I find myself unable to write a review that could be considered Positively Arsenal, so I have ducked for cover and our friend Mills has taken up the reigns
LCFC 3 ARSENAL 0
Who forgot to bring the bullets? KO Gunfight at the King Prawn Corral.
Years ago, a New York art critic had seen the surrealist sculptures of Alberto Giacometti in an exhibition. The review of these works he published was pretty much this: ” Ive been staring at my typewriter for half an hour and I can’t think of anything to write about these absurd works”.
The feeling after the game seems pretty much like that doesn’t it? Well, Alberto left the Surrealists and went on his own way and later arrived at a new style and created a truly new addition to the world of art. Out of pure humiliation, came some strong and ground-breaking work……COYG???
The basic facts were, (all apologies to those who like more analysis) our Guns were again packed with blanks and damp squibs, a rare thing; in days of yore it was often in big games, but we seem to be breaking a few records with stats and facts that leave us red-cheeked. Letting in three to Chelsea or whoever was pretty horrible, but to mid table teams is embarrassing. But like all egos, maybe ours needs shrinking a bit? Hope the therapy works! What looked like the easy run/in at the end of the season, has been a been a tough time for those on the Arsenal trail.
LCFC got on top pretty quickly and everything yet again seemed a struggle. Mustafi went in and didn’t get booked and we threw a few other tackles in, then Ainsley got booked, which seemed to be pay back for the other challenges. Iwobi had a chance which was pretty weak. Ainsley got book a second time, and Olivers army saw red. Big laughs. As Ed said: 12 versus 10.
We held on to HT and to be honest I felt like UE would pull off one of his talks like he did earlier in the season and we would come out top gunslingers, however it was not to be.
0-1on 59 mins and it looked like the coffins were already being assembled and things started feeling like the Alamo.Some subs here and there, yet even these didn’t really get the geist going, in fact it looked like it had given up and gone off to graze on the high plains.
0-2 on 86 mins and things looked pretty much finished despite Leno looking very good again with lots of fine saves, although all of us would rather the had nothing to do all game.
Mr Emery looked like he was thinking about the Valencia game the more it dragged on..Eddie N always looks like he wants to impress, 4 mins were added on, and the LCFC fans started winding the Gunner faithful up, which seemed cheeky for a Championship side like themselves (anyway, they are up for the 8th place trophy) and then goal number three sneaked in on 90+5 and the whistle blew for rant time for the professionals on YT, twitter and the nefarious blogs everywhere. The third goal made the score seem meaner and more humiliating.And that was that, we died with our boots on.
We find ourselves now two uphill points outside the top 4, and to “av a CL laugh” we need Chelsea to mess up (again) and us to start winning. Odd that we could have been way up in 3rd rather than stuck in Tombstone City 5th.
But we aren’t finished. Was it really the last chance gunfight at the KO corral? Just because it looks bad doesn’t mean it is? Even the PL top four shuffle hasn’t finished yet. There might be a final hoedown yet? Does Doc ‘St.Totteringham’ Holliday has some special moonshine to pick us up? Will there be a Tom Mix-up?
Valencia is a bigger game, and we like those, surely there’s some hope? What that you say, don’t call me Shirley? But if we concentrate on what might have been, how can we concentrate on what might be? Will we be True Grit or Butch and Sundance getting slaughtered? I dont know, but a cup game is very different from a league game…
And top stuff for the Arsenal Women today. Making us proud even when we feel buried and forgotten. See? Always something to smile about and feel good.
COYG!
Positively Arsenal 
so Denis Suarez has gone back to Barcelona due to injury.
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fins
Disclaimer: All of this is just me guessing and trying to make sense of media reports.
Gazidis recruited Raul. But to be our guy to make deals. More on the commercial side. He may even have helped land the Adidas deal, and probably shared opinions on some players, hence earning himself a place in the committee to decide the next coach. Something the club had been building towards for a couple of seasons. Gazidis wanted Arteta and it was virtually a done deal, before Raul brought in Unai, pointed to his record, told him what to say (Do Gazidis and Sven speak Spanish?) and got him appointed. Emery said all the right things to us too.
But when Gazidis left, based on reports it seems Raul was not the plan. My feeling is he talked the Kroenkes into giving it to him (giss a job) by offering to cut costs and still getting top 4 in 2 years, if not 1. So Ramsey’s gone, Ozil was being pushed and probably still will be. Promises made to Sven were reneged on (see a pattern?) giving Raul full control over the club. I wonder which lovely agents he’s got lined up to provide the players we’ll need after the clearout.
Wenger’s words to protect the values of the club wasn’t just a slogan. It was a warning. He had been increasingly dissatisfied with how things were going at Arsenal. Even when Gazidis was there pushing his StatsDNA transfers. But with Sven I think he felt we were ok on that front. (Football men may not trust stats men to make the call, but trust football men to do it informed by stats)
Anyway, so my distrust of Raul is based on the message Wenger gave. Why I don’t believe I’m being negative. Though I’ll understand if the people who run and contribute to this blog disagree and will hold my tongue.
