What a final few months of the season!
What a group of players!
What a manager!
Ok, I will stop saying what now.
What a club! …. Stop it SA!
We showed remarkable fight in the 2011-2012 season to finish 3rd. However, the end of the season did not have the special feeling that I have right now. I would even confidently correct that to, “we have right now”. Certainly, the lack of uncertainty is a progress over the last two summers. Digressing, I would even say that it was an achievement to stay at the level we were and not go down considering the quality of the players we lost. In order to prevent any doomers from picking up on that, I would like to stress that it is neither my or the Club’s ultimate ambition. Credit should however be given to the club and manager for staying afloat. Now to swim.
We have what appears to be a close group and a functioning team with steely resolve. More importantly, the team has shown consistency in a pressure cooker situation. They are going to face this in every match next season if they are going to win the title, but I am confident they can handle it. I also hope they are able to enjoy themselves. Arsenal are a sight to behold and quite lethal when they do that. I am sure Wenger will make that happen. That man thinks it is an obligation to entertain us!
Regarding summer buys, like others on Positively Arsenal, I am not sending a wish list to Wenger. He is not Santa. If Santa was real, I would wish that Wenger was my father-in-law. I would have such intelligent conversations with him all the time. Mind you, Santa might say that granting me wishes is not his department and pass me onto south pole. Bloody bureaucracy! Back from my second digression, Wenger will be the best judge of the players who could potentially improve the team further. Whoever he buys though, will bring excitement, his skills will be analysed and he will be a part of personal teams of commentors here. Looking forward to that.
Looking back at the season, it took a costly turn in the middle. For some reason, the players did not believe in themselves. I think it started with the visit to Manchester United (For those of you who do not know what Manchester United is, I am talking about manure) where we played with fear. In many of the matches after that, we were apprehensive, maybe too afraid to lose. We tried valiantly in the second half, but it was too late. Sadly, when the team needed the support of the supporters most, Arsenal fans let them down. It was a sickening sight watching moaners reveling when fence sitters joined them. However, sometimes out of something bad, something good comes up. Thus was born the beacon of light amongst Arsenal supporters, Positively Arsenal. Thank you guys.
The team identified problems and with the collective desire to man up and win at Bavaria and each of the 10 cup finals, we improved drastically. A few hours before the start of the Bayern match, I had posted a comment here addressed to the team asking them to fight and play so well that Bayern will be scared to face us next time around. The team did just that. I hope we get to play Bayern in next season’s Champions League. P.S. I am in no way claiming my comment spurred the team.
This season, we narrowly missed out on seeing my dream midfield of Arteta, Diaby & Rosicky in action over a stretch of games. Add Arshavin to the front left and…. *wipe drool off the chin*. Maybe we will be lucky enough to see that next season, minus Arshavin (Goodbye little genius).
Cazorla and Rosicky have quickly developed a good understanding. During one of the 10 cup finals, Rosicky poked the ball a little ahead and peeled away. I only saw an opposing player on the screen and was scratching my head when Cazorla nipped into the screen and played a one touch pass (I think back to a forward running Rosicky).
In my opinion, great footballers should think creatively of solutions and use physics consciously too. Gervinho has showed glimpses of that. In one of the matches last season, when Arsenal counter attacked, the ball was passed to Gervinho at pace and it also bounced. At one particular instant, the trajectory of the ball was such that it would be air borne when it passed the defender in a few fractions of a second. So the defender lifted his leg up anticipating this. Gervinho kicked down on the ball and it bounced under the defenders feet. A second later, the ball was at Gervinho’s feet, a yard ahead of the defender. Gervinho is in the hands of the best man who can improve him. It is upto him to ignore the “supporters” and step up.
Ramsey was a revelation to some, wasnt he? To us, he just got back to what he is capable of. Kudos to those who recognised why he was played on the wing. Even Ramsey (atleast publicly) doesnt seem to realise why he was played there. Maybe he will when he gets to Arteta’s age and maturity. When Ramsey started playing in midfield, I noticed him on the right wing a few times in every match either supplementing attack or covering Sagna.
