I had hoped Ian Holloway would hang on at least until I’d written my Crystal Palace preview. He is the only real connection I had with today’s lunchtime opponents. I used to watch Ian from the cold stone steps of Twerton Park as he plied his trade for a then homeless Bristol Rovers during their most successful period in yonks. His playing style was akin to Matthieu Flamini but with goals. In Bristolian the word goal is pronounced to rhyme with ball (sounding more like gall) hence our terrace chant of “Holloway, Holloway, Holly Holloway, He gets the ball – he scores a goal, Holly Holloway.” He was one of those combative, no frills, all action midfielders who inspire team mates and supporters alike and even though he comes across these days as more than a little bit deranged he still holds a special place in my heart.
But of course he’s gone now and so I can’t really include him here. The only other image that immediately springs to mind when I consider our hosts is the Crystal Palace kit from the late seventies that looked like a cigarette packet. You remember – the white one with the diagonal flash like a pack of Embassy Blue Regal. These days they dress better but remain one of those sides who flirt with the big time and then slip away from view for a few more years. I must say their early results this time around don’t suggest that will change any time soon. In fact if it wasn’t for the truly woeful form of Sunderland (the only side Palace have beaten thus far) then the Eagles would be anchoring the bottom of the table, already adrift and with the outlook bleak.
We have had few notable dealings with them in the transfer market over the years. In fact all that I can recall is a couple of centre forwards one from them to us and one from us to them. Whether Marouane Chamakh will go on to enjoy a similar level of success with Palace as Ian Wright did with Arsenal remains to be seen, stranger things have happened I suppose, but the portents are not encouraging. Big Nic Bendtner was rumoured to be heading their way for a while and may be sat in the dugout this afternoon wondering at how curious life can turn out sometimes, let’s face it, if the Pulis rumours are true then our Danish sumo star must surely consider himself the single luckiest man in football today.
According to a bloke at work the game today represents a massive potential banana skin for Arsenal. Bill gets his views straight from the back pages and Sky Sports News. You can readily imagine how stilted our conversations are whenever sport is on the agenda. I employ him as a pundit barometer. I don’t need to read the gutter press nor watch gutter television to know which way their hot air is blowing, I just listen to Bill. He even likes the odd wager so certain is he of his sources and the veracity of their editorial line. In the last couple of seasons he has gleefully shaken hands with me on, among other things, Arsène’s demise. Out by Christmas was a recent prediction and that was a fiver I happily removed from his wallet. This time around however something is stirring. Arsenal are looking good this year. Arsenal have splashed the cash and have been transformed into title contenders. Arsenal, get this, have a great looking squad. Seriously. From the same people who told us all summer long how thin and weak our squad is, we now learn that the same squad bar an awful lot of departures and only one notable addition is significantly stronger. But, Bill warned me, title contenders and top teams can often come unstuck at places like Selhurst Park. Just when everyone expects you to win, you turn in a lousy performance or hit the woodwork and have goals disallowed and nailed on penalty appeals turned down.
OK so we all know these things do happen but if we have serious aspirations to the title this season we simply cannot allow such aberrations. I don’t believe in banana skins nor in bad luck costing you over the long haul. Yes maybe in knock-out competitions. Let’s face it if Chelsea can win the Champions League then it proves that anyone can win any cup tournament with phenomenal good fortune and a string of silly unlikely results. Not the Premiership though. Consistency, a settled, balanced squad with good injury cover in the reserves and one or maybe two players having the season of their lives. That’s what wins titles. I think our problem so far with that list is that we have only one player in absolutely dazzling all out amazing form and the fact that he is so very very young places a hell of a burden on his shoulders. It’s no coincidence that when Aaron is relatively quiet we don’t look so threatening. The problem as I see it is that he is still learning the game and at his age will suffer dips in form and won’t be able to achieve his best week in week out. When Bergkamp or Henry did it for us in the past they had been at the very top of the tree for long enough to deal with the demands of a long season. I think we need one of the senior players to stay injury free and get his performances up to the levels achieved by the man who is so far our player of the season.
