Wenger has never had a plan, got lucky with the back 4 and keeper when he joined, hadn’t they set a clean sheet record the season before?
He got lucky that he knew the French market and no one else wanted any of the players from France, like PV4 from AC Milan, like Henry from Juventus, beating Real Madrid to Pires.
He then got even luckier that these players ignored his instructions and tactics and won the games on their own to go unbeaten for a full league season.
Then lucky that we have a board that know even less than him about football and so refused to sack him, in fact they could not sack him as lucky Wenger actually picks the board, he is their boss.
Now, then the really lucky part, he goes and cons people again by winning 3 FA Cups in 4 years, because no other club was interested in the FA Cup.
Let’s not forget his biggest piece of luck, the Arsenal fans! They supported him and the team to the hilt, and of course any that don’t are only doing it to make him change his ways and do things the right way, the lucky old senile French bastard.
But they do say , lucky arsenal.
Follow @edminton1966
Positively Arsenal 
For those of you who wanted a look in the PA spam bin I think this is a little beauty:
” Pedantic George (PG) is maybe pedantic, but his English is less than “pedantic” and his football knowledge is even less so… I think PG would do himself a favour by keeping his pedantism to himself, in other words keep his mouth shut at all times.”
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And thank you eddy for the Lucky, Lucky Wenger
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Andy,You might think a genius like him would have worked out that I didn’t write it?
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Good one Ed, first time and this time too. Luck seems to be in the air again(or not!)!
(banned smiley, winky, wobs out emoji)
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Eddy, you bugger you. You stole my tweet about lucky Wenger and made a blog. Ha, Ha, Ha. It’s all good my friend. Top, top quality. Welcome to twitter. I am hanging there during my vacation.
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That is amusing, Eddy, but I advise caution, some people confuse verbal irony with something to do with a wrinkly pair of jeans on an ironing board and may feel stupid.
Well I guess that is lucky!
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We’re lucky to have such a broad and wise collection of souls in this virtual space.
Thanks again to all who keep the blog going. This statement from one of those lucky Cup winning keepers made me laugh/cry:
“Just realised that June has finished and I am no longer a player of AS Roma.
2 years of representing this club has given me a great joy and pride!
I can’t thank enough the club for the opportunity I was given here, coaching staff for helping me grow as a player, my team mates for all the great moments and victories we shared and the fans for always supporting and getting behind the team.”
He must’ve thought he was in the twilight zone: Get. Behind. The team? W. T. F.? Eh? What’s he on about? I’ve no idea, but:
I blame Venaaaaaarrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrgggghhhhhhhggggggrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr………………….
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Howdy, y’all. Nice one, Eddy, and I’ll now be in search of you on Twitter, too.
It’s July, the boys are back and we seem to have added 2 to their number. Looking forward to the season!
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Lewis @LGAmbrose 2h2 hours ago
Lacazette means our most 8 expensive transfers ever have come since September 2013. The club said all along that summer would be a new start
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no doubt szczesny have grown both in stature and emotion. that no doubt must be partly because the roma fans were behind him. i thought there was a particular game where he conceded six goals but i was surprised there was no call for him to be dropped as per the usual with us. the next game, he kept a clean sheet.
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layksite if I remember correctly that game was v barca, and in fact Szczesny was by far Roma’s best player, he even saved a penalty, and made loads of outstanding saves.
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Chris @LondonGoona Jul 3
Max Meyer said that all German midfielders are asked to watch Ozil’s use of space.
MY playmaker >>> yours.
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Really Eduardo, certainly hope this Geoff guy is correct, that would be amazing.
As for Wenger being lucky, heard it said by some bloggers he is lucky the media never challenge him or give him a hard time, obviously people who never read the British press
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“Lacazette can’t be any good he has only 1 goal in 11 caps for France!
He is in good company
Look at all these shit players we’ve had at Arsenal down the years
Alan Smith only got 2 goals for England in 13 caps
David Rocastle only got 14 caps for England with no goals
Nigel Winterburn 2 caps for England
Steve Bould 2 caps for England
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BT Sport FootballVerified account @btsportfootball 1h1 hour ago
Progrès Niederkorn of Luxembourg have knocked Rangers out of the #UEL!
Before today they had never won a game in European competition 😳
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Linfield v Celtic in the CL qualifying, Celtic are not taking any tickets for the game in Belfast
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Something about the more he practises, the luckier he gets?
I had a funny night last night: woke up wide awake at 0100 and ended up watching a YouTube compilation of our rumoured new signing that promised all of his 37 goals from last season.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dRl9xhgljgA
Now this may have been dream merging into reality but towards the end (maybe round about goal 35) I stated to think there was something Bergkampesque about him.
Which would do very nicely if so (and apologies to any who are offended by such blasphemy).
I must have drifted-off then but woke again in a real panic as couldn’t begin to work out who might play where if AW keeps going with his five at the back system.
