You can tell it has been a painfully long time since last we had any football to distract us when we find ourselves, as I did last night, watching the ‘action’ from Ashton Gate in the largely forlorn hope that something resembling the beautiful game might inadvertently break out and thus bridge the gap between the last proper match and today’s encounter with Watford. When I say a painfully long time I am not, for once, indulging in wanton exaggeration for narrative effect. I have in fact spent most of the metaphorical international agony in actual, real life, bona fide agony.
Allow me to explain. Disinter the dead past to the tune of about two weeks. Football has been suspended for the nonce, and yours truly is filling the vacuum with some off road bicycling in a disused Somerset quarry. An ill advised change to the rebound on my front forks produced a lack lustre take off from a rocky protuberance on the trail. The usual explosive elasticity one expects to experience when the compressed springs recoil was markedly absent and instead of floating into the air my front wheel shot downwards where, upon encountering a series of jagged stones jutting aggressively from the ground, it decided enough was enough and came to a disconcertingly abrupt halt.
My cycling companions have often remarked on the handicap I have to overcome when dragging such a corpulent frame as mine on the upward sections of our rides, and indeed gravity and the gradient often conspire to leave me panting at the side of the trail as other more lean and muscular fellows sail past, smiles on their faces and an irritatingly healthy blush shading their cherubic little cheeks. On this occasion however my greater bulk served me well in the field of forward motion, momentum being only too delighted to get involved when a vast weight finds itself suddenly and unexpectedly airborne. As it always will, gravity won the day. To cut a long story belatedly short I came down to earth with a bump. Or at least coming to earth would have been infinitely preferably to the boulder and rubble strewn surface with which I became suddenly and violently acquainted.
The medical opinion popular these days is that a broken rib and a severely bruised rib are fairly synonymous where both symptoms and treatment are concerned. As such an x-ray or mustard poultice would be an unnecessary drain on our already underfunded health service and I would therefore be better off groaning and cursing and generally polluting the old homestead in a foul and ill tempered torment until things became less painful.
It would be trifling with your credulity to suggest that I have a sudden and deep insight as to the suffering endured by Jack Wilshere or Danny Welbeck as they languish, forgotten men, in the queue for the physiotherapist’s attentions but you know what? I do have just the smallest inkling. You see my cycling has been coming on in leaps and bounds lately. I’ve been tackling ever more ferocious and uneven gradients, jumping salmon like, if salmon were ever to feel the urge to ride bicycles that is, from ever higher eminences and generally tweaking the nose of fate and sneering at my former timid self for the lilly livered novice that I once was.
Now I find myself faced with weeks on the sidelines and already I know those hard won skills have begun to fade. When I get back out there I will, to an extent, need to start again, building laboriously back to where I was before my ill fated, Icarus like descent from the clouds. Luckily for me I shan’t have tens of thousands of ungrateful spectators groaning and cursing every time I fail to produce a world class display but then neither did I have Fred Street squeezing the magic sponge onto my torso when it all went pear shaped.
So that was my attempt to fill the recent football free void, a failure of epic proportions but one which afforded me a small degree of penetration into the life of an injured sportsman. More than that it altered my prejudice where the dreaded internationals themselves are concerned. Instead of seeing it as nothing more than an opportunity for my favourite players to get hurt and a distraction from real football, I realise that some players gained valuable time on the pitch, some kept their momentum going without having to kick back and twiddle the thumbs for a fortnight while others had a couple of weeks to regain fitness without missing vital Arsenal games. Maybe it wasn’t all such a crushingly boring waste of time after all.
Maybe.
So what of today and the short trip to Watford? Let’s hope above all else that we are able to approach proceedings with the same vim and vigour with which we despatched a then unbeaten Leicester City and a Man United team which had been sailing high at the top of the table. Never mind that Watford are both newly promoted and tipped to struggle by assorted seers and fortune tellers. The fact is that alongside less luminous results they have drawn with both Everton and Southampton and beaten Swansea. I would suggest three teams that, given a fair wind, can give anyone a run for their money.
