Good day one and all.
Arsenal is hosting Crystal Palace at the Emirates Stadium this afternoon for their Premier League clash. This followed having avoided a Europa defeat against Vitória Guimarães after a shock loss to Sheffield on Monday night. Yes, it’s been quite a week.
The tale of Arsenal under Unai Emery has been consistent; flawed ‘build from the back’ style, lack of cutting edge and creativity despite the quality in our squad, with individual brilliance too often having to save the day. For a while the Cup games have offered fans an escape, but from the midweek game it seems that thrifty approach may have crept in there too. If we are honest, this week has been particularly damaging for Emery because it was expected of the Gunners to win both games at a canter. And one can’t help but feel if things continue this way the Spaniard may get called in for an inquisition.
Bit of good news now is that we got our first-choice front three all back. Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang had to carry the bulk of the attacking burden as Nicolas Pépé, who had no pre-season, still got to grips with the league and Alexandre Lacazette absent due to an ankle injury. With Pépé now having his shot of confidence with those two cracking free-kicks and Lacazette rid of most of the rust, it will be expected of Emery to coax better performances out of a very talented crop of players, especially with us now chasing down a top-four spot.
Roy Hodgson’s Eagles have ruffled some feathers at their nest this campaign with just one defeat in five, however, on the road they’ve been a bit patchy; two wins and two losses from four outings. With one of those wins at Old Trafford. I know, not all that surprising. And they’re 6th on the league table.
Nobody can deny that Crystal Palace has come a long way, at least no Gooner. The last five meetings between these sides the Gunners have only beaten them twice. Last season they took five points off of us and surely the Hodge must fancy their chances again, especially looking at our current form, or lack thereof, and defensive uncertainties.
Where are the days when this used to be a straight forward fixture?
We got Liverpool coming up on Wednesday in the Carabao Cup so Emery is expected to play his ‘league team’ to keep most of those that started vs Vitória fresh for that one.
Despite losing only twice all season the Gunners has been far from convincing. So this could be one of those tight ‘both teams to score’ matches, with Arsenal just doing enough for all three points. COYG!
@LaboGoon
Positively Arsenal 
No one expects The Spanish Inquisition
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Well small mercies Unai finally mustered up the Footballs to admit what we all knew, that what has happened and damaged the Gunners on the pitch with Rambo Koscielny Monreal and Ozil was simply his master’s bidding. Took a while, some twitching, but he finally admitted to being Raul’s gimp. The PR campaign against Ozil backfired and now he has to admit it’s not about the training, it’s all about Raul. A twitchy admission but an admission nonetheless. Made with a metaphorical twitch.
Unai has a twitch. A twitch that even has a name: Daddy Raul.
Oh dear.
at the least we now don’t have to pretend to wait for the team sheet to be released an hour before kick off in the forlorn hope that Unai’s instructions have been changed and Arsenal have returned to being a Football Club and not a vehical for Raul Montana to snort his way through the PL. You’ve got to take the crumbs or flakes that are available I suppose.
Hopefully the players might magic up some nice moves once or twice over the 90mins. Fingers crossed.
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Thanks Labo! Top work as always.
CÖYG!
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The love we lost, was a sweet love.
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fins I think Emery has admitted nothing of the sort, in fact I believe that “club strategy” is nothing more than the execs backing the head coach’s decision to leave out a player, despite that player being our highest earner, the execs are letting our Head Coach do what he was appointed to do, train and select the team and squad. Emery does not want Ozil, the higher ups are allowing him, rightly in my view, to make that decision, be it right or wrong, for me the execs and board should never have veto over team selection, but they certainly have veto over how long Emery stays as head coach, and if he wants to sabotage himself by leaving out Ozil, then on his head be it.
My view is that Emery has brought his leaving of Arsenal a major step closer by these comments.
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Eddie, that’s exactly how I view it too. Obviously Özil’s continued absence had came up and Emery told them he can reach his objectives without him, talking about how Torreira, who hardly gets any game time, is a more intelligent attacking midfielder.
That’s the hill Emery is willing to end his Arsenal career on.
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Eds I hope you are right.
The sequence with Ramsey, the desperate recall by Emery in March of both Rambo and Ozil to save his job, the revolt and lack of respect for and from Koscielny followed up by Monreal’s Middle Finger makes me consider otherwise.
If it his is his own decision so to speak that is only because he’s been egged on, not indulged. Egged on by the puppeteer who had Unai’s anointed replacement sitting next to him at the last home game. Unai only dances to Raul’s tune. Whether he knows it or not.
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yeah labo, Emerys ramblings about Torreira as an ACM make a mockery of his Ozil stance.
