Today a guest post by @Swales1968
Arsenal, have not played anybody yet?
This is a term Arsenal fans have been forced to listen to from our hypocritical media over the past weeks. So let’s look at a few things
Arsenal, have played four teams in the top ten places winning two, drawing one and losing one. Two have been home (2 wins) and two have been away (draw and a loss). This does look like Arsenal have played nobody yet but let’s look at other top ten teams-
Southampton, have played three top ten teams winning two drawing one; they have yet to play a top ten team at home.
Manchester City, have played four games against top ten teams winning three losing one. The three wins have all been at home
Liverpool, have played five top ten teams winning two, drawing one and losing two. The two games away they drew one and lost one.
Chelsea, have played six games against top ten teams, two at home winning one and drawing one. Four have been away drawing two and losing two.
Manchester United, have played six games against top ten teams, four at home winning one, drawing two and losing one. They have lost both away games to top ten teams
Everton, have played five games against top ten teams, winning two, drawing two and losing one. Four of these games have been at home.
Tottenham, have played four games against top ten teams, drawing two and losing two.
Newcastle, have played five games against top ten teams, winning two drawing one and losing two.
West Brom, have played six games against top ten teams, winning one, drawing three and losing two. Only two have been at home.
When we look at the number of top ten teams, the other nine clubs within the top ten have played can similar questions can be asked of them. We can ask how will Manchester City cope away at the other eight clubs from the top ten they have to play. We can ask will Spurs win against any of the other top ten clubs this season. Manchester United how will they do away from Old Trafford etc
Arsenal and Spurs have played seven games against the bottom half of the table clubs but where is the criticism of the team from White Hart Lane from our media, why again have Arsenal been singled out by Mr Hanson, Mr Shearer and the rest of the media punditry circle for not playing anybody yet.
The media, the hypocritical media are again judging Arsenal by one set of rules and conveniently ignoring these rules when it comes to most other clubs. Their point is a relevant one to a point but not to the point they are making it out to be. Arsenal like all other clubs has to play everybody home and away during the season, it is not Arsenals fault as to how the season fixture wise pans out. Again all I ask is for the media to have balance in its questioning of clubs and how they are doing at this moment in time.
Another quick point on who has played top ten clubs most, four teams have played the top ten clubs seven times these four teams occupy positions Eighteen, Nineteen, Twenty and Eleven. The team in eleventh would be lower down the league if the ref had done his job properly against one of the top ten teams!!!!
@Swales1968
Positively Arsenal 
double canister at 6:20 pm
Didn’t mind missing out on Marcel with Arsenal’s squad (IBSF). The games between the two teams in the first half of the last decade were brilliant: Silva vs. Makelele.
We got bored with them when Maureen rebuilt them purely for power. I guessed that he had become happy to have more flair and stuff in his teams, who knows but this Mata business has worked out well for Arsenal.
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http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sport/football/article-2506550/Blueprint-rescue-English-football–Martin-Keown.html
Keown’s article.
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that statement George will only be confirmed after another 25 years … c’est la vie
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double canister November 19, 2013 at 6:33 pm
but i never said you thought any of that. i never refered to anyone in here specifically. i talk about the general words i hear and read and see from various arsenal fans who thought arsenal was big before wenger with 10 league titles over 110 years of existence and in cases with 36 year gaps from one title to the other, no europe and a style of football that can only be liked in….. scotland
‘One he got involved in the 80′s things started to improve quickly, then the other key active board members decided to push the club forward as well, very soon afterwards the stadium plans and Wenger’s appointment came.’
i dont believe that for one second..they had not clue or idea how to lead arsenal and had it not been for wenger showing them at least the know hows on a technical level and also on financial level when it came to transfer and showing them profits theyd still be in the dark ages… t be honest ..arsenal fans should be treating wenger just like napoli fans treat diego…..the napoli fans were sendning letters ..’you touch him youre dead.’..we send letters doubting his integrity and abiity as manager..
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finsbury November 19, 2013 at 7:56 pm
Premier League managers such as Alan Pardew could go to the World Cup to help England.
ahahahah ..oh martin…
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Per you beauty
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He may have captained his national side at Wembley on the night of his 95th cap
He may have put in an excellent defensive performance
He may have scored the winner
But let’s face it
He’s no Chris Samba is he?
