Following the post from anicoll5, here is one from our resident Spud, Yido6061 . Don’t forget to read Andrew’s if this is your first visit today.
You spend half a season moaning about the state of football and then when you actually sit down to try and think of how we, as supporters, can change it, you find yourself staring into space for the best part of a week. It’s easy to complain, far harder to find solutions and I can certainly testify to that, Spurs have a manager we can finally get behind after all these years of griping and grumbling. Arsenal have on their books my favourite player from the World Cup. Manchester United have a compelling maniac in charge and are still going through a period of transition, QPR have gone bonkers. I even enjoyed this week’s Match of the Day for the first time in a long time. Yes, even Alan Shearer. This is going to be a great second half to the season, and hopefully 3 point’s in the eagerly awaited North London Derby. Chelsea are classless in every sense of the word, there’s something hollow about Manchester City and Arsenal are for obvious tribal reasons, never going to feature highly in my ‘support for a day’ stakes.
Arsenal were phenomenal with the high speed passing that bamboozled Aston Villa, I’ve spent years seething at Arsenal, I’ve said it before and I’ll say again, I never got past the inherent arrogance of the so-called Invincibles, and last season the arrival of Mesut Özil, a player I’ve have admired for many seasons now. It’s led to me questioning whether I can summon the required levels of pantomimic hatred for someone I would love to have playing for my team. And if the rumours are to be believed and Jürgen Klopp (another football man who I hugely respect) is Wenger’s natural heir at The Emirates, but the job will come with extremely big shoes to fill, Wenger I cannot think what life would be like with out him. The Premiership would never have seen the genius of Henry, Bergkamp, Fabregas or Pires. The reason Arsenal did so well in the earlier years is because he was ahead of his time. However once the billionaire owners started wanting new toys it was inevitable that he couldn’t sustain the success, but he turned unknown players into world class players and revolutionised the way players train and eat which is now the standard across the Premiership and beyond. His only downfall is his faith in players when everyone else Could see that their time was up, Chamakh, Arshavin, Bendtner, Gervinho etc. etc. Arsene has always said he would never leave the club in a poor position financially and by securing the club’s future he will secure his status as a legend. His legacy has changed the style of that formerly ugly football club forever.
Anyway back to the NLD, In my more immature fantasies, I have become a multi-gazillion-squillionaire. What’s the first thing I do with my new-found imaginary wealth? Buy a football club, of course. But I don’t spend my Monopoly money gobbling up Tottenham Hotspur. Oh no, I’m far more devious than that. I become the majority shareholder at Arsenal and proceed to sell all their prized assets to their rivals up the road. With immediate effect, I announce that the club will now play in blue and white and that the crest will be that of a cockerel crowing abreast a dismantled cannon. I can hear the protests getting more vociferous from my headquarters somewhere on the Seven Sisters road. For one time and one time only, I’m happy to play the big, bad, baddie, as I swivel in my chair and stroke my white cat wrapped as it is in a Spurs scarf. Altogether now: Arsene Wenger’s Blue and White Army!
Seriously the pain from 89 will last my life time. I actually locked myself in my bedroom and stayed there for 5 days after the game. That was the first time I saw Arsenal win the league. Boxing day games at Highbury were always so exciting. There is not the same steel in the team, no Adams to marshal the defence, no Vieira or Gilberto Silva to sit and protect the back four, both teams are more evenly matched these days, but it does depend upon which Spurs team shows up, I hope it will be the attacking, fluent passing side that swept aside Chelsea, but remember one thing…….True satisfaction comes from your team’s achievements, not your enemy’s failings, but if you take a minute to think about it, Chelsea are the true enemy’s COYS
Positively Arsenal 
Dodgy decisions in both games according to my Liverpool friend
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another corrupt ref, ozil taken out of it as he was in and nothing given
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ozil being kicked out of the game, clown of a ref
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5 minutes of injury time
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for fucks sake, keeper kicks the ball into the back of Giroud and the ref books Giroud, corrupt and inept, what a disgrace refs are in the FAPL
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FT Arsenal 2-1 Leicester
AFC now 4th,
ref a complete disgrace
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Ratings
Ospina 6 – very much a mix of good and bad, few good saves, several dodgy moments
Bellerin 6 – too narrow in first half, improved second half
Mertsacker 6 – ok
Koscielny 6 – extra point for the opening goal, not sharp defending from him today
Monreal 5 – was all at sea most of the time
Coquelin 7 – good work rate, good ground coverage and got stuck in well
Cazorla 6 – floated about without doing a lot
Rosicky 6 – floated about without doing a lot
Walcott 6 – extra point for the goal, but overall had a poor game
Alexis 5 – took a battering, little effect on the game
Ozil 8 – one or two assists, was really up for this game and has continued his good recent performances
subs
Giroud 6 – battled hard
Ramsey n/a – did not last long, went off injured
Flamini n/a – no impact on the game
ref a complete joke of a performance, might as well have put on a blue shirt and not keep up a pretense of being neutral
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87 minutes lfc 3-2 thfc
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Shit ref. Good three points.