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well fins if Emery is unwittingly dancing to Raul’s tune then he is not smart enough to be our head coach to begin with.
We’ve had 18 months of Emery’s words and deeds, and in both cases he constantly contradicts himself, so I have little doubt that Ozil being left out is his own doing. He has form for this sort of thing when at PSG.
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Was out with friends last night. Still talking about how the board wanted someone the same as Wenger, how he inherited a mess, how , if we give Bruce time he’ll come good. Had to walk away.
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“if Emery is unwittingly dancing to Raul’s tune then he is not smart enough to be our head coach to begin with”
Eds that is what Shard has been saying for ten months!
He even speculated as to how Emery was coached through the application process by Rambo and given those tragic self-impaling comments on Torreira from this coach who has palpably lost the dressing room I am inclined to that understanding.
If Raul wasn’t 110% behind his man until it is time for the Special One to arrive he’d had told him to pack his bags after the Euro Final humiliation then he wouldn’t even be attempting to be the coach today.
We know Raul’s game:
“If you believe all the innuendo (and there is enough evidence out there to confirm) Sanllehi has been involved in terminating the contract of a beloved player with cancer, two tax frauds cases and a mob-like fight with the owners of PSG”
http://youaremyarsenal.com/raul-sanllehi-right-guy-lead-arsenal-right-now/
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Arsenal Women
@ArsenalWFC
·
4m
HALF-TIME: @ArsenalWFC
1-0 @ManCityWomen
@VivianneMiedema
‘s cool finish is the difference at the break
😎
🏆
@BarclaysFAWSL
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no Ozil in the squad once again
Arsenal: Leno; Chambers, Sokratis, David Luiz, Tierney; Guendouzi, Xhaka, Ceballos; Pepe, Lacazette, Aubameyang
Subs: Martinez, Bellerin, Holding, Kolasinac, Torreira, Martinelli, Saka
Crystal Palace: Hennessey; Ward, Tomkins, Cahill, Van Aanholt; Townsend, Milivojevic, McArthur, Kouyate, Zaha; Ayew
Subs: Henderson, Dann, Meyer, Schlupp, Benteke, McCarthy, Kelly
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Hence
Emery = Raul’s gimp.
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Tierny starts after cramping up in the 90th minute on Thursday. Starts today.
An athlete who picked up an hernia injury from fatigued, from being overplayed. Which is why Koscielny then Monreal followed Rambo & turned to Emery and said:
“Wallahi you are not a coach. See you later”
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Hopefully one of the players can lift the team above the poor /non-existent coaching and the Gunners can snag the three points, with this coach they’re going to need every point they can get! Which is why these consistent calls from Raul down, signing Litchensteiner letting Chambers go, Ramsey, Ozil, Koscielny, Monreal and all the other calls that cost the club an easy CL place last season and most likely this season – all these many calls costing a huge amount of revenue for the club they are most certainly not little Unai’s calls alone – he doesn’t have the Footballs for it.
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3 defenders and Torreira on the bench, but Emery can’t find room for Ozil, Willock or AMN, they must be just too damn attack minded for him.
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COYG
(those on the pitch and in the playoffs g squad!)
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Re Emery’s comments on Torreira:
helping out in midfield, running into the box, finding space around the box area and creating chances…
you’d swear he was talking about Ramsey.
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That this individual thinks he can talk to the Arsenal fan base about making chances using a recognised defensive midfielder (by the Uruguay coach at least! he might know something about the player…) in a forward role given the poverty of his team going forwards or backwards whilst dropping Ozil from the squad is self explanatory:
The man is a sloshing bullshit artist.
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There’s no way this squad are still onside with Emery.
Bellerin’s post match comments from such an articulate and admirable straight talking individual (unlike his currnent coach) were not innocent.
The slightest set back in any contest is going to be painful. It is painful watching anyway.
we’ll be watching a brittle team low on confidence and cohesion until they can get Emery (& by implication Raul!) out of their system.
COYG
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Mills
My method around all this is to watch an Arsenal Football that have been coached by an actual football coach who knows what a “Midfield” is and not by some agent’s patsy.
Am watching the WSL today
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our 10th league game of the season and we have Martin Atkinson as Ref for the 4th time
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Arsenal Supporters
@AFSCLondon
Why do we get the same refs every match?
V Newcastle – M Atkinson
V Burnley – M Dean
V Liverpool – A Taylor
V Spuds – M Atkinson
V Watford – A Taylor
V Villa – J Moss
V Man U – K Friend
V Bournemouth – M Atkinson
V Sheffield – M Dean
V Crystal Palace – M Atkinson
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dont blame you fins, last time I saw them play it was much more gripping than the mens game.
