Hello and how are you?
Saturday the 22nd of February sees the Mighty Cannon back in action against our east London chums, West Ham, for the second and last time this season. Kick off is at 3.00pm western European time at Ashburton Grove.
Well time flies even if you’re not having fun or speeding out of Trumpton with a cargo of contraband? Time doesn’t fly at all, in fact what is time? It took me years to work it out, but I would be interested in any thoughts you had. What is interesting is that Einstein was correct when he said that time would go quicker the more we interact with technology. The days seem to slip through your fingers like small granules of sand. 5,4,3,2,1.
Is interacting with technology your life now, it is mine. I lament the days when I was closer to nature, even in my local park, nature has now been hacked and slashed and turned into anything but the tiny haven for animals and birds that it was and populated humans looking at their phones rather than any interesting flora, fungi or weather patterns. Humans seem to often think (for various reasons) that they aren’t part of nature, which seems very odd. If we aren’t then what are we?
Last time I wrote I found myself standing at the cemetery gates and asking myself was this where I wanted to be? During the ManUre game I had a certain media outlet’s commentary which was utterly biased against Arsenal, I only know this as I’m mostly biased towards Arsenal. This coupled with the live action, the more my blood pressure became intense, the more it became obvious the Guns weren’t going to win and the more it didn’t become a game any more, as I started thinking about a person I knew (who supported ManUre) who used to come up to my face and go on about “the Arsenal darkies”, at the time I was a snowflake about racism (now I’m just a snowflake about life) and had been actively involved the anti-apartheid movement. I hated the job I was in and at that moment and all my life, I almost couldn’t swallow that shit. But what to do, they said it, it was nasty, undignified, cowardly and antagonistic, I expected better behaviour, but why? Later such words didn’t affect me. But I ask myself wtf am I holding on to this, or any of the other horrible behaviours I experienced? Even worse why am I projected them onto other situations and ironically causing new prejudice myself?
I don’t think its just a football ‘problem’, but attaching things to phenomena and its creates all sorts of problems that aren’t really a problem and makes complex situation out of very little? Must have been terrible for Kai and Sophie, anyone whose very had life threatening forces coming for them knows that its traumatic, but the trouble is trauma gets worse the more you think about it, even more so the more the years fly by. By the time the inevitable penalties were coming around I knew what with the pain in my arm and jaw and tight chest and blurry vison it was switch that shite off or pop yer nat wats. Switch it off I did. I love Arsenal but not that much. I’m sure she has other lovers much more loyal though and perhaps already some pushing up the days eyes?
By way of therapy ( as well as trying to get some exercise, and failing to get rid of anxiety) I ended up watching all three series of Loudermilk on Netflix in the evenings, which I can recommend is much more interesting than having a heart attack or stroke over Arsenal fc FA Cup failure. Ed, I appreciated the words you wrote that day, thank you!
I found Loudermilk a really interesting series, about an asshole/good bloke who was a music critic and a head who sobered up and runs a group of other various ex-heads and we participate in the absurd, strange, funny and sometimes profoundly moving scenes with them. Anyone whose struggled with any kind of addiction, the episode involving Mugsy Bennigan in series three, I’m sure you would find quite moving, I did to tears.
I’m not much of an ideologist more interested in how it is and how it was, but I love that different voices and creations are coming forward in out time, oddball series like Shorsey and Letterkenny. Yet the over whelming nature of all streaming systems can leave you greedy and perhaps less cherishing than in days of yore when you got on the bus or train to buy a record or book etc or had to get your arsenal to the Kino for a film? Same in Arsenal world, how strange in my lifetime to go from starved to overwhelmed for all things Gunner?
What to do, all things change. If we try to conserve we end up trying to freeze things but this itself comes about because progress doesn’t always seem like progress? How anything plays out we don’t know, even the destruction of the earth doesn’t mean the end of on-going effects.But being stuck in the world of not knowing isn’t much fun either, and that’s where I swim these days, in fact probably all my days.Anyone got any armbands or rubber rings? This was something else that struck me while away from PA, how often loud voices pose as knowing voices, seems quite audacious and I can only say I envy their confidence!
Each game I suppose will now be about adapting to our injury problems in some ways its pretty interesting, who knows if any new youngster will make their way onto the stage and blow us away as they try and hope to grab our attention and later a big cheque.And for the shit they’ll pick up on the way, grab that cheque son, grab it. West Ham have had a kack season but still are a threat, but on our home turf I expect a decent result.Come on you Gunners give us five again!
The Arsenal have been given a 73.7% chance of winning and the Irons only 9.8%. In my true style I will be going into the game with my usual jellyfish emotions, hoping for a win but expecting anything could arise. But the more players like Merino that rise up and bang in a few goals the more of a smile we can expect on Gooner faces? But private faces are wiser and nicer than public faces in private places said Auden but the Small Faces reminded us to keep it all together, when half he moon is taken away.
Look after yourselves, till the next time. COYG!
Mills
Positively Arsenal 
Great to have you back Mills, take care of the health, Arsenal are not worth it, nothing is.
