Suprabhat Positivistas,
For many of us watching yesterday’s epic battle from the Lane in the UK from we suffered the ultimate horror of the armchair fan as the BT signal went down three minutes from the final whistle and a brightly coloured “ We apologise for the interruption – We will be back on the air as soon as possible” popped up. Within a minute the signal was back up in time to see Aaron bursting into the Spuds box and firing over, so it was no more than a moment of eye watering frustration on an afternoon when I had already been pacing to and from and waving my arms in the ‘technical area’ in front of the TV since the 54th minute. The slight advantage of the unexplained broadcasting blip is that the commentators, other than a far distant and faintly mumbling Hoddle, were silent for the last two minutes of the game until Mr Oliver brought proceedings to a close. The missing minute among frenetic 94 no more than a trivial footnote, other than for the unfortunate BT engineer responsible I presume.
Reflecting on the technological anomaly this morning than breakdown was a fair metaphor for our afternoon. Our hosts had, entirely predictably attached us vigorously for the opening 25-30 minutes. During that phase we had, I think, defended well if at times a little scruffily. For half an hour we occasionally got the ball over the half way line but could never keep it there. For al their huff and puff though just once did the home side create a clear chance and my man of the match , David Ospina, palmed away the close range effort. Having allowed their Lilywhite storm to blow itself out we took control of the game, scored a beautifully executed goal with a delightfully clever ball from Hector and a touch of magic from Aaron, and for the remainder of the half there was only one side in it. Our hosts were pinned back and, in their turn, holding on for the half time whistle to re-arrange themselves.
We were out first on the pitch early for that second half. On a foul weather day my impression was that demonstration of sharp enthusiasm was deliberate, goading the home fans and showing we had come for the victory. And so it proved with Tottingham not “gaining any traction” ( I love that cliché) in their efforts to recover a goal.
And then as surely as later in the afternoon some misguided BT engineer brought the broadcast to a sudden halt a left me and a million Arsenal fans open mouthed, young Francis committed THAT FOUL. Off he went, no complaint from either the player, or me. As I said above I started to pace, I Pointed , I shouted, my arms never still. If I had enjoyed the benefit of a fourth official I would have been constantly “at him”, as they say.
As Le Coq trooped down the tunnel, the following message could/should have been posted on screen on behalf of Arsenal Football Club;
“ We apologise for the interruption – We will be back on the air as soon as possible”
Entirely fortuitous though their windfall was Spuds seized the initiative and two goals in two minutes followed. But for a super save from Ospina and the miracle of goal line technology it could have been worse. The second goal from Kane was an absolute screamer. Bloody hell.
But then – but then – just like the BT signal we suddenly switched back on, we stabilised, those few minutes of unnerved disorganisation dissipated and we began to control the game again. We took possession of the ball, we had a shape again. Our passes found their target. Suddenly the ten men of Arsenal were taking the game to the eleven men in white! Did Spuds take their foot off the gas thinking the contest was over – Surely they can’t be that stupid ?
And so, gentle reader, the final phase saw us again I n the ascendancy, a well worked goal from an obviously delighted Sanchez rounded off the afternoon, though not before Gabriel had stopped a few red hearts with a shanked clearance onto the roof of the net – Brazilian humour – he is a card that boy.
Some great performances all over the pitch from our lads, Ospina, Gibbs, Hector, Danny, Aaron, and Mo Eleneny ( what a PL debut!). I would go so far as to say that after a recent “interruption” to service that we are “back on the air” again.
Enjoy your Sunday.
Positively Arsenal 
GF60 Writes;
Old fart’s thoughts:
Snakes and ladders, ladders and snakes. Talk about up and down like an whore’s drawers. For the first 20 minutes or so the spuds seemed to be attempting to play football whereas we were playing kickball, anything to get the ball away from our half. It was not an inspiring sight,
As a result, there may be some around who thought that our taking the lead ….when Rambo calmly (for the first time in the match) side footed Hector’s cross cum shot into the net….was a bit of a bloody cheek.
