I remember my Sunderland review last season. I told you the story of my visit to Roker Park. My many visits. My many unplanned and increasingly frustrating visits as we attempted to escape from Sunderland en route to Cullercoats. In passing I might mention that Cullercoats is a pleasant little seaside town between Tynemouth and Whitley Bay, but that needn’t concern any of us today. The simple fact is that as I allowed my pre match thoughts to wend their way down a nostalgic B road I entirely failed to predict the events that would unfold, and surely bloggers should be able to tell you mere mortals the precise ways of the future. Shouldn’t we?
The game was a real dig in and fight for it affair on a horrible bumpy pitch. We played in yellow with nasty red brown shorts and won the three points with a lovely crafted goal finished with aplomb by Santi Cazorla. Only heroics from Mignolet, the Sunderland post and Wojciech Szczęsny kept the score to one nil but the story of the match hinged on a few defensive performances and one truly dreadful refereeing display.
Cattermole wasn’t even booked when he could so easily have broken Aaron Ramsay’s legs with a really ghastly challenge while young Carl Jenkinson was sent off for two miss timed tackles. Throughout the game that man Anthony Taylor allowed appalling violent play to pass entirely unpunished and it remains a bewildering mystery that Arsenal had to see out a tense final half an hour with ten men whilst a thuggish Sunderland side who would have received red cards on a rugby pitch for some of their assaults on our players completed the match with eleven. Jack Wilshere was literally kicked off the pitch, Fletcher nearly equalized after controlling with a blatant handball and we had to play in a cauldron of vociferous partisan support with a resilience and courage for which we are (unjustly) not renowned.
However, despite all of this drama, the performance which stands out in my mind was that of Bacary Sagna. Drafted into the centre following a late withdrawal by Lauren Koscielny our uber versatile defensive maestro was an absolute rock. I know Arsène had used Bacary in the centre before and as a left fullback during one of our most horrendous injury crises but never has the man’s versatility shone as it did that day. It was an often brutal affair with a lot of old fashioned high balls and crunching aerial collisions but Bacary Baresi was equal to all of them. I don’t want to give the impression that his performance was all about strength and resisting the hooliganism of the opposition though. It was the coolness with which he managed to direct his defensive headers to team mates that impressed me. It’s one thing to go up and stick yer nut on it and quite another thing entirely to turn that head butt into a weighted pass to a midfielder. Instigating a quick counter attack from a ball that comes down with ice on it is no easy skill. Not that he was averse to launching a forty yarder onto Olivier’s head when the occasion called for it, but mostly he won the ball and played a quick imperious pass to a team mate and resumed his station alongside the BFG. He was resolute, tidy, athletic, decisive and perfectly placed throughout the match.
Judging by his remarks this week we might get to see more of him alongside Lauren or Per in the future. In an honest appraisal of his own advancing years he accepted that the modern fullback needs to put in a shift to which he himself might not be equal in the coming seasons. More than speed and agility though it was mental strength that he identified as his key attribute. I think it’s all too easy for us to overlook the psychological fortitude of our squad sometimes. Easy because we are so often dazzled by their quick feet and lightning fast movement. Sunderland away last year showed the importance of the mental strength Bacary talked about. He is a player who has had to pick himself up after some awful injuries and a couple of costly errors in high profile games but he’s done it with a quiet determination, a deafness to the pathetic knee jerk reactions of the worst of our supporters and I believe will be a key member of a squad for many years to come.
If news of Per Mertesacker’s upset tummy are true it looks like Bac will have a chance to reprise his masterful performance of last winter. How the new Sunderland will shape up is more of a mystery though. As with our previous opponents from Middlesex the Black Cats have made a whole raft of new signings recently. I think it’s fourteen but I could be out by half a dozen or so. Like Arsène Wenger I believe a settled squad with personnel who are completely at ease with each other’s style of play is far more important that wholesale changes. One or two key signings joining a team on a roll ought to trump a bunch of strangers still trying to learn one another’s names. Of course this is sport not maths and as Anthony Taylor proved when playing for Aston Villa and very nearly managed in this fixture last time around, sport can be an unpredictable and ruthless duchess. The one factor Sunderland will have on their side today whatever the form and regardless of the line ups is the home support. The old cliché about the twelfth man is nowhere more certain to have an effect than in the Stadium of Light. They took the Roker Roar with them when they moved house and will howl at every perceived injustice, hound the officials and lift the home side for every second of the game and quite right too. A little more of that at the Emirates and who knows where our home form might take us.
I am a hopeless blogger when it comes to predicting the future, and I apologise for this lack of superhuman talent. All I can say is this is the classic post international situation for us: a tough trip up North. I see no reason not to be optimistic but I know that we will need all the courage and fighting spirit with which our makeshift centre back held us together last time around. Whatever happens I just hope we don’t wear those bloody awful shorts again.
Positively Arsenal 
Good morning STEWW
COYG…. UP WITH THEM GUNNERS!!!!!!!!!
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I cant understand why we get such bad reviews on twitter(I can,but I we save that) Stew,for me,that is exactly what I want to read before a game.Not some numbskull picking the team,setting the tactics and predicting the score and scorers.
