Without confidence you are twice defeated in the race of life. – Marcus Garvey
So, in contrast to the pre-game optimism that Arsenal was a sure thing to the title, a metaphysical force which had swept up even of the most virulent doom-mongers such as Pedro of LeGrove and Phil of Angry of N5, in less than a week normal service has returned and the usual suspects have dismissed any talk of Arsenal’s title-winning ambitions. Post game, after the loss to West Ham. Twitter was awash with recriminations and witch hunts. As I write more is to be expected from the mendacious minions of the mainstream media who must sow tales of woe and doom to a gullible public who have been programmed to treat every win or defeat as a sure ticket to heaven or Armageddon. A measured, detached reaction to one unusual event does not sell newspapers or websites, a fact well known to those who make the bottom line the primary measure of success of their publication.
For us at PA and elsewhere, given our attachment to the fortunes of our football club it is understandable that most of us are super-happy, and twitter-bubbly after a win versus a 180 degree different reaction to a loss. In fact our feelings after today’s setback will be exacerbated by this being the first game of a new season their being such expectations fuelled by the mainstream media.
But our emotional highs and the lows have no bearing on the eventual position of the team. Two years ago we had a horrible opening-day loss to a Aston Villa with a virtual revolt in the support base as the black scarfers, bin-baggers and assorted malcontents went on the warpath, demanding Wenger be sacked. Yet the club ended the season in 4th place with 72 points and most importantly winning its first significant trophy in 9 years, the FA-Cup.
This setback vs West Ham is no different.
Despite the defeat, this team is statistically on track to compete for the PL title. This group is essentially unchanged since it went on a title-winning run since January of this year amassing 14-Wins, 3-Losses and 3 draws with 39 goals For and 13 Against. This is an average of 2.25 points per game. Projected over a 38 game season this yields a total of 86 points. For comparison’s sake, Chelsea won the title by earning one point more.
Of course there are those who will argue that performance over a past season has no bearing on the next. That is like saying Chelsea winning the title 2014-15 season has no bearing on those making predictions they will win in 15-16. No such departure from logic by the good and great in the Guardian on August 5th:
Last season Chelsea were unparalleled in attack until mid-January, and unbeatable in defence thereafter. In short they weren’t just the best team in the division – they were the best two teams in the division, and despite a lack of summer signings whichever one turns up this time must be favourites once again. – Simon Burnton
Chelsea carried all before them last season and demonstrated an ability to grind out results as well as scintillate. The rest have been playing catch-up ever since but, if José Mourinho’s transfer dealings serve to reinvigorate, the champions should remain a step ahead. – Dominic Fifield
Or from the BBC’s Alan Shearer, two days later:
But Chelsea are still the team to beat because of their experience and I also think they will be better than they were last year when Diego Costa was injured a lot last season and Cesc Fabregas did not play his best football from February onwards.
Unable to disprove the fact that Arsenal’s form in 2015 has been compelling, there are those who prefer to argue that Arsenal will implode as they often did in the past 10 years. Arguably most of these failures were due of the plague of injuries which have weakened the past squads at critical junctures in past seasons, the splintering in two places of Eduardo’s foot in 08-09 being the most egregious example.
This I agree will be the most important impediment to Arsenal sustaining its form throughout this season. That was the experience in the first half of last season when injuries to Giroud, Debuchy, Ozil and Koscielny put paid to any serious title challenge, despite the consistent run starting in January when most of these players resumed playing. The club is certainly aware of the need to curb this problem with the appointment of one of the leading experts, Shad Forsythe, to oversee player fitness.
