Good Morning one and all.

This afternoon at 7.15 P.M. we take on Leicester at the home of football in a pay-per-view game. A blog could be written just on the rights and wrongs of this latest scam, but that’s for another day perhaps, and certainly for a more interested blogger.

In a season that seems to be throwing up odd results as a matter of course, it’s hard to predict how this encounter will go.

Brendan will bring his teeth and depleted team to Arsenal in the knowledge that it’s been 27 encounters since The Foxes last beat us on our own patch. Vardy has been injured so may not start, and Soyuncu, Ndidi, and Pereira are out. Arteta has his own problems, injury-wise, we seem to be down to the bare bones for centre-backs with only Luiz and Gabriel fit. Despite the shortage I expect him to persevere with 3 at the back and again use our best left back as a CB. I can’t see him deviating from our safety-first approach today, or any other day for that matter. The days of swash and buckel are well behind us.

I hope to see a Partey/Xhaka axis, but that’s not a given either as Arteta might want to see it operating against some little Irish fellows first.

It also seems that Willian is a doubt, we can but hope (read into that what you will).

For all his flaws, Brendan does like to play an open and attractive game of football, so hopefully we might join in, but I won’t hold my breath.

Given how bad some of the competition for a top 4 finish have been, so far, we must make hay while the Autumn sun shines. Let’s hope for 3 valuable points and a decent game of football, surely that’s not too much to ask?

Enjoy your day, friends, and stay safe.

Pedantic George.

Good morning all.

You might normally expect this to be the match preview, what with it being matchday and all. However, as I don’t know who we are playing, where and with which players, that’s not the case. Now, a fair question might be “Why don’t you know George, wtf is going on?” Let me try to explain where I am.

I don’t know these things because as things stand, I don’t care. I know we are playing in the Europa League, so it’s somewhere in Europe, it will be against a 3rd rate team and we will be putting out a 2nd string team to play them.

Still, this is nothing new, it happens most years in most qualifying groups, so why today do I have zero interest?

Well basically I am so disappointed in KSE, Arteta and the fan base that it’s drained my enthusiasm almost completely.

My mood hasn’t been lifted by the arrival of Arsene’s book and him popping up all over everywhere, full of class and insight, reminding me of what used to be.

Now we are stuck with KSE, who are prepared to do any scummy things to protect their bottom line. But hey, this also is not brand new, it has gotten worse though, since they acquired 100% of the club. There is no longer even a pretence to be custodians, it’s all in as a business venture.

Now we get to my big problem, namely Mikel Arteta. This is horrible for me personally, because as most people know, I was his biggest and earliest advocate. I wanted him as Arsene’s assistant while he was still playing. I wanted him to replace Arsene when the great man left and I was desperate for him to replace Emery. I was over the moon happy when he was appointed and really believed he was the best possible answer. How wrong was I?

It’s bad enough that he has the team so rigidly structured to defend that by half-time my eyes start to bleed, that he stands for 90+ minutes barking micro-instructions to every player as if he’s playing FIFA20 with real players, that there seems to be zero intention to play attractive football, but I’m being asked to see some sort of improvement. A plan even.

I’m being asked to accept that all will be well, that this depressingly mundane football is going to morph into a team that will entertain AND win stuff. Well I don’t see it and I can’t see it coming.

Now we get to the Ozil fiasco. We find ourselves in the crazy situation where our best player isn’t registered to play, and we are expected to believe it’s for “football reasons” ?!?!?!

Right, that leaves me to conclude that Arteta is lying and is a puppet for KSE, or he is an idiot and such a poor manager that he can’t coach the most talented player at the club. There is no other option.

Now I, and many more, are put in the situation that we follow a club that is acting without a shred of class, a manager that thinks he can talk any old bollocks and we will believe it while disrespecting a player that has been a joy to watch and given us so much.

It’s possible to want the team to succeed, the players that turn out, to do well AND be disgusted in the way that KSE and Arteta are behaving.

Is this what we want? Is this what we hoped for when Arteta came in? Is this the club you fell in love with? Well I can tell you now, it’s NO from me.

Anyway, I hope we win tonight and I might even watch the game.

See you all soon.

Pedantic George.

