And so here we are. The final curtain call of yet another season is upon us. Elsewhere the thing has been done and dusted for some time now. My neighbourhood team have long since taken in the goal posts. There’s a travelling funfair on the pitch, dodgem cars racing around the goal mouth, the Waltzer spins upon the centre circle. All around trees are in full and verdant leaf, chicks swell in the nests and family fun days are washed out in the early summer rains.
In the classrooms exam bound school children are dreaming of the beach, of camp sites, of late nights and waking up at noon. Gardening granddads and bumbling bees are busy in back yards and farmers survey silage through half closed eyes and contemplate the first cut. But the Premier League hasn’t quite finished with us yet. There is one last act to play out and all eyes are on just two matches.
It’s true that a defeat for Man City and a goal avalanche for Arsenal would render Liverpool’s contest with Middlesbrough irrelevant but of the unlikely scenarios this seems to present the most vanishingly small chance of success.
Despite our collective disappointment at watching Chelsea run away with the league it is undeniably exciting to be arrive at the ultimate day of the season and still have something to play for. I do like it when a league campaign keeps me interested right to the bitter’s end.
Now I’m not one to pad out a piece with extensive quotations nor to indulge in such ego caressing narcissism as to quote myself but then I’m not one to miss the final match because I’m attending a vegan festival in the heart of Bristol either but all of these things are about to happen.
As the end of term mood imbues my Sunday morning thoughts I couldn’t help but reflect on how short a time it seems since all this started again and yet how very much has happened. Here is what I had to say in my very first blog of the season
“I always hope for the best of all possible outcomes. If that ends up meaning fourth place or a Europa league position or just avoiding relegation then that’s what I’ll be cheering for at the death.
Not this time though. Having been stung by the season which followed the World Cup I watched in horror as the Euros dragged on to see all those Arsenal players not getting a break, not resting and recharging. I realised that this would be a difficult season. Now it seems that we will not only have to catch up after a slow start but also assimilate all sorts of new faces into the squad, which, when allied to the inevitable injuries ( a knock on effect of the international bullshit we all had to endure) simply means disruption and disjointed performances.”
I know what you’re thinking – crystal ball stuff isn’t it? But not really, it was all easily predictable and a disrupted season has produced mixed results. It is of course not all over yet, not in the league nor in the FA Cup and getting to within sniffing distance of the top four and to a Wembley final in such a difficult season is no mean feat and the manager and his staff deserve credit for this.
So where do we go from here? I don’t believe we need another influx of new players to disrupt the squad yet again we just need people not to get injured all the time. The players are good enough, but the results have simply been insufficiently consistent to mount a serious challenge. Despite a very good run, which lasted until just before Christmas when Everton and City took six points from us in consecutive games, we just didn’t hold it together for long enough. Those six points would have robbed us of our fun today but would have put an entirely different complexion on our season.
I know, I know, it’s all ifs and buts, but then that’s what we do at this time of year isn’t it? Like an impotent man with a big arse, there is so little in front and so much behind us that some reflection is only natural. However, I’ll put my short term nostalgia on hold and try to focus on the game today.
We owe Everton one don’t we? We deserved at least a draw at Goodison and need to pay them back this afternoon. Our visitors are in reasonable to middling nick right now. They’ve lost two of their previous six and won three. But then, they were in a dreadful run of form when last we played them and we were unbeaten in fourteen league games and we all know how that panned out.
There has been a huge improvement in our performances of late, and confidence appears to be returning to the side. Kieran Gibbs has shored up our vulnerable left flank and our mercurial Chilean has found his passing and shooting boots. We have the fire-power, the resilience and the belief we need to do our bit, the question is can ‘boro lift themselves and do to Liverpool what Newcastle did to Spurs?
Despite my seeming ability to see into the future the truth is I don’t know what will happen today. Last games are like opening games – a bugger to predict. In any case I’ve never gone in for that psychic stuff. For what it’s worth I believe we’ll do it with aplomb and both Liverpool and City will lose and an awful lot of humble pie will be eaten come five o’clock today. Not by me I hasten to add, I’ll be eating an Indonesian jackfruit curry followed by breaded seitan and tofu wrap washed down with a Sorrel smoothie. Possibly.