Interestingly, despite the frequent assertions of many that the manager must be mishandling the players resulting in so many injuries, an actuarial study has found that injuries is the price of success for top teams like Arsenal:
Success comes with a particular price for teams who earn the right to play in European club competitions. A player who plays for a team that finished in the top seven places in the previous season is more likely to suffer an injury than a player from a lower team. This is exacerbated for teams finishing as champions and runners-up. What is more, players in the more successful clubs take longer to heal, with those from the top four being out of action for longer than the league average. – Actuarial Post
While Premier League history does show a pattern of the eventual champions starting off their campaign with a victory, the most successful team, Manchester United with their 15 titles, had a recent tradition of starting slowly and building up an almost unstoppable head of steam. Most have forgotten that in their 12-13 campaign they had a loss on opening day, and that their 3 previous title winning campaigns were on the back of draws at the start.
Clearly there is no historical basis for the writing off our league chances because of one aberrant performance. Rather it is a timely opportunity for Wenger to give the players, especially those who are senior members, a kick up the backside for seriously under-performing.
As Andrew Nicoll (@anicoll5) so pointedly reminded us “One down, thirty seven PL games to go.”
Positively Arsenal 
Well done Shotta.
The problem is ,although I am nodding my head when reading ,i’m still whispering to myself ” Yeah, but fucking hell,that was shit”.
Onward an upward though? Eh?
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Some very valid points. Interesting you mention Utd, Notorious slow starters, except a game I can remember against us of course! Fergie would almost sacrifice the first few games and finish strongly, ex players have suggested this was a genuine plan to ensure fitness of the squad at squeaky bum time. Of course Fergie could employ such tactics safe in the knowledge he would receive help from sources not available to the likes of Wenger. But yes, that was a bag of shit, but it will soon get a lot better. For a number of reasons, we just seem to start a bit slowly at the moment, but hopefully whatever they are doing behind the scenes will lead to a strong finish, and avoiding our usual oct onwards injury issues.
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No after 1 game our title ambitions are not over. Utd and Chelsea were poor too they just got results to compensate the performance. We need to find two more players one definitely a striker.
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Guys, it’s the same mistakes again. Im sorry, but the mentality within the team remains brittle at best. I’m over the moon that we have won 2 FACUPS in recent seasons, but the fact remains that when it COUNTS, when the day of reckoning comes, when another team slips up and provides us with that little glimmer of hope – WE NEVER EVER TAKE IT.
All the players say the right things in the press, but performances, cleverness and grit on the pitch seem to go missing when needed most. It is a shame to say this, but i dont give Arsenal much hope of winning the league or Champions league as the mental barrier remains. I also think Wenger needs to be a touch more ruthless in all games. He was happy to be solid against Chelseea and he should have maintained that mindset for yesterdays game. We cannot have 5 central midfielders playing at once, and we need to have a more balanced shape to contend this year.. Yes the FACUP is never out of reach, but if we want the “bog boy” prizes, our players need to step up
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The silver lining in this week’s clouds should have been that the notorious malcontents who, prior to the game, had voiced their belief we can win it this year should, by doing so, have made it impossible to tear into Wenger and the team this year without admitting their own equal fallibility.
They have had years to study the team, players and manager; they looked, and saw a team that could win the league. To stick the boot into Wenger now is to admit that, for a week only perhaps, they,too, had it all wrong and didn’t know what it would take to win the league. With every swing they took at him they’d have to aim one at their own mugs.
That’s how it should be happening. That’s how it would have to be if they possessed the combination of intelligence and honesty all people should be aiming for. ‘We’re not so different after all , Wenger, we were both dead wrong!’
Even better, if today they are saying ‘told you, we’ll never win with this guy in charge’, they’re admitting that the view they developed after weeks, months and years of intelligent observation, has just been reversed by 90 minutes of action. Smart,eh, the sort of people you just have to listen to and respect as authorities on the game.
Unfortunately, the silver lining has to be a doubly hypothetical one. What should happen won’t.
It’s guaranteed they won’t accept the simple logic that if they thought we could win it but are now sure we can’t and that there are huge ills within the team, it means their judgement failed them badly.
Admitting that puts you massively on the backfoot, and their entire schtick is predicated on front-foot attacks : knowing, seeing, with certainty.
Angry mobs have no interest in hearing about uncertain things. They want clarity, order, certainty, definiteness and, of course, clear channels for their anger.