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Now you’ve got me twitching FH – practices v practises
The eternal dilemma
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Strange, Everton are now getting almost Liverpool and Tottenham levels of media love, but they are most likely going to sell their Barkley and Lukaku, two of their most high profile players, I always thought the media had a downer on teams who sell their best?
Still, be afraid, be very afraid of Everton as Jim White tells us on an almost daily basis, almost as if he is in thigh the owner or something
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odd that lacazette scoring penalties is a stick to beat him with, while the number of kane’s goals from penalties is not mentioned
best comment I seen about lac scoring penalties,
“is he meant to miss them”
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Something to do with verbs and nouns I guess. I practise my football by going to football practice. Or something.
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Whether he is or isn’t good at penalties is largely immaterial in a world where we don’t get any.
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Football agent Sandor Varga, who represented ex-Gunner Oleg Luzhny, claims Wenger asked him to watch Golovin play for Russia during the Confederations Cup.
When asked whether he was at Russia’s clash with Mexico for work or pleasure, Varga told Sports Daily Russia: ‘Arsene Wenger called me and asked me to watch Golovin again.
‘He was going to come but his scout in Russia sent him 6 to 8 positive reports and so he asked me to watch him instead.’
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Jens Lehmann was asked by German outlet if he was joining the coaching staff at Arsenal, Jens replied “yes its true”.
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why are all those people who have been telling us for 5 years that Giroud is shit, now in fake outrage at the prospect that he might be sold, and for a large profit too.
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Tim and Andy-heres a cut and paste:
Practice vs. practise
In the main varieties of English from outside North America, practice is the noun, and practise is the verb. For instance, we would say that a doctor with a private practice practises privately. There is no such distinction in American English, where practice is both a noun and a verb, and practise is not used at all. Canadian English also favors practise as the verb, but practice appears with relative frequency as a verb (about a third as often as practise).
The verb practise is inflected practised, practising, and practises. Even outside the U.S., the s becomes a c in the derivative adjective practicable, where practicable means capable of being put into practice. C is likewise used in the much rarer adjective practiceable (ignore spell check on this one), which means capable of being practiced (i.e., such as a piano song or a football maneuver). Practisable used to appear for this latter sense, but we find almost no examples of its use from after the early 20th century.
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Mills: I had a terrible flashback there with that English lesson. MeMum, being an elementary school teacher from a strict colonial system, was the first of many teachers who whopped my ass on the use of practise vs practise. I feel evil like Chucky from Friday the 13th. I am coming to get you.
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an interesting quote from the Johnny Giles documentary the other night about a footballers life, he was talking about how players are immune to the real world, how what is happening in the real world, war, famine, politics, disasters etc never mentioned or talked about in any real way. It is all fun and games.
“you join a club at 15, have a 20 year career and still leave as a 15 year old”
he said the only thing that has changed in that since his playing days is that now players earn enough money to, unlike his era, “have to get a real job” when they retire from playing.
He also pointed out that he has no sympathy for clubs now having to pay big wages to players, he said that in his era the clubs hadn’t the decency to treat the players well when they had the chance, that in fact they treated the players like idiots.
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nooo please aaaaaaaaaaarrghh!!! I didnt mean it honest Shotts/Chucky! (exit Mills)
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PS wasnt it Jason from Friday 13th?
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Yeah, and don’t forget; he ‘s so lucky that these players know enough to pick whichever 11 to play at any particular time…and then somehow end up playing some wonderfully lovely football.
Delicious piece, thanks for putting a huge smile on my face this afternoon.
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How big is your club?
There are many criteria for the measurement, I would like to add one more
The number of people making a full-time or strong part-time income just by talking about Arsenal.
I am sure there is a math equation that could be produced
I suggest that there is no other football club have as many and earn as much.
I think that is a valid comparison with other clubs to show size and influence.
It would for me show as big a club as we were before Mr Wenger, he has mad the club bigger.
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Jens at training today
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has anyone told Wenger we have hired Mad Jens, cos we all know Wenger don’t bring in former players, and certainly not any who would challenge him
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U know MSM always go with narratives that suit their agenda which to portray arsenal as lacking something or the other at any point.
great to see Jens around.. One of the good ones and makes up for the likes of Henry abandoning ship for the money… next in Dennis B would be totally great.. my first ever real link to Arsenal
… along with Kanu obviously – the Niaja connection…
Naija = Nigeria… more fun for us to call it this way…
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there is a little rumor that Jens has been brought in to replace one of our first team coaches who is said to be getting the Head of Academy job, – Bould and Banfield being mentioned, not sure if any truth to it, as last I heard Steve Morrow was the leading contender for that role.
