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The New Dawn

Posted by pedantic George @arseblagger on December 21, 2019 in All Posts
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It’s still a few days till Christmas but with Mikel Arteta already unwrapped as Arsenal’s new boss, it sure feels like it came early with a genuine buzz of excitement amongst most Gooners. However, he’s not taking charge yet.
Seasons greetings all. Arsenal are at Goodison Park this afternoon for their Premier League clash against Everton, with quite a few similarities between these sides.
Following the sackings of Unai Emery and Marco Silva, both clubs are currently interimly led by former players, Freddie Ljungberg and Duncan Ferguson respectively. And with Arteta’s appointment now finalized and that of Carlo Ancelotti expected soon, both will be watching from the stands before taking over the reins.
By keeping Freddie from having his own coaching staff it was always clear that Arsenal’s chiefs were going to make a decision sooner rather than later regarding the permanent head-coach position going into the festive run. And while Arteta’s appointment is expected to raise a few brows, his return should be regarded as a fresh start for a team that have not yet recovered from their end-of-season dip last campaign.
What many should remember is that this is anything but a rash decision. The Spaniard has been on the club’s radar for some time and was expected to be Arsène Wenger’s natural successor, however, the clubs hierarchy went for Emery instead.
With the acknowledgement now that there will be no quick fix, one Arteta’s immediate tasks will be to improve performances, particularly in midfield and defense, embossing his personal touch from the outset to try stop our slide further away from teams challenging for Champions League qualifying spots.
While Arsenal didn’t get the “new manager bounce” under Freddie, despite otherwise hopeful performances, Duncan Ferguson seems to have sparked quite an upturn in form for Everton, who had a run a three straight defeats before he took over. They got a big win at home against Chelsea, followed by a well-deserved draw with Man United at Old Trafford; a result which has put three points between themselves and the drop zone.
With Ancelotti’s appointment yet to be made formal having Big Dunc, as he’s affectionately known around Goodison, in the dugout could be a silver lining; as he could take the momentum from their games against Chelsea, Man United and Leicester to the Gunners.
Team News
There are a few selection issues in defense for the Gunners, including Sokratis Papastathopoulos who will miss out due to serving a one-match-ban. Sead Kolasinac is ruled out till January, while Hector Bellerìn, Rob Holding, as well as Mesut Özil are to be assessed prior to the game. Granit Xhaka is available and ready to jump right back in.
If Hector is not ready we could see some remodeling to our defense to accommodate Ainsley Maitland-Niles in place of the Bosnian.
Alexandre Lacazette will be itching to get a start after spending some time on the bench of late.
Prediction
This game is being played under such unusual circumstances that it’s difficult to predict an outcome.
Everton have impressed under Big Dunc, so what better way to sign off with three points while at the same time wanting to impress the Italian. Whilst the Arsenal players as well as Freddie would want to do the same to mark the inspirational return of one Mikel Arteta, who led the side to their first trophy of the Emirates Stadium era.
In closing this quote from Santi Cazorla when asked whether his good friend has what it takes to be successful at Arsenal:
“He has the personality to do so and those who think otherwise are very much mistaken. He is not the sort of person who will shy away from making the most difficult and drastic decisions he might have to.”
On whether he might join as an assistant:
“In the future, who knows?”
I haven’t been this excited looking forward to an Arsenal game in ages. COYG!
— @LaboGoon
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Football Is Coming Home

Posted by pedantic George @arseblagger on December 20, 2019 in All Posts

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It’s official, Mikel Arteta is the new Arsenal head coach. 

Since the departure of Unai Emery there have been endless discussions , articles, podcasts and twitter threads from people with various levels of insight and knowledge, about who should take over. As ever, just about everyone is positive that their choice is the right choice and any other choice will be a huge mistake by the imbeciles running the club. Now that Arteta is confirmed there will be endless discussions, articles, podcasts and twitter threads telling us why it is the right thing, or why it’s total bollocks of an appointment. So, let me start.

I have wanted Mikel as our manager, above all others, since his final year as club captain. Why? Because he was Arsene on the field when he played. He was for me the epitome of everything good at Arsenal. He put in 100% every minute of every game, he led, instructed, cajoled and fought, all while showing a style of play that was the essence of Wengerball.

