Good morning Positives,
An interesting afternoon at the Ems I am sure you will agree, and once my pulse had slowed to a respectable rate courtesy of Mr Dean’s final whistle, supplemented a bout of traditional self medication using the traditional method, a game to look back on as genuinely entertaining.I shall take the point.
Needless to say I set myself up for a bumpy afternoon quoting the OneBoro website on Friday concerning the best expectation of the visitors was a good “do-ing”, as their correspondent so succinctly put it. Fool that I am, listening to football bloggers. I was not the only one though. The bookmakers had Boro at 12/1 before kick-off yesterday. In fact the Tees-side club were by no means done. While I guess Karanka and his boys went home thoroughly satisfied on another day, with a keeper facing them less sharp than Cech, it could have been their famous victory. Another clean sheet, four so far, and if he keeps up his average it will be another set of Golden Gloves come May.
Of the game itself ? In spite of the result I thought we played well as a team. As you all saw we faced a well organised side who defended deep and denied Sanchez any space to do his work in the final third all afternoon. Every time we got into the final third we faced a wall of nine blue shirts, a bank of five behind a bank of four, as well as Valdes all day. With our Chilean tiger mostly leashed, and only one scramble and one late burst that got him in on goal, we relied on the players behind him to come through, in both senses. The players behind Alexis I think stepped up, tried to create, tried to take on the Boro defenders and make space and time when very little was available. Iwobi, Theo and Ozil can all take credit for their contribution. My only criticism of them was they perhaps could have tried to get more into the box themselves as targets. I felt that when Perez and the Ox came on we shifted the gear up a notch and for the first time had numbers in the box and the MFC back line wobbled.
The base of our midfield Le Coq and Elneny worked hard and again I did not see much wrong there. We missed the eye of Santi but I would not put down our lack of a goal to his absence, it would be too simple. We did not solve the Middlesbrough puzzle.
Of the visitors ? Adama Traore was a name that rang a bell although even the Arsenal website had no picture of him. I remember him coming on for the final five minutes in our game at Villa last season, by which point we were home and hosed, and him running past Nacho twice. I remember (honest) puzzling why they had not put the youngster on earlier as he looked deadly. So it proved yesterday, with the boy beating Kosc and Bellerin for speed – THAT DOES NOT HAPPEN! (the only man to beat Hector for speed once was Neymar as far as I know). Bizarrely, until his start yesterday Traore had played only twice, from the bench, for Boro since his arrival in August. A great display of strong, very fast attacking football. And just 20 – I hear the rustling of football agents in the undergrowth!
Teams are accused of “parking the bus”. It is a term of abuse apparently, invented by that Portuguese clown. Accordingly I am not sure what the term means. Boro are not Barca or Bayern. I could see that if they turned up at the Ems, played one man up, held on and celebrated with their fans a 0-0 draw they could be accused of failing to play the football they were capable of, and spoiling a potentially entertaining spectacle. However I don’t really see a team in the position that our visitors are in the PL, with the players they have, rolling up at the Emirates, doing other than they did yesterday.
So as the ashes of one PL game smoulder and gently fades away we have but a short break before Tuesday and Reading. In the meantime enjoy your day of rest and the fresh air of a mild Autumn day.
Positively Arsenal 
1886Gunners @Timbo_Slice1991 5m5 minutes ago
Heat map of Jose Mourinho’s Manchester United team in this first half #CHEMUN
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LOL!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
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That cracked me up Eddy!!
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Almost as funny as Mourinho’s treatment of Mata*
*what do we think his problem is? Wrong special agent? Knows how to play football? Do we care as long as this particular call continues to blow up in his face (at Gazprom and now at Utd)?
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Apparently Pep had the MCFC team locked in the dressing room for 40-mins after the game ended. Is he cracking up like orange-tan Phil Brown of Hull City? This could end up in tears you know.
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Shotts-I thought Pep was supposed to be talking tactics before the game?
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Saints played an improving Inter away on Thursday and lost. Put up a good display today.
ManYoo played a feeble Fenerbache at home andhad an easy win the same night. They look very poor today.
Both played away today. Saints had the harder fixture.
Work that out.
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ManUre getting a pasting now! MounUre
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At a guess:
Southampton have a good midfield, whilst Utd have Fellaini and Pogba atm?
&
Fener might not have as good a team as when we last saw them?
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Late to the party today due to stuff to do. Thank you Andy Nic for a well needed dose of perspective. I was relaxed almost throughout so convinced was I that the breakthrough would come and when it did I let out a whoop and settled back.
Then I saw the linesman’s flag. Gosh darn it.
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< Chelsea like Liverpool not in Europe?
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Shaping up to be a fascinating season. Man City and Arsenal doing well to have as much as a nose hair in front of the pack. Top five as expected with the wild card, or ‘Leicester’ as they’re known, being Everton at the moment. I’m sure Man U fans have high hopes to join the top six but there can only be one Leicester per season. Also they’ll face stiff competition from the likes of Southampton and Everton. Not to mention Leicester themselves of course.
