From our archives 2014,you can follow Mel on twitter @MelOreilly1970 

Mel tells me that I should remember it is the anniversary of the great night at Anfield. He also tells of the the need for his award winning account of that night ,to be published today. And on this date every year. Forever.

This wonderful story was written by Mel, for another blog ,then picked up by Arsenal.com (for a reason no reasonable man can determine) .So here we are . Third in line.

Still ,nice of him to still remember his old mate.

Here it is then,Enjoy

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“We’ll win cos we’re the arsenal !”,eternal optimists or deluded fools?

Not sure which camp I fell into as we boarded the coaches on the Avenell road and that chant went up.

I was still cockahoop at a workmate selling me his ticket (£12 including the coach !)a couple of days before this remarkable Friday.

I was at the game against Wimbledon when most believed our title dream had gone,but even if it was to most Gooners, as far as I was concerned if it was mathematically possible,I was gonna see us give it a go,anyway .I’d failed maths O level a couple of years previous so stick me in the deluded camp.

I was traveling alone (most of the mates I knocked about with at the time weren’t really into football,more acid house,the stone roses,ecstasy, raves and failing to chat up girls from what I remember. I was too, but Arsenal was “my thing” always was and always will be and in my 18 years I’d only seen us lift an fa cup and a league cup.

The mood going up to Liverpool  on the coach was helped along with some fierce drinking and singalongs . My Irish genes helped me put a good performance in on both counts,.I  remember as we closed in on our date with destiny that the driver told us it was touch & go whether we’d make kick off.In fact when the boys in yellow & blue ran on the pitch before kick off with the flowers for the Liverpool fans still mourning their 96 brothers and sisters who had died weeks earlier at Hillsborough just because they went to a game(this of course is why this fixture had been postponed and rescheduled to the Friday night after the cup final which tonight’s opponents had won)we were watching it on the coaches portable TV until the Merseyside constabulary decided to give us a fast track escort to the ground.

As we poured off  the coach that chant went up and for the first time I genuinely thought we’d do it.Nothing to do with the drink you understand!.I just fancied us(told you I was deluded).

Once inside, tucked into a corner,I found myself wedged up alongside a Demis Roussos lookalike(look him up kids),anyone that’s been to a massively important game and tells you they remember everything is a liar,the first half was gone in a flash but my new best mate Demis assured me that nil nil after 45 is good and George’s plan was working.

I  remember thinking Liverpool were subdued and there for the taking, and Arsenal were “at it” especially Rocky and Richardson,not surprising really Rocastle was truly one of us and Richardson used to tackle people with his face if he had too! We weren’t going down without a fight that was for sure.

Seven minutes into the second half we got our goal, an Alan Smith header that despite the Liverpool players insisting he hadn’t touched it,the linesman agreed with the 4000 behind him that Smith had,of course he had!, game on!

With about 15 minutes left we looked like we’d get another,Michael Thomas through one  onone with Grobbelar ,but he scuffed it straight at him.

“Don’t worry we’ll get one more clear cut chance” the portly Greek love god next to me whispered. I had my doubts though,neither side were creating that many chances but without hope and all that heh?

As the minutes ticked by that hope was strangling us in our corner but then in the last minute it happened….he was there again. Thomas coolly lifted the ball over Grobbelar and pandemonium was unleashed

Magical doesn’t do it justice.

After the initial going mental bit I remember Demis taking me in his arms, we embraced like grown men only did in at funerals and New Years Eve’s party’s,he could have held me “forever and ever” (I told you!,look him up), there were grown men around us in tears.Remember this was before the days of some blokes letting us down by wearing Ugg boots and applying fake tan but it was beautiful nonetheless.

The players and the trophy malarkey after was a bit of a haze.

We were all still congratulating each other but I do remember Rocastle,his face lit up and his eyes dancing,you see he was our bloke on the pitch despite MT getting the goal ,Rockys medal was ours as well and when he smiled we smiled.

One last bear hug from Demis and soon I was my back to the coach.

Leaving the ground was interesting. Some of the  Scousers  were fantastic, others less so! in fact i would like to thank the 3 Graeme Souness lookalikes that chased me back to the coach helping break the 100m drunken idiot dash world record.I think it was their encouraging words that did it,or the things they said they were gonna do if they got hold of me.

As I waved them goodbye from the safety of the coach there wasn’t a lot of noise at first,just exhausted Gooners with stupid great grins on their faces not believing what we’d just witnessed.