Of course that was as a player, other players have done as much, so why him as a coach , you might reasonably ask?

Well it was because of his clear understanding of the game, everything he said and did reflected a grasp of shape , tactics, tempo and desire that I felt he would bring to the table as a manager/coach.

Every interview, every word about how he saw the game , every moment spent discussing with Arsene, suggested he had the credentials.

We have all seen the quotes from Arsene, Pep and Poch, waxing lyrical about his potential, I can’t really think of three better endorsees.

I am led to believe he was hugely respected by his team mates, but not particularly popular, Why? Because he demand they all give their all in games and training and was quick to let them know they when they should be giving more. Well isn’t that exactly what we want from a coach?

I for one could not be happier. Yes he faces many problems with the squad, he has no experience, but so what? The appointment gives me hope that we will see, sooner or later,  the return of the kind of football that I want to watch, the values that I want to support and the return of The Arsenal I love.

Mikel came to us at our lowest ebb as a player and he comes to us at a bad period now, if he has half the effect he had as a player, good times will return.

I simply love the man.

I will leave you with the words and thoughts of the man himself ,

“When I was younger my dream was always to play for Barcelona. But after that, if you had asked me where I would like to play when I first arrived in the UK, the answer would have been Arsenal – and that’s the truth. The way they played, the team they had, the philosophy of attacking football, they enjoyed playing the way I do and I would have chosen them ahead of any other. Now that I’m here, I feel so proud to be part of this football club. What they’ve done with it, how they’ve managed it and built it up, is unbelievable.”

and

“One is Arsène Wenger, of course – he has a philosophy that he’s never going to change because he really believes in it. That is the most important thing, because if you don’t really believe in something then you’ll just change it after one bad result and drive your players crazy.”

Now than , as they say  This IS MY MANAGER !

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Arsenal Outclassed By City – Remember The Titanic

Posted by shotta_gooner on December 16, 2019 in All Posts

In this edition Shotta and Blackburn George, discuss Arsenal’s 3-0 defeat at home to Manchester City; how the gunners were outclassed particularly in midfield and explain why this is further evidence of a grim future for the club. Is the Titanic afloat or sinking? Should we take to the liferafts or stay on deck?

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Arteta Returns Today- With City.

Posted by pedantic George @arseblagger on December 15, 2019 in All Posts
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Arsenal host the Premier League defending champions Manchester City at the Emirates Stadium this afternoon; with both sides having ropy league campaigns thus far.
Good day all. The Gunners finally ended their winless run with a win at West Ham United, which they followed up by coming back from two-goals down for a draw at Standard Liège to qualify for the Europa League ’round of 32′ as group winners.
It’s still just one win in four games since Freddie Ljungberg took over, but he will hope his side can kick on against a Man City outfit that’s already 17 points behind leaders Liverpool and in a position of rare vulnerability in the Pep Guardiola era.
After averaging a massive 99 pts in the last two seasons, getting 32 pts from 16 games is Pep’s worst start to a league campaign in his glowing managerial career. His side have already lost as many games as they did last season, which include defeats to Norwich and Wolves, they also dropped two points on a recent trip to Newcastle. If you factor in that they’re on the back of a 10-game run without a clean sheet, this is the sort of form that can cause doubt in the minds of players and indeed a manager who have set very high standards for themselves.
Well… phhh! All these may mean very little considering Arsenal’s issues a bit more deep-seated, however, there should still be a strong belief that they are there for the taking. Otherwise what would be the point?
It goes without saying that we don’t have a particularly good record against the Cityzens in recent years; they have beaten us with an aggregate score of 14-2 in the last five encounters (all competitions). But we can’t exactly evade them, and seldom has there been a more opportune time to play them. While they still remain a threat up front, things are not happening at the back for them. So if we defend well enough and make the most of our scoring chances… wouldn’t that be a gigantic feather in Freddie’s cap, which would be a bit hard to ignore for our executives?
His few games as interim coach hasn’t exactly been ideal and having Mikel Arteta, who is one of the potential candidates for the Arsenal job, in the opposition dugout would add a rather interesting subplot as we vie for a first league win against the Cityzens since December 2015.
Team News
Nicolas Pépé is available after initial fears over his fitness, whilst Hector Bellerìn and Granit Xhaka might only return hereafter. Dani Ceballos and Rob Holding are also nearing returns, Kieran Tierney is ruled out for the next three months.
Gabriel Martinelli will be hopeful of getting a second league start after scoring at West Ham and I doubt any Arsenal fan will complain. Kid has been impressive.
Prediction
For all of Man City’s problems it would be foolish thinking they’re not favourites for the win, however, they are under pressure to pick up results otherwise they can forget about getting a sniff in the race for the league title.
That pressure, of course, is something Arsenal can target as the visitors have shown they’re more prone to slip-ups recently than at any point during Pep’s tenure. So neither Freddie nor supporters have to feel apprehensive about our chances here today and just back the boys. I think there’s a genuine willingness in them to give more than they did these last few months and this could be an exciting game.
Keep those fingers crossed Gooners. COYG!
— @LaboGoon
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Another Worrying Performance.

