“To tell deliberate lies while genuinely believing in them, to forget any fact that has become inconvenient, and then, when it becomes necessary again, to draw it back from oblivion for just as long as it is needed, to deny the existence of objective reality and all the while to take account of the reality which one denies – all this is indispensably necessary.”
George Orwell: 1984
I was wondering what it would be like to write for a different Arsenal blog, pretty much any other Arsenal blog it seems to me sometimes. I wondered how I could tailor my words to fit the required narrative, distort my thoughts and opinions and still write with honesty and humour. That is when Orwell’s words came to me. Doublethink. That’s what it would require “To know and not to know, to be conscious of complete truthfulness while telling carefully constructed lies,” to somehow see the evidence before us of the remarkable, breathtaking and above all selfless achievements of Arsène Wenger and misrepresent them in an unending litany of unfounded nitpicking, of cynical and above all snide deceit.
We saw this process in action after the almost entirely positive results of the weekend. Bear in mind that this was the best week in our season. That the inexorably rising tide of negativity had told us with complete confidence that we could not progress in the FA Cup once we’d been drawn against Manchester United at Old Trafford. That the best we could hope for was to battle against superior forces for an unlikely fourth place because Chelsea and Man City wouldn’t be dropping any points any time soon and we are too unreliable, too weak and inept not to do so ourselves. Of course these people may have been correct. One good week doesn’t decide a season, but why is a negative, pessimistic assessment of future events not seen as self deluding when a hopeful, positive prediction is? Why can’t folk just celebrate the good times unabashed, unfettered from their usual sarcastic harping? It beats the hell out of me. I imagine them as children, receiving a wonderful birthday present then telling all their friends how badly their mother wrapped the gift, how poor the paper plates were at last years party.
As you all know I start every new season believing we can not only go unbeaten in all competitions but that we can win every game in which we play. Why? Because it’s possible. Likely? Of course not, but possible. It is a wonderful scenario to envisage and fuels my hope and expectation. Granted it makes the first draw hard to bear and the first defeat harder but surely it is better to live in a state of happy excitement than one of perpetual impending doom. The result is the same for people of both mindsets so it seems to me that remaining positive means I spend more of my time happy than they do. This is why I pity rather than censure the fans who elect to believe the worst, to worry and fret about possible or even probable failure. They choose to live in misery before there is even anything to be miserable about. There is an old line which all this brings to mind – worry is interest paid on trouble before it falls due.
This is why I have been happily looking forward to tonight’s match. This is why I am entertaining perhaps fanciful notions of winning the league. And the FA Cup. And the Champions League. Because why not? These outcomes are possible and so I treat them as possibilities. Hardly the behaviour of a delusional person to treat the possible as, well, as possible. It’s a simple equation x = x. What harm does it do anyone to imagine a positive outcome and enjoy the subsequent scenes pictured in one’s imagination right up until the event itself? I’ve looked forward to tonight’s match ever since the final whistle in the first leg. I’ve visualised us scoring towards the end of the first half, and then again with about fifteen minutes still to play. We survive a couple of close calls along the way, maybe a brace of fine saves from our keeper, perhaps they hit the post or have a good call for a penalty turned down. Then, as the clock ticks down, doubts begin to creep into the minds of the players from the home team. They make a few nervous clearances, we begin to bombard them with crosses, with dazzling passing moves. Then, disaster! They break away, our commitment to total attack leaves us bereft of deep defensive cover, through on the keeper they snatch a goal – it seems all over. Until a moment of brilliance from one of our players wipes the smiles from their faces and we go into extra time with the tie level and all to play for.
Now I know what you’re thinking and you are quite right, this is a fantasy. Of course it is, I could just as easily choose to picture us winning by five clear goals and never suffering a moment’s unease. I could imagine Monaco scoring in the first minute and the whole thing crashing around our ears. My point is I have thoroughly enjoyed imagining success. Have those who are inexplicably angered by this enjoyed their fortnight of looking forward to certain defeat? I doubt it, so who is the richer man? Given that I will be no more or less unhappy if things don’t go well then it’s an easy question to answer.
I feel the same about catching Man City. I pictured it, enjoyed imagining how it would feel and now it is a distinct possibility. It might not happen still, but who cares? If it does then I will look forward again and imagine us catching Chelsea. They could still suffer a few injuries, lose a little confidence after a couple more games like the Southampton one, who knows? It would be a rare and historic achievement of course and it remains a distinctly unlikely scenario but as long as it is possible what is to be gained by harping on about games we lost at the start of the season? Why search out negative depressing thoughts when you could be enjoying the ride?