But that spurred us and it was so good to see some fight back in the team. For the rest of the half the spuds looked a bit peeled and we thought that the horrors of the last week were gone.
And so it was for the first few minutes of the second half. Then le Coq cocked it. Silly bloody thing to do having been carded in the first half. Instinct says that Kane slowed up and then accelerated in order to achieve the foul? Or is that just my paranoia showing? Whatever, down to 10 men and all of a sudden, struggling. All the bad habits seen last week returned and we were 2-1 down within 5 minutes. Where’s the prussic acid?
But, this strange, We aren’t giving up. The wonderful away supporters are making all the noise and, if not exactly on top, we’re creating a lot of havoc. Welbz, Alexis and Hector making waves, Oosp doing all that was necessary at the back and this is such a happy change from the last two games. How have we managed this? No cause for grumbling from this old fart.
And then, perfection. ALEXIS scores. Hector gives him a great pass and at last our Chilli pepper bites. The spuds are struggling despite some very benevolent whistling from Master Oliver, their fans are hushed and we look like a football side with cojones again. Hell of a pity we couldn’t get a winner but who can complain?
At least we know what we have to do on Tuesday. Keep the faith.
LikeLiked by 3 people
Nice one Andrew,pretty sure we’ll have to win 8/9 of our remaining games to have any chance of winning the PL now,even if the lads maintain yesterday’s return to form,some useless ref is bound to cost us between now and mid May..
LikeLiked by 3 people
Sounds about right Mel – if we play as well as we did for long periods yesterday though it is do-able.
LikeLike
Great stuff Andy,
The endless problem we have is that performances are judged by a simple sore line.
Our games v West Brom and Southampton and Swansea for example, 1 point where the play suggested 9 would have been right. The loss of 9 men v 11 at CFC, another 3 could/should have been ours. The 2 stolen when Ramsey was blatantly on side.
So with just the luck of there not being bad luck, thats 13 more point we could/ should have had.
LikeLiked by 4 people
Now is the time to make our own luck, we managed it against Leicester, we managed it yesterday in a game in which most ‘experts’ had written us off 11v11 and before the first whistle. The hero makes his own Fate.
LikeLike
Our boys dug deep for that draw, it felt more like a win.
Leicester have to start dropping points, and teams have to start making more of an effort when they play against them.
LikeLike
I know we only focus on Arsenal, but can anyone think of another club that suffers a shafting with such regularity from the match officials?
LikeLiked by 4 people
How many dodgy Refs do Arsenal get in a season?
It is not just this season either.
Why,How,Who allows this to carry on without a stewards enquiry.
Coquelin should not have been sent off as he was fouled three times before he fell he handled the ball.
I was amazed at the time that we didn’t get the free kick and when he booked Coquelin it was even more astonishing.
The second foul was also just a late challenge. He never got Kane it was Kane running into his slide that got him sent off.
There was foul after foul taking place on our players with rarely a free kick given.
Seems like same old to me though as it happens almost every match with those Northern Referees
LikeLiked by 2 people
Pellegrini has been moaning a lot this season about officials – does that count ?
LikeLike
DC…..in a word , no. And it seems the more of a threat we are , the more shafted we get.
But…..all evens out in the end…..right?
LikeLiked by 2 people
The media this morning is laying into Oliver for not sending off three players in the game.
Obviously if he had sent off three players then they would be laying into him for ruining a great contest.
This is what football is supposed to be about ? 9v10 – 8 v 9 ?!?
None of the players booked was booked for anything remotely malicious in match where that was not one violent or nasty tackle as far as I could see.
Only one of the five players booked was cautioned for an offence which occurred in a genuinely ‘dangerous’ position on the field of play, most were carded for trivial offences of breaking up play. As you say Tel Le Coq may or may not have deliberately handled the ball, Dier’s booking was for something equally silly.