As soon as the first miles to London sign appeared the celebrations commenced.Not sure Ive ever seen drinking like it!.

All the while I was thinking “how did we just do that? How? Cos we’re The Arsenal that’s how”

Our man Shard has been thinking and writing

Since Sven Mislintat mysteriously decided to walk away, Arsenal have had no one in charge of strategically overseeing the recruitment at the club. This means not just identifying talent, but building a squad keeping in mind the club philosophy, administrative issues of age, homegrown status, and financial budgets, and long term plans.

Whether the (as good as) vacant position was the reason behind the January window fiasco or not, it’s hard to say from the outside. However, Arsenal certainly recognise the need of having someone in the role. It seems the rumour mill has turned full circle and is back to Edu – the former Invincible and current Brazilian national team coordinator – as the favourite to take over as Technical Director. Francis Cagigao will also be the Head of Recruitment. Honestly, I don’t know who does what in such a structure.

But regardless of who is calling the shots, this will be an important summer for Arsenal. With or without CL football, we need to up the quality of our play and of our squad, ensuring we’re strong enough to withstand the rigours of the season, and are flying high at the end of it. There’s a few ways of going about this, and I’ve taken the trouble to list 5 options below.

The Ostrich Option:

Do nothing. It’ll be alright. Problems tend to go away on their own. But lash out at the first target you spot and throw your weight around. The high wage bill must go! Sell the players you can, and stomp on those you can’t. You are an ostrich with razor sharp claws after all. May not be the most productive thing to do, but activity is good for keeping the blood flowing, and keep the remaining watchers entertained. Some might even bow their heads and pray for a miracle along with you.

The Crow Option:

Scavenge! Get the players you can find on the cheap. Send out your murder to bring you the chewed up carcasses of unwanted players hoping there’s enough meat on them. Work smart not hard! Take the easy pickings available from the agents’ own stables. Hopefully by the end you have a belly that is full, but not bloated by an unhealthy diet.

The Butterfly Option:

Store yourself away for a period of quiet contemplation and reflection. Don’t worry about the outside world. Take your time, grow, and when you’re ready, emerge, transformed into something more beautiful than you were. Fill the gaps primarily through the academy. Bring in players under 21 through the market, and get them all playing together. You may not get to zoom off into the stratosphere, but you will flutter your wings and fly.

The Peacock option:

Strut your stuff! Make it rain, baby. Make use of all the resources you have. The stats, scouts, agent contacts, and above all, the $$$. Use the treasure you’ve collected over the years. Cover yourself in fine jewellery. Redefine opulence. Fill all your squad needs by recruiting from among the best available players, and maybe even some that aren’t.

The Phoenix option:

Burn. Set yourself on fire. Let people mourn the loss of what is and what once was. But, and here’s the tricky part, re-emerge as the beautiful, mythical creature that you are. Find inspiration in the golden past. Reanimate, and radiate the joy, wonder, and warmth to all lucky enough to watch you. Clear house of those that don’t belong. Appoint a visionary coach that knows and plays the Arsenal way. Make signings that suit your philosophy. Aim to make it to the top within the next 3 years.

That was fun, what a great result, performance and effort. Players that only yesterday were deadwood, left by Wenger, put on a show of great attacking skill, commitment and heart. Odd that?

Until Lacazette and Aubameyang teamed up to score a sensational goal, we were very much under the cosh, one nil down and it could easily have been worse. But that goal turned the tide. The opposition took a body blow and we had a surge of confidence. The rest of the game was a different story. Valencia continued to play well, but we also were playing well now. Then Lacazette, in  a tight space, deftly moved the ball two paces to his left ,turned and curled it into the keepers left. Another fine goal.

That put us comfortable and left them needing 3 more ,without repy, to win. It never looked like happening. Even when they got their second, we looked unflustered and AMN flashed a ball into Aubameyang to turn in. The final goal was also a good effort when Aubameyang played a one two with his old hunting partner, the much maligned Mikhitaryan, who’s perfectly weighted deft touch allowed Aubameyang to run onto it and smash it in top bins.

This was the football we crave. Our best players playing in their best positions.

There were of course some problems, AMN struggled defensively most of the night. I felt he was left exposed ( mainly by Torreira) and it was Aubameyang with is relentless effort that helped him out the most.

