“Que, sera, sera, whatever will be, will be …”
I have to admit to feeling more than a little apprehensive before kick-off and by half-time I was feeling no better.
Even when we scored after seven minutes I was worried. I don’t know why, because we were clearly the better team.
Fabianski had nothing to do and it seemed like we spent the majority of the first half taking corners.
Yet Everton somehow managed to score.
Arteta took a shot from the edge of the box. I am told he should not have been there because that constituted being “out of position for a holding midfielder.” I’m still trying to come to terms with that opinion.
The ball was blocked and fell to Ross Barkley (Jack’s replacement as the saviour of England). He ran the length of the field with Flamini, who despite catching him, allowed him to cross a low ball in to an undefended far post. Per should have seen the space but was attracted towards the ball.
1-1 at the break. Bollocks.
Anyway, you all saw what happened in the second half, we were very good and very good value for a comfortable win.
There were some great performances from quite a few of our boys.
Ozil was simply majestic. AOC was terrific in his directness. Mikel commanding. Santi was at his tricky best.
The skipper was very good considering how little he has played.
Rosicky was just something else when he came on.
Oh yes, and Giroud once again made a mockery of the idea that he can’t finish.
On to Wembley.
Great game, great tactics and great set up. It looked to me like Arsene had shuffled Mikel forward a little, less holding and more…….. well something else. Controlling is perhaps the word ?
I liked it.
If you liked it enough to Twitter with George he’s at @blackburngeorge
Positively Arsenal 
*here not hear! What has happened to my spelling these days?
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hey, is this the same sunshine bus I’m onor is it another?
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Welcome Obafirst….this IS the sunshine bus……
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sagna our loyal servant and a complete gentleman. i believe he’s made up his mind but didnt want to rock the boat at this crucial point of the season. but bac, if you intend to extend with us, no better time to do it than now, as it will give us the extra lift. but i not, well, keep it till the season ends. will be really sad to see him go. especially as his wife is a huge fan of the arsenal.
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hope we dont underrate wigan when we meet. especially having to play some big games before then. if we manage to knock out bayern and then beat spuds, chelski and shitty, the hype around us might begin to make us a little over confident as we might then be looking at treble. though i’ll rather want to have it that way than having to fight for the fa cup only.
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if wigan play the way they did in the second half, we should be able to beat them. dean or no dean. though i didnt see the first half.
shefield utd are good. they will beat hall city.
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layksite
March 10, 2014 at 1:13 am
up to the players now…no excuses…manager has done his part. picked strong teams , guided them through…now its up to the players.
lets see media getting on city’s case before their barca encounter like they did to arsenal same time last year
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For those who missed it:
“Everyone at the club talks about 4th” and not a diddly cup sitting on the shelf?
*coughs*
I am sure they do so. Better not tell our enlightened and consistent Groaners.
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Everton again tonight this time in the youth cup. We have a strange situation where some players are in limbo between a first team game at Bayern in the champions league and a very important youth cup game. In one game they might only make the bench in the other they will play very influential roles.
With the doubt over Gibbs tomorrow Hayden could well be needed in munich so tonights team will be interesting.
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If Kieran is injured we would have TV at left back would we not, a_or_b? Assuming that Kos is OK. Otherwise Bacary Sagna would probably switch to the left.
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Oh, Is Nacho Injured?
Which Side did Carl play at the end of the Everton game?
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Left
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I don’t remember Carl coming of the bench and taking the lb position. I’d like to think he’s been practising leftback-ness as part of his development, in the same way as our midfielders play all over the shop. I was therefore pleased to see Carl enter the field in that position. A Pires in the making, perhaps.
(Yes, yes, bolux, I know, but why shouldn’t I dream?)
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The interesting thing about playing Carl at left back would be having a right footed full back on the left side facing the left footed right winger of Bayern Arjen Robben.
Following that ?
Nor am I
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It would be easier to deal with Robben’s tendency to have the ball on his left foot.