Fucking ridiculous. I wish referees would punish nasty, violent play immediately and harshly, and save their cards for fouls that affect, and are meant to affect the outcome of the game.
LikeLiked by 2 people
There is a myth among Arsenal fans that Michael Oliver is some sort of pro Arsenal ref, but I thing that yesterday makes it 7 BPL games without a win with Michael Oliver as the ref. Up till the FA Cup game v Man utd last season, Oliver was rightly seen as one of those refs we did not want. But due to him not doing anything directly to stop Arsenal, there has been a major misjudgement of the view of him. I said it at the time, that we are so used to seeing Arsenal screwed by a ref, especially at OT, that when one does not screw us we went overboard about him. It should be remembered that Di Maria was not sent off for a shirt tug on an Arsenal player – yes he was sent off for a shirt tug – the big difference when it comes to shirt tugging, where Oliver is concerned seems to be, its all right to tug the shirt of an Arsenal player, but its a total no no when it comes to his shirt being tugged, Di Maria got sent off for tugging Oliver’s shirt.
Oliver is little more than a young Dean.
LikeLike
I don’t mind how scrappy we are for long periods in those sort of games, nor if we are struggling to create or retain possession. Keeping it tight and conceding few chances is what I crave, as I trust we will at some point put together a good move or two in that scenario.
As it happened we put together 3 or 4 in 5 minutes after scoring.
In short: I liked how we played it yesterday. Will be interesting to see how that set-up works at home (Coq hopefully only has a one-game ban. The cup?) as on first viewing it seems to provide what we’ve missed of late : enough legs and running in midfield to compete when the game is frenzied and ugly; and the right balance for players to commit confidently to attacks without leaving the defence exposed.
That devil hindsight says we should have tried it a few games ago but I’m sure there are compelling reasons why we didn’t (with Theo, for instance, I think an effort was made to try boost a player with huge confidence issues the only way possible)
LikeLiked by 2 people
Nice write up Andrew,many thanks.You caught the spirit of the game exactly. Heres hoping the Gunners are back on air and no further interruptions—time for FAC no 3 and a good run in to the end.Who can tell what will happen next?
COYG!
LikeLiked by 1 person
I don’t think Oliver is pro Arsenal or anti Arsenal and to characterise him as such is childish, in my opinion, eddy. I think he is, like most of them, trying to do his best in a difficult job and unlike the rest of us he does not have the luxury of reviewing each incident eight times and from three camera angles in slow motion from the comfort of his armchair. And Oliver remains, in my view, one of the best of them.
LikeLike
Facing Tottenham for the first half an hour Rich I think we played as well as could be expected, scrappy at times though it was. Gabriel came in for a bit of stick yesterday but all afternoon he was decisive, no messing about with clearances or headers.
LikeLiked by 1 person
For those who enjoy a whiff of refereeing paranoia you will see Kevin Friend (who no doubt the some will tell you is pro Arsenal based on recent results) and was due to officiate in the Hull replay was mysteriously knocked unconscious as fourth official last week and taken to hospital.
Mike Dean is standing by.
LikeLike
OK I made the last bit up.
LikeLiked by 1 person
anicoll5
Yeah, first 30 was fine by me. Same as first half at Chelsea was sound until we got CostaDeaned
Even after 25 years of watching football it still takes effort to remind myself about how difficult it can be to put any football together when playing a team as energetic, fired up, etc as Spurs on their own patch.
And then…their intensity drops by perhaps just a few per cent and, presto, our players look like different animals, and are able to find each other well and play skilful dangerous football. Or a similar thing can happen if you get the opening goal.
Broadly speaking, I think there are two ways for us to become a better team: total football stuff (Barca the example with Bayern not far behind); or be more solid, cautious and better if it’s a fight, while trusting class should tell at some point.
With Cazorla’s injury and no Wilshere, I think the latter is the only way to play it this year, so I liked yesterday and feel more hope for the remaining games.
And no joking about Dean for the replay! Moss or Mason, I reckon.
