Good morning one and all…
So here we are, the page turning on a new chapter as the Arsenal kick-off their season at the Emirates against the Premier League Champions, Manchester City.
As the start to new seasons goes, unless you are from up the road, teams tend look a bit different to the one that started the preceding season. We had quite a few players that moved on since last August and were also met with new arrivals. The changes in personnel has added more depth and balance to the previous group.
Of course our highest-profile signing of the summer has seen the arrival of Unai Emery who replaced the legendary Arsène Wenger, to mark the dawning of a new era.
The questions most asked since then is what does this mean regarding playing philosophy? Will he do away with Wenger-ball and be pragmatic?
While answers to these are subjective as you can only do so much in pre-season games, there has been a prevailing theme in Emery’s pressers thus far that doesn’t appear to differ much from that of his Gallic predecessor; on the ball he wants attacking, possession-based football, and off it he want us to press our opponents “aggressively” for the purpose of winning the ball back as quickly as possible.
What does all this mean for today you ask?
As opening fixtures goes, results can go either way because players are still cold and looking to find their mojo, while new signings are still adapting to their new surroundings. So I guess for both teams all that matters is getting the first one out of the way, preferably with a positive result by fielding a team capable of outscoring the other.
In the PL young Unai won’t find more difficult opposition than the Citizens, so his first game as Arsenal boss will be, as the saying goes, a real baptism of fire.
That said, looking to the season ahead we have every reason to be hopeful and optimistic to put the disappointment of last season behind us, by looking no further than the attacking trinity of Özil, Aubameyang and Lacazette. Auba scored 10 and assisted 4 goals in 13 games, to give us a glance of what a special player he is. Lacazette in his first season, that went under the radar, scored 17 and assisted 5 goals in all competitions. Those are not numbers to scoff at. With the majestic Özil to provide the service we know he can, they have the potential to form quite a formidable partnership that can really terrorize PL defenses.
To think some twitters on twatter had the nerve to say Unai inherited an “awful squad” that would take “few windows to fix”? Ha! I’m so looking forward to be entertained.
To everybody watching the game from wherever… time to mark out the technical area as hopes and dreams are waiting to be consummated over the next nine months.
ΜċGεε
@LaboGoon
Positively Arsenal 
Hi-De-Hi campers.
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It’s xmas morning…
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Excellent! Yep, Christmas morning it is.
Bloody marvellous.
UTA!
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By the end of today, how much controversy, ecstasy, opinion or relief will be reported on in these pages?
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Morning, a Happy New Season to everybody and a good post by LB to start us off.
George I have to say everytime I listen to a podcast your on I’m expecting the voice of a Merekat only to be confronted with gruff lancashire tones which always throw me off.
Although I’m really looking forward to today, the results so far have all gone against us leaving us with the possibility of starting the season somewhere near the bottom.
after all the euphoria of preseason and embracing the new era this could be a real damp squib. For those thinking I’m being pessimistic City are the champions and destroyed chelski last week logically we should lose, fortunatley football is not built on logic as my soccer six scores testify. I could do with a gee up from Steve I who is one of the most positive people I have ever met.
As LB said we have some dangerous weapons in our locker and this game could be a corker especially as city don’t have a great record at the Emirates.
Cant wait for the off COYG.
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It is cloudy and over-cast in Islington town, the forcast is for rain during the game.
I unfortunately will not be able to attend todays game (The better WWB will be there in my stead), but I hope to attend the next home game.
All fans, Umbrellas (And Pitch-forks ) at the ready.
I am always positive
Come on Arsenal
Everybody be careful out there!
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Morning all – the scent of battle is in the morning air.
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E k’aabo sori eto yi o eyin Positivistas (welcome to this occasion you positivistas)…
The 2018/19 season is upon us.
Our loyalty and support is of paramount importance to our new manager & team.
Today, matchday 1 @ the Emirates, I expect:
Cech
Bellerin – Sokratis – Mustafi – MaitlandNiles
Torreira – Xhaka
Mkhitaryan – Özil – Aubameyang
Lacazette
S: Leno, Lichtsteiner, Holding, Guendouzi / Elneny – Ramsey / Nelson, Iwobi, Welbeck.