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I have seen it so many times before across a whole range of sports. If you think you have won before you start because you fancy yourself better than your opponent the chances are that you end up embarrassed. What tends to happen is you operate at 95% of capacity. That is bad enough for an individual, but in a team sport it ends up being 95% of 95% of 95% etc. And what also happens is that everyone is happy to do all the fancy fun bits but not put in the real hard graft themselves, relying on someone else to do the donkey work. And by the time you realise things are slipping away, it is almost impossible to raise your game.
I suspect that yesterday, apart from a handful of suicidally pessimistic fans, everyone in the stadium turned up expecting a stroll in the park. Hell, I was still bowling in the nets at 1250, and didn’t even bother to change into my Arsenal shirt (circa 70s, no name should you be interested) when I got home just in time for kick off. Unfortunately so did the players, I suspect – and no doubt the manager too, such was the joy and relief in beating Chelsea the week before. And all that tells me is that they are mortal, prone to human frailty – and that they received exactly the come-uppance they deserved, as did I for my shamefully cavalier approach to the opening match. After all, tragedians have based a life’s work on the existence of hubris, and bookmakers their exotic holidays on the regularity with which long odds on shots get overturned.
And for me the worst response would be to use yesterday’s performance as a reason to dip into the market. We didn’t lose because we are deficient in key areas, we lost because we forgot that hard work is the route to success, that lung-bursting runs need to be made off the ball, that passes need to be hit crisply, that crosses must be delivered swiftly. Our players haven’t suddenly lost the ability to do all of those things but perhaps it will have taken yesterday to remind them that they must do them. And do them every time. They don’t need the cavalry to rescue them, they do need to find the response internally.
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Thank you for returning sanity to the blog Shotts.
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Thanks for the feedback so far guys. Writing a blog reminds me so much of being a kid throwing stone after a stone in a pond to see the size of the ripples. I remember my disappointment throwing a huge stone and their bearing a ripple totally unaware of the the huge uproar underwater. Reading the brilliant contributions of expertschmeckspert and foreverheady tells me the ripples may be few but there is a lot to learn from the many experienced and knowledgeable supporters of this blog.
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Some belated points: thanks to George for his honesty yesterday. Being positive doesn’t mean living in la la land and no harm at all to register disappointment and to call it as seen. If there are always excuses made then the site loses any authority it might have.
Thanks too to Expert’s honest reflections yesterday about the link between personal and public. Football supporting as opium for the masses. The shiny new cathedrals of the third millennium. Funnily enough, in real time I felt Ramsey might have passed: when I saw the slow mo I reckoned he was right to shoot. Guess he just sees things quicker than me – oh to be 20 again.
And well done to Shotta for top perspective this morning and restoring balance. It is incredibly helpful to share the disappointment without going all Corporal Jones about it.
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Excellent piece again Shotts and as a number of contributors have said that such are the vagaries of life, on a football pitch, at the workplace, what we predict just does not come to pass.
One lighter side to yesterday’s game was watching the reaction of Ammers fans on social media – they turned up anticipating being walloped and could not BELIEVE it. The ecstasy was off the scale. From what I could tell a couple actually lost consciousness! Enjoy your day my claret and blue friends I thought for before the leaves begin to fall you joy will have turned to misery while my own mood will be markedly more upbeat.
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Shotta_gooner, Foreverheady
Thanks. I had some late misgivings (poster’s regret) that I’d gone a bit too far with the personal stuff yesterday, so I’m glad to hear anything which suggests otherwise.
Have to second the thought hearing from like-minded people is helpful. My despondency lasted barely 24 hours , an improvement on times past, and one I’m pretty sure has a lot to do with hearing from positive,sane, reasonable and, for my money, correct-thinking Gooners.
Nothing, nothing i tell ya, can help in the initial doom-filled minutes and hours,though…
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ha… well worn phrase… ut apt none the less… WELL SAID! and MUCH NEEDED!
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Shotta steps fearlessly into the fray. Well done, friend.
