Good morning all Positives,
The NLD matched my expectations yesterday. 94 minutes of sporting combat, two good teams playing football, trying to win the game, every loose ball, every tackle, every header contested. Both sides coming into the game after a hard week’s football. By the end the game was always going to be matter of who had the stamina to endure. That is the way football should be played. No buses, no clawing at the opponent’s eyes, no shrieking when you are touched.
The opening ten minutes I thought we started well, but having huffed and puffed we had not managed to even rattle the windows of the Spuds house. Somewhat relieved they got back into the contest, began to knock the ball about with a bit of purpose and took the game to us. We seemed to shrink a little, Santi apparently “dizzy” (?). Sanchez and Campbell worked hard but with no end product. Not often you see a player as limited genetically as Kyle Walker have a good game when facing a player with the quality of Alexis. Olivier was locked out by Alderweild and Vertonghen. Not able to get boot to ball.
The goal came and, given the balance of play overall in the first half probably, a deserved lead. More disappointing was the lack of a single effort on target or Lloris required to make single proper save in the first half. Fair play to the visitors they were blocking every through ball, that we managed. On the few occasions we got to the edge of the box no one shot. As toothless as I can recall from us for a long time. Most odd.
A shrewd and seemingly necessary substitution brought the Flamster into the contest We immediately set about getting back into the game with more energy and that little bit of serrated Gallic steel the player has in his boots. Chances were created at both ends, Cech again saving well from Kane and Alderweild, Olivier centimetres out on three occasions.
No idea whether it was pure chance or shrewd tactics on the part of Arsene and his players but the moment we started putting in the high ball and putting the Spuds central defence under pressure they cracked. No reason it should have worked, as we are hardly kings of the high ball, but from being confident and in control at the back Tottenham lapsed into hysteria.
75 minutes gone and I was beginning to feel a little uneasy, with a second and probably decisive goal for Spuds looking as likely as an equalizer ! The introduction of Kieran Gibbs I admit did not quell the butterfly that was hatching. One glimmer of light was that Spuds were beginning to tire.
Fool that I am , you all saw Kieran put away what was a slightly scruffy finish. Walker nowhere to be seen. Scruffy counts just the same though. That I could have doubted for a MOMENT.
And for the final 17 minutes we had ‘em under the hammer, pressing forward against an increasingly desperate defence. Sanchez suddenly much more effectively playing inside. Mikel stroking the ball as only he can. Only one winner possible during that final phase but……… Our visitors mightily relieved when Atkinson below for the end. Even with multiple injuries we endured better than they did.
Fair result, both sides did enough to win so a point apiece the right result.
Good on our side ? Debuchy showed the quality he has, match sharp at last even if he ran out of gas a little short. Flamini again spoiled Spuds day, great effort from Giroud, never gave up.
For them ? I was impressed with Lamela – ridiculous I know but every dog has his day. Dembele was also a smooth, impressive operator.
Since the last international break we have played seven games, four wins, the draw yesterday and two defeats. Not perfect but pretty damn good.
Positively Arsenal 
INTER-LUL
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Rosary beads? Check.
Voodoo dolls? Check
List of chores for next weekend? Check
I’m ready.
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Arsenal are being linked with a £1M move for 21 year old midfielder/winger Josh Windass, of Accrington Stanley, he is the son of Dean Windass of Hull fame. Now wouldn’t that see more meltdown from the WOB/AAA if we sign the lad, a bloody league 2 player, ha ha ha.
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He should be signed simply for the strength of his name – Windass – marvellous
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Eddy we know the AAA have some, um, issues.
We don’t need a constant update of their problems, thanks.
I remember the bleating from those who said that they “were against modern football” when the club signed a kid from Charlton reserves.
What a great story that was: the kid who grew up as an Arsenal fan only went on to get an FA cup winners medal, beating Munich in Munich etc. hopefully more medals for Jenko in the future too.
It was after witnessing the conduct of the Superfan the great and the good in the wake of Jenko’s signing that I realised that they were full of nothing but unrefined gibberish.
We are not interested in what they have to say. Please stop repeating and broadcasting their shite. Thanks.
Media owned by people who practice and preach debt slavery or peonage are not going to be favourable towards a solvent institution like Arsenal Football Club in it’s current guise. If you want good press from that lot and their associated hangers on you’ll be waiting a long long time.
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If the sky was blue the Groaners would argue it was red (though sometimes it can be red and blue at the same time).
If Arsenal won the FA cup or the supercup precipitating Mourinho’s meltdown they’d say those games or cups don’t count. After previously having said the opposite.
We get it. They don’t like AFC.
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Eds, I was only referring above to links from to the metro etc.
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Hector Bellerin has been named Catalan Young Player of the Year.
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not bad for a lad who did not count only last year, when we only had 6 defenders
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Very valid point about the Spuds being branded as toilet terrorists, as has been pointed out, possibly to their cost.
Is that why they seem to be forcing Andrex Townsend out the door?
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https://twitter.com/hashtag/FanDenial?src=hash
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Red sky at Night ?
Wisbech alight !*
(*Old North West Norfolk saying)
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Here’s the Propa classy interlull fodder. Nacho&Hector:
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There really is nothing to mutter about for a couple of weeks.