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Thanks Per! You are the man.
Did anyone else hear Ian Wright being positive about England after they were totally outclassed by Germany’s 2nd string. This from the same guy who sees nothing good in Arsenal.
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Harry: “To think in the summer, many Arsenal fans appeared to develop a severe case transfer/penis envy in relation to Spurs, as AVB signed player after player, some of whom we had never actually heard of but pretended we had, and the media assured us would now make them genuine contenders. All this whilst the hapless and tight-fisted Wenger merely looked on. And dithered.”
I kept telling people Paulinho wasn’t fit to tie Mikel Arteta’s laces and they mocked the shit out of me. I also told them that Soldado was wank, and they told me he’d have a bigger impact on the league than that French plank Giroud. The best was when they told me Aaron and Jack were shit compared to Eriksen.
That dithering comment came from Amy Lawrence. She didn’t write anything for weeks after we bought Ozil.
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Giroud played 78 minutes in two weeks. I dig it.
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Yeah Amy Lawrence, the darling of the negative Nellies. They love to quote her rubbish to support themselves. I think she wrote some obvious true but positive things about Wenger once and she has ever been labelled as a pro-Wenger since.
She is no different from the rest of the idiot media. I find her more annoying though because of her utterly fake reputation for being pro-Wenger or Arsenal. That apart from her having nothing insightful or intelligent to say about the club
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Anicoll
Hahahahaha, the German failure hahaha.
Jamie reek app knows quality haha.
The Germans grave a big fucking german.
Man of the match, ser gut Hauptmann Mertesacker.
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Don’t get me wrong fellow Gooners, I’m not laughing aboutEngland, (half scot Anicoll can speak for himself!), but the wankers in the media, yes YOU red knapp Jn. Who have under rather per and our own fans who couldn’t see the rise of a norther Wenger superstar, well fuck you all for being wrong.
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Hunter
I like your 6:43pm post.
I am in agreement.
I agree mostly with your premise about Arsenal and the Wenger era, I just wouldn’t wind up as many people as you would about it.
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Townsend looked like an ordinary spud who didn’t hit a 1 in a 1000 shot tonight, didn’t he?
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Ronaldo > Messi?
I believe so, and has been for a few years.
Now there is a topic for an argument.
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I think the French team doesn’t know how to use OG as a striker.
I guess Wenger was a pundit on TV in Paris, I wonder what he thought of the players arsenal are constantly linked too?
Pogba for me, seems quality, but we have plenty of quality in midfield already.
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Amy joined the wrong bandwagon.
She joined willingly and unblinded, we thought she had more intelligence that she clearly originally had.
She can feck right off and no mercy to her.
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Good news everyone!
Reports from Ireland is that szczesny catches some zzzz’s during Poland’s game with RoI.
As if he needs more zeds.
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Il get m coat.
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its getting close to having our ARSENAL back. Now the fuckingt internationals are over
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Swales1968,
you thought I would like it. YES I DO!
Let them say we are no good, let them say we have played nobody yet.
The more they say it, the more humble pie will be eaten come May 2014. Can’t wait to shove it down their throat…
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Swales1968,
you thought I would like it. YES I DO!
Let them say we are no good, let them say we have played nobody yet.
The more they say it, the more humble pie will be eaten come May 2014. Can’t wait to shove it down their throat…
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My favourite teams from the last world cup have qualified! My cousins in Ghana and the very good and creative Germans. I would say Germany have the quality to dominate and win the cup. My football knowledge is quite limited, but I am struggling to think of teams that match Germany’s quality in every position. However, if they freeze like they froze against Spain in the last world cup, then any of the other teams like Spain, Brazil, have a chance.
The Nigerians usually do well. I hope one of the african teams atleast reach the semis. They have never gotten to that stage. If Ghana fail, I will switch to supporting Ivory Coast for Gervinho. I hope he has a devastating world cup.
This should be a good world cup. Should fill out the Arsenal-less summer.
My country? We didnt even qualify for the qualifers.