And then there was Ozil, substituted on 60 minutes and he didn’t look best pleased to be hooked. Now this is interesting because I went back and watched the game again, and concentrated on Ozil. Now what I saw doesn’t mean is what happened, because I am far from an expert on the game, but here is my opinion.

When he was on the ball he was very tidy and effective. But he wasn’t on the ball that much. Most of the time he was doing exactly what makes him a special player, drifting into space. He finds and creates time and space like no one else. His genius(like Dennis before him) is delivering a ball that opens up the game. That ball might not be a goal, an assist or even a pre-assist, but it is the ball that opens up the game, But to do this, when he himself has found his own space and time, he needs to be given the ball. If he is standing in space and does not receive the ball, he becomes a passenger. He isn’t occupying any opposition players and so they are free to make life more difficult for our other players on the ball.

Of course in and around the box it’s different. He does make runs, pulls players out of position, the opposition surround him and that opens up space for others, who he frequently find despite being swarmed all over.  But in the area before we get into the box he has to be given the ball in the space he has found. If we can’t do that, it becomes a problem for the team. There are two simple answers, don’t play him if we can’t get the ball to him, or find a way of getting it to him more often and utilizing the space and time he has found. He is the most creative in the league, we pay him £350k per week, so we should use him to his best advantage.

Ok, that’s it from me for today.

What a great end to the season we might still have. GET IN.

A comment worthy of exposure by Blogger 1886

“I say that I’ve got bags of years of supporting Arsenal. So, I am ‘all right’ for a supporter? However, there’s a truth: in what’s supposed to be this seventeen-year period, my footballing knowledge has been hardly ever improved.
I am often lazy in terms of trying to gain details of what or whom I already liked or chose to like. It’s a kind of “chose this, still feel right about it, so what’s the point?” approach. I heard Arsenal was pretty good in some aspects, seemed to play attacking football. That was all I vaguely knew of before my ‘support’ status was set. What about the reason for thinking of it in the first place? Well, those many French players at that time. Again, I partly randomly had chosen France, chosen Zidane as my first favourite ever years before; one day Arsène and those players appeared on my TV screen. They were training and all. The fate was then clear.
The way I support most of my favourite actors, singers has been being not following them at all! Their songs, their films have reached me, not the other way round. So have many facts about them. As a result, I am familiar with just a tiny number of their works. It’s odd that after years of neglecting them this way, if someone asks, I will still put the majority of them on my list, because it’s what I feel.
Arsenal was not much different, but hey, the football world’s got regular schedules, broadcasting and all; therefore, I became passive-aggressively obsessed with this club. Lucky me, I admit. I remember a time where I was able to memorise in the exact order every opponent, every of our goalscorers in every single PL match we played in one season. Fantastic on my part, and a miracle considering my memory in the last few years. The most and maybe only impressive knowledge I have when it comes to my beloved Arsenal.

The journey I’ve done with Arsenal is a heavily emotion-oriented one. What I saw, what I witnessed brought feelings into my observation experiences. I have been largely blind to the technical stuff, so much so that you would be easily stunned by my ignorance. Anyway, the obsession with that certain lack woke me up for almost every after-midnight game I could watch, always alone yet never lonely. I dreaded transfer windows, only wanted all of the then current players to stay. My beloved players, be it them being soft or whatever people called them, didn’t cheat, didn’t compromise. They fought with Arsène bravely despite tremendous hardship through the years.
How heartbroken I was the day that bloke called Theo was reported to be on the way to have medical at Everton. That news was followed by a three-day stayaway from Twitter.
How hurt I got seeing someone label Gibbs greedy (thus was still at Arsenal) days before his move to West Brom. It reminded me of the emotions I got years before–when some said Denilson could only ever play for us because he was “Arsène’s son”. And soon after that, he moved on too.
How confused and gloomy I felt when suddenly, rumours related Podolski’s future at Arsenal emerged in autumn 2014. He was for me a complete symbol that united my two loves back then–Arsenal and Germany.
Smiles of joy ‘meeting’ Eboue, Almunia, Reyes again in the red and white shirt last year. They are part of an Arsenal I so cherish.
Tears of joy seeing so many dear faces in a 2013 summer tour clip I rewatched last summer, especially when Mikel Arteta greeted that Running Man with his big smile and a ‘Thank you very much’ handshake. I felt his love for this club.

