Top of the league and top of the world.
I used to love cars. Spent a fortune on them over the years.
The one I loved the most was a 1966 MGB Roadster. I bought it in 1990, it had been restored lovingly to concourse condition by an enthusiast who came on hard times during that particular recession.
I saw the pictures of it before the chap had worked his magic. Even then it looked nice and he said it had always been reliable. But afterwards? Oh, it was a thing of beauty. Stainless steel wire wheels, leather upholstery – the whole nine yards.
Of course he might have not bothered and simply sold it and bought a nice new Golf GTi. Thankfully he didn’t. He worked with what he had and in the end he produced a work of art. Can you see where this is going?
Yes? Thought so.
Well our wonderful set of players are quickly turning into a thing of beauty. Just as my MGB was.
Even when, like yesterday, it’s just cruising around in second gear.
I thought yesterday was a very professional job. We started off totally dominant although never getting into top gear. After the Welsh Wizard scored the opener, we dropped back into second. And paid the price. Not that an equalizer had looked on the cards, but we had stopped dominating.
But what happened next?
Well we moved up into third again and wrested control back. And it looked like we could , if need be, move through the gears further if it became necessary. It looked to me that the many games this eleven has played recently meant they were happy to conserve energy and win with as little physical exertion as possible. That’s what we did.
Three points and top of the league.
I don’t want to go over the top in praise of the team, because it could come back to bite me on the bum.
However, I am as happy with this team and squad as I have been since 2004.
I love this bunch of lads and I love what I am seeing.
Happy days.
Positively Arsenal 
anyway….later…
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Hunter – no-one here is knocking Wenger.
It’s your denial of history and your failure to understand its role in the development of the club that is causing the problem here.
It is your refusal to place the happy position the club now finds itself in, into any kind of context against what has gone before which is, given your forensically thorough understanding of Arsene’s achievements, frankly quite odd.
I just don’t understand why you feel the need to re-cast Arsene’s achievements in this way – effectively pedastalling his contribution by running down and marginalising everything else relating to the club and to the wider game in this country.
His outstanding record speaks for itself.
Why muddy otherwise clear waters?
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My friend, you sound like an ignorant person who ignores history in order to win an argument. In the process you’re insulting the club we love. So kindly shut the fuck up and drop this stupid argument. Thank you.
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and you sound like someone who came here and just butted in the discussion without reading its origins and like a typical elder seeks to patronise……. i have explained that there might be a misinterpretation in what you understand as class and what i understand the word as and i have also mentioned noone has to agree with what i say …therefore the whole of your previous post (3:40) is a mistake …next time i wont be as polite…
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ArsenalAndrew
mate i aint recasting anything….i see a club that was going nowhere finding a leader/manager that took the club to places unimaginable before….. others see a club that was always big and wenger just being a part in an already illustrious history of success and big(ness)….
i am not disrespecting anything or anyone and sorry if it came out that way.
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oh and gains…none of the others i have talked to in this discussion ever gave me the impression that we were having an arguement or have something to settle…so why dont you keep it down on the antagonising part huh……
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Sorry George,
oh what have I done.
Once you pull the pin out of a hunter grenade, there is no putting it back in.
Still, we cant be accused of not having lively debate on here!
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“In taking such a stance you only undermine your own credibility and encourage some to question ALL your arguments – including those that are so rightly supportive of Arsene Wenger. ”
im sorry how does anything ive said undermine whatever “credibility” one can have ? is it a lie that we were a bit shit before wenger (in the broader sense, lets not get into specifics) and that with wenger we are something which is TOTALLY different to anything we have been in our history? is this a lie ? no it isnt. i might be delivering it a bit harsh ( which ive said wasnt my intention) but it aint a lie.
On the contrary people calling arsenal shit today, now that is something based either on lies or a personal dislike of the manager.
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Hunter
Most of us old heads were supporting Arsenal long before Wenger came to the club.
We always believed that Arsenal is something special and a bit more of a class above the others.