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Fins, All that Raul stuff is above the people who run this blog’s pay grade.
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so after that shit show by Michael Oliver the PGMOL have rolled out Anthony Taylor to be the ref for our game v Brighton on Sunday, what could go wrong with that.
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Justin
@Justin_Celtic
10h10 hours ago
Replying to @arseblagger
In Ireland’s gaa football their is a saying “paralysis by analysis” sums up what ur saying perfectly
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Shard i should really leave the comments to you as you express what I’d like to say much better then I can!
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Ed
I thought Friend was a different guy, and not for better, to I remember him against Everton. To me, if things were right, he would be admonished for it
Also made a truly shite decision not to send off Sissoko few weeks back- have a cup final.
Maybe it will whet his appetite for the big time and we’ll see plenty more of him reffing to Riley playbook in future.
Taylor. 7th of season with us. 2nd time he has been with us in his last 4 games and, of course, a Manchester man.
Who will we get for burnley if we win next time out and are in hunt? It’ll be a Riley fave for sure. Would probably like to Moss or Oliver us again but maybe too soon.
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Rich I wouldn’t rule out Atkinson for that one
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Not in a good position to say it with the amount of venting I do and questions I pose about players, team,etc, but it’s a bloody shame most of us are taking part in some way in the crazy negative orgy about every element of our club.
Prompted to say this after looking at how Mail are covering the story of Suarez loan ending. Top story on their sports section. Headline is about starting with a smile ending with a whimper. Then the details of how much it has cost us- 3 million or so.
Much lower down the page a small, sympathetic story about how Winks season has unfortunately ended after an operation.
Both stories are about exactly the same thing : well paid young footballers whose season’s ended prematurely because of injury.
3 million wasted in premier league? Unfortunate, but every single club, including Huddersfield or anyone else basically has a number of those stories every season. Some figures are a whole lot higher.
It’s just the norm, and of course I have no defence for reading the Mail (just can’t help wanting to know what those fucks are saying about us, but still not a good defence), but, jeez, when so many parties are absolute wankers towards us, and when those parties want us to be miserable, to spread that gloom amongst ourselves, to attack the club…phhh, hard not to feel pretty shit about directing anger, negativity, etc at the club instead of at the utter pricks in the Mail and elsewhere who continue to take such liberties with us.
With that, gonna try put my money where mouth is and just shut up for a few weeks.
COYG.
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maybe Emery could learn a thing or two from Freddie Ljungberg
“We have quite a few top talents now. How I see it is that Bukayo Saka, Xavier Amaechi and Tyreece John-Jules don’t have to be so far back in the pitch. What they have learned is that they need to stay where there will be dangerous,” said Ljungberg.
“Other boys will play it out from the back and find pockets. We can feed Bukayo. And then he’ll be in a situation further up the field where he can be a game changer. But if we don’t feed the ball to him in the right place there won’t be that action.
“And that’s what we’ve been working on. It’s not just those three it’s everyone. But Bukayo [Saka] can be a top talent.”
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Message received George.
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Fins. If that is true, it just makes me Alexis to your Ozil.
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Rich,
Your post at 10.54 has much merit, and I really don’t feel differently than you. So it’s not easy for me to either refute you or make those comments in the first place.
So why do I feel compelled to? Because it is not enough to simply pay respects to a name, nor do I feel like I’ve attacked the club. It has nothing to do with results for. I don’t care if we never win a trophy again, as long as the club stays true to its values. Values which the club, more accurately, the people at the club have..if you’ll excuse the pun..devalued.
I also don’t agree that Arsenal are under attack. I’ve seen attacks. What you point to is simply clickbait. There remains an underlying anti-Arsenal bias in the media, but sorry, I don’t agree that we’re under attack. Well, not in the traditional sense. They are siding with the current regime to demean and demolish the achievements of the past. Emery’s doing a great job they say, only to say how terrible Wenger was. They encourage us in selling players who embody Arsenal values calling them lazy or greedy, in anticipation that we too will go the route of hiring mercenaries to fill the squad. That is the real attack, and it’s my belief the danger is no longer just without, but within as well.
But, as has been established, that is a discussion for elsewhere, so I shall refrain from further comments on the topic.
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Eddie at 11:10pm
It seems Freddie didn’t get the memo that he must teach those guys to put in last ditch defensive tackles. Because if top talent like Ramsey and Özil can get dropped for not liking to track back, what chances do they have.
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If people who love football were not interested in who it is that might be or not be in charge of building the football squad or team of a football club that they follow (apparently no one???) then why is so much of the online football content click bait about football transfers?
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TBF Ozil tracks back more then the lovable but inexperienced rookie Guendozi…
…
…
!!!!
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< Guendouzi
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yes Labo I don’t know what Freddie is thinking in letting his most dangerous attackers conserve their energies for actual attacking, what next midfielders in midfield, or heaven forbid, fullbacks in position to defend instead of being up the other end of the pitch trying to create with an overlap while hoping that the creative players will be back in the fullback positions trying to trackback.
