Good Morning Positive fans,

Very little comment required from me on last night’s performance and a comprehensive victory. Emery chose an Arsenal team that reflected our already strong EL position in the group, as well as the December fixture list. Youth was paired with experience, silky skill with a couple of players with the harder edge, the seen-it-all expressions of Lichtsteiner and Cech alongside fresh faced Euro innocence of Medley, Gilmour and Saka.

And it worked perfectly, especially getting that first goal.  Our confidence rose, Smith Rowe put on a show in midfield, Aaron waved his baton, Mo patrolled the back line like a hungry hyena. Three goals up at half time ? Away from home ! It seems a while since that happened.

After a decent finish at the Emirates in September Poltova must have fancied their chances of making a good game of it, but they barely laid a glove on us. After that opening goal setback I thought our Ukrainian opponents rather lost the plot. Their discipline went.They bickered among themselves, argued incessantly with the officials about trivial calls, and forgot about playing football. I felt sorry for them with what was probably their biggest ever Euro home tie switched to the empty bowl in Kiev.

I shall give Carl the MotM award for the tie, not that he was outstanding on an evening where everyone was good, but as the PA equivalent of a lifetime achievement award.

Friday beckons, as does Sunday.

WARNING: Embargoed for publication until 00:00:01 on 29/05/2018 – Programme Name: A Very English Scandal – TX: n/a – Episode: n/a (No. 3) – Picture Shows: ***EMBARGOED UNTIL 29th MAY 2018*** Sir Joseph Cantley (PAUL FREEMAN) – (C) Blueprint Television Ltd – Photographer: Robert Viglasky

Yesterday I read that Abu Dhabi FC are considering building a training complex in London. This will be passed off as a genius move by a wonderfully organised football club to give them a marginal advantage when playing in London. They will claim it saves them travelling time and avoids the need to stay in hotels overnight, presumably they will include a residence.

I think it’s far more likely that it’s a move to give them more opportunity to be a player in the economy of the capital and so become more influential and acceptable to the government of our country. Because lets face it, the whole Manchester City project has nothing to do with either football or the local community of Manchester, it’s simply a PR exercise for Abu Dhabi and the UAE. A advert if you will.

Those that say it’s good for the game and the local community have been taken in, exactly as they had hoped. Their greatest achievement isn’t building an outstandingly good football team, with their £2.7 billion drop in an oily ocean spend, it’s been fooling people into thinking it’s good for the game.

Below is an extract of a post from our very own Arsenal Andrew, with sums up my feelings more eloquently than I could.

“I read somewhere (and don’t know if it’s true) that AFC were doing slightly better, points wise at this time last year and yet most fans are either pleased or thrilled at Emery’s start. Personally I feel he has done exceptionally well, exceptionally swiftly; most managers, like most players, take more time to bed in, so well played, Sir.

We’ve certainly scored the best goals in the PL this season, but my question to readers is, how well did we think we were doing by the start of December last year?

We clearly fell away after New Year (if not before) so I guess this is a physical/psychological hurdle Unai has to get over in the weeks ahead.

Again, I ask, what has really changed?

We look a bit more ‘Liverpool’ these days with our energy and physical commitment as well as our potency up front. At the back the need for further improvement is evident to all and Emery at least gives off the impression that he is working hard on all areas of the pitch, not just the attacking third.

Certainly in Leno at the back and Lucas in the middle we have the beginnings of an absolutely top class spine, yet our front players, despite more than a few flashes of brilliance, are yet to settle into a routine of lethal consistency. And we still DO look vulnerable at the back. And in some ways, I quite LIKE that we haven’t changed TOO much; it suggests to me that, contrary to what some say, Wenger was still not SO far from where he/we needed to be.

So I think there is more, much more to come from new-boy Emery’s new Arsenal and one remains optimistic, up to a point.

The fly in the ointment of the future lies in the total domination of the EPL by Manchester City. Liverpool’s challenge is merely firing City up further and we know they have the limitless funds to quickly replace the injured or formless as required. Pep’s chequebook deployment impresses few beyond those paid observers and the sycophantic, eagerly assembled mob on the press and pundit benches. Pep would have to work hard to screw things up given his resources although Jose shows what is possible and success is obviously not a complete ‘given’.

But how exciting is the PL these days, honestly?

What really is the point of Emery and his predecessor, even our neighbours over in Middlesex toiling away for years to achieve incremental improvement when clubs are allowed to pump eye-watering yet illegal volumes of cash into a club with complete impunity to ‘claim’ the league without really having to try. I mean, what is the point of it all?

3-0 to City has little resonance when that is really the minimum expected from them. To be almost nailed on PL winners by the end of November does nobody any favours and I can’t help but think the empty seats at Wembley, at the Emirates and most other grounds is symptomatic of an ongoing growth of apathy which continues to develop unabated. Tag all that to the ludicrous cost of watching someone elses’s choice of live football on tv and you have a recipe for a long-term decline in fan interest.

Certainly I still look forward to Arsenal games and I can’t wait for the introduction of VAR into the PL next year, no matter how flawed or poorly executed that may be, at least initially.

But while City sit at the top of the table having purchased their seat there rather than truly competed for it, forgive me if my excitement in the game can now be described as ‘not what it was’.

And all the while that Arsenal and others are effectively debarred from the top two positions in the league on account of cash rather than credible, authentic ‘merit’, then this more measured interest in the game is unlikely to change anytime soon.

Still, COYGs, eh?”

I hope this blog doesn’t come across like a Judge handing down a ruling, but really, we, and all the other hopefuls , are goosed.

Good afternoon fellow Positives.

A tricky trip to Bournemouth safely negotiated and the required three points banked. By no means a fluid performance but we worked hard against opponents who are much improved from the callow Cherries who tip-toed into the top flight just two seasons ago. For us it moves us on to Chelsea’s shoulder and a win in the NLD will put us in front of the Totties.

Of our lads I shall pass the man of the match award to Lucas Torreira who did his usual thorough job across the middle of the park until his early, to me unexpected, hooking. The Uruguayan’s withdrawal must have been with an eye to the busy fixture list and he had done more than enough in his 80 minutes of action. Elsewhere a good performance from Leno, Hector I enjoyed too. Auba’s movement troubled Bournemouth all afternoon and his decisive finish was the final difference between 1 and 3 points.

In truth though it was a not a game in which any of out players stood out. It was a real team win with each contributing to a deserved final outcome.

What we need to do a lot better is hit the target. 20 shots at goal, but just 4 on target. And in the strayed 16 some absolutely wild attempts from Mhki and Alex Iwobi. For a long period in the second half we had Bournemouth pinned back and were peppering their goal. Come on lads. You know we won’t get 20 strikes next week or at Trafford Park so let us at least make their keeper save the ball.

The effect of not scoring a third and fourth goal today was that as Pawson pondered his whistle, instead of strolling about and checking the flights to Poltova, we were facing a 95th minute free kick on the edge of our  box and the dire consequences thereof.  Yes Shkodran, I do mean you.

Four minutes added on, then five. A tense final few moments, with the strings tightened just a notch by Emery himself. Bringing on Eddie Nketiah = Good. Bringing on Eddie Nketiah after 93 minutes and 45 seconds = Bad.

Of our opponents young Brooks looks