I’m sad Aaron is out, but I’m excited to see the two academy prodigies team up in the middle.
I can’t wait for Theo and Alexis to be able to play off of a central Ozil.
Spuds played against us with all the grit and passion of a sixties, European cup final against CSKA Moscow.
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A bloody scramble that was
Really not up to our proper standard tonight – shakey passing and another game where we lacked that extra % of energy
3 points though – absolutely vital tonight – no bollox
Fair play to Leicester though – they saw the weakness
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the best that can be said of our performance tonight is a win is a win is a win, but we played awful, very poor at the back, not sharp in midfield and lacking in ideas in attack, thank god leicester was not good enough to take advantage, even with the ref
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seems balotelli finally got a league goal, putting lfc 3-2 up
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imagine the shame, THFC were above us for 2 days
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OptaJoe @OptaJoe · 2h 2 hours ago
14 – Arsenal have now scored more set piece goals than any other Premier League side this season (14). Worked.
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If I had to choose between Liverpool, Manure and Spuds to come in fourth, I’d choose the Spuds.
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Daniel Arsenal Cowan @thedanielcowan · 27m 27 minutes ago
If we kicked the opposition even half as much as we get kicked in most games we’d get 2 red cards every game. We get yellowed for breathing
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Balotelli now level with Bellerin in the goal column
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That free kick that resulted in Spurs second was an absolute joke. Gerrard won that ball fair and square
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it can’t be stressed enough how bad the ref was tonight, and its worth a mention that Anthony Taylor was one of his officials tonight
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I think this is almost right, to me is the WOB that hold this view on refs and AFC
Daniel Arsenal Cowan @thedanielcowan · 37m 37 minutes ago
There’s this weird thing that exists only amongst Arsenal fans where we’re never allowed to criticise the referee.
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eddy – have to disagree with you about Monreal – he seemed to be the only one who was awake at the back. Kos was diabolical – is he really fit? Walcott was like a damp squib on Bonfire Night. Yet it was these two who scored our goals.
Middlesbro just gone top of Championship – they are really on a roll. Must be full of confidence and will give us a good game, methinks.
Will be interesting to see if Alexis is out again – he seemed to carry on despite having problems with his knee – I was surprised to see him come out for the second half.
I didn’t see the NLD but after tonight’s performance, I’m not surprised we lost it. Defence looking really ropey. But it’s the same players who were so solid against City. Funny old game.
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Liverpool face Southampton, Man City, Man Utd & Arsenal in 4 of their next 6 @premierleague games
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From what I hear and read another tilted pitch but we managed to overcome that and win the game. Time will tell whether the un-penalised kickings led to injuries and players missing the next few games. My guess is that they will. If this is to be the way of things for the rest of the season then we will struggle. It is no coincidence that when the Refs apply the rules even slightly evenly then we do well. I am very sad that it has come to this, and I fear the damage that Middlesbrough will be allowed to do to us on Sunday.
We are back above Spurs and apparently we have played the same amount of matches, although you would never have guessed it this weekend. Well done the boys, and as Churchill would have said, you must just keep buggering on.
