Good morning Positive Arsenal fans,
An early evening victory over a genuinely plucky Blackpool was an easy watch. The game had a balance of decent football from both teams and was enough of a contest until our third goal to ensure that nagging doubt lurked in the back of my mind. We had seen the Seasiders at the Ems in the Autumn and they had put up a good show then so the final 60/40 possession statistics were no fluke. A certain hint of controversy for our first and second goals ? Well possibly, both tight calls and in the great scheme of football ‘things’, as I often say, swings and roundabouts, swings and roundabouts.
Of our lads Joe Willock is gathering the deserved praise for his two goals, both the result of his brain being half a second faster than the home defenders to a bouncing ball in the 6 yard box. Eddie Nketiah managed to create three chances but convert none, though Blackpool’s keeper can take credit for at least one very good save. And Alex Iwobi put on the sort of creative performance that we know he is capable of. Our young Nigerian did his work in a highly disciplined way though, rarely wasting a pass or losing possession. At the back Jenko earned praise for his hard work and concentration. After a jittery start Sokratis imposed himself on the Blackpool forward line. AMN put a solid claim in for a starting place on the right flank.
For our opponents they had their chances to score and on another evening the final score could have been closer than 3-0. I have no idea what is going on at the club between the fans and the owners, other than it has been going on for many years, with fan boycotts, court cases and much, much abuse. It resulted in an elf clambering on to our coach roof in an effort to delay the start of the game, which on the scale of bizarre protest is a 9.
Instinctively I am on the fans’ side but the thousands of empty seats at Bloomfield Road last night, did not suggest to me that either side is on the brink of whatever constitutes ‘victory’. A snapshot for Arsenal fans of what life is like on ‘the other side’.
A week off now until a Saturday lunchtime kick off at West Ham, and a little break I am looking forward to.
Have a good six days.
Positively Arsenal 
That’s two defeats in a row for the media’s favourites, does this constitute a crisis for Liverpool?
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From Brazil: Arsenal make offer to appoint former player in director of football role
By Lucas Sposito –
7th January 2019
Arsenal have reportedly made an offer for Edu Gaspar to take a role which sounds very much like a director of football.
It’s Brazilian website Globo Esporte who breaks the news today, saying the former Gunners’ midfielder still hasn’t made it clear if he’s accepting the job or not.
Gaspar played for Arsenal between 2002 and 2005, where he won two Premier League titles, being a part of Arsene Wenger’s unbeaten side.
He later moved to Valencia and finally Corinthians, where he ended his career as a player and started working as a football administrator. That’s where he met manager Tite.
When in charge of the Brazil national team, Tite invited Edu Gaspar to be a coordinator. Since then, the former midfielder has been getting some big exposure in the job, making clear what his functions are and frequently responding to many questions at the national team’s press conferences.
Arsenal currently have Raul Sanllehi as head of football following Ivan Gazidis’ departure to AC Milan last year.
The CBF, Brazil’s FA, are said to have been informed of the approach.
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not at all mandy cos firstly the grass was too long at man city and it was too windy v woldes, and lest not forget that it was not liverpool who lost tonight, but liverpool B team
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by the way VAR has been in operation at 3 Liverpool games and they have lost all 3
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No refereeing or VAR controversy last night. Liverpool well beaten. Very professional performance by Wolves who are a good team.
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Mandy, I thought I was watching LFC TV listening to the BBC commentators last night. They produced that boy from Ajax you know who has been there three months. Sycophantic to the extreme.
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No controversy A5 probably because they understand VAR is involved?
What a coincidence Edu, 3 VAR 3 losses.
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The transfer window is open and there seems to be little happening with regard to arsenal, especially in our defense. I do know that we don’t like to talk transfer and rumors here but is there any thing to the Dennis Suarez rumor ? He seems to me that he is a cheaper version of Isco.