Anyway that’s enough from me, I’ll see you one last time for my cup final preview but that is all I have for another league season. I’m sorry I’ve failed to discuss take over bids, ex players comments to the press, and the manager’s contracts, but you see none of that is of any interest or relevance to us. All we have to do is to sit and enjoy the game. So let’s do that shall we? One more time.
Positively Arsenal 
cheers Fins!
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John CrossVerified account @johncrossmirror 1h1 hour ago
Baines booked for a lesser foul than Schneiderlin and Williams committed while on yellow cards. The protection of players on bookings a joke
that should read, protection of players on bookings, who are not arsenal players, is a joke
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gunnerblog @gunnerblog 20m20 minutes ago
AW: “Since January we played in a very difficult environment .. The psychological environment was horrendous.”
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Thanks Ed….clears up a few dark conspiracy theories and 2+2 =5 stuff circulating out there!
Still hope he had a go at the ref though
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AW on missing lap: “I was out there … I wanted the players to have the lap they deserved.”
clear from that he did not want the lap disrupted by the wob, we have a cup final next saturday and the last thing the team needs is abuse from the fans six days earlier
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Wenger says on TalkSport we fell away in December and “maybe one day I will say why”
there is hope one day that he will open up on the refs and pgmol
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Wenger gave the clearest indication that he is staying, he said he will sign one or two players in the summer.
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Well that’s interesting – I did not even notice he was not with the players.
Fans gave every man a good clap and cheer – very even mood I’d say.
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Few choruses of “Stan Kroenke get out of our club” second half.
Even Stan must realise he went too far insisting Arsene picked him in goal for the Watford game.
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just seen the penalty incident from the lfc game, oh atkinson you bad cunt, as clear a penalty as you will get, and red card too, not only a game changer, but a top 4 changer
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Ed, Hope your interpretation is correct and that he is staying, but just have this nagging doubt that I have had for a while now….wont believe he stays until I see I am afraid.
A poignant cup final coming up, then, we await news, good or bad
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…one thing I hope when AW final does leave is that he spills the beans about all the bs that goes on. A truly dignified man.
Andy-or anyone else who was there, did you think the players seemed bothered by the lap of honour? From the tv it they didnt seem to interested.I could be wrong though. Perhpas could be naffde due to the poop theyve been given this year.
Mighty fine win today,and its been a good run in to the end of the season.Ok so we are under dawg for the FAC final, but so were we against Citeh.
Good to see Per back.
Apparently AFTV wanted to give a lap of honour too, but were instead directed to Whit Frat Lane for a lap of honour there.Yes, WHL was empty.
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Anthony Fucking Taylor the ref for the FA Cup final. What could go wrong.
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I thought Ozil was outstanding today, motm performance from him, some of his footwork and skill were unbelievably good today.
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I believe we have now conceded ten penalties in the league alone after today, and have a pen balance of -4. Strange for an attacking team with a lot of tricky players who like to get in the box and do their stuff
As for numbers conceded, U.S. and hull way out in front, then I believe Swansea on 8.
Untold wrote a take on this strange, and increasing consistent penalty situation affection our team,…Mike Riley features prominently
http://untold-arsenal.com/archives/61726
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The players were a bit subdued compared to some of our recent final day escapades which was understandable- but they had the kids there and everyone as far as I could see was smiling and they got a good round of applause. Not really a day for too much cavorting.
You know what happens if players are spotted laughing at inappropriate times!
Sanchez in his flip flops #OntheBeach (banned smiley)
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No idea what the penalty looked like on the TV but behind the goal it looked spot on. I shall look at Kosc’s red card again but it was no surprise. Yet again I wonder how much the reaction of the fouled player (overreaction) influences the referee.
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Just watched AFTV. My word they cannot understand anything outside of their own emotional reaction.Whatever AW does it wouldnt be enough.