As is my think, a few players who played for both Arsenal and West Ham, well we signed Declan Rice from the hammers, Fabianski is still with WHU, so is Mavropanos, of the older brigade who remembers Freddie Ljunberg telling the world that he was actually moving up in the world when he signed for West Ham, when in fact West Ham has been a sort of retirement home for former Arsenal players, Almunia was even worse for them than he as for us, yeah really, Ian Wright, John Hartson, Jack Wilshere, Nigel Winterburn, Matt Upson, Yossi Benayoun, Samir Nasri, Kaba Diawara, Luis Boa Morte, Chamakh, David Bentley, and the other David Bentley, namely Henri Lansbury, Alex Song, Davor Suker, and Lucas Perez, and lets not forget the great Carl Jenkinson.
Looking at that list I think Arsenal got the better of the deal.
Anyway one other player to add to the list, a guy who made his debut as a 17 year old at right back for Arsenal v West Ham, although a midfielder he had an outstanding debut, and became a regular in the team, namely Stewart Robson. The lad looked like he had the world at his feet and was on the fringes of the England squad for the 86 World Cup, but an injury hit season probably cost him his place, and in fact probably cost him his Arsenal career, as he was sold by George Graham and he had an injury hit time at West Ham too and then with Coventry. Maybe too much too young, a cautionary tale for the youths breaking through now. Look at all the boy wonders who were crocks by the time they were 27. A name above Wilshere is another, for me Cesc was ran out by mid 20’s, as was wayne Rooney. Anyway I often wonder why Robson who had his best years at Arsenal has such obvious dislike if not hate for Arsenal in his media work.
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Reports that Roberto Olabe is to be the new DoF at Arsenal. He is currently DoF at Real Sociedad where he had previously been a player and manager.
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Arsenal U21 team v Newcastle: Setford, Rosiak, Salmon, Sweet, Nichols, Henry-Francis, Gower, Salah-Eddine, Ferdinand, Edwards, Kamara.
Subs: Nygaard, Ogunnaike, I. Oulad M’hand, ,Sagoe Jr Casey
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Ferdinand who was a late replacement for Sagoe Jr has put AFC ahead about 20 minutes in
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Edwards makes it 2-0 to the Arsenal U21’s
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Kamara makes it 3-0
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Seemingly Salah-Eddine is the star of the show so far, half time 3-0
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3-1, newcastle score a penalty, about 15 minutes left
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Salah-Eddine makes it 4-1 with a great freekick
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Jeorge Bird
@jeorgebird
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Full time. Arsenal 4 Newcastle 1. Excellent night for Arsenal U21s. Salah-Eddine was outstanding. Sweet was very good. Debuts for Ogunnaike and Casey as well. Ferdinand and Kamara made a significant impact
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Thanks Mills and glad to know you are on the mend. I’ve been lucky and found a ticket on the exchange, so looking forward to seeing young Nanweri live for the first time. Hoping also that Ben White and Calafiori get to play at some stage.
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Many thanks to Ed and Heady for the kind words. Here’s to a great game!
Ed, also Liam Brady also for the Arsenal/ West Ham connection.
COYG!
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ah Mills the memory of Liam Brady playing for the hammers was just too much for me to allow myself to remember, Brady was the first Arsenal player I adored, he had that something extra special, very few possess it. Him returning to England and playing for anyone but AFC was just too much, and for him to score a winning goal against us was the killer punch too.
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Raya, Timber, Saliba, Gabriel, Calafiori, Partey, Rice, Odegaard, Nwaneri, Trossard, Merino.
Subs: Neto, White, Tierney, Lewis-Skelly, Zinchenko, Kiwior, Jorginho, Butler-Oyedeji, Sterling
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Defender Zane Monlouis has confirmed that he is leaving Arsenal after 13 years at the club and is joining Toronto
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West Ham take the lead, with their first effort on target, we have been on top without causing them any real problems so far.
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HT: Arsenal 0-1 West Ham Utd
dominated possession but its sterile possession, paint by numbers football. West Ham score from a break with poor defending from us helping them
a big second half needed
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Rice and Calafiori off, MLS and Zinchenko on
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bottle jobs
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once again we are behind in a game and the closest thing we have to a forward on the bench is Nathan Butler-Oyedeji and our manager who loves to give youth a chance brings on defenders, White, MLS and Zinchenko, his only forward thinking sub was Sterling came on for the injured Nwaneri
Defeats are accepted by Arteta
We had something like 20 or 21 shots today, but only 2 on target, and neither troubled their keeper. And anyone who thinks Odegaard is a better player than Ozil was hasn’t got a scooby doo
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one of the silliest tweets I seen during the week was along the lines of how Arteta was always destined to be a world class coach cos of what he learned under Pep, Moyes and Wenger, something along the lines of Tactics under Pep, Defense under Moyes and Attack under Wenger,
What are these people watching, what do we do under Arteta that makes them think our attacking play under Arteta is prime Wenger attacking play. I seen a goal today that Rosicky scored, maybe it was v west ham or was scored on this day x years ago, but the contrast of that goal and the slow sterile attacking play we are served up under arteta couldn’t be more stark, the Rosicky goal was a typical Rosicky goal, it was fast one touch inter play between several players, with Rosicky involved couple of times in build up and a first time little chip over the diving keeper at the end. I was right through the middle of the defense. Currenlty the best chance we have of one touch play is one of our players miss controlling the ball to a team mate, its not in Arteta ball
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My TV is fucked and I rarely go anymore, so I could only listen to the commentary, so I can’t really comment on today’s game.
