I don’t usually watch Arsène’s duels with the press. Not that I don’t like hearing his dulcet tones and seeing that flash of a smile as he claps a stopper over some impudent line of questioning. Of course I derive a certain satisfaction from seeing him spear the occasional journalist, who doesn’t? Generally though I simply can’t bear to watch him wheeled out to face these reptiles every week. Those self styled voices of the people who in fact do not speak for you and I any more than Tim Payton speaks for the majority or even a tiny minority of Arsenal fans. I cannot stomach seeing such a cerebral, dignified man wasting his time deflecting leading questions and smiling in the teeth of such monumental disrespect as that with which the British media treat him. It puts one in mind of a room full of deaf men throwing faeces at Johan Sebastian Bach. Brilliance gnawed at by vermin.
Yesterday I made an exception and I found a way around the problem. The trick is to mute the sound as Arsène gazes off to the left or right with that faint hint of amused tolerance playing around the corners of his lips and increase the volume as he gives the little shrug which usually precedes a response to some inane question or other. He was so relaxed and eloquent yesterday. Modest to a fault as he hinted that signing a new contract wouldn’t take much persuasion and at the same time suggesting that his further employment wasn’t a top priority right now. This is the single most important man at the club bar none and yet we never see a scintilla of arrogance, not a shred of hubris. He frightened us a little with talk of Theo being as much as five weeks away and by revealing that Aaron and the Flaminator needed fitness tests, but it wasn’t what he said so much as his air that grabbed my attention. He has such vast and supreme experience in the world of football that he knows all too well how swiftly events can turn around and just how shifting and insubstantial a run of good results can sometimes prove to be. Yet he looked like a man on top of the world right now. Like a Mafia boss who has just received word that the heads of the other four families have been wiped out, and until their lieutenants can reorganise he is the supreme authority in the city. Of course first can swiftly become fifth, we know that and he knows it better than anyone but he is a man who was born to be top. Made to lead. Destined for greatness. All I’m saying is the frown was gone the smile was back and it was like basking in unseasonably warm Autumn sunshine. I nearly took my shirt off.
Arsène mentioned his opposite number in this afternoon’s clash. He liked Laudrup as a player and singled out his Scandinavian and Dutch football education as important. The man has essentially learned to play the game as it should be played. I’ve only seen his Swansea side once this season and I have to say I remain an admirer of the way they try to go about their business. They are as shy of hoofing the thing out of defence as are we and that is to their credit. Unfortunately the game I watched was on this year’s Jonjo Shelvey Day and was such a crazy affair that I couldn’t form any coherent sense of their strengths and weaknesses. I do remember thinking that Michu seemed a shoe in for this season’s Dimitar Berbatov award. He strolled languidly about the place as if on a sightseeing tour of South Wales whilst somehow contriving to maintain an air of suppressed menace suggesting he could at any given moment produce a devastating blow seemingly from nothing. Overall though on the rare moments when one could focus on anything but Jonjo’s Flying Circus the match showed us that the Swans can be intricate, inventive and incisive up front but will give the opposition a lot of space to work with at the back. Naturally if I can see that, then their coaching staff can too and there’s no guarantee that they will make similar mistakes against us.
Unlike last week when we had to break down Mark Hughes and his merry men, the games against Swansea are among those to which I most look forward. You can take it as read that I’m happy to see us play regardless of the opposition but it is so much more enjoyable when the match is between two teams dedicated to passing football. I know I’m out of step with the prevailing blogging mantra of The Only Thing That Matters Is The Three Points but seriously, come on, if that were true then no one would watch the game at all. We’d all just tune into Sports Report and listen intently as James Alexander Gordon does his thing. I want to enjoy the football. I want a spectacle. Win lose or draw I want an hour and a half of entertainment. You could of course argue that we got that in our midweek fixture. Nail biting end to end, sliding tackling, blood and thunder entertainment, and you’d be quite correct. But the great man has spoiled us with season after season of Wengerball and now we’ve become habituated to champagne let’s be honest, Vimto doesn’t quite deliver any more.