Brilliant again my friend.
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sagnavaro !
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I cant understand why we get such bad reviews on twitter
because we are right
if we were wrong noone would bother….
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He got the team to crucial 4th with great second round. pragmatic
he got rid of the not so good players raising more funds
kept the team together
had great pre season
got the team in champions league
added quality to the squad
is bigging up all the players preparing them for the fight
not very good …is he?
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Farkin’ brilliant Steww!
Your words of wisdom had me thinking. Well, I have had this idea before now and it is a refutation of this ‘Arsenal are a soft touch’ baloney. As you suggest Arsenal are not a soft touch. It’s that Arsenal do not wish to play that way. Or more precisely, Arsene does not wish his teams to play that way. But our style of play does require that the referee apply the rules of the game properly. And that does not always happen, as you point out.
I expect another win and good performance today….
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This team has silk and steel in equal measure. The steel is not brutish, hopeful long ball steel either.
We have four top class defenders in our team. If Sagna plays the same way at CB, it wont be long before he is at world class level.
Nice post pointing out Sagna’s performance in that game Steww. Sagna is a proper footballer with proper steel.
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Morning everyone,great to have our Arsenal back and Stews preview of this game & reflection of last years game was perfect,Anthony Taylor Hey? I had no idea….time for Arsene to do a Fergie and demand he’s nowhere near any of our matches methinks. Very classy of some of the big-time Charlie bloggers to have a pop at PA, the expression ‘drunk on self importance’ was used in the blog that started the debate on twitter amongst some of them,I do hope that the irony isn’t lost on them. In some ways I blame the club itself for entertaining them,whether it’s sushi,trips around the medical facility’s or free drink in the directors box at an U21 game,some of them (not all) are bound to think their a bit superior.
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Are we getting abused online are we? I don’t follow any idiots on twitter so I’ve not read any of it. If the abuse comes from Le Grove then that’s fine by me as we are polar opposites. In fact I’d be deeply concerned if they did anything but abuse us. As for anyone else, well, it’s good that they are aware of the good work we’re trying to do in support of our club. Be great if they tried to join in sometimes.
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Not LG Stew,in fact one of em had a pop at him as well!- at least he’s up front with his views & self promotion despite everything.
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Mel, someone once said to me “You only have to own a phone in order to get crank calls”. We set ourselves up as the standard of support others should aspire to emulate. Of course some people are made uncomfortable by that, others just have a pop at any visible target as a way of compensating for their own lack of creativity.
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That was a good read Steww. Thanks. I am quite excited for the match, I mistakenly thought it was on tommorrow evening and was pleasantly surprised.
@George
How can anyone find fault with the posts and bloggers on Postively Arsenal? This is a brilliant site and one of a select few that you can come to and learn about football in general and Arsenal in particular. Damn the fools who would criticise to hide their own dim wits.
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Excellent post and comment steww.
I agree Mel. The club probably thought that smoozing them would get them onside, but all it has done is given them an even more inflated sense of their influence, whereas for the club it was just a case of keeping your friends close and your enemies closer. If they had any insight into their behaviour, they would be embarrassed that the club considers them as enemies. If they have a problem with PA, it’s yet more evidence that they are totally missing the point of what a supporters blog should be about.
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How hilarious to have an Arsenal fan hurl some mud-in-your-eye with a label “drunk on self-importance” for the reason, presumably, that we support Arsenal (and we know why)! These must be very staunch and sturdy supporters!
On an even happier note Zimbabwe just beat Pakistan in the second test by 24 runs in the afternoon session on day 5. Zim’s first test win for 15 years (in the exception of Bangladesh). Zim ranked # 9 (ie last). Pakistan ranked # 4 in test cricket. The crowd is on it’s feet, singing, toyi-toying, waving flags, back-slapping, doing the zora-bread-and-butter (a dance) and about to drink beer by the 44-gallon drum load. The heat is shimmering as a dejected Pakistan team congratulate their Zim counterparts. Man-of-the-match test debutant Chatara took 5-61 in the second innings.
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Great, Steww, I presume that Bacary will not only be playing CH but he will also be our captain for the game. Safe hands. I am really looking forward to this game.
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The great Sagna. The kind of footballer every fan hopes to see at their club. Top top class.
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The comments to this article were funny: Internet fans and how they would’ve reacted to the signing of DB_10.
http://www.forbes.com/sites/bobbymcmahon/2013/09/04/reaction-to-arsenal-signing-mesut-ozil-2013-and-dennis-bergkamp-1995/
” could not agree more on Seaman but look at what he has in front of him. Dixon, Winterburn, Adams and Bould – that is not a back four that is a disaster. We finished 12th last season and let in 49 goals. Seven teams conceded less than we did – Palace allowed the same number and got relegated.
We used to have the best defense in the league by a mile but look at it now. We need new a pair of centre backs who can run for goodness sake. And full backs who can bloody defend.
What do we get? A forward who scored 11 goals in the last two seasons and who won’t get on an airplane. What is Arsenal thinking!!!!”
Heh.
