Andy Nic. is on his jollies so its fallen upon me to serve up a slice of positively today…………………Cheers for that Andy.
Let’s start with the easy bit, shall we?
Three points and a clean sheet. Err, mmm, err …………… oh yes, and The Ox played really well.
I felt that when we were handed the first goal, we had done enough to take control of the game. There were some bright moves, interplay and we should already have scored, with Alexis being unusually wasteful when he really had to score.
After that, I have to say, I think we were a tad poor. There was a nervousness in our passing that made us look ordinary at best. Hull were allowed to move the ball through midfield unopposed. We dropped deep, and that’s fine, but we looked anything but assured and organised. There was acres of space out wide and that really shouldn’t be the case when we are all set.Hull didn’t dominate or do enough to deserve to score, but if they had have done, we couldn’t have felt hard done by either.
We somewhat plodded our way through between the first goal and the 93rd minute penalty. That said, I felt Perez and Welbeck made us look better when they came on. Also ElNeny looked like he wanted to drive the team forward and press more once he came on.
I want to say that the first goal should have stood because it was not intentional handball. but honestly. I’d have been spitting feathers if that had been scored against us.
So that’s about all I have really. Enjoy the rest of the weekend and don’t worry about Bayern, I’m sure we will be better for that.
Positively Arsenal 
is there a single ex player who is now a pundit who actually knows the rules of the game, week in week out one after another on sky, bt, bbc etc they constantly call things wrong. is it any wonder that so many fans follow suit and spout the same uninformed rubbish. One also has to ask why even after a ref/former ref states what the rules are, they ignore this, and just repeat their mistaken view. Why do the producers/editors etc of the football shows put up with this, I know other sport where the expert panelists would keep getting hired if they quoted rules wrongly, and ignored it when told the actual rules. For example You don’t see it in the coverage of Rugby
LikeLiked by 4 people
C’mon everyone, if you have a few minutes, bask in Slavans full post match intvw:
http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/football/38946432
LikeLiked by 1 person
hello arsenal fans! I want to let you know that the first caption of the so called quality news paper the guardian, ( I donated some money to tthem so I kind of trust them) completely let me down, by undertexting the Sanchez handsgoal with: ‘You can see on Sanchez sleeve where he scored with: a green spot on his arm. Now I look motd and see that Sanchez already had this green spot on his sleeve before he scored! I checked back on the Guardian site. Now the caption is: referee regrets the handsgoal. I mean, come on! It really looks that the guardian wants to relish the fact that it was a handgoal with Alternative Facts! Would you believe that!? It really looks like the media is outthere to demolish the only side with some sense of integrity, Total bummer. But happy for Arsene and the club.
LikeLiked by 5 people
The old fart’s thoughts:
A win. 3 points. 2 goals. A clean sheet. Petr doing a good job. The Ox doing better. Complaints? Other than we could have had 4 or more in the first half via proper goals, not really. At least Hull came to play and made a good fist of it.
And hopefully, Oz may be tempted on Wednesday to show the Germans why he’s been voted “Germany’s best player” so many times. It really is about time he showed us again. Theo showing fight but not much in the playing department.
LikeLiked by 4 people
PS Did anybody see Steve Bould yesterday?
LikeLike
Shotts
From that list above it looks like the Webbalty’s ambition has always been to follow in the footsteps of his childhood hero:
Don Revie
Shotts, please note the recording here of the efforts of Sunday supplement toad and prominent and currently practicing UK hack Winter and his efforts to airbrush match fixing out of the relatively recent history…(no need to go back to 1919!)
https://www.google.co.uk/amp/s/amp.theguardian.com/media/greenslade/2011/mar/14/sunday-telegraph-daily-mirror?client=safari
Looool
These people, that includes the inner jabber of Winter and pals, they have earned and they deserve zero respect
LikeLiked by 2 people
Hah:
“Jibber jabber!”
Of course
LikeLike
This season we’ve witnessed AFC players sent off for the kind of fouls that are and seen in every game, and we’ve constantly seen refs called out for making correct calls in AFCs favour.
I always enjoy watching the football, but if I’m being fair the Meedjah coverage of the Arsenal is bloomin’ hilarious *wipes a tear*
LikeLike
Not forgetting the new high for the pgMOB of officials apologising for making correct calls.
Reminds one of that time they were concerned about the players respecting the fans n5
Only at the Arsenal eh? Amazing.
LikeLiked by 3 people
<respecting the fans and concerned over the price of the tickets in n5 (which per match is cheaper then a season ticket in n17 etc…)
I couldn't make it up.