Taking us on after the international hiatus might be seen as propitious for them and the irritating kick off time is often considered a thing of ill omen among our own supporters. So much for the prospective debit column, what of the assets? Well, we know that a repeat of the first twenty minutes of panache with which we bamboozled, bewildered and butchered Man United ought to be more than enough this evening. We also know that the perfect storm of football we produced a fortnight ago can be annoyingly infrequent just as much as it can be a sign of things to come. We will learn much about our tilt at the crown on days like this. Not the day we slew the giant but the day afterwards. When we are called upon to do the less glamorous work at places like Vicarage Road.
There has been a lot of debate in the run up to this afternoon’s match as to whether or not Arsène ought to rotate his players. If you’ll allow me I’d like to stick in my spoon and have a stir. Given the obvious disclaimer that it’s none of my damn business and the manager can of course choose whomsoever it pleases him to choose, and not in any way wishing to set myself up as an expert or even a vaguely knowledgeable person, a number of facts appear self evident when considering this particular issue.
Firstly any discussion of rotation does not in itself suggest we don’t consider Watford worthy opponents and neither do we assume that the manager or his players do. The Premiership is extremely competitive and the only thing that really separates the so called top teams from the herd is consistency. On any given day any team can beat any other. Look at the ‘shock’ results already this season. Neither West Ham nor Mike Dean were fancied to scrape as much as a point against us and yet both came out as comfortable winners. We consistently finish well above Swansea every season and yet they have shown themselves more than capable of putting on an impressive performance against us and skipping back down the M4 with the points.
If one or other of the middling placed teams could find that holy grail and put a run of results together over more than just two or three weekends they could challenge for a top four finish or potentially the title. This is precisely what Liverpool did a couple of years ago, belying their average mid table status and elbowing their way out of the cheap seats to sit with Arsenal, Man City and Chelsea. The better clubs and the better managers have a proven record of consistently producing the goods, coming back from disappointments and bringing to bear a focus and concentration which sets them apart.
So yes Watford could beat us, yes they could be a very difficult opponent to overcome but realistically one must consider them less of a threat than say either of the Manchester clubs, or a resurgent Liverpool or once they sort their heads out, the Gas Giants of Chelsea. If Arsène chooses to rest Alexis or anyone else against Watford it will be based on the player’s fitness after a long haul around the world and with an eye on future fixtures. You and I can glibly assert that this or that man should play but we don’t have to live with the consequences of a poor or unfortunate decision.
The second point about rotation concerns choice. Does Arsène really exercise a free and unbridled preference in these matters or is rotation, considered realistically, actually foisted upon him? Given the number of games to be played, the various competitions in which we have hopes of success and the demands of the international calendar I would suggest that he doesn’t get to choose whether he rotates his squad he is simply faced with the choice of when he rotates it.
Since the financial shackles have been eased and he has been able to strengthen the playing staff without losing his best and brightest every summer we have seen a different approach to resting players. Look at Theo Walcott as just one shining example. He was used so sparingly last season after returning from injury that many ‘experts’ employed their wisdom to inform us that he must be on his way. His contract hadn’t been signed, Arsène was punishing him by leaving him on the bench and it was only a matter of which club would come in and buy him. Almost certainly Liverpool given that they were going to have to replace Raheem Sterling. Blah, blah and furthermore if you’ll allow me, blah.
Just another case of why read or listen to the self appointed experts anticipating future events when one could just wait and see and then actually know the outcome. The alternative plot to Theo’s 2014/15 story is that he was convalescing. Being nursed carefully by manager and medical staff because given the depth of talent available in the squad the club could afford not to rush him back. We are now enjoying the fruits of Arsène’s careful husbandry. All those seasons playing wide or second striker and the gentle return to the first team look like they’re paying off don’t they? His all round game has been improved by his years of assisting other strikers and that, allied to his innate ability in front of goal, has produced a pretty nifty little centre forward. A budding partnership with a similar scorer/provider in Alexis promises much. If both stay free of injury they look like blossoming into a lethal double act.
But I am at risk of straying from the point. The fact is we didn’t need to rush Theo back because we have a squad which can cope with a few important absentees. The reason such a squad has been assembled is because we will be forced to rest and rotate at various times. The argument that the last time we rested first teamers didn’t work because we lost the match is gibberish. Regardless of individual results we cannot play the same eleven all season. Therefore the replacements need to have a certain amount of match experience and to be sufficiently familiar with their team mates to enable them to integrate as seamlessly as possible when they get the call.
