After the first half I was looking forward to writing a glowing report, but after the second half a was less enthusiastic .
In the first half we were completely dominant and were 3-1 up, we could easily have been 5 or 6 up. I thought Jack had scored a beautiful goal that was oddly ruled out for an offside that was nowhere to be seen. There had been some glorious play with Jack pulling the strings in a way that suggests he is not going to be kept away from the first team for long. The lads star looked to have faded, but last night was a reminder why he was seen as a star in the first place. Wonderful stuff.
The second half was more of an even affair with the home team throwing caution to the wind and displaying that they are a decent side. Despite Theo’s brace in the first half, I felt he was selfish in the second and could have played his mates in on a couple of occasions , for easy chances.
ElNeny was his usual effective self and Giroud ,as ever, put a good shift in. The youngsters were great until they seemed to run out of steam, but that is to be expected.
All in all, a good night and the first eleven basically rested.
We march on.
Positively Arsenal 
Think St.Jack needs a couple more competitetive 90 mins like that before he’s truly sharp but lots to enjoy with the way the cup comps have been used to keep the squad crisp and to help JW to catch up with his conditioning.
At the very least he’ll be a quality option from the bench for the next month or so/period (hopefully no injuries to others!). Hope he signs a new contract, along with the Prince of Wales. Yikes!
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Thanks BG
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I thought Elneny faded badly in the second half. Maitland-Niles was impressive, most solid of our defense
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Having Coquelin as an option even if off the bench would have been ideal to throw into the mix(er) along with the rookies
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Mo runs a lot, if I’d have put that shift in on Monday I’d still be struggling to type!
Coquelin back hopefully soon (&a Iwobi!) and JW showing some form should help with the CM rotations. AMN clearly being giving the minuets to keep him sharp if he’s going to play in there at times as the season progress’.
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Given that Mo stayed on, Ramsey and Xhaka in CM on Sunday is my mystical projection for the weekend.
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would expect that only Mustfi of the starting 11 will start on Sunday
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World Class Everton take the lead against the legendary Cypriots.
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Thank you for that George and a game I am sorry I missed – from the write up here and elsewhere I see a great night for our young players, and Jack putting in another solid performance. He can’t be that far away from a PL start.
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so how many English players have played for AFC so far this season, you know with the English core experiment a failure and all that.
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Joe Willock stats vs. BATE:
91% pass accuracy
47 passes
4 tackles won
3 interceptions
3 take-ons
1 shot.
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the ASB are not happy with Arsenal winning tonight, very odd, very odd indeed for proclaimed Arsenal fans to be unhappy over a win
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Everton 2 – 2 Apollon Limassol
ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha, take that cunty koeman
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` Sniper @clockendsniper 6m6 minutes ago
When they said Everton could take 4th spot I didnt think they were talking about their Europa lge group.
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I see a lot of complaints about Theo’s all round team play, but having scored the winner in the Carabao cup and 2 goals tonight with AFC ending up on the winning side, I think he deserves a pass. He is still a useful resource for the team like Alexis, you sometimes have to take the rough with the smooth
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Pass, Theo distractors would still have plenty to complain about on this performance, while still being a tremendously gifted player his decision making is awful and is caught offide at an alarming rate for someone who is so fast. Both Oli and Jack were left cursing at his inability to provide passes at critical times. I do believe however he is a better finisher than people give him credit for and often the opposite is true when he needlessly passes when he should back himself to score. A Theo positive tonight was his build up play from midfield when he played some sweet passes at times as did many of the ARSENAL players.
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If you look at Theo’s weaknesses they are obvious, but we should also look at his strengths. He gives B-A-L-A-N-C-E
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seemingly all 6 german clubs lost in Europe this week.
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just the 107 goals so far for our Theo
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Joe Willock is determined to make the most of every opportunity he gets.
Since impressing on our pre-season tour of Australia and China, the 18-year-old has featured in the Carabao Cup and the Europa League – and he took time to thank Arsene Wenger for his trust after our 4-2 win over BATE Borisov on Thursday night.
Here’s what Joe told Arsenal.com:
on making his full debut…
Yes it was good, it was something that I’ve also dreamed of as a child and finally I’ve done it. I’m just happy that the boss had faith in me, but yes it was good.
on the pre-match nerves…
Well I thought I would start from yesterday’s training. I was in the set-pieces and today the boss confirmed it to me and he said just go out there and do your thing. I wasn’t really nervous, but yes it was good.
on the atmosphere…
Well yes, but to be honest I approach every game the same. I go out there and do my best, whether it’s in front of 80,000 or 10,000 I’m not really bothered, I just do my best, but yes it was good. It was quite loud but I enjoyed it.
On Wilshere’s performance…
He was terrific. He’s just getting his fitness back and hopefully he’ll push on and carry on playing.