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yes Fins we seen once again on Sunday that Guendouzi doing his usual impression that he is tracking back, much like Xhaka too, far too often they get into the right defensive zone, but then don’t actually follow or tackle their opponent, for LCFC third goal Guendouzi like he has done many times this season, tracks back so far, can be seen look at the LCFC midfielder near him, and decide to not cover him, ending up with a free man able to get in and set up Vardy for a tap in. But he is brilliant cos he is only 19, sorry that should be he is brilliant cos he only 20.
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Thanks Mills for this timely offering, and well done for retaining some sense of perspective in the aftermath of Sunday’s disappointment. I am sure that our manager is doing his best, and in normal circumstances would be the man for the job. However, I do not think he is good enough to manage truly top class players (not a problem for us as we don’t have too many of them) or to get our good players (which we have a lot of) to play in a way that can overcome PGMOL inspired pitch tilting. I fear it will be sometime before we are hearing secret harmonies again.
I don’t tend to take conspiracy throries too seriously, but given the talk on here about referees various and in particular the way some sides seem to get the rub of the green, I thought this article was of interest.
https://footballisfixed.blogspot.com/2019/04/lizards-lacertae-liverpool-thread.html
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Emery clearly has a lot to learn in this league.
Unless he lets them off the lead in the remaining games this season, i suspect his learning curve will be halted abruptly after next season at the latest, he looks to be complicating things and confusing matters, should not be happening after nearly a full season.
There will be a queue of ex players ready to take over in that event.perhaps one who will play the kids
Taylors appointment to me suggests that Operation Utd hasnt been completely abandoned by the pgmol
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juniuer
@juniuer
Arsenal’s lack of defensive improvement is quite alarming. In 2017/18 (Wenger’s worst season) we allowed 416 non penalty shots and in 2018/19 that number has risen to 469.
146 shots on target were allowed by Arsenal last season, this season 174.
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Conspiracies exist everywhere FH , just a collection of people with an agenda, this league certainly attracts that.
I would prefer to call it a calciopolli type arrangement.
Interesting article, City have pissed pff, perhaps humiliated a lot of people in the EPL and Europe , I think we are seeing the results of that but city stubbornly resisting the tilt towards Liverpool and the incredible diving man
As for Arsenal it will only improve when the club have a word, Ivan was far too political, cannot see Stan getting involved there, the blogs and media won’t recognise anything wrong, the protagonists and fixers will know that
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AjaxTimes
@ajaxtimes
17h17 hours ago
🎙 — Erik ten Hag: “Pochettino said it’s unfair we have more time to prepare for the game? I don’t know about that. There’s always different conditions. We receive €10 million from TV rights, while Spurs get €200 million. Now what’s unfair?” #totaja
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Dan Critchlow
@afcDW
9m9 minutes ago
Liverpool u18s defeated Man. City 1-0 in the u18 PL today. They’d now have to win their final game 10-0 to finish top of the north division.
As a result, it’s almost certain Derby will finish top & face Arsenal in the playoff final, which will decide the overall champion.
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Shard, wasn’t having a go at you or anyone. Just bit agitated at moment, so gonna go with number one hundred and something of stepping back a bit.
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Stories coming out about Emery too obsessed with nullifying mid table opponents and employing confusing tactics, and strange pre game motivation.
Complete fabrication- Fake news, journalistic agendas or players throwing him under a bus?
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Cheers FH, re-reading perhaps its time I do a bit of proof reading first!
COYG!
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Interesting fact for the day.
The new Amsterdam Arena, new home of Ajax is built off the same basic blueprint as the Arsenal stadium and also has seats made from 100% sugarcane, which is pretty sweet if I may say so!
This is what you can get when you spend other the bare minimum but aren’t being project managed by a “great” businessman who would be right at home across the border from Ajax at Anderlecht.
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I have a thought that I’ve hesitated to bring up because I am wary of appearing presumptuous. So let me be clear that I am not criticizing the professionals, suggesting I know what they should be doing, or making a value judgement about the contrasting approaches. The only reasons I mention this are because I haven’t seen it explored and because I’m generally interested in others’ opinions.
In seasons past, when we’ve had wobbles, the manager was inclined to let the same first-choice players try to work through them, then he implemented clear changes to the team and/or the system. Examples are the “Vermaelen moment” when he dropped the club captain and the introduction of the back three. Usually to solidify the defense to achieve the objective of Champions League participation.
Now we have a leader whose systems and personnel have been flexible all season. This has proven effective for some stretches and for some matches — Chelsea and Tottenham come to mind — but I wonder if it leaves him without a clear response when performances and results go south.
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I have no problem with the discussion of the management set up, I just don’t know enough to contribute anything worthwhile to that discussion.
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New post is up.
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George I think I know even less then you.
When making a composition, a movie, building a team you usually have some kind of a director. Manager. Type thing.
The Arsenal have taken almost twelve months to find a director and they’re still looking!
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