My new motto for whenever I’m tempted to offer an opinion is just going to be to tell people “whatever @foreverheady thinks is good for me.” It was true yesterday, it’s true today, and I have no reason to believe it won’t be true tomorrow.
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At least west brom are nice enough to lift us off the bottom of the table… was not pleasant even of its first day of season!
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Thanks for the excellent perspective Shotta and others. I don’t think we’d be human if we were never disappointed or never expressed that disappointment. The difference here is that we don’t tend to go too far overboard or suggest we scrap the whole team and start all over again in the face of every reverse. But there’s no denying yesterday was shambolic and not what you would expect from a team with hopes of challenging for the league.
I have been reflecting on it and personally I think it was so tough to take because of our form going into the game. It was a real shock and major let down and maybe that is a good reminder to me to manage my own expectations in future. The players will know that they let themselves down badly and did not deliver ‘the needed performance’ for players of their ability. On the other hand if it was more about fitness, that is easily rectified by more hard work on the training pitch.
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Arsenal u21’s play fulham u21’s at 7 tomorrow at the Emirates
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Fantastic, balanced and well written Shotta. Thanks.
“If you think you have won before you start because you fancy yourself better than your opponent the chances are that you end up embarrassed.”……..this I concur with. I certainly could almost feel the overconfidence bordering on arrogance from the team and the way they played played especially at the time when we were on top before WH scored. Definitely us fans (myself especially) were overconfident and absolutely sure of a win (heck, I even predicted a 4-0 win on the BBC website).
Like others have already said, it was a defeat not borne of inadequate personnel but of a lackadaisical performance from the same boys who seven days earlier, beat the current champions. So, it’s gonna get better. We just need to keep believing and remain humble.
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N: “Guys, it’s the same mistakes again. I’m sorry, but the mentality within the team remains brittle at best.”
We won the most points out of any team in the second half of the season. So kindly fuck off with this brittle mentality charge, thanks.
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We’ll be back on the saddle next week-end. Whoever thinks this team has suddenly become shit is a dumb shit.
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You tell ’em, Gains. Standing ovation for those comments.
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Thanks, shotta, forever and experts for your posts. Talking after a defeat hasn’t ever been my forte. As a matter of fact, before now, I’d avoid contact with all football related things – telly, radio, internet, you name it – until the two days preceding the next match. Except this site. I found a community of followers who had the almost un-human ability to look at things with perspective and in doing so, take the sting out of the loss. Not that it didn’t hurt anymore only it was appreciated for what it was…just another game.
Like that time when you’re walking and graze your shin on the edge of a furniture you unwittingly left in the way. The pain tells you you’ve possibly fractured your tibia or worse still, lost your limb, such if the intensity of the pain. Until you brace yourself to look at it and find out it’s only a scratch at best, a bruise at worst. Then you relax. The pain becomes easier not because the wounds have gone but because regardless of how awful it feels, you know it’s not as bad as you thought.
And so seeing the club at the bottom of the table, bearing the weight of 19 others, I only needed to look in here and my world right itself. A nice dose of perspective is just what the doctor ordered. We’re not top at the moment (thanks to city last night, we’re not bottom either) but we’ve got 37 more games to get there.
We’re in it for the long haul.
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I rewatched our game last night and have to agree with foreverheady that, for whatever reason, individually and collectively we were 95% off our usual standards. I did the math and .95 x .95 = 90%. This, to my mind, this is a very useful way of understanding why our performance looked so off-key and our sloppiness in defence which led to conceding two soft goals.. A 10% decline vs an energetic, motivated and seemingly better organized West Ham will not cut it. This applies to almost all the teams in the PL who have been spending like mad to sign better talent and to improve their coaching and preparation.