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Yeah, good points. It’d also help Carl to become more ambi-foot-turous, like.
Innit?
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Frank, Hayden would only be on the bench and although a CB can cover virtually every position in the team and has even played in goal when needed.
With the versatility in our team we would have Bacs, TV5 , Flamini , Jenks and Hayden who can all play left back.
The last time we got to the CL final we used about 7 left backs if I remember rightly.
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7?…good lord, a_or_b, that must be some sort of record. Any good this Hayden kid?
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he he already some are preparing to sack wenger should he fail to win the f.a cup…as if the players have no responsibility…..
wenger is thinking champions league and epl….imagine him getting close for both and missing on both on details and then his players win the f.a cup
” Are you happy you finally gave fans a trophy to celebrate Mr Wenger?”
“Mmmmmehhh well yes so sooo happy….we nearly won the two biggest trophies in club football but since your culture is all about a day out in wembley i suppose we will have to be happy..non? happy now? great..let me concentrate on serious things now, fuck off”
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Of course City had the chances and possession to win, but lacked … the sunshine bus, I mean that thing called team spirit, best tempered in adversity, Arsenal-style.
It seems City “spirit” is all about super-stars winning and scoring with aplomb, weaving magic that should be easy as they are so much better, all gloriously well-paid, and the minute one of these is not happening, their spirit is all grapes gone sour, the twilight bus. It was a telling match. Wigan didn’t outplay them, they out-spirited them.
Arteta plus Flamini has always worked providing one of the two, not both, performs the defense/attack pivot in the right spaces, don’t be fooled. It’s about roles, not players, and it took a couple more “live” attempts to click nicely. It’s going to be very important.
Sunshine bus, I accept the subtle sarcasm because it means team spirit, in our case fans as one with a team they understand, love and applaud, for all the right reasons.
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hello positivistas…
what a weekend that was.
1st…if Gibbs falls off the bus, I’d expect either of Verm/Sagna/Jenks or Flamini to plug that space. Against the bald dutchman Jenks would be my last option.
Hayden?…know nothing about the lad, but if Arsene says so, so be it.
Been unable to add my two cents all week. Was pissed off @ Jack for not pulling out of that tackle vs Denmark but quickly realized how it could be a good thing for our CM. Kind of unclogs things, it did…methinks. Frees TR7, Arteta, Flam & Santi to garner more chutzpah for the impending countdown to GLORY!
Here’s to Wigan gaining promo back to the PL.
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jenko played left back while at chalton. didnt look out of place on saturday against everton. but i expect vermaelen to deal with robben tomorrow.
hope ozil enjoys himself tomorrow and not think he has to make up for what happened in the first leg. que sera sera …
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Someone needs to jolly well sort this Robben fellow out tomorrow and that’s a fact…
….do for the fucker is what I say.
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so good to “read” from you Frank…missed u quite a bit
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That is very sweet, Aman. I missed you too.
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Frank!!! Great to hear from you and look forward to your continued presence here! Now we just need LimparAssist and we almost got the old band back together. Poliziano would surely be a treat as well. Hope he is alright
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Hello, Looner. Poliziano is my favourite pizza.
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Well Uli Hoeness is really up shit creek without a paddle though I don’t suppose it will have an effect on their players.
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Four questions:
One or two news reports suggest Sanogo is injured but I can’t find any details – any news? What is the matter with Gibbs? And what time do we play Spurs this weekend and is it on the TV?
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this jebb must be a gem! hope he takes his set piece skill to senior team. we presently lack threat from direct kicks
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Foreverheady
Kick off 16.00
Not live on TV
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Spurs is on Sky or BT or some’ut
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It’s live on Slysports 1
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Jebb has come through the hale end academy. He has been held back because there has always been highly rated midfielders in front of him but now its his time to shine especially with Daniel Crowley injured. He just needs to grab the game by the bollocks more to truly show his talent.