I don’t care who the player is. Olivier Giroud has shown he can provide as well as score and if he does both or either every week he could well be the man. Santi has all the attributes, Mesut is still finding his feet in the hurly burly of the Prem so it might be too big an ask this early in his Arsenal career. As I say it could be anyone but it has to be someone. Football is a team game but successful teams have stand out players. It’s similar to cricket in this respect. In cricket no match is ever won by everybody getting forty five runs. Someone steps up and hits a ton. Aaron shows he has the skill, the lungs and right now the confidence to be that man, but when you factor in the time he has lost to that unspeakable assault at the hands of a Pulis protégé we are talking about a guy with equivalent experience of a twenty year old. It’s a hell of an ask for him to boss the midfields of every top side we face between now and May. I’ve said it before, if only Tomas was five years younger; the cruelty of the injuries suffered by Arsène’s squads over recent seasons cannot be underestimated.
So to the match. It’s an early kick off, so don’t get caught out by that. If you have the free BT channel my advice is using live pause to synchronise the timing, have the commentary on Arsenal Player and the pictures on your telly. Don’t whatever you do subject yourself to Michael Owen’s soporific insights, they will drain every ounce of pleasure you might otherwise derive from the spectacle. Of course if you’re lucky enough to be at the match you don’t need to concern yourself with such niceties, you can just sing your heart out and be the twelfth man that the away support so often is. Arsène was cagey about Jack after his ankle problems in midweek so I’m guessing he might be rested, but hey – what do any of us know? Plenty thought Aaron should be rested when he was at a similar stage in his rehabilitation as that through which Jack is currently playing. Form unpredictable, only flashes of what he is truly capable, often played out of position lacking a little composure and consistency – the parallels are obvious. Far from resting him Arsène played Aaron at every opportunity and if he feels the same will work with Jack then who are we to second guess him? With that in mind I expect the side to be similar to the Dortmund game with Santi in for Jack being the only change, after all they will want to redeem themselves and they’ll get a rest for the league cup game when the reserves will have a run out. So, given the unlikelihood of these predictions ever being correct, expect wholesale changes from Tuesday’s line up.
OK, it’s an early one so I’m off to walk the dogs and get myself in the mood. See you here later.
Positively Arsenal 
And that’s it. Well done by Giroud, Ramsey class as usual. Really loving the resilience shown by this team, even with a man down. Props to Szcz who pulled off two world class saves in the space of 15 seconds.
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Gr*t
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Great win for us.
I didnt think it was a red for Arteta. Usually that sort of a foul results in a yellow.
How good were our back 5?
Beautiful assist by Ramsey, good finish by Giroud.
Very good and gritty to win this game.
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Chamakh barged into Arteta, not the other way around…..it was not a sending off…..
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What a match! What a team! 10 men down, 2 nil up, away from home, and come on guys, lets score a third. Giroud is a beast! A beast!
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That is what I thought too Georgaki, but I thought it would be a foul for the arm across and shoving. Chamakh shoved too. Both their legs got tangled and they fell down. It was an accident. I hope we appeal, but knowing the FA….
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Very solid performance from the back five in the second half, Szcz run of good form continues. Beyond that I am puzzled. I think we were unlucky to come out of Tuesday’s tie with nothing and Palace might well feel the same today. For a side doomed to relegation they did not seem to realise it. At times in the second half we seemed to stop playing footballing, passing, keeping possession, in fact all the things we are good at. Most odd.
Three points is three points I suppose
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A harsh sending off to be sure but Foy saw it I guess an appeal would be doomed
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No comment on the offcial who didn’t seem to know the rules *coughs*.
If Flamini is out for the Chelsea game as well I wonder if Hayden will get a go?
–
Very enjoyable second goal. Heh! Monreal showing focus and intensity off the bench again, what a fantastic signing* he was. Good stuff.
*Ruthless but that’s what every one wanted! What a crazy rebuild it was. Now, as everyone here understands, we’re in a position to look forward to seeing the ‘second XI’ for the return of Maureen and Chelsea, plus Per I think – France have the bigger games coming up and the BFG may well get a bit of a rest in the next ‘lull from his national manager. I hope Ryo & Akpom get a chance for some minutes.
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Well it is not looking good for those who are convinced the manager is hopeless in autumn. What a performance from the boys against a very motivated, organized Palace at home. 1-man down but we win decisively.
On a related note, even more props to Steww, who months ago when the gutter press and gutter blogs were doing their best to damn Giroud, stood up defiantly and wrote his ode to Larry Giroud, using Sir Laurence Olivier, one of the greatest English actors as a metaphor for the quality of our relentless Frenchman.