One of them accused him of being a coward. The man has taken verbal and written abuse all year, and for many other years. Hes well aware of whats going to be said to him.To avoid confrontaion and soaking up abuse, why is that cowardice? FFS this is not some John Wayne film.
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It was nice to hear some good appreciation for Mesut today. He is a fantastic player and we are lucky to have him.
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So Arsene in his presser partially agrees with me:
“We were a force until December but we dropped off. One day I will give the reasons for that.”
Didn’t mention anything about Santi. Implied other reasons.
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https://youtu.be/59WKCeOm70I
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wenger implied the other day that the performance by clattenburg in the away game at everton and then the offside goals goals v man city derailed our season
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atikinson today at anfield done to boro on the penalty what he did to arsenal a few games back, when he looked to take great delight in waving away the penalty appeals
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Wenger asked who he’s protecting: “I protect nobody. It’s not the moment to speak about some different things.”
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on the win…
We have played well, very well. We were down to 10 men for such a long time, so to win the game means we have shown what we have shown recently: strength, togetherness and fighting spirit. We won the game and we knew that’s all we could do before the game. It was very difficult because we were down to 10 men for a long, long time and it was hot too. We stuck together and we could have even scored some more goals at the end. They also had some chances, of course, but we did the job.
on his reaction to a lack of Champions League football…
I don’t know yet because we have not started the Champions League yet, but it’s very sad. For 20 years we were in it and it’s the first year that we will not be in it. It’s very strange because for 75 points, we are only one point short. Of course you can look everywhere for where we dropped these points, but since January it’s been a very difficult environment for different reasons. Some you know about, and that’s very difficult for a group of players to cope with that. There are some other reasons that we will talk about another day. Psychologically, the environment for this group of players was absolutely horrendous and I’m very proud of what they have done, the way they responded and finished the season.
on losing nine games this season and which areas he needs to look at for next season…
Look, I would tell you as well we also won 23. In the unbeaten year we won 26, so we are not far away. It’s true that we lost too many games and that’s where we find the points that we missed tonight, but that was down to the period where we were unstable defensively and unsettled mentally as well by the exit that happened against Bayern Munich.
on switching to a back three and how much that helped…
It helped because we were unstable defensively. I think it helped to redress and to come back with more defensive stability. Of course, maybe we moved to that a fraction too late in the season.
on if the team can benefit from this late run…
Yes, I think this group of players is good enough to come back. They have learned a lot and they have gone through difficult periods this season and they have bounced back in a very strong way. I think that will help them, absolutely, next season. But first I think we have to keep 90 per cent of these players together and find one or two more who strengthen the group but we don’t need a lot. We don’t need many. But we need maybe top quality.
on Laurent Koscielny’s red card…
It looked spectacular but when you watch it again, it looked a bit harsh. What could we do?
on Gabriel…
Gabriel overstretched his knee and will have a scan tomorrow. We’ll see the damage. It doesn’t look too good for next Saturday, to be honest.
Read more at http://www.arsenal.com/news/news-archive/20170521/the-latest-on-our-centre-back-situation#1poiF9vv90DjU0jY.99
Read more at http://www.arsenal.com/news/news-archive/20170521/-it-s-very-sad-for-us-to-miss-top-four-#Zbyrby2zjPUdG0aO.99
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‘You can’t question my love or loyalty’
‘You can’t question my love or loyalty’
Arsène Wenger responds to questions about his future following our 3-1 win over Everton at the Emirates
Arsène Wenger fielded a number of questions about his future when he faced the media after Sunday’s game against Everton.
Read on for a selection of quotes from the press conference:
on why he didn’t join in the lap of appreciation…
The players have been disturbed enough. I was out there to show respect but I wanted the players to have the quiet lap of honour that they deserved.
on whether that means he’s said farewell to the fans…
No, not at all.
on whether the current environment is the most difficult he’s encountered at the club…
I don’t know. It has been difficult, yes. Certainly my personal situation has contributed to that. But you should not question, I am professional. As long as I am somewhere, I do my job until the last day. You could not question my love or my loyalty to this club because I said no to every club in the world to stay here.
on whether he thinks his future should have been sorted sooner…
You have been at the games and you cannot say that the environment for the players was especially positive.
on the importance of having clarity on his future soon and if it’s a regret that the clarity hasn’t been there…
No, because if I stop one day, I will still work until the last day of the season. I think you have to accept that everywhere. I left in some other places when I was at the end of a contract. I still worked with the same commitment until the last day of my contract.