France started all of my three love affairs in football. The heart stopped beating for them in summer 2010… that infamous incident. No tears, no regret, never look back.
Germany and Arsenal continued to keep me appreciating football, being inspired by it. The heart stopped beating for the former last summer. Again, no tears, only a massive, silent disappointment. Then a huge fear of losing the latter–and last–some day.
As with all things in life, I count on the remainers to get over the loss of some certain leavers; when even those remainers desert me too, there will be no way back for me.
The Arsenal I’ve always known is a dignified team playing exciting football with whom I grew up and matured, who in Arsène’s most challenging years taught me how to truly love something in one’s life.

To hell with all clichés that my players were gutless and didn’t care, that my manager overstayed his welcome. To hell with them. Hoping against hope there’ll be rainbow.”

Above is what I wrote down in mid-January. No idea about anything at the present, honestly.
Without this inspirational source called football, I would still have fun as I’ve got my own dreams, friends and family. And because all these football people I cherish–many of them now far away from each other–are still here and there in this world. Except… a great thing may have died. A thing that would definitely be missed by me.
Although I’m sure I haven’t seen Fabregas the same since his departure, the words he’s recently replied to an Arsenal fans tweet got to me in a way: I LOVE YOU ALL. ALWAYS REMEMBER THAT. Whatever happens in the future, the Arsenal–with all it brought to me–remains like that in my memories.

Rich has had a go at some positivity. Well done lad.

So, Positively Arsenal. Positively, positively…Arsenal. Hmmm. It hasn’t been a great few weeks. In fact they have been stinkers, though interspersed with better news from the European front. For many here, it hasn’t been a good let alone great season, or rather it has been a really poor, really worrying one, and that following on from a previous one which was hard, even heartbreaking. Well, that’s not a good start for a positive piece , but lets hope it is just setting the scene and things pick up (no plan here yet, so, erm…I’m waiting to see what comes, too).

Right, things can change quickly in football. It doesn’t feel like it, of course, and because they can change does not mean they will change, but they can change quickly. Liverpool were apparently days from bankruptcy not so long ago, now they are near the top of the football world, and it happened sans oligarch or oil state. The end.

No, there has to be more. Try this. We have on our hands, a prime opportunity to re-evaluate our supporting selves. I can’t be alone in the feeling that ‘this isn’t working for me anymore’. By that I mean particularly the whole loathing rivals at least as much as I love my team business.

With the advent of so many more televised games, and the Internet which allows you to follow, discuss and imbibe all the action and reaction 24 hours per day, every day, among the plethora of changes is that you can end up ‘following’ rivals almost as much as your own team, or, in total, a lot more (because there are a lot of them, rivals).

The ‘following’ consists of tuning in wanting (needing) them to lose each time, or when against each other picking your poison for whatever reason . As they tend to be pretty good teams, it makes for a lot of disappointment. As there are normally at least a couple of teams better than us, and this might be the case more than ever at present, some acute misery- supposing you aren’t flying high because of our results- is guaranteed. Is this the lot of the football fan?

Is it betraying your club not to agonise over them, alone and in comparison to others, if performances and prospects merit such behaviour? Maybe, to a degree, but it’s also valid to come back to ‘this isn’t working for me anymore’; and if that’s the case, you surely have a big opportunity to look at how you are doing football, and see if there is anything you can change to make it better for you.

On a related note, anyone who began their Arsenal journey during Wenger’s tenure, or who has naturally forgotten much of before, is currently undergoing a broadening of their football experiences. Yep, we are getting to find out what it is like to play 6 shit matches on the bounce at the business end of a season, losing four of them,

Can you feel it, folks? That is us gaining new insight and perspective into the lot of the majority of supporters. For us, we can at least believe it will not become our norm, and we are a large enough club to imagine that at some point in the not too distant future it will be an interesting ingredient in the joy of a big success or successes again. Who has not looked at the fans or Barca or Madrid, crying over a terrible season and sacking their coach, when they have come 2nd or something, and won a league or something a year before. Who has not looked at that sort of thing and thought ‘you spoiled bastards’. Well, we are, potentially, a little further away from them today than we were a few years back. A little, but it’s something.

The academy. We have a bloody good academy. At the moment there are a large number of prospects with the potential to become good players with us, and a few who have huge potential. We will, fingers crossed, get to see more of a few of them next year. They appear to be in very good hands with Freddie. We surely need our academy to perform well at this juncture, and there are players there to encourage hope it can happen. We need some new heroes, and it is hard to beat a home-grown hero.