LikeLiked by 1 person
One other thing I noticed was the support. I had heard rumours about another protest and I thought the crowd may be anxious or even toxic. However I was pleasently surprised, the numbers were what you would expect for a early game on a snowy February day playing a bottom of the table side. Although the stadium didnt rock there was good singing from the start and the pockets of singing all the way through the game.
Since our move to the bigger stadium the singing has always been in sections all over the place before it links up all over the stadium for the noiser songs.
I think it was helped by the good start the team had and this is proving more and more vital in getting the crowd and the team going.
LikeLiked by 2 people
Eds.
Have you ever considers watching MOTD etc coverage of the Arsenal through the prism of the writers and producers of The Day Today and or Brass Eye: the people that invented the character of Alan Partdrige…
eg Alan shearer claiming the elbow wasn’t a foul. The same Shearer who led with his elbow and had a perfectly good goal taken away from sol Campbell in a WC QF against Argentina! (The kind of Argentina that an England team in Riley’s Revie-esque era couldn’t even come close to) Absolutely fucking hilarious! That’s comic gold, the only way you could ever encourage someone to humiliate themselves like that in public, to act like a real life Partdridge, must be by paying them a load of wonga! Haha!
LikeLiked by 2 people
Ian most of the empty seats were in the middle tier!
On a cold day, possibly the coldest home game of 2017(?) when most of the people in those seats would’ve been by the buffet! If they’re smart…one of my friends took those mini hand warmer devices too the match, it’s the best us (relative) paupers can do in such conditions (if you’re off the whiskey…).
LikeLiked by 1 person
Just tried to read the by the numbers article, my advice: save your time!
Apparently AOC couldn’t pass through the lines yesterday. F*ck my football boots, the writer/author may be able to count but could he also please watch the football! Or is that asking to much from the same chap who thought Etienne Capoue was the player/answer for Arsenal in CM? (He’s no Cazorla!)
LikeLiked by 2 people
My excuse? Trying to help the nephew with maths homework I was inspired to read some numbers, the bit about Coquelin was sensible and logical enough but as Ray Wilkins would say: my word, it takes some watching to miss AOCs passing yest.
LikeLike
Sounds like there was an exciting rugby match yesterday. None of the headlines are about the officials…
LikeLiked by 1 person
Admirable self control on display from Keown sat next to the wheezing Garth Crooks on the sofa*
*Keown occasionly has to toe the editors line but given his relative efforts with grass roots football we know he’s a good ‘un. Certainly when compared with toads like Crooks.
LikeLike
To answer your question earlier Eduardo, Rugby doesn’t thrive on controversy like football does. If the pundits keep banging on about the handball goal eventually they will drown out the facts with their Alt-facts and it keeps the sheeple talking all week.
LikeLiked by 3 people
#BURCHE Based on research into 20 yrs of penalty data in the PL, my main interest is how far the PGMO will go to tilt this match in favor of CFC. I will let the data speak, not my pro-Arsenal bias.
LikeLike
Almost the perfect result yesterday – 3 points, 2 goals, 1 clean sheet, 0 injuries.
A straightforward win against an in-form team and versus a now standard-issue dodgy ref, without the need for hitting the top performance gear ahead of a genuinely challenging game abroad in a few days time.
This season has been the worst I can recall in terms of unsatisfactory refereeing (half time ref’s apology is a new one on me – when will the weird behaviour ever stop?) and the ever-descending depths to which the clueless punditry plummit taking with them the last vestiges of what little credibility they once had. Their near-universal ignorance of Rule 12 renders their contribution to the modern game as bankrupt as their integrity.
I’d suggest both the refs and the pundits, in different ways, are doing untold damage to the Premier League brand and I’ve little doubt The Great Switch-Off – as evidenced by both Sky and BT’s own PL plunging viewing figures – continues apace.
And all this when the FA has come in for the harshest criticism from Parliament with the last THREE FA Chairman demanding imposed reform on this most complacent of bodies, one wonders where this will all end.
Seems unlikely to end well until someone, somewhere, shows a bit of reforming leadership.
As far as I can see, the whole barrel of malcontents is rotten to the core.
LikeLiked by 5 people
Hear hear, AA.
LikeLiked by 2 people
AA: In a contrarian sort of way, the fact that Webb has taken up a position as Manager of Operations for the Asst Video Ref in MLS (USA) is a clear indicator of the future. Video ref is coming to the PL sooner or later. The fear we should all have is Webb is positioned to become the man-in-charge once he returns to England to share his experience with the PL and PGMO. He himself has shown he is a dishonest careerist.