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I’m not sure if all of you hv read BabaGrumpy’s excellent blog yet but here it is anyways. Great rebuttal to some of the nonsense that has been said after that post from the Swiss rambler
https://www.thecable.ng/the-rush-to-create-a-myth-around-arsenals-finances
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I much enjoyed watching Wolves beat Liverpool yesterday evening. I suppose that many of my earliest football memories were of Liverpool ruling the roost, so I have a residual dislike of them, made worse by so many things that have happened since then. I cannot bear the constant whining and excessive glorification of all things Scouse, I loathe the accent, I hated The Beatles.
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But I thought it was the ‘wrong’ VAR ?
Only joking.
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Yep, seems par for the course MarkyB, didn’t hear it myself, it have heard enough similar this season
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What gets me Tim is the “famous scouse humour”, I worked in Liverpool for 3 years, and have yet to meet a funny scouser.
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Ye olde scouse wit- (bloody bizarre!)
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Jimmy Tarbuck and John Bishop certainly aren’t very funny, didn’t get Ken Dodd either.
John Lennon was reputedly witty, but some say with an overly cruel edge
Some of Liverpool’s diving would be quite comical, if they didn’t get away with so much, and guess the main proponents aren’t actually from there.
Might be a controversial opinion, but always thought the Mancs, or at least bands attributed to that area, had the edge on them music wise, with a few exceptions of course.
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I remember my father taking me to see Arthur Askey in the London Palladium panto one Christmas. I guess sometime in the 60s. On a theme of Wolves I also remember not being picked up before a cricket match by the son of the then Wolves chairman, old man Haywood. He was one of the few of us Under 19s who had a car but he never turned up at the station he was meant to be meeting me at. He was known as shaddow for the rest of the season. I wonder whqt happened to him
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Some might say ,Mandy.
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Now I did like Ken Dodd and was privileged to see him in stand-up. He was relentless and the funniest I ever saw live.
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London is better than either of them….
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Just a note, Arthur Askey was born in Dingle( where Ringo was too)in Liverpool. Didnt anyone else find the vid a bit weird? I thought it was one of the oddest things Ive ever seen, and not funny at all.
Personally I found the Scousers pretty friendly, and its true, not so witty (although Ringo could be pretty funny). Some nice architecture in Liverpool, although lots of it pulled down. And they did at least stand up to Thatcher. She took her revenge though, Liverpool was pretty messed up for a long time.Manchester always seemed a really violent place.I went and met up with some old mates who were middle class lads and lived in the Crescents, I wasnt into it too much, having been born in bandit country in a tenement block, I hate those kind of systems where you have to look out for a scrap everyday. But its all perspective and prisms.
How do you guys feel about playing ManUre again? Im not into it too much but I have a slightly good feeling about it.
COYG!
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Playing manure is crap, not that the game itself might be tasty but the timing is awful. just between chelski and city with the midweek game against Cardiff thrown is as well. So extra chance of injuries to first team players and also missing the chance for the youngsters to get more game time just when alot of them are chomping at the bit.
All in all I was gutted even if we beat them I’m not sure it would be better than playing a lesser side with our youth ranks.
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Wasn’t Arthur an alcoholic I’d heard he was always legless, how’s that for inappropriate humour.
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And Ken Dodd was a tax doger that never makes me laugh
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Ian- I agree, crap, but might be tasty, and bad timing. As for the AA joke, spurted my tea out over the computer when I read it, thats a bad ass joke!
COYG!
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Look on the bright side chaps. If we’d beaten Spurs in the Caribo we’d have had to jam in two semi finals this month as well.
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Good point too anicoll5.
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ian you asked last night if Trae Coyle was our u23’s second scorer, I just seen the goal and it was as reported last night, Gedion Zelalem who scored it
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cheers
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How did Chelsea not get something out of that game
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They will be on the front foot at the Bridge Mandy and not too bothered. Chels played more football and better football.
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Very true AN5, could have had a few this eve, thought if you don’t put the ball in the net..
