Here we have @anicoll5
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Good morning Positivistas on the third Monday in January. Today I am told by experts is “Blue Monday”. Well for reasons that you and I know, and saw and listened to during yesterday afternoon, rather than the babblings of cod-psychology this is not in anyway a Blue Monday but a RED MONDAY. Flaming red, a redder than an angry baboon’s arse kind of day, a day when any Arsenal fan who did not flicker to life with at least small smirk on their lips must be, sadly, dead. Rest in Peace brave gooner, struck down at the moment of footballing ecstasy.
I must admit I approached yesterday’s contest with just a shade of trepidation. Despite the about face by the media after the result was in, Citeh are not a bad side and their recent PL form is good, their form at the Etihad year after year very good indeed. To lose to a good team, champions, at their ground who are in form is no shame. No that was not the concern. To lose and not perform though, to fail to play as we can play and allow ourselves to be brushed aside, to be dismissed as nothing, that was the worry.
Well if that was the apprehension then what happened, after about 2½ minutes of the game anyway, was the exact opposite. We performed, from 1-11, in an absolutely exemplary form. With the ball we were creative and cutting, without the ball we were measured and unrelenting. Citeh, a good side in good form at Fortress Etihad produced nothing, absolutely NOTHING. I cannot recall Aguero so toothless, Silva as bereft of invention, indeed the little Spaniard looked like a schoolboy who had wandered into the wrong game.
I could legitimately name 11 Arsenal players, 14 in fact if we add in the subs, who produced exactly the right performance on the right day, at the right time. Men of the match. The choice of starters was right, the set up on the pitch was right, the substitutions were perfectly timed. From a few minutes into that game there was, in my mind, no doubt who would win and who were the superior footballing side. It did seem to me also, and this is an irritation of mine that I have highlighted before, that not once when an Arsenal player was knocked off the ball and no foul was given, did any player lie on the ground moaning pointlessly at the referee. We got up, we got on with it, we let Kompany and his increasingly unmerry men get on with whining to Dean (much good it did them- Ho ho ho).
As ever after a notable win there is no shortage of informed comment out there in the mainstream and social media, facts, figures, names, statistics, etc. I would still like to find the Opta statistics geek who calculated the 35% possession figure. There are, in every journal and blog, with multiple explanations of how factor X is responsible, or Plan Y, and of course Z “as I said so often etc”. As we know so well victory has a thousand fathers but defeat is an orphan.
The nice thing about this blog is we don’t need to explain, because we know.
Have a good week !
Positively Arsenal 
rumors growing that Joel Campbell is off on loan for rest of season to Real Sociedad, if true, 3 forwards out on loan from the first team squad, seems a bit odd, but then none of them really got game time, so may be best all round
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an article worth reading
http://www.fourfourtwo.com/features/wenger-successors-werent
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lots of rumors coming out of Spain that Arsenal have met Gabriel Pulista’s release clause of €20M, which is just over £15M, and that he will sign for Arsenal tomorrow, he would need a work permit, so if deal is to be completed tomorrow Arsenal would either already have had a work permit hearing for him, or they would have to have it tomorrow.
Arsenal sent chief scout Steve Rowley and also Brian McDerrmott to watch him earlier this month, so there may be something to this rumor. Lots of people saying the sources in Spain are reliable, some of the reports are coming from media outlets in Valencia which is where Villarreal is based.
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edu
although we may still sign him this month ? but if we are set to sign a player tomorrow or in three days, it would have gone beyond a rumour by now. there are so many papers who just want to sell and what a btter way to do so that link players to arsenal.
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Rumour mill really scraping the barrel today, I see.
Cheick Tiote?
Yer juss gotta larf, ain’t yer?
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Morning friends. New post http://wp.me/p37nXa-19e
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Blue Monday?! You’re not f$*king kidding. What about $hitting Tuesday as well.
Man I wanted to live to see his granddaughter marry me dies Monday. His granddaughter, my fiancé, hit by a *#^t in a BMW Tuesday in Putney (probably a Chelsea fan, no doubt) , writes my car off. Having a seriously $hit week here…..
But, you know what, it’s not so bad. At least there’s the Arsenal. You know. That Arsenal we remember. That one that could always pull something out of the bag.
That Arsenal with a (now the injury jinx is lifting *touches wood*. Abou’s fate is -sadly- decided. Maybe that would explain the Sissoko links?) bench of serious game changers. FFS, we’ve just loaned out Podolski, who kept us going in the CL, because Theo and Gnabry are back! Ed’ (good to see you being pro-active btw) has rumours of Campbell being loaned out too. So, for once, we have an abundance of forward players. And if, just if, Arsene see’s a way to improve our squad (I’m all in for a cb and a dm, but if we bring in a forward thinking player, arsene will be making damn sure they’re a step up) he wil do it.
I’ve got to admit it, I’m new to this site, it’s refreshing to see so many other people that saw, and appreciated, the long game. Muppet, I’ve only read a couple of your blogs. But, hats off to you sir. I doff my cap. You’ve been hitting the nail, firmly on the head.
Onwards, and upwards.
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