Good afternoon Positives,
Six changes but the job done against a ‘muscular’ Watford side who, as we all too well know, have proven to be a damn nuisance before at the Ems.
The first half was no great advert for Premier League football and while both sides had flashes of quality passing I did not think was crisp or accurate. Again our opener came from a dead ball and a defender scoring. Eight minutes gone and I assumed we were in for another Palace/Everton style scoring avalanche. Yeeeehaaah as us cowboys say. But NO, fool that I am. First, Sead slotted a sharp cross in to PEA but the striker could not connect, then Mesut danced through one on one on the visitors keeper only to be thwarted by a Greek foot. Goodness that second goal was elusive.
For our opponents Pereyera blazed over from 6 yards with the whites of Cech’s eyes clearly visible. Other than that the remainder of the first half I thought was even, with bits of attacking menace and errors from both sides.
The opening of the second half was somewhat uncomfortable – if you watched it with me I shall say no more and if you have not seen it yet don’t bother. We were under pressure and not really able to control the game or hold the ball for10+ minutes. However we held together. Repeated corners from Watford were dealt with well by Cech and our defenders. Shkodran and Rob Holding were a model of concentration and good co-ordination. Richarlison and Femenia pressed on the flanks but during this important phase we did not ‘crack’.
And then, as the rainbow emerges with little warning from the dark, wet sky so our second and decisive goal was slotted home. (That is not me below but I wish it was)
With the two goal cushion I was, for a full 60 seconds, chortling to myself and entirely relaxed. The game was over, the points settled. Off you go Watford, on you go back to Metroland.
No – no and thrice no. AMN made his first rick of a good performance in the right back slot and up stepped Deeney to take on our helmeted stopper. And despite the 16 previous penalties required him to fish the ball out of the net today good fortune was on his side. A powerful strike by the ugliest man in Watford but an equally solid left hand from Petr send it spinning up and away. It had to be Deeney Karma, kismet, the Fates, the fickle Finger of Fate etc. – do you know what I mean ? .
If Watford had the services of a good finisher rather the tub of lard they employ at Number 9 who can say. It is good however when an outstanding competitor and general good bloke like Cech gets what he deserves. 200 up.
After that a final goal on 77 minutes from Mhki who spent the afternoon being abused by Alan Smith on Sky and kicked all over the shop by Watford. I felt like giving the commentating equivalent of Eyeore a kick at times during today’s game to be honest, but at 3-0 I am magnanimous.
So that was that. A useful three points. I am hard pushed to really to pick out one or two Arsenal players who stood out today as it was, like Thursday, a good 11 man performance. We shall see if Shkodran’s groin is up to another game this week later on.
Enjoy the rest of the weekend.
Positively Arsenal 
Thierry Henry can’t even talk a good game on Sky, let alone manage one at Arsenal. Has he even used his time with Belgium to do any coaching? Next thing you know he’ll be taking credit for De Bruyne’s growth once Pep has a few bad results. Even Roberto Martinez was in the studio yesterday. Does the Belgian FA not pay enough or is money falling from the Sky just too good to pass up?
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No complaints here about the 3 goals, but wasn’t the 3nd a beauty? Good to see Holding put in a very good performance.
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Carragher out on his arse I see – what a way to lose a £1m a year piss-easy gig ffs
Footballers eh ?
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Yo Mandy! Thanks for finding and and sharing that site with the penalty data for the PL since 1992: http://www.myfootballfacts.com/Premier_League_Penalty_Statistics.html
Clearly serious football gamblers are not as naive and blase as many fans about the importance of penalties in deciding results. I am sure this larger database will confirm the PGMO bias I have discovered and shared with you all.
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Apparently Cara is the sort of player ARSENAL need, never say die attitude with no thought to his actions and how they effect otgers. Obviously he has previous with the coin incident so we shouldn’t be surprised.
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Granit Xhaka
“Has all the clubs in his bag” It’s usually said of a top talented golfer, a player that can craft all the best shots for the situation. What is not really appreciated is the top golfers play those shots to get into position where they play the shot they prefer to play that takes talent and game management and understanding your game, when players arrive at that place professionally the can ascend to the next level.