My final point on this subject is that we, you and I, the punter, the armchair fan and the blogger simply do not have the relevant information to second guess Arsène when it comes to decisions vis a vis resting players. We have no idea of his long term plans, of the medical information he receives of what he sees and hears in training, what advice he gets from his coaching staff, his preferred methods for motivating each individual member of his squad. There is far more to it than Stew Black saying I love Tomáš Rosický and regardless of his age, fitness, or the future development of other players in the squad I demand he starts every match. When you cannot imagine how to tie the man’s laces you shouldn’t even attempt to picture yourself walking a mile in Arsène’s shoes.
In any case, all of the above is only so much hooey as we will support whichever eleven players pull on the jersey. Always have and always will. You and I debating who should or shouldn’t play is like my dog’s fleas arguing over which tree he should next piss against. Just like those pesky little varmints we would be better off simply hanging on and enjoying the ride.
Positively Arsenal 
That was quite a ride Stew.
LikeLiked by 3 people
Seems like we’ve both been in the wars George. Poor old sods.
LikeLiked by 1 person
Ha-ha! Steww’s back and my word, what a way to do so! So many chuckle-worthy snippets to savor. Enjoy the ride is why we’re here.
It’s evident we’re onto something special, though early days it might be;
And yet for all its uncertainty, I’d rather hopeful be.
I’m strapped into my seat, ready for the ride. Thanks, Steww, George, the Andrews, and the entire community of PA for the opportunity to do so in your company.
Victoria Concordia Crescit
LikeLiked by 2 people
Sorry about your mishap, Steww. I hope you didn’t hurt yourself too bad. Here’s to a quick recovery as soon as you can manage it
LikeLike
Get well soon Steww hope you’ve not been in too much pain.
Hope you were wearing a helmet! I guess that you were as today’s post was both brilliant and good fun, thank you.
It wasn’t just one or two players in the first team squad who benefited from getting minutes or goals during the interlull. Did you all see the goal from Gnabry? Corblimey. Is it the Alexis effect?
LikeLike
Yep I was wearing a helmet. And shoulder, chest, arm elbow and knee pads so of course I landed on my exposed rib cage.
LikeLiked by 2 people
‘Enjoy the ride’ is for me becoming one of the best phrases that increasingly binds us all here on PA. It seems to encapsulate so much of the ‘wisdom’ that is required to process and cope with the vagaries of following a team involved in a competitive sport.
I expect Arsenal to win today. If not, I know that I will find PA to be the best place to come to navigate my way through the rest of the weekend and week.
Well done Steww….
LikeLiked by 4 people
Your prose is so eloquent Stew, I’m afraid the picture you painted of your mishap made me chuckle! I hope you were not too badly hurt though?
I’m looking forward to the next stage of the ride and hoping the boys can pick up from where they left off – come on you Gunners!
LikeLiked by 4 people
Nice one Stew,1 nil to the Arsenal today mate.
LikeLike
Thankfully Stew you didn’t stuff up your writing hand. Get well soon and keep laughing and coughing to the minimum.
LikeLike
So sorry to hear of your spectacular accident. Its the daring to do that makes it all worthwhile etc but there are times when flying too close to the sun is indeed uncomfortable. About suffering the old masters were never wrong.
But what a wonderful piece you have fashioned from that disaster, and I thank you deeply for that: match days wouldn’t feel right without you guiding the way. But first a little tie at the Lane to whet the appetite, and I shan’t properly know until it starts who I will most want to win. I have a suspicion it will be Tottingham which probably disqualifies me for ever.
LikeLiked by 6 people
For heaven’s sake Steww….be careful. You are not a young man anymore. (Word to myself as well). Get well soon.
At least your brain is not impaired and the pen stilled. Excellent blog.
LikeLiked by 2 people
You can’t beat Stew for consistency, he’s a Gunner ain’t he? Speedy recovery and thanks for satisfying our match day treat through the pain barrier with such a brilliant piece.
Ollie to be amongst the goals today. COYG
LikeLike
I hope your weary bones aren’t too shaken, Stew.
Arsenal are back in business this evening.
The prelude kick off at the lane ended in a 0-0 stalemate, as both teams are not allowed to lose this will have to do. It will be a while yet before the phoney Kloppmania has bitten the dust.