Regarding other players, Fabianski and Szczesny have created a healthy competition for the goal keeping spot. I hope Fabiannksi stays over for next season. When Koscielny goes for the ball, Koscielny gets the ball, no matter where the ball is. Opposing team strikers better learn to accept this fact. Mertesacker showed that you can look like you are going to fall over when you run, have a big smile on your face and still be calm and steal the ball from the likes of Augero. Deadly should be the word used to describe Waclott this season. Podolski showed why he plays for Germany and Giroud has the graceful movement of a striker in his prime.
The prospect of this team improved in understanding and cohesion next season is mouth watering. I would have preferred FA Fergurson to have stayed. They are already saying that the changes at other clubs gives us an opportunity. As though we can only strike when the others are weak! Bullshit!!
The rivals are going to blow us out of the water in terms of spending and try to win the title before the first whistle is blown. Does not matter. I am looking forward to seeing a silky and determined Arsenal next season
By Sensational Arsenal
Positively Arsenal 
What an inspiring article.
Thanks SA.
End of an Era my backside.
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And as far as some of the people who I used to call friends on ACLF,all I can say is that an eloquent cunt is just a cunt who can write well.
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Thanks George and thanks for posting it.
Sorry for the mistakes. Should have proof read better.
” A few hours after the start of the Bayern match”. Should be “before”.
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So should I SA.Fix now
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Could you insert the second picture with Gervinho and Wenger below the paragraph I talk about him?
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It would help immensely if people could retweet my tweets about the site every day ,or tweet it yourself.
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Good morning Positivistas
Stirring stuff SA, intune with what I’m about to write.
Early this morning over breakfast I posted a comment on yesterday’s post. Here’s essentially what I wrote:
I watched some Arsenal TV whilst having breakfast this morning….chaps Arsenal is going to kick arse next season…..you read it here first…..
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I cant I dont know how too.I have to get someone else to do it for me.Sorry
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No worries George. Not necessary.
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Really enjoyed today & yesterday’s posts SA, if you look at our run of form in the second half of the season- it’s top 2 and challenging, I still feel the manager and players didn’t get the credit they deserved,thank god my mate George set this place up for people like yourself to wax lyrical and numnuts like me don’t get bogged down by the miserable bastards, well done SA (and PA).
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Fantastic post.
What Lord Mel said. I concur.
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A half fit Goldi Poldi wins the Arsenal Goal of the Season award. There are a few other contenders. What a run by Chambo too, not to mention the silky touch from the big man.
During this Montepellier game I had the plasue of listening to the bloke on my right lecture his mate the whole game on Podlski’s positioning, etc. moaning about how he doesn’t play like an orthodox whinger. 46 goals in a 110 caps, most of them playing from the ‘left’ – see his goal during the German demolition of England (Terry & Cole showed their class that day).
Of course he doesn’t play like an orthodox whinger!!!! What. A. Plonker. Don’t worry, I gave him Poldi’s German stats at the end of the game.
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*coughs* plasue = pleasure.
tbf the dude was a lot more quiet after Poldi ‘smashed it’ (as Keys and Grey would say).
Praise be to the football gods!
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You are on a roll SA – two great pieces sweeping across the Arsenal landscape.
I stole this but I like it as it about being an Arsenal fan in 2013;
He who binds to himself a joy
Does the winged life destroy;
But he who kisses the joy as it flies
Lives in eternity’s sun rise.
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Predictably hilarious comments from Maureen regarding (the lesser) Ronaldo. No respect from Robben, no respect from Ronaldo, the only consistency in Maureen from 05/06 is that over more then twelve months he can only retain the respect from players that need to refer to him his “Daddy”! We have a few fans who feel that way too.
What a plonker.
Predictably hilarious comments from JvC . It’s there in b&w:
“It’s a bit like a rollercoaster. Some days it is looking good and other days it is worse. You don’t really know what to expect because things can change so quickly. It normally depends on the player and the two teams, but in my case, there were two other teams involved as well.
One was City and the other one was Juventus. So it was a bit hectic but I always wanted this transfer from day one. Me and Sir Alex knew that it would be a bumpy road but I think that it shows that if you really want something then nothing is impossible.”