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Frank was right. Blog forums are not like pubs.
If people who observe the club in detail are going to abandon common sense and ignore the clear patterns seen over years in regards to how AFC conduct their transfers or ignore the mega huge multi-bazillion TV and sponsorship deals which kicked in this Summer perhaps they could at least make the effort to use some cyber sense?
Would that be asking too much from the crowd that have sneered at Tony Atwood and the ref review team at Untold for their ref reviews, reviews which have been promoted in a positive way on the bleeb and even talkshite (and are also read by acting and retired refs).
I conclude that PA is in good company.
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Early on in the season, the pitch shouldn’t be as bad as on the last two visits. Gonna be a tough game, like they all are.
OTOTBAG
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I read that Arsenal have scored the most points of any EPL club this calendar year. Doesn’t surprise me at all. I love this squad.
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AW suggested after the AV game that that grotesque parody of officialdom called Anthony Taylor did not referee that game in the right spirit. Such understatement. Clever man.
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Might do one or two twit things if they are getting all negative over there.
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Flamini has an important part to play in today’s encounter. I assume he will start behind Aaron and Jack in the middle. He’s fresh. He’s got an awful lot to prove. He’s motivated. Not too many options wide left, Santi!
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Wide left later in the game will be either Nacho or Kieran in front of the other.Hope so anyway because it is very effective.
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What an oddity that Kagawa doesn’t even make the bench at Manchester. Marouane Chamakh for Palace, c’mon Chamakh!
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Kieran has an eye for goal too, and Nacho pops up in the box often enough too.
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Is this Andre Villas-Boas guy even for real? Last season, he talked about our negative spiral and now he’s questioning if we haven’t been robbed with the Özil deal. http://www.theguardian.com/football/2013/sep/13/andre-villas-boas-ozil-arsenal-tottenham
That guy is crazy. Lets see where the 100+ million he spent this summer will lead him to. I think another finish outside the top 4 and some more Thursday night football is definitely on the cards for the Totts.
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What’s up, Gangsters?
United are flopping about at Od Trashford. Young was booked for diving and Evra should have been booked as well.
Fin, blogs are different from pubs in that pubs are not an environment which encourages tit behavior. If one behaves at a pub the way a Le Shit ogre behaves on-line, things wouldn’t stay civil for very long.
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Chris Foy finally relented and gave United the penalty they’ve been working for throughout the half.
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Nice one, steww.
I had completely forgotten about that Sunderland game and the ref being Anthony Taylor when I watched us v Aston Villa. And I said that it was the worst ref performance I had seen since that infamous Newcastle game. Like I said, I had totally forgotten about Sunderland.
The flaw in the reasoning that it’s better to have somebody inside the tent pissing out of it, than to have somebody outside the tent pissing in, is that it fails to envisage the possibility that you could let someone into the tent to piss in…in warmth and comfort.
If some people don’t like us, screw ’em. Their problem, not ours. And it’s all publicity for the blog. So PG wins anyway.
And what’s this I hear? A soft penalty at OT? Surely not…
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I will be returning later when the Matchday Show starts on Arsenal Player, so please don’t all go off to the virtual hangout hoogeemawotsit and leave me to follow the match on my own.
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FG – I shall be here too I promise.
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Evil September 14, 2013 at 1:21 pm
haha… avb wont be able to sleep at nights…levy will be expecting that 100m to be put to good use….
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ive not seen any crap on twitter and I never unfollow anyone, maybe im just reading with my positive red coloured glasses. its going to be hard today but its up to us if we play well and were clinical we’ll win I know that’s obvious but its the case. interesting to see the Flamini/Ramsey axis today. COYG
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bless you, steww!
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Yeah, Funny, that old Red Nose mystique is still on at Old Trashford. What’s disgusting is how they just play for the penalty until they get it and no one calls them for it.
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If this is what MU is putting out at home against relegation fodder, then they’re not doing too well.
I like Jason Puncheon. I thought he was great last season for Southampton.
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Mesut Özil is starting? Can anyone confirm this?
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Morning, y’all. I’ve had my coffee, I’ve read Stew’s blog, now let’s play some football!
I love Bacary Sagna. So composed, so solid, so professional. It is getting difficult to choose a “favorite” player in this team. Can you have 25 favorites? Can they all be your “favorite”? I do love them all. Thank god we didn’t sign Rooney or Suarez or Fellaini. I want to love our players…all of them. It’s easy with this squad. COYG.
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Capt. Bacary
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Apparently Santi is out for the game? But Özil is starting, yes.
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How will we line up? Fascinating selection.
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Theo right, Jack left. Excellent.
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Hectic start. Welcome to England Mesut Özil
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Flamini is made for this kind of match. Nicely done Arsene.
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Nice link up between Jack and Mesut
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I don’t really see how Sunderland plan on escaping their half of the pitch in this game…
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Ozil to Giroud!
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What a start for the new boy. About four touches and an assist.
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Lethal.
A left footed move front to back.
Get in!
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Good to put JW on the left – takes a lot of pressure off him
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The start of a brilliant partnership!
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Beautiful!! That was so much fun to watch.
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