My other sport is mountain biking and I often watch instructional videos by a man called Richard Kelly. Richard is an enthusiast for not getting hung up on obstacles and barriers encountered along the way. He preaches looking through the trail to a successful outcome and above all envisaging that successful outcome before attempting a difficult or hair raising piece of riding. You know what? It works. Picture yourself being successful and you don’t go at an obstacle tense and in a negative frame of mind and consequently you don’t haul on the brakes at the worst possible moment and sail over the handlebars.
This advice can be taken off the trail and into everyday life. Our positive thoughts may not influence the players tonight, but they can make us live with a little more happiness and a little less negativity and what on earth could be wrong with that? Win lose or draw I will always believe in this team. The players and the manager are just too good for me to think otherwise. Enjoy the match, and don’t give up hope until all hope is lost.
Positively Arsenal 
the game is by passing Cazorla
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luck has not been kind to us so far
HT: 1-0 to the Arsenal
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Great first half. Going according to my plan as outlined above. I like that the full backs don’t commit too far forward too often. Keeping one eye on our back door is pretty important tonight.
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“the game is by passing Cazorla”
Santi has been outstanding tonight.
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the ref is a bit of a homer
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” The game is passing Cazorla ”
I’ve seen it all now
Did you mean Cazorla is ‘passing’ the game ?
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What a good half though – the passing game clicked in after 10 minutes and after that it was West Ham all over again
Finely poised or what ??
I see we are a bit more cautious with more players hanging back even when we are attacking
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Giroud with his Chocolate leg.
A good omen?
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Miracle in Monaco
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And off we go again
COYG
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ramsey on for coqeulin with about half an hour left
I would like to see Walcott on soon too
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Walcott on for Welbeck, 20 minutes left
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this is one fucking cunt of a ref
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Ramsey makes it 2-0 to the Arsenal after a walcott shot had hit the post, come on lads one more
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gibbs on for Monreal, about ten minutes left
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oh so fucking close
we have not got on the end of one of our corners all game
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feel sick
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5 minutes of added time to go
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we are trying to be too precise, need to just take a pot shot, throw in a cross and fight for it
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good god we need a goal and so few of our players even looking to go into their box
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fucking soul destroying,
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So very very close. They can be proud of themselves tonight. Knocked out on a technicality.
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Brilliant game – I loved that – we were magnificent throughout. Not one Arsenal player should feel downhearted – every man gave his all and more. Fair play to Monaco they clung on to their first leg win.
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Top effort. Two silly moments cost us at home. This can happen. When a loss feels like a win then the world has become very confusing!
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Fucking Mickey Mouse competition anyway
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disappointed by Walcott’s performance, made one good off the ball run that the defender got away with a back pass to the keeper from, and Theo had one shot that hit the post just before Ramsey scored, but I felt other than that he just did not get into it and he did not get close enough to Giroud. Alexis took a kicking, battled like a trojan but he lost the ball a lot and was a bit off his game. We missed someone like the Ox who takes shots from outside the area.
We failed to get on the end of any of our corners, done a bit better from freekicks.
Koscielny was outstanding, Monreal good, Bellerin good apart from his crossing which was poor. Ozil worked very hard, was involved in a lot of our best moves. Giroud battled and took his goal well. Welbeck worked hard too, caused them some problems, but lost control or took wrong choice too often. Cazorla for me was a bit in and out today, he looked leg weary to me. Ramsey good when he came on.
We were by far the better team today, and had to contend with a real homer of a ref. Lets hope that we don’t let this exit affect us and we go on and win the cup and finish as high as possible in the league.
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Youd have to be a very bitter person to not be proud of the team. Top performance, could not have asked for more.
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Just saw a nail biting 2nd half. Such a brave performance by the boys. So fucking close and yet so far. So many twats on Twitter taking it out the boys when they gave it their all. If we are disappointed how do they think our players feel.
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You know we really could have done with Sanogo to bring on tonight, the way he plays can cause a bit of a panic, found it a bit odd we did not include Akpom in the subs.
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i am proud of our team.
i feel so bad for the players and the great man who inspires them.
on wards and upwards.
the players must introspect (which i am sure they will) and make sure we cut out the silliness every now and then.
i am content..i love this club.
WE WILL WIN THE BIG ONES IN NOT SO DISTANT FUTURE, I CAN GUARANTEE YOU THAT!!!!!!!!
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excellent performance and shame away goal didnt count until after extra time as I think that we would of taken it. I think we lost our shape abit when we took Le Coq off and that actually lost us time but when your gambleing there is always a down side. Personally I would have taken Alexis off but idealy replacing him with TR7 but unfortunatley that wasnt an option, At the end of the day this was a good win and another very good away performance onwards and upwards.
