Stoke. What can you say about Stoke? Seriously. Apart from Owd Grandad Piggott, May un Mar Lady and the 1842 Pottery Riots the place seems not to have an awful lot going for it. Oh sorry, I forgot there’s the football team. We need to mention the football team. Now. I am well aware of the protocol here. I know I’m expected to litter this piece with Tolkienesque allusions and rugby references, but I am going to try to break out of that particular clichéd straight jacket. I want to see if I can make it to the end without one mention of Orcs, seven points, Mordor, The Barad-dûr or Twickenham. You don’t think I can? Just watch me.
With players closely resembling the uglier members of The Dothraki tribe and a playing style closer to American rather than British Football Stoke City have won few friends in their most recent sojourn in the top flight of the English leagues. They have been in the premier division on occasions before, but each time their stay has descended into an attritional battle where survival becomes the supreme goal. To be fair they haven’t always stirred such feelings of animus, such hostile revulsion from their peers as that which they earned during the Pulis years. We can’t tell if the Hughes era will usher in a new playing style or whether the unkind comparisons to more heavily contact based sports will endure. You have to be honest and say that his record with such Wendigo filled cloggers as Blackburn doesn’t bode well. Off the pitch a handful of Stoke supporters have done little to reverse the awful reputation that the team have earned upon it. I know there are folk, long suffering Potters fans, who have had to put up with some pretty strong stuff, not least of all from us, but sadly for them, as long as a section of their support thinks it right and proper to boo Aaron Ramsey then I fear they may as well accustom themselves to their pariah status. That reaction to the events of the twenty seventh of February twenty ten surely ranks among the most reprehensible of any group of modern football fans.
Today however I don’t really want to waste too much breath on the opposition. Today I want to focus on us. I don’t want to write a piece about Morlocks and their attempt to import Murderball tactics into the Prem, it’s all a bit tired now and we are in such a fine run of results right at this moment that it seems silly not to look at our own side and let the visitors worry about themselves. 
One of the positives about our recent mini run since the opening day setback is that we’ve put it together with a severely depleted squad. I think most people now accept that the bunkum bandied about us being weak, lacking strength in depth or having insufficient back up to first team players has been categorically disproved and was in all honesty little more than a Sky Sports editorial flogging horse which Murdoch’s minions had been ordered to repeat until the brainwashed hordes assumed it to be based on some sort of empirical evidence. We have sauntered on, apparently uninhibited by shedding players of the calibre of Santi Cazorla, Lukas Podolski, Alex Oxelaide Chamberlain, Tomas Rosicky and the best midfielder in the league Mikel Arteta. That we haven’t broken stride despite this luminous list joining AD2 in the infirmary having the old embrocation rubbed in by beefy men in roll necked sweaters of course speaks volumes for our squad depth. Less tangible however is this creeping feeling that we are a considerably more to be reckoned with force than we have been in recent seasons. I can’t speak for you obviously but I know that I have been a little taken aback by how fast our injured players are returning to us. This could of course be no more than the effects of the passage of time. An old man like me will naturally watch the few remaining grains in the top half of the hour glass appear to drop ever more quickly the less of them there are, that is merely human nature. In this instance, however, I think something else is at work.
Normally when important players are missing you, well, you miss them. You study Arsène’s elastic forecasts of their projected return dates with mounting anxiety and you know that we desperately need them patched up and wheeled out in as little time as possible. It has sometimes been a fretful misery watching our second string hanging on in there as we wonder how many more months our wounded stars must be injected with the old horse tranquillisers and fed the cod liver oil. Well I don’t know if you’ve noticed or not but Thomas Vermaelen’s name slipped back into the match day programme recently. And now I’m hearing that Mikel Arteta our other captain is back to full training and may even feature in today’s line up. So soon. They haven’t recovered particularly quickly. That isn’t it at all. Nature has run it’s course as it always has and ever will. No, I maintain that what’s happening here is because our squad is so strong, so resilient even in times of crisis that we haven’t really been worrying about the wounded in the way we once would. The spotlight is on the guys who are winning for us on the pitch and not for once on the ones we desperately need back to careen a stricken ship. Even a year ago we’d have really struggled without Arteta in the team. Now I begin to wonder who could we drop to make way for him. Aaron? Don’t make me laugh. Jack? Just when his burgeoning understanding with Mesut Özil is growing minute by minute before our eyes into a thing of rare beauty? I don’t think so. The new boy himself? Seems a little unlikely. Seems to me he needs games under his belt; as many and as soon as possible to help him settle and learn the ways of the Wengerball. Can’t see MA rampaging down either wing nor displacing Olivier Goal A Game Giroud and so maybe, just maybe I have a point.