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PA: I just saw the replay of Kante tip-toeing through the United defence and scoring. This is a DM who couldn’t score in a brothel. Proof Mourinho is a fraud who has been found out in the harsh light of day. He is done. Just a matter of time before United bring down the axe.
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Mou-the real specialist in failure?
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Never let it be said that Mourinho has lost his ability to inspire players.
A few of the Chelsea players were definitely motivated by a desire to get (another) one over him.
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the special once has now lost 12 of the last 25 league games he has managed. Imagine the vitriol in the media if Wenger ever had a run of results like that, we seen the uproar after a draw. But then we can hardly expect journo’s who are so far up jose’s arse that they described a lucky bore draw v lfc as “tactical genius”, to ever highlight his short comings as a manager. Remember that we had the English journos throw him a welcome home party when he came back to cfc, and we even had a journo ask him how could the media play their part in helping CFC become even better.
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so who did special once blame for the hammering utd took today, was it the ref, was it spiteful cfc players, was it the fa for making them play thursday/sunday, or was it LVG for leaving him a poor squad, where even £160M of new signings is not enough. Even though both lvg and moyes had amassed more points after 9 games than the tactical genius has. Maybe his special agent/scout is the problem.
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Lewis @LGAmbrose 38m38 minutes ago
Mourinho has now lost 16 of his last 39 games as a manager. #SpecialistInFailure
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1886Gunners @Timbo_Slice1991 2h2 hours ago
Jose Fournilho
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Shotta, did you see who was jogging behind Kante? Pogba was the worst player on the pitch by some distance.
I said at the beginning of the season that Mourinho was going to get tired of Pogba’s not tracking back. Let’s see how that narcissist reacts vis a vis Pogba and this humiliating result.
Our draw yesterday is looking better by the minute. Unlike Southampton, Boro had a whole week’s rest and played out of their skins against us. Thankfully the starters can have a rest this week and they’ll be fresh for a very tough away game against Sunderland.
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Arsènic @Lexus7Sanchez 1h1 hour ago
This was regarding Conte asking fans for more support at the 90th minute.
beIN studio, Mou to Conte: “You do that at 1-0 not 4-0, not to me, that is humiliation.”
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the english media are already making excuses for the special once, he was a tactical genius for getting a 0-0 v lfc, but now when utd lose 4-0, “its not his team”, wait till he has the time to “bring in his own players”. You couldn’t make up this bullshit that the english media play at.
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Kaveh Solhekol @SkyKaveh 2h2 hours ago
Louis Van Gaal after 9 games last season – 19 points.
José Mourinho after 9 games this season – 14 points
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Wish Frank was here to say
“Well, well, well”
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If Mourinho has spent £160M yet still failed to bring in his own players then Manure have even bigger problems than even they realise.
Had Wenger spent that much on players, lost so many matches so meekly, all the while playing the most dire form of uselessly defensive football imaginable then he’d have been toast.
Even with his media mates conducting tours of Jose’s inner rectum, much more of this will see him struggle to survive beyond Xmas.
And that, ladies and gentlemen, will be that for ‘The Special, Once’.
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AA, I love that ending;”the special,once”–a classic-and heres hoping!
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Conte after the special once had a word in his ear post match.
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Ed,heres the same bloke at scrap iron tv. Pob-ers,Wob-ers, Bob-ers. The bloke runs around going to different grounds coming out the the same poop!?
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Mills is it a competition between all the FanTV’s to see who can be the stupidest gobshites
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Ed- yeah it is!! The fan tv brings it out of them!
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the arsenalfantv lot will take some beating, which is something they should get on a regular basis
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can you imagine match of the day panel going easy on wenger or the arsenal players if we lost 4-0 to anyone, but the lick the special once’s arse, its amazing that so many gooners can not see the different way the media treat afc.
Arsenal actually got more criticism for the 0-0 yesterday than MU got for that shower of shit today.
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Arsène Wenger riled by timing of Arsenal AGM before EFL Cup tie
• Manager initially suggests he will miss meeting, before backtracking
• Striker Olivier Giroud could return from injury to face Reading
The frustrations of the 0-0 draw with Middlesbrough will not be eased for Arsène Wenger by the club’s AGM the day before an EFL Cup tie with Reading.
by David Hytner
Arsène Wenger has suggested that the timing of the Arsenal annual general meeting is not ideal for him, coming as it does on the day before a match. Arsenal host Reading in the EFL Cup on Tuesday night and Wenger’s final training session before the match stands to be affected by the meeting with shareholders, which has been scheduled for 11.30am on Monday.
Wenger is scheduled to give a speech at the meeting, which is normally the highlight, but, when he discussed the subject, he initially made it sound as though he would not be able to attend. “Normally, I’m not there because we prepare a game for Tuesday and we practise on Monday morning,” Wenger said.