So to this afternoon, or if you prefer this evening. The only question I have is whether or not Arsène will start with Serge in lieu of Theo. He hinted that he might not, three games in a week being quite an ask for one so young. If the boy has recovered from his exertions against West Brom, I suspect he will start. If the kid is to be our temporary replacement on the right wing then the more he plays and the better those around him get to know and grow confident in him, the happier things must be for the team. Having said that I bet I’m not alone on relishing another glimpse of Chuba Akpom running at an opposition defence. His cameo on Wednesday was blistering; brimming with confidence speed and strength and the boy is surely not far away from the first team. Don’t panic though I’m no armchair strategist, God knows we don’t need any more of those. In any event Arsène is entirely capable of surprising us all and playing both Arteta and the Flaminizer together, pushing Jack left and The Wonder That Is Aaron Ramsay out to the right with Mesut Özil behind Goal A Game in a sort of 4 2 1 3, or 4 2 2 1 1. Honestly? I don’t have a clue but that’s fine because no one does with the possible exception of Steve Bould and even then only if Arsène has thought to tell him. As I’ve said many times, if you want predictions visit a fortune teller.
All I do know is that we are in an extremely ebullient mood on our travels these days. We may not have turned the Emirates into a fortress but we have made of ourselves extremely unwelcome house guests to whose visits no one looks forward with any relish. And it isn’t only Arsenal fans who are aware of our away form. A quick skim through the Swansea blogs reveals they are all talking about our phenomenal record away from London. We can pontificate on the reasons for this, we can fear that the bubble must one day burst, or we can just sit back and relish the fact that slowly but surely we are starting matches with the opposition already wondering how they might get anything from the game. It’s a place we’ve been once before in our recent past. All of course thanks to the man with the warm smile and the confident air. I don’t say we’re back to that amazing period in our history where we just never believed anyone would beat us, but the signs are at the very least promising. The confidence is returning both in the stands and on the pitch. For now all we can do is to keep the pressure on and hope the runners in the pack start to falter.
Positively Arsenal 
Blogging Ambrosia Stew.An absolute joy to read.If Carlsberg did bloggers….
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“deaf men throwing faeces at Johan Sebastian Bach”
Glorious.
Sensational,
I refute the accusation of Soberism. I distrust those who don’t drink, because they often believe themselves superior and have caused untold amounts of harm. I am wary of those who drink but don’t get drunk as they are hiding something. And, of course, one should never trust any kind of substance abuser. In short, I am wary of everyone. Admittedly, some less than others. Arsene Knows More Than I Ever Will (AKMTIEW).
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Scene nicely set Steww.
I wonder if, given out stunning away form, Swansea will play a more guarded game and hope to hit us on the break.
Or is that what they WANT us to think?!
It’s been a very interesting week for press conferences and interviews; the ones featuring Kroenke and Arsene have added to our body of knowledge about the club. Confirmation of much of what we have long been arguing has been flying around like so much confetti. Although we are only ever 90 minutes away from the reappearance of the naysayers, one senses their numbers are going into decline with every passing victory.
In terms of squads and team development, I firmly believe we are one or two transfer windows away from having a world class side with depth, options and youth in near equal measure.
And no disappointing result – or even a sequence of disappointing results – is going to change this.
Enjoy the game!
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I like the idea of both Flam and Arteta. Most of his career, Mikel has played in a more offensive role.
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Mickey
” I distrust those who don’t drink”
I’m sorry to hear that. In what way has my lifelong battle with alcoholism caused me to lose your trust?
