
Sawatdii Postitive Arsenal fans,
Well that was quite an evening wasn’t it ? The ffffuuuullll range of fan experience over exactly 96 minutes, from mild discomfort, to eye rolling pain, abject horror, to fluttering but faint hope, and capped by monstrous relief at a finale in which we gained a point and retrieved our reputation as a tough team to beat. Exhausting.
Of the game itself I find myself struggling to order my thoughts even twelve hours later. In spite of what I have heard from AW we actually started the game, for the opening five minutes, really well and pinged the ball about in the Cherries’ half with them barely able to touch it.
Thereafter, and not surprisingly with the home side so willing to run and fight for the ball, the pendulum swung to even the contest, with possession shared with the home side and both teams on the front foot. It was a very fast game in the sense that players had very little time to dwell on the ball and both sides moved it quickly from end to end.
Then came the Bournemouth opener ! Not exactly out of the blue but the manner in which Hector was undone was slightly embarrassing, most uncharacteristic for the player. Whether he was a) tired b) unwell/unfit or c) he, Mustafi and Ramsey were on totally different pages of the defensive playbook at the time or d) a combination of a)+b)+c) I don’t know. Nice finish by Daniels nevertheless.
Like me I am sure you thought “no bother”, a goal down, a mere blip on the road to final victory. You could sense however we were a little stunned by the setback. Players looking a one another, shouting, shrugging, pointing. Not a good picture as the home crowd roared their approval of our obvious discomfort.
Then we had a bit of a second “cock-up”, to use the technical sporting term, with an attack broken down, Le Coq’s professional foul ignored/waived on by Oliver and Xhaka clumping Fraser. The evening took on a darker hue. I pondered whether my singling out of Granit and Bellerin for their good contribution against Palace had cursed them this evening ! Its all about me – dyasee!
After that second goal the dissent among Arsenal players rose to fever pitch, Sanchez was shouting at everyone, Ramsey shouted at Alexis, Larry was waving like a windmill in frustration, everyone was shouting at Iwobi, Mustafi was shouting at Hector, Hector was sheepish and staring off into space et cetera. This was not “pashun” this was just bloody unprofessional.
The outcome of this abominable mass toddler tantrum was that for the remainder of the first half we played very little football, passes went astray, our use of the dead ball was excruciating and we looked at no time like testing Boruc with an actual “shot” or a “header”.
The THIRD GOAL for the home side was an event of such exquisite torture I have no words to describe it – I shall move on.
And yet the third goal, finally, managed raise something in us. Was it pride ? Suddenly the spaces we could play in got a little wider, the passes were clipped a little quicker to feet. The Ox’s suddenly seemed to have the measure of Fraser and Perez’s introduction gave out attach a sharpness in contrast to the earlier dull thud. Did our opponents foolishly switch off thinking the job done ? Did our opponents themselves run out of energy having torn into us throughout the contest ?
I dunno – From the 70th minute and that first goal however I was certain we would get something out of the game and so it proved. The petulance among the players was replaced by smooth passing and movement, that second goal from Perez was a superb strike. Arsenal football team were back inaction, not 11 individuals, each with his own agenda. And that man Larry ……… probably his scruffiest goal in a long time but my goodness did it raise my spirits. The job was done, the point gathered. A draw snatched in unlikely circumstances against difficult opponents. Not exactly the result we wanted, and perhaps needed, but a lesson learned by the players.
I shall leave it there – enjoy your lengthy break until Proud Preston.
Nice one Andrew. My old fart’s thoughts merely an addendum:
As forecasted by this old fart, it was a great game to watch. For 70 minutes if a Bournemouth fan; for 20 minutes if a gooner. My automatic “oh shit” reflex came into play after less than 2 minutes when we managed to lose every aerial battle. Our jumping for the ball seemed to be 6” lower than usual. It did not take long for that reflex to really settle when Hector looked as though he thought he needed to cover the central pair and left a Mac truck turning circle gap on the left. By the time a good long pass showed his mistake, it was too late.
