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Fantastic.

What did that one-nil result tell us?

Well excuse me for saying this, but it told some of us nothing we didn’t already know. But let’s have a think what it should have told the malcontents.

For starters, despite Spurs spending north of £100 million, and us having a paper thin squad ravaged by injuries, we are a better team.

I felt that we were way below our fluent best and that Santi and Rosicky, despite their efforts, had off-days. With more precisely weighted balls from them, we could have scored a bucket-full. Dont get me wrong, I am not moaning about them, or saying they were bad, just that from our two most technically gifted players, we normally see better.

The upside, which totally outweighs any small downside, is that we had a shape and a tenacity that tells me that the manager is 100% right about this group of players. I would go as far as saying that it’s the most tightly knit squad we have seen under Arsene.

Our dodgy defence is anything but dodgy, no matter what the halfwits in the media say. I still think Bac is by far and away our number one right-back, but Carl is a fine understudy.

Laurent and Per are easily the best centre-back pair in the league.

Even at this early stage. I am confident that Flamini is exactly what we have been crying out for. Not only as cover for Mikel but an actual alternative.

Now, what’s all this rubbish about Arsene not doing tactics? Those looked like different tactics to our normal stuff to me!

I really can’t say how happy I am that Arsene has once again made mugs out of his detractors. When will they learn?

Let’s see what today brings and  where we are tomorrow.

Great team, great players, great manager, great club and a great future.

See you all tomorrow.

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242 comments on “Fantastic.

  1. It just gets better and better the more you think about it.

    Bliss.

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  2. Referring to the ‘transfer’ above.

    No. No. I cannot forgive such a foul act
    : )

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  3. Aman, cheers for posting that article.

    Are these fuckers still questioning Wenger? They never seem to learn, do they?

    The doomer talking point bugging me the most at the minute is the one about us needing a back up keeper, CB, a class holding midfielder and a striker, as if the current squad is no good.

    First, Vermaelen is one of the best centre backs in the planet and he can’t get into the Arsenal team at the moment. And if that’s not enough, we have Bacary Sagna who is not a stop gap at CB, but a genuine alternative.

    Second, at holding midfielder we have Arteta. A player who helped us achieve the second best defensive record in the league last season. And if that’s not enough Wenger just signed a player (Flamini) he can throw at the lions and not lose any sleep over. I think you can tell I haven’t forgiven him for leaving us high and dry.

    Third, Olive is a devastating striker. We’ve only seen it in fits and spurts, given he has only been with the squad for one full season, but the brilliance is there. With service from Ozil, Oli may start scoring the types of goals he became famous for in France. Further, if Oly needs a rest we can play Poldi or Theo up top. Sanogo will be an understudy who may get games once he understands the system a bit better.

    Fourth, the squad is not threadbear. We have at least two quality players at every position. The defence and goal keeper departments are more than well stocked. One looks around and we have a way better back four than all the top four teams. Now look at our midfield. Ozil, Wilshere, Rosicky, Ramsey, Santi, Arteta, Flamini and Ox. Hazard and Oscar start looking less special when you look at our midfield, don’t they? Up front, Polds, Theo, Olive, Ox and Santi. Come now.

    By the way, Spuds need to shut up about Real Madrid selling us Ozil just to hurt them. Ozil was sold to us in order to destroy Mourinho. Mourinho wore out his welcome out hard in Spain. After we clobber him for a few seasons, he’ll go back to Portugal and coach there.

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  4. Who is the lawyer, Hunter?

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  5. Fin, all my Real Madrid mates have turned off their phones and are not speaking to me today. The feeling of devastation is palpable. The fact that Perez signing Bale has sent Madrid into disarray is just one more side benefit of the awesome transfer window magic Arsene has managed to pulled of.

    For once, the good guy gets his and is going to teach all these checkbook managers how the game is really played. All these assholes who swear Wenger is tactically poor will have nightmares this season.

    I almost forgot I needed to read Adrian Durham. He’s the donut who said he could do a better job than Wenger.

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  6. well said G69,

    “For once, the good guy gets his and is going to teach all these checkbook managers how the game is really played. All these assholes who swear Wenger is tactically poor will have nightmares this season.”

    “..its a new day, get in line, bow down!”

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  7. my spud brother hasn’t been able to have a decent conversation with me since it became clear MesOz had opted for the Arse…even after Levy had spunked on “7 hunks of lore”…think people are too greedy these days, seems they wanted Oz too.

    oh well..

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  8. The perfect answer to the doomers’ constant drum beat of gloom and darkness. Arsene shit on all of them. I’m going to get an A and a W tattooed on my arse.

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  9. Eriksen? Lamela? And to think there were Arsenal supporters using these players as instruments to mock Wenger with.

    Hahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahaha

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  10. See you later, guys. I’m going outside to practice that sliding on your knees goal celebration.

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  11. A-Ha!
    Nice one Plodders & Per. Thank you very much!

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  12. Hope NB52 means what he says in his statement. Sounds like agent-speak to me.

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  13. Gainsbourg69 September 3, 2013 at 5:39 pm

    just some clown who holds his opinion and “alternative” viewpoints higher than the wellbeing of the club and has a blog where a bunch of mugs discover new ways everyday to defy logic, reason and then continue to insult the operational ethos of our manager and consequently our club.

    this group of Absurd Sick and Twisted “fans” with its 1000 members and 4.5 stake at the club are a MINORITY…yet they are loud in the media and think they represent the millions of fans worldwide. Perhaps a minority easily influenced by Dein and that gentleman he represents.

    Is it any coincidence that this group of absurd sick twisted fans associates their “arsenal” with dein’s years at the club?

    cant remember who mentioned it today but spot on…a dead man has tied them “sharks” into a net they cant get out of unless they rip apart everything that wenger-fizman – hillwood-kroenke stands for. …sad to see lifelong gunners warming to such sinister ideas/plans…..

    can usmanov ever launch hostile bid if he gets the ast’s 4.5 % ?

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  14. Sorry – Bierhoff not manager but sporting dire3ctor.

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  15. George, sent you an email

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  16. The questioning of OG still continues. The man was on fire in pre season and has continued to score in the regular season but people are still writing him off. I don’t get it.

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  17. Paul-N, his only problem is that he didn’t cost enough, because of course if he had cost £50m he would never miss an opportunity! His general contribution to our all round game including assists and defending in our box of course goes unnoticed. Also I’ve noticed that he often takes up good positions, but doesn’t always get the service. With Ozil, I expect he will get more chances and thus more goals. Even the best strikers need chances created for them.

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  18. Yeah, it’s ridiculous the flak Olivier continues to get despite his current form. We have a striker who’s been on fire in pre-season and is continuing his good form, at present the most clinical player in the league but instead of supporting him 120% we are going to indulge in fantasies of what might have been and how much we would’ve liked Soldado or whoever else there is over him.

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  19. evil = artist

    destroy them

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  20. When Giroud starts banging in the spectacular goals all the doubters are going to shut up. Until then, they’re going to be busy moaning and wailing. And the only reason they don’t like Olive is because he didn’t come from a place the hype machine deems classy enough.

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  21. @Gains
    As if they know what class means.

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  22. The doom merchants were creaming themselves over Soldado, if you can imagine that.

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  23. Hunter – AST do not own 4.5% of Arsenal Football club, never have

    What they claim, without as far as I am aware any foundation, is that 4.5% of the shares are owned by ‘small shareholders like us’ I do not understand why they imagine they have anything in common with!, for example, a hedge fund who holds a position in AFC for investment purposes – deluded, self important nonsense

    In fact, again according to AST they own three shares – one of which I believe was donated to them free by the club.

    Using a rough £600 million valuation for the club if they spoke for 4.5% of the ownership then that would be worth £27-28 million – a significant shareholding

    With AFC shares trading around the £12,000 mark each the actual value of the shareholding is £36k

    Arithmetic is not my strong point but that £36k is very roughly 0.006% of the club’s £600 million value

    And these self important clowns claim
    to speak on ‘the fans’ behalf

    Extraordinary

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  24. …… dont forget world beater paulinho!!!

    im also thinking that a fit diaby is actually a better footballer than that tosser with the wig united bought last minute…

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  25. i am sorry anicol, i read it in one of them papers they give for free in the underground…..complaining because we didnt spend 50m ….i have no words to describe this level of madness….only gilliam can make sense of this.

    shit ..0.006%..aha…it is beyond ridiculous ….

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  26. Fully agreed Passenal. The man has only scored in every PL match and yet people still think someone better is his order. I should not make things like this annoy but they do. I alway feel like our players have to prove themselves at some unreasonable level unless they cost big money as you say.

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  27. Anicoll 10:14 that’s really interesting and explains a lot… I saw the 4.5% line and did wonder.

    I also noticed that they have about 1k members and it is possible to get a ‘life’ membership for £350 quid, which would give them 350K income for their 36k worth of shares (or maybe 45k as I read somewhere shares are 15k now?) I also note that ‘fanshare’ is seperate from AST and one can join ‘fanshare’ while not joing the AST. If, therefore it seems possible that one could be an AST member without having a fraction of a fraction of any share whatsoever? I’m really chuffing confused and have a terrible feeling that AST is driven by something other perhaps than what it purports… in my opinion that is of course, but as I said, I just don’t get it… but I’m sure those ‘members’ who have given their money are happy they are being well cared for by the ‘board’ of that organisation – or two organisations or whatever.