Posted by pedantic George @arseblagger on December 13, 2019 in All Posts

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Good morning campers

Arsenal have qualified through the group stages in Europe for the 18th consecutive season, albeit the last two in the 2nd tier competition.

Last night we managed it courtesy of the result in the other fixture and our own opponents being rather poor, although they were good enough to build up a two  goal lead. Or should I say we were bad enough to go two goals behind.

I don’t intend to dissect the game or crucify certain players because frankly the team and just about every player struggled, all I will say is that none of the usual scapegoats played, so it’s a struggle for their haters to blame them.

In mitigation Freddie has several injuries to cope with and a good few more that really needed the rest with our festive fixture list iminent.

Once again we see how a goal and an assist suddenly turn player that struggled in a game against third tier opponents  into a world beater that should start in the PL against very much top tier opponents in the PL come sunday. Well, according to many fans that is.

With Xhaka out I fear for our midfield come Sunday, City probably have the best midfield in the world, and we? Well we just don’t have one.

But it’s not all doom and gloom because Martinelli took only 15 minutes to impress.

P.S. Let’s not be falling out over politics.

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Standard Liège vs Arsenal

Posted by pedantic George @arseblagger on December 12, 2019 in All Posts
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On the back of Freddie Ljungberg’s first win as interim boss, Arsenal travel across the English Channel to face Standard Liège at their Stade de Sclessin for our final Europa League Group F clash.
Good day all. For the Gunners to advance to this season’s knockout stage the task is very simple, just avoid a heavy defeat; whilst Standard not only have to do the sensational to beat the North London side by five goals, but also rely on a result elsewhere going in their favour – sounds like a decent enough chance.
For Arsenal supporters the last few weeks haven’t been easy, but after an agonizing run the football gods finally smile down on us as Freddie finally got something to bounce off with a 3-1 victory at West Ham United. For large parts during the first half of that game it seemed like it’s going to be another of those nights, however, after the hour mark all that changed as football memories came flooding back and the boys remembered what they’re made of.
Freddie’s task will now be to keep the switch on, get back a sense of balance from which to create a stable platform to build so we can dominate games from the onset. We got such a talented group of players, one certainly more than capable of going all the way in the Europa. There are still a lots of work to be done though, so many edges that need smoothing instead of getting too ahead.
Standard Liège are unbeaten in five straight games (all competitions) since the last inter-break, a run in which they scored 10 goals. So they should feel reasonably encouraged coming into this one. They have quite a handy record at home too having won 12 of their last 14 matches in front of their own crowd.
The Gunners should be a different challenge to what they’re used to though, having already beaten them 4-0 in the reverse fixture. So if the home side got genuine designs on making it through to the ’round of 32′, simply beating the Gunners won’t cut it, they have to smash us. Meaning they got little option but to throw us with the kitchen sink from the first minute; which is the sort of desperation that could work in our favour as it will leave lots of open spaces in behind for us to take advantage of. So whatever any of you guys do make sure not to miss this one, or at least the first half, because it could be quite the spectacle.
Team News
Monday night took a bit out the squad with Nicolas Pépé (knee),  Hector Bellerìn (hamstring), Kieran Tierney (shoulder) and Granit Xhaka (concussion) joining Dani Ceballos and Rob Holding on the sidelines. Shkodran Mustafi is suspended for this encounter.
Getting in the swing of the festive as fixtures comes thick and fast, we can expect quite a bit of rotation to ensure players are being kept fresh and others a few extra days to recover from knocks.
Prediction
Coming off their first win in a while the Gunners will have a spring in the step and should feel confident of getting a result here. However, the Belgian’s home crowd are enjoying quite a ride with their side, and will be right behind them all the way hoping for an upset against a young-ish Gunners outfit. We should get some decent chances though in an expected open game.
Having seen some dire football in recent months, this game is going to be scrappy in bits but I doubt it will fall short in entertainment value. Get in there Arsenal… COYG!
— @LaboGoon
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Are We Arsenal Supporters Or Glory Hunters?