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A brilliant way to start the day Stew, lets hope jonjoe gives us a goal as he seems to do with all his old clubs
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Good grief Stew – reading that I could almost believe you were going to watch the game this early evening in expectation of seeing a good football contest, between two sides who have plenty of talented ball players on the roster. I could almost, incredible as it seems, sense the result may be less important than the process.
clearly you are missing out on the sphincter squeezing hold your breath edge of the seat terror of ‘it’s a must win game’
A shocking development
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Andrew – thanks for the Carragher link in the Mail
Gobsmacked as Jamie would say
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steww, anyone who faces up to a painful truth about themselves is worthy of respect and trust. you, i trust more than most. have an addictive personality myself. please disregard my maladroit attempt at lighthearted banter. but the point about trust was valid, i think.
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when playing art and flam it doesn’t necessary mean one will play further forward when playing away sometimes we play a double anchor with one of them venturing forward only when needed
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John Cross isn’t bad.
He got a nice reward for good behaviour of getting the the Stan Kroenke interview.
http://www.mirrorfootball.co.uk/opinion/blogs/mirror-football-blog/My-decade-with-Arsenal-by-John-Cross-article265137.html
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Good piece stew enjoyed it immensely
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dc, that was a good piece but am I living in a different world, I cant believe the deluded john cross thinks a) the press are kind to ARSENAL and ARSENE and b) reporters don’t have favourites is he sure sam Wallace thinks chelski shit smells lovely.
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Steww is a superstar! Top writing as usual, sir.
“Brilliance gnawed at by vermin”
That quote sums up Arsene Wenger and his detractors. To. The. Tee.
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Does anyone else here wonder when Steww is going to be picked up by Arsenal.com? Sign him up on a long term deal, George!
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owen is talking shit everywhere today. no wonder there is no top manager from england in a loooooong while. the last was sir bobby robson.
we a really short due to injuries at the moment. we have to play players out of their natural position or play young players. i’ll like us to play arteta and flamini together today so as to task swans to try break us if they can. maybe ozil can help in wide position and allow ramsey to play behind giroud. we can then bring gnabry and some youngsters in later to run at their defenders.
any scoreline that gives us 3 points is fine with me.
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Quoting Anicoll5 “clearly you are missing out on the sphincter squeezing hold your breath edge of the seat terror of ‘it’s a must win game”
I have to admit I snorted in my glass when I read that. LOL
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I think the bench could be important today I hope Chuba and Alex Iwobi are on the bench as that will give us not only different options but speed as well. I would imagine Ryo will start today.
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Sav,anyone who knows me will understand that the consequences of an attempted poach of Stew would be dire.
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Besides, we’ve got the keys to the room Steww’s banged up in.
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Lovely stuff Stew, Arsene & the reptiles? I like it, fancy us today,think this will be Ozills day or the prince of Cardiff.
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Did Owen actually write that Arsenal are not top 4 material? We are guaranteed to win the league then… that that settled. Shock horror indeed… an ex ‘Pool man talking like his ex ‘Pool mates – Hansen and Lawro.
When Mark Lawro declared that ‘pool had the most balanced team and would remain at the top for long, they promptly fell to 3rd position that very weekend. LOL.
Oh and Steww, well written
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You can keep your 7am,Angry of N5 & Arse2mouses-we’ve got Stew Black!
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its official Stew does live in a locked room
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I don’t like it when people compliment a blogger when its standard stuff.But every time I read one of Stew’s posts I get a feeling of pride that he writes for Positively Arsenal.
It really does set us apart.
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giroud is due for a goal or two today. i really want his goal scoring for to continue. although he is a guy who contributes more than goals to the team.
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I’ve been looking forward to this game too. Can’t wait. Had forgotten that Jonjo had a spell in the Arsenal youth teams. He would have played alongside LJW and others?
–
Both Gnabry and Ryo looked dead on their feet in extra time. Given that Ryo’s been recovering from long lay offs and had an interrupted pre-season I’m gonna guess that Serge will start. Though it would be nice to see Akpom too!
