Good Morning Positivistas,
What a finale to the season ! Ninety minutes that will be firmly fixed in my memory as one of the best final days I have witnessed, even weighed against seasons in which trophies have been won and records set. And memorable for all the right reasons.
Of the game itself we dominated the opening phase and the way we tore into Villa a substantial score looked possible, 6-7-8 ? Having taken the inevitable lead however the second goal did not come !! While the visitors looked horribly inept there was a niggling fear that with no second goal we risked another ‘Crystal Palace’ style stumble, the anxiety heightened as word from St James’ Park swept across the ground. The Lilywhite collapse came as a surprise for me and most I think, but thereafter each new Tottingham calamity met with hilarity and a knowing shrug “it’s Spurs”. Oh dear, oh dear, oh dear. The scale of their breakdown was stunning and on this occasion there were no third party/lasagne themed excuses to hide behind.
It took us to the 78th minute for Olivier to hammer the 2nd goal on the back of Mesut’s 19th assist. That was a long time and evidence that despite the poverty of the opposition we found it difficult to quite get our game ‘right’. Santi was brilliant yesterday, and, though his work was much more in the background, so was Le Coq who worked hard all afternoon in the engine room. Though in possession of the ball 75% of the time and in control of the game just about 100% we did not really threaten in the Villa box. If I was looking for a reason it seemed to me that with Santi, Ozil, Jack, and Sanchez we had too many players of the same ball-playing at the feet style, all the same size, and trying to do the same job. When we brought on Elneny our shape changed and we became faster in moving the ball, and more direct.
Once the second came the third goal followed immediately for Olivier. Having sat uncomfortably through a few games when nothing has gone right for the Frenchman fortune shone her benevolent gaze on him yesterday, every damn thing went right. All good finishes as well.
Then came forth Mikel to loud applause. Even though our club captain was on the pitch for just five minutes he put his all into that cameo, and was duly rewarded with our final goal. ( Own goal my arse).
Mr Clattenburg duly brought out league season to a very satisfactory end, there followed very warm and sincere tributes to Mikel and Tomas. I do not know how much, if any was shown on the TV, but the Spaniard was really sobbing both on the pitch and later on with his wife and children in the tunnel. I suspect the tears were the realisation that part of his life, the life he has wanted and known from about the age of 8, to be a “footballer”, was over. Our friends at the Telegraph provide this morning’s final picture of the Mikel enjoying the final goal in an Arsenal shirt below.
Finally I am delighted to say that the ‘lap of appreciation’ was performed in front of an 80% full stadium with all of the players, coaches and manager, and their children, walking the perimeter with Gunnersaurus bringing up the rear. All had on Rosicky shirts, other than Theo (Sigh). The glow of good humour from crowd to team and manager you could feel. That is how a football ground ‘should’ be.
Is it only me but was the absence of any reference to/recognition of the Flamster in yesterday’s leaving ceremonies significant ? Might the Frenchman be in for one more campaign ? If not it was a bit of a shame he did not get a good cheer.
On the sunshine bus we all know that football retains the means to confound and delight us, to lift us to a joyous perch, and to drag us toward and then back from the brink of doom. Yesterday the season passed into history in a glow of enjoyment, of goals and of victory.
It is a pleasure and a privilege to write for so knowledgeable and enthusiastic an audience. Enjoy your week, enjoy the close season. We shall return.
Positively Arsenal 
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Spain’s Euro 2016 squad. Mata, Cazorla, Diego Costa, Sergi Roberto & Álcácer all left out. Bellerin is on standby list
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Big thanks to all the people that wrote for us on here this season,and raise a glass to the Blackburn One for let us hang out in this little oasis.
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The whole Xhaka thing does appear to seem legit.
What about Nordtveit to West Ham people. That’ll be interesting to see.
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Its neck and neck over on Sky – vote early and vote often;
http://www.skysports.com/football/news/11661/10284849/vote-pfa-fans-premier-league-player-of-the-season
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Borussia have confirmed that they have received a formal bid for Xhaka, and he has been withdrawn from their squad for tonights friendly game.
