Hello one and all.
In the absence of the wonderful Mill’s musings, it falls on me to carry the fading torch today. Me, my sunny disposition and in depth tactical knowledge, oh yes, you’re in for a treat today positives.
I would love to relate a story about a memorable visit to a North London Derby, but as I haven’t been within 200 miles of one, that’s not an option. However, there are some great memories from these games, and at the front of those are the first of two consecutive 5-2 wins during what I’m now reliably told was the “banter era”. 2-0 down against Bale, Modric, VDV and the rest of the Harry all stars. Mikel himself chipped a ball into the box and Sagna ran on to it , heading home from some 18 yards out, then Rosicky took the game by the scruff of the neck and RVP put them to the sword. It really was peak Wenger ball and a joy to behold.
So what have we got to look forward to on Wednesday evening? I would suggest it will be a far cry from Wenger ball, where creativity and players swashing their buckles was fundamental. It will be horse shoe possession inching our way up the pitch in the hope of getting a corner. Harsh you say? Well perhaps, but the evidence is right there in front of our eyes, every game, over and over. Our hope of a good game lies in the hands of the Spurs team, they are so gung-ho that they might drag us screaming and kicking into a good game of football.
At the time of writing this I don’t have the details of what our current injury woes are, so predicting a line up is pointless, but it’s not looking good. On the upside, Spurs have worse injury problems than us.
What I do know is the mood is not good, realistically dumped out of both domestic cups in a week, both home games, one of which was against 10 men of the worst United team the PL has seen. No matter how positive we want to be, we are more or less out of the running for the League Title, and have been since November.
If we don’t win this game I fear the worst, those calling for Arteta’s head will become relentlessly loud and obnoxious. Trenches will be dug and fans will fight each other with new social media whores popping up left, right and centre. I can’t think of a fixture that could be worse than this , if it goes wrong. On the flip side, because it’s Spurs, a win will pick us all up and at very least, kick the “Arteta Out” can down the road a good way.
Anyway, that’s it from me, let’s hope for a good game and a corner being turned into sunnier pastures. Enjoy it, after all, it’s only a game.
Pedantic George.
Positively Arsenal 
Thanks George, and for covering for me. It might be a few games yet before I can get back on it.
I loved reading your preview, for me personally, it was a tonic, grounded, realistic but still pretty positive. Put it this way, I still love Positively Arsenal the best. The torch keeps on burning!
COYG!
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the injury news is that Jesus is out for the rest of the season and maybe more, he will be having surgery on his ACL in his left knee in the coming days.
calafiori has a chance of being fit for the game
Nwaneri is doing light training on grass, but not back yet
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Memories of a NLD, well I’ve only been to one(86/87) and that was at shite hart lane, and its probably unfair for me to call it that as at the time they hadn’t long build a new stand and it was light years ahead of what we had at Highbury at the time, although I found the gradient of the upper tier very sharp, it made one feel like you would fall out of it if you jumped up too quickly. Arsenal won with goals from Tony Adams and Paul Davis. that win put us clear at the top of the table but we suffered a second half of the season collapse and finished 4th behind Everton, Liverpool and spurs
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“Horse shoe possession” I’m going to use that!
Good set up George.
Historically the home team in this derby does well. We are second in the table they are nowhere. We have a couple of injuries they have loads. We have already beaten them at their place this season. We are ARSENAL and they are spursy.
In spite of all this, as George points out, it is widely regarded that this is the worst time for us to play this game.
How bad must we have to have played recently for the gooner following to be worried about this game.
Is this really our shit attack against their shit defense. I know they do have some talented attacking players but on our day we can block out anyone.
We can play fast, good one touch football if we have the space to and if they come flying at us then we will find space.
We struggle most against teams who sit back and pack players behind the ball, the two previous games that have proved so frustrating that’s how the opposition set their stall out.
Angela and his girls don’t play like that which could prove absolutely fantastic for us COYG
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seen a stat that v man utd arsenal did not make one entry into their box through the very middle, it was to the sides and from out wide, not a single ball down the middle
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Nottingham Forest have taken an early lead at home to liverpool
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lots of reports today that Arsenal have agreed a deal to sign Martin Zumbimendi from Real Sociedad in the summer, £51M release clause.
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FT scores
Brentford 2-2 Man City
Chelsea 2-2 Bournemouth
West Ham 3-2 Fulham
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77 minutes
Forest 1-1 liverpool
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FT: Forest 1-1 liverpool
that puts liverpool 7pts clear of arsenal with the same games played. A real chance tomorrow for Arsenal to put some pressure on them with a win, but we know what usually happens when we have such chances.
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Momentum in sport is so important, and just at the moment we are stalled and windless. It was a racing certainty that having failed to convert the chances against 10-man United we would falter in the penalty shootout, and I suspect the players were as down as the fans after the game. It will take a massive dose of belief for them to pick themselves up for this evening, and the game will tell us much about morale in the camp. Should we score first (and its hard to see where a goal might come from) I hope that we push on and make the most of the advantage. Let’s also hope that we don’t lose any more players to injury as the barrel is pretty well-scraped as it is. Its hard not to see (as George suggests) tonight as not only a test of character but also a season defining game.
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Arsenal being linked with a move for Brentford’s Bryan Mbeumo
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Arsenal: Raya, Timber, Saliba, Gabriel, Lewis-Skelly, Partey, Rice, Odegaard, Trossard, Sterling, Havertz.