Is a great old saying, it has never been more apt for a footballer than Granit( A very one-footed player no doubt) he can do things passing a ball, I have not seen from one individual player in a long time if ever.
He came to Arsenal as he called him self a box to box player or a false No 10, Arsenal team needed a Defensive midfielder to cover/take over from The Legend Cazorla, who had absoulutely redifined the role from an Arsenal perspective following on from the superior level work of Mikel Arteta. So the frame work and standards had been set, but there seems to be some difficulty in his conversion to this deep lying role, a role which could potentially exploit his all his ‘Clubs’ more effectively and negate his lack of foot speed. In his previous club manager it has been said would often physicall move him around the field in training, stand on the line and shout at him to move him around the pitch.
Well Mr Wenger style is different I have heard it refered to as Jazz like. Well if you are a musician or know about music Jazz, REAL Jazz music is probably some of the hardest music to play and play to a high level. You cannot just turn up and play Jazz, you have to jam a lot with the the other musicians, then you have to to even more practise sessions then most importantly you have to perform infront of an audience. Some of the most insightful times in music I have had is listening to jam and practise session with Jazz musicians and some of the most impactful music in history have been live Jazz albums.
The sample size seems a little small, I know
Arsenal lost three of the last five games I know
But since the home game against City Xhaka has improved , the numbers are backing up the eye test. He is now the player in midfield that works best with an other player.
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But Jamie Carragher is not that sort of guy, he loves his mum, and was in tears afterwards, and he is an honest lad, he got the ball first, the other car was just too quick for him, he was provoked and although this is not an excuse I can see why he did it, and did I mention he loves his mum and is not that kind of guy
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remember all the charity work Carragher does, even back in his playing days he was known to throw money to some of the crowd, some called it throwing coins at the crowd, but that would just be churlish of us to say that and we know he is not that sort of guy
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Jeorge Bird
@jeorgebird
12m12 minutes ago
Emile Smith Rowe’s Instagram story. Unclear how long he will be out for but concerning news with some important games coming up for U23s and in FA Youth Cup.
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no media outrage at the spurs season ticket prices for their new stadium, odd that.
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Emile Smith Rowe
@emilesmithrowe_
22m22 minutes ago
After having a MRI scan, the results have shown that I’ve torn ligaments in my ankle! I will be out for 6-8 weeks which is very frustrating at this time in my career but I’m recovering well and will be back stronger then ever! Thank you everyone for your support so far🙏
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ed
Worst of it with Smith-rowe is that it was probably a little Spurs shit- think he was in team against them on Sat- who did it!
Proper bad news for our hopes in youth cups, especially fa youth cup. He’s been main man last couple of months.
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don’t think he was, as it was thought he missed the game cos he was training with the first team
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He played. Highlights of game on arsenal.com.
https://player.arsenal.com/video/u-23s-arsenal-v-tottenham-match-video
Annoyed by that loss, as I think we lost against them earlier in season with u23’s, and without those six points Spurs would be rock bottom and very likely heading down.
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No worries Shotta 10.21, there may be better sites for pen stats, not sure, but think I saw that one linked by Untold a while back. It shows some interesting data.
As for Carragher, he clearly has some anger management issues, and a short fuse, not the first time he has been in trouble over road rage type incidents. Ok, the guy shouldn’t have been filming him, but he didn’t say anything that out of order, or to provoke such a reaction. Carragher is well paid, and enjoys a high profile, he should basically, grow up if he wants to continue enjoying such privilege. Feel sorry for the girl in the car, but hope the police throw the book at the other driver as well, filming with a phone while driving his daughter is not that smart, and pretty illegal, think it is now six points and a fine for starters? A very unfortunate, and pathetic incident, only one of the three involved seemingly demonstrated any maturity and reason, and she is 14.
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Congratulations to Debuchy, player of the month over in France, beating the stellar PSG types.