Posted by pedantic George @arseblagger on December 10, 2019 in All Posts
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I’ve been a Gooner for over 50 years, I really began supporting Arsenal off the back of losing two League Cup finals, 1968 & 1969, so you can see as a child I was not in it for the Glory, and to this day nothing has changed.  The Glory is a happy by product of when things go very well for Arsenal, but supporting a club is about far more than just the glory days.  If it wasn’t none of us would stick with any club for very long.  And we would certainly have jumped ship during the hard times, hard times such as the one we currently find ourselves in.  For me this is just another one of those poor runs for the club, I’ve seen it all before, in fact I’ve seen it much worse.
The 76 and 77 seasons were dire, yes we never really fell into the bottom 3 relegation places, but we just barely stayed above them as we hovered near them all season long.  It was really a case of there being a enough clubs worse than us.  Of course we had the belief in “We Are THE ARSENAL” and we don’t get relegated.  The football was dire, the pitches were dire, it was only 5 years earlier that we had won the Double and followed that up with a great run the European Cup, only narrowly failing to the great Ajax side.  Now when I look back I feel that if we could have won it that year our whole history would have changed.  We may very well have done what Liverpool went on to do in the 70’s and early 80’s, instead our brilliant young team and squad that won the double in 71 was broke up very quickly, and was replaced by journey men and kids, some who were just not up to it, but we had solace in the emergence of a brilliant young Irish kid with a left peg that made dreams come true, the great Liam Chippy Brady.
Much like now we were in the aftermath of having let go a Title winning manager, in Bertie Mee, the first Manager I’d know in my time as a supporter.  The search for his ideal replacement was very much like what we seen now in the search for a suitable replacement for Wenger, and if truth be told it’s the very same search we’ve seen after every manager or head coach we’ve had in those 50+ years, and if we delve into the History of Arsenal, it’s the same search we’ve had all but once in our entire time in existence.  Herbert Chapman is the only truly big name manager we’ve ever appointed.
Let me explain what I mean by that.  Here is what I’ve seen from Mee to Emery.
To replace Mee Arsenal went for Real Madrid’s Miljan Miljanic, as our Chairman, Denis Hillwood wanted to go big, make Arsenal a super power not only in England but in Europe too, but somehow when that deal went tits up we ended up with Terry Neill, who had been having a rough time in charge of Spurs.
When Neill’s time was up we went for Bobby Robson but he was only a year in the England job and would not leave it. So Don Howe became our manger.  Howe actually resigned when he found out David Dein was in talks with Terry Venables who was Head Coach at Barcelona at the time, and when that deal was not done we went for Alex Ferguson, but that deal broke down because he was Managing Scotland at the World Cup and we were not prepared to wait till it was over so we ended up hiring George Graham from second division Millwall.
When Graham was drummed out after the FA banned him for a year, once again Bobby Robson was a target, but he was undergoing treatment for Cancer at the time, and had just won the league with Porto, so talks did not go anywhere and so once more we went for a manger from the lower leagues, in Bruce Rioch who had just weeks earlier won promotion with Bolton.
A year in and Rioch was replaced, by Arsene Wenger, or Arsene Who as the media dubbed him.  He had won the title in France with Monaco, but he was sacked by them and then ended up out in Japan, which is where we brought him from. After Arsene we were linked with all sorts, but hired the unattached Unai Emery, who despite winning the treble in France his failure to advance in the CL seen him drummed out of PSG.
So what can we expect in our search for a new Head Coach, well lots and lots of names to be linked, one or maybe two Coaches with the highest reputations, and then for us to hire some lesser know or to appoint from within or a former Arsenal player, so for me it is far more likely that we hire Freddie or Arteta, or Vieira or even Henry, than we are to hire Allegri, or Simone or the like.
Anyway, back to the football, well its poor by the standards of the best of Graham or Wenger eras, but its bloody fantastic compared to most of what we saw in the 76 and 77 seasons  And on the subject of what we saw back then.  Well if you were not a match goer, you only saw the goals or at best a five to ten minute highlight reel on Match of the Day, or my favorite, the Big Match which was shown Lunchtime on a Sunday.  In my region here it was UTV, but they took the LWT version, so it meant Arsenal got lots of exposure.  I seen so little of the Arsenal that even just a few minutes even in defeat was bloody great, it was something to look forward to.  I read everything and anything concerning Arsenal, I bought the like of Shoot and Match and Football Monthly just to get any mention of Arsenal.  All very innocent stuff, there was no doubting my support, no matter how results went, you see Results was only part of being an Arsenal supporter. For me it still is, although in a different way, maybe a more adult way, after all I was a kid then but those days are a distant memory.  But despite Arsenal having a different place in my priorities now, and meaning something a little different, it’s still my Arsenal, I’m still a Gooner, and I know from experience that our current run of form, and that is what it is, a run of form, is not set in stone, and it too shall pass, and better times will come again, and go again, and come again and so on and so forth for as long as I or any of you support The Arsenal.
eduardo1966
@edminton1966
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Come On Freddie, Let’s Hammer The Hammers