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how does a team with an averge season is scolded for fcelebrating fiishing 2nd over a team that had a great season? yet no peep on cbelsea with the worst defence in EPL celebrating stopping same totts from winning?
only when it is arsenal
at this rate if newcastle with the champoinship and make their way back to the epl, they will not be ex[ected to celebrate? we win a match at home, end of season … takes us to second against all odds and there is no need to celebrate?
some people should get real and its certainly not arsenal fans!
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well Wright and Henry have gone down in my estimation, they should take a leaf out of ex liverpool players book of punditary and support their ex club, but no, our ex players can’t wait to have a dig at the club, anything for their pay masters it seems.
Its a fucking joke that Henry is being allowed to do his coaching badges at Arsenal, with they way he has digs at the club during his day job. I really hope its not true that he has been offered a full time coaching role with the academy, dump him and persuade a true club legend that is Arteta to take up the Academy post. Henry runs with the hares and barks with the hounds.
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I don’t know what he has done lately ed, but for me TH has badly tarnished his legendary status. I do not want him anywhere near the club as he has just proven himself to be a prostitute who will do anything for money. He’s not even very good at punditry and I certainly can’t see him as a future manager of The Arsenal.
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eduardo sir..so arsenal is above criticism it seems?
if Henry (or Wright) thinks not winning the league is good enough..is that a fucking joke? btw I’ve read previously that Arsene welcomes Henry to do his coaching badges at Arsenal? Arsene’s decision is fucking joke then?
Character assassination! So basically you are either saying Henry was wrongly revered as an Arsenal legend or Henry has changed since he left Arsenal and yet presumptuously make the assumption that Arteta is a true club legend. Irony much?
I think a problem that we get touchy when somebody criticizes Arsenal as it is when people go overboard. Going overboard is a much bigger problem as it has derogatory effect and nobody wants that.
but if I say Arsenal should have developed the season much better than they did..will you call me a fucking joke too and not let me explain why I think so? Was it the perfect season for the resources we had? Could we not have done better?
Last season when i suggested Ozil could do a lot better than he did for the skill he possesses people trounced on me. This season he has clearly played more consistently, almost bordering on perfection !. Was I wrong to believe then he was not offering enough last season?
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Cech is outright winner of the golden glove award for this season – 16 clean sheets
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I think Thierry puts his best effort into the work he does for whoever pays him.
Same as me.
I never require a player to love Arsenal, or support the club. Badge kissing is highly dodgy.
What I want them to do is play brilliant football, do their absolute best, never give up, make the very best of the opportunity they have of playing for our marvellous club.
The loving the club, the immersion in being a fan, the lifelong addiction night and day is what I do. And I do it much, much better than any player.
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If you forget about what TH says about ARSENAL, unfortunately he still is not a good pundit.
Wright however is abit of a Looney when it comes to analysis and thinks that jumping up and down means a, your more passionate and b, you know what’s going on at any club mentioned.
Punditry generally has proved that no matter how good a footballer you are, won’t necessarily mean you will understand the nuances of football management.
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TH is still a crap pundit and I would bet money that he will be a crap manager too. He may have been a good footballer, but he has always been arrogant and full of himself – he would make a good politician, but I could totally see him throwing his players under the bus if it would deflect criticism from him.
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Lovely jubbly season ender. Thanks A5.
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Cech becomes the first player to win thgolden glove/have the best record in the league with two different clubs.
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THANKS TO ALL THE WRITERS led by Steww and Ancoli
unlike the fickle arsenal fans who say we will never win anything again under AW. tis clear you appreciate the value of team building sso continue the good work and slowly but sure add more and more quality writers to your ranks.. its not the number of writers but rather the quality of the content served up which has been great from one and all… daily, weekly or occasional writer
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cirticising is one thing.. talking rubbish is another.. how do ex players who should better understand actually think they sound intellegent when they question arsenal celebarating
1. Winning a match
2. Winning a match at home which has not even been so easy this season
3. Moving from 3rd which seems all but certain to 2nd
4. Moving ahead of a local rival lauded since well over half the season as the best team ever even ahead of eventual winners
5. end of season.. time for holidays
6. giving legends a send-off
7. just being with friends and well wishers
i recall being scolede for celebrating coming forth on last day of season a few years back too.. now we cant even celebrate coming 2nd?