V
Ederson
Walker – Kompany – Otamendi – Mendy
Fernandinho
Bernardo – Gundogan
Mahrez – Aguero – Sane
Bravo, Delph / Zinchenko, Laporte, Stones, DeBruyne, Foden / Silva, Diaz / Sterling, Jesus.
Carmon you Gunners!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
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Ian
Despond no longer. I’m pub bound on train as I type. I will be sticking my fiver on 5-0 and/or 5-1 as ever and selecting a player or 2 to stick a shilling on a hattrick.
Absolutely no way on this earth, or indeed any other, that City won’t be hating this as a first option. We are easily one of the biggest chances they have of losing a game.
Even in the tweets of positive gooners one sees “top 4 and a trophy would be good”… well Fuck that bollocks before a ball is even kicked! People say such stuff as a defence mechanism when each and everyone of our peers both negative and positive, dream of winning it all.
At this stage don’t even think about the bad, let the positive out loud and proud…
With me know…. “We’re going to win and send the media up their own arses”
Up the Arsenal!!!
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Morning all. Well it is morning on the other side of the pond. How can one avoid the optimism of a new season? It would be like waking up on January 1st and being pessimistic and wishing those around you a miserable, wretched new year. Not me.
I agree with Labo that this is a far superior attacking side compared to last year. Aubameyang and Mikhitaryan have been added to Ozil and Lacazette. Contrast with Giroud and Sanchez and on paper we have more goals in us. But I need to be a Cassandra and warn against over enthusiasm. Labo avoided discussing our defending and I wonder if that was deliberate or a Freudian slip. Because that is where we have been weak these past two years with the premature break-up of the Mertsacker-Koscielny partnership. Steps have been taken to improve the personnel with the signing of Sokratis. The next 10 games will tell us how far we have come.
Based on objective factors, which remain unchanged, the money bag teams such as City, United and Chelsea remain ahead of us in terms of quality of personnel at their disposal. Equally objective is the bias of the PGMOL which historically favors certain top teams ahead of Arsenal. According to a recent news item, some group with the assistance of former Select group ref, Peter Walton, concluded that last season AFC was the 2nd unluckiest team in th PL losing 9 points because of poor refereeing decisions. What a fucking surprise!
Despite the success of VAR at the World Cup in improving the accuracy of critical game-changing decisions, the PGMOL and the Premier League are deathly quiet. Without improvement in the accuracy and consistency of refereeing decisions, it will be another hard, unequal slog to return to the top-4. You can bet on that.
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shotta I think the report showed that those pts were the net loss, we lost more than that to mistakes but clawed some of it back with mistakes that favored us, but overall 9pts down.
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I see Charlie Nicholas has decided to wade in on the negative side, you see he says, despite admitting he does not know if we did or did not talk to him, but AFC should have gone for Sarri ahead of Emery, now never mind that he does not know if we did interview him or not, but what explanation other than to have a dig at AFC can there be for ignoring that Emery has by far the better CV of the two, in fact its way better. I’m sure if we had hired Sarri our dear old Charlie nic would have been lamenting that we did not go for a proven winner like Emery.
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Thank you Labo.
Looking back over recent seasons IMO Arsenal City games have been the best games in the league, save last season when the gap was too big.
Two draws in the 16/17 season plus the cup victory for the gunners in young pep’s first year, the last league victory was in 15/16 in the early spring, Cech almost beating David James’ record for consecutive clean sheets in the league but denied at the end by that outstanding finish from Yaya Toure (fortunately Cech got his fingertips onto a similarly outrageous effort in the 2017 SF) as Arsenal ran out 2-1 winners, though they should’ve scored more that day.
Cech went onto win the golden glove and concede the least goals in the league that year, a year when we still had Koscielny and the BFG at the top of their game. Certainly puts the blaggers’ narratives from last season into the right perspective. Into the bin!
I expect the veteren to retain his place as Arsenal’s No.1, and with Chambers now in the Fulham starting eleven it’ll a baptism of fire for the new CB, unless Holding gets a surprising and exciting start.
Passenal I haven’t given up hope that we’ll see more consistency from Mustafi, after the last two contests against City this match is a huge challenge for him personally and hopefully the extra excitement from the crowd today will help him to raise his levels of concentration and focus to the levels that we have seen on occasion – though the Billy big blaggers deny the importance of harmony between club fans and some media the admirable new gaffer has continued to debunk their nasty narcissistic gibberish that they have used to excuse their inexcusable conduct and pointed out the importance of this relationship. The quotes are available for those who are curious.