I know we have a lot of games and people need to rest and injuries will happen. I get all that, but it isn’t really what I’m driving at here. I’m more interested in the way things feel calmer, even in a so called crisis, the way the club seems to sit a little deeper in the water and not heel over so badly in a sudden squall. I can’t put my finger on it but there’s a settled, purposeful strength to our progress right now and I like it a lot. None of this should hoodwink you into thinking that I’m not a gibbering wreck in the ten minutes before kick off – the thing wouldn’t be any fun otherwise would it? But if you take recent events into account I can’t see why anyone would be anything other than serenely calm right now. I certainly couldn’t grasp why folk spat out their pacifiers (for my English readers that’s ‘dummies’) when we conceded against Paulo the Fascist’s north eastern division last weekend. There was a sense of inevitability about our matching and going at least two better than anything they could throw at us that day and that typifies the aura the club is wearing right now.
OK, enough of me and my hypothetical rambling, I know what you want. You want final score predictions and team lists don’t you? That is after all the only reason to read a blog. Unless it’s to be told what to think. So here goes. Bendtner will start in a four four three with Akpom playing off him in the channel holes, Giroud to start on the left drifting into the right half central wide position when defending. Peter Story will be at holding midsweeper and with Theo in goal we’ll defeat the ravening Mongol hordes of Batu Khan Hughes by six to two with one impaling and two yellow perils to one red army faction. There will be a white Christmas, it might as well rain until September and the lotto numbers for Wednesday will precisely correspond to the page numbers in which Mr Gradgrind is mentioned in the first half of Hard Times by Charles Dickens.
Positively Arsenal 
What a game!
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We bought Özil only to lay like Stoke? Wenger out!
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Just one more goal should do it. The bastards are just another Mark Hughes team. Dirty, Dirty, Dirty. Simply hoping to hit us on the break. This is a tougher version of ticki-tacka Arsenal. We will win this.
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Still all there to play for.
Gnabry looks solid…more Ox-ish than Theo-like today. Always thought of him as a just a winger…trust AW
we might need a bit more wide play though…but only the Nacho option exists as extra
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We seemed a bit disjointed in the middle of the first half. I missed Mertesacker’s goal. Was it good? We seemed to be getting better towards the end of the half. I think we will be better in the second.
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The defence was all over the place for their goal. Ramsey, Koscielny and Flamini let Cameron waltz right in and take his shot.
We have to cut out the stupid mistakes which lead to conceding stupid goals.
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It amazes me how it is when any team scores against us it is down to our defensive lapses ? I thought the Stoke goal was a good one
Beautiful cross took Per out of the game – unlucky it hit the post – great follow up in the bottom corner from Cameron
Whereas when we score it is always down to invention, our great quality & skill (and Aaron obviously )
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time for Arteta to come in ….methinks
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Stewart Robson is so anti-Arsenal he finds it hard to hide it anymore.
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Anicoll, the cross or whatever might have been beautiful, but Cameron was given all the space he wanted.
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Wilshere off in a minute
Mikel on
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Goal by Sagna. Simply our best header of the ball. Usually covering the back on free kicks but this time he cheted and came forward. Awesome!
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More shite keeping from Begovic would you say –
Or a good header from Sagna G69 ?
As for Cameron he ran directly at the defence, good control, excellent ball to Arnutovic – looked a damn fine goal
to me
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thats it Bac…sweet header
Gnabry’s been excellent..enter the Ryo
Nacho on for Jack….good subs by AW
hope we get to see some MA8
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Robson can never find anything good to say about Arsenal. That’s what makes him so horrible as a commentator because we keep winning despite his tedious criticisms.
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Good solid debut Mesut – looks like he already has 50 games under his belt
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Shotta,
it must be the braids that give it such excellent back spin!
Crikey, we were giving them way too much space in front of our defensive line when it was 2-1.
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Robson’s bias is so deeply ingrained he just declared Nzonzi is the best player on the field.Oh dear, oh dear.
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What this team don’t do anymore is panic,
A year or two ago, at 2-1 up and under pressure, it would have been brown pants time.
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It wasn’t Cameron who played the ball to Arnutovic, it was Nzonzi. And if you see the way Cameron won possession, it was sloppy defending all round for that goal.
Sagna’s goal was the product of an exquisite set piece.
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BOOM SHAKA SHAKA BOOM BABY.
looks great the view from up here at number one.
CONGRATS ARSENAL
AW AND THE TRUE LOYAL SUPPORT. end of an era my ass.
BEGINNING OF A NEW DAWN MORE LIKE , JUST LIKE WE KNEW FEW YEARS BACK…..
who’s your daddy?????
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1st start by Gnabry. I was really impressed. Once again Wenger makes a mug of the doom-mongers. No strength in depth.
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Yes
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We out-Stoked Stoke. Hahahahahahahahahahahahahahahaha!!!!