What was equally concerning was the initial lack of bite going forward. I made the following observations on 2nd viewing:
(1) I was struck on 2nd viewing how Ozil was marked out of the game for much of the 1st half. With Cazorla playing wide left we did not have a central play-maker to set the tempo and flow of the game. That is a red light flashing because I can easily see opposing teams trying the same tactic. After we fell further behind in the 2nd half and the team shame was changed, especially with Cazorla playing more centrally, Ozil was a lot more involved and they both helped us create a lot more opportunities. Surely there is a message in there somewhere.
(2) Left-sided attacker without Alexis is a major concern. We tried 3 persons out there in one game. That is so unArsenal. Started with Cazorla, then Ramsey and finally Alexis. The spectacle of Giroud ending up on the wings looking for someone in the box to cross the ball will haunt me for a very long time. This is a recipe for inconsistency and it needs sorting out.
(3) With West Ham putting so many behind the ball and counter attacking at speed, while he did not play badly, it seemed that playing a specialist DM like Coquelin at home vs teams like West Ham may be a waste, at least offensively. I am not convinced either for or against but it is interesting how many of Arteta’s critics in the fanbase are now coming around to the view that he may be the better option when playing at home vs certain teams.
(4) Was our rhythm upset by starting with Giroud as central striker when one week earlier in the Community Shield Walcott was the main man?
None of these issues are endemic and I imagine they will be sorted out by Wenger and the team. As is obvious from my post it is too early for pessimism to set in.
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I think that what made this loss much more painful is because an overwhelming majority expected them to turn up charging out if the blocks and making a statement at the beggining or the season only for some errors we believed av bn consigned to the dustbin of historical forgetfulness to rear their ugly heads in the game and approach of our players.
I’m firmly of the ideology of giving a measured critique of games where we come unstuck-the world dosent revolve around us. Nonetheless, I hope and believe they’d give an honest and Frank analysis of their game and not allow any complacency to crop up again. onwards and upwards lyk Mr George said.
A shout out to all you positivistas.I’m a Nigerian law student who has been following this blog for over two years-If I was a computer ,my archives wud already b asking for an upgrade coz of my dedication to the reading of everything posted on here.U havnt regretted any of dt time save for some(I think the unpleasantness of one hunter or canon).
Looking forward to beta days wt the lots of u.COYG.
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too early for pessimism to set it..perfect.
but that was shit from the players lol.
but you know what..a lot of great teams which went on to have great great seasons started slowly in the past..
onwards and upwards …always..we need to be on our toes quickly..next match will be fun.
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is it true that Mourinho has sacked the doctor who tried to help an injured player, who it seems was faking the injury, because Jose knew hazard was faking it as usual. If true just more proof that cfc are a Disgusting club with an even more disgusting manager
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That is Jose sliding into 3rd Season syndrome eddy – it ends in tears
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Ive never known such interest in a season before,(not even since my first season in 2,500 BC) the pre season games were scanned and analyzed like never before,stats are brought out all the time of infinite detail( although source and then verification arent possible it seems) close to quantum level.
Peoples lust for football is never higher than ever before and the inability to take a defeat seems at fever pitch.Of course the basic urge for people to be a “winner” is like never before, and seems a bit potty at times, as if we’ve forgotten the basic principles in sport. I suppose that makes me the Bullsh*t Buddha, but the post game vitriol across the internet seems like a childish tantrum.Look at the shooting of Herta recently and the journo mashed in Azer.Im really shocked and saddened at the lack of proportion some supporters have,sort of Geoff Wode mind/puppets for an idea that is a bit hollow (imo).But Im even more shocked it doesnt happen more often.I suppose the Anti Wengerites will be relentless this year unless we win the league, even if Arsenal make a close run thing its not going to be enough, they seem to really enjoy slagging the dung out of AFC, and unless we win each game its going to get stronger and stronger.The FAC’s dont mean anything anymore.I dont get it.Or the media.Theres not even anyone to replace him!
I remember the old joke about WHU always being great until the mud sets in back in the late 70s/early 80s.Lets face it the season doesn’t get going until then.Yes, the lads were pretty poor on Sun, but that’s a team that can rip opponents to shreds if they want, remember the Liverpool game last season at the Emirates?