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well there we go missing the chance to go 3rd again… we will get there am sure. Didn’t watch… hear the ref was poor – again. who was ref? Taylor?
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Fortunately, our defending wasn’t quite as diabolical as Spurs’ – no one picked up Mario at all.
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Can you appeal against yellow cards? That one to Giroud was a total joke. Back to the goal, walking away and keeper kicks it straight at him.
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Lucky the referee was asleep for our first goal as well DK – referees eh !
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if you want a laugh read the following tweet
Home of Fußball @ExcitableExpert · 33m 33 minutes ago
If Wenger stays on at Arsenal until 2017, I sincerely hope the likes of Özil and Sanchez leave the club. Top players are too good for AW.
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its not by accident that for years now, every time Arsenal are going well, the refs turn a blind eye to opponents kicking lumps out of us, and books our players for nothing, like tonight, the ball being kicked into their back, and of course its in the rules that AFC are to be denied penalties as much as is possible.
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Henrik Hindby @HenrikHindby · 3m 3 minutes ago
Wenger says Ramsey’s injury is “worrying”, adding: “It is a muscular injury but the fact he had to stop straight away is not a good sign.”
Wenger says Sanchez’ injury doesn’t look too bad. It was a kick on the knee.
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seriously there is something mentally wrong with this sort of WOB
Ali……
@Walter_Tactics
we defo wont reach the semi’s and we’re definitely not winning the Fa Cup, season is over.
Really hope we drop out the top 4 this
Ali…… @Walter_Tactics 11m11 minutes ago
@BlastMyself just taking the piss now, his ruined everything for me hope he leaves in disgrace aswell
Ali…… @Walter_Tactics 10s10 seconds ago
@TheLegendOfDad i wont, the outcome of Wenger being hounded out the club is what i’m dreaming about
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Don’t get that one anicoll5 – did he miss something? did I?
Wasn’t it a corner?
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Mesut Ozil has scored three and assisted two in his last four games in all competitions for Arsenal. and theo’s goal tonight came from the keeper parrying an Ozil shot.
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eddy – if you want to read crap on twitter, go ahead. But I’m not interested in having it reproduced here.
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QPR finally win away, the Harry effect, ha ha ha
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Arsenal should really not be holding on against the team propping up the table, but thank goodness we did despite the ref’s best effort to give Leicester all the time they needed to get an equaliser. Good first half with Ozil on fire but the less said about the second half, the better!
The criticism of Monreal and Kos seems a bit OTT to me. I would not pick them out for special comment. Like the rest of the team they had their good and bad moments tonight. Shame the ref allowed Alexis to be kicked out of the game. He was just not himself tonight, I’m surprised he was left on so long
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Arsenal had 2 players booked tonight, and Leicester had 2 players booked, amazing
AFC despite being kicked a lot in the last two games have had 7 players booked and yet many still tell us that we should meet fire with fire and kick lumps out of our opponents, how in the hell do these people think we would get away with it
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wenger said he wanted to take Alexis off at HT but that Alexis insisted that he was ok and wanted to play on
also it seems Ramsey is out for minimum of 3 weeks with a hamstring injury
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Blatant push in front of Kosc Dk
Sanchez on a Leicester defender
Our bit of luck tonight IMO
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Wenger on the win, Ramsey and Alexis
Arsène Wenger spoke to the media following Tuesday night’s 2-1 win against Leicester City. This is what he had to say:
on it being close towards the end…
Yes, towards the end but it is always like that when it’s 2-1. I feel that we were in control for the first half but when we were in control they had one or two good chances on the counter-attack. In the second half we lost our cohesion, our technical superiority and Leicester was always dangerous going forward. They are very quick in transition from defence into attack. At 2-1 we became a bit nervous but overall what was important for us was to get the three points.
on feeling the effects of the north London derby…
Yes it was a bit in their head, especially in the second half in the legs. Tottenham lost in the last minute as well. It was a very intense game on Saturday and three days later, it’s not easy.