Copyright 2017 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/20170521/-you-can-t-question-my-love-or-loyalty-#b28z4Dj41hhBkcQH.99
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Thanks to George, Stew, Andy, and Shotta for your excellent blogs and to everyone else for their great comments and, yes, friendship over the course of this season. It’s not what we wanted, or what the manager and players wanted, but it’s not the disaster some like to make it out to be. We finished strong, with some good understandings (re)developing on the pitch. I don’t blame Arsene at all for saying he wouldn’t disturb it too much.
I was happy with today, except for the red card (eek, Kos, that’s not like you) and injury to poor Gabriel. We battled mightily with 10 men, so much so I often forgot we were down a man. My boy got his goal, and what a beauty it was, and how good it was to see him so happy. And call me sappy, but seeing the players with their children is always a highlight for me. See a man with his kids, and you see what kind of man he is. And don’t we have some class acts in our squad.
I totally understood AW not taking the lap, and I don’t think it “means” anything beyond what he said: the players deserved to have that without the in or out banner nonsense spoiling it for them. AW is a very gracious man. Such an underrated quality. I fear he is the last of his breed.
On to the Final! How nice it is to have that one more game to look forward to.
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“AW is a very gracious man. Such an underrated quality. I fear he is the last of his breed.”
Lets hope not, but sadly you may be right. Makes me feel really sad how totally misunderstood he is. I cant click like on your post Alabamagooner, but if I could I would. So like from me.And you didnt even mention Ramseys wonder goal! And a wonder goal it was, made by Mesut with his silky skills.
COYG!
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Oh but I did mention him, Mills. I just assume when I say “my boy” everyone knows who I’m talking about. (banned smiley) It was a cracking goal, and I’m so pleased for him.
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lots of selection questions for the final
cech or ospina
3 or 4 at the back
if 3, who out of per, holding, mustafi and monreal get the nod
do we include Debuchy on the bench as cb coverage
if fit does ox displace bellerin, especially after the return to form today of hector
welbeck or giroud up front
will alexis be fit to start
will alexis be selected even if not fully fit
who get the sub spots
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by the way if it was up to me, Szczesny would be in goal, barring that it would be Cech, his recent performances for me has him ahead of ospina.
I’d also quicker include Bielik in the subs, than Debuchy
would also very much go with Mustafi, Mertesacker, Holding quicker than take Monreal away from left wing back.
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We enter Unchartered territory.
Should most of this team stay together I’m optimistic that we will have a very successful next season.
Once we overcame the difficulties Arséne referred to we looked very, very strong at times.
I think the great man will stay. Arsenal need him more now that we will not be in the Champions League. We will only attract the players we need with Arséne at the club. There are no other managers available with his cachet. He needs to stay and secure a smooth handover some two or three years down the line.
Yet again PA is the place for sensible, balanced and evidence-based discussion.
My thanks go to our superb bloggers and commentators. Keep it up.
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Some interesting and as ever enigmatic comments by Wenger.
Did mention players being unsettled by his situation. Possible a pop at some board members for leaving it until the end of the season to be sorted….when maybe he had agreed to stay much earlier? Only speculation, from someone who thinks he could still go, but some interesting words nonetheless
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well mandy, wenger did say a couple of months ago he had made his decision on his future, and he said it has always been his first choice to stay, so we can only assume that any delay in signing a new contract is more down to the board than to wenger. yes we have the rumors that the board are demanding a DoF or similar at the club, and wenger has been opposed to this, although his comments this week suggest he is ok with it as long as the dof aid him and not make his decisions for him.
also on the unsettled thing, wenger did also point out today that the team won 7 of last 8, with his future still unclear,
as i said earlier he mentioned the awful reffing in the city and everton games in december for our fall off, although it must be pointed out that our title challenge did not collapse till the defeats at home to watford and away to cfc, that was last game in january and first game of february
wenger admitted that he had been considering going 3 at the back from end of november, and that maybe we should have switched to it sooner.
