Hello you wonderful positive people.
Against my better judgement I have decided to preview our Carabao Cup game against the big white cocks.
It’s only the Carabao Cup say some! Not me though, oh no, not a bit of it. It’s a quarter final match against our bitter rivals and I want to win. I want to win big. I want to progress to the semi finals and then I want to win it. Bollocks to anything else.
The PL result and performance against them was, by a distance, the standout effort of the season. Despite the recent 22 game unbeaten run the football has hardly been inspiring. Glimpses of excellence amid some frankly turgid stuff. So who better to turn on the style against again than Spurs?
Injuries permitting I believe we should turn out our strongest team possible. That means starting Ozil, Ramsey and Lacazette, because any team without them is simply not our best team. It’s just not and I don’t give a flying f**k what excuses are rolled out.
Play Xhaka and Torreira in the midfield. I don’t want to see Xhaka at CB ,FB of Wingback. I honestly can not say how annoying it is when the guy that controls the game in MF is moved anywhere else. If we have to stick to this 3 at the back and a midfielder has to be drafted in, let it be ElNeny. JUST NOT XHAKA ….PLEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEAAAAAAAAAAAAASSSSSSSSEEEEEEEEEEE
I would also like to see Cech between the sticks , where he perhaps should be regularly?
This Spurs team is the very last team we should be playing a weakened team against. Losing is awful at the best of times but losing to them, at home, is unbearable, whatever the competition.
Positively Arsenal 
Will be interesting to see the line-ups – against any other opposition both sides would be playing weakened (rested) teams but against each other, do either side dare?
Amazed we let in 3 v Southampton although a few of us have been braced to ship a small hatful for sometime. But against lo-scoring Saints?
Still, Mourinho eh?
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Quick off the mark there George – I think both sides will start with a mix of experience and yoof, but with some experience on the bench to throw on if required.
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Trigger happy.
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The Carabao is still tomorrow right? But BG said he is trigger happy.
Just reading this line, “That means starting Ozil, Ramsey and Lacazette, because any team without them is simply not our best team” makes me think how a team that that lines up:
– Torreira – Xhaka
Auba – Özil – Ramsey
—– Lacazette
in front of the back 4 will be very intimidating to all comers. Besides the still rather fresh Lucas the others are seasoned campaigners who can bring the best out of others.
Come on Unai… you can do it man!
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I suffer from premature publication Labo.
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George
Liked that exchange of yours you highlighted at end of last post.
My God, i feel I have seen that sort of thing a thousand times since starting twitter/reading blogs/etc.
With some, it might be genuine stupidity, but more intriguing to me are the ones who almost certainly know better.
What are they playing at?
Those who know or should know that, say, relative to rivals and in terms of our own spending power, there’s scant evidence of us misusing the money we have (one, two ,three players you think get too much, or even who actually do get too much, isn’t evidence of that- not unless you can point to clubs who don’t have the same. All evidence, or sense at least, points to every squad having a number of players in it who, for one reason or another don’t give great value for money on wages, or something like that.
To try minimise it you would need a damn small squad, and not take any risks with young players in particular, who may or may not kick on, and in a competitive market will have others after them- you’d let them go, just in case it doesn’t happen for them (or they get a damaging injury!). Quite obviously…that’s not a good idea.
Then there’s the issue of ‘letting’ players run down contracts. You covered the main thing, but ah, how can people not get it, or worse, pretend they don’t?
I figure the main cause of it all must be that refusal to accept our financial position relative to others. And then too little honesty to just go with that. Admittedly it’s a bit of a dead end, and wouldn’t make for good blogging.
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The fitness update suggest Smith-Rowe definitely out for Spurs- expected to return to full training in December.
Annoying.
Occurred to me other day just how unfortunate we have been with centre backs in that aside from the senior three missing at weekend, and a just returned Kos, and the two on loan, the next three in line would likely have been Mavropanos, Pleg and Sheaf.
For the latter two it must be a real blow to have missed out on the window of opportunity- no guarantees of any more- because of their injury troubles this year.
That’s football I guess. In most cases youngsters need the luck of not being injured at the wrong time and they didn’t have it.
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There is a form of madness that grips people when you put a keyboard in front of them and ask them for an opinion on football Rich re your 4.15.