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In assessing Wenger’s contribution, vision and impact on the game in England and Arsenal in particular, there is no better or more accurate source of information than Wenger. He seldom if ever makes lofty personal claims and puts accomplishments down to players, teamwork and classy professional Arsenal. He never-the-less is adamant that he is in charge of the team, accepts full responsibility for the team, the players and transfer issues. What is he really saying here? That this is a team, not a one-man act. That he is leader, planner and strategist in chief, but not more than that. His claims are not individualistic, which is both correct and convey the right ethos.
These values are important because amongst other things Wenger imparts a sense of humility, sadly lacking in modern football and celebrity culture. If anything, I regard this integrity as more significant than other attributes of his 17 year management.
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Amy gets more attention, I think, because she is a rare female football writer (and well done too for breaking yet another stupid barrier to female professionals), so she is slightly on the soft landing end. It’s not PC to say, but while her style is OK, it is not incisive, researched, mature, or original enough, as a sports writer and lacks a basic element that makes great sports writers: facts before opinions, reporting before cliché. Maybe in other areas she is much better, but in football, she needs to improve.
Or as dear Maria once said on another blog, “She gets on my tits, stupid bitch”.
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If proof was needed we have more stupidity from the English sports media today
Patrick Barclay: Best uncapped players of Premier League era would have to include Steve Bruce. But my No. 1 would be Adnan Januzaj.
He thinks a player who has played 9 games (5 as sub) who has scored 2 goals and assisted in 1 goal is a better player than Steve Bruce, Di Danio and Arteta to name a few. This is more evidence in my mind that these writers live in a totally different world to normal football fans. There are many areas of our great game that need investigating and writing about but Mr Barclay thinks we need to know that a young player with a handful of games is the best player never to be picked for his country….off to bang my head against the wall
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Swales
Don’t you know?
You haven’t been reading enough press, Januzaj is already England’s new hope.
Apart from him being not English, or Belgian, or Balkan whatever (even by Jack’s definition) and only looking good in one game against an erratic De Canio led Sunderland.
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Just had a long (well for twitter it’s long) rant at him, not expecting a reply to be honest.
He might be great/good/not bad but then he might not saying after a few PL games that he is the best is just stupid, it’s headline grabbing nonsense from a supposedly chief sports writer.
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ZimPaul
November 20, 2013 at 8:07 am
its this ethos that sets us apart as a club from everyone else in the uk and i say europe too.
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Gains,
I’m not read much from the pen of Amy Lawrence. well nothing that has ever etched itself on to my dwindling memory banks, though I’ve oft heard the name bandied about in relation to Arsenal. I do recall during the summer, fairly early on the in the transfer shenanigans, she gave a radio interview on 5-live, I think it was, in which she boldly stated there was a growing rift between Arsene and Ivan the terrible, citing Arsene’s reluctance to spend as the cause. Utter tosh, but also very unhelpful at that particular time.
So she scores a resounding Nil-pwa on the credibility-o-meter.
I always thought Patrick Barclay was alright though, on the whole, always effusive in his praise of Arsene, and never shy of expressing utter contempt for Maureen (a big plus in my eyes).
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Sens
don’t forget the Ivory Coast also have a certain Mr. Drogba, a pity – otherwise I would like their team.
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Jeez
If Gervinho does play to his natural ability for Ivory Coast at the WC, a lot of haters are going to look like utter tools.
If they had any shame.
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So she scores a resounding Nil-pwa on the credibility-o-meter.
so do the enlightened bloggers of arsenal ….. at least amy gets paid to talk/write shit…whats our blogger/fans excuse?
democracy? ….. lol….
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Patrick Barclay is one of the best sports hacks. I have not read the ‘offending’ article but I wouldn’t condemn him to the scrap heap yet…besides we all make mistakes…even Arsene……………………and Hunter
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Harry,
Gotta agree with you on Patrick Barclay. I think he is ok and trust me, I can smell negativity towards Arsenal/Arsene from a mile! His Januzaj piece is ridiculous and not well thought out but his fair writing on Arsenal makes it easy for me to let that one slide.
Thanks for reminding me of that Amy Lawrence’s shameless made up Arsene-Ivan conflict. It later percolated into the blogs and soon became “common knowledge”. It was a lie. If she lied about that which we later found to be true because we could, how many other lies has she told that we would never be able to verify?
