Bwayne Errz Dee Arse Positivistas*,
A fine morning up in Norfolk to start the week as we move into the final days of November. Not such a bad few weeks was it? Not all we wanted so far as points or performances go, and a couple of injuries that cast a bit of a pall, but an unbeaten month (so far), two wins and three draws, easily into the CL R16, three points off the top of the PL with two of the teams ahead due to clash on Saturday – not so dreadful is it?
Yesterday was a good game I thought. We started, and persisted for about 20 minutes, in a style that suggested we were going to slaughter the visitors. The early goal, pressure aplenty, the yellows for two Bournemouth bemused defenders, a large score and extremely comfortable kind of early afternoon beckoned.
And then ……….! Something, somewhere shifted, the metaphorical butterfly effect. Debuchy went off on 16 minutes – poor sod – but I don’t really know what “happened”. Suddenly the command we had of the contest slipped away, Bournemouth took possession of the ball and pinned us back, referee Jones obliged with a dubious decision to even the scores, tackles flew in hard, and from an easy afternoon suddenly we were locked in battle with a determined opponent and one that, for most of the remainder of the first half, looked more likely to score again than we did.
Whether Debuchy’s departure upset the back line is no doubt a point that AW is pondering this morning. Mathieu is hardly a regular so that his 15 minute cameo as the source of a nervous breakdown amongst his defensive colleagues seems implausible. Gabriel came on and immediately fitted in, not a natural right back but he has played there before. Most odd. It would be churlish however to not give the Cherries due praise for taking the initiative as it fell open. I have no idea what the simmering row is/was with Arter. He was the target of a couple of serious assaults and the perpetrator of a potential leg breaker on Monreal. I remember Arter and Le Coq squaring up last season so it may be a hangover from that. The boy needs to sort his head out.
Thank Gawd after half time Arsenal switched back on and put together as good as half as football as we have over the past month. Alexis was imperious all afternoon, not just the goals but his passing was really, really good. Granit and Mo, after a first half wobble, got on top of the Bournemouth midfield. Mo’s energy was exceptional, and Granit I see put in eight tackles. That is le Coq output from the Swiss. Good lad. Theo was not particularly sharp yesterday compared to earlier in the season but his goal scoring header was top quality. No complaints about Gabriel, he played well. And the one moment in the game we needed him our Cech made a decisive, almost point blank, save from Afobe. On such small moments are titles won, and/or lost. And finally, to relieve the pressure the third goal, a sweeping, fast passing goal, the visitors flattened and their defence opened up. Sanchez’s second tap-in of the afternoon, another late, late goal, a sweet finish.
For the visitors I was impressed with Nathan Ake – playing centre back but a good footballer – no doubt he will be cast off by Chelsea as superfluous to requirements. I shall keep an eye on the young Dutchman.
So that is about it today, just a short break before the next contest against the Saints who looked very useful against Everton yesterday in the late game. I fancy another exciting game on Wednesday night. And finally, for those who enjoy vigorous debate on football matters this caught my eye from this week’s Private Eye;
*I thought as our Chilean tiger has been making an effort to master the lingo we could join in. Next week we shall learn “Qué piensas de ……..” (trans. ‘What do you think of …..’)
Positively Arsenal 
It’s amazing how every referee who whistles an Arsenal game is “dropped” the next week.
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Sounds like a conspiracy to me
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Arsenal Fixture News @AFCFixtureNews 4h4 hours ago
Kevin Friend – with Mark Clattenburg as 4th Official – will referee Wednesday’s EFL Cup Quarter-Final at Home to Southampton.
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Sorry – late to the party. Just seen Sunday’s match. Anybody want a ticket in my sweep for referee who finds the most creative way of giving a penalty against Arsenal?
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Eddie Nketiah the hattrick hero for the u23’s tonight, his first goals at that level, was snapped up by Arsenal when Chelsea released him at 14 years of age. Since then the lad has been a prolific scorer in each age group. Last season he top scored for our u18’s with 24 goals. So far this season he has 9 goals from 8 games at U18 level, and 2 for the u19’s and now 3 for the u23’s, giving him a total of 14 goals from 13+3 games. He can play right across the front three, but is mainly a central striker. He is slightly built, and that would probably be the biggest concern in his future development, but the lad is only 17 and having only earlier this season signed his first pro deal with Arsenal, has lots of time to fill out.
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Why will Jenkinson not start V WHU?
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we have finished our BPL games for November, and so far this season, our top scorer of last season, Oliver Giroud, has not started a BPL game this season, and we are 3pts off top spot.
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the only reasons I can think of why Jenkinson might not start v west ham
1. bellerin might be back
2. gabriel might have done enough in his sub role yesterday to keep the spot
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an interesting aside to the u23 game tonight was that our u18 captain Josh DaSilva, who normally plays central midfield at that level, started tonight’s game at left back, and then when Ben Sheaf got injured and went off at half time, DaSilva moved to central defense, a position he had never played before. The lad was a main striker only two years ago when he signed his scholarship forms, but he found it hard to get his goal scoring form, and so was moved firstly to a second striker role, he then had a spell out wide, and he then seem to settle in central midfield, where he has come up with some important goals from.
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Reports in France suggest that Arsenal are pinching Marseille’s 17-year-old central defender Boubacar Kamara, the lad has not signed a pro deal with the French side and so AFC can snap him up for a nominal fee. He is a France u18 international.