Already it seemed that the 48 hour moan had penetrated all of the squad, but to prove a point the side was playing as though it was only 48 minutes. How else can we explain the stupid and soft penalty conceded moments later. With Petr having indelibly advertised the fact that he will dive one way or the other, it really is rather obvious that plonking the kick down the middle is a very safe route. To add to our woes we managed to collect two yellow cards and lost le Coq to what looked like a hammy. The Ox substituted. This was not a good first half.
But, the second started a lot brighter, not that that was difficult and our “reward” was to go 3 down. After a fortunate handball deflection of a goal was ruled out, just seconds later it was for real. At first I was sure that Hector had been fouled but a subsequent replay from a different angle, suggested that it was a fair shoulder to shoulder and then Petr didn’t close his legs. That this happened then proved that it was not to be our night. But nobody told that to the team.
Lucas came on for young Alex and that “great, lumbering loaf” claimed by some to be “unfit to wear the shirt” at last started to receive some service. Alexis got one back, Lucas got a brilliant volley both from Olly’s assists and then Olly himself guided home from Granit’s astute cross. 3-3 and time for a winner? “3-0 up and you f’d it up” came from the Arsenal travelers and surely it had to happen? Whoops. Almost the reverse as Petr had to do well to prevent a breakaway goal, and, then the bloody whistle.
Surely that was too early Master Oliver? Spoil sport.
Now for some rotation in the Cup. One can but hope that a lot of tired legs are rested and some injured players get some time. Keep the faith.
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A good night for Gabby last night and for Perez Ian – two players certain to play on Sunday. Also the Ox was far more influential in the second half – it is so useful to have a flank player who can take the ball inside and outside of the full back. Brilliant though Sanchez is you know he will always, always cut inside, never go up the line. No idea why.
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Why? Because he can’t cross with his left foot Andy, that’s for him to stand on.
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And also, if he does cross it, he has to run 40 yard to try to get it back.
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2 points dropped or 1 point gained?
Ho hum – it’s an emotional roller coaster, being an Arsenal supporter.
Bellerin got taken to the cleaners last night, maybe a game like that will benefit him in the long term. Other players simply did not appear to understand where they were supposed to be, in a much disorganised team in the first half.
As for Petr Cech – you had an off day, by friend.
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Indeed GF60
Mr Oliver did indeed blow the whistle 5 seconds too early, when Arsenal were about to launch one final attacking ball into the B’mouth box.
All in all, Oliver made most of the calls fairly, however if he felt that Xhaka’s barge was a foul in the box, surely the exactly same identical foul on Bellerin should have been given as a free kick?
Also the usual gripe about all refs – the opposition are allowed to do dozens of niggley tackles to break up our play, when we do one – it’s an instant yellow. How is that neutral and balanced?
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I am not sure about something (A few things really, but that’s a different conversation). Often heard it said the players show no emotion “Aint got no passhun, no fight”, too nice , very quiet no leaders shouting on the pitch . But when they recognise that things are not right , they have a go at each other , work out their errors and try to fix them, come back from three nil down, that is seen as petulance tantrums.
The more I read,the more I realise, that too many people who have English as their mother tongue, don’t understand the words they are using really mean.
It is not just because they are restricted to 140.
I know many speak through anger and frustration, but often it is a case of their favourite player is not playing or perceived to be unjustly maginalised .
The start was the problem, the freshness Bournemouth showed was overwhelming and desire to show how good they are was enterprising,they ran record distances last night. That is further than the great running teams of ‘The Middlesex Marsh’ dwellers and ‘Victim Central’ .
Arsenal started like the 2nd day after a ‘Heavy’ legs session, you start ok but there is no ‘Zip’ but by the end your flying.
Bournemouth will take more points of big teams this season.
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Not an easy game to sum up Andrew, probably not an easy one to play in either.