No one here is disputing that Arsene Wenger isn’t an amazing manager or has not done wonders for our Club and for the culture of football in general.
Long may it continue too.
You are preaching to the converted on here, mate.
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Still, we cant be accused of not having lively debate on here!
lol nah man i hate the word debate…i aint debating anything with anyone…gains got a bit fired up but i remained cool..i could so easily have gone off with such patronising bollocks…this is not the place for that.
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Hunter
Save the wrath for the unbelievers.
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“…..but I remained cool”
hehe.
Hate to see you lose it. (banned smiley face).
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The history of the club does not start at some arbitrary point,it starts when the club was founded.
Arsenal have always been class-End of !
Hunter I feel your arguments is better made against English football.
Lets have no falling out.
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We always believed that Arsenal is something special and a bit more of a class above the others.
what with merson? and the others?….. special? …..
feeling special is ok just when this is translated as big and successfull i object a little bit… i dont see us being at any point in our history the equivelant to the real big and successfull sides of europe…traditionally speaking. only under wenger can we make a claim to join those clubs…..
all clubs fans think/feel their club is special……i have only felt it when it comes to arsenal because of wenger, nobody else. maybe others saw this @special@ thing in gg or in adams…..i didnt.
its what ive said in previous posts about fans identifying more with eras of their football club…i can not identify with the neanderthal practices of the gg era…for others those were the years that defined their special bond to arsenal perhaps…for me it was wenger vieira bergkamp henry pires…. in that order.
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“i can not identify with the neanderthal practices of the gg era”
Well then why are you slating it ? Some great players, great games, great history, a few trophies – same as there will be when we look back on the Wenger era.
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but im not slating it anicol ..im calling it what it was…..primitive in comparison to what wenger brought later on
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and anicoll…it is a bit of a farce for those who were satisfied with that era to throw their toys out the pram for the riches experienced in the wenger era……presenting his era as one taking us backwards even…lol…
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Hunter
I feel you see things the way a born-again believer does about their pre-change life, it has to be deliberatate to be made all the worse, only so that the new way of life and outlook appear even better.
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Harry might be enjoying this.
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And Wenger will be regarded as ‘primitive’ by whatever happens next presumably Hunter – a few years down the line we will have a couple of Martians in the starting line up and a genetically modified orangutan between the posts
A Dalek at full back would be handy to be fair – very reliable – no fitness issues – and it could exterminate Valencia if he tried to get past !!
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Yes, Arsenal were not on a high moral plateau in the 80’s, but that’s only one part of our story.
Football will bad in the UK, Riots, Thatcher, ID card fiasco, European Bans.
(things were even worse at Hillsboro and Heysel).
The Arsenal have survived it all for 127 years.
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Anicoll
We have a Terminator right now!
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*was bad
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Hunter,you are in a minority of one.That does not mean you are wrong,it does however mean you are unlikely to be right.
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Here is a good news story
Fran Merida – he was once a bright prospect for us, mentioned in the same breath as Jack and Aaron.
http://hereisthecity.com/2013/09/24/spanish-hail-ex-arsenal-man-after-becoming-first-in-49-years-to/
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Hunter you’ve just spent FIVE hours trying to prove a point most agree with above 50%.
It is simply your personal opinion. Others have theirs but they respect the clean air in here enough not to keep harping on their bagpipes.
Please, please ease off the pedal bro, it feels like Ateeb snuck up in here…
give us a break man.
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And Wenger will be regarded as ‘primitive’ by whatever happens next presumably
i dont agree. its difficult to top someone who is already today 100 years ahead of anyone else …
=================
Yes, Arsenal were not on a high moral plateau in the 80′s, but that’s only one part of our story.
but thats the part of the story that carries the most relevance for it is closer to our times and something we all more or less witnessed and can compare to the change brought by wenger….None of us here witnessed the 30’s did he/she….? ….