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  28. day off tomorrow and had beer…

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  29. Hunter, a fit Diaby is better than most players in the EPL. He is a rare player – strong, tall, fast, nimble, skillful, smooth, smart and more. The young man is something special. I think it was Chamakh who said he was the most impressive player in the Arsenal squad.

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  30. They could own 4.5% or 0.00000045%
    It does not explain or excuse the pathetic announcement today

    Tell me H – have you ever, ever heard one Arsenal fan say ‘ I want this organisation or that organisation to SPEAK ON MY BEHALF to REPRESENT ME’

    Fucking ridiculous – it’s a football club

    I am a supporter

    I need no one to intercede on my behalf

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  31. Your confused Steve – join the club !

    Angry of Islington had a bash at looking at the actual share register last year

    Whatever the ins and outs of it though the actual percentage owned by fans, AST included is tiny

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  32. Indeed Anicoll… to both of your latest posts. They certainly DO NOT represent me and it does smart a little when one sees “Arsenal Fans say…” etc etc when this Arsenal fan most certainly hasn’t!

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  33. he a5 well said. they are extreme in the end of the day to question, so passionately, wenger or arsenal and club operations. The club broke the transfer records yesterday and the 0.0006% had a moan for the unspent 50 …. Ha!

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  34. united and moyes did well also ..their fans sound happy ..and levy what a businessman..made 85m never saw it passed it on to avb and has 7 months of torture ..very shrewd…good thing he stroke a hard bargain with perez who made half back instantly…

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  35. @ anicoll5
    Totally agree about AST, or should I say Tim Payton, because it is he who is the prime mover, not all AST members agree with him, I’m told. He has an agenda, he is a self-promoter. And that line about 4.5% of the shares epitomises the blurring of the truth which seems to mar AST pronouncements. He never makes it clear that he is speaking on behalf of some of a tiny membership of a particular organisation with a specific set of goals.

    @ Paul N
    Too right. Giroud rocks. He is going to be immense for Arsenal. 25 goals this season, I am sure. The moaners have to keep bitching because if they stopped they’d be admitting they were wrong, and God knows that can never be.

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  36. @ anicoll5
    Also totally agree with what you say about being a supporter.

    Some people think that Arsenal is a governing political party and they have a moral duty to oppose.

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  37. If good service from Hleb, Cesc and Rosicky helped a donkey like Adebayor score thirty goals in one season, what makes anyone doubt Giroud will not do even better than that playing behind assist machines like Santi, Özil, Rosicky, Jackie and Ramsey?

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  38. Gains, OG is already scoring technically high quality goals. His first time goal v. Spuds was a magnificent finish.

    Problem is cover and options upfront. There is a reason AW spent the whole summer including the last minutes of the window looking for a striker. Hopefully Walcott can fill in if needed centrally.

    Ozil might be better than Cesc. Pure and absolute footballing genius. Unbelievable coup, signing of the summer. All praise to AW for bringing such an extraordinary and exciting talent to Arsenal. Ozil has a point to prove. Hopefully he wins the triple like Sneider and Robben soon after Madrid departure. I agree, Gains, that this is Madrid trying to hurt Mourinho; just too bad as Passenal pointed out that we fell for his dirty tricks again–he did do the same with Sahin. No matter, Arsenal have signed Mesut f*ing Ozil!!!

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  39. Hey, Lime. I was addressing a line of thinking emanating from the doomers having to do with Olive not being good enough to put play with Ozil or Santi. According to them, Giroud doesn’t know how to make diagonal runs and isn’t fast enough to get behind defenders. Never mind that just this week-end he put away a cross from Theo or that he’s always looking to get in front of crosses in the opposition penalty area.

    As far as an extra striker is concerned, sure we needed someone to give Sanogo time to ripen, but it’s not like we’re desperate. I think Arsene going after Ba was just him trying to destabilize a player who he knows suffers from confidence issues. Whatever helps to give Mourinho that extra jolt in order to let him know we’re there, I am all for it.

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  40. Don’t be surprised to see NB playing a minor but critical role on the Arsenal stage sometime this season. I don’t think that AW was desperate to dispose of him, otherwise we would have done so (I had read elsewhere we’ve off-loaded 31 players over the last year or so). I think AW always recognized the bad boy in NB could be the motivating tool, it’s not uncommon; he has a striker’s psychology too, we wants to score. But AW (and Theo anecdotally) is impressed with Sanogo, he’s right into the first team mix, and there’s a reason. I doubt AW is worried about a shortage of strikers to do a job.

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