There were moments last season when I just knew the FA Cup was coming to the Emirates. I didn’t say anything at the time so I can’t prove it, but this is a football blog – an Arsenal blog in fact – and as such I don’t need to prove a damn thing. The moments to which I refer occurred on those wonderful FA Cup matchdays when we beat Spurs and then Liverpool and later on an in form Everton; all strong Premier League teams, all potential banana skins. More than those results however the feeling that last year was our year really came over me on days like the fifth of January when Swansea won at Old Trafford. Also February the fifteenth when the clash of the Oil Men’s Private Trophy Teams saw Man City boot Chelsea out of the tournament. I also experienced a small psychic frisson when Mansour’s little vanity project was unexpectedly put out by Wigan in the following month.
There are certain teams you hope to avoid in the draw, and if those teams aren’t even in the draw then you’d be inhuman not to at least think to yourself, ‘Hello, if we keep our noses clean we could be in here’. Now I know that there are those whose glass is perennially and proverbially in a clichéd half empty condition, and such down at the mouth ne’er do wells will point to the Jacks of Swindon, Wrexham, Bradford and Blackburn and remind us of our experiences at having the beanstalk cut from under us. It of course goes without saying that we will need to do our bit, continuing at Brighton where we left off against Hull but the results yesterday were little short of sensational. Even the teams with nothing except the FA Cup to play for failed to overcome what should have been weaker opposition, both Liverpool and Man United managing to hold Cambridge and Bolton respectively.
So now it’s our turn.
I haven’t had any premonitions this time around. I’m not here as some kind of FA Cup Doris Stokes, in fact I’m only writing this because I was ambushed on Twitter by a geographically challenged George clearly labouring under the delusion that I would be an appropriate choice as I live down south and therefore somewhere near to the venue for today’s fixture. Brighton and Hove presumably having been washed away by the waves of the English Channel and ended up on the mud bound coast of the Severn Estuary. I don’t know how the simple folk of Somersetshire will cope when the Brighton Gay Pride carnival comes to Nether Stowey nor how Norman Cook’s latest live set will go down at The Rose and Crown in Huish Episcopi but I hope Mesut Özil finds his targets better than George can find East Sussex on a map.
Talking of which, Arsène conceded that our flawless Deutscher spielmacher doesn’t like playing on the wing but may begin his rehabilitation out there. It is a mouthwatering prospect to have him and Santi and Alexis in the same squad isn’t it? Add to that Theo easing himself back to full steam, the very, very promising Serge Gnabry returning to fitness and Aaron chomping at the bit to get back into the goal scoring groove he rediscovered just before suffering another injury and you simply have to be optimistic for the second half of the season. Given the teams knocked out yesterday I think we should extend that confidence to the FA Cup. People will be nervous of over confidence and a lower league opponent boosted by the feats of Middlesbrough and Bradford, but don’t panic I’m not taking this or any other away fixture for granted, far from it. In fact I believe the results yesterday and on Friday simply serve as a timely reminder that in a sporting contest anyone can have a bad day; it isn’t science, chance plays far too big a part in football for that.
The unvarnished truth is we are in such great form, so full of confidence and with key players at the very top of their game that we have no reason to fear anybody right now. If the players work as hard as they did at The Etihad they will create the platform for our free scoring forwards to finish the job. Sounds simple when I put it like that doesn’t it? At the time of writing I don’t know who will spear head the attack but I hope it will be Chuba Akpom with Mesut and Campbell either side of him. The youngster has been in such great form he must be desperate to show what he can do and with Wellbeck still out our sexy French pugilist may well be rested for this one.
As for Brighton, I have no personal experience of the place beyond attending a funeral there once. Friend or relative of a friend. Or relative of a friend of a relative. It was back in my drinking days so I’m pretty sketchy on the details to be honest. I played a gig in Littlehampton once but that’s West Sussex so hardly counts. Unless you’re George in which case they’re probably the same place. Oh yes, the Librarian at the college where I work went to university there and is friends with a Brighton coach driver, so there you go. My credentials to comment on all things pertaining to the town and its history are impeccable. As credentials go they’re certainly every bit as impeccable as any football blog’s are to teach anyone about tactics and they’re at that all the time.