Good morning all, The Ozil saga seems to have put a dark cloud over me and effected my ability to look objectively at the game. So I have shamelessly stolen todays review from the comments section and a post from our old friend @arse_or_brain

“Firstly lets put the game into context, we are a team in transition after being absolutely torn apart by the owners appointment of Raul and in turn his appointment of the really boring Unai. This against one of the biggest spenders and best teams in Europe over the last few years.
As city were at home it should of been on them to attack and to entertain but that didn’t happen there goal after 23 minutes was if anything against the run of play Ceballos outpaced by Sergio through the middle of midfield and not tracking back enough to even follow the striker this leaving Luis exposed forcing Hector to come central to cover and when the ball went out to Foden he therefore was able to cut inside a struggling Hector trying to get back in position. The shot was parred by Leno but not sideward, just straight back out to the two city strikers waiting to tap it into the net after Leno decided to stay on his knees and not to try and save the second shot. The players who had got back into the area was marking space rather than picking up the only two city players in the area.
A real sloppy goal to concede after playing so well at the start. We wobbled a bit after that and Leno had to make a point blank save from Foden to keep us in the game.
We then rallied and created two very good chances with Saka skipping past a few challenges exchanging a 1-2 and only being stopped by the keepers shoulder the ball then swirling up and bouncing up past the post. Aubameyang then had a one on one with the keeper only to see his shot smothered, and we all know if Auba doesn’t score he adds nothing to the team.
Then the two most controversial incidents firstly a kung fu kick to Gabriel’s head in the area that VAR magically didn’t even review. It would of been deemed dangerous play anywhere else on the pitch but the homer ref remarkably didn’t see it, it is a points like this when you think the game is corrupt. Also Sergio decided it would be fun to grab the female official by the neck until she forcibly pushed his arm away and told him to get off. Remarkably he wasn’t sent off and of course none of the media talked about this incident at all.
The second half we started well again but started losing our way and subs were needed, with 20 minutes to go we have seen Arsene go with five strikers but Mikel replaced Willian with Lacazette who only seemed to foul city players and never really get in the game.
The next Subs came to late, Partey coming on for Xhaka who had been playing really well instead of ceballos who wasn’t. At the same time Eddie came on for Pepe but was played wide rather than central where he could of hassled the city defence.
Mikel said the players were courageous for imposing our playing style on city and that definitely reflected in the amount of fouls city committed and the bookings they picked up even with a very lenient and bias ref.
Where we weren’t courageous was playing the ball forward and at times we were playing excellent football just trying to get the ball back to the CBs if we showed that style going forward we would have won easily.
Overall taking the game in context we played well, certainly as well as city but in these games you have to be clinical in attack, 100% focused in defence and have fair officials none of which we had today. However I do believe we are growing we just have to be patient for a little longer.”

Good morning positive and hopeful Gooners.

The team makes it’s way up the M6 to face Mikel’s mate Pep and his team of all stars. There is never a good time to play Manchester City, but now seems as good as any. They recently got an unexpected spanking from Leicester and are without their star playmaker, KDB and don’t appear to have a centre forward to field.

It looks like we can start Tierney, after breaking him our of Covid prison in Scotland and we also have Partey available for selection for the fist time. Given our success against then in the FA Cup semi final I expect us to play similar game, that means 5 at the back and the MF prioritising shielding, so Mikel might be tempted to play those that are used to the system and each other. It wouldn’t surprise me to see Xhaka and Elneney start the game. If we can come through the first half hour unscathed, recent history shows them to be vulnerable.

There is a lot of optimism surrounding our team, more than our level of play justifies me thinks, but if the players also feel this optimism then that will serve us well.

The only thing I’m sure of is that whoever Mikel starts, huge swaths of the fanbase will think he’s gotten it wrong, but a good result is the best answer to any critics.

Another thing I’m sure of is that they will attack us relentlessly, even more than normal, because the lack of KDB means we will see less of the ball, as the price of his creativity comes at him turning over possession a lot, he probably gives up the ball more than the rest of them put together, he’s a bit Sanchez like in that respect.

Lets just hope their new £130 million centre back pairing struggles to gel and Walker frequently falls asleep in the area Aubameyang patrols, it will be a test for Walker as he usually has a speed advantage, well he won’t have one today.