Cue Nelsonesque “ha ha’s”. I wrote at the time that the Ego messed up his Euro tournament all by himself. His last opportunity to be Big on the big stage. And that confirms it. He quite literally took his eye off the ball. There were at least two hilarious and costly air kicks.
Enjoy your time with Gollum and the Evertonian back room. What a plonker.
It is now confirmed, if it was not before, beyond any doubt or debate why the gaffer played Donny Slurgus for every penny. He had no choice.
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Links to quote above plus further comments on the ‘distractions’ during the last Euro’s.
http://www.independent.co.uk/sport/football/premier-league/robin-van-persie-accuses-arsenal-of-playing-games-over-transfer-to-manchester-united-8645756.html
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Cheers Fins for sharing that. He’d obviously been agitating for a move to the big Mancs for quite some time, and you are correct, it would seem to prove, once and for all, despite the vitriol and abuse the manager received from many supporters, that Arsene had little choice but to get as much money as possible from the Mancs.
Still, the little boy in him must be over the moon to be working for Moyes and the Everton staff. I love a happy ending.
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Well the other options were:
a) The path chosen by Bilbao with Lorente. That worked! Not. So, that would be a no then.
b) The Malouda medicine. Banishing a former Key player who helped win a title only two seasons ago to the reserves because he upset Roman. Nice if you can afford it. Arsenal cannot. So, that would be a no then.
I shouldn’t laugh too much. Now that he’s playing under the haunted gaze of the ringwraith he might learn how to tackle, as they like to say up there, north of Rugby.
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He wanted the big bucks, but the Ego’s ego wouldn’t let him move to a lesser team/club like City. So he used City to get as close to £300,000.00 p/w as he could, out of the change leftover from the transfer fee. Which kept on rising. Negotiations must have been tough on the poor blighter as he missed chance after chance at the Euro’s. It was as PG and others have speculated.
Can I say “Well played Arsene”? Heh.
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Fins – Thanks much for putting to bed all the myths and lies about JVC’s *transfer* to Man Utd. The f*cker was in bed with Sir Alex for months. The worst is how so many of our former comrades-in-arms were quick to blame Wenger and the club for his duplicitous conduct. Pay him what he wants or send him to the reserves said the keyboard warriors. Indeed!
Another season draws nigh and despite the steely resolution we demonstrated during the stretch run, we should not become complacent. It is shaping up to be another dog-eat-dog affair given the initial spending by Oil City which will no doubt be matched by the Russian oligarch. Desperate owners willing to spend big and several new managers desperate to prove their worth. We need to improve, not rest on our laurels.
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Thanks everyone for your comments. Appreciate it. Glad I got the chance the share my thoughts.
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Silky and determined. Yes, I like that. I guess the worst of last season was the top-five mini table for us was inadequate, and backs up SA’s assertion of belief being an issue in the early and middle thirds of the season. I think it was also a little more technical too, not only psyche. The team had an awful lot of work to pull the myriad strands together to become that team we saw later on; expressed in simplest terms, a player with the ball needs to know (split second, a quick look up) where his usual combination players are most likely to be, including through runs, or little diagonal runs. Nuances, the slightest of margins are vital, how fast the pass, or the chip, in what area precisely. And off the ball, you need to know the likely range and types of moves or passes by the player on the ball. Aside from that, there were so many positive trends in the last third and a bit, one doesn’t know where to start or finish. To compile an unbeaten run in the run-in when every team has something important to achieve is the hardest of all.
In many ways Theo was my man of the season. He grew up, took responsibility when it mattered, despite occasional lapses drifting in and out of games. And so did we.
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Yes ZP. I missed that point out. We needed to gel. Maybe the lack of knowing each other and the bad results was a circle and had the players looking at each other bewildered, feeling like individuals in a football field. I feel that behind the scenes, Arteta, Mertesacker and few more would have rounded up the team and said, “right, time to step up”.
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SA, it didn’t help that Jack was out for so long and TV under-par, Santi and Giroud, plus Lukas completely new in the system. It takes time to bring a team fully into alignment, players understanding each other and managers and coaches understanding players.