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pedantic george September 24, 2013 at 5:13 pm
lol i am right and you know it i just have difficulty finding the right words to put it in a way that doesnt offend…anyway….whats next…someone else chose a topic….mine are evry controversial…
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Hunter: “barcelona were known as LOSERS before the 2006 final……you knew that gains?”
No. Neither does anyone who has followed football for the last twenty years.
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Aman September 24, 2013 at 5:21 pm
i dont have to prove anything …bare in mind most of the transaction of messages today is me replying to people who got the wrong idea of what i was saying… i know what we were and what we are today….whoever wants to believe that we were powerful classy and traditional BIG boys of world football better recheck and tell me what he finds…
yes i agree 100% its harsh to say it like this : “we were shit and diabolical before wenger and thank god someone like him came and opened our eyes and showed us how its done with real fucking class and actual football” i know its harsh …but to me its much closer to the truth than the LIES thrown at arsenal and wenger the last decade.
first of all the accusation/mocking of us being a small feeder club started cause apparently arsenal was toooooooooo big to go 3, 4,5 ,6 years without wining the title……..you check the history and you see one league title in the space of 36 years and youre like “wtf ???”
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Gainsbourg69 September 24, 2013 at 5:37 pm
well maybe you werent attending the last 20 -25 years for they were reaching finals very regularly in european competitions but ended runners up most of times till they broke their spell of misfortune against us…
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It’s an interesting conversation, very informative too, wonderfully accurate, that’s the most important thing so don’t worry.
Semantics also plays some part in such discussions.
But my point to Hunter and others is simple: I suggest that Wenger himself, given his strength of character and honesty, would likely be dismayed at being held up as a kind of “I did it/dreamt it all myself” (superman) analogy. It would be historically inaccurate, there are no supermen, that is not how history works; that would be his main protest.
He is a man of facts, principle and indisputably a team player himself (let’s not forget the team around him). I would suggest that Wenger is a giant in the history of progressive thinkers and innovators (in football, but bigger than that, more football as a mass social/cultural phenomenon). The point is he subsists in line of great innovators, in his field of football management. That is kudos enough for any person in any field of human endeavor. My Mom would say, bless her, “comparisons are odious”. You cannot compare Wenger and Chapman. Each is an individual in their time and place, how does one compare, realistically, the weight of achievement without being there. Never-the-less, one leads to the other, that part is indisputable. Tomorrow there will be another, may not be at Arsenal, who will pay homage to Wenger. It is our privilege to be part of it and enjoy each painful, joyous step. The journey is more important than the destination.
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Hunter: “but thats the part of the story that carries the most relevance for it is closer to our times and something we all more or less witnessed and can compare to the change brought by wenger….None of us here witnessed the 30′s did he/she….? ….”
You weren’t around when Real Madrid and Ajax won most of their trophies, but you’re still awed by them. Why do you use a double standard to judge Arsenal’s past?
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Whatever you say, Hunter. If you think Barcelona were considered losers until 2006, then you and I have nothing else, football related, to talk about. Have a good day. Oh, and stop talking shit about our club. Thanks.
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Ying:
Walcott out for three weeks.
Yang with sugar coating:
Carzola a slight chance to return for Napoli. I kinda hope he’s fully rested but if there’s a chance he’ll probably insist on playing.
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Hunter: “lol i am right and you know it i just have difficulty finding the right words to put it in a way that doesnt offend…anyway….whats next…someone else chose a topic….mine are evry controversial…”
Hahahahahaha!!!!
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….with sugar coating and a cherry on top:
Gnabry with as decent a debut as we’d hoped for. Still annoyed with that crazy Venga that he got the start ahead of Ryo (IBSF) but it was the right game for it. I thought he did pretty damn well for an 18 year old on debut.
With Wally out the CC game becomes an audition between the two? I don’t think so, they are different players as we saw even with Ryo’s brief cameo on Saturday. Ryo is the senior player, three seasons of top flight footy under his belt albeit the last two with injury interruptions that have stopped him from wowing the wider public. And unfortunately stopped Arsenal fans from accepting that he has played on the ‘right’ so to speak. He’s played there enough not to be green at it.
