The away fans are winning two-one against the miserable home support.
That’s two away games in which we have been dominant and played with everything that we want to see from our Arsenal.
Pace, fluency, penetration and creativity.
It was an outstanding performance. One that should have shut the Media up, and malcontents alike. But will it? I doubt it very much.
I honestly believe that, if the home support were like the away fans multiplied by ten, the home of football would see the team perform at much higher levels.
It just seems to me that we are stuck in second gear at home,with the hand break welded on.
Against Fulham, some of the interchanges and close control were staggering. Not a hint of panic or fear – unlike at home where every perceived error is met with a collective sigh, if not an audible groan.
Even from my customary position of sitting in a hunched up in a little ball, looking out from between my fingers , I could see we were never anything other than totally dominant.
We saw what a fit Podolski adds to the team, when he starts.
The Goalkeeper once again reminded us that he could become or first choice for the next fifteen years.
Aaron showed that all the doubters are no more than pathetic halfwits that lack any modicum of football knowledge.
It looks to me like the fabled “double-pivot”, has morphed into a triple-pivot. Our midfield was ruthlessly efficient, both going forward and in reverse.
Fortunately, the will of the home support to win the NLD should override their will moan and actively work against the team next week.
When I say “moan and actively work against the team”, I mean just that. If Gooners cant see that the toxic atmosphere around the ground is poisoning the team and working against the club, it can only be because they are too stupid to do so.
Great result, great team, great manager great club. End of.
Come on you mighty Reds.
Positively Arsenal 
Dortmund! Excellent.
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Napoli. Makes it a little bit more tough.
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http://www.arsenal.com/news/news-archive/mathieu-flamini-rejoins-arsenal
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That’s a tough group. Dortmund, again, and now they have plenty of CL experience so they are probably going to be our top rivals for first place. But Napoli and Lyon are also very strong, this is probably the strongest group we’ve had in a couple of years.
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Err… Marseille, not Lyon. Got confused.
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On reflection Real Sociadad looked quite tasty against Lyon, so I’m glad to have avoided them from the 4th pot. Napoli we saw a few weeks ago.
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Tough Group
Arsenal
Marseilles (at least it’s sunny)
Dortmund -not again. great atmosphere.
Napoli -let’s hope Higgy’s foot is still sore.
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Evil, we had Marseille, Dortmund (as Champions) and Olympiakos/cos a couple of years ago.
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DC,
Didn’t Higgy cut his face up in a diving accident?
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Greetings, PA-istas…
belated congrats on the Ferna smackdown tuesday….what a squad, what a squad.
Get well soon Poldi (et tu AD24, OX15, MA8, TV5)
A fit Flamini fills enough voids, educates and keeps the option(s) open for Frimp & Coq (for which I am grateful)…well done AW. We await what else he’s got up his sleeve.
“Count the days remaining..
Let the fools be hating..
Peace be to you if its worth the waiting”
..Group F: Arsenal, Marseille, Borussia Dortmund, Napoli.
Not easy…should be fun
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..toughest group though
COYG!
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Yeh, that is a tough blow wow group. That will make it all the more sweeter when we top it.
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Tough but great games coming up in our group.
Just a few days ago the BBC was whining that we have it easy by being in pot 1 of the draw along with Manure, Divecelona, etc.
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That is some group for the football purists! Not easy, but football heaven. 4 excellent and exciting teams from England, Italy, Germany and France! Great challenge.
Very happy to see Flamini back in red, for all sorts of reasons. You could hardly find a better, more versatile back-up/bench player for midfield, and fullback at a stretch. Plus he has many reasons to put right whatever went wrong 5 years ago. I take it he still covers every inch of grass, but is now a mature player, knows Wengerball, has experience. Excellent!
From a footballing viewpoint, over a season or two, this is a fabulous signing. I mean it. Never mind he didn’t “make it” elsewhere, he was highly regarded at Arsenal under Wenger especially for his work-rate, defensive work, speed, and linking into offense as when needed; was almost certain first team pick for a good period, and some excellent (in one case match-winning) performances in CL.