In spite of the predictable negativity from the predictable blood suckers over the last week getting Nelson (and Eddie) to sign up for the long term is hugely encouraging I can say positive news from the last seven days. But have the blaggers been reporting upon it amidst their advice on how to manage a giant corporation?
I didn’t expect any resolution to the Ramsey contract this summer, not after what happened with Chamberlain, Özil and Alexis last season. After all and forgive me for stating the obvious but the new gaffer has as much power there as the old gaffer did last year. Hehe.
I don’t expect the pre-season sado-masochistic rituals of the blaggers will have too big an impact in the stands just yet (not Adebayor heckling levels!), the biggest impact in the stands could come from the results of the two very hard fixtures against the last two champions that the fixture computer randomly computed on behalf of the PL in order to welcome the new Arsenal manager.
I hope that the boost from the stands will help raise the Gunners’ game today and help them to match the most expensive squad ever assembled in the history of sport!
COYG!
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Eddy
Alex Scott settling into the Sky couch and ignoring the record of Arsenal’s back line up until last season, certainly not mentioning the clean sheet record when they last beat City in the league. Almost as if she’s been briefed by her editor. Editors briefing presenters could be a conspiracy theory for some, whatever floats yer boat, but for the rest of us it is all fairly normal.
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Salah not unlike Lacazette or Auba in a R&W shirt gets the benefit of the doubt on the offside call and opens Liverpool’s account.
West Ham making the error of trying to press Liverpool in their own half, in the first half of the opening game, when they are as fresh as they can be.
Not sure our dear old Experts have actually got a handle on this old pressing malarkey that they’ve been banging on about. Oops.
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< minus 'not unlike' << 'unlike'
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Fins: It was noticeable Salah got the benefit of the doubt. But he wasn’t offside imo. But unfortunately the same benefit is inconsistently granted to Arsenal. Why won’t the PL and the PGMO and the PL fast track VAR so refs can get this right? We want fair decisions, not biased, pro-Arsenal rulings.
As for media talking points, it is well known in the commercial media that directors produce the talking points for their on-air personality. These directors are part of management and know very well what are the hot button fans for Arsenal fans. They conduct polls and have staff who monitor all the media and generate management reports. If they didn’t it would be a poorly run business and the executive in charge of sports would be on his ass without a job. I just had Lee Dixon on NBC sticking to the usual narrative. Why would you expect different from Scott now she works for Sky?
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So VAR should (still these refs so maybe not) have given pen against Utd at 1-0 when Bailly wiped out man before touching ball, and kept West Ham’s slim hopes alive here by keeping it at 2-0 start of 2nd half.
Week one. Recent history suggests City likely to get something similar against us.
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By my understanding of the law as it is written Salah was inside (Auba & Laca too) Apparently
Mane definitely offside for their third?
Not been a great start so far for the pgMOB has it?
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fins it been a great start for the pgmob, its leading to the result they want, and cos there is no VAR they have a ready made excuse for it.
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Cech is captain
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how is that not a booking for laporte, awful challenge
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sterling booked for a nasty one on guendouzi
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Sterling gives city the lead, he got past our defenders too easily on edge of the are and fires home, Cech seemed to be unsighted
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needed a better shot there from Bellerin
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sokratis booked
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cech with a fine double save from the freekick
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AMN down injured a while now
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Lichtsteiner on for the injured AMN
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Thank God there are still some sensible people in the World… Hmmn
Get Involved
#bbcfootball or 81111 on text
Creative Mind: When we said give Emery time I didn’t realise it was just gonna be for 45 minutes
Liam McColgan: Even if we lose this game, which will happen, I can only praise Emery for being dynamic, vocal , always assessing and being proactive rather than reactive. Unlike Wenger.
Kaushik Gorai: Someone explain to these Arsenal ‘fans’ that transition takes time. Those all who wanted Wenger to leave, this was always going to happen. What do you expect? Win the league at the very first game?
Get Involved
#bbcfootball or 81111 on text
James Greener: Arsenal fans all doom and gloom but they are playing a side that got 100 points last year, give the team a break
Wayne Ellis: First PL game under a new manager, playing against by far the best team in the country, and the Arsenal doom and gloom merchants are out in force already…
Geoff Russell: Get a grip people one game in, try supporting you team not whining and sniping.