So, that might be about that from me. Revealing, perhaps, that I cannot pick out more or even any definites (feck off ,spellcheck; it stays) or certainties, and am mostly reliant on indirect, self-reflective and circuitous (potential) positives. Maybe I am wrong in assuming most people are even interested in anything like that, when it comes to football at least. It’s the best I can do and I don’t think it’s complete rubbish.

There are the traditional positives- the good academy, the hope which uncertainty naturally permits, the fact we do have some good footballers at the club, the fact things can change quickly in football- then there is the rest, this weird internal stuff; this great opportunity to recalibrate how you do football and see if you can find a better way for yourself. My own experiences suggest this is improbable, but I nonetheless feel some optimism today. Maybe I’ve hit rock bottom.

If fecking Spurs can get a pretty good team, after so much trial and so much error, why can’t I trial and error my way to improvements? And, if it comes to that, why can’t the club? Though hopefully a lot quicker than Spurs, with a higher high, and with some trophies to show for it. Speaking of which, we may just end this season with one of them. Now, that would be a positive, and no introspection required.

Seriously, that was dross

The end.

Aaron Ramsey has played his last game for Arsenal after suffering a muscular injury during their Europa League quarter-final against Napoli. The midfielder pulled up feeling the back of his thigh in the 33rd minute and was replaced by Henrikh Mkhitaryan.

What a sad way for it to come to an end. After 11 years our top scoring Center midfielder of all time is literally limping out of the club. It’s a devastating blow for him and Arsenal. I saw a stat recently that we have averaged twice as many points per game with him this season, than without him. I’m not at all surprised.

The lad has scored or assisted 129 times in his 369 appearances for Arsenal.that’s better than a 1 in 3 games,direct contributions to a goal, outstanding for a center midfielder. And a center midfielder is exactly what he is. At times he has covered as attacking Mid and even as a wide forward, that is testament to his general overall value to the team. Under Arsene Wenger, when fit, he played. He played no matter who else was fit, he played somewhere.

His work ethic, professionalism and heart are everything anyone could ask from a professional football player.

I won’t go into his history and injury record because everyone knows all about it but I will say that without the initial leg smashing attack and the subsequent muscular problems that have blighted him, he would likely have doubled his goals and assists total.

He is a quiet ,well spoken ,polite family man, that was shown loyalty by Arsene Wenger and returned that loyalty in spades. I have never seen him shy away from the ball or put in less than 100% effort in the 11 years he’s been at the club. He is brave and adventurous on the ball and is almost always the player that has covered the most distance at the end of each game. When in midfield with Arteta he regularly was in the mid 90s in % passing stats. He is the complete box to box player.

On top of all that he is staggeringly good looking, immaculately well dressed and campaigns for animal welfare and other green topics. Seriously, what is not to like about the lad?

Yet despite all this “opinion on him is divided”. Why? Well I would suggest it’s because many of our fans are as thick as mince.

Now he is heading off to Juventus on £400k per week, so we don’t have to feel sorry for him, oh no, but we should feel sorry for ourselves. Why? Well because we could be losing or last legend, that’s why.

Football has changed and support has also changed, and not for the better. It used to be that if a player was committed to the club for a few years and scored ,or just contributed, to the winning of silverware, his legendary status was assured. But not anymore! Oh no, a few perceived bad games, an injury or a transfer can all lead to his status being revoked by our over demanding fans.They turn on, and turn their back on, players as quickly as they can scurry to their twitter accounts. That and the tendency for players to maximise their wages by moving, or the clubs wanting to profit from player sales, mean the day of the one team man is dead, It’s very hard to become a legend if a player only has a short window to cement their status.

Well Ramsey has put in the years, the effort and conducted himself with the class that put him firmly in the legendary status, and that’s before we add the two FA Cup winning goals.  Add to this that he refused to shake Piers Morgan’s hand and allegedly sat RVP on his arse with a right hook and he is elevated to super legend.

So make no mistake Aaron Ramsey is an Arsenal legend, and perhaps the very last of them.

Goodbye, good luck and thanks for the memories sweet prince of Wales.

This is how I will always remember you.

Or as Bob might say

“Come writers and critics
Who prophesize with your pen
And keep your eyes wide
The chance won’t come again
And don’t speak too soon
For the wheel’s still in spin
And there’s no tellin’ who
That it’s namin’.
For the loser now
Will be later to win
For the times they are a-changin”

And of the game tomorrow, here’s Labo