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One element that Matthieu brings, and I think it has been lacking, is a nasty edge. The sort of player who would inadvertently stand on an opponents fingers which clambering up from challenge, or accidently catch them in the eye with a misplaced thumb, and when the victim reacts badly to appeal convincingly to the referee and earn the opposition a yellow card or worse. .
Giles Grimandi was a master at the sly offence, a much under rated quality, Dennis was not averse to the cunning stamp if he felt he was being roughed up
I sometimes feel we are a bit too nice
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@ ZimPaul August 29, 2013 at 6:30 pm
Agree with that, ZimPaul.
Tough group, but why are we in Europe if not to play against good sides. Good footballing sides, as well.
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Very pleased with the draw. Some great football to look forward to.
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Good, tough group but we will make it out of the group. I pity the fool that underestimates us.
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Goonerwife
I wish you were my wife. Mine is a spud!
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You are married to Mrs Potato head ?
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“For my part Matthieu will need to stay fit, do some good work on the pitch, and show what a good player he can be before his rather disappointing departure in 2008 are wholly forgiven”
I agree. I was not happy with how he left, but compared to some more recent departures, it was pretty mild in hindsight. He did what was best for himself at the time, but I don’t recall him bad-mouthing the club after he left.
Now I see him as a useful squad player, because he knows the club, how to play the Arsenal way, he’s experienced and versatile as he is able to cover midfield and fullback. Seems like a good addition to me. I can only think that the moaners are upset that they can’t childishly boast to their mates about the price tag.
I agree the CL draw is tough, but on form we can beat anyone. I’m sure our players will be highly motivated by the prospect of these games, after all you’ve got to beat the best to be the best.
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In a nutshell, Passenal.
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I think the draw is marvellous. No teams we can’t beat on our day there, and a serious enough challenge to keep the focus.
Flamini certainly has a little to do to take one’s mind off that ‘disappointing departure’ but he’s clearly older and wiser than he was at the time and no less a player for it of course. Extremely valuable addition to the squad and can be a nasty git. (in a good and useful way)
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true passenal and steve…although i fear him and wilshere will break vieira’s record for red vards ( haha) …ivan spend some fucking money and ensure no ref screws us again.
i can picture arsenal going for it and the whole of the epl reverting to kick and smash …legs shattered..morale dropped…and everyone blaming wenger. ….again…
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Love the draw. We have the chance of watching a few “games of the season” when we face Dortmund. The game away at Napoli may be difficult, but I think we’ll finish above them and Marseille.
I love the way the doomers are losing their shit over the draw. According to them we have the toughest group out of all the English teams and we’re not going to progress beyond the group stage. Manure have just as difficult a group as we do, but since the names have a bit less prestige, the doomers don’t think it’s difficult at all.
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Steve_i = you hit the nutshell.
This is actually a good group for us, because we will have to keep focused – no reserve team matches half way through the group. Us and BvB should get through – if we can’t beat OM and Napoli at home, we don’t deserve to be in Europe.
Celtic got the shitty end of the stick, ironic because the real shitty got a comfy draw.
Chaves and red mancs also got soft draws.
just saw on Sky sports Pep already whoring himself to english teams… Moyes is fucked!
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If any on you can get over to Dortmund – do it, my mates said it is the best away game they have ever been at. The support in the home stadium is amazing, except for the sad wanky YNWA copycat shit.
Apart from that:- good beer, good saussages, cheap tickets, free transport, very friendly home supporters.
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Celtic’s group is not that hard either. Other than Barca, who they beat last season, they play a very weak Milan and a very average Ajax.
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fuck this transfer window,
It’s obvious we are saving the money for a last day £200m Messi transfer.
… if the club spent every penny of the rainy day savings account, we could afford it.
Only a joke! but the spuds are doing what David Dean wanted Arsenal to do before he was sacked – spend every penny on football players and not invest any money in the future stadium.