On playing with more experienced players…
Yes they help me, they told me how to get through the game. Yes they help me looking at them, seeing what they do in a game. It inspires me, so it’s good.
on getting first team opportunities…
Yes it’s good for me to play. I’m just trying to push on and play my best really.
Read more at https://www.arsenal.com/news/willock-im-happy-boss-has-faith-me#R9IErPO8HgALxGFH.99
Read more at https://www.arsenal.com/news/willock-im-happy-boss-has-faith-me#cuZOf7fBE8SWXImq.99
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joe willock has already had more first team game time for Arsenal than his older brother chirs did.
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I think our performance, especially in the first half, was so good its difficult to tell whether bate had crumbled a little like dortmund in recent times or whether our mix of experienced fringe players and gifted youngsters just blew them away early on.
When you see a performance like Jacks it almost makes you cry when you think what a beast of a player he would of been if he had stayed injury free. The amount of times he was fouled tonight also shows most teams just cant live with him.
The youngsters all done well and the middle Willock is proving to be a real talent and I thought he outshone Nelson tonight (what does keown know a). Shame we lost out with Chris and Matt but hopefully we have the greater spotted Willock.
Actually I thought the senior players faded abit second half, Mo went back to being negative the back three slowed the ball down and we let bate come back at us instead of scoring a hat full of goals whiich looked likely everytiime we attacked.
The final thing that slowed us down was that ref who I think was using the rule book from the 1970’s fourth division intil he suddenly come up to date with the tug in the box.
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AB @behnisch 35m35 minutes ago
Kiev, Braga, Milan, Steaua, Arsenal, Östersunds(!), Nice, Zenit all with 6 points after 2 games.
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I was away on business today. I sat down to watch a recording of the game when I got home. I knew the score. I got bored after1-3….and started watching So Simon Reeves’s Russia….
I’m pleased for the youngsters and impressed that so many of the first team could be rested. But fuck me… it was a boring contest….
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George has become the king of micro blogging. I agree with his general sentiments. Thought both Mo and Jack faded perceptibly in the last 20-30 minutes. I am most worried about Mo’s readiness for Sunday because in my opinion he is the engine supporting Xhaka and Ramsey. In the absence of Coquelin there is really nobody else to play this role. Monday seemed to have taken a lot out of him plus the Carabao cup match a few days earlier. Jack was a revelation that first half and while I can see why the boss gave him the full 90 minutes but if it was a PL game I am sure he would have subbed him after 70-80 minutes when his effectiveness was waning.
As I said earlier, the biggest takeaway, imo, is Arsenal fielding 8 British players in a competitive game. I have been pondering this all week but it is definitely the subject of my next blog.
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i expect ozil to start sunday with elneny making way.
cech
kos mustafi monreal
bellerin xhaka ramsey kolasinac
ozil alexis
lacezette
subs ospina holding amn elneny wilshere walcott giroud
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I think it would be unfair to judge the team and using all of those boxes that needs ticking.
They are still very much experimental and mix bag, ie used to blood youngsters, get Jack back up to match fitness, keeping Giroud and Theo warm, Holding getting his confidence back etc.
Who knows how an 11 would look once Debuchy, Chambers, Coquelin and Iwobi are ready for selection.
Good win and 6 on the bounce after Anfield. Why does the damn FIFA week have to cause a break in our momentum.
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Can anyone see a picture in the blog?
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no pg
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Arsenal’s ratio of total wage bill to football revenues was reduced to 47.2% (2016 – 55.7%).
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Hi George. I will take a 2nd look at that graphic in an hour or so. Have no fear.
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I wouldn’t look too closely at “team” performance in these games given the mix and match nature of their composition. The back 3 and goalkeeper lack the familiarity that comes from regularly playing together. Per is still finding his best form after an extended absence, Holding is a work in progress and Mustafi can blow hot and cold so needs games to gain consistency. Nelson is 17 and is not playing in his best position in order to gain experience, while Willock and Maitland-Niles are also inexperienced at first team level. Wilshere is a way off match fitness and even Theo and Oli, rarely play 90 minutes for the first team, so not surprisingly lack a little match sharpness. I’m also not surprised to hear that Elneny faded in this game as it’s probably the first time he has played so many games in such a short space of time since he’s been with us. However, I’m sure this combo will get stronger the more they play together if we can go deep into this competition or at the very least keep them sharp if called upon for other games
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Is everyone seeing a graphic at the top?
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Yep can see the graphic
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Thanks Steve. Technical problems earlier.
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Yes, image is visible
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https://mobile.twitter.com/afcDW/status/913470592388657159/video/1
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I love Giroud….
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Great to see Jack playing like that, hope he stays fit, as we will be needing that type of MF.
