Good morning Positives,
Palace swept away with little difficulty yesterday and one of those relatively rare occasions when we just about controlled the game from first to last and collected the three points without ever really needing to get into flat-out, handbrake off mode. Palace were a sorry sight yesterday, with a look of the “Championship” about them.
The mainstream media this morning are noisily salivating over Larry’s goal, and so they should. Our Frenchman has never let his head drop once in what is now a long Arsenal career, 200+ appearances. Every game he is in the fight, from first minute to final whistle. The embodiment of POSITIVE Arsenal. After a half season in which he has spent more time on the bench than he would like it is massively to his credit that in the past two games he has scored decisive goals. He is receiving a little of the acclaim his unrelenting effort deserves. He seemed much more relaxed yesterday, much happier, smiling. It may purely be impression on my part but happy footballers tend to be better footballers. Clearly I do not like to put too much down to our chance pre-Christmas encounter on the Selfridges’ escalator but …. well ….. just co-incidence and all that.
Elsewhere about the pitch Hector put in a mighty 90 minutes and one game the boy will get the two or three goals his incisive attacking and shooting deserves. I was pleased too with Granit Xhaka who, now four games as a starter, who seems more composed on the ball, tackles more cleanly, and more confident generally. I sense he has got his head around the Premier League fully now, in particular in how physical he can be and reading the referee. An attractive contribution from Lucas Perez too, commendably no nonsense as he flattened Zaha on one occasion. I would like to see more of the flinty Spaniard. And did we “miss” Ozil ? Not at all, although no doubt the German would have enjoyed his afternoon against Sam’s feeble fumblers.
On the topic of Zaha I thought referee Andre Marriner played a blinder by the way, totally neutralised the Palace winger whose increasingly desperate efforts to earn a free kick petered out to almost nothing. The Referees Union has your card marked, my son. Cease and desist. Give up the diving Wilfried, you will probably be a better player for it.
A short break now before the trip to Bournemouth and almost certainly a far more vigorous work out from the Cherries than we faced yesterday. Our opponents tomorrow night have the look of Premier League mid table solidity about them, a decent home form and the ability to batter the relegation sides on the road. Another professional performance required.
A short one from me today. Perhaps I am not in top gear !
Enjoy your Monday.
- The scorpion strikes – a phrase for special occassions
Positively Arsenal 
Good opening salvo for the year Andy.
I would also mention Monreal, who was spectacular, and Gabriel Paulista who showed his worth .
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and Iwobi – he had a lovely game
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Old fart’s later thoughts on a dead bear’s bum. And there I was thinking that lots of goals may be the cure for what ailed me. How wrong can you be? Only one needed.
Bad Arsenal goals don’t exist but over many years, some goals have stuck in the memory more than others. Some arising from individual brilliance such as Bobby Pires chipping Schmeichel, Freddie Ljunberg’s Cup Final goal against Chelsea and so many from Denis Bergkamp, Ian Wright and Thierry Henry that you’d need a book. Others from unbelievable team work with the ball moving so quickly from player to player before leaving a tap in for whoever was there. It’s rare though that team work combined with a truly spectacular finish occurs and such was Olly’s “Scorpion” finish yesterday. As one wag put it, “Fat Sam has been stung yet again.”
Obviously with two such goals scored in a week and I can’t remember one in the previous eleventeen seasons, comparisons as to which was better abound. No question…Olly’s. He wasn’t offside for starters. It came at the end of a great bit of team work. It was a lot higher. And lastly, Olly is a great deal heavier and taller than Mkhitaryan. Let it go down as one of the truly great goals.
There were other things of course. Best for me was young Alex really showing up. I’ve had some concerns that he’s been asked to do more than he’s capable of at the moment but his performance yesterday was a really class act. He oozed confidence and possibly the fact that Oz was bed ridden, allowed him the mental freedom to take over. And he was rewarded by the goal that put us 2-0 up. Alexis once again put in a bionic man performance, highlighted by his chasing back 50 odd yards to put in a tackle. He was unlucky not to score but had his share of the glory by assisting Olly’s goal.
In midfield Elneny and Xharka ruled and bar a 10 minute spell in the second half when Petr had to make some excellent stops, the back line was very sound. Surprisingly our subs weren’t able to contribute to the 3rd goal we so richly deserved. Suffice to say, both Rambo and the Ox both gave Palace big problems.
So off to the seaside tomorrow…a game that could well be great to watch. Keep the faith.
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Morning squire,
Truth be told all our players did themselves justice yesterday, despite one Bufoon on Twitter giving out about the substitutions (he shouldda read da Shotta.)