Let’s see how it works out for the 16 time in a row CL group team versus the Europa cup thursday night wannabees.
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My Supporters Club fellows are hearing that the spuds are only delaying the Cornelius deal to prevent Madrid and Arsenal having enough time to do deals on players Madrid need to sell to make back the money.
Or it could be just Madrid being fuckers with us all over again.
Of the rumored players doing the rounds, Casillas makes to most sense, and I love shezzy but Iker is on another level altogether. Can’t see him leaving Spain, let alone the Capital city in a world cup year. If he does – he would be a bit like Jens,= crazy and with big balls.
Ozil – wtf, we need another attacking mid?? Jack is just as good. A good squad player addition at best (irony) and we might give him the odd run out, after Rosicky, Arteta, Diaby, Frimmy, Flamini and Eisfield are all unavailable; Haha.
Di Maria is a winger, ’nuff said. Not Arsenal tactics.
Benzima – I think I’m on record as saying this man is a scumbag, and we should avoid him. There is a serious court case still pending.
Flamini is good business, but a 3 year deal will only inflame to doomers even more, haha. Wenger is really winding them up!
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Gains, Maybe Ajax are not as strong as they once were, and certainly AC Milan have gone through a bad patch, but I think the new Milan with Ballotelli are a very strong team.
Regarding Ajax – any team managed by Frank de Boer, with Overmars, Bergkamp, Van de Sarr and Stamm in support have to be taken very seriously.
That’s one hell of a 5-a-side team.
Anyway. Celtic fans will have fun, sell lots of TV coverage and will go down fighting. Good luck to them, but ifthe likes of Wanyama are their best saleable assets they won’t be real contenders Europe for decades to come.
Anthony Stokes was an Arsenal prospect once, and now he is a Celtic first team regular player, no insults to anyone north of the border but that is way below our level.
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Manchester City have a way harder group than ours. I think the best they can hope for against Bayern is to nick a draw at home. As far as the other teams in their group are are concerned, Eastern Europe is not a place I’d like to play in if I were in need of points. CSKA is a decent team and Viktoria Plzen, like most Easter European teams, can shut up shop with the best of them.
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I am very happy Flamini is back in the team. I hope Wenger plays him until one of his wheels comes off. As long as he stays healthy for the fixtures against each of the following; Newcastle, Stoke, Hull, Sunserland, Everton away and Norwich away, I don’t mind having him back in the squad.
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I watched both legs of the Milan v PSV qualifying games. Milan struggled against a very weak PSV. They have a couple of good players in Boateng, Abiate and Balotelli, but they’re not going to get a lot of service from the likes of Montolivo, De Jong and Muntari. That team is suffering from all the Brazilian packages they bought. And to think a bunch of doomers thought Pato was a £25m rated striker. : V
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“And to think a bunch of doomers thought Pato was a £25m rated striker..”
Tee-hee G69, never quite fancied the overrated & overhyped duck.
But @ say 10m, in red & white, he’d probably be worth 40m by now.
But the hyped brazilians with their greedy-ass agents are never patient…
Robinho?….pfft!
Double Cannister @12:14, I beg to disagree completely with you on Mesut Ozil, who I personally feel is presently the best #10 on the planet. It would be the steal of the decade if we got him. Especially with this being TR7’s final season. I love Jack but….
Also disagree on Di Maria. He would revel in our system and would be worth Bale-money in no time under AW.
Hope we get the bulk of our injured back in time to participate in the CL. Would be a shame if we aren’t @ close to full strength.
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Flamini’s addition annuls the Cabaye option methinks..similar players?
The 3rd DM/utility spot might be left open for either Frimp or LeCoq to claim or AW might opt for a tall, strong fresh face, though we’ve still got AD24 breathing & healing….hmm?
Though Quagliarella could be an ok stop-gap option, my CF/all-F options are Di Maria & Adrian. Both still have a lot to prove and are unique talents.
Simeone’s style @ Atletico is too smash & grab for the sublime Adrian and he’s lost his way a bit. Placed alongside Santi, Jack & TR and he’d be lethal in no time.
just my 2 cents.
