A guest post from Sensational Arsenal @Madras_Periyar
Football is unfair. This season, we have been ruthless, dominating and lethal against teams (yes, yes, there have been stutters, defeats, bad days, etc.), but no team has been so utterly bossed and left chasing shadows as ManUtd were when they visited us at the Emirates. Maybe it is my intense dislike for that lot that is giving me this skewed view. We all know how that game ended up. United had no right to earn a draw, let alone a win, and yet it was us praying for at least a draw in the final minutes after Giroud scored that ridiculous goal. This is how football is and that win gave United confidence to go on a run to get out of their slump.
That is my trepidation and I suspect the trepidation of many. Past burns. For many of us, one of the highlights of this season would be retaining the FA cup. This team is approaching the runway in terms of greatness and I believe, much much better than the current ManUtd team and their form. If we play like we played against Man City, we should win. There have also been games where we actually played well and lost. Usually these games were lost by us on fine margins. Missed chances at the crucial times, small mistakes after periods of total domination, etc, have snowballed into comprehensive defeats. Past experience also makes us wary of the dives of Wayne Rooney, his goals, goals that inevitably seem to be scored by Judas, happy-to-award-penalties-to-united-anyday referees, etc.
Letting go of the FA cup will be a disappointment, particularly after coming close, and especially if it involves losing to ManUtd.
Like everyone here, I believe in this team and will believe in any Arsenal team against any opposition. We might be apprehensive, but let us not transmit that to our players. Let us support the team and show that we believe in them. If the team is focussed, professional and at their top top top level and not unlucky, we should progress. Let us enjoy this game and I for one am itching for the tables to be turned. Let us school them and also actually beat them.
Come on Arsenal!
Positively Arsenal 
chelsea was going nowhere till a corrupt russian with dubious fortunes changed it all. who let him in and why? thats one
and two …. we now have to put up with their moronic classless manager and their racist fans ruining the reputation and enjoyment of the game for everyone else.
i believe the f.a demanded that suarez get banend from football activities and that countries like serbia get kicked out of european and world cup competitions…why should it be different for chelsea then?
ban them from europe and points deduction in the epl plus make them play for three years all home&away games with no fans.
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Right then, Schalke v Madrid tonight and for once I hope the Germans stand up and perform in the knock out rounds of the CL where the club have a poor record.
Roberto Di Matteo in charge so they have a manager with experience of getting a sub standard side to the final.
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It’s all right -Atkinson has the whistle in Gelsenkirchen.
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Madrid is a strange electric pink outfit – wtf!
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I’m sure I saw Maureen on that metro train he should be hung, drawn and quartered
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Real Madrid should have no problems seeing off Shalke tonight.
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disappointing game from Germany – Schalke with a lack of energy and total lack of guile, Madrid going through the motions
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Liverpool, Everton and Spurs will all have to take UEFA Cup seriously now, no more reserves teams – best and most realistic chance of UCL next season for them.
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That’s why Bayern Munich wins the title every season.
Leicester City would have done better against Real Madrid tonight.
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That low season ticket = low wages fro star players model in Germany isn’t working out too well for the Germans, if they want to do better in Champions League or compete with Bayern.
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So poor was the opening few minutes of the second half I gave up on Schalke – after last year’s thrashing by Madrid it may be that the Germans thought a 2-0 defeat was an improvement. Bloody poor entertainment.
Unfortunately I will not be around for the Besiktas Liverpool game tonight which kicks off at 6. If the Turks play as well as they did against us then we can expect a long faced Mr Rodgers by 8pm.
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ok question….if arsenal managed to turn the epl into a bindesliga and winning it every year and with every year targetting the cl and be at least in semis……. would you mind?
in fact thats what ive been waiting for and had it not been for a bunch of racist bastards kicking us and criminals allowed in this league …tis what would have happened.
but in the ‘spirit of fair competition’ they opted to bring in all these dubious money men and united giving training grounds and stadiums as collateral to banks to defeat us…sickening. we would have owned these lands with eboue denislon and eduardo but they didnt like that…..
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Hold fire there it is Everton that kick off early and Liverpool at 8
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what games are these ani?