Nothing less than we have come to expect from Positively Arsenal.
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I seem to have missed that post on Giroud. Any idea, which month it was posted on?
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Anicoll5 at 2:49 pm
“…At times in the second half we seemed to stop playing footballing, passing, keeping possession, in fact all the things we are good at. Most odd.”
Seeing that shattered look of key players like Ozil and Giroud at the end of the game is testimony to the effort it took us to win this game. Stuff of champions, no?
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Crouchy get in! *IBSF*
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I certainly could not doubt any lack of effort from our players Shotta – we ran our legs off, as did Palace. There was a phase in the second half though when we seemed to boot the ball up toward Giroud, all on his own, and every time it would come back and Palace would be pressing us again. In the end we seemed to wake up and started playing football again, passing, keeping it, making the opposition work, then scoring through OG, but for 10-15 mins it was like we were relegation fodder and Palace were Barcelona !
Not like us at all – am I being nit picking ?
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Nacho looked really buzzed. Good stuff.
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How about that Nacho Monreal? He gave the team the bit of pace it needed and he looked really good running at his defender.
.
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The ref really screwed us over by giving Arteta a red. He’ll miss both the Liverpool and United games.
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EPL refereeing. What a joke.
Stoke still one up.
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Gains – Not sure but I think it’s only a one game ban.
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*cackles*
ManIOU equalise, straightaway Stoke score again: 1-2.
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Isn’t a straight red a three game ban, Fin?
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If i remember correctly like Per last season I think it’ll only be for one game.
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Its only 3 for violent conduct Gains.
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3-2. Jinxed it. My fault.
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BOOM SHAKA SHAKA BOOM….
nice win and we should definitely contest that red card. Such a bulshivik call.
Chamacaroony took MIKEL out not the other way around. Ref blew that one.
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I am seeing the Barcelona Real Madrid game. I see that our team has the quality and more of these teams. We have the girt and also dont have their playacting. We need to believe in ourselves when we face these big name teams with a reputation. Like we did against Bayern. This team can step up to that level and maintain it.
You would think that with so much experience in diving, these players would be good at faking it by now. Ronaldo gets caught at his ankles and he goes down clutching his shin, higher up on his leg. Shows you that some people are bad actors no matter how much experience they have.
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OMG. Why didn’t I read this article before watching the game? I could’ve missed the commentary from BT Sports, which riled me. I hadn’t considered listening to ArsPlaya commentary.
Instead, I suffered from what I saw and what I heard.
I’ve linked to my bitter rant to Untold, rather than copy and paste, so that if you’re not up for my diatribe you can simply skip it. The lunchtime KO, having shopped in the morn, following a not-much-kip night didn’t help me, I guess):
http://blog.emiratesstadium.info/archives/32171#comment-742035
ZimPaul, Interesting personal footy stuff there.
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We won you know?
Where is everyone?
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Steww wrote these prophetic words about Giroud on at Positively Arsenal on February 2, 2013:
“As it turned out that wouldn’t be the first time Olivier (or Larry as he should surely be known) missed by a scintilla or fluffed his lines in front of goal and the anti Arsenal press had their all too predictable field day making negative comparisons with his predecessor and labelling him a flop and generally trying to turn us against the new boy and thus rob him of our vocal or written support. I think his Arsenal career would have started very differently and brought many more if different pressures had that goal gone in. I think he’d have settled more quickly and people would have forgiven him for not being Thierry/Denis/Persie all rolled into one.
….
“I also have to confess that for the first time ever I have taken to a bought in transfer window player. A man who should have taken a season to win me round had me in that one sparkling moment of near brilliance back in August. There’s just something very Arsenal about him.” High praise indeed.
Nine months later, the reactionaries who were all screaming for a world class striker all through the summer to the close of the transfer window, have now caught up with our Steww. Give him his props.
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maybe cos it was early kick off they’ve all gone out
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pedantic george at 7:31 pm
Well you know fro Twitter I was watching El Classico and trying to calm down all who are panicking because Flamini will be out for 3 weeks. Arteta and Rambo will simply do what they did last year, which is helping us to being second in the league in Goals Allowed.
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I thought our two most technical players were very poor today. also with both Santi and Ozil floating Gibbs could only play one pass up the line the whole of the first half and kept having to come inside or pass backwards this reduced our width considerably.