I thought all the lads done well tonight, they had to work hard to get into the game after Everton started so well. They were giving Boo and tarfari a torrid time and delivering quality crosses. The lads managed to nullify this threat and impose thereselves on the game both Glen Kamara and Zelalem started to see much more of the ball and the chances then came thick and fast. After going in 2-0 up at half time Everton started the second half as they had the first and got a goal back from the source they found so successful at the start. Again ARSENAL fought to win the midfield and the free kick from which Jebb excellently put tie beyond doubt was one of many chances that we created. After that it was just a matter of keep ball and although the Everton sub, Donahue, was still having joy down the wing there only real chance fell to a player called to Duffass and he duly missed.
All in all it was a good night, well supported and even though it was brass monkeys an ARSENAL win always warms your cockles
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And Wenger starts Kallstrom ..oh yes ….. we all expected that .
This is for the Gunners
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Thanks for the write up A oB – I think we have youngsters any club could be very proud of
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i absolutely hate the war criminals americans and suppressors of the people but i hope they seize all assets of russian oligarchs and boy i cant wait to see those chavs in fulham and their bought arrogance going down the sewer for the next century. i have no problem with putin, have big problems with that cunt mourinho benefiting from abaramovic money laundring
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I’ll be the first one to raise my hand and say that I believe we can do it tonight. We’ve already won 2-0 at the Allianz Arena, a couple of weeks ago we showed that 11 v 11 we are Bayern’s equals and for all the media talk about how we are facing “Mission Impossible”, I think our players and the manager actually enjoy being painted in the Underdog role and being given the opportunity to prove the public wrong. I am sure we are going to see a confident performance of the highest order from the boys tonight and we are definitely going to score against Bayern. I don’t know if it will be enough but if there is any team in the world that can go to the “best club side” and turn it all around, it’s us.
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evil this year will see the reverse scores of last year…we beat them 2-0 at home last time, this time they beat us 0-2 at home. they beat us 3-1 in our home last year this year we beat them 3-1 inside their home.
its the way these things go…..
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……………..arteta……………..
………rosicky…cazorla………
..ox…………………………ozil
……………giroud……………..
flame and storm to enter 2nd half to lock the game after our third goal.
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the flaming storm of the ox
the storming flame of the ox
the oxy flamestormer
can we have a poets day ..?….i have one for dawson too
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Not quite poetry but Adrian Durham did suggest that Dawson play for England.
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adrian durhma i really wonder who pays him and why? i guess it shows the decay in our society when people like durham are given opportunities to make a living….. effin cunt……
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The Guardian has written a most disgusting article today: http://www.theguardian.com/football/2014/mar/11/norwegian-referee-arsenal-anglophile
Rehashing 4 year old quotes in an attempt to paint us as a team that profits from referee’s in Europe when contrary examples are plenty. There is not one bit of original research in that article, it’s all just old quotes and lies. Even though I like The Guardian, it’s shocking how anti-Arsenal they are. They’ve also regularly predicted for us to finish outside the Top 4…
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@Hunter
If we do win 3-1 and I meet you one day, I’ll buy you the most expensive brew you can find in your favourite pub. Fingers crossed!
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the guardian was doing well until amy chose to use it as her platform to launch attacks on kroenke hillwood and wenger of course. her concerns for the fans and clubs finances nearly made me cry i have to say….. touching momments amy…we are forever greatful.
brew, joints, whiskey, and a kotsi on the table !! cant wait evil my friend cant wait.
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maybe two kotsis or an extra mixed grill after the burgers and suasages which will be the starters, and maybe even a chocolate fudge souflet plus ice cream for digestion with that glassy icy chocolate syrup they put on waffles. we could need some strong industrial toxic alcohol for our stomach to cope with all that but you only live once…
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I AM THE EYE IN THE SKY
looking at youuuuuuuu
ouuouu i can read your mind
i am the maker of rules, dealing with fools ooouuuuuu i can cheat you blind
i can read your mind, i can read your mind
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Any volunteers for the match report?
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