LikeLiked by 3 people
Black is back, praise the Lord, and so is the proper football. Grateful thanks also that Stew’s rib cage absorbed the bulk of the crash impact and that the cruciate ligament otherwise known as his typing finger remains fully functioning.
Great post, good draw for the Spuds, now for a decent win for our very own uninjured.
COYGS!
LikeLiked by 3 people
Nice reference DC.
LikeLiked by 1 person
Morning, PA, and a lovely autumn morning it is here in Alabama. If I were adventurous, like Stew, I would be out hiking or biking the nearby hills in this beautiful weather. But, instead, I am parked on the sofa, waiting for the important game to start. Late kickoffs do mess up a Saturday (or, give one a good excuse for lying around in pajamas until after lunch). Luckily for me, I had this lovely piece of writing to pass the time.
Hope you are back to 100% soon, Stew. And I hope the boys are fit and firing today. Here’s to coming home with all three points!
LikeLiked by 2 people
great post again Steww and get well soon.
GP is right enjoying the ride is one of the things that sets us apart here on P.A. and it should become our mantra. It is what all of Steww’s posts have in common.
While others are moaning about our difference between best and worst performances we are just enjoying the fact we have those great performancers in the first place. While i would love a manure everyweek if I have to put up with an Zargreb every now and again then so be it. When we play I love it and im just thankful for those moments and the chance to ENJOY THE RIDE COYG.
LikeLiked by 1 person
Looks like my voodoo charms have yet to get back from the interlull – all our competitors winning their games at this stage (no – I don’t count Spuds and ‘pool).
So looks like the lads, whoever they may be, will have to go out and do the proverbial business.
LikeLike
Doing something to help mind and body – especially during international breaks, is so positive and shouldn’t result in injuries. Have a good, fast recovery Steww.
The incident itself is so beautifully written that on the one hand it takes me back decades to my own cycling days, and on the other – reminds me of the misfortune of falling off. Pain, pain, pain.
As others have said here; I’m glad this hasn’t affected your writing and quality.
LikeLike
Arsenal: Cech, Bellerin, Mertesacker, Koscielny, Monreal, Cazorla, Coquelin, Ramsey, Ozil, Sanchez, Walcott.
Subs: Debuchy, Gibbs, Arteta, Giroud, Oxlade-Chamberlain, Chambers, Macey.
Not much rotating there then – no taking Watford for granted.
LikeLike
All of the debate about rotation and it’s the first eleven. Well well. Just goes to illustrate my point about us trying to second guess the great man.
LikeLiked by 1 person
It’s coming
LikeLiked by 1 person
Grand stuff Stew. May your pedals never squeak.
Good first half, the home side obdurate. We have played some lovely balls into the box though, killers but for a split second or six inches. Kosc is looking superb too. The click into top gear required.
LikeLike
It’s a chicken and egg thing Andrew. The top gear will click after the first goal I suspect. But it needs to click for the first goal.
LikeLike
I think that was nicely poached
LikeLike
Boom boom
LikeLike
Oh my.
LikeLike
Collectors item?
Ozil right footed assist onto Giroud’s right peg?
–
And Ramsey gets his goal too. Bellerin!
LikeLike
Another quick fire burst of goals from this squad Gunners.
LikeLike
Hector Bellerin. It’s difficult to believe he was a youth team player, like , yesterday.
LikeLiked by 2 people
Squawka FootballVerified account
@Squawka
Olivier Giroud has now scored 34 Premier League goals over the last 3 seasons, only Sergio Aguero (49) has more in that time.
And Ozil has the most assists in the BPL this season, 6
LikeLiked by 4 people
Job done with aplomb. Very pleasing all round.
LikeLike
FT: Watford 0-3 Arsenal
Delighted that Ramsey scored, cos as usual he was the subject of hate for the idiot boo boys across arsenal web world
LikeLike
Round about 65 minutes, Watford started to flag. That opened the gaps. They’d done well up until them – all credit to the lads for their patience. Extra credit to Mesut for two assists, Alexis for making the breakthrough and Bellerin for a superb all round display. Oh and Santi – the little man was everywhere once more, instigating moves, supporting both full-backs – you name it.
And for those of you who still think Mesut is “languid”, watch him off the ball when we’re countering – he really motors.
I actually missed the first goal going in – I was up on my feet in outrage because I thought the ref had denied the penalty for the foul on Mesut. Then I saw Alexis celebrating.