The reverse side as you indicate SA is that the team peaked when it had to, garnering title-chasing form in last 16 games, the form team in EPL against significant competition in the last 10. That says, in my view, we had the right players to construct such a team in the first place. It is not at all feasible that we had a “lucky run”, or “poor opposition”, or “held together by one or two goal scoring/stopping wonder-players”. It was tight.
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And as Shotta says, we need to step up another notch. I very much doubt this team is capable of complacency as such; they ended on a high no doubt, a great achievement, but inwardly they knew how tough it had been to obtain fourth. Every game a fight (in that Chelsea and Spurs provided such robust competition, matching us game for game at the last, and some good results too; one slip and we were a gonna).
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What great reads, SA, today and yesterday. Fantastic. There’s really nothing more I can add. Thanks for sharing.
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Your on a roll, Sens.
Silk and steel.
Your on to something about the fear the players had around the time of the manure away match, city home and both Chelsea games.
I would argue that they knew that they would get no protection or even mercy from the refs and they knew that, compare with the other teams arrogance that they know they can get away with just about anything. Ramiers is just one example.
Thanks Finsbury – I saw that article on JvC as well and I could not believe he is such a fuckwit to be quoted as saying that shit, it just proves how well Wenger had to play his bluffer’s hand of cards to get decent money out of the manc scum. You are right to point out the moaners who blamed Wenger for it all. Basterds.
Really looking forward to seeing the WOBs try to put Wenger out stickers up now hunter’s going to be about every game next season.sick’em boy!!
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Great post and great comments today. I’ve drawn a line under jvc – he no longer exists as far as I am concerned and I have zero interest in his crap. Fins, if the club were going to get shafted by the greedy badger I’m more than happy that we managed to screw the maximum out of the mancs.
Shotta, I agree that the team needs to step up and I can’t see Arsene resting on his laurels. He just needs to find the right players who will not disrupt that combination of silk and steel and that team spirit we discovered last season. One bad apple or massive ego can wreck things very quickly.
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That was sweet s a , I think we can really look forward this season although I think we are going to have to stay grounded, after two seasons of crap starts if we do better this year we’ll have to resist the press telling us were going to win the league by thirty points only to slag us if we don’t
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Passenal, Gooner Wife was here last night
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I can’t wait for August, the squad we have right now are fantastic, they are the real grit and the guys who have stuck with us. Any newbies will just be cherris on the cake.
Rosicky’s comments in the press were spot on, he wants to stick with us though thick and thin.
More Ox time, Rambo developing into the Welsh ZZ, jack back to his best, Arteta being Arteta, Santi promising to improve, Giroud Poldi Theo … It goes on and on.
10 more points +10 GF -10 GA next season compared to this season and well be up there, that’s not too much to demand, considering the upward spiral (thanks AVB!).
It’s doable.
Just wished the sour gum chewing bastard stuck around to see how real class is permanent. Oh well we will just have to rub it into Maureen’s face and the little Dutch boy.
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Lord give me strength. Try hard as I have to put this disloyal selfish brat out of my mind and move forward, he comes out with a fresh batch of kaka For the media whores to print and sprinkle salt in our wounds. This jackass Was the one playing the games. He and his jerk mister 20% engineered the whole move way back in mid 2010. He can’t stand seeing ARSENAL have moved on and are actually a more balanced and completed TEAM without the egotistical red manc. Watch and eat our dust robin. Next year the GUNNERS will steamroll our the likes of you and the other mercenary teams around them in the table. It won’t be a matter of trying to make top four . We are coming and gunning for you and the title, the cups and the cl. Enjoy your money but don’t ever f•••Ing forget who gave you the second chance and had placed faith and patience in you and your abilities. Maybe that will be the cause to shut your trap. You and Na$tiry and adeybuywhore are all part of the same ilk. Hope you pay for the wrong decision you made..
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SA another fine writeup and I agree with in the whole. Just like you I can’t wait for the season to start again. ARSENAL will indeed be a well oiled machine this coming year….
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