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Hunter: “but thats the part of the story that carries the most relevance for it is closer to our times and something we all more or less witnessed and can compare to the change brought by wenger….None of us here witnessed the 30′s did he/she….? ….”
Real Madrid was Franco’s play thing while he ruled Spain with an iron fist. A.C. Milan is owned by a corrupt politician and was involved with the sport’s largest betting scandal ever less than a decade ago. I’m sure I can find similar stories for every club you deem “Big” if I cared about making you look dumber than you appear.
Arsenal has always followed a certain set of ideals. If those ideals have been ignored from time to time, it doesn’t make the club primitive or antiquated. Hell, a few drunks and druggies ain’t shit compared to the corruption which goes on in most big clubs. Now fuck off and stop bashing our club, you boring twat.
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#IWantMyPositivelyArsenalBack
#WhereHasMyPositivelyArsenalGone?
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i think we need to talk about floodlights, corner flags, numbers on shirts advancement in medical and training routines, state of the art stands ahead of their time and a complete change to the London underground map just off the top my head. Arsene is without doubt the biggest innovator English football has seen for years but in terms of our history he is certainly not the only one. money changing hands in football was a regular thing especially with the northern clubs and we played our part in changing that.
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You weren’t around when Real Madrid and Ajax won most of their trophies, but you’re still awed by them. Why do you use a double standard to judge Arsenal’s past?
perhaps thats why i talk about the real that won 3 in 6 years while its only you talking about franco…?…just saying
And Ajax is a club thats innovations and history and success is known to every football purist who searches history….they provide the stimulant to search further even if you arent a fan of theirs ………you didnt think for one second arsenal in whatever era holds a candle to them did you ? arsene is getting us there……or maybe you think michels chekced out how chapman was doing it in the 30s lol i dont know……the point being that non ajax fans worldwide would search to see what they did…how many non arsenal fans would ever search what chapman did ?
and yes barcelona were considered losers..always spending big and always run and gun…only after 40 years of cruyff teachings coupled with a generation that grew together did they reach the unprecedent heights they have enjoyed the last decade.
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Put Flamini out on the wing for the Swansea game.
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Gainsbourg69 September 24, 2013 at 6:03 pm
you making me look dumb..??? .ok thatt the 4th time you have insulted me …you can go fuck yourself you piece of shit and if arsenal ever has a chance of joining them BIG clubs you talk about its because of Wenger and nobody else as you can see from our history that for 110 years all the previous regimes did fuck all to bring arsenal at the level wenger has brought us today..with or without money…with or without scandals….
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#IWantMyPositivelyArsenalBack
Well I laughed Leo !
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http://blog.emiratesstadium.info/archives/30671
I read a comment that people had wondered what a “positive” blog would look like. I guess they must have forgotten ArsenalVision and Untold (“supporting The Lord Wenger” heh!”).
Hunter you’ll like the post linked.
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Hunter
Go have some Ritalin.
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yeay!
Rosicky back next week!
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Let me start by reminding you that Barcelona didn’t break their European duck duck in 2006. They broke their CL duck in 1992 against Sampdoria. That team was full of losers like Koeman, Guardiola, Stoichkov and Laudrup. Then they went on to win a couple of leagues with losers such as Rivaldo, De Boer, Kluivert, Romario, etc..
Seriously, I hate to defend Barcelona, but your comments are so wrong that I feel compelled to do so. See, when you ignore history, you don’t have a sound footing from whence to defend your comments. And if you ignore Football history from less than twenty years ago, then all of the parameters which you use to define a big club are out of kilter.
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LeoS @ 6.06pm
Anicoll 6.19pm
yes, funny.
Hunter would fight with his own shadow.
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Thats enough now.
I am now going to do a Yogi and threaten anyone.Once you are in,you are in.But please respect the idea of the site.That we are ALL positive supporters of Arsenal
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