In a footballistic context the name of Brighton and Hove Albion conjures, for people of a certain generation, the unforgettable image of Clough and Taylor in green sweaters and shirt collars. For me the greatest thing they ever did while at the helm of the South Coast club was to allow Bruce Bannister and Alan Warboys to share seven goals in an 8 – 2 hammering meted out by my local team in December of 1973. Brian Clough is the only non Arsenal manager I’ve ever had time for and in a move characteristic of the man he went into the Bristol Rovers dressing room that afternoon and congratulated the visitors saying to Alan Warboys that the eye injury he suffered that afternoon must have been self inflicted as the Brighton defence had got nowhere near him. I wasn’t at the game but Brian ‘It’s up for grabs now’ Moore was and I was lucky enough to be allowed to have my dinner on a tray in the front room that Sunday so that I could watch the Big Match. A rare moment of weakness from my otherwise strict Methodist mother.
I’d be happy with a similar scoreline today but I’d also be delighted with a cut and thrust, end to end battle and a one goal margin. It’s the FA Cup after all, it’s all about entertainment and excitement and the plucky little cliché cutting the big man down to size. Let’s just hope Jack has tired of hacking at the beanstalk come four o’clock this afternoon, he has after all had a busy weekend. And while we’re at it let’s hope Liz is as forgiving as my Mum was back in 1973. I’d better finish up now, I’ve got to go and get my tray ready just in case.
Positively Arsenal 
awful slack defending from Arsenal let brighton in to make it 2-1, don’t know who made a mess of a clearance, then Chambers did not contest the high ball, then kos did not close down the attacker and Szczesny had no chance with the shot.
great one two between rosicky and Giroud sees Rosicky make it 3-1
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it shows what is holding English football and the England team back, when all these pundits solution to stopping the sort of wonderful one touch football Arsenal are playing, is for them to advocate giving them a kicking. This whole idea that physical force is what is good for the English game, is the reason why England have not come close to winning a World Cup or a Euros in nearly 50 years. When will these people realize that skilled football and skilled footballers should be cherished, protected and admired and its what they should be advocating all young English players to aspire to.
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akpom and alexis on for Giroud and Walcott, 20 minutes left
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fucking hell, arsenal let brighton in far too easy, good finish by the lad, 3-2, about 15 minutes left
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Flamini has been very poor for us today, no surprise that Coquelin is coming on, but no surprise that Wenger will leave Flamini on and has taken off Ozil
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about 7 minutes left and Ramsey looks very much injured and we have made our 3 subs
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possibly lucky to get away with a penalty not been given there, ball hit chambers on the arm, he was only a couple of feet away from the guy crossing it,
we are giving the ball away far too softly
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FT:Brighton 2-3 Arsenal
made harder work of it than was needed
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Mirror headline:
PLUCKY ALBION GIVE ARSENAL A FRIGHT
Or summat like that.
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Great second half from the home side and we had to dig in for the last 20. But dig in we did. Ozil and Theo both knocking the rust off nicely, Tomas was superb. I would have liked to see more of Gibbs coming forward. Akpom a little unlucky as every chance he had he was fouled.
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Ratings
Szczesny 6 – could do nothing about either goal, ok otherwise
Chambers 7 – done very well to assist theo for the first goal, bit casual on their first goal, he seemed to have a bit more speed about him today
Koscielny 6 – ok, thought he could have done better on the first goal
Monreal 7 – good game
Gibbs 7 – good game
Flamini 4 – our worst player by some distance, did not protect our defense at all
Ramsey 6 – good work rate, still not at his sharpest
Walcott 7.5 – took his goal very well, had other good moments, messed up a few too
Ozil 7 – not a bad return, took his goal well
Rosicky 9 – outstanding performance, got what ended up the winner, and had an assist too, involved in most of our better moves
Giroud 6 – battled, but apart from his assist for Rosicky he had little impact
subs
Alexis 6 – great work rate, but my god he lost the ball a hell of a lot, and very easily too
Akpom 5.5 – eager, maybe too eager to get a goal, when passing might have been a better choice
Coquelin n/a – for me done more in the few minutes he was on than Flamini did all game
this was a game we could have won by five or six, but we ended up making hard work of it
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Once you take your foot off the gas it is hard to put it back on, as Chelsea showed yesterday and we almost did today. After a good crisp start which won us the game we then became a bit sloppy, but were always doing enough. And we are in the hat for the Fifth Round, and there will be plenty of clubs that wish they were too.