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I don’t like repeating the same complements to Steww and the rest of the gang after each post, but as someone who seems to know töp töp quality when he sees it said “A Positive Arsenal blog is like a beautiful woman. When you do not tell her, she forgets she is beautiful.”
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actually George your team is overflowing with talent and needs to be kept together to win trophies although the beautiful free flowing writing is a joy to behold
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It’s going to be a great game of proper football.
The swans on a good day can look a bit like Arsenal lite (87.5% pass completion rate)
They out Arsenaled Arsenal last season at the Ems, but their home record at the moment is poor, and our away record is great.
So I guess the tea leafs at the bottom up the cup might suggest an upset.
Personally, I’d be happy if we can come away with a draw, a win would be an outstanding achievement considering we have so many games to play.
UTA
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The evil of two lessers game is up first.
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It puts one in mind of a room full of deaf men throwing faeces at Johan Sebastian Bach. Brilliance gnawed at by vermin.
*stands up and claps
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the difference with this ARSENAL side is although we always want possession we can win without it. we have many injuries going away to a very good side but are mostly confident because we have added so much to our game. the team spirit and sheer determination to pull through together makes us a much better side and we seem to be growing all the time. the game in midweek was always going to be difficult but the side put out seem to have the same vibe as the first team.
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Hunter
Pearls before swine.
(That’s Wenger’s presses, not Steww and us!)
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i too will love to see akpom at some point in the game but his tracking back is still an issue.
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DC – that beautiful woman comment came courtesy of Swiss Harry, I think …
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Moe’s giving the LWC’s every chance of winning with his antique team selection.
A draw would be best for us, and 6 red cards.
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Absolute class Steww.
You have a way of expressing yourself that is so refreshingly honest that makes this reader just nod in agreement or simply burst out laughing. My favorites were the following:
“I cannot stomach seeing such a cerebral, dignified man wasting his time deflecting leading questions and smiling in the teeth of such monumental disrespect as that with which the British media treat him. It puts one in mind of a room full of deaf men throwing faeces at Johan Sebastian Bach. Brilliance gnawed at by vermin.”
“Yet he looked like a man on top of the world right now. Like a Mafia boss who has just received word that the heads of the other four families have been wiped out, and until their lieutenants can reorganize he is the supreme authority in the city.”
“But the great man has spoiled us with season after season of Wengerball and now we’ve become habituated to champagne let’s be honest, Vimto doesn’t quite deliver any more.”
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Andrew,
I sure it’s a Wengerism, but certainly it’s something that Swiss Harry would say too…
If I recall correctly the fast show sketches usually went along the lines of “……… Something inane……. Is like making love to a beautiful woman…….”by Swiss Toni.
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Has the world turned upside down?
Dukey wants a new contract for Wenger.
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DC – it was indeed Swiss Tony of Fast Show fame that I was alluding to; couldn’t resist referencing dear old Harry while I was at it.
The Wengerism you may be referring to is the ‘at home everybody thinks they have the loveliest wife’ line (that’s not it exactly btw).
My goodness, this London derby is a dull affair …
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No Andrew,
The ‘must tell her she is beautiful’ line is another Wenger quote.
Spuds 1 up, unsurprisingly.
Expect the chavs to do a lot of kicking at the spuds in the second half.
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Don’t recall that particular gem DC but then there have been so many.
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It was Arsene who said it Andrew
10) “A football team is like a beautiful woman. When you do not tell her, she forgets she is beautiful.”
http://www.football365.com/news/8750/5643990
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There are some real gems in that list!
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We will probably be third by the time of kick off in Swansea,
That’s an incentive for the team to respond to.
Chelsea don’t look like a top 4 team.
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The scum showing up Mourinho and the chavs. Dire, negative tactics and team selection exposed.
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Yes Shotta
That’s how he got sacked the first time around.
Rafa was better than that.
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one of the worst things about this game is we don’t know what will be a good result until the end of the season
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The shit has scored.
1-1
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