Spurs looked knackered
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tom daley
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Hmmm. Whatever VAR it is, we’re never gonna get what I’d like on a lot of fouls, pens etc now.
Can’t think of a single media, ref, ex ref person who would quibble about the Kane pen, but for me clearly not action of someone getting a touch with intention of pursuing ball; and then, having got desired touch, no movement to pursue it let alone attempt to avoid keeper…instead the delay, the leg out, the closed legs, the leap.
Hard to describe but the ‘sell’ of contact has replaced what happens with real contact, and doesn’t even look that much like it- Kane’s tell tale putting the two legs together, with a little crossover, like there’s an invisible lassoo around him.
It sucks, but VAR or no VAR there seems zero chance of any real improvement. The whole media class, ex player, refs, etc being on board unanimously seems to seal the deal completely
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Spurs do get rather a lot of penalties
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Interesting one performance wise though.
Chelsea almost recaptured some of their very good performance against City a few weeks back. Spurs for most of game had no interest in doing anything other than defend and take a counter opportunity if one came.
On a Spurs front, gives us real hope they could get a doing in second leg, or go out at least, and that they could hit a dip in league.
Other hand, they have developed that defend and counter style to quite a high level in Poch’s time, and it’s a pretty good style to have for one-off games and ready to go in big games, or against better footballing sides, and also can help against other opposition, when running low on fuel or not in best of shape.
Overall, more plus than negative for me, but only because I’m hoping Chelsea knock them out, and the two demanding games therefore become a waste of energy they can hopefully ill afford.
Ultimately, if it keeps securing crucial wins that style of play and performance is no bad thing. But if you play much the same and don’t get good results…
Just ask Mourinho about that one.
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Really hope they up their game a lot with the replays we get on VAR decisions once system is in full use.
I find it odd that, so far, it seems we get less replays for VAR calls than we normally do (non- VAR) for close calls on big decisions.
Am I wrong, or is it typical to get different views and angles on tight offsides and, especially, on pen decisions?
To an extent have to accept it is arbitrary how much they show- for instance we sure did see a lot of Iwobi’s handball, and i still wasn’t 100% sure it touched arm, on weekend; and during a game a few weeks back there were copious replays then some rarely used super zoom on a decision that seemed to be bugging comms.
But still, in VAR era there seems more reason to show extra footage of calls which were made after the use of video assistance than there was previously/ with Non Var.
The offside one was particularly strange as the picture alone certainly wasn’t enough for me to say for sure what was what. Looked extremely close, but with suspicion Kane’s whole body angled forward. Though it has been over a year since last eye test.
Hard to imagine decision was based on that image alone that was shared with us, so why not give us a bit more, if not all the images and video they watched in VAR central?
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While
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While I feel sure that more rational observers would take a different view I found it hard to escape the sense yesterday evening everything was being done to aid the team in white. Oliver’s perfomance did little to convnce me that he can always be relied upon to administer the laws of the game fairly and without prejudice.
And of course this morning, with all the talk of VAR and offside, the left to right movemnt of Kane’s boot to initiate contact, followed by the spectacular launch into space with both legsso perfectly anchored together, has gone as under the radar as any self-repecting Gatwick drone. National treasure Harry does it again.
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I haven’t seen the replay but it seems sarri said that the assistant referee did flagged Kane offside. If so then the pen was wrong as the defender would have been affected by the flag. In the era of var, the linesmen should only flag when they are 100% sure of their calls. Because even if they fail to flag, the var will detect it. But in England, it seems the fa, premier league and the pgmol see var as rival rather than support. They have over the years promoted the league and everything associated with it as the best, perfect and infallible. So var is there to expose their lies. They have used several points to discourage its use, from slowing down the game to human factors can not be replaced by video or video cannot eliminate all mistakes. But when the whole world have moved with time, they reluctantly accept to use it but a different version the will still allow them to manipulate results. Fraud is it.