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HT: Arsenal 0-1 Man City
could have done better on their goal, we’ve been disjointed a bit, we need more from Mkhitaryan, Ramsey, Ozil and Aubameyang when we have the ball
Next goal crucial
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It’ll take some time.
This after all is the best and most expensive team in the PL.
Worth a whopping 1.05 billion to our 557 million.
Excuses, excuses you say?
Hmm..
I hope AMN is not too badly hurt.
He was playing well before the Spud did him in.
Should be an interesting 2nd half.
Douzi’s getting a hang of the pace of it..
Xhaka too seemed to pick it up towads the end of the half
I expect Rambo’ll be off by the hour mark.
Iwobi & Lacazette should have a part to play in this one…
CARMON YOU GUNNNERS!!!!!
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Also wouldn’t mind seeing some Torreira
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Pretty tough. City playing like Kajillionaires under a manager who is pretty adept with the biggest resources.
Nasty thing about playing them is if you do get people forward, the instant it breaks down they carry a heavy threat on break, so hard to ever feel comfortable.
While it’s one, there’s a chance.
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big error from guendouzi and cech bails us out making a fine save from aguero
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Afternoon all.
I was out for a long bike ride earlier.
I might go out again.
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city 2-0 up, bernardo loses his man and has lots of time and space to power a first time shot to the roof of the net.
don’t see us getting anything from this now.
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The next time I read or hear anyone blaming arsene for arsenal’s poor results, I’ll punch someone.
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Torreira on for his debut
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Same old Arsenal. No second yellow for sterling. No penalty on Mustafi.
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ten minutes to pull this out of the fire
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we’ve had two goals rightly ruled out for offside
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FT: Arsenal 0-2 Man City
disappointing result, disappointing performance, our passing was not quick enough or accurate enough. Made mistakes on both their goals, and to cap things off AMN injured,
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Well played. Forward line didn’t click. That half second delay when looking for a teammate. Guendouzi was good. Torreira in the little time he had was good. Lacazette too. Was hoping foem more from Ozil, Auba and Mikhi.
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Not an unexpected result, but there were some positives. Lichensteiner looked really comfortable playing at left back, and almost fatal error aside Guenouzi had a terrific game again.
Oh yeah! Should’ve had a penalty for the hauling down of Mustafi.
Welcome to the PL Emery
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Well, they tried, but it wasn’t to be. Hopefully with time they’ll start to gel better. Today they looked like a team with too many new players – communications were breaking down all over the pitch. Sadly amongst the ‘supporters’ nothing has changed, Ramsay did nothing, Xhaka is shit, etc etc. Ho hum, it’s great to have football back!
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Painful BUT I quite enjoyed that.
Glad to be back to the real games.
Felt like our best 11 ended the game.
Against the better teams I’d pair Douzi & Torreira.
Mesut has to be involved from the start as the #10.
With Mkhi’s work rate he can retain the RW.
Auba at LW, Lacazette as CF.
Rambo, Xhaka, ‘Neny, Welbz..should start on the bench till they are fully fit and up to speed (& concentration) with how we want to play.
No beef whatsoever with Sokratis, Mustafi, Bellerin, Lichtsteiner & AMN.
They showed enough to imply they’re in tune with Emeryball.
Guendouzi was my MOTM.
We are a work in progress.
We will improve.
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Good game that. I thought we played relatively well and got outdone on the details more or less; heavy touches, over hit crosses, miscommunication, balls not really falling for us, denied a clear penalty. The defense looked a lot better, Cech was solid when called upon apart from the goals.
From what I’ve seen today, I think we are in for a much better season and could even push for the title. Am even more optimistic than I was before the game.
#UTA
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The naysayers, slags, weaklings, instant-gratificationists, payola-bloggers and the short-sighted will as usual feast on our situation. Nothing new there.
I’m listening to Wrighty & Fowler spout the usual drivel. It is so easy to complain when you have never managed or organized a top level football team in your life.
These pseudo-pundit ex-players really need to learn to shut it sometimes.
But hey, it makes for good press and pays the bills I guess.
Can’t wait for this team to shut all of them the f**K up!!!!!
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