Subs: Neto, Tierney, Zinchenko, Kiwior, Jorginho, Merino, Butler-Oyedeji, Kabia, Martinelli.
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Spurs
Kinksy, Porro, Dragusin, Gray, Spence, Bissouma, Sarr, Bergvall, Kulusevski, Solanke, Son
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totally dominating so far but now fall behind to a deflected shot from a corner, we’ve seen this far too many times
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Gabrielllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllll 1-1 our first effort on target and we are level,
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Hooper is a dickhead like the rest of the PGMOL northern mob
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Trossarddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddd 2-1 to the Arsenal, this is what can happen when you actually shoot
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HT: Arsenal 2-1 Spurs
we went behind despite dominating possession, but it was sterile possession as we didn’t have a shot on target, then Gabriel scored from a corner, currently its doing down as an OG but I’d say he’ll be given it, then Trossard scored with a great finish, showing what can happen when you actually shoot.
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missing chances, could do with getting a two goal lead
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Martnelli on for Sterling
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Tierney on for Trossard
we are still fucking up great positions
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odegaard with an awful shot
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Merino and Zinchenko on for lewis-skelly and rice
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5 minutes of stoppage time to be played
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spurs hit the post
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FT: Arsenal 2-1 spurs
a win is a win is a win, but oh boy did we make hard work of that, missed far too many chances again, Havertz, Sterling and Odegaard with awful misses but the win puts us 4pts behind liverpool who have a game in hand.
Arsenal now 19pts ahead of spurs, mind the gap
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you know what, if Arsenal were to go out and get Sesko and Mbeumo in the next few days we could have a very special season, it would give the team a lift, it would ignite the fans and it would scare the shit out of opponents
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well fair play to the team. I wasn’t sure they had that performance in them. Top effort and all to play for now.
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arteta says arsenal will try to bring in a forward
rice also said arsenal need to bring in a forward
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Well it has often been said that football is a rollercoaster and that game certainly proved that. Not only because we had to come from behind but also in the performance of several of the players.
An absolute demonstration on this was when Odegaard brought the ball down out of the air sublimely and then delayed the five yard pass that then slowed us down and allowed them to get goalside again.
Partey made some really important and well timed tackles but tracking back he was slow and frankly awful.
I did think the back five were all excellent but they needed to be because defensively the midfield were non existent at times.
I was surprised, as Angela threw on more and more attackers, that our over cautious manager didn’t pad out the midfield until really late and even then the ever reliable Jourginio wasn’t brought on to plug the holes.
The main thing is that we beat the spuds twice and at a time when confidence was low this was a fantastic win.
This will give Mikel some money in the bank from the fanbase.
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Renée Slegers has been appointed full time manger of the Arsenal Womens team. She has done particularly well as interim manager for the last few months
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Saliba a doubt for the game v Aston Villa tomorrow, he missed training today, he on Wednesday was seen holding his hamstring near the end of the game.
none of the long term injured are back in the squad yet
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Theo Julienne has signed his first professional contract at the club. he is the first of this season’s intake to sign pro for Arsenal, he plays right back or midfield mostly
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Renée has not only been getting the results since her time in charge, but also the players all say her style allows them to play with more freedom and they are enjoying their football again compared to the safety first style of the previous manager. That’s a really interesting take on a particular style of management.
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yeah ian the women are playing with more attacking intent and with more freedom and dare I say with a smile on their faces. Oddly despite the increase in attacking the one player not to have thrived so far is Beth Mead, she had looked like she had downed tools under Jonas after her partner Vivenne Miedema was let go and since Renée has taken over she has been in and out of the starting 11, mostly only a sub. If I was a betting man I would put a few bob on her leaving in the summer for Man City women.
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Arsenal are said to be close to signing 18 year old midfielder Sverre Nypan from Rosenberg for a fee in the region of £10M
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Just seen that Denis Law has died, aged 84
the great Dennis Bergkamp was actually named after him, but the clerk in the registration office in the Netherlands would not accept the spelling with one n in Denis, so it was Dennis for our mr bergkamp
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Arsenal U18’s host QPR U18’s in the 4th round of the FA Youth Cup tomorrow evening, kick off 5pm, the winners play Fulham in the 5th round
I think Max Dowman is now old enough to play in this competition which would be a great boost to the team
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and on the topic of u18’s it looks like we will be losing Ayden Heaven, he should be with the U18’s tomorrow but instead tonight he is in Frankfurt to watch Eintracht Frankfurt vs. BVB. Frankfurt CEO, Markus Krösche, has confirmed he likes him and will try to sign him
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just to clarify, Ayden Heaven has been offered a contract by Arsenal but has so far refused to sign on, its reported he does not see a pathway to the first team.
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After the win over the spuds, Myles Lewis Skelly has been getting plaudits from all corners. Sky are saying although his total minutes are small, % wise his stats are right up there. 96% pass accuracy, that’s above all PL CB,’s (who normally dominate the PA stats) and comes top for duels won as well.
If we look at midfielders who broke into the team at full back obviously little B comes to mind straight away. However maybe the player who reminds us more of MLS is Michael Thomas and he didn’t do too bad. In fact one of his early games was the derby at the shit hole, second leg in the Littlewoods cup where like MLS he made a big difference.
Normally we would assume that once he has established himself on the team he will revert to his natural midfield position. Nowadays the inverted full back will play in midfield anyway and so he may well stay at left back.
It is quite amazing that after all the talk of Nwaneri being the new hero from the academy that MLS is the player digging his feet into the team.
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New post is up.
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