OK, people, enjoy the game and I’ll see you tomorrow.

COME ON YOU GUNNERS

Pedantic George.

Hello the remaining inhabitants of Positively Arsenal. I hope you are all well and coping with the stress of the transfer window, a trauma that appears to be dwarfing that insignificant little virus knocking about. Our poor fanbase is worrying itself to death about possible comings and goings, but the end is nigh, thank fook.

Anyway, to matters more pressing, at 2 pm on Sunday we take on Sheffield United at the home of football.

Now Arsenal are in either great shape or in a right old state, depending on which extreme side of the fence you have jumped down on. Results , of late ,have been decent although performances have been unspectacular. We are at the stage where this is about all we can hope for.

We played well against Fulham, although everyone does, but the games against West Ham and Liverpool were solid at best. I expect “solid” again on Sunday afternoon.

Sheffield have yet to score aa goal, let alone win a point, so we really should be winning this one. However, despite their lack of goals and points, they haven’t played half bad, we only overtook them in the table on the final day of the season, so on results over the distance, the teams are evenly matched. A bit of a worry is that we only managed one point against them last season.

As for our selection, your guess is s good as mine, but my best guess is Leno, Hector, Holding , Luiz, Tierney, AMN, Xhaka, Ceballos, Willian, Aubameyang and Lacazette.

Sheffield also play 3 at the back so I think it will be a rather dour affair, but if we get the points, that will sweeten it enough for now.

Enjoy the game and stay safe and well.

Pedantic George.

For the second time in a matter of days Arsenal make the long trip to Anfield to face Liverpool; this time for a spot in the quarter-finals of the Carabao Cup. The Gunners lost to the Reds on Monday night in a Premier League clash, 3-1.

Good day one all.

In spite of improvements since Mikel Arteta’s arrival, Monday was a reminder that we still got a long way to go if we are to challenge for the Premier League title; which champions Liverpool are favourites to retain while we are hoping to get back into the top-four. I say this because in the face of defeat it is easy to lose perspective.

The last two seasons Liverpool got 97 and 99 points respectively, while Arsenal finished the last four outside the top-four. The last three seasons we averaged 63 points. It sucks but is the reality of where these teams are at the moment.

Unai Emery arrived as a quick fix to get us back to the Champions League spots, after finishing outside it in Arsène Wenger’s last two seasons, but all he did was rip the soul out of this team. Seasoned professionals were forced out, others froze out, a few others want out and most whom he signed are on their way out. That is the dung Mikel stepped into and the wreckage from which he has to start the rebuild in his first job in the hot seat. Then there are those in charge of the club who are not playing with a full deck, which force him to put on a brave face and just try to get on with it. So without a full season nor a pre-season, seems unfair to be aiming brickbats at him – in my opinion at least.

Be that as it may, Liverpool were where we are and Jurgen Klopp didn’t turn it around overnight, but it took patience, smart recruitment, trust from the fans and so much more.

Today they’re a machine, especially at home where they are practically invincible. They didn’t had it all their way the other night though, despite the 3-1 score, we caught their defense flat-footed a few times and, on another day, may have pinched a point. Alas, we live to fight another day.

Mikel has done well and really seem to enjoy these battles against the ‘big six’ in Cup games… and with Klopp expecting to make sweeping changes, who knows. Still, any trip to Anfield remains one of the toughest in English football and if we are to get the better of them, the Spaniard will be asking a lot more from his players than they showed the other night.

Team news

Mikel Arteta is expected to ring in the changes as well, however, they are not be as fancy as his German counterpart, as we are still limited due to injury concerns.

Cédric Soares and Sokratis (unless on his way out) are available, which can help ease said concerns, and this is an ideal opportunity for them to get some minutes under their belts.

Gabriel Magalhães, a surprise omission Monday, Dani Ceballos and Bukayo Saka are all expected back. Maybe Runar Alex Runarsson and William Saliba will finally make their competitive debuts.

Prediction

Arsenal have not beaten Liverpool on the road since September 2012 in all competitions but, all things considered, I wouldn’t bet against us. Cup games are refereed more evenly, which opens things a bit.

While the game may not live up that epic 5-5 showdown of last season, I doubt it will be short on entertainment. COYG!

— @LaboGoon