I have however seen the game Ed is describing lots of times under Mikel.
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of course you have Ian, its arteta ball, its the game plan, which is totally reliant on us taking the lead, and then being very hard to break down, there is nothing off the cuff, which means we will never see amazing attacking play, yes we will see some great goals, you will always see great goals, especially when you have Saka’s, Nwaneri’s, Martinelli’s, but the pattern of our attacking play will never be designed to go toe to toe in an attacking contest. I still maintain that the biggest reason why Arteta did not want Ozil was cos Mesut could not be programmed to ignore the best option and go with the preplanned option or tactic, Ozil would look to play the ball to the best option, even if that meant risking losing the ball.
Today was Everton, Fulham, Ipswich, again, and we seen those games so many times last season too.
26 EPL games played, failed to win in 11 of them, 8 draws and 3 defeats, not a single risk taken in any of those 11 games to win the games. Programmed football.
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The bigger picture, with the number options we have available, I believe is all of Edu’s and Mikel manufacturer.
The blitzkrieg destruction of the squad, then the old boys policy, then the scattergun gambles on potential policy, followed by the expensive sure thing policy.
With all that alongside the mass sale of academy players and the restriction on youth minutes meant that if we ever had injuries in one area we would be knackered and it has been proved.
Having said all that I don’t believe some of the fans and pundits jumping off the cliff saying ARSENAL will finish mid table. I never thought we would win the league this season because at first
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I thought city would win it early on and then I thought Liverpool and Chelsea would finish above us. So if we finish second we still would have done well.
As I have said every season, Mikel will never win the league but he could bring in a couple of pots.
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Ian not sure you seen it earlier, but Man Utd had 3 former Hale End lads in the subs today, Graczyk, Heaven and Chido with Chido coming on again today, he got 20 minutes.
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I said it a few weeks ago that Arsenal would have one of those days once there was a chink of light in the title race, LFC draw with Villa midweek and low and behold we have one of those days. If LFC keep winning we can expect Arsenal will go on a good run again, but once LFC have a slip up and we might have a chance of the title we will have another one of those days.
Why would I expect this, well this is the third title race where its happening, 24/25, 23/24 & 22/23, its not always a loss, its often just a draw or two.
The season before, 21/22 we threw away a CL place and the season before 20/21 we lost and drew loads of games till it was no longer in our own hands to ge european football and then finished the season with 4 wins to miss out by 1pts on qualifying.
Add in how our Europa league and CL campaigns have gone under Arteta, and don’t even mention the domestic cups since Arteta got his own players in. 13 cup knockouts since we last won a cup competition
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3 away games now upcoming, Nottingham Forrest on Wednesday, then PSV on the Tuesday in CL, and then Man Utd away on the Sunday.
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from jeorge bird – Cornelius Akaunu scored for Arsenal U16s against Brighton in a 3-1 win today. Liverpool youngster Akaunu is on trial at Arsenal. He played as a right winger today.
Akaunu played for the Arsenal U17’s earlier in the week in a friendly, and he had played for Spurs youth teams in trials earlier in the season.
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Arsenal Bingo
Which will be first,
a massive summer transfer rumor, probably a striker,
or
the release of a new training top, inspired by togetherness
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that defeat today was the first defeat in the league since we lost to Newcastle back on November 2nd,
that was 17 games ago, sounds impressive, a 15 game unbeaten run,
well that run had 5 draws, so 10 dropped points, so miking it that in the 17 games we have dropped 16 points.
also in 8 of the 17 games we scored 1 or less.
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8 draws in 26 EPL games so far, on that ratio we are heading for 11 or 12 draws in the 38 game season, we have 3 defeats too so 1 or 2 more defeats likely, that would see us with 78 or 80pts, that would see us 9 to 11 points down on last season.
So a big improvement is needed in our remaining 12 games to see us get anywhere near last seasons 89pts
Arsenal dropped points in 10 games last season, 5 draws, 5 defeats
But if we win all 12 remaining games we can match last season’s 89pts
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Ed, I think you’re correct that the chances are ARSENAL will not match our points total from last season. I also believe Liverpool will not match city’s either.
We have seen 10 points made up in the last 10 games before and looking at the form of the two teams that does look impossible but form can change especially in the run in.
Now I’m certainly not backing us to do that because of my expectations of the team and the manager but there is a small chance.
Because of the paint by numbers football injuries to the first eleven make a big difference and the return of Saka and Martinelli will completely change the team plays.
I think we should always look at the opposites so when we’re good we should look at the possible flaws in the team and when everyone is saying we are hopeless we should look at the positives.
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There is a post up.
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