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Five minutes of your time for an AFC survey;
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I filled it in Andy, that will confuse them.
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Yep it has the survey has now closed not sure whether it’s permanent or George has messed it up
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@SamArsenalFC
5h5 hours ago
Thank you to everyone that filled in this survey for me, I received over 1300 respondents! Unfortunately I can’t release the data yet, but will do in the future. Thanks again.
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Southampton reportedly going to appoint Mark Hughes….round and round they go, and some say Wenger is over protected?
Almost as if joining the LMA, sucking up to Fergie, refusing to have your team tackle Fergies players, allegedly favouring powerful agents, and kicking the shit out of Arsenal players enhances careers in the premier league, either that or these guys are better managers than their records suggest. Phil Brown has missed out somewhere there
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I also completed the survey. What a good boy am I…
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jose masterclass
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Tactical genius, except, erm, his innate caution did not pay off.
Without huge resources, the best keeper in the world, and of course their mates at the PGMOL and Sky, utd would be in a pretty average position
Sanchez gets a kings ransom, but will go nowhere in that team
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they did not take off the shackles till they were 2-0 down and only 10 minutes left, says it all about jose, he was so fucking smug after the away 0-0, which I told my utd mate was not as good as it sounded, told him an away score draw way better and even a 2-1 defeat is often a better result
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how is it that Ozil the fastest creator to 50 assists gets media hate all the time, but Paul Pogba the most costly player in England, can be shit week in week out and not a peep
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DaveOCKOP
Verified account @DaveOCKOP
11m11 minutes ago
The Paul Pogba United sold for £500,000 is better than the one they bought for £89,000,000.
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Utd managed to keep Liverpool at bay recently, with virtually every decision going their way, but such things in Europe are different, as The Spuds discovered.
Just don’t see what Jose brings to a team of their resources, and alleged tradition
He is lucky the press are so obsessed with doing Wenger down
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Seville with 20 shots tonight, utd second best in both legs, what bat shit crazy excuse will jose come out with, which players will he throw under the bus
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Ally McCoist plunditting on BBC Radio 5 live:
“That’s the most disappointing performance I’ve seen from an English team in Europe for many years.”
Cor blimey.
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jose has just basically said this is the third time he has knocked man utd out of the CL,
“I sat in this chair after Porto knocked out utd, I sat in this chair after Madrid knocked out utd, and I sit in this chair tonight with utd knocked out”
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FA Cup has become all or nothing for man utd and spurs,
tomorrow night it could also become all or nothing for Chelsea
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B/R Football
@brfootbaII
32m32 minutes ago
“Mourinho might say I’m the worst manager in Premier League history, but tonight he’s a manager who has spent nearly £1bn in his career and his teams play like that.” – Frank De Boer to BeIN Sports after Man Utd’s #UCL humiliation by Sevilla. #MUNSEV
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George you’ll enjoy the following pitchside report from the evil Longsight born and bred brother in law:
“Sanchez was shite”
“Pogba was shite”
Etc.
hehe.
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Arsenal Fixture News
🎗
@AFCFixtureNews
2h2 hours ago
With Man United being knocked out of the Champions League tonight, our Premier League match at Old Trafford is confirmed for Sunday 29th April KO 4:30pm.
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A small epiphany this evening.
Observing the funereal gloom and the state of almost paralysed shock amongst the TV pundits after the match, it occurred to me that they might actually believe the inanities they dribble out week after week.
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Arsene got knocked out by Bayern and Barcelona. And he wasn’t a gigantic pussy about it. See what happens when you build a team on ego and hubris.
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It is worth reflecting that only in the U.K. Have the football media lauded Mourinho consistently over his career.
Not to imply that the “foreign” journalists were attempting Vengarrrgghhh smears, almost the opposite: in other leagues he was simply dismissed for the charlatan cheque book manager that he is, whose focus has always been on the cheque book and not so much the managing (please refer to: Robben, Duff, an entire Madrid squad bar Ozil, KDB, Salah, etc.)