LikeLiked by 2 people
After results in Arsenal’s last few, this was one review looked fwd to.
Ramsey who came in for a lot of unfair criticism – some idiots even put him on their transfer list because missing Santi meant in their binary mind is at fault for us dropping points – looked very lively yesterday as he enjoy the freedom playing up field gives him. For me, keeping Mo at CM and Ramsey as the “false 9 winger” should be the ideal selection in the run-un.
The Hull game can be used as an opportunity to fine-tune on the team Arsenal want to use as he still search for ideal combinations. A win then and we could go on a nice roll.
LikeLiked by 2 people
on the topic of the Hull game, we know Cech, Rosicky, Wilshere, Cazorla are out, and Arteta is not match fit, and Koscielny is a doubt, also Coquelin is suspended. So do we rest and rotate, Ozil and Ramsey have been rested in our cup games so far, will that continue, should it continue.
Should we be careful with Welbeck, and with Giroud needing a goal to kick stat him again, is this the game for him. Alexis got his first goal in ages yesterday, so is Hull the game to help him build on that. Campbell could be said to have been unlucky to be dropped for the NLD, so should he come back in to the starting 11.
Does Bellerin need a rest, should we keep Gibbs in for more game time. If Kos is back, do we rest Per or drop Gab.
Coquelin is out, should Chambers be tried at DM ahead of Flamini, to partner Elneny.
Is it another start for Iwobi, and what about walcott
what about some of our best youths, Bielik, Pleguezuelo, Bola, Bennacer, Reine-Adelaide, Hinds, Willock
for me it would be
Ospina
Bellerin, Gabriel, Koscielny, Gibbs
Chambers, Elneny
Walcott, Alexis, Campbell
Giroud
subs: Macey, Mertersacker, Monreal, Flamini, Bennacer, Iwobi, Welbeck
LikeLike
Arsene Wenger is now European football’s longest-tenured manager
Leave a comment
By Kyle LynchMar 6, 2016, 8:45 AM EST
Ronnie McFall stepped down from his managerial position at Portadown of Ireland’s first division after falling out in the quarterfinal of the Irish Cup.
While McFall’s resignation wouldn’t mean much to anyone outside of Northern Ireland, it officially makes Arsenal boss Arsene Wenger the longest serving manager in all of European football.
McFall took charge at Portadown in 1986, finally leaving his post after 29 years in charge. When Sir Alex Ferguson retired at Manchester United in 2013, McFall became the longest-tenured boss in Europe.
However, that title now goes to Arsene Wenger, who has been leading the line at Arsenal for 19 seasons. During his time with the Gunners, Wenger has won three Premier League titles and six FA Cups. He has been named Premier League Manager of the Season three times, although the last season he won the award was in 2004.
While Wenger is now the old man of Europe, some believe this may be his last season at Arsenal should the Gunners fail to win the Premier League title. With nine matches to play, Arsenal sit eight points off the leaders Leicester City.
LikeLike
I enjoyed that review A5. A proper piece of writing using the BT outage as metaphor. Fortunately for us international viewers we were spared such a cock-up but am happy you had a touch of a frequent 3rd world problem, a power outage in the middle of a broadcast. Caring is sharing, they say.
As for sharing, I must confess I paced the entire length and breadth of the technical area, the width of a 37 inch flat screen tv, after we equalized. That is 25 minutes of total anxiety. As a writer for Positively Arsenal you get it entirely.
LikeLiked by 3 people
I had long since abandoned BT Sport so was spared the ‘outage’ . Cracking game I thought.
LikeLiked by 2 people
FPL_Fly @FPL_Fly 2h2 hours ago
I wonder if the “refreshingly honest all round great guy” Jurgen Klopp will admit they just stole the win by cheating?
LikeLike
so every other team will beat man u and Chelsea minus us? so annoying….
well 9 games to go… not over until mathematically over has always been my mantra… now more than ever, it may even yet come down to goals diff!