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once again we seen an awful performance from the ref, Dunk was last man, took Akpom down, and that was with Alexis up in support and free inside, no card, when it could easily have been red, then minutes later Dunk fouls again to stop Rosicky on edge of area, yellow this time, when he should have been off at that stage.
alexis was fouled several times and did not even get the free kick.
seemingly there was an offside in build up to Brighton’s first goal too.
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Arsène: “Gabriel Paulista is very, very, very close. The deal should be done tomorrow.”
seems the Arsenal Horse was right again, as usual.
I would love to know if Wenger had anything to say about the work permit situation
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its amazing how many idiots are having a go at Szczesny for the two goals, how anyone could blame him for either is totally beyond me
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ed, cant agree with the marks on the subs, Chuba was excellent when coming on and got about 5 of their players booked. Alexis give the ball away many times and twice in dangerous areas. His final free kick was pure ego, at that time in the game the short pass outside to TR7 was in order instead of giving them possesion again. He must learn because against better sides we could get acught out.
On TR7 in general I refer the gentlemen to the answer a gave some moments ago (well before the match but thats not the saying)
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seemingly Gabriel has been granted a work permit
Wenger: Yes, we will be alright on that front [work permit].”
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Ed, definetley right about the ref, greer took out Aaron with a high boot studs showing should have been red but nothing given.Acouple of minutes later he took out Chuba received a yellow but either way shou;d have gone.
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aob, for me Akpom done well, but he only saw his own route to goal, when others should have been played in by him, much like Alexis,
I would say akpom showed enough to suggest that he is the reason why Pod, Sanogo and Campbell could all be sent out on loan, all Chuba now needs is a goal or two to settle him down.
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Wenger: Is the Gabriel Paulista deal over the line? “It’s on the line. It will get over the line tonight and tomorrow.”
“It is very very very close, we are safe on the work permit front.”
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Ed: I haven’t seen the Arsenal Horse on Twitter for a while.
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he is back for a few days now, and they have done a few blogs in the last week
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Wenger: Rosicky? “Wonderful, a player we all love. If you love football, you love Rosicky.”
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Chuba wasnt tackled but fouled several times. I think he was told to attack the space which he did. His pace really caused them trouble and if it wasnt for the ref would have finished them. He isnt a selfish player and in a different style of game he will play differently
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FAO: foreverheady
https://thearsenalhorse.wordpress.com/
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A bit shaky at the end, but what should we expect from a team full of players coming back from injury?
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Excellent article, Steww.
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I hope Le Coq doesn’t do a Flamini and screw p his career.
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Sultan @Sultantschke · 7m 7 minutes ago
Unreal scenes at the train station when some Brighton fan called Wenger a paedophile and an Arsenal fan went for him.
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Arsenal’s last 11 goals have been scored by 9 different players
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nicking that for twitter whats your handle Ed
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I’m not on twitter arse or brain
Wenger’s after game comments
http://www.arsenal.com/news/news-archive/20150125/wenger-on-the-win-momentum-and-rosicky?
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Volunteers take one step forward.
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it must come as a big shock to Wenger and the club that their little scheme to fool the fans has backfired and that we are going to end up signing Gabriel. Them pretending to want to sign gabriel, knowing full well that the lad would never get a work permit, so that they could shut fans up by saying “look you all can see we tried to sign him, agreed the fee, but the Home Office just would not give him a work permit, we done all we could”, but its all backfired on them, and now we are stuck with a player we never wanted.
or so the theory goes from the cult of wenger out.
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Can someone post this permanently at the entrance to the Comments room of Positively Arsenal a quote today by ArseneWenger:
“Wonderful, a player we all love. If you love football, you love Rosicky.”