And good to see some promising performances from the youngsters. Unlike recent years in the ECL and some tough groups, this competition provides a platform for the kids to kick on. We have a great developmental manager, when he can, willing to try youngsters, the situation looks healthy on that front
Just been reading Aguero injured in a car crash, hope he is ok, but if he is out for a while, can see City knocking on our door again.
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Well that all sounded fun – and Passenal gets it just right.
The only thing I don’t understand is how such a badly run club, with such poor players and such weak and old-fashioned management, is able to introduce so many home grown youngsters, win a potentially tricky European away game and also ensure its first team players get near enough a full week’s rest between Premier League fixtures.
Lucky, lucky Arsenal.
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Day off today. Relaxing at home watching the rest of the game. 50 mins in and Walcott has scored two and was selfish enough to deprive Giroud and Wilshere a couple of sitters….
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The British Core experiment a failure they said
If I’m not mistaken, so far this season Arsenal have used the following British players
Ramsey – Wales
Wilshere – England
Welbeck – England
Walcott – England
Holding – England
Chambers – England
Maitland-Niles – England
Nelson – England
Willock – England
DaSilva – England
McGuane – England
Nketiah – England
the departed Oxlade-Chamberlain – England
unused subs
Akpom – England
Macey – England
Gilmour – Scotland
That is 14 English, 1 of whom has left, 1 Welsh and 1 Scottish, not sure even the lower BPL clubs have used so many English/British players as full of foreigners Arsenal have.
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AFC also have 3 English lads out on loan – Bramall, Bola and Mavididi
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TBF AFC must be a shambles if you are an agent or sporting agency with links to broadcasters (and of course the funting plundits *coughs*) as unlike the club bought up by an investor *coughs* who was locked out the Arsenal they did not spend “one hundred million” pounds on tat signed up to specific agents or agencies.
Frankly it’s just not fair. Why are the Arsenal not giving these people the money they deserve?
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Jack Wilshere
Could it be that Jack has been reinvigorated, by playing with the youngsters?
He was like a captain, when they all started getting tired around the 60 minute, droping deep recognising the danger and helping to try to fix it, like a Technical Leader.
Looking at the youngers and seeing himself, in the likes of Nelson and remembering what he wanted to do when he was their age.
I know we will never see the potential of the 16 year old Jack Wilshere, but this Wilshere can still bring something unique to this squad and could be a key element to the squad.
I am concerned about deep midfield playmaker position.
Can Jack Wilshere ver 4.0 be the ‘Technical Leader’ and take the number 8 spot to compensate for some of Xhaka short-commings maybe he looks still a bit short of legs at the moment (Santi covered lots of Ks during a game),Jack is clever and talented , but he will have to make a few changes to how he was before.
At 16 years of age, he gave me hope,can he come again?
I don’t know, but I have hope because Jacky makes me smile when he has got the ball.
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Even the non-16 year old JW hs been a better No.10 for England then the uninjured Alli has ever been.
Only when he was completely unfit and thrown on in desperation into the wrong roles (given the performances from the donkeys that had been grazing and braying further up the pitch the whole tournament long) in those games two Summer’s ago did he underperform.
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< Shame that England's best CM has never recieved the same support from the officials and funny papers as that shown to Alli – case in point a pgMOB crow would probably have licked Alli's finger in gratitude after being given the bird. And the national papers and managers wouldn't have tried to excuse a player who once sang an unflattering song about media (& agent) luvvies the mighty Tottenham & their "World Class" talents who help them to beat the giants from Cyprus (but not Belgium)
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http://www.espn.co.uk/football/arsenal/story/3216079/arsenals-outstanding-jack-wilshere-hasnt-lost-his-quality-arsene-wenger
This gives insight into the self interest in ex-footballer pundit and their worry of their relevance to the game.
The level of lack of self awareness and the height of self importance is staggering. When their argument is countered they in particular Steve Nicol double down and play the ridicule card.
I see the reason why he failed as a coach and pundit.
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Earlier to my estimation on the other reasons on why Neymar has gone to PSG.
He has already started on the fashion lines,in the few weeks, he has been with LH44 at a couple of fashion shows, Lenny Kravitz and assorted models and musicians have watched him play . PSG have sold out signs everywhere they play. Ran out of shirts in the shop twice, their is a worry they wont have enough for the christmas rush.
There are now plans for a leisure resorts world wide .
He still has not won the Balon d’or yet and he is already more valuable than when they bought him.
PSG did their first cat-walk show in the home of Haute Couture.
Football is changing everyday, alot more show and alot more business .
Get your Arsenal plastic and your Arsenal loans ready people because you are getting locked in.
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Neymar Snr and Jnr have only gone and modelled themselves upon Brand Beckham.
It’s true the PL is the pioneer in Football, but not in ways that most football fans would appreciate or care for considering that these achievements so beloved of Scudamore and Risdale do not often occur upon the pitch. Unless we’re counting that match against Iceland…
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