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finsbury
Because the English league, more than any other, has built their brand on the work of agents. That’s why the English media also hires ‘experts’ who loudly proclaim their ignorance on Continental football, in effect saying it is beneath them. Regardless of what the results may be, the perception must be created that English football is the best. With the exception of Barcelona, Real Madrid, Bayern Munich and increasingly, PSG, but that’s only because they fit into that model – or close enough in the case of Bayern.
I just saw that apparently Ray Wilkins said before the game that Sevilla would be bottom 6 in the PL. See he doesn’t have to be correct as long as he follows that script. A lie told often enough starts to be believed. However, a lie told too often has the effect of loss of credibility. Happily, I think we’re moving toward that point.
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Shard did you know that the parliamentary enquiry into the doping which exposed the wheezing plonker Sir Bradley Wiggins (Sir!) last week required no evidence to be submitted before some judge.
Where there’s a will…
…you don’t even need a judge with the “cojones” required to order some wire taps (as opposed to those ordered by Sky etc.).
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All of my predictions regarding Manure, the corrupt bastards who believe expensive is better and Mourinho came to fruition last night. I’m also very fucking happy that Alexis Sanchez was on that pitch winning trophies with his overrated mates and his fraud of a coach.
By the by, Alexis lost the ball an average of once every 2 1/2 minutes. Fucking state of him.
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fins
I had no idea. I do remember the Spanish doctor being implicated in a previous cycling doping scandal. Blood samples found at his practice apparently included those of athletes from not just cycling but tennis, football, rugby etc. The Right Hon Judge ordered the rest of these samples destroyed. Oh also, as I recall, that judge was soon elevated to the Supreme Court or some higher position. No correlation there I’m sure.
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Based on Mourinho’s comments about ManU getting knocked out before. I just thought that maybe he wants to get fired (and get that big juicy payout) so that he can wriggle his way into his own state sponsored advertball team and have to face Guardiola’s Dhabizens only once or twice rather than over a league season.
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Specialist in failure.
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Arsene Wenger faced the media on Wednesday and this is what he said:
on the latest team news…
Basically, some players had a test this morning. Everybody’s available apart from Lacazette who is coming back into training, but is too short to be available for tomorrow.
on Lacazette being available after the international break…
Yes, he’s on track. He had a full session outside today and should be available after the break.
Read more at https://www.arsenal.com/news/team-news-whats-latest-ahead-milan#TZHPDR5WRmkoA8rY.99
Read more at https://www.arsenal.com/news/team-news-whats-latest-ahead-milan#KFihw34t6djvtBwu.99
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What is the latest progress on a new contract for Jack Wilshere?
This is what the boss had to say at his pre-match press conference ahead of the AC Milan match:
on Wilshere’s contract situation…
On my side, nothing has changed.
on the chances of him staying…
I don’t know, but Jack will be free at the end of the season. We make a proposal to him, I want him to stay and my desire is to see him linked to the club for the future. I hope he will do it.
on whether he thinks Jack is likely to be named in the England squad…
Yes, I wish he is in the England squad. The vibes I get are positive. I believe he has a good chance to be in there, but we have to leave that to Gareth Southgate. I have enough to do with my job.
Copyright 2018 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/my-desire-jack-stay-and-i-hope-he-will#JhUApvw4VAimPx66.99
Read more at https://www.arsenal.com/news/my-desire-jack-stay-and-i-hope-he-will#JEIIx1RdBV85pP4Q.99
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Shard
A Judge that would order wire taps upon RICO enterprises is certainly preferable to the kind of judge that would burn a blood bank in order to…
And I suppose that a parliamentary enquiry such as that which just scuppered Team Sky is closer to the former as opposed to somewhere in the middle.
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Can I lighten the mood somewhat?
It has occurred to me that we could put out a pretty good team with 11 players from 11 different countries.
Cech/Ospina
Bellerin
Chambers
Koscielny
Kosialic
Ramsey
Xhaka
El-Nenny/Iwobi
Ozil
Aubemyang
Mikhatarian
All internationals.
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