Not a game we wanted to lose or draw or even to showcase our little bit mental toughness.
But hey ho, it is what it is and, regardless what we make of it, it’s still one point gained, two points dropped.
The positives? That we have a squad that never knows when it is beaten, and never ever gives up.
Perhaps it’s not how we end games but how we start them?
That the Bournemouth manager openly admitted to taking full advantage of Arsenal’s slender recovery time since the club’s last game is on record and a very telling record it is too.
When you have the fastest defender on the planet being beaten for pace, that is a big fat clue as to what’s going on.
And whilst we are obliged to play at the whim of the Sky/BT schedulers, there really should be a rule that ensures a level playing field with regards to both sides having the same number of rest days between games, regardless of how few.
Sky/BT are in effect bringing outside influence to bear on match outcomes and that can not be right, whichever way you cut it.
That Bournemouth last played on Saturday, 24 hours before our last game on Sunday is one thing. That Chelsea, who play tonight, also have not played since Saturday is absurdly ‘unsatisfactory’.
That all of this is accepted without murmer tells you all you need to know about how little value is placed on the integrity of the league by those with responsibility for it.
That Chelsea now go onto enjoy the scheduling benefits of zero Champions League commitments reveals the extent to which the PL playing field is anything but level.
And that’s all fine if the powers-that-be want to cut fast and loose with their most precious asset, it really is their call.
But it’s a competition, viewed across the planet by millions.
The same millions who weekly (daily, even) watch the refereeing debacles that could be reduced to the point of elimination by the adoption of pitchside video technology.
The same millions who see Chelsea stockpile dozens of players to be loaned out all over the shop without regulation.
The same millions who will tonight watch Chelsea skip around like spring lambs against Spurs with their fitness levels uncompromised by over-exertion.
Meanwhile there will be some followers thick enough to query the fitness of some of our players to even wear the shirt. But that’s neither here nor there really, in the overall scheme of things.
Eventually, if you treat the league with sufficient contempt then a substantial element of your audience will likely follow suit, eventually.
And people will simply find something else to spend their money on.
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One point I could have mentioned last night was Mustafi. Although he had a less than perfect game he was very professional in how he dealt with the Bournemouth attack, constantly nudging them off the ball, nipping their ankles and banging into them in the air with Michael Oliver happy to allow him to get on with it. And when he was pulled up for a foul, officially just three times all evening, he gave it the full prayerful “Woe is me” expression to the referee. In the end even Oliver had to whip out his card on the German defender but a lesson there to younger players in managing the referee properly.
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“That Chelsea now go onto enjoy the scheduling benefits of zero Champions League commitments …”
Yay – lets go for it Andrew !!
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As I have said many times on Twitter – just thank god we don’t play on a Thursday.
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@anicoll5 Good spot he is clearly now the ‘Spiritual Leader’ along with the ability to see and execute the penetrative vertical pass is a quality not easily recognised.
Adams had that skill he would make a lot of those falling over take down the attacker and get away with fouls.
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@MarkRamprakash
Anyone with half a brain can see The Arsenal were struggling physically tonight. They didnt look sharp but dug deep, all credit to them!
–
Don’t know why it is but all the cool cricketers dig the Arsenal: Compton, Ramps, Head, etc.
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Interesting point about managing the referee.
Other teams do it..The Invincibles could be very smart with refs. Dennis Thierry double acts. Paddy the bad cop….but it seems we rarely venture into these darker arts now. Maybe time to alter out approach..Howard Webb himself noted that our players became “naive” to referee..again, the Invincibles certainly were not naive.
Nice to play by the rules, but others do not, and God knows, anything that is legal within the game is worth a go to improve our fortunes with referees.
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Plusses from last night:
Perez
Ox
Ramsey is beginning to find space in MF
Olly knows how to play a 90 min game.
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Mandy
Our defences rotational smashing of Diego Costa was a joy to behold.