Luckily we have none of that sort of thing here. (Nods confidently)
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Rich 4:15pm
Surely in the case of Arseblog it’s not ignorance or limited understanding, he knows exactly what he’s doing. Everything tells me he was bought some time ago to perpetuate the myths and bogus narratives. There to validate the trap set for (Arsenal) fools. If an Arsenal blog says the same as the media, then it must be true.
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I have no idea why this guy is so popular. https://twitter.com/arseblagger/status/1074963360083521537
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Nail. Head. Everyone struck cleanly my old mucker. Gotta admit some of Emery’s recent managerial decisions have left me very perplexed to say the least. As has been our principled stand for years am not going to start bashing the manager but he needs to start playing his best players before he becomes toast.
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George@5:08 pm – What a tool!
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BTW: I think we should sell our damn souls to the Saudis. MBS is in need of a perfect PR vehicle after bone sawing his opponents and bombing the shit out of Yemen. Then who needs any stinkin’ self-sufficiency?
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Well Shotta, John Cross and his merry band would have to be VERY careful.
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Correct sentiment, George.
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I am completely happy with you going early on our game with the tiny tots George However having pictures related to the specialist in failure I’m not so comfortable with, this is not a Manc website.
Although there were games we struggled in during our 22 game run turgid is not a word to use, once again we are not a Manc website.
The three goals we conceded to the saints were the same so in theory should be easy to eradicate.
The spuds will play their best 11 so we must as well whatever that is. At home with a roaring crowd we need a roaring performance.
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The sacking of the poisonous Mourhino is a good day for football Ian. And a good day for football is always a good day for Arsenal Football Club.
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Interesting situation at Utd, if they really are going for a caretaker.
Unless he is on some sore of break, would seemingly rule out ZZ, if they wanted him, they could have him now presumably.
Of course there are other managers, but funny how one name keeps coming up with ex players.
Panic on the streets of Middlesex seasons end?
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Burton Albion through to the CC semi finals
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man city beat lcfc on penalties to make the semi finals too
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Arsene for United?
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all this Mourhino talk today and I find it amazing that the one big question that should have been asked has not ….
Is Duncan Castle alright, is he safe.
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I have not seen much of what the media in the UK are saying re new man utd manager, but here in Ireland all I see is bullshit about poch, and how he’d be mad to leave an on the up spurs for a done for utd, how spurs new stadium will give him the revenues that man utd could not offer, really that was the shit mark lawrenson and tony cascareino were spouting, kevin kilbane came out with similar shit.
Even had some idiots say that poch has spurs playing similar attacking football to pep’s city team and klopp’s lfc team. the myth of the man is unbelievable, not one of these idiots mentioned that poch has never actually won a single trophy in his managerial career, which by the way is one month short of Ten Years, yes TEN YEARS, and not a pot to piss in, but he is the second coming
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Mustafi was back in full training today,
Saka, Willock, Nketiah, all trained with the squad too and Joseph Olowu was with the squad too, he normally plays right back or CB for our U23’s.
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I see Arsenal U18’s will host spurs u18’s in the 4th round of the FA Youth Cup. spurs beat our lads in the u18 league game recently, 3-1, but AFC missed two penalties in that game
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Arsenal will play away to Blackpool in the 3rd round of the FA Cup, I wonder will the home fans continue their boycott of games for this tie.
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AFCPressWatch
@AFCPressWatch2
7h7 hours ago
The FA has today announced that fifth round replays in the Emirates FA Cup will be removed from this season’s competition, one season earlier than previously planned. The move was agreed by the Professional Game Board and has been introduced to alleviate fixture congestion.
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Freddie Ljungberg provided an honest assessment of his side’s 4-0 loss to Blackburn on Monday night.
Key players such as Eddie Nketiah, Emile Smith Rowe, Joe Willock and Bukayo Saka were absent, but Ljungberg insisted that this was no excuse for the result.