It makes me wonder if playing both together unbalances the side
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aOB – we won’t know until Mesut is playing in his proper position.
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Thanks for the link to the post Shotta and very good post on Giroud, Steww. Yeah, that dipping shot told us how good he was going to be.
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Jess
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Nice pre match as ever steww.
Happy enough with that result today. Fortunately Arteta will only miss the one game I believe and that will be the capital one cup on Tues. Fingers crossed for Flamini news over next couple days or so.
palace flooded the midfield and their care taker chappie must be chuffed with his stand in work I feel. They did very well against us all things considered… but ultimately patience is a huge virtue and class will out when it matters it seems.
I look forward to Theo’s return as, while we have a more than capable group of players I do believe the extra ‘nip’ he shows and having that person to get behind and give our talented middle of the park fellows a useful extra option will be huge. Gnabry showed today that a touch of with and bit of speed is a very useful picklock to have in one’s napsack
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I should drink less on match days, my punctuation goes out the bloody window
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Manure have gone above City.
But City have a game in hand tomorrow.
….Hull City.
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3 games back to back down the pub.
Palace fans were superb. They made their team make a game of it.
That was 3 points hard earned.
Giroud is a legend.
I feel so dirty wanting the orcs to win, I was shouting da da da da da Mordor!
Hernandez is the only scumbag I rate from the red scum. I would be very happy if we got him in the next window. We will destroy that team in old Trafford on the 10th November.
And finally, really mad lost, with a monkey on their back.
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GG 11:52am
I’m only back home, post match.
I broke a mates ribs once, not really deliberately but I went right through him.
I never ever went in studs up with both legs, but Dixon was my idol and I had plenty of trailing leg tackles at left back.
No one got past me. The second time, at least.
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A beautiful photo Steww.
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Arsenal v Liverpool next weekend looks massive.
Old school indeed.
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Giroud was absolutely knackered today, but still managed to run onto Ramsey’s cross.
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Stoke should have had more nous to get the draw, at least.
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MOTD
Hansen is officially insane.
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Tune in early tomorrow for my epic match review.It could run into thousands of words.
Then again……………..
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Arsenal can’t win the league say Al, because Arteta got sent off. Or summat. I struggled to quite quite follow his f*cking argument. Ah, we got caught on the break a few times over the last few seasons. I think that was the gist of it. Unimpeachable logic. Worth a million a year or whatever he’s paid.
Not one single solitary passing mention of the probable wrongness of that red card.
Alan Hansen and his enormous crystal ball(s). Arse.
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Now don’t be unkind to Hansen. Don’t forget that the BBC has to demonstrate that, as an employer, it does not discriminate on grounds of race, gender, creed, sexual orientation . . . . . . . . . . . . or ability.
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don’t call this early George wake up you lazy git ive been up for 2 hours wheres the review
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I think we were patient in the first half but and created moments not exactly chances but moments where a little bounce here or there and we would of scored. like I said earlier it worries me when keiran has so much of the ball and could only play it forward once in the first half without having to come inside or lay it back it definitely slows us down Bacs on the other hand was doing well down the right. After going one up this is where we seem to have lost it, after being heavily criticised in midweek for being naïve, we then decided to attack with all eleven players even tech9 in the box I think ( maybe not but I’m ‘exaggerating my point ). This led to Arteta’s sending off had palace scored then the game would have been very difficult. having already seen Flamini go off through injury we the had to replace Gnarby after he received a knock and a covering position for Arteta meaning none of the subs were made through choice. I heard Ozil had been suffering a cold in midweek and I think I would have taken him off had Gnarby not got the dead leg. He seemed to attack like a sunday league player and not like the world class star we all know he is. Anyway jack returning to the middle imposed some much needed force into the midfield especially with palace pushing forward and with the Duracell Ramsey and hard working Giroud the game was won with three minutes of normal time to play. Aarons attempted copy of Thierry’s inter goal only differentiated by a delightful chip cross on to head of the thoroughly knackered Giroud who absolutely bust a gut to get there.
Even then with three minutes of normal time and four of extra we still did not play keep ball or corner flag but continued to attack usually outnumbered and futile a lesson in how to concede possession. All in all this was a good three points but we do need to play more with our heads, this is a very very good squad and with some discipline only good things will come
There you go George go back to sleep mate
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