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szczesny getting stick is laughable – several of our players are getting stick for today’s performances, Ramsey, Ozil, Theo and most of all Szczesny
For Szczesny things like he is back, we let in 2 goals, two shots two goals, he needs to be dropped or sold. The facts of the goals are over looked, just as the facts of Ospina’s clean sheets are ignored.
we kept the clean sheets with Coquelin at DM, Per and Kos at CB, Monreal at LB and Debuchy or Bellerin at RB, then today we have one of that five in front of Szczesny and even at that Kos was on the right at CB, so not one defensive player in the position they have been for the games Ospina has kept the clean sheets in, but hey its all down to Szczesny as far as some are concerned, its pathetic how they ignore little things like today, on the first goal what sort of clearance was that from Rosicky, what sort of challenge did Chambers put in on that high ball from the bad clearance, what sort of lazy defending was that from Kos to close down the shot, and then ask the two question of Szczesny, what could he have done about what Rosicky, Chambers and Kos did, and secondly was there anything he could have done to stop the shot.
on the second goal what sort of screening did Flamini and Ramsey give the defense in the build up, what sort of defending did Chambers do twice in the build up, why did he not clear it, how did he lose the ball where he did, what sort of defending did Kos and Monreal do in the lead up to the shot, how did the striker get so free in the middle of our area, then again ask the two important questions of Szczesny, what could he have done to alter what Flamini, Ramsey, kos, Monreal and Chambers did on that goal, and secondly what more could Szczesny have done to stop the shot, remember it was a great finish from the striker.
all I’ve just said is being totally ignored by many, cos they need a target to have a go at
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Eduardo, you have escaped from the asylum, I see!
Villareal, are stating that it is a “Preliminary agreement for Gabriel”, with “Villarreal wants to thank Gabriel for his dedication and professionalism during his time in the club and wishes him best of luck in his career.”
SO, Isaac Hayden, out of contract?
Steww, nice one despite PG’s headlock! Volunteers, beware!
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notoverthehill I’m not sure what you mean
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I wonder who Gilles Grimandi was scouting at the Lyon v Metz game today
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Frankie Boyle @frankieboyle · 2h 2 hours ago
I don’t read newspapers anymore. I just lie to myself and cut out the middleman.
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Hayden is highly regarded at ARSENAL and it was only October that he was officially promoted to the first team squad. He will have no trouble getting a new contract.
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ed, you so are on twitter
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I’m not, never have been, and have no intention of being on it, I do look at certain tweeters and I post on here and the like tweet I think will be of interest. But from just looking at tweets, it seems to me that there are even more idiots on it than on the worst of Arsenal blogs and I could not be arsed to partake in the childish rubbish that really is the biggest part of twitter, as far as I can tell.
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phil neville showing all that is wrong with the game in England, saying Rosicky should have been taken out of it for his disguised passes, typical of the moronic attitude in the English game towards skill and skillful players, kick it thump it wallop it, but for God’s sake don’t copy skill
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Ahhhh why have plonker like Phil Neville on MoTD? His comments about Rosicky underline what’s wrong with English football. He would never dare touch Sir Fungus’s golden goose, the day he smashed into the legs of the lesser Ronaldo for showing a bit of skill, would of been his last at Man U.
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yeah er…what eduardo said…obviously not as quick on the old typewriter..
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Does anyone remember the 2 or 3 years Tomas Rosicky was called Rosicknote? The question about this deadwood’s wages came up constantly (even angrily at members events). There was a vocal cluster of people wanting him off the wage bill so we could buy the Scott Parker’s, Felipe Melo’s and Joe Cole’s of this world. I am so glad the hate mob didn’t manage to drive him out. Today he put in a captain’s performance from start to finish. I echo AW’s comments about him as he really is class.
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I agree 100% with this,
Darren @DarrenArsenal1 · 12m 12 minutes ago
What a disgraceful comment by Phil Neville, a REALLY average player and a terrible pundit. After that comment should never be on air again
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That was fun!
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What has Neville Neville’s lesser Neville said now? Anything of interest? Meh.
Can anyone expect anything different from a crap player who played under Slurgus during Riley’s reign? Fuck ’em all.
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George
If not better or more legible fare is offered a match review is winging it’s way through the ether. I’m trying to find a slightly different picture to the one I linked, if I can find it I’ll send it through later.
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Goona Gal
That would’ve been the self declared experts in PR. I guess, following Rozza’s successful rehab with the media staff at AFC that they found other targets with which to bait the mob and earn their clicks.
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