Oh, I can still picture the expression on his face as he realised he was getting no joy from the ref that day….. couldn’t happen to a nicer bloke.
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Wasn’t exactly a game of two halves- one lasting seventy minutes, one twenty- as we looked very good in the opening minutes and again at the start of the second half, but if you do divide the game into those two sections- 70/20- the difference was quite staggering.
The last twenty or so was how I, wrongheadedly maybe, dream of us being able to play nearly all the time. There looked an overwhelming difference in technical ability and that difference almost totally dictated events on the pitch . Smart, skilful, intense football being used to drag the opposition all over the place, opportunities looked like they could be created at any moment.
For most of the first half and to an extent some of the second, the contrast was immense. It looked like energy was the thing, energy, energy energy, allied to a smart game plan, featuring rudimentary ideas which nonetheless required good accurate passes (or,often, one good pass into space),etc.
It looked unpleasantly as though the whole idea of being a fundamentally attacking team- thinking first and primarily of how to attack, and not prioritising defensive shape and protection- is simply a bit too risky, and leaves you phenomenally vulnerable to supercharged teams with a simple plan and serious speed on the counter.
The asymmetry of it seems appalling : they’re back in shape and we could play five or ten smart passes on the trot without a single opportunity opening to get at them; they charge about and are often one simple long pass from testing a defender one on one or, worse, getting in behind us. Plus, if they dispossess us in our own half, bang, they’re in on us.
I hope you’ve stuck with me there and believe me when I say I support our attacking approach and am strangely at peace at the moment with the good and ill of it. Basically, every team in the league bar us and not-yet-Pep’s City are ,at heart, defend-and-counter teams, while genuine build up play is dying in the league. Tempo increasingly is something that might come into play should a side become tired late on.
Liverpool are, in fairness, probably somewhere between the two. (When I picture them it is almost exclusively in the final third, buzzing around, linking with speed and creativity, hassling people. Well, the bastards must be doing something right to create that)
This is heavily disguised because when a team is much stronger than the opposition the sensible thing to do is typically to attack a little or a lot more, but all the same a team shows who they are, and how attacking they are, when playing the biggest games or against their closest rivals.
I think it’s only those large differences between teams- meaning all of City, Liverpool, Utd, Chelsea, Spurs will end up creating and scoring plenty in the right conditions- the presence of.. a dozen or so (?) top class attackers, and the existence of the odd truly attacking team preventing the great drawback of defend-and counter football from moving to front of screen and threatening to ruin the show :
Defend and counter stuff only looks super smart and effective when the other team has an alternate, attacking approach, and even then only when it works (it often doesn’t, but it’s hard to remember, or care, when it is working against your team); and if every last team is, at heart, that sort of team, it means any time the sides are evenly matched (top against top; mid, mid; low, low) the chances of a poor quality game are high.
I feel happier than I’ve been in recent memory to stand against that, for good or ill, with everything crossed there can be glory before the end of Wenger’s time.
Simplistic, I know, but it seems we just need to be a bit better at coping with teams playing at full frenzied pelt; can that be done without sacrificing a truly attacking identity? I think so. I hope so. But it’s certainly not easy.
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former referee Dermot Gallagher’s view on the sending off
SCENARIO: The Bournemouth defender went over the ball and caught Ramsey in midfield with a scissor-like tackle
DERMOT’S VERDICT: Right decision
DERMOT SAYS: I think it is a red card. He has completely scissor tackled his legs and anybody who makes a tackle in that way runs the risk of being sent off. He is nowhere near the ball, he has gone over the ball with one foot and taken the player out, seriously endangering the safety of his opponent, who was treated for a long time afterwards.
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“What went wrong? Not enough recovery time, no doubt about that. The energy of the players just couldn’t get us in the game, they had an extra day and that told. You could see that,” .
“Our lads put so much in on Sunday and you saw the effects of that. It wasn’t an even playing field.