LikeLike
andy i enjoyed ur write up
seems i have been taking the recent PA write-ups for granted and not commenting… its even more difficult with the run of results so thanks much to steww and Andy for keeping the positive spirits up
LikeLiked by 4 people
Steww – I agree it was a pulsating game. I couldn’t sit through it at the end while watching on tv.
LikeLike
Liverpool….cheat!!!! The club of Shanks, Paisley………and also Owen and Gerrard…..cheat…..never!
LikeLike
LikeLiked by 1 person
Andrew Nicoll Ω @anicoll5 5h5 hours ago
If Christian #Benteke fell over in the forest, and no one was around, would he make a sound ?
and would it still be a penalty
LikeLike
I say look at that those Chicken types showing Aaron that Arsenal are one-nil up! How sporting!One of them wants two and another even wants five!Shame we didnt oblige…I bet they went home and listened to the Chas and Dave LP “Country tunes for Country lunes-“…and had a good hoe down or something at least.
LikeLiked by 3 people
LikeLiked by 2 people
Some of those Spuds look like Trump voters from the swamps
LikeLiked by 1 person
LikeLiked by 1 person
I almost died 3 or 4 times yesterday. This supporting business is hard on your health.
I am so proud of the boys for the way they fought back. I’m not sure why they struggled to do that against Swansea, but I think the psychological damage started with the loss to Barcelona. Regardless of the push to win the PL title, the challenge of playing Barca had to be a personal one for many of the players. That “best team in the world” thing and all. It seemed to rattle them to the core that they failed after almost executing the plan. The hangover persisted through United, and then with Swansea the stakes were so incredibly high. Save your season or watch everything spiral out of control.
Anyway, I think the NLD came just at the right time, although I thought the opposite in the lead up to the game. They needed a game that they would just flat out refuse to lose. Aaron shushing the Spurs fans, players surrounding the ref, the team coming out early after HT and standing defiantly on the pitch waiting for the hated opposition to emerge. All indications to me that there was a collective “hell no” attitude, which they were unable to muster against Swansea. I’m proud of them for it.
Surely I have to comment on Aaron’s goal, right? A wonderful middle finger up to the “cut out the back heels and flicks” crowd, who it seems will never understand. It’s when he stops trying them that we should worry, for that will be when he is completely shorn of confidence and belief in his instincts. No, they don’t always come off, and yes he sometimes tries them at inopportune moments. But the essence of him as a player is that he plays right on the risk/reward edge. I think Arsene understands this, and tries to harness it. You’ll laugh at me for trying to draw conclusions about the lineup from training pictures, but I had a feeling he might start on the right yesterday. So many pictures of Aaron and Arsene engaged in deep conversation, Arsene clearly in coaching mode. Something different was clearly going to be tried. And it worked pretty well, once they settled in.
LikeLiked by 7 people
Wenger: “I prefer that the fans are happy but I’m more worried that it can get to the players’ confidence level.”
LikeLike
JB™ @gunnerpunner 3h3 hours ago
£12 cinema tickets for this film and it probably won’t even win any trophies. Outrageous.
LikeLike
I finally found the time to listen to many of the mighty, mouthy, know-it-all podcasters who seek to dominate the Arsenal discourse. They rant and rave how Arsenal is going to miss the greatest opportunity to win the League…with 9 games to go. Fine we are badly off -form and in a rut. But as the NLD showed yesterday we may be down but far from out. We are fully capable of fighting our way out of it.
The one thing I found universal among most, not all, of these podcasters is how they profess to love Wenger in one breadth but then the next are ready to give him the bullet. Generally speaking they fault Wenger for failing to spend in 2 xfer windows yet the biggest spenders by far are currently behind us in points. Isn’t that the biggest piece contradictory bollocks from people hellbent on showing they are the most intelligent beings among Arsenal fans.
LikeLiked by 3 people
I had a small hope that this season might be fair. I suppose I give too much credit to the authorities of the league. Yet another tilted season. The common denominator is that they tilt against Arsenal and for A Nother. One wonders why, although there are some good reasons I suspect.