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Sloppy defending all round ?
The only ‘sloppy’ defending was Gibbs losing the ball although that was an interception that if an Arsenal player had done it I would have been delighted
After that point the football by Stoke ruled out any defending sloppy or otherwise
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And we done Matty
Your rehab continues
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Credit to Sparky (regardless of his dirty past & p) for trying to get the Orcs to play proper footer. Probably had more possession in the 2nd half but still have too much to learn on how to make it count.
We missed Theo’s speed and pretty much lulled them into 1st grade tikka-takka. Anything to protect the german wizard from potter savagery.
Beat them @ their own game with 3 set-piece goals
Flamini was awesome
Gnabry impressed
sad OG missed out on 5 in 5…oh well, something to look forward to after Brazil.
Well done to the Arsenal
Top of the pile so soon after the Taylor debacle
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I’m happy with that. Now for some apple pie and crème anglais…….
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I hope the Walcott bashers realize how much he brings to the team. Without his speed, our creative players don’t have nearly as much space.
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Excellent performance by Arsenal,
Not exactly Wengerball, but that’s two big physical teams beaten in one week.
Ramsey should really have passed it to Ryo at the very end for a simple tap-in.
Jack was stamped on the ankle just 1 meter in front of Dein, and no reaction. From the bit of the game I saw live, I though Dein could have been worse.
JvC with a thigh strain (ohh, we all know how long those last for eh…?) and Moyes picking Young ahead of Kagawa. The man has no clue, long may he continue to reign.
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Great win, what 6th or 7th straight now?
Walcott is the only player that can provide real width in this squad. Any updates on his illness?
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Gains @ 3:4pm – Paul at PoznanInMyPants.com had an excellent blog last night on the importance of Walcott. But I have come to expect this type of foolish criticism of Walcott et al by the folks who frequent EndOfAnEra.com
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Anicoll, we lost possession in a critical part of the pitch and put no pressure on Cameron to win back the ball. Nzonzi’s pass could have been a work of fine art, but the damage had already been done. Cameron’s finish exposed the lack of urgency.
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Great set pieces. OZZI can get that ball right where its needed. Wait a few more games baby when all our wounded get back to action and develop more understanding with each other. Just you wait. ARSENAL will be the most in form team scaring the crap of any ( and I mean any ) opposition.
All you others, be afraid , be very afraid.
Back at the summit. New sheriff in town.
AMAN you RASER. you called the score line perfectly.
THIS IS HOW YOU BUILD A TEAM. this is how its done.
AW Takes the unfaithful doubters back to school again and again….
DO YOU BELIEVE.. WELL DO YOU ???
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Nice one Shotta,
Let that be the new moniker here for the doom mongers blog.
Spuds will need 3 clear goals more than Cardiff to go ahead of us.
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Goonerkam, your driving home from the pub soon, I hope?
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Shotta, I’ll check out that blog.
I’m watching the match on the Spanish affiliate and the announcer is the same guy who called games when I was a kid. If only the commentators on the English networks were half as good as he is, watching the football would be so enjoyable. Just think, no Stewart Robson taking cheap shots at Arsenal or Wenger.
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no DC
we shall stick around a bit more and party hardy. Do some interviews for ARSENAL FAN TV. God we have waited so long to come out the eye of the hurricane. It feels some good.. If you catch my drift..
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Aguero!
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In how many games is Lloris going to get away with handling the ball outside the box?
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happy gooner!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
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‘Kam,
Don’t do a Nik Bentner.
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Webb giving Rooney a yellow?
Oh, dear the Empire is crumbling.
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no one should be giving stoke any credit for style of play until they stop their thuggery. It doesn’t matter how much you pass the ball if off it your going to fowl players, arrive late and have a game plan of deliberate persistent fowling. It was one of the things that drove reyes from our shores and could have the same effect on other flair players. Please don’t let this win detract from lump of shit covering the beautiful game and the need for it to be wiped clean. Forget about all the initiatives trying to make England a better team if we allow this stain on our game. Stoke have not changed one bit please don’t be fooled
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A OR B
SPOT ON….
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Promising full debut for 18-year old Serge, looked every inch an Arsenal player, not at all out of place. Overall, the team handled matters convincingly throughout, and Stoke’s goal was half positional lapse, half pretty incisive attacking play. I thought Stoke justified why they are 7 or 8 at the moment, not an easy team to play or score against.
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So where is our squad depth? We had to play a bloody youngster because we don’t have 5 world class players for every position like every other team in the world has and look what happened. We only won 3 – 1. Disgrace.
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Yaya!
United fans in the bar I am sitting in are just silent and slack jawed incredulity at the performance of the manure.
Ha bloody ha.
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One man team?
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@Gains
Do you mean Fergusson or Van Judas? (banned smiley thing)
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