Good article and glad PA is as always a place of thoughtful consideration.
FH- Stringham and Templar send their best!
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shotta_gooner
Your post really did a good job of making me ponder yet again how easy things are- in terms of clarity and simplicity- when you set up the way West ham did. Even describing what their task is seems a lot less effortful than describing what we need to do to beat them.
That’s not to excuse us playing poorly against West Ham- that was undeniable- more to try get closer to finding some sort of difficulty-rating of the game in question and of breaking through ultra-defensive teams generally.
My take is that if we can’t help ourselves from poring over it in detail- and few of us seem capable of sticking to the undeniable wisdom of ‘let’s see where we are in ten or twenty games’*- lots of attention has to go to thinking about the general challenge of breaking down most premier league teams who set up precisely as West Ham did.
In those games, which I believe will make up the vast majority (nearly every last bleeding one, I fear) of our home matches this year, it’s not the case that ‘first goal wins’, more that ‘first goal puts the team who concedes into a world of shit’.
Depending on our away form, we can afford to not break those well-drilled, away-team ultra- defensive defences maybe 2-5 times this year. One of those has now gone. At home, we’ve not managed to do it four times out of the last five. It isn’t time to panic now, but I’d say some serious worry is well justified.
*though if there are any of us out there capable of following that wisdom fully, they will of course be silent, and, I reckon, in grave danger of attaining the sort of wisdom which will jeopardise their future as a football fanatic.
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Well written, Shotta.
Tell it as it is!
A 16 year old, Reece Oxford, showing up the £100,000 a week characters?
A mid-field of Mark Noble, Chiek Kouyate and Reece Oxford, It hurts.
……………………………………………………………………………………………….
That was the Sunday that is now history.
I believe.
COTG
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Don’t worry positivistas Arsenal FC are waiting for me to return before they carry all before them……great write up Shotta, thanks!
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Ger Scully @gscully 1h1 hour ago
Eva Carneiro v Mourinho. Hippocratic Oath v hypocritical oaf.
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akpom scored tonight in the coc
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Very good piece Shotta, a well thought out and wise article. Plenty of great comments too, always very welcome, especially after a set back.
It really was just one of those days; we had the chances but didn’t convert against a battle-hardened WH looking for a draw, delighted beyond belief to come away with so much more.
The question remains for me – not are AFC ready to win the league but are our fans? Some of them count as the most toxic dregs of poison I’ve ever seen pollute a fan base – a group previously overjoyed with the form and achievements of a side going back 7 or 8 months. The change in attitude over 90 minutes is scarcely believable no matter how much of an off day we were having. The boos that rang out at the end rile me far more than the defensive errors, the misplaced passes and the missed goals.
There will be ups and downs to follow, not just for us but all our opponents so we may as well get used to knuckling down and toughing it out; nothing’s being handed out on a plate this year.
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akpom scores in the penalty shoot out too
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hull won the shoot out 4-3
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Excellent, Shotta. Superb comments, too.
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To say Merci Mills would be ridiculous.
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i saw this question and it had occurred to me whee i read JMs comments some weeks back!
so is he confirming that they cheat? feign injury? how does he determine HAZARD did not need help?
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It helps to be a self-declared expertly speed in football after a defeat, the solution is simple!
More speed.
The slower wider player seems to have worked against the likes of Gazprom, Liverpool, Napoli etc. (Ramsey as the right option, Cazorla currently on the left, although it’s true Ramsey isn’t slow…)
Against teams with a slightly less ambitious set up or even a team set up to defend do you need two out three in the front three to have the pace (not including midfielders)?
Gazprom got befuddled by the movement all over width of the pitch for Chamberlain’s goal, first Cazrola and Özil and ending with Chambo and Bellerin on the opposite side but Walcott’s switch with Ramsey through the defenders off their stride and crafted that teeny bit extra indecision. They were stretched.
Of course of Ozil follows in Giroud’s cross and gets the tap in, and some of the other half chances or better went in on Sunday then all the above might be redundant.