Arsenal celebrate Wenger’s birthday but ride luck to hold Middlesbrough
Read more
He was asked to clarify the comment. Was he going to make it? “I don’t know,” he replied. “My work is to practise [with the team].” Wenger will find a solution and he will attend – “I will see how I can combine both,” he went on to say – but it was difficult to ignore the impression that he considered it an inconvenience.
It has been reported that the meeting is being held on a Monday for the first time to fit in with the schedule of the club’s majority shareholder, Stan Kroenke. The American watched his NFL team, Los Angeles Rams, play New York Giants at Twickenham on Sunday.
The mood at the AGM has been spiky in the past but it feels as if it will be calmer this time. Wenger oversaw significant investment in the playing squad over the summer – there have long been calls for him to spend – and the team have made an encouraging start to the season.
“I think we have never gone into the AGM in a disastrous state,” Wenger said. “Why? Because we are always in the top four [of the Premier League]. Work in the club for six months and you will see how it is inside. We have always been, every time, in a decent financial situation.
“ Maybe the shareholders were not always happy. Will it be better this time? Come to the AGM and you will see. I don’t know the weather forecast.”
Arsenal missed the chance to go into the meeting on a high, having been held to a disappointing 0-0 home draw by Middlesbrough on Saturday. It ended their run of seven consecutive victories in all competitions. “Let’s not go overboard,” Wenger said. “We come out of a strong period. Everybody can have a draw. You don’t win on command. When you go into a game like Middlesbrough, the AGM is not in your mind. You want to do well and win the game and, when you don’t win, you deal with it.”
Wenger admitted Olivier Giroud could feature in the Reading tie. The striker has been restricted to four substitute appearances for the club this season because of a toe injury. “Physically, he has no problem,” Wenger said. “He’s still not completely there but he’s better and he might be in the squad on Tuesday.”
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Lukas-Podolski.com @Podolski10 6h6 hours ago
#schweinsteiger please 😉👊🏻
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cl teams from the five biggest leagues not to win this weekend, AFC, THFC, MC, Juve, Dortmund, Brorussia Monchengladback, Leverkusen, Atletico Madrid, PSG and Lyon
so only Leicester city in england, bayern munich in germany, napoli in italy, and Real Madrid, Barca and seville in spain won, and out of that 6, Bayern and seville beat other cl teams. Barca won with a very late penalty. Real, seville, and napoli all won 2-1. Only lcfc and bm won by more than one goal.
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Positively Arsenal @Blackburngeorge 8m8 minutes ago Blackburn, England
2 years ago I said Jose was just Pulis with a big budget. Turns out I was doing Pulis down.
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Dave O’Connell @DaveOCKOP 6h6 hours ago
Chelsea fans finally getting to see Chelsea play attacking football at Stamford Bridge while Mourinho is there…
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Former Gunner, Abou Diaby underwent ankle surgery in London this week, according to L’Equipe
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Poor Abou. What a player he would have been .
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I really did laugh about CFC playing attacking footy at the bridge while JM is there!
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Diaby once came back from a WC lauded as France’s best player let alone CM – didn’t have much competition that year but I think most in France would acknowledge that a fit 2010 Diaby would make their current eleven. Probably ahead of Pogba. Heh.
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each week the table looks slightly different and performances suggest different winners at the end of the season. With five teams squashed at the top it would seem to be a tight finish and maybe manure and the toffees already slipping out of the title race not because of the points they have to make out but just because they are waiting for five different teams to drop those points.
I think the teams that finally takes the title will be the one who improves the most and as pool and the spuds look near their peak I think they two may miss out. that leaves ARSENAL, chelski and city who have already reached a high standard but all show room for improvement. To that end I actually see city improving the most out of the three and taking the title but it will be close. Obvioulsy I might think something compleatly different next week.
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Diaby was streets ahead of pogba, remember at that time Le Coq was outshineing pogba in matches between us and manure
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There’d be matches where a Diaby on the curve back to full fitness might be hesitant or lose possession but it’s fair to say that whenever he managed to build up some steam that he was a delight to watch playing footy.
If Pogba ever reaches the heights we saw that night at Anfield, and time is on his side so he might, we’ll acknowledge it. If it happens.
we have been, er, blessed by the Experts of the aaa and AST, people who constantly questioned why a football club would want to support and stick by an injury striken footballer like Diaby. The clue is in the ‘football’ part?
Another day, another attack on the club by the AST. They’re having a larf.
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cant see the AGM being any less spikey this year as ast have a list of preset questions they want to ask. Arsene normally calms the atmosphere down suggesting that most of the bile is still directed further up the chain. They are taking credit for Stan not taking 3 million out of the club this year they may have a point I dont know but accusations about a range of topics will still fly.
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Fins did you say they are having a larf or perhaps a scarf
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