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I have sometimes thought to myself – yes, I do sometimes think thoughts and stuff – and I wondered why it is that we get ourselves into a lather over this or that, usually refereeing bollix, players that cheat, other managers we cannot stand and so on, or more positively put forward honest common-sense suggestions to resolve the above and many more anomalies that seem to litter the great game?
Well for a start there is the companionship of other bloggers, provided one avoids some of the more hysterical blogs, and the humour to be found there, which can lighten even the darkest day, or to read different and fascinating insights into how others see the good and the bad of modern day football from various perspectives that may not occur otherwise.
The blogs are a microcosm of the ‘real’ world and contain some of the brightest, most interesting, or experienced people from all sorts of backgrounds throughout the world.
Reading Posts or comments from them is an education in and of itself, and opens ones mind up to different possibilities and interpretations of sometimes mundane appearing matters.
Then there is the distaff side of blogging, by which I mean the not so wonderful part.
The ‘good’ part of blogging is the discussion and resolution of matters occurring within games that have angered us. For example, after analysing, discussing and dissecting something we often arrive at a consensus on how to deal with cheating, which includes diving, harassing referees, simulations and all the rest, and what would be an appropriate punishment for those guilty of pernicious and persisting fouling – we feel that we can improve the game immeasurably, and it only needs the FA, FIFA or UEFA to put some of these ideas into practice.
However, that is when we hit our heads against a brick wall and brings the purpose of blogging into question.
You see, it does not matter what we, the poor down-trodden foot soldiers of football say, even the smallest gesture towards solving some of the games glaring ills, falls into a gaping chasm of disrespectful indifference because of the corruption of the self proclaimed elite of worldwide football
mis-management, aka FIFA, who will only move their fat asses at the whim of Mr Bladder.How many years did it take, including a disgraceful refereeing blunder in disallowing a goal, when the ball had crossed the line by more that 2 feet, during the WC, which is professed as the pinnacle of football, before a change was brought in regarding the use of technology to confirm if the ball had crossed the goal-line?
Bladder had previously said technology would never be approved while he was president, as it had to be available at all levels of the sport, including, one supposes, on Hackney Marshes every week-end, or not at all.
How quickly he changed his tune after the WC foul-up by a referee never since heard of.
And that brings me back to my original point. What is the point of discussing football, either in pubs, or on blogs, both its good and bad points, if all we are doing when trying and often succeeding in making excellent suggestions, if it is all rendered pointless because everything is finally at the mercy or behest of one very flawed old man?
Well, for me, there is one overarching and all persuasive reason, and that is, in addition to the good points of blogging already mentioned in my opening comments, there is another excellent reason — which is that I, and others, can get things of our mainly manly chests by being able to make these sometimes insufferable irritations known to fellow bloggers, who may or may not agree with them, and in doing so enabling the blog to act as a safety valve to vent those frustrations.
Thank you for bearing with me! [Newly cheerful fizzogg]
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And that brings me back to my original point. What is the point of discussing football, either in pubs, or on blogs, both its good and bad points, if all we are doing when trying and often succeeding in making excellent suggestions, if it is all rendered pointless because everything is finally at the mercy or behest of one very flawed old man?
ehmm…. id say its because we are crazy and obsessed. ultimately we all know its pointless time killing. if we had serious things to do we would not spend hours commenting on arsenal, would we? who cares anyway…arsenal is a football club/company trying to do whats best for them in the industry they trade in…that we have selected this company to carry our football dreams is related to the circus and entertainment acts society has developed for their slaves , sorry i meant citizens…. the opium of the people… any firther involvement enters the reals of obsession and i proudly admit to be obsessed to wenger ideals and football practices and indeed happy he chose arsenal for it.
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A shorter version of Hunter’s comment above, as described by Tottenham fan and former PL player and manager John Gregory is:
Because “Arsenal FC represent the best in English Football”
(at the top of the game)
And they didn’t get there by accident. Or by not adhering to that which they believe in.
By my possibly flawed understanding Paddy Rice would not have been welcome if he’d have tried to talk his way through the gates and into the youth teams of other London clubs back in the fifties. Simples.