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seemingly we might have to wait till after 5 this evening for the announcement of lacazette transfer, something to do with Lyon and the French Stock Market, and that we have to wait for it to close before we can announce the deal
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when xhaka sets lacazette up for a goal
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Drayton Park could open to stop station overcrowding on Arsenal matchdays after Sadiq Khan steps in
PUBLISHED: 14:54 04 July 2017 | UPDATED: 14:54 04 July 2017
Sam Gelder
The northbound Victoria line platform 45 minutes before Arsenal played Bayern Munich in March. Picture: Isabelle Fraser
The northbound Victoria line platform 45 minutes before Arsenal played Bayern Munich in March. Picture: Isabelle Fraser
Anyone who has ever had the misfortune of being at Highbury and Islington station when Arsenal are playing at home knows about the dangerous levels of overcrowding.
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Overcrowding at Highbury and Islington station before an Arsenal game. Picture: Sam Gelder Overcrowding at Highbury and Islington station before an Arsenal game. Picture: Sam Gelder
But it could become a thing of the past after new measures were proposed by Highbury East’s Cllr Caroline Russell, who quizzed Sadiq Khan about the problems in her role as a Green Party London Assembly member.
She asked the mayor if he had considered asking Govia Thameslink Railway (GTR) to look at opening Drayton Park station, which is 320 metres from The Emirates but is closed on matchdays.
Cllr Russell suggested the Northern City Line station could take some of the strain off Highbury and Islington if it had widened platforms and a good service, and Mr Khan has agreed to ask TfL to raise the issue with the operator.
“People contact me all the time about it and at ward partnership meetings you can usually guarantee someone is going to be in touch about overcrowding,” said Cllr Russell.
“Highbury and Islington is an incredibly busy station with the Overground now coming in. When you combine it with a matchday and rush hour it’s very busy. When you are down there it’s frightening and feels out of control.
“It is my local station and I have literally been in the front carriage of a Tube and the station is so full you can’t get off. You really have to push and force your way out.
“Holloway Road is closed on matchdays and there is just not enough thought being put into how people access and leave this massive stadium.
“There’s a need for better transport links and using Drayton Park they could take some of the strain if they widened the platforms and put on frequent trains.
“The mayor’s response is an excellent start. The important thing now is Thameslink apply some imagination to the situation.”
Sadiq Khan said in his reponse: “Service provision at Drayton Park station is an issue for the train operator GTR and the Department for Transport; any changes to infrastructure would be the responsibility of Network Rail.”
A spokesman for Arsenal told the Gazette the club could not comment on the situation at this early stage.
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Shotta, @ 12:24
Your comment re your mom’s strictness on English usage caught my eye, when you said — “on the use of practise vs practise” were you referring to practise v practice?
She might have to whop you again if she saw that.
Still, Mills took it to heart – so that’s OK. Job done! lol
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Lacazette signing confirmed by Arsenal.com
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ha ha ha #LacaNewSigning
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Lacazette is a massive gamble
At £50 million
But an educated gamble
He has been allowed to grow and be independent , the player is a recognised leader at Lyon.
Consistant goal scorer and very importantly he seems robust, we have had a some mis-fortune with injuries, which has had a cumulative effect both physically and psychologically it seems for players, pundits and fans.
These are the traits we need in the club and the team
Lets see if there are to be any more additions
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Pleased to see the new face – experienced player – I’m sure he will do well
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Alexandre Lacazette became our second signing of the summer on Wednesday when he agreed to join us from French club, Lyon.
We spoke to our new striker for the first time and discussed why he wanted to join us, being inspired by Thierry Henry, the secret to his chance conversion rate and more.
Alexandre, congratulations – how does it feel to be an Arsenal player?
I am, of course, delighted and very proud too because Arsenal is a legendary club. Throughout my childhood, thanks to Thierry Henry and other French players, I always dreamed of playing for this club so today that dream has been fulfilled.
Apart from that link with those French players, what else about Arsenal appeals to you?
Arsenal’s past – I like clubs with a history. Also the fact that the manager has been here for a while shows that it is a stable club which I like. In addition there are quite a few French players here, which makes it easier to settle in. In my opinion, Arsenal is also the club that plays the best football in England so I really wanted to come here.
Can you tell us a bit about your playing style and what we can expect?
When I play I like to use my pace and to link up with my team-mates. As a forward, I like to score goals, of course, but that’s not all that I’m about. I love good flowing football where the whole team is engaged.
Last season you had the second-best chance conversion rate in Europe’s top five leagues – what is your secret to good finishing?
First of all you need to have players behind you who pass the ball well, resulting in good goalscoring opportunities. Also every time I take a shot at goal it’s because I believe I can score. I don’t just shoot for the sake of it.
I always try to choose the best option, whether that is to pass or to shoot. I also try to keep as calm as possible. All that is achieved by a lot of hard work in training.
Do you have a message for the Arsenal fans?
I want to give one hundred per cent in every match. I want to show I’m worthy of the shirt. I want to do everything I can to make sure we win titles.
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 https://www.arsenal.com/news/picture-special-lacazette-arsenal-colours#03oX6Mj5dAEDV40E.99
Read more at https://www.arsenal.com/news/picture-special-lacazette-arsenal-colours#q8pD0ZyUzjAi0EzL.99
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