“It’s difficult to take. We have all the science we have, we know the fatigue levels and the high intensity runs the players make and we knew they wouldn’t be able to make them tonight. And they couldn’t. Perhaps I picked the wrong side, I should have changed four or five.
AH WENGER WHINGING AGAIN, MAKING EXCUSES, NO OTHER MANAGER WHINGES LIKE HIM
what’s that you say, those quotes are from Sam Allardyce
by they way here is a link to Klopp complaining about having to play Sunderland only two days after facing man city,
he was “whinging” about it way back in October
http://www.irishmirror.ie/sport/soccer/soccer-news/jurgen-klopp-hits-out-liverpools-9046145
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quote anicol
“After that second goal the pitch of dissent among Arsenal players rose to fever pitch, Sanchez was shouting at everyone, Ramset shouted at Alexis, Larry was waving like a windmill in frustration, everyone was shouting at Iwobi, Mustafi was shouting at Hector, Hector was sheepish and staring off into space et cetera. This was not “pashun” this was just bloody unprofessional.”
isn’t that a sad indictment on our players, a damn poor attitude, and just unacceptable. wenger even hinted at how the players fucked up last night, how they did not keep their heads, too many wrong decisions, too many poor passes – even when having lots of time and space – too many piss poor corner kicks.
We had on the first goal last night a couple of very avoidable errors, both Bellerin and Ramsey abandoned responsibility to cover the wide attacker, and then Bellerin went in headless for a tackle that was always going to expose us if he got it wrong, and he got it very wrong.
The second goal had even more errors from our players, mustafi and coquelin fecking about with the ball and losing it, an attempted foul that only put us in more trouble, and then xhaka with a brain fart push in the back, with the attacker actually going nowhere. Self inflicted.
As Wenger said, no matter how tired you are, you have to still be able to make the right decisions, fatigue can be blamed for a lack of power and speed, but it should not affect decision making they way it did with us last night.
Sadly last night once again brought up our old failing of giving up a second(and quickly), and then a third goal, once we let in one.
We have only lost one game 1-0 in the last 18 months, if not more. But we have a list of games we have let in 2, 3 and 4 goals.
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What we saw in that last 20 was desperation Rich – Eddie Jones the England rugby coach had a great radio interview about a fortnight ago in which he described the first characteristic he look for in players who are good enough to play for England, that on the pitch there is a “desperation” to play winning rugby. That nothing and no one will stop them winning and the will give their last drop for the team cause. He said that skill, experience , intelligence all important but “desperation” was what made the difference.
English rugby’s first foreign coach.
Interesting interview although an hour long on BBC Radio iPlayer http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p03g5c3v
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anicoll
Could well be right there; not many could play desperation with that sort of skill and craft though.
As it goes, I think rugby is a far more natural fit for desperation to win in that non-pejorative sense, where even the greatest of greats New Zealand can or rather will resort to pure physicality and brutality when they feel it is essential (don’t know if you caught the Ireland test after they lost but…Jaysus!)
In football it’s a bit different, though manic desperation-not-to-lose is a closer match. That’s why I love the game more, for all rugby’s merits. You almost have to turn human nature on its head by combining aggression and fire with cool-headedness and, erm, delicacy almost, from one second to the next, again and again. Now that is a beautiful game.
But, yeah, the game in the last twenty mins looked as it did as a result of Bournemouth having used plenty of energy, having their lead, and us being almost completely free of doubt about what to do and how many to commit, and then having the players and skills to give it a tremendous go.
Funny thing is, if each of our games was somehow played like a one-off event, not connected to the league yet played with lots of commitment, I get the sense we might well win more often than we presently do, racking up giant scorelines but also conceding plenty.
In other words, I think we’d see the sort of scorelines that were common in ye old days- 7-4, 5-3, but also some 5-,6-,7- nils- before football became more commercialised and more IMPORTANT.