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I was so bored I read ACLF and the comments.
Fuck my old boots.
I can only conclude that stupidity is infectious.
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Wenger’s view on doping in football
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/sport/football/teams/arsenal/11987053/Arsenal-news-Arsene-Wenger-claims-football-has-widespread-doping-problem.html
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“He should be signed simply for the strength of his name – Windass – marvellous”
Arsenal’s Windass, has a certain ring to it!
Thanks for the link Rantetta, I needed that little chuckle! “Peter Crouch’s younger brother!”
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“Wenger won BPL manager of the Month for October”
More grist for the Josie meltdown mill.
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the AAA have been saying we need a squad player that can play many roles. well windass might just be that mythical utillity player, if I remember rightly his fat old man could play all over the place including a fair crack at being a keeper.
Maybe the ” we all live in a Perry Groves groves could be regiged to include windass playing at no1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9,10 and11.
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Passenal, and chelski find for not controling their players v west ham today. he he he…..
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Dear positivistas
Forgive me for I have sinned
I read Pedro’s dross about Arséne’s recent interview with L’Equipe
Is there nothing that this moron cannot find to explain why Arséne is the source of all evil befalling AFC?
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Fuck me, you don’t say…
http://www.skysports.com/football/news/11095/10058264/which-premier-league-team-has-the-most-youth-academy-graduates-in-their-squad
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GP, read not the scripture from the depths of Hades! Take thy candle and bell cast out the temptation to read such works, and say 25,000 hail Pedantic Georges,25,000 hail Franks, 25,000 hail stewws and 25,000 hail anicoll5s, and then thou shalt be free of the devilish slander of the devil and the forked-tongued of his issue- laden daemons! For they know not what the write.Stray ye not from the heavenly realm of PA!
Amen.
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Mein Bergkampf @___Matthews___ 2h2 hours ago
Arsenal fans called for Jackson Martinez & Mandzukic this summer. Combined 7 goals in 24. Giroud has scored more. The struggle is real
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Cech news
Cech set to equal Poborský’s record of 118 appearances for the national side in one of two friendlies against Serbia & Poland butwill sit out the other game under an agreement with coach Pavel Vrba, according to Radio Prague.
Alexis news
Chile boss: “Alexis will be treated with caution when he arrives. He always is eager to play and demanded himself the maximum in the training but we do not want to get him exhausted or demand too much so he will do some different exercises (to the rest of the squad).”
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so who’d want Benzema now
http://www.getfootballnewsfrance.com/2015/the-phone-call-the-entire-damning-transcript-that-puts-karim-benzema-within-the-laws-firing-line/
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I don’t know eddy – I don’t think we have ever had a blackmailer* at the club before
*alleged
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Ignoring everything else why would a club team let alone one managed by a french manager want both competing french No.9’s competing for the club shirt too?
Always an unlikely story. Don’t waste those football brain cells on the speculation.
The following is a very funny story, and it’s true too!
“Chelsea star Eden Hazard may get call to speak as witness at Eva Carneiro hearing”
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Fins, just to be sure which side would he be called on if its Eva’s that would be sublime
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PG, read up on the history of the Arsenal!
August 2003
Glasgow Rangers 0 Arsenal 3 at Ibrox.
The teams:
Rangers: Klos, Ross, Moore, Malcolm, Ball, Ferguson, Arteta, Nerlinger, de Boer, Thompson, Lovenkrands. Subs: McGregor, Mols, Muscat, Hughes, Smith, Burke.
Arsenal: Lehmann, Lauren, Campbell, Toure, Cole, Ljungberg, Vieira, Parlour, Edu, Jeffers, Bergkamp. Subs: Taylor, van Bronckhorst, Cygan, Pennant, Kanu, Aliadiere, Clichy.
Who had EBTs (Employee Benefit Trusts)?
ALL the Rangers players, excepting Hughes and Smith
van Bronckhorst had an EBT and was the only recipient, not to claim a loan from his Trust.
Ray Parlour in Parlour v Parlour, which is now cited as a case study.
Both managers of course, the Ranger’s manager was Alex McLeish.
Certain Rangers’ fans are asking why the Arsenal, was not stripped of their titles!
The Arsenal had their financial affairs monitored by the FA, because of the Henry Norris problem. I suspect Harry John Peters, knew what happened to the missing paperwork. No shredders in those days, most likely a coal fire.
Martin Bain, a director of Rangers did his best, being forewarned of a raid by the local constabulary!
How times have changed, the Arsenal a model of financial stability.
COTG
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NOTH. what the hell are you talking about?
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Quick, buy ben…
Anyway I’m recommending “Welcome to the new world: Football 2030/31 season”, which you can find on UA, if you fell so inclined.
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Tut. *feel*.
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The Court of Session judgement against Rangers last week may mean a lot of football clubs and their lawyers, among 5,000 British businesses that used EBTs, are busy over the next few months. Apparently 1,500 have already settled with HMRC . I doubt Arsenal will be among the worst offenders though we shall see. If Stan turns up in London over the next few days you will know how serious it may be.