Get up. Stand up.
“So Paddy got up” was the name of Arsebloggers book!
…
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We are a social animal Henry, some more social, some more animal, but all a fusion of the two that makes us human.
And I feel no more, or less, disenfranchised because of the bizarre autocracy of football than I do with any other governing institution that has me, or thinks it has me, in its thrall.
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is john gregory that aston villa manager from the early – mid 90s?
the pat riley of football ?
what happened to him ….? ..
dear souleiman S take them to hague tribunals please…not just the fans…the whole club….. please…i will send 16.50 for legal costs…we all chip in!!!!
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Only 47 hours to kick-off.
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dk …as your lawyer i advise you take 3ml of tramal and 3×0.500ml of steadon..time will fly
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I like that answer,@ 2:55, anicoll. thank you.
Actually, I think there is a bit more to it than that.
I realise you were referring in general way to the denizens of blogs and not just this one, of course, but to encapsulate being human as a mixture of social and animal in varying proportions does not quite do it for me.
I suppose my wondering what a blog was for was a manifestation of humanity in that mankind has always wondered what stuff was for or what it was about.
My beloved dog does not give a stuff for things like that. He is just content or not content with the now.
Mentioning that humour and by inference laughter in the early part of my comment was important to me, is I suppose part of being human. Again I do not think animals would ever understand the concept however many jokes you tell them let alone let out a real belly laugh.
Anyway, I must not bore you with my philosophical musings, which are most likely to be bollix, other than to say a great Danish physicist (who’s name escapes me) was once asked why he hung a horseshoe above his door for luck. You surely cannot believe in such hoop-la can you? he was asked.
Of course I do not, he replied, but I understand that it brings you luck whether you believe in it or not. Humour – you cannot beat it.
Do blogs solve anything? That is unlikely, but it gives us the chance to engage in discussions of varying degrees of interest with people we like, and with a common interest [Arsenal] that guides our thought processes – and even if my dog is much cleverer than me, he cannot talk – or write.
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F.A. youth cup game against crewe has been cancelled again waterlogged pitch for those of you who were going.
Hector and flamster having fitness tests tomorrow as they are doubts for the weekend
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Hi a_or_b,
Thanks for that.
I hope both Hector Protector and the Flamster are OK, but I think Calum will do very well at RB, if needed, and I think I read that AW said Le Coq will be OK for the week-end. Hope so.
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yeah need as many players fit as possible with all the games coming up. Shame about the youth game I was really looking forward to it, the other half of the draw will get to the final by the time weve played this at this rate.
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Henry B
It takes millions like us, hopefully the saner and more well meaning amongst the vast multitude of the football supporting universe, to say what we feel, to seek out the good from the bad , to point out the wrong doers and applaud the genuine masters of their craft and football’s innovators.
Some will listen to us, some may turn their head and notice: some who may have a small influence, maybe this gets noticed, and a small improvement is made – it’s inch by inch but that’s all any one of us can do on our own.
As a group on PA we have a bigger voice, and someone might take heed of what we say.
In the meantime – boycott Talksport, the Mail, and don’t go to Qatar.
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Darn
I’d like to see Biellik get a runout some time soon.
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dc, [smiley face]
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One of the reasons I began to love the Arsenal is because it wasn’t institutionally racist as a club, Black & Irish players got a chance at to play for Arsenal in the 70’s.
Things mightn’t have been a complete rose garden, but it was much better than many other clubs attitudes.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Brendon_Batson
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Arsenal schoolboys found out today if they were to be offered scholarship deals for next season,
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AFC advertising for a first team strength and conditioning coach and also for a first team Soft Tissue Therapist
http://www.arsenaljobs.com/
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Eddy, being curious I had to check, the remuneration will be competitive!
Going forth to North Delaware vacancies at The Emirates, WHO would be a Concessions Mobile Cart Assistant, £7.28 per hour as a casual! Perhaps 4 hours maximum per match day? National Insurance No. only. Applicants could be on Tax Code BR, paying PAYE on every £ earned! Agnes the Hungarian, OWN UP!