Ah, but maybe that would require the other team to be of a different bygone mindset,too. As it is, you just get those rare unpredictable and, comically, unwanted beforehand situations like last night when you can see fine attacking players pretty much completely off the leash and, well, it’s a hell of a sight. You see small spells of it at other times, or something similar should we have a nice 2-goal lead, but I’m not sure even that is the same as all-out, we-have-to-score-now attack
It really is a curious situation to ostensibly never want to see us in a position where we might just play football at its most enthralling and glorious.
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Ryan @RyanTomes 6h6 hours ago
@TheTwoMikes Why are Arsenal getting more stick for drawing 3-3 with Bournemouth than Liverpool were for losing 4-3 after being 3-1 up?
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Arsenal Fixture News @AFCFixtureNews 1h1 hour ago
Robert Madley has been appointed the referee for our FA Cup 3rd Round tie Away to Preston North End on Saturday.
Jamie Dalton @JamieDalton82 1h1 hour ago
Mike Dean’s got the Spurs cup game. Getting my penalty and red card bets in while the odds are good.
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anicoll5 Eddie Jones See’s rugby differently from any English coach ever before. Sir Clive changed the mentality , but there seems to be an extra dimension.
Could it be philosophy,how he sees the game is to be played?
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Adrian Clarke @adrianjclarke 21m21 minutes ago
Utterly ridiculous to claim that running to the fans for a few seconds cost Arsenal a 4th goal. Muppets the lot of you, haha
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arseblog @arseblog 4h4 hours ago
Chinese Super League side Lao Tzu have made an offer to Alexis Sanchez of £900,000 a week! [source: Jack Eechan – Shanghai Express]
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“struggling to order my thoughts even twelve hours later”
You do a damn fine job, sir.
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WWB Jones comes across as an absolute professional to the tips of his fingers. I cannot imagine any player taking a liberty with him or giving less than 100% and expecting ever to feature again. To beat the current Blacks someone somewhere will have to come up with something very special, on and off the field. I see the GB Olympic team is using is to prepare for the Tokyo games.
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“isn’t that a sad indictment on our players, a damn poor attitude, and just unacceptable.”
One word. No. I’m not having that. And that’s not what Arsene said, Eddy, that’s your interpretation of it. Did they screw up? Yes. Did they show great heart and spirit and ATTITUDE (I hate that word) to recover from it? Yes. I don’t get what people want. Nobody fights/yells/argues on the pitch, it means they don’t care. They do fight/yell/argue on the pitch, they’re unprofessional. Make up your mind.
There. That’s an unprofessional rant on the pitch from me. I’ll go in to the dressing room and recover my attitude before I post again.
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Carrie Brown @CarrieBrownTV 30m30 minutes ago
Arsenal Transfer news: Wenger tells @beINSPORTS non-league LB Cohen Brammal “has signed for us. He’s an exceptional physical talent”
“I don’t think he’s ready, today, to play in Premier League” but draws similarities to a young “Ashley Cole”
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I am in the “fighting yelling arguing” ( with your own team mates) = unprofessional Kelly.
Fair enough have a shout and get it out of your system quick, but that collective hissy fit went on for 20+ minutes – and other than giving the Bournemouth fans a larf what did it achieve !
If you want to yell fight and argue start on the opposition, or save your energy
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Adrian Clarke @adrianjclarke 38m38 minutes ago
Loads of u hammering Giroud for his ‘mentality’ are choosing to forget how determined he was to actually score/create those 3 goals. Jokers.
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spot on anicol, there are opponents to fight with, and even a ref most of the time, and to see so many of our players last night arguing with other for so long was not a pretty sight, especially as none of those that I seen having a go at others, were putting in a good enough performance that they could blame anyone else. In fact it was as if some were just looking for someone else to blame, to take away any blame from themselves. What also annoyed was that we were losing so many physical battles and were said to be tired, yet here was our players expending energy having a rage at each other. At any level of the game there is nothing a player likes better than to see opponents having a pop at each other. It really give you encouragement.