Posted by pedantic George @arseblagger on December 9, 2019 in All Posts
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Arsenal make the short trip across the capital to take on West Ham United at their London Stadium. Both sides are short of results as the Gunners come into this match having won two of their last 13 Premier League matches, the Hammers only one in their previous nine.
Good day all. It goes without saying that Arsenal find themselves in a bit of a crisis and in need of a win to lift both the players and supporters. With so much happening behind the scenes in recent months, mostly baffling stuff, results were bound to suffer and it culminated in interim boss Freddie Ljungberg receiving the proverbial hospital pass. There’s general unhappiness with the way Raul Sanllehi and the Kroenkes dealt with the Unai Emery situation but for me that’s a fight for another day as Freddie and the boys need all hands on deck to help navigate the club through a chock full festive fixture list.
It’s always said that supporting Arsenal is like riding a rollercoaster and guess what, we are still on the ride so just make those straps a bit tighter. We are not always going to the scenic route.
Whilst the Gunners have given us little, if anything, to crow about all season, the Hammers are one of the few sides not doing any better, especially in front of their own crowd where they are winless in their last four home fixtures (D1, L3). The West Ham faithful have grown extremely frustrated, which has only increased pressure on their players and manager Manuel Pellegrini.
Pellegrini has been around the block longer than most though and will look at Arsenal’s recent results and feel that we are there for the taking, especially considering that two of their four league wins this season were against Man United and Chelsea. If they win today it will move them level on points with the Gunners and how much of a tonic will that be?
Freddie can do with one himself. Picking up just one from a possible six points, in the two matches following Emery’s sacking, hasn’t done him any favours if he got any designs on making his interim job a fulltime one.
Recent reports tells that Arsenal are stepping up their search for a permanent candidate with talks about an “Apprentice-type” grilling. Of course these should be taken with a pinch of salt, but one can’t help but think that if the run of poor results continue, the scope of the job for the new man will just get bigger and bigger.
For those as myself supporting the Arsenal for the last 20 to 30 years these are certainly “interesting times”, but I do take counsel from those that have been doing this longer and recognize it as the ebbs and flows of being a football supporter. So if we expect the players and coach to go out there doing their best, perhaps as fans we should step up ourselves and help them through this difficult period. It’s winter baby… we always knew it was coming.
Team News
Thankfully there’s no new injuries as both Dani Ceballos and Rob Holding still remain the only two absentees.
Prediction
This is a meeting between two dismally out-of-form teams; one of the league’s worst home records in the one corner versus one of the worst away records in the other. Almost as if each will find the other a welcomed opponent. Somewhat difficult to split on current form, but if I have to put my hand up… I’ll go Gunners all the way. COYG!
— @LaboGoon
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Arsenal Sinking Like The Titanic