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Rashford stars as man U finish fifth is the BBC headline, but Arsenal can’t celebrate 2nd?
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Sorry Andrew, to be so late to reading this wonderful post. It was a glorious, happy day which shall live long in the memory. Except for the old folk like me who don’t have that long for it to live.
Only one minor quibble. Theo wasn’t alone in not wearing a Rozza shirt. Otherwise, perfect.
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Good morning Stew – It was a rather good afternoon wasn’t it.
On Theo I spotted him behind the main parade at the end on his own, unclothed so to speak ! Not the only one though !
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Liverpool Seville tonight and – don’t laugh – I am actually looking forward to watching what I hope will be an open game of football with plenty of goals. Neither of the teams can defend for toffee so both will have to rack up five to stand any chance. Fingers crossed that the Liverpool fans, with tickets and those without, keep a lid on it today and tonight in Basel. The Swiss have no sense of humour.
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TS: if we finished first we still wouldn’t be allowed to celebrate because all the others would have had legitimate excuses to explain away their inexplicable failure to finish in front of us. It is becoming slightly risible – but not quite as risible as that Spursy trip to Newcastle.
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Brilliant piece from Tony Attwood on Untold:
http://untold-arsenal.com/archives/52856
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I think that is what is actually annoying the pundits when you think about it.
They had already written of how arsenal won the EPL cos all other teams had for so and so reason fallen away – through not fault of theirs, leaving only arsenal standing… so now they had to rewrite it to reflect Leicester finishing top and arsenal — maybe 5th or grudgingly 4th. alas on the very last day they had to write that we were the 2nd most consistent team over 38 games instead – very painful to note we have actually gone from 4th to 3rd to 2nd…over 3 seasons.
No it is much better to emphasise that we are 10 points off the winner as though 3rd place is not therefore 11 points off and 4th place a further 16 points off!
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Get Kroenke Out @ArsenalOpinion 5h5 hours ago
My message to @IanWright0, @RobbieSavage8 and everyone else who has had their say about us Gooners this week..
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One on the most concise writeups I have seen on the matter yet! the pundits are the ones to be embarrassed and not arsenal.
even noting the fact we beat them home and away.. imagine if the other “big” clubs had managed to do that? imagine 5 of those games being draws instead of losses and we would actually be top. LOL.
THEN WE WOULD HAVE HEARD OF ALL THE THOSE POOR CLUBS INJURY RECORDS!
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Henry was a legendary player, he will always be remembered as such.
But ARSENAL LEGEND he is not. That should be reserved for the likes of Wilson and Brady.
I would go so far as saying Henry is a prick – fuck him and all that sail with him.
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One pf the first time we have such few players out for summer tournaments…
may yet augur well for the start of our season!
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Many top players are not only blessed with unnatural levels of talent but also a ruthlessness that borders on psychopathy. However positive our feelings about them as players, it is unlikely we would necessarily enjoy them as friends. The problem that most ex-player pundits normally face as well is their inability to praise modern players, whom they see as pale shadows of their former selves. The reason this does not apply to Liverpool pundits is no doubt due to the Liverpudlian being locked into an eternal and hopeless stasis, denied perspective by decades of civic under-investment, where past and present have fused into goldfish-like false optimism.
I hope they do well tonight though, as it would be churlish of me to wish otherwise, and I’d rather they were fighting on multiple fronts next season anyway.
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Sultan@DieFohlen
Today in Swiss NT presser Xhaka says “As of today, I am at Gladbach but London is a beautiful city & Arsenal is an awesome club.”
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That any Liverpool players even make it into the ranks of ‘pundits’ is something of an anomaly. Back in the day, of the 80s, Liverpool were the dominant side in English football.