In the PL regardless of opposition you need your keeper to make the saves, and that’s where Schezzer did so well in 13/14 (the run of 2-0’s), restricting the opponents when they had their first and usually on,y shot on target in the first half etc.
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I’m fortunate enough to be a season ticket holder. After the poor performance on Sunday the discussion in the pub post game was as one might expect: somewhat subdued and stunned would be a fair summary.
One of the folk in my little group said that the chap in the seat behind was saying something -at half time – to the effect of “Twitter is slagging Cech off”
I mean ‘what the fuckity fucking fuck?!’ He was at the bloody game for fuck’s sake. At the game and looking to Twitter for an opinion?!
This, more than anything, says, to me anyway, that folk are fickle sheep, easily lead by ignorance and the hive mind formed by moronic fools who can’t even form their own unique thought. Twittering while at the game? “Bloody hell you knob, watch the flipping action and make your own mind up you imbecilic oaf. ” is my thought. End rant.
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Less annoying then the Utd defeat last season, at least the hammer’s goals were legit. And AFC did not have a player crocked (no foul! Blimey.) in the process,
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you have to laugh at the Evening Standard shit stirring, how they can say Arsenal sent a delegation to the Super Cup to watch Grzegorz Krychowiak, but that Wenger does not want the player, anyone see the flaw in their story.
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Eddy that rag can be useful but not for reading.
We understand how and why the meedjah have given more coverage in the last two weeks to an AFC defeat as opposed to a victory over Gazprom no less, who are owned by said rag’s fellow oligarch (blimey! Must be a random coincidence, a cosmic fluke or misalignment of the stars that they don’t appear to like the AFC model…), and we don’t care.
Up the Arsenal.
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Try again re my 6.45
Was trying to say that the midfield four (inc. Cazrola, five inc. Chamberlain) managed to outmaneuver Gazprom who perhaps were expecting a different arrangement, and didn’t appear to work with the less mobile CF?
Though as above this could all be read as gibberish if for example (at random) Özil hadn’t stopped his run on the line 18 yard line and got lucky with the finish following OG’s move and dribble and excellent cross from the left.
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Truth is that until we have three speedsters back in the squad (Welbeck!) and available for selection (even if only one starts) I won’t be happy! Speed! It’s what you need.
And that’s the major reason a slowing Gazprom outfit over reliant on hazard won’t push City or hopefully ( as in hopefully ) the arsenal, at least not that much. The good Arsenal were always 3rd favourites at best, behind the Petro-Clubs of course. A consideration which shines an intriguing light upon the disphoric “no excuses” loons.
As AA said above, the groans when the pass went behind Monreal one first half before west ham had a sniff were just plain weird. The players are not robots, not yet, as our friend hunter would like to explai a little bit too repetitively some fans have allowed themselves to be trolled into the junkyard of petty jingoism.
When Robbie savage the lame arsed grit sniffer is on the 24/7 football broadcasters, 24/7, first one then the other, followed up by a dose of I don’t know take your pick, Danny Murphy “‘Falcao is a great signing!”, cheers Mendy!’, can anyone out there honestly be surprised in the volume and frequency of gritty bollocks?
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Rosicky out for a month or two according to some reports.
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With Fins “recommending” the Evening Standard, I thought I would have a gander!
Arsenal 0-2 West Ham, Kouyate (43), Zarate (57), 09.08.15
What a supporter. Having that on his buttock, is he a builders’ labourer, perchance?
OR
Let’s not lose our Ballance!
Fins, thank you.
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This Dr Eva row is rolling along nicely – Is the doctor going to bow the knee, or has Jose mixed up his position as a celebrity football manager as opposed to a man with power again?
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fins I would agree with the masses that “Arsenal can have no excuses”, for what ever the latest gripe the fans have, but I do say “Arsenal have many legitimate reasons” for what ever, its just a pity that so many refuse to acknowledge any of these reasons.
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Arsenal’s squad numbers for the season, not looking good for Wellington, he gets 58
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