A word about the rain – normally on these occasions the Arsenal are said not to like it up them, a cold day in January, in your face opponents and all that. Well fuck that.
Not a bad world to be said about the officials, New Years resolution complete.
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A thorough team effort.
A5: Excellent metaphor re Giroud and us lowly fans. A man who may not have been blessed with all the innate talents but by dint of hard work and application, a refusal to give in to negativity, has propelled him to the top. Let’s not get carried away though, he has silky skills and a handsomeness to match that us poor woorking slobs can only dream. No sexy model will try to ensnare any of us in a hotel suite, never.
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And did we miss Santi? No, but saying this is sacrilege…
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Good start to a good year Andy,
So many players had good games yesterday yet the problem we’ve had in the last few games was still there. At the moment we just arn’t getting the goals our play deserves and when the opposition have thier fifteen minutes of pressure which every team will muster we are therefore under pressure. By the time Benteke climbed above Hector to head weakly at Petre we should have been way off in the distance not holding our breath at one of their first forays forward. Even the palace fans were singing “we’ve had a shot on target”
The dangerous crosses are still coming from our left hand side, whether this is because of Nacho or more likely players in front not helping him enough its something we need to correct in the coming games.
We can’t rely on Oli in every game so the others especially the midfielders will have to convert more of those chances created.
Iwobi not only had a lovely game in his favoured position but it was him who left zaha moaning on the deck, all in all a good start to 2017.
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Well said Andy. And praise from George. You are obviously teacher’s pet.
The referee deserved your plaudits for once. I loved the way he allowed strong fair challenges and wasn’t taken in by the endless search for a cheap free kick.
Giroud’s goal was no surprise – he’s a brilliant footballer. That moment aside my favourite was Monreal, at about 53 minutes, dispossessing Townsend with a deft right foot then being sufficiently quick witted and limbed to keep the ball in with his left. The gulf in class between the two was symptomatic of the whole game.
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Stew, Andy took the time to comment on my effort on 31st, I though the least I could do was return the complement.
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As I just tweeted I have watched Larry’s beauty on MOTD2, Premier League on Sky and on Arsenal Player. I just can’t get enough. I love Martin Tyler’s response. Wow. The entire team were excellent.
I am however getting suspicious. Why is it that we play again on Tuesday and not Wednesday? Arséne has questioned this and Matthew Upson on MOTD2 confirmed that the extra day of rest makes a significant difference.
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Thanks Andrew,
I haven’t seen the footage but trying be fair to Zaha I thought that he was unlucky on one occasion early on and possibly sulking thereafter, a notable and remarkable error in favour if so. He is getting the kind of treatment from the officials never shown to Costa…perhaps he just needs a better agent!
Gabriel’s first half domination of Bentake was also a highlight.
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Steady on Shotta,
I may have played football like some kind of diving clogger who could “run around a bit” who had enough lack of skill and lack of technique to “play” for the likes of Tottenham, but I am not as ugly as any of their pin up troglodytes! At least that is what I keep telling myself.
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What a goal. I somehow managed to forget for a good minute that the Giroud flick was a part of the same move, so then had the nice sensation of discovering it was even better than I thought. Magical stuff.
If we’re thinking of the great goals, Bergkamp’s assist for Ljungberg against Juventus is right up there for me
Don’t think that gets as many mentions as it deserves. Cole’s at Villa is another huge favourite
That man Dennis again with the immaculate assist. What a treat to have him play for us all those years.
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I think that all PL teams have and a fairly mild Christmas PG – not quite the much talked about “break” but three game between the 17th/18th December and the 7th/8th January, 21-22 days ? I would expect most footballers not to find that too arduous.
As for why all teams do not play on the same day at the same time and therefore on an entirely even playing field time wise it happens as far as I know it is because PL clubs take tens of millions of £ from broadcasters for rights to screen matches the match they choose exactly when it suits them. Sometimes it works in your favour with a little bit more recovery time, sometimes not.
Just thank God we are not playing every Thursday.
Good to see Fat Sam never missing an opportunity for a bit of whining though – I see he wants the person at the FA “sacked” who scheduled his new team to play Swansea at Selhurst Park on Tuesday because the Welsh side have had an extra days rest. Rearrange these words in the correct order “Sam” – “FA” – “sacked” ( banned smiley)
Do shut up Sam – the total lack of effort some of your players put in yesterday – yes Benteke, yes Cabaye I am looking at you – they should be fresh as a a daisy tomorrow.
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If Zaha was unlucky yesterday Fins, and to be fair as I said above Perez flattened him, he has been bloody lucky at other times this season.
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Short, Andrew, but oh so sweet.