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just a word on the kronke out protests today
what exactly has kronke done wrong,
is it that he has not sacked wenger, or is it that he has not given his own money to the club to spend.
or is there actually something he has done wrong.
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Just hope the board and Wenger can come to some sort of understanding on new roles and the future. It is widely reported Wenger takes on rather a lot, I am sure the right type of help would ultimately be welcome to all, whatever the job title. New coaches, fresh faces could also help what will be a transition of Wenger stays,,he cannot go on forever….anything that helps us avoid the Utd scenario, or our own Jan to April. Really hope Wenger is amenable to some change, always room for improvement and new practices.
As for Kroenke….as someone who is pretty luke warm to him, he hasn’t done a lot wrong in terms of what I am sure he agreed on signing, not the most inspiring owner, but not unique in that.. but as you say, they are annoyed that he appears to want to keep Wenger, perhaps allow him more influence than other managers, combined with Usmanovs timely bid, and some imagining Usmanov….or others will bring more success . Yet, Usmanov is a confirmed wengerist…so I think some are a bit confused.
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Even Shearer saying Liverpool should have conceded a pen and got a red card.
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anyone see jose’s press conference today, it lasted a full 24 seconds, that is 24 seconds from he walked into the press room, to the moment he left it. 2, maybe 3 journos there, jose walks in, sits down, sees only a couple of journos, gets up and walks out. yet to see any journo make a big fuss about his lack of respect.
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Is this one of the worst seasons for teams on the beach?
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good god, martin keown says arsenal should sign yaya toure, really he did,
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As we know, Not only shit refereeing and cheating , and nothing done about it in this league
https://www.thesun.co.uk/sport/football/3615448/jordi-alba-dive-penalty-worst-ever-barcelona-eibar/
Why is there no enquiry when the same teams benefit time and time again….guess we know why…..just hope the retrospective diving rule stops this sort of thing in the EPL next year…..yes, ok being silly and naive here….
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i think many are missing Wenger’s point about the “hostile atmosphere”, they seem to think he is merely talking about the banner wankers, and the a4 idiots, but for me he is pointing at the media’s non stop attacks on arsenal, the Arsenal in crisis soundbite that never let up, and he may even be including the pgmol hand in our downfall this season – especially when he talks about what happened in December, as when he talked about it a few days ago he mentioned how the Everton game was reffed and then what happened in the city game.
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yes mandy you are being silly, I ask you a very simple question about next season’s dive panel
which of these clubs will have a player banned for diving first, and/or have the most players banned for diving during the season
Arsenal
Spurs
Man Utd
Liverpool
Chelsea
Man City
I expect your answer will be the same as mine, Arsenal all day every day.
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Sadly, agree Ed.
Spurs diving has gone massively under the media radar, why do any refs fall for what Kane and Alli get up to? Liverpool…serial divers for years, cultivated by the likes of Owen and Gerrard when the media told us only foreigners dived..sadly, the young Rashford is being schooled in the Utd tradition of diving, private tuition from Rooney I would guess and as we know , City and Chelsea have their moments…but as you say, let’s see who they get first
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mandy never mind the media turning a blind eye to spurs diving, we are told by the fa and the pgmol that every decision made or missed by a ref in a game is analysed not only by an assessor during the game, but by the refs at their get togethers, and group training sessions etc, and that they discuss the tricks the players use to con them. So the ignoring of what spurs have done this season and what lcfc did last season, has to be a clear decision by the refs, no one will ever convince me that with all the pro refs, all their assessors, their bosses, all looking at and analysing these penalty incidents, that it is some kind of oversight that they keep getting conned by the same teams/players and none of them remember that this is tactics being used by said teams/players.
There is something rotten in the state of Denmark.
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five wins in a row for Arsenal, our best winning run of the season
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Per Mertesacker played his 150th BPL game today
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