Morning Positivistas from a greyish Monday in Norfolk.
I take your mood, like mine, will be a little more elevated this morning going into the week, buoyed by three points taken at the Ems, earned in fact through a combination of some resolute organised defending and two instances of hitting the back of the net when the half opportunity presented itself.
The media microscope and cameras were on Olivier but my eye was taken very much to our back five who I thought played a blinder.
Kosc was quite obviously in charge, directing, pointing, shouting and taking a necessary card. Never put a foot wrong all afternoon in spite of Everton’s front men trying to run straight and hard at us. Gibbs and Hector did their defensive jobs quietly, thoroughly, no fuss and very few errors. Ospina pulled off a couple of good stops and a timely intervention. Who says ‘keepers cannot be clever footballers too?
Our new centre back made his first PL start. Social media was its usual demented self, as Gabriel first made an error by misjudging the bounce, then a skewed header, at which point he had been written off as a worse signing than Mikel Silvestre. Then in the 37th minute had performed a perfect retrieving tackle on Lukaku which may have turned the game. After that Gabriel had been anointed as the answer to all our previous defensive wobbles and poor old Per might as well pack his lederhosen.
Anyway to brighten your morning have one last look, before the PL insist it is taken down;
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ihUPjkmE0A0
After those few opening flutters I thought our defenders played better and better as the game went on. Everton pressed and I was impressed with the quality of the crossing from their young Garbutt, but for all the pressing and puff at no time did I think we would crack and concede. Once we were ahead, the game was won.
Young Francis Coquelin may have a sore nose this morning but he has done himself no harm in gilding his reputation in the eyes of supporters (well this supporter anyway) for his willingness to battle on with a broken nose. There is talk of surgery which may rob us of him for at least the midweek game. My recollection of broken noses is however the insertion and deft twisting of steel rods to refashion the nasal sculpture which, although it will make his eyes water, should have him back on Wednesday. And he can wear a mask which, in my opinion, is an accoutrement that every young footballer should aspire to. The Telegraph captured the original coming together nicely.
I was not expecting a classic game, but a difficult contest against a side who came into the game on the back of a Euro win, but a poor domestic record. Just one win in twelve PL matches Mr Martinez is relegation form, and you know it. Everton would have been delighted with a point, even that though was never a likely outcome. It was not a sparkling performance from us, but intelligent, measured football. The sort of performance on which a successful run-in can be securely founded.
While Roberto may therefore be justifiably feeling a little sweaty at the collar this morning, our form, since mid December, is the best in the PL bar none. I was a bit surprised to see we had won 28 points from a possible 36. I had not realised we had been quite so effective. Amazing what happens when we have most (although not all) players fit and firing. If we kept that up over a season we would have 89 points.
Makes you think doesn’t it?
Enjoy yer week!!
Positively Arsenal 
http://youaremyarsenal.com/arsenal-has-moved-with-the-times-so-should-you/
LikeLike
Ticket for the Hammers finally landed – Saturday at 3pm – real football
LikeLiked by 1 person
And I know he played for the enemy but one of the players who made a big impression on me as a kid died yesterday;
One to be celebrated
LikeLike
heh eduardo ….. all true …but thats level one…. here is level 6 :
the possibility has long existed that English football is as insular as geography would suggest, operating convincingly within its own vacuum but withering on contact with the outside world.
Possibility? You are being very diplomatic there!
Don’t you know we taught them the game and it is the rest of the world that play a ‘soft’ version with wimpy referees that unreasonably outlaw leg-breaking tackles and assaults on goalkeepers? That Magyars’ lesson in 53 was just a fluke, as evidenced when we won the World Cup in 1966 to restore the natural order, british football proved its superiority again in the European competitions in the late 70s/early 80s because, like the Germans’ dominance in international tournaments, players were actually allowed to assault the opposition rather than prevail with skill, then there was the European ban and the end of that roughly co-incided with the birth of the ‘best league in the world’ – the premier league.
‘Foreign’ teams only win because the refs over protect them from any physical contact, with their ‘cheating’ diving being totally unfair – the refs should allow the british cheating fouls though.
Tiki-taki is totally boring, and how ridiculous is that ‘false 9’ rubbish? We like our ‘nines’ to be a big bruiser targetman like Costa who can teach these foreign fancy-dan defenders and goalkeeopers a British lesson and prevail when we put it in the mixer from long balls, corners and free kicks.
Insular? much?
i can take you all the way to level ten and include sky/lobbying/blackmoney laundring and how the triplet : show + profit + stereotype narrative > morals, ideals values of the game … but first we need lots and lots of time and secondly george and the rest here will suffer anathemas as it could be the 148th time i say it
did you really think that in the insular logic of @our game, our rules@ they would ever let a frenchman (traditionally a nationality to be mocked for their cowardice in these parts of the world) dominate their ‘holy’ game without contributing millions in the machine and with foreign players ? all while repaying his ground? fuck that shit…we let him once and he ridiculed us …invincibles…
arsenal’s troubles are because wenger is not the common gaffer which they identify here with. he is a symbol of everything the locals/natives hate about anything non-brittish. it takes a sophisticated englishman to value what wenger brings to arsenal and consequently football. thats is mostly in my eyes why he gets such bad press
the other matter is the model we have chosen to run our business with the prevailing trends of having a rich tyccoon taking care of it all. the system has clearly chosen that it wants model2 NOT model1. Wenger is a prgamtaist and knows that but he also recognised that arsenal had to go through model1 for a good while and if in the future the club decides to go with model2 to get respected..it will be sad but it will be after wenger…even though he has recently started to play as per their rules. my last hope is that goodness will prevail and the scum who control the game in this country decide that they have tortured arsenal and wenger enough, he has repaid the stadium , he is spending money, he is using englishmen….no need ot be harsh to him…the road to epl is open.
should i then consider that a defeat or a triumph ?
LikeLike
the idea that we will simply prevail with our football is indeed laughable and naive..we tried that in 07 with eduardo and they fucked us big time…
hence i demand more from ivan.. or whoever has undertaken the role to protect arsenal’s interests off/on pitch
LikeLike
Kyle Ebecilio – signed for FC Twente in May 2013. Another one who didn’t make the Arsenal grade.
LikeLike
and eisfeld…what about him ….i had high hopes for eisfeld myaichi
LikeLike
http://www.arsenal.com/news/news-archive/20150303/academy-redevelopment
LikeLike
I must point out that the latest Half-Yearly Financial Report for November 2014, is less informative than November 2013.
The November 2013 there were 19 Notes against 10 in the latest, AND no Report from Deloitte LLP.
NO reason has been given for the truncated report!
Ivan Gazidis, an explanation is needed!
LikeLike
NOTH, Thank you for taking an interest in the clubs business.
LikeLike
You don’t absolutely have to point it out NOTH – is it a document a sane man with a recognition of his mortality would invest his time in ?
LikeLike
I think Kyle was one of those who decided not to resign his contract rather than not making the grade
LikeLiked by 1 person