Players aside, I too was especially impressed with the ref’s even-handedness and refusal to succumb to the con merchants. No doubt he’ll be reffing in the Championship by the weekend.
The fixture scheduling is almost as scandalous as the bulk of this season’s refereeing but no doubt this too evens itself out over the season (it doesn’t).
Almost as wondrous as ‘that’ goal was the reaction from the almost perfectly named Souness (‘Sourness”) – bitter, sour and graceless in equal measure in his determination to dismiss OG’s success as a lucky day at the office. Yes, of course, with all ‘wonder goals’ there has to be an element of luck – good fortune is the fuel that fires the wonder – but the difference is someone like Giroud trying it and someone like, say, Sourness. Giroud has made his luck, got lucky and run off to celebrate the plaudits from a position few would even bother imagining the chance let alone attempting to execute. So yes Graeme, Ollie will enjoy the moment, thank you very much.
It was particularly enjoyable as the ‘not fit to wear the shirt’ merchants had been stirring from underneath their rocks on Twitter after Olivier had missed the earlier tap in.
Not sure what has happened to Giroud recently; suffice to say, what happens in Selfridges stays in Selfridges.
What happens in Bournemouth, meanwhile, is anyone’s guess. A spot of squad rotation coming up, Einstein here thinks. Fortunately we have an enviable bench and good squad depth; fingers crossed, the little bit ‘flu niggles are, like our early December mini-wobble, all but behind us now.
Best part is all our key rivals, plus Manure & City, have a torturously tough January to navigate so let’s all get behind the boys and enjoy the month ahead before the Champions League rolls back into town.
And fingers crossed we can get away with one at sunny Bournemouth, ‘n’all.
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Arsenal Andrew
Marriner’s probably the guy I trust most. Not exactly sure why, apart from his dishing out a deserved early sending off to Newc last year, but I’ve had the impression for a while that he’s not at all bad and isn’t primed to screw us.
Please don’t go supplying any instances to throw that into doubt, as I enjoy having some trust in one of them. Also think Friend is decent.
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I was very disappointed in Iwobis performance at West Brom, where he was nominally playing in front of Hector but actually spent very little time there so Hector was rather left on his own trying to create opportunities (a lesser RB would have had a real tough time). But yesterday Iwobi showed his real strengths. Like Ozil, Alex was always available, always moving, with very good technical skill and a great eye for a pass.
I was very impressed.
Ollie has definately raised his game in the last couple of seasons. He spent some seasons getting in positions where the opposing CB could take a running jump to knee him in the lower back when challenging for high balls and that meant he was usually carrying a back injury, but he seems to have found ways of reducing that (probably as he finally realised that the officials think kneeing a French guy in the back is legal…).
I think the extra fitness and not being over-played (even though he’s probably a bit under-played) have really paid dividends for him…
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Yes, agree, Mariner, Friend and Michael Oliver are the only refs I can think of that have a shred of integrity. I used to include Clattenburg in that list (I know).
The rest all behave as though the bookies have somehow got to them or their families, it’s become that bad, it really has.
And this feeling has grown in tandem with the game becoming absolutely awash with adverts for gambling – you really can’t move these days without tripping over a Winston, a Victor or a God knows who pushing the latest in-play odds. We see these odd decisions from referees, these accumulator-busting results just before going to the bookie dominated adverts and it all feels a little too obvious to me, these days.
With most of the EPL refs I don’t look forward to their games, I brace myself for them.
And that can’t be right.
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I am sure there is some government plans to crack down on gambling adverts on TV Andrew – and high time too !
Yeah – right
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wilfried zaha seems to be not very bright, it was clear from early on when lucas got away with fouling him, probably down to how massive a tumble zaha took, the lad still kept throwing himself to the ground all game long, and whinged over and over when the ref ignored his antics. This only days after the Watford mascot took the piss out of him for diving.
Watching him yesterday I could see why Pat Rice gave a negative scouting report on him a few years ago when we were considering buying him, Man Utd signed him.
I seen one pundit say yesterday that zaha has every skill needed to be a world beater, but that the penny has not dropped with him, and he is wasting his talent. Well the lad is 24, has over 250 career games, had a failed stint at utd, has played under five or six managers, and the penny has not dropped, to me it looks like it will never drop with him. But he is a multi millionaire so maybe the penny does not have to drop for him
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Fernandinho, off for the early bath #lunatic
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Quite right Mr Mason – sound decision making
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As clear a straight red as a Rojo, oh err hmmm. Dreadful challenge by Fernandhino
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Very plucky performance from little Citeh – Liverpool on the other hand;
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Sounds like some brave refereeing involving a couple big teams today. Two pens against Liverpool……haven’t seen the incidents…or the City red for that matter, but the msm will not be happy
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The red card was as clear as anything. Not seen the Penalties though
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–
I did not know that the Harry the diving hornet was a satire of Zaha. I understand now.