on Aaron Ramsey’s hamstring injury…
It looks like it. I don’t know how bad it is yet. Just visually, it didn’t look good. When a guy stops straight away and sits down, that’s not good news. There’s a recurrence now of a few muscular injuries and it’s difficult – we haven’t found out why. I basically left him out today because I wanted to be cautious with him. I had to bring him on – I had a hesitation between Flamini and him – because we lacked a a bit of offensive power. It was not the best of decisions.
on his third hamstring injury this season…
Yes. Last year was a thigh but this year it’s a recurrence of hamstrings. You cannot say it’s no worry because after the player doesn’t play with the freedom in mind.
on whether he will get an extended rest…
He’s not overplayed. Before I never looked at him, I just played him in every game but since he’s had these problems I’m a bit more cautious with him.
on Alexis…
Sanchez got a knock on his knee. I don’t think he was himself. From the moment he got this knock, he was never really comfortable. I don’t know for how long he will be out and whether he will be out or not. I haven’t seen the doctor.
on Matthew Upson’s tackle…
It was a heavy tackle, yes.
on whether he was ok to take Alexis off…
Yes I was ready to take him off at half-time but he said, ‘no it’s okay, I can go on’. When I watched him play I thought, ‘No, that hasn’t [got better]’. Sometimes when you run it off it’s just a kick but he became worse and I didn’t see him in the second half.
on how many teams will compete for the top four…
Four, five or six. Chelsea, Man City, Man United, Liverpool, Tottenham, Arsenal and Southampton.
on the title race…
No, I consider us in the top-four race.
on being concerned about injuries…
No because for example Arteta has an ankle problem, Debuchy and Wilshere had an ankle problem and they are injuries you cannot do anything about. The only thing you can worry about are the muscular injuries. Arteta and Wilshere and Walcott were joint injuries – you cannot do anything about that. When you get tackles like we get, sometimes when the players are a bit tired it’s difficult to get out of it.
on getting the right protection…
Yes. I didn’t agree with all the decisions but I don’t think it was a violent game. It was a fair game. Leicester fight not to go down and when you see the way they play football, you are surprised they’re not bottom of the league and they want to get rid of their manager. If they keep quiet, don’t panic and stick together they will get out of that. For me they are one of the better sides we have played at the bottom of the league.
on what he said to Pearson after the game…
I told him, “well played and we were a bit unlucky tonight”.
Copyright 2015 The Arsenal Football Club plc. Permission to use quotations from this article is granted subject to appropriate credit being given to http://www.arsenal.com as the source
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The player whisperer, Arsenio Wengaa!
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Luck to win the game; ref was a cunt
But our midfield passing was criminally bad.
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Just a minor collision, anicoll5 – but he took two players with him and created the space behind him. I’m sure the ref was gob-smacked with admiration.
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passenal – OK, maybe I was a bit OTT with Kos but he doesn’t seem to be playing with his usual calmness and fluidity. I think that when he’s on song, the rest of the defence settles and we look secure. The panic comes in when Kos is struggling a bit and I think he seemed to be struggling yesterday evening.
Never mind. 3 points and grateful for them. There was a point, around the 80 minutes mark, where I was sure we would need another goal.
Middlesbrough up next. Let’s hope Alexis is fit. We will need our strongest team.
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DK
I made a huge error in paying for my ticket.
Although I am not one of those esteemed purists that believes that Arsenal Football Club is a local club for local fans only, I am happy advantage of my circumstances. You’ll be pleased and reassured to hear, especially with the latest TV bonanza, that I rarely pay for a ticket because quite often I get thrown a last minute ticket by friends who can’t make a game. It is convenient.
So no surprises yesterday to receive a call after four from friends who’d had last minute changes and couldn’t go, I knew buying a ticket for a midweek game was a dumb move but not nearly as dumb as finding myself living and working abroad when AFC were doling out free season tickets for life to local residents in ’04. The horror, the horror.
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Goal from River P v Arsenal:
http://gfycat.com/SadQueasyInexpectatumpleco#
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Wenger: “When you get tackles like we get, sometimes when the players are a bit tired it’s difficult to get out of it.”
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New post up
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