CÖYG!
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COYG
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Atkinson 4 times in 10 games
is there a scarcity of refs?
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Five mins in Palace dominating the midfield which is easy to do as Emery can’t set up a midfield and consequently in the ascendancy.
FML
The only silver lining is how Emery has exposed the parasites who pretended for so long that he was some kind of a football coach.
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Heh
Get in the big Greek!
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as the BBC live commentator says…
like London buses…
2 goals…
2 defenders…
lol
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Think it was two or three seasons ago an angry Hodgson left north London after a defeat where AW confessed they’d spotted a flaw in Roy’s team from set plays and trained to exploit it all week.
Looks like the same again. A Shame Emery’s USBs didn’t highlight this for him last season.
yep his only hope for salvation appears to be to copy the old gaffer.
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The crowd are singing the Torreira song when he’s not even in the pitch.
Interesting.
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our 48th BPL under Emery and we’ve yet to go 3-0 up,
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One day, our keepers will learn how to save just the odd pen, which will be nice, as we give so many away
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Arsenal Women
@ArsenalWFC
·
41m
A BIG win in the race for the title
😍
Arsenal Women 1-0 Man City Women
🏆
@BarclaysFAWSL
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And today we find out VAR can over rule original ref calls on pens, as long as it goes against us that is
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Expected a boost for Pepe after Thursday and the lucky clovers had still left their run on him today with those two dangerous corner deliveries.
Was it a pen on Zaha? Didn’t see many replays as I was out the room.
Fascinating to see Torreira picked as a harrying defensive midfielder at ten, it’s how Emery has been asking the midfielders to play for a whole season now, and to see Palace win that pen with one of their players spraying the ball over the top from that very zone of the pitch where Emery’s presser/ten is meant to be pressing.
Man, it’s been said by quite a lot of people but that one play encapsulates what a fraud of a coach that Emery is. If a player of Ramsey’s quality and level struggled to play this role he asks for then perhaps, he has no idea what it is he asking for?
Looks like the Gunners might need to play some Football alongside the set plays today. Fingers crossed they ignore their gaffer and play with and occasionally manage to retain the ball.
if we’re lucky they might manage another shot on target in this game.
COYG.
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Mandy
Did you event expect anything else?
There’s a reason Shotta ran a blog calling out the absurdity of a referee making the TV screen VAR replay motion with their hands when they are not allowed to look at said screen! Because Mike Riley is an obvious and known cheat.
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Guendouzi just eased off the ball by the Palace No.9.
The kid is not in any way a defensive midfielder. Not for a few years at least.
playing Torreira ahead of him might make some sense, after having a lobotomy.
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Ahead of him on the pitch in terms of position and ahead in terms of minutes.
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seemingly man utd given two phantom penalites v norwich, by VAR, both saved, but they lead 2-0
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Very true Finsbury
think we have now conceded either 4 or 5 pens, and been given 1 in the league this season, as usual, out on our own in terms of negative pen balance amongst the top clubs, and this season, amongst the whole prem league. If this rate of conceding carries on, we are heading for conceding around 19 pens and will smash Hulls high since 2000 of conceding 12 in a year. And as mentioned, our keepers save far less than the expected figure, about 75% of pens are scored in this league,we certainly do not make saves on 25% of pens.
If Raul is what many of us believe him to be, why isn’t he using a little influence to have a word with Riley?
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Atkinson tilting so hard for the Away team he’s making Riley hard.
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Jose’s driver has been summoned!
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you have to laugh, its now 2-2
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Ignoring the fact that the PGMO were blantently cheating in their favour the odds on Palace scoring again after their first were still pretty good, without the pgmo handicap. When the odds of the opponents scoring are so high even when ignoring the officials it’s hard to have any empathy for Emery. I don’t have any empathy for Emery. He can go!
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60 minutes and Saka is on for Xhaka, and our captain is not at all amused.
some idiot fans cheering the fact xhaka is being taken off
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Looks like we’re going for the 5-4! Pearls café….sums it up.
all together now “We’ve got Öööööööööööööööözil, Mesut ÖÖÖÖÖÖÖÖÖÖÖöööözil….”
Saka on for Xhaka?
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Looks like after Daddy Raul’s amazing management of Arsenal Football Club (though he has no qualifications to be doing this job!), after a transfer window so great that he deserved a statue next to Bergkamp, it looks like the Gunners are having to rely upon an 18 year old AW academy player to come off the bench and save them in th AW stadium.
Somehow Guendouzi stays on the pitch.
FML.
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Fingers crossed the Gunners get another from a set play.
Only two shots on target from open play in this home game so far.
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