Just the ticket.
LikeLike
And I loved Coquelin’s reaction to Capoue’s dive – must have been some quite fruity French, I imagine.
LikeLike
Arsenal Fixture News @AFCFixtureNews 5h5 hours ago
David Beckham’s middle son Romeo has decided to give up football completely and is no longer with Arsenal; only Cruz remains at our Academy.
Arsenal Fixture News @AFCFixtureNews 4h4 hours ago
Rather than reply to individual comments, Cruz is the one which has a real chance of making it.
LikeLike
Well who needs PA after such a performance?
LikeLike
That had banana skin all over it beforehand, so well done the manager and team for getting it just right. And I thought well done to Watford who seemed to play it fairly and with a sense of belief. Nice to see the HFB looking sharp – loved his header from a late corner, which was a real reminder that he packs quite a punch and is a serious striker.
LikeLike
“3 nil to the Arsenal”. Is that our new favourite scoreline? Good to see 2 of our whipping boys getting on the scoresheet. The AAA and WOB’s will be crying into their soup tonight – nothing to complain about. They’ll have to hold their horses until Tuesday in the hopes that Bayern give them some ammunition!
LikeLiked by 1 person
That means we stay in second spot but I am not sure we are competing because we didn’t sign a striker. No doubt I will be told on MotD.
LikeLike
FH, not only did we not sign a striker, we did not sign any outfield players!
LikeLike
chuba Akpom flattens the Ref
https://twitter.com/afc_Mat/status/655455209641132032
LikeLiked by 1 person
Ozil lazy again
LikeLiked by 2 people
I wonder if we will evr here “that was a real missile from cruz”.
anyway back to today, watford will cause alot of teams problems this year and certaainly made us work hard. I thought we were struggling in alot of the individual battles early on today against a fast and physical side and the fact we got on top shows the character and determination of the likes of Hector,Francis,Aaron and Santi.
Aaron and Oliver deserved their goals today and i’m chuffed for them, many throats once again being stuffed with humble pie.
Again all went well today although Gabs “minor surgery” is slightly worrying.
Role on Tuesday!
LikeLiked by 1 person
Wonderful, beautiful stuff. Stick to the game plan, don’t panic, and it will happen. Fans should remember that too.
And Aaron beats Mother Nature and gets to do his baby goal celebration before the baby comes. Good thing, too, because I think he got so excited when he scored for Wales that he forgot to do it. 9 months and he was running out of time. He’ll relax now. (banned smiley)
LikeLike
Nice one Steww, as always.
Good to see Ramsey get a goal. My hope is that he returns to his prolific form of a season or two ago.
Why do we discuss the AAA? Are they not the figment of the media workers/owners’ imagination?
LikeLike
A_or_B, where did you hear about Gab’s minor procedure? According to AW, he’s fine and could even play Tuesday
“on Gabriel…
He should be available for Tuesday. He had a good training session before we left at our training ground and he looks alright.”
Read more at http://www.arsenal.com/news/news-archive/20151017/wenger-on-alexis-watford-and-bayern?#GuZR0v5mVvKErdvm.99
LikeLike
aob – right on. Watford were in our faces, fast and physical but not over the top. But we weathered that particular storm from about 10 to 30 minutes and then we were pretty comfortable I thought. I’ve seen an MBM in the Guardian where they thought Watford were dominant until we scored. Didn’t see it that way myself. They had a good 20 minutes or so in the first half and held us otherwise. I was comfortable at 0-0 at half-time because the goal had to come. 1-0 after an interlull and a CL match on Tuesday would have been fine for me but I won’t complain.
And thanks eddy for the stats. Just the fact that people can’t see what’s going on out there bewilders me. Yes, you could say that Aaron should have scored from that chance in the first half but he was coming in at pace and stretching. It was a chance, just that, not a certainty.
i watched Dortmund last night and if you saw how many chances Aubemayang fluffed (yes, one of those “available” top-class strikers that AW “failed” to buy), you would be very glad for those we have. And I only watched the second half.
A solid performance today which will only strengthen belief and resolve within the squad and should also do so with us. Anything else is nit-picking.
Tuesday will be interesting – I’m sure there is lots in reserve.
LikeLike
What is AAA? Arsenal Alcholics Anonymous?
Always Anti-Arsene?
LikeLike