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didn’t arsenal stop that practice years ago when David O’Leary ran into trouble with HMRC, or was that a totally different scam.
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I see Martin Fulop, has died of cancer at the age of 32. Gooners will remember him for his mistakes in his one and only league game for WBA, a last game of the season when AFC needed to win to get top 4, and his mistakes contributed to a 3-2 win for AFC. I think it was RVP last game for AFC.
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A slightly different scam at a time when HMRC was pursuing O’Leary for image rights
payments of tax on income which had been channeled to an offshore domiciled company, which they succeeded in, but they missed out on Bergy and David Platt who were doing exactly the same thing but whose companies has bee set up while they were in Italy.
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Ox to be fit for WBA, but Ramsey taking longer than expected, according to John Cross
“The England midfielder is expected to be fit to play at West Brom straight after the international break while Hector Bellerin could also return after a groin problem,” writes John Cross. “Aaron Ramsey and Theo Walcott are facing lengthier spells on the sidelines after muscle injuries which is something Wenger wants to prevent with Sanchez.”
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didn’t O’Leary get done for Arsenal paying him an interest free loan, where O’Leary invested the money in a high yield account, also something about AFC actually not putting a repayment date on the terms of the loan, so in fact there was no onus on O’Leary to ever pay back the “loan”
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I was told that back in the early 80’s Arsenal had a scam with senior players, where they would be made team captain, and this entitled them to a wage increase, a bonus for being captain, but then a few months later it would be said that being captain affected their game, so a new captain would be named, and he would in turn get a pay increase, but the ex captain would retain the bonus in their wages, as it was through no fault of their won that the lost the captaincy. It was a way of giving players like O’Leary and Rix a pay increase, without having the entire squad demanding wage increase.
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The original 1990ish tax case with O’Leary was to do with loan payments being made to an offshore trust that he had set up, the interest that was earned on which was then paid back to the player on a beneficial basis as foreign investment income. At the time resident and ordinarily resident but not domiciled in the UK for tax purposes.
The Inland Revenue showed the income was a result of his employment so was liable for tax on an as earned basis.
The Platt and Bergkamp case is titled “Sports Club, Evelyn and Jocelyn (believe it or not) v Inspector of Taxes 2000 and has to do with non payment of taxes on income, domicile, and image rights. I could not even begin to explain it as I don’t understand it, and I suspect not many people do.
Suffice it to say however Evelyn (Bergy) and Platt (Jocelyn) won their appeals
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It all used to be much easier with brown paper bags of cash
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“NOTH. what the hell are you talking about?”
Accountancy!
Don’t ask me to explain I haven’t got a clue either.
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It’s true, the bungs at Bunga Bunga Barcelona etc. have gone up in scale when compared with the El Tel Venebles era.
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Bloody hell:
After acheiving the dubious honour of being the fitrst club to be listed on the stock market, scuppered by the eighties crash, Tottenham were then partially owned by Maxwell. No comment.
Then the take over by Sugar and their mini-revival of my early childhood, the Gazza and Linekar years, before Sugar fell out with El Tel and gave up on Football (in case anyone has ever wondered why Sugar speaks so highly of AW in the transfer market, there’s your answer!). Looking back what could they acheived if Venebles had just stuck to the Football, for club & country? And after Sugar gave up on them they were taken over by Lewis. And we’ve seen how his puppet Levy likes to spread the Wonga. Paulinho-ho-ho. Etc. What a story.
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Certainly that story puts the board room wars at AFC that none of the AAAA Experts and Groaners ever discussed into context.
What were Fizman’s demands from the new owners? We’ll never know. But it would’ve been nice over the years to see these Groaners attempt to discuss the matter.
Did Fizman have plans for the or a supporters trust to be a check on any new owners like at Chelsea where a supportes group own the lease for the pitch in Fulham?) and did these lame brains completely fook it up and shoot their load, pardon me ladies and gents, with disgusting xenophobic grunts over the manager?
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Positivistas
This is simply brilliant, a must read:
http://untold-arsenal.com/archives/47992
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GP, re the recent visit to Hades, I thought that the old TS Eliot quote, it certainly seems to apply to the nature of the place:
“Half the harm that is done in this world is due to people who want to feel important. They don’t mean to do harm; but the harm does not interest them. Or they do not see it, or they justify it because they are absorbed in the endless struggle to think well of themselves.”
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Georgakos: Absolutely brilliant series of articles by Tony Atwood and Untold Arsenal. Always liked their wok even though I don’t post there unlike Fins. But it is good to see regulars on both blogs such as Mandy and Rantetta. As Tony said, long before the mainstream media, both Untold and PA saw that Wenger is building a special team and had our support. The same MSM now racing to recognize Ozil, Cazorla, Bellerin, Coquelin and Koscielny, were doing the slagging last year and agitating for Wenger to be fired. We should never forget.
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I’ve just caught up so some of you might have already read it, the Arseblogger’s thoughts on doping Is the best summary you could read on the matter. Good stuff and I’m more then happy to give credit where credit is due:
http://arseblog.com/2015/11/the-international-break-kicks-in-thoughts-on-doping-in-football/
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