Since 1990, a generation ago, LFC have been only occasionally more than a mid table irrelevance. That is the reality. I don’t really care what their players do or don’t say.
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http://player.arsenal.com/videos/7882/women-s-fa-cup-mini-movie
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not Klopp’s team
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Brian Kerr the former Ireland manager showing himself up as a complete hypocrite pundit, earlier in the season he was a pundit for one of Arsenal’s CL games that we lost, and he said typical Wenger complaining to the match officials about decisions that did not go Arsenal’s way, yet tonight he says Klopp is right, as any manger is to complain to officials about decisions that do not go their way,
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so thats five finals in a row klopp teams have lost, mr motivator what what
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Darren @DazzaAFC_ 34m34 minutes ago
Klopp’s worked wonders at Liverpool so far. Won fuck all, done fuck all in the league,but at least he jumps up & down on the touchline #YNWA
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as much as i wanted Liverpool to win for the PL places in EUROPE…
I think the loss has bought arsenal a bit of respite as if they had won you will here that they had more right to celebrate the cup and an 8th 9th position finish much more than arsenal did to celebrate second…
Plus the fact we missed out on Klopp to replace AW!
So for the sake of self-preservation, congrats to Sevilla
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by the reaction of the WOB and malcontents, it seems they had their hearts set on a Liverpool win so that they could compare Klopp with Arsene, butt hurt the lot of them.
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well TS as an Irish Gooner there was no way in hell that I’d want liverpool to win anything, this country is full of liverpool fans, and it takes little for them to get noisy. I would have far more dislike for liverpool and its fans than I would for spurs, in fact lfc are top of the tree, then man utd, then chelsea, with spurs only in 4th
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since we have more gunners over here than pool fans i would have had only the danger of the overwhelming internet noise makers….
glad Sevilla won in the end was only being loyal to the PL backing Pool
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So how long till Emery is the man to replace Wenger
by the way just seen this comment by him from his presser yesterday
“Who is Klopp? He has lost 4 of his last 4 finals. Tomorrow it will be 5.” – Unai Emery ahead of #EuropaLeagueFinal
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it seems liverpool fans once again shame the english game with their violence at European game. Fighting before the game, coin throwing after it, they so love to talk about the 96, but never want to mention their long history of trouble too
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Paddy @VieiraPaddy 1h1 hour ago
Liverpool took the two irrelevant competitions seriously, got to the finals and lost both. Stuff of dreams.
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MisterChip (English) @MisterChiping 59m59 minutes ago
The last time a Spanish team lost an European final against a non-spanish team was 15 years ago:
Valencia vs Bayern, by penalty shoot-out.
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Reading back I’m reading Henry isn’t an Arsenal Legend! A big fuck off statue says he is. He’s our highest goal scorer. He is the embodiment of a sporting legend and despite the recent back biting I’m very certain that he does have the clubs best intentions in mind. Let’s not forget he hasn’t passed his coaching qualifications. Give him time to see how difficult things are. Henry is a legend and always fucking will be.
At this rate it’ll be six years time and Arteta may say something negative about the thousands of hours he spent at Arsenal or his perceived opinion on what’s going on at Arsenal and he’ll be ditched from high regard.
It’s Thierry Henry. He could come in my house on Christmas morning piss on my tree and shag my wife and he’d still be a fucking legend.
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CHIORI JOHNSON SIGNS NEW CONTRACT
Young full back Chiori Johnson has signed a new contract with Arsenal.
A Hale End graduate, Chiori helped the under-18s to the FA Youth Cup semi-finals this term.
The 18-year-old also represented the club in Europe in 2015/16 in the UEFA Youth League, and has earned a number of outings for the Gunners’ under-21s.
Everyone at the club would like to congratulate Chiori on his new contract and looks forward to his continued progression at the club.
Copyright 2016 The Arsenal Football Club plc. Permission to use quotations from this article is granted subject to appropriate credit being given to http://www.arsenal.com as the source
Read more at http://www.arsenal.com/news/news-archive/20160519/chiori-johnson-signs-new-contract#yYuBbEcFqAPbXve7.99
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Els, not for me.
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