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It would have been very easy for Kane to evade the goalkeepers challenge and with a better touch retrieve the ball and score but he never even considered that as a course of action, once he was through all that was on his mind was initiating the contact dive scenario. Look how perfectly he landed on his back arms aloft. Sickening really.
Oh, and another thing, compare this with the challenge and outcome with Eduardo v Celtic.
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I see Sarri has his own camera “angle” and he claims it shows Kane was offside Layks. Unfortunately the angle, or angles, that matter are the ones the VAR officials use.
Wild and unnecessary challenge by Kepa, penalty every time. He then followed it up my standing in the middle of the goal for the penalty, not a great 5 minutes for the Chelsea keeper.
Brilliant that we can now have a good argument not just about every refereeing but every VAR decision.
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Sad to say it, but the way the game has gone, contact = penalty, I suspect a few of ours could learn a thing or two from the neighbours on clearly well drilled responses to contact, though there is only one problem, ours get booked for diving! That prob was a pen for Kane, but they get plenty that are not, often against us, and quite sickening to see how they exaggerate things.
On a positive note, hopefully there will be cards galore, and they will play each other to a standstill at the Bridge with a Chelsea win after pens or however that game is to be decided.
On another note, see Stoke seem to have abandoned the prehistoric and overpaid LMA journeymen, and are in talks with a rather excellent , progressive youngish manager from the lower divisions, Luton’s Nathan Jones. What can it mean?
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Andy, when I see the incident on the TV I immediately thought stonewall pen however now I’ve seen the replay slowed down you see kane slam his front foot down hard for take off as you would if doing a front flip. His timing is excellent and this diving has obviously become a delicate art of which he has become very good. Now you may say the keeper shouldn’t of come out like that or he would of hit him anyway however kane went first and so it was a very clever dive and the sort of thing only VAR can sort out. Even now retrospective action should be taken for players who start tumbling before contact is made. I can understand if a players jumps to avoid injury but Harry wasnt avoiding he was deceiving.
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A5 10:17 am: “Unfortunately the angle, or angles, that matter are the ones the VAR officials use.”
Crap! Refs have all the angles available to them. What happened last night is them pick and choosing which one to use to base their decision on.
During the recent test match between SA and Pakistan ref gave Bavuma out for catch in slips but refer upstairs just to make sure ball wasn’t grounded as catch was taken it. Comms look at few angles and said there was no evidence to overturn it… then I think the third or fourth angle they look at clearly show the ball touching the ground. All the commentator said was, “well well well, clearly on that evidence he can’t be given out”. Which the 3rd ump confirmed.
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Above comment of course in reference to whether Kane was offside or on in build up.
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“Crap! Refs have all the angles available to them. What happened last night is them pick and choosing which one to use to base their decision on.”
That is exactly what I am saying. It doe not matter what Sarri thinks as he brandishes a shot from a particular camera angle, it matters what the the VAR officials think based on their review of their camera angle or angles.
You seem outraged!!
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“Andy, when I see the incident on the TV I immediately thought stonewall pen however now I’ve seen the replay slowed down you see kane slam his front foot down hard for take off as you would if doing a front flip.”
Same here. I think Kepa caught him with his elbow into Kane’s knee/thigh, in fact I probably still think that, but clearly that was not enough to cause the bizarre dive.
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Apparently one of the VAR judges back at hq gave Kane a 6.0 for his dive, they especially liked the way his legs stayed together, giving the dive a balletic quality, and was akin to the symmetry of a swan making its landing on cool, clear waters, “one could almost hear Strauss’ ‘An der schönen blauen Donau’ or the ‘Panorama’ from Tchaikovskys ‘Sleeping Beauty’, playing in the background”. “He seemed to fall for an achingly long time, so we gave him 6.0. If Nijinsky would have been a diver then this is how it would have looked, lingering in the air longer than others”. “Such grace”.
The rest of us saw Arthur Askeys “Moth dance” song. See vid above( or not if you value the time left to you in life).
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Heres a vid with a bit on the belly flop. 24-25 seconds in- great technique!
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Oi !
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