Posted by shotta_gooner on December 8, 2019 in All Posts

Compliments of Wikimedia

New Podcast: Arsenal is sinking like the Titanic, critically damaged but the band is still playing.

  • No quick-fix available.
  • Sinking into relegation danger.
  • Freddie Ljunberg unlikely to survive.
  • Key players have been lost because the Kroenkes refuse to spend big on wages.
  • More likely to leave as there is no prospect of winning trophies or European football.
  • No money to spend as the club falls out of Europe.

The future is grim. Is there any hope?

Remember to  Like and Subscribe to our podcasts wherever you listen and spread the word about our factual, no-nonsense point of view.

This podcast is available at Spreaker, Soundcloud, Spotify, Apple Podcast and Google Podcast by searching for Uncensored Arsenal.

Or, click on the link below:

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Mid Table Arsenal- Permanently?

Posted by pedantic George @arseblagger on December 6, 2019 in All Posts

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Last night was horrible. We hoped for better and it didn’t happen. What do we hope for now? Where do we go from here? Just how deep a hole are we in and who is to blame?

More and more fans are beginning to understand the depth of the hole we are in. The idea that a new coach, and I mean ANY new coach, can bring about a quick fix is frankly ridiculous. Perhaps a slight improvement immediately, and a gradual improvement over the rest of the season is possible, but that’s it and even that is a long shot.

So why do I think we are destined to years of mediocrity? I don’t mean the 3 Fa cups in 4 years type of mediocrity that people thought was mediocrity, I mean proper midtable stuff, no cups and likely no decent cup runs even.

The ownership model of self sustaining means there will be no massive injection of fund to buy our way back into a seat at the top table. We know this. So that’s out! Personally I think that is how every club should run in principal, but if Stan wants the club to have a seat, he would have to put his hand into his back pocket. But let me reiterate, that isn’t going to happen.

In order to have a long term successful plan we need someone with a good plan to be in charge, have a vision and the conviction to see it through,and Stan has to stick by him. The problem is finding that man, the likes of Arsene Wenger doesn’t grow on trees, he was a once in a several lifetimes manager and his like will never be seen again, not least because other clubs would have first dibs.

At present the man with the vision is Don Raul, and it’s not 20/20 vision he has, it’s Mister Magoo vision, he can’t see past his contacts book. I can’t think of a single thing he has done that hasn’t knocked us back at least one step. Seriously, he couldn’t even see that the football brand had to be maintained, simply the most basic and important ethos of the club. Can you imagine any new fan choosing Arsenal now? Other clubs will be building their fan bases and we will be hemorrhaging ours. Tv companies will stop picking Arsenal games, revenue will fall, fans will stop watching and attending if the style of football doesn’t meet their requirements. Now, I can hear people screaming “plastic fans“, but that is the reality of the modern game. Especially if that’s what you started following the club to see , or that is your priority when choosing to support a club. The old “Arsenal ’till I die” fans might not like it, but that is how it works for a club that wants to be a global force.

A rebuild will require patience, Loooooooooooooooooooool, 6 days into Freddie’s term and “patience” has already run out in many quarters. Because of the “we deserve” element in the fanbase, coaches and players will not be given the support necessary to develop and build.

So what can we do about it? The answer is very little, all we can do is be supportive of the coach and players if they are trying to play the right way and doing all they can , I believe Freddie and the majority of our players are. It’s going to be a long hard road back, we must not make the journey more difficult for those tasked  with carrying us, while prompting  those in charge to make the changes that will give the players a fighting chance.

 

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