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lets go and win our next 11 games,
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Good game and well done to the team. Knocked out but this win will provide good momentum.
I can see this team continuing to get better and better. Lets continue the upward trend.
Btw, anybody else think that being brought down from behind in the penalty area is not a penalty? Referee was a bit odd, just saying.
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Thank you for telling us how poorly Theo played in your opinion Eddy
Fascinating
And as the game passed Cazorla by you have a bit of a run going here
Any other tactical pearls ?
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So near yet so far……great performance…….bastard referee……
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is it true that Monaco only got one player booked tonight
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i implore you..i beg you.
there will be non sense written all over twitter..all over the blogs..all over the internet.
some idiot of a pundit will spout bollocks.
please oh please..ignore them for today..come back to that tomorrow if you like.
today we must feel content..not writhe in agony!
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Totally disagree with you about Santi, edu. He was in the game for all 96 minutes.
Özil came into the game in the second half after being more or less man-marked by Kondogbia in the first. Alexis needs a break. Otherwise an excellent performance.
Monaco – well, what can you say – playing at home – no shots on goal, not even a fucking corner. Lucky deflected first goal at the Ems. I’d be happy to draw them again next year, except they probably won’t be there.
Onward and upward.
Monaco to Newcastle – what a contrast. Newcastle’s ground holds 3 times as many.
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Sanchez was a bit erratic but its that erratic-ivity/-ness that can turn a tie. Laurent konscielny. The boss. And santi who worked from box to box …all game…motormouse…bellerin…outrageous game….are we sure the ball didnt cross the line with giroud there? Positive?
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I am the friend of referees, especially Norwegian refs, and I can see why he did not give the penalty
It may have been a foul, it may have been a clumsy but accidental coming together
And clumsy contact is not actually a penalty
But the booking was uncalled for
Other than that I thought the ref did ok – reluctant to card players, kept the game moving / that’s ok
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ath madrid and bayer lev has gone to penalties
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anicoll5
unlike most of the times when i agree with you completely, in this case i agree with you only mostly sir..
i have to disagree about one small point you raise..its about clumsy contact..
i am not entirely sure you realize the “D” or the penalty area is so for a reason. that is the area of the pitch where the creative side of the game must take precedence..that is the design of a football pitch..to let the smaller number of attackers take on a higher number of defenders..the game gives the attackers an advantage to do their thing and hence the defenders cannot make undue contact unlike the rest of the pitch where it is a contact sport (i don’t mean to say its not contact sport in the “D”, its a finer line tending towards attacking instincts)
the referee made a bad mistake to give the yellow card but it was not a bad mistake not to give the penalty..for the non stop action that football is all about..we must have the referee and make our peace with the fact that different referees interpret contact differently.
please do let me know your thoughts..thanks.
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Yet again thank fuck for PA……
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What an effort by the boys, I tip my hat to all of them as they all gave everything and played one hell of a game. This was as good a game as I have seen them play in a good while. For my money we outplayed them both games, it was the couple of moments that we pushed forward too much that did us in. I see them growing from this.
I see us finishing the season on a high 2nd very much attainable and who knows maybe better! COYG!!
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Monaco’s Ligue 1 record – played 28, scored 30. And they’re in 4th position.
Glad I don’t watch them every week.
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They’ll all be pretty down about going out but they have nothing to be ashamed of in that performance. Undone by a couple of brainfarts in the first leg – shit happens.
The question is how they will be for Saturday. Some rotation will be necessary, I think, but we have such a strong squad and Newcastle shouldn’t be too much of a problem.
COYG
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Arsenal next 6 games:
Newcastle (a)
Liverpool (h)
Burnley (a)
Reading (Wembley)
Chelsea (h)
Hull (a)
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6 easy games then.
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I read this article at lunchtime. I must say, it’s truly magnificent. Thanks Steww.
I’ve watched tonight’s match but I want to catch some other stuff, then read the comments before I add anything.
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Hector Bellerin was emblematic of the humongous effort made by the team. Literally ran his legs into the ground. Even when Theo came on he was the one regularly making runs behind the full back on his side and then having to heave crosses into the box. In the last 5 mins he was fatigued ad hell. Last run in the 94th min he made a brave but fruitless effort to cross into the box and pulled up limping and could barely walk back into position. (Even in my laying days by the 1st 45 mins I would be gassed and limping tbh). What a brave, bloody minded young MSM. I love the effort.
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