Honestly, I wouldn’t mind her stupid punditry but for those who parade her about as a pro-Arsenal/Wenger pundit; so if she says something negative, then it must be true.
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DC, Drogba is the reason Ivory Coast are not my first choice.
I really hope we dont see those ridiculous skin tight shirts from the last world cup this time.
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Georgaki-pyrovolitis
November 20, 2013 at 12:45 pm
hehe ..unless youre one of them bloggers/ fans/ long time supporters with a fixation on end of eras…. in which case youre never wrong…..just expressing opinion….
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Hunter @ November 19, 2013 at 8:30 pm
Heh. In such a long article that is very ambitious and covers many areas there were going to be some errors. Cconsidering that Keown got his article published in the Daily Heil it’s also possible that the editor inserted that bit. No doubt about it! (IBSF).
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martin and all them players from that gigantic arsenal era …i wonder where theyd all be today had they not met wenger to inspire them back to some purpose in their lives……
damn brocolli..denied us from watching that goal machine wrighty hanging his boots with us….such a shame.
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hey i never scored against schmeichel but these kids wenger brought here are such bottlers….something needs to change…..my son could teach them about courage but they wouldnt listen…
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The comment from Zimpaul at 8.20 much more polite then anything I have to say.
But in their defence some of the hacks can be amusing:
“Bring back John Terry!”
Don’t mention the 4-1 to Germany. Four years ago. When he could still hobble along in a vaguely straight line? Hahahahahahah *wipes a tear*
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Bootoomee, it was little more than unsubstantiated gossip (but yes it was inevitably taken as gospel truth by some, irrefutable evidence that something was rotten internally at Arsenal), but because she is a journalist for the Guardian, with alleged insider contacts, it lends undeserved weight to her words. In hindsight it was no different to the garbage perpetuated by a hundred “ITK’s” on social media platforms.
I’m possibly doing her a huge disservice based on that one example, as I have to admit I don’t read her articles. I just thought it was a glaring example of much of what it was wrong with (what passes for) sports journalism. Arse.
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Hunter behave.
From Keowns article:
“I remember seeing a Japanese man standing on the touchline at our Arsenal training sessions.
He was there for the best part of a year, furiously scribbling in his notebook come sun, wind and rain.
He was desperate to learn how Arsene Wenger trained us, hoping to pick up tips and secrets – and take them back to Japan.
But in all my time at the club…I never saw anyone from the FA doing the same. It’s madness….
…
The more we keep possession, the less tired we will feel. Some people say the England team won’t ever play like that and you can’t teach an old dog new tricks – but that makes my blood boil. I was the old dog at Arsenal when Arsene Wenger turned up in 1996 and he taught me new tricks, he gave me the confidence to play football. ”
Keown’s words are unambigious. If it would help I could underline, bold and italic the last word above: “the confidence to play…football”.
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Harry don’t worry. There are other examples. Without being too rude it’s fair to say AL is utterly uncredible.
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Looks like Akpom could now be behind Afobe, who seems to have returned well from what might have been a really bad injury. Three nutmegs? Not bad. Afobe was highly rated prior to his setback, so, good luck to him!
Thanks to A&B are ArsenalAndrew for the heads ups on Gnabry and even Hayden last season. I watched a few U21 games last season on your recomendations. Whilst ITKs were bleating on about squad depth, I can’t see how those who had actually watched the U21s were surprised to see the Gnabster come through and take his chance. For me Gnabry has more potential, possibly, to be a CF when compared to Chamberlain. They look similar but one could mature as a midfielderish type player and one could be a more strikerish type modern player, with both still having the ability to play in many different positions.
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finsbury
November 20, 2013 at 1:41 pm
you see..what that japanese person was doing…everyone in england should be doing really, instead of thinking they can tell him the whats and hows of running and managing football teams…..
behave? why what did i do? 🙂
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Hunter,stop poking Harry.
I pulled Amy about her disruptive ramblings on The Breakdown.She went off at a tangent and never answered the questions I ask.Bitch.
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I dunno George. If he wants to poke me, the very least he could do is take me out for a drink first.
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I really should have ended that sentence with a “wink”..
Coat.
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