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What I’m saying, Andy, is that they get crucified no matter which way they go. No arguing = no heart to some, arguing = unprofessional to others. I didn’t see the “hissy fit” you described. Maybe I wasn’t paying close enough attention. I saw them getting frustrated, which they corrected. I don’t like it when they yell at each other, but it happens. I just thought “sad indictment of our players” was harsh.
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Fair point – perhaps my recollection is not 100% but it seemed every time a ball went astray, and that was plenty, the players were at one another, rowing, and loosing their cool. A few weeks back we went 0-2 to Ludogorets through early goals and there was none of that I spotted. It struck me as most unusual for us – more like Arsenal fans on Twitter than Arsenal players on duty.
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Great write up of a fantastic game for the neutral. I enjoyed the arguing with everyone paragraph which had the same rhythm and pace of the great barforama story in the film Stand by Me, one of the great coming of age stories based on a Stephen King novella.
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I suspect that one way to stop the petulant arguing would be to play Alexis at Centre Forward again, or maybe sell him to China.
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Well, perhaps only 48 hours rest has as much of an effect mentally as it does physically, including making one more prone to lose his temper. I just think the fact that they corrected it should be considered as much as the fact that it happened in the first place. By the final whistle, only Alexis seemed to still be visibly angry, and perhaps that was as much at himself as at his teammates. And further to my point, he’s getting loads of praise today for his visible anger, so there’s that.
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bad game for iwobi, should have been subbed far earlier
perez coming on and alexis moving into center is what allowed us to comeback
perhaps the young lad just couldn’t handle two games in three days
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I’m told Ramsey had a stinker. What did I miss? He wasn’t at his best, but its hard to be at your best if those around you are having stinkers. Other than Moreal and Giroud(and latterly Gabriel) I so no one that wasn’t sub par. And I knew that was going to happen.I hate to say “I told you so” but if you follow me on twitter I TOLD YOU SO
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Oleg
considering Iwobi played on the right and not in the centre as you inferred elsewhere I would kindly advise putting on your reading goggles, watch the football match, and then attempt to comment on said match.
Cheers.
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Funnily enough I was talking to someone at half time during the Mason performance and he pointed out that the England rugby captain had been sent off the night before with the aid of the video official with all reasoning being explained etc.
We sighed and drank from our beverages.
All right for some i suppose, rugby one day, football the next.
What’s the old expression?
Rugby is a hooligan’s game, managed by people that love their sport.
&
Football is a sport that many people love, managed by people who deserve to be locked in a hole with those that they would describe as hooligans
Something like that
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In case one was too busy staring into the depths of their own Arsenal’s whilst the footy was on:
average touch positions can be found here (& elsewhere)
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/football/2017/01/03/bournemouth-vs-arsenal-premier-league-live-score/
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Footy Accumulators @FootyAccums 5h5 hours ago

MASSIVE boost for Spurs this weekend, as Mike Dean has been declared fit for their game at home to Villa in the FA Cup. #COYS #AVFC
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Ben Dinnery @BenDinnery 2h2 hours ago
Sofiane Feghouli will not serve a three-match ban after the @FA overturned the dubious red card his received against Man United. #WHUFC
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@finsbury
Rugby is a hooligan’s game, managed by people that love their sport.
&
Football is a sport that many people love, managed by people who deserve to be locked in a hole with those that they would describe as hooligans.
I tell you that Mark Twain could see around corners, I wonder what he’s up to now?
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if that was you struglling Andy then continue to struggle.That was as near a perfect review as I have seen. We obviously disagreed about the importance of their third goal but i just cant think of a better analysis and ive just watched Adrian.
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“Everyone shouting at Iwobi”
Oh yes
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. Brilliant though Sanchez is you know he will always, always cut inside, never go up the line. No idea why.
Why? Because he can’t cross with his left foot Andy, that’s for him to stand on.
That Wenger geezer, he is a genius, putting Sanchez through the middle?
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