As I argued here and elsewhere, like the NFL, American businessmen, who are now heavily invested in the PL, cannot have the value of their investment left solely in the hands of biased or incompetent referees. Apparently, the Europeans or traditionalists are against the video ref. Touche. They still haven’t accepted goal-line technology and it is growing in adoption as the PL in less than 5 secs has done with the never-ending controversy about whether a ball crossed the line or not.
I am fully aware that the usual fact-free big bloggers and tweeters refuse to acknowledge the data I and others have researched and published. Bust as I parse the words of Arsene Wenger when he speaks of the referees, the current situation is unacceptable. As usual, it is not the fans who decide on fundamental decisions in the PL. It is the moneymen (owners and chief executives) who will decide the fate of video refereeing. I am confident that sooner rather than later the nightmare of referee bias by the PGMOL will come to an end.
LikeLike
Still waiting for same uproar by the mainstream media for Wes Morgan handling ball in the box blocking a shot as Sanchez’s ball to hand.
LikeLike
you will wait a long time for it shotta
LikeLike
passenal quote – “Rugby doesn’t thrive on controversy like football does”
can not agree with this at all, you are right Rugby does not thrive on controversy, in fact they are doing everything they can to make sure there is no controversy, mainly down to the good refs, video refs, siting of players, proper code of conduct from players and management towards the officials, and their constant looking at and tweeking of the rules to try and improve the game.
For me football does not thrive on controversy, I know no one who began watching football, or became a fan, due to controversy, the maradona hand of god goal did not bring in the fans, but his other goal in that game is likely to have peeked the interest of a few, as would the great Brazil sides, the Dutch of cruyff, the Platini French side, and all the other great teams, the great goals, the skill.
I tell you who has thrived on controversy, – these expert pundits, the journos, sky, bt and other media outlets, and lets not forget the bloggers etc.
for me the best football highlight show on the telly is ITV4’s Bundesliga coverage, and all it has is an introduction and finish from the host, the best bits from each game, and a comment or two from players/managers. Not a single debate, not a single controversy, no one telling us that Xhaka is a liability, or that you can’t win a title with Giroud etc etc. No time is wasted by stupid waffle, we get the action, the whole action and nothing but the action. What a pity MOTD do not follow suit.
LikeLike
our loan player report for this weekend
LikeLike
worth a read
LikeLike
I can’t decide whether I’m outraged or in uproar
Thank god we won or I would have to tear myself in half
LikeLike
the acid test with the pundit is whether he tells me something, or illuminates something that I don’t know, or presents an opinion, cogently argued and with an analysis and conclusions cross referenced with evidence.
The pundit performance reality is that standard is very, very rarely met or even attempted.
As I have often said as the output is such utter shite a) why do you bother reading it or b) if you do put yourself though the tedious effort of looking at the rubbish then why react ?
LikeLiked by 1 person
Looking at a half empty Vincente Calderon in b Sky tonight – are the Atleti fans having a #SimeoneOut protest ?
LikeLike
santi still unable to wear a shoe on his injured foot
LikeLike
what a surprise Moss only gave a yellow for this today, but the lads name is not Xhaka
LikeLiked by 1 person
Match of the Day did not show this handball incident
LikeLiked by 1 person
I hope your not correct about that photo, Eddy.
Maybe Santi is taking To borrowing young Hector’s wardrobe stylings.
LikeLike
Its alright – Atleti managed to nick the win – Simeone is a genius – they are 4th ( banned swooney face)
Brilliant shot of Santi’s footwear btw – which one is supposed to be a “shoe” ? And what precisely does the wearing of this alleged “shoe” tell us – I thought he had surgery on his foot ? I agree a man of his age should be wearing a solid pair of brogues and not be wearing teenage booties but even so ….
LikeLiked by 1 person
what the photo tells us is that Santi is still unable to wear a trainer on his injured foot, so is still some way away from wearing a football boot. On my knowledge of achilles recovery(a team mate went through it), I’d think he still has a protective soft cast on lower leg and/or ankle, and that is why a trainer does not fit over it, but at least he is gone past the protective boot stage.
Wenger said it would take Santi at least six weeks to return from the time he returns to outside training (initially outside running, kicking a ball, no contact training, then contact training and some u23 games or behind closed door games),
we can not expect to see Santi till April at the earliest
LikeLike
Now be fair to Clattenberg. Sooner or later he was going to have to apologise for giving a critical decision in favour of Arsenal – especially if lt was correct. Might as well get it over with at half time.
LikeLiked by 3 people
New post up
LikeLike