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https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_IUs9DObH6I
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–
Two players who debuted at the same time
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i cant help thinking that this is a golden opportunity going to waste.
we have ivanovic biting..headbutting etc
we have mourinho accusing ballboys for delays and abusing poor kids for the throw in
we have a corrupt owner who just pumps money in the club, no regulation, nothing
a racist captain, a psychopath manager who talks shit and antagonises everyone and tries to create not only ‘us vs them’ but ‘we are superior, let us win, we are the best there is campaign against us’ .no wonder how their scumbag fans…them chavs …get th eimpression of arian race and being…simply put…mourinho encourages fans to act like scumbags with his attitude on and off the pitch.
i demand heavy fines..european bans…taxmen chasing roman out, terry to put in jail, mourinho deported, cesc returned to his initial home but without that silly semi-celebrity whore-wife of his, s./b to beurnt to th eground etc etc…normal things..things youd naturally expect from good people chasing out the evil in our game….no?
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and certainly not this abhorent behaviour of congratulating them for bannign three arseholes anyone would…….
people demanded suarez get banned from football activities for a year biting chielini…something which lets face it…caused no harm. the same people demand that russia does not stage world cups due to racism …haha…and the same people wanted serbia to be kicked out of competitions. yet now the word is all about ‘ how can the club be responsible, not all chelsea fans are racists , just a minority etc etc ‘ …excuses , excuse, excuses….
it is only fair that equal witchunting and prosecution is shown against the blue ‘cancer’…or will nothing happen cause roman zahavi and murdoch are shareholders in that 5bln bonanza ? where is the justice?
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25 hours to kick-off.
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Good story for Scotland this morning for anyone who has not seen it;
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-northern-ireland-31549343
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Well done to the Feyenoord fan for not spilling his drink;
http://www.theguardian.com/football/2015/feb/19/feyenoord-fans-arrested-rome-europa-league-match-roma#img-3
( stolen from Twitter earlier)
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24 hours
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Cannon don’t forget the poke in the eye from after an approach from behind and then runaway. One of the most cowardly acts I have seen in football, I surprised chelski don’t play with a yellow streak down the back of their shirts.
Anybody who has ever defended maureens character should hold their heads in shame
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“Jose Mourinho ‘could not cope’ with Real pressure – Calderon”
heh. The players hounded him out the club! Our loss was their gain
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you know how their fans go …chelsea …chelsea chelsea ….
we can follow it up by yelling back at them ….racists..racists… racists…
so they like to remind gerrard of his slip huh ?
we should remind of what they are constantly…psychological war…bastards..stealing our history/destiny with the russians money..
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yes fins they kicked him out …and here we have martin samuel, patrick barkley and all those considered as top top sports/journalists giving him an easy ride? WHY fins? why?
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Hunter: it is as nothing to the easy ride they give the owner.
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Oh I don’t know;
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GmCtci6cen8
Matt Syed puts the boot into poor Roman ( banned Smiley)
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yes foreverheady
which begs the question
we know wenger’s ideals on the game are solid, good, bulletproof. sets up a club, organisation from alpha to omega, step by step building/growth /development/ spond what you earn..psychology and team chemistry, fast technical football to please and entertain fans blah blah ….
do they have an application though in this rotten sport and world ?
will we ever see the fruition of his work ( i.e 4-5 champions leagues , another 6-7 epl titles and the humiliation of mourinho, pep, and the relegation of united, chelsea etc)
ultimatley they do have an application but only in the long run and only if a modicum of regulation exists.
.
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i mean he tried/tries to do the right thing…but even his own fans urged him to ‘change’ and ‘improve’ and follow ‘modern’ football whereas imo it is the industry that should follow wenger.
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Isn’t it an amazing coincidence that Arsene has been spending the fakin’ money since he’s been given better funding, I.e only one and a half seasons ago?
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Arsenal have signed England U15 striker Jay Beckford from Leyton Orient
http://www.dailystar.co.uk/sport/football/426789/DONE-DEAL-Arsenal-WHIZZ-KID-Leyton-Orient-striker-Jay-Beckford
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