sure as hell retaliate”
and wenger is certainly ours and one of us ..100% arsenal….and more
p.s still i think…ivan should pull a finger out and start dealing with media, but then again he is foreign and they will easily dismiss him as an intruder to their football “values” and “culture” just like they do to arsene….
p.s 2 hallo georgaki and welcome !!
LikeLike
Paul-N February 20, 2013 at 4:59 pm
because arsenal stories sell like crazy and give the chance even to the lowest of the low to make a decent living …..
LikeLike
people may pretend we are paranoid, but tis clear that the press has always picked on arsenal and in particular under AW who dared win stuff reserved for their beloved fergie
LikeLike
Overall I think that is fair Red Arse.
Apart from having a talented sqaud What needs to be noted is that Bayern is not a new team, it is a team that was put together a while ago and has been built upon, so the players now eachother inside out, for the most part. It is also worthy to note that in Germany Bayern don’t have to deal with being outspent yearly, they are the big dog in Germany and overall are not really challenged. It is not so with Arsenal, Arsenal have to deal with City, United and Chelsea every year while being under financial restraints. In time we will get there though and sooner than later.
LikeLike
Red Arise – Welcome. Don’t be defensive. I respect alternate opinions. but those who sit on the fence chatting shit will get it from George and I am sure from some of us.
LikeLike
Arse, not Arise. This predictive text is a pain.
LikeLike
That being said, if we play with the same intensity and focus all game long, I doubt we would have lost.
I agree with you that all of the goals were a bit soft, including ours.
LikeLike
Damn Frank, everything you said I thought, only you did it simpler. Of course, it was a great night of European football, exactly what we expect from Arsenal, no less, and again the team cared as someone said, it showed, and they did not let their fans down. They attacked relentlessly in the second. Until the 70-something’th minute and tired legs took over, possession in the 2nd spell was almost 70% Arsenal; we made it exciting and real football, took on a good team. And what is the fuss? That we lost?
I suppose we made some mistakes, defensively, but you know the team that loses always makes some mistakes, and the team that wins makes none, and that’s football by hindsight. I thought Bayern played well, I like their organisation and work ethic, not a team of show ponies (love Steww’s description from music), maybe Robben aside, but I’m not sure 3-1 reflected the balance on the night either. We got one lucky break, they got two, otherwise in the second – if we were watching the same match – I did not see Arsenal overrun, I saw Bayern flustered, backfooted but credit always where due, wonderfully composed. It would be a big mistake to write Arsenal off too early, but I hope they do. Let me put this another way, I’m delighted with the guts and skills on display last night; well done both, well done Arse, you played good football and the team gets better and more experienced by the match (2nd half, but that’s another story), and Bayern, well played too, and all your bouncy fans. See you in Munich. Munich fans go … bounce, bounce, bounce. Arsenal anti-fans go whaa, whaa, whaa. PosA goes AAAAaaaaarrrrrrrsssseeennnalllllllllll
LikeLike
Arise, Sir Redarse!
LikeLike
Thank you Paul-N, and shottagun. 🙂
I am never reluctant in putting forward an opinion, and neither do I take it as a personal insult if someone disagrees with me. After all, opinions are just that and not hard facts.
I have seen and chatted to George and some of you others on ACLF, and enjoyed doing so.
Anyway, I am sure you will treat me fairly, on what I assume is a new blogsite, as I am sensitive and extremely dim! 😀
LikeLike
Red Arse, your post is good, totally sincere, and I appreciate it. Good analysis too. We could write tomorrow’s shock, horror, gasp headlines … “Breaking News .. Read all about it …. in shocking and unexpected development it was discovered Arsenal are not yet better than what George calls the second best team in Europe, leading the German top division by 18 points, having not conceded a single goal in open play for 77 minutes, and not yet conceded a goal in 2013 until Podolski poked one in”.
Interviewed after the match, Arsenal anti-support was said to be “truly devastated to learn this news”.
LikeLike
Like I said before BM is an excellent team. No shame to lose to them. Our boyz need to pick themselves up starting with Villa on Saturday. 3 weeks time we go to Bayern. Go there and make us proud. Nothing to lose as said by ZimP. Stranger things have happened in football. Didn’t the Cha vs beat them on their own turf?
LikeLike
That’s 770 minutes I believe.
LikeLike
Red Arse – You are in trouble! George says no winkys. LOL.
LikeLike
Or LOLs. Ha, Ha, Ha. *Uncontrollably *
LikeLike
Mel,
I have an appalling sense of humour, and this has caused me, on occasion, to be called a cur, but I think I prefer ‘Sir’, however undeserved — thank you!!
Incidentally, I do not know how AW has not blown his top before now.
The disrespectful attitude of some journos appals me — and then they have the nerve to say what a ‘decent’ guy Arsene is because he talks openly to them at conferences!
See you tomorrow!
LikeLike