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Deano keeps his numbers up
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Predictably so!
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And Rojo who should have had about three straight reds…………
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So far this season that is.
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< Re: the predictability of the bias of errors numbers
Dean is as Dean was as we'd knew he'd be.
*gollum gollum*
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I only just saw the Redmond sending off he Gifted Spurs. Who is he talking to while he decides? Head Office maybe. Dodgy as a dodgy thing.
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That looked harsh, Dean being a bit controversial in recent days
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No replay of the handball claim at the end there. If I was a player I’d end up punching the arrogant prick
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The “chuck-yourself-on-the-deck-every-chance-you-get” approach to football is in the ascendant tonight at the Ammerdrome
Dean foolish foolish red card but just watch Jones – what a c***
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Rich @ 1:00 pm – What do you think of Pawson? Looks decent so far. Calls em as he sees em.
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I will not kerb my language like A5; Mike Dean is an attention-seeking cunt.
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But hang on isn’t Jones a fine upstanding rumbustious English fellow?
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this ref agenda against man utd has to stop
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Guys: Only Arsenal keeps me interested. Ibra is clearly offside. I am done with the PL. I can’t do it anymore. This is pathetic. Surely the League can do better.
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Now THAT was shite refereeing – and linesmaning – a masterclass from Deano.
I expect no more complaints about referees – just reflect on the good fortune that we only have him occasionally.
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shotta I nearly walked away from it all after the pathetic showing from clattenburg in the everton defeat. I’ve been saying for years there is clearly more to all this than it being refs just being inept, there is corruption and match fixing going on. Players are probably now too rich to be bought off, but refs, now that is a whole different world.
anyone see Dean tell the west ham player to “don’t look at me”, who the fuck does this corrupt little cunt think he is.
afc have cfc and thfc away to play yet this season, what odds on Dean getting at least one of them, if not both.
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Mike Dean was once withdrawn from an FA Cup final involving Liverpool….presumably to remove the chance of any perception of allegiance from the ref from The Wirral.
However, if he really does have any fondness for Liverpool, he has done them no favours this week, instead giving two of their rivals a massive hand in consecutive games in recent days.
Not his finest week ……at all, For all the world, looks like he is favouring the bigger teams… going back to his last game, no ref on this Planet should ever be fooled by Dele Alli again after his antics this season. His powerful almost wrist lock type handshake with Dembele when he went off for a substitution in the week really didn’t look to professional either….think a still was shown on here.
Know it’s a hard job, and that players cheat, know biased pundits don’t help either, but surely, it is time for tech help, too often we are seeing, ref mistakes are deciding games, don’t have the stats, only the dubious weapon of perception, but just seems quite often in the favour of the usual suspects as well.
Wenger is right , they are too protected, the PGMOL, should be much more accountable, without throwing individual refs under a bus. WTF does Mile Riley actually do? Bet he is pleased with Dean today though!
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Bilic will just be writing the cheque for the FA
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Agree Ed, quite possibly Dean at Spurs, will they will most likely get a dodgy Dele diving penalty should they need one, Dean or Atkinson at Chelsea.
Can only agree, glad we don’t see so much of Dean these days, though in recent seasons, we had him up to six times in a season, as documented by UA…seem to remember we didn’t fare to well under him either most games.
Having said that, saw the recent Middlesboro game , he didn’t do us any harm that day. Was also pleased with his campaign against grappling at corners, tho that seems to have fallen by the wayside
Wonder if he will be stood down for a couple weeks after these last two games….doubt it
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six wins in a row for utd, and they have moved from 6th in the table to 6th in the table.
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Mandy – Gary Neville really laid into hapless Dean after the game and Smudge and Quin ripped him to shreds at half time. Most damning (imo) was Neville’s observation that Dean lost his head AFTER the sending off and it was a minor miracle a Manure player wasn’t injured in the far worst incidents that followed.
It’s true there is zero public accountability of the refs but I can’t see the Premier League continuing to turn a blind eye to Dean’s latest debacle.
He is single-handedly bringing all the refs, the league and their entire brand into disrepute.
And that can’t be good for business, no matter how biased you might be, privately.
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Pep “I will not be on the bench until I am 60 or 65 years old. I feel that the the process of my goodbye has already started. I will be at Manchester for the next three seasons, maybe more, but I am arriving at the end of my coaching career, of this I am sure.
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