We await what the master does.
Can’t wait for the NLD. Greedy Levy’s been stockpiling for tomorrow’s auctions.
Could be a smackfest.
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@Aman
When and where did you hear it’s Rosicky’s final season? I hope it’s not true. He has so much class, he could easily be a valuable squad member for another couple of years.
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Its his final year until he get a new contract.
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graci George…Evil, I don’t want him to ever leave either…think i read somewhere he plans to retire @ his 1st club back in Czech.
(psst..methinks AW’s lined up Grenier to replace him next season…sshh)
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Where can I chip in to finance a contract extension for Rosicky?
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Happy to make a donation if required. I’m ready to spend spend spend.
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Even the They think it’s All Over Podcast collective think the Home support is, well, unsupportive. Too angry. Not pavlovian. Just a little bit mad.
I suppose if I attempt to use the smear that A.Davies and his mates think that they are ‘better fans’ that will dismiss their observed record of concerns. Which are shared by many.
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You send us your account number and sort code Evil and I will sort your contribution out (winkey thing)
Revving up nicely for Sunday, our NL neighbours have scooped both wins on the back of dubious penalties so I anticipate Arsene will be whispering in Mr Oliver’s ear early and often
They have never really worked out Theo have they ?
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I was looking forward to Chamberlain dancing his way past Paulinho, for the second time in a few months. *sobs*
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That fourth goal in the first 5pur2s game was a Big moment for Theo.
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On the plus side with The Ox recovering Ryo may get some time, when he too is fully fit. And we can enjoy the songs as Theo comes of Ryo:
Theo Theo Theo
Ryo Ryo Ryo
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Got to luv AW…
“”If he does not leave and prepares well, and is fit, really fit, then I will use him.”
..the “possible” return of NickyB52 ???
f**k it, why not?
I’m all for it.
AW’s sh*ting all over the establishment, agents, doomers & the desperate overspenders who need some of our hard-earned muulah!…
ha…yes indeed..haha!…
sh*ttin’ on ’em, playing the best footer & capable of plucking silverware while we’re at it.
PS. Gooners, some other refs will be tempted to make some extra pocket money off the Arse. Pls have your magni glasses & petitions ready.
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I’m sorry but people beating around the bush about this team is shit and how this team is great,, On past glory’s.. and just because they have a likeable coach/fav-psych-ooh-I-know-what-you-did-last-summer-shit.. Cut the crap.. Don’t matter.. If our squad good enough- We’ll get through.. Which I know we will.. Why the fuck do we have to worry about other teams if we don’t have the faith in our team.. Defeatist theory if you ask me.. Which no one has.. Demented as I am..
I see Dead people..
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Hacky Slapper: In your opinion blah blah blah are 5pur2 stronger after they spent spent spent?
AW: I would like to keep my opinion to myself.
Heh.
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Aman, I think Santi, Silva and Iniesta are all better than Ozil. Maybe he’ll be better as he gets older, but I don’t believe he’s isn’t the best number ten in the world just yet. To his credit, however, I do think Mourinho’s tactical ineptness did make him look worse for Madrid than he does for the German NT.
Fin, Wenger expressed something similar to what I was thinking the other day. Spuds losing Bale is way worse than us losing Van Persie because they have a shit squad to fall back on. But if they want to believe Capoue, Paulinho and Soldado are going to catapult them above us, let them be. Who are we to stand in the way of their dreams, huh?
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I assume it is just idle musing on my part but it appears the final piece of the Bale jigsaw is the fixing of a price between the clubs to allow the transfer to be completed
Fair enough and it may be there is some form of formal or informal agreements in place with a bottom and top price
Given that Madrid are a club noted for their scrupulous honesty and financial integrity I wonder how wise it was for Levy to spend quite so much before the cheque had been signed, much less cleared ?
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And in pursuit of the theme did I hear correctly that TV will be back in full training after the international break ?
Good man Thomas – fingers crossed
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