I spent the last two weeks visiting my uncle in NZ and he is a die hard Man Utd supporter. The propaganda does indeed work. Him and his mates, mostly Liverpool and Man Utd supporters, consider Arsenal the perennial ‘chokers’. The craft of the referees on the pitch and the hacks off the pitch create a perception that becomes reality, but only in the minds of those who do not pay close attention, which is to say most everyone, including many an Arsenal supporter (although not at PA obviously).
LikeLiked by 2 people
Sav from Australia: The one statistic that tells the story of how the odds are tilted vs Arsenal: Penalties at home in the PL season so far: Zero, Nil, None.
LikeLike
Great write up Andrew on an excellent game and, one rash challenge aside, a terrific odds-overturning performance from our boys who were supposedly due a thrashing from the headless ones.
I’m glad I’m not the only one to have a ‘technical area’ just in front of the TV; just working on getting refreshments served at half time (Won’t. Happen).
I’m generally a fan of Oliver as a referee who, like Clattenburg, appears to have integrity in abundance even if he, like the rest of the PGMOL mob, seem incapable of dealing Arsenal an entirely even hand.
Shot’s penalty stat is always a useful indicator of the state of play on this front; I remember Manure going for several decades without incurring the inconvenience of a penalty awarded against them under Red Nose. And as George points out, there have been just too many points-denying decisions that have gone against us this season that one wonders exactly how ‘heroic’ our boys would need to be to overcome this tsunami of refereeing cock-ups swamping our progress.
Spartans our players may not be but the many-headed vision of Mike Dean, as with Riley before him, never entirely recedes from the more persistent nightmares of your average Gooner.
LikeLiked by 3 people
Flamini is 32 today
LikeLike
I see the banner wankers are so very upset at Wenger saying that the fans being on the players backs at games is having an effect on the confidence of the team and therefor on the performance of the team.
The banner wankers are a precious lot, and Wenger’s comments have so upset them, that they have now vowed to display the Wenger out banner at the rest of our games this season. I really hope the true Arsenal supporters kick the living shit out of them.
LikeLiked by 2 people
Ray Parlour is 43 today
LikeLike
Alastair Brookshaw @albrookshawAFC 2h2 hours ago
Arsenal fans are laughably touchy. Wenger’s quotes on fan unrest sapping the players’ confidence are SO mild. He just says ‘yes you can tell fans are unhappy and I hope it doesn’t affect the players. In what world is any of that not true? And it’s all very well saying ‘well I’m supporting the team and they show no fight’. It is a simple fact that the Emirates is a ground at least half full of bottle job fans who moan and whinge at even the slightest downturn. If you deny that, you’ve simply not been in the stadium
LikeLiked by 4 people
The banner boys are just constantly on the lookout for any excuse
LikeLiked by 1 person
A bleak day in Black Scarf land;
“Arsène Wenger is now the longest-serving manager in Europe after Ronnie McFall resigned after 29 years in charge of Portadown. The 69-year-old was appointed by the Northern Irish top-flight club in December 1986, six weeks after Sir Alex Ferguson joined Manchester United, and won four league titles. He resigned after Portadown lost to Lurgan Celtic in the Irish Cup.”
LikeLiked by 2 people
Alastair Brookshaw
@albrookshawAFC
@thedanielcowan @HarlowGooner poisonous atmosphere caused by a large number of self-entitled spoilt brats
LikeLiked by 1 person
Truth is a lot of football supporters are just the human equivalent of dog shit, usually found when you whiff something nasty and glance at the bottom of your shoe;
“McFall (70) resigned on the spot on Saturday night after a shock 3-2 home Irish Cup quarter-final defeat by lower league neighbours Lurgan Celtic.
He had already announced he would be retiring at the end of the season after a slump in form by the team and a torrent of terrace criticism with ‘McFall Must Go’ banners appearing in the Shamrock Park stands” .
LikeLiked by 2 people