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Asano with a goal and an assist for stuggart in their 3-1 home win tonight v nuremburg
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santi must have lost a bet and had to wear that
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PG,
My only suggestion is that he may receive too much banter from the home fans, but they are so far away he may not hear them.
I expect Jenks to play on Wednesday night, as he is only recovering in fitness so 2 big games in a week may be too much to ask of him.
Terrible about Debuchy.
Stoke thuggery still hurting him.
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Jeff. And Bielik didn’t play tonight for u23’s, so they might be available on Wednesday night.
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Think the rule with refs being dropped after our games is ‘did you miss any big opportunities to hurt them?’
In this case it’s a yes, because there were two pen claims and one of those amber yellows. Mason got hit hard for the crime of not sending off Coquelin despite three or four fouls in a game. I’d guess whoever didn’t give Leicester a late pen at the start of this year got the next week off. Think the guy from Hull this year copped it for dishing out a red when yellow would have done for them and having the temerity to consider not giving a pen against Cech. Re-education time.
It’s not about quality of officiating because Dean wasn’t dropped after the farce of Chelsea last year; Clattenberg was abysmal at Goodison; Moss had an absolute stinker at St Mary’s; Atkinson should score too low almost every time he does our games.
What normally happens if they do a poor job in one of our games, or make a big individual mistake which hurt us- early yellows for Cahill and Carroll which were clear reds- they get the same fixture next year!
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You got it, Rich.
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top Brazilian team wiped out in plane crash
http://www.bbc.com/news/world-latin-america-38140981?ns_mchannel=social&ns_campaign=bbc_breaking&ns_source=twitter&ns_linkname=news_central
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Andy Carroll is back fit for WHU v AFC
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http://player.arsenal.com/videos/8662/under-23s-v-leicester-h
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Arsenal u18’s are currently playing away v Aston Villa. 26 minutes in and its still 0-0
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Aston Villa FC @AVFCOfficial 16m16 minutes ago
#AVFC 1-0 #Arsenal – GOAL – 33mins: Mooney’s initial effort is saved before Knibbs fires in. Yes lads! 😀😀😀 #U18PL
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Jeorge Bird
@jeorgebird
Goalkeeper Alex Crean makes his debut for Arsenal U18s today. Losing 1-0 to Aston Villa.
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TEAM NEWS: LUCAS, GIROUD AND DEBUCHY
Lucas is back in our squad for the EFL Cup quarter-final against Southampton.
The striker picked up an ankle injury during our fourth-round win over Reading five weeks ago, but he’s back in time for our next game in the competition.
Olivier Giroud misses out with a slight groin problem, while Mathieu Debuchy has been sidelined by a hamstring injury.
“Mathieu has a scan today [Tuesday] but we don’t have the results yet,” Arsène Wenger told Arsenal.com.
“Lucas is in the squad and will will have a mixture of youth and experience, but still 90 per cent of the first-team squad.”
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/20161129/team-news-lucas-giroud-and-debuchy#RAkUsEttQY6yPTJH.99
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FT: Aston Villa U18’s 1-1 Arsenal U18’s
Aston Villa FC @AVFCOfficial 3h3 hours ago
#AVFC 1-1 #Arsenal – Goal – 90mins: Heartbreak for Villa. Malen levels with a well-executed finish. #U18PL
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ARSENAL U18: Crean, Pileas, Osei-Tutu, Medley, Olowu, McGuane (Ballard 18), Tella, Willock, Burton, Smith-Rowe, Malen. Unused subs: Omole, Virginia, Coyle.
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Arsenal Fixture News @AFCFixtureNews 11h11 hours ago
Craig Pawson has been appointed the referee for Saturday’s Away London Derby against West Ham United.
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Pawson – not one of the usual suspects. Is that the bloke who was in charge for the time added on handball goal by Kosc at Turf Moor ?
I like his style – he will do.
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He probably fancies a week off afterwards.
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Good performance by the U23s in a game I fully expected to be watching a defeat because usually when their are lots of youngsters in the side they simply get outmuscled.
The win proved we trully have some amazing players coming through at all levels and this was proved again with schoolboys in the U18’s against villa.
I have to say that I cant remember a time when I wanted the ref to blow the final whistle so much as I was freezing my Bristols off and i’m sure I see a few brass monkeys running around with welding torches.
Trying to guess the side tomorrow im going for
Martinez
Jenks Holding Gabriel Gibbo
M-nyles Le coq
The Ox Adelaide
Iwobi
Theo
Subs Macey, Bola, Bielik, Mavididi, Perez, Xhaka
and Chris Willock (even though he played Monday)
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Rich to quote you ‘What normally happens if they do a poor job in one of our games, or make a big individual mistake which hurt us- early yellows for Cahill and Carroll which were clear reds- they get the same fixture next year!
And there you are we get Craig Pawson for this fixture this year again and Carroll id fit apparently.
Wonder what will hapen.
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4th Official Lee Mason for whispering instructions as well. Oh dear
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I happen to agree with anicoll when it comes to the refs. Like him, I don’t think they are always blameless but I also think that we spend too much time moaning about them – which kind of diminish our outrage when they truly screw up.
My belief is that, more often than not, we win when we take our chances, whoever the referee may be. I hope that we always take our chances and the refs can suck it.
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