We spoke to our head coach after the final whistle – and this is what he said:
on ending the year in defeat…
Of course it’s hard to end in defeat, but that’s how it is. When we get a lot of players going through to the first team, it then affects the team from that angle because we don’t have the same kind of players and that’s just how the equation works. On one hand as a coach you feel extremely proud and happy that we’re getting so many players through and they’re not with us, but at the same time there’s a difference. We spoke about the players here and they have then been handed the opportunity to play. Of course today we played some players totally out of position because we don’t have enough players, but that’s when you [have to] stand up and be counted for. There will be people here watching but that doesn’t really matter, that’s when you get your chance. We folded today. They are a very physical side and we said that in the first 10 to 15 minutes we will play simple and maybe stretch them a bit because they’re very aggressive and like to get at you, and unfortunately, we lost the ball after 30 seconds, not doing what we had agreed as a team, and we were 1-0 down after 40 seconds. Then we did the same thing in the second half after three minutes and those are the basics that we agreed as a team that we won’t do. It’s a heavy heart after a defeat like this because you were hoping and wanting for players who get their chance to take it.
on failing to create clear-cut chances in the final third…
Of course, we need to do better, but it’s not easy. Cohen is a left back who was playing on the left wing and we tried to move people around and found some good positions, but we couldn’t make it count and that’s where we were missing that little extra quality.
on Xavier Amaechi making his return from injury…
Of course he’s been a big miss. He had a stress fracture and so did Robbie, so we’ve had quite a few long-term injuries. That was probably the highlight of the day when he came on. He was very good before he got injured but I think he only played three games before he got injured, so he needs to go slowly when he comes back into it. He will be a very, very good player but he needs to work because he’s missed a few months of football unfortunately.
on Amaechi providing his side with width…
We’re happy we’ve got a winger back, but as well for individual development and what we’re trying to do here. Of course it’s great to get someone back that can play in that wing position and he’s a great talent, so I was just sad for him that he was injured for so long.
on what he’s hoping to see from his side in their next league outing…
Hopefully we will get a few players back and we have a few suspended as well, so hopefully we will have those back. Everybody has to look at themselves in the mirror and not just think ‘oh, this player is missing and this player is missing’. We are the ones that are on the pitch and we are the ones who have to do the job. There’s no point feeling sorry for ourselves, we just have to get going again and, when we get chances, we need to take them.
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.
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reports in France are linking Emmi Martinez with a January move to Rennes
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Spurs and Liverpool play the all action high press. City are perpetual motion. Wenger and Mourinho cast as yesterday’s men unable to match the new kids in the block. Or were they not so prepared to explore ways to enhance performance?
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Hear, hear my old grumpy pal….we must beat the spuds!
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Going to the game tonight hoping that whatever the result we put in a performance like we did earlier this month. I agree it was without doubt the best performance so far this season.
A saw a stat after that game, I don’t know if it’s true: ‘Tottenham have lost more points from winning positions in Premier League games against Arsenal than any side have against another in the competition’s history (40)’
I may be considered mad for thinking this but, I believe Dean was biased against us and not just in the big decisions. I also think it’s possible some of our fans watching there felt the same – and possibly some of the players. After Son’s penalty award, if the feeling of injustice wasn’t limited to me, maybe that helped to generate energy to lift the crowd which passed on to the players. The players increasing their intensity, raising the energy in the crowd in-turn.
If there is any truth in the above, and the pattern has occurred before, then wouldn’t that, in some small part, contribute to the stat.
Regardless of my madness, hopefully we can all agree, the crowd and the team were in top form. Let’s have more of the same tonight!
PS. I should have said this in my first comment but a big thank you to PA and everyone else for all their comments. You will all understand how important it is to me.
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Rich, I was at that game, believe me, there was a real sense of injustice with Dean From the second half performance, I sense the players and coaches shared it as well, especially amongst those fans with the best view. A sense for a while Dean was just waiting to do what he did. Give Spurs long enough, will dive and Dean is a ref inclined to reward that type of thing for our opponents, he regularly seems to get this slot, too regularly. If like Wenger says Dean is dishonest, and refuses to Properly retract it, I am not arguing with him.
Not saying we cannot win with Dean of course but it seems in some games, he cannot wait to punish us. Everyone knows what Son and his mates do in the box, yet Dean jumped to it, as he has done so many times before.Just wish he would retire, but I am sure Riley will honour him with a big role in the PGMOL
After Dean, we saw some harsh bookings for diving, don’t remember the serial diving teams like City Pool or Spurs receiving such a fate, then the performance of that ” ref” at Southampton. Poor refereeing, bias, cheating players getting away with things, or an unbeaten run making waves?
Whatever, I wish, as posted earlier, the club would stop playing the victim, make waves behind the scenes , and you are right, we don’t know what they do behind closed doors, and Indulge in a few more “tactics “of our own on the pitch.
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FH, always believed wengers tactics were generally sound, at their best, mesmerising if a little defensively lacking at times, just think he continually suffered from too many key players being unavailable most of the time, partly due to the unpunished treatment from opponents recently witnessed at Southampton and OT.
Eduardo, completely agree with you on Poch not having won things, but the media here are also all over it, as are ex players, I suspect a lack of trophies won’t stop UTd if they can get him that is. That would be no net gain for Arsenal , one rival would be seriously weakened in that event, another would be strengthened compared to Jose’s performance. I suspect Poch will take players with him as well should it happen. A manager who drills and instructs in the art of cheating, at OT ,with this bunch at the PGMOL and Riley still in post would be a fearsome prospect, whatever his coaching abilities on the legit aspects of the game. I suspect Tottenham might need an English media darling as a replacement to carry on getting away with what they have been
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This is quite brilliant http://breakingthelines.com/player-analysis/paul-pogba-and-mesut-ozil-victims-of-a-weak-link-sport/
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AC Sparta Prague
Verified account @ACSparta_EN
Dec 17
Tomáš Rosický becomes the Sports Director. Zdeněk Ščasný remains as first team head coach. #acsparta
➡️ http://bit.ly/2QY1g9f
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Rich, Andy, Ernie, George from Tuesday,
I don’t have any evidence to condemn Arseblog’s motives. Yes, he has built a business out of his personal Arsenal commentary, and perhaps his need to keep that viable colors his perspective at times. In my book at least, that doesn’t mean he’s commenting in bad faith.
More likely and clearer to me is that he sometimes takes shortcuts, for example not really thinking through the implications of rejecting the self-sustaining model. He also has a tendency to assume Arsenal leadership have a simple job – “Don’t let the contracts run down!” – omniscient reductionism that seems like an inherent feature of blogging no matter the subject.
For me, the overall entertainment value is worth these flaws, but I do understand that everyone may not agree.
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I’m glad , because I don’t agree. He hides snideness behind humour. No better than Le Grove ,just better at hiding his cuntishness.
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Can see why he was your favourite, George. The man knows how to live. Should have paid for the horse though.
https://www.dailymail.co.uk/sport/football/article-6512227/Ex-Arsenal-star-Andrei-Arshavin-leaves-striptease-club-horse-tightly-hugs-two-women.html#comments
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Evening Positively Goonerai’s!
Firstly many thanks to PG for the run in. I always despised Arseblog second to the Le Gits. Who needs to see the Arsenal through those kind of lenses? Weird things is some people think they own the Arsenal, when its for everyone really. Thank the Judderman for PA!
Anyway, hopefully we’ve recovered from our stint of Christmas charity for the Sotonists. And now its time to rummage in our sacks and roast the Chicken.
Thanks again and enjoy the game.
COYG! FOYS!
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Don’t look now George but it’s Xhaka at CB!
I think this must mean that Mustafi is out for the next league game and Kozza after those many months with the physio is probably still recovering from the non-red hack which left him hobbling and incapable of jumping last weekend. Think we’ll also see Ozil back in the league squad, won’t get the clickbaiters like Arseblog* their hits but it’s not Ozil vs Ramsey (it’s Ramsey vs Miki!) as there must be a big worry that he’s missed most of 2018 with this injury.
* the snide ignoring the shallow squad last season says it all for me? If in doubt please refer to the current situation at CB – last season the Arsenal got lucky with injuries to CB, and that was with a hobbling Kozza! Snide. Disingenious. And when you boil all the rest away: useless!
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COYG!
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Folks, is it right that Ozil said- by Emery presumably- to be out for tactical reasons?
What to make of that given he isn’t on bench?
Is best case there’s a fitness issue but Emery said ‘tactical reasons’ instead for unknown reason?
If it’s just social media bollocks that any comment has been made for omission then, obviously, ignore the questions.
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spam
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Hang on my first comment didnt go into spam, stranger and stranger.
Well done Aaron on his 350th start COYG.
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The Mesut mystery continues.
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oooohhhhh.
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Bah! Humbug.
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Confused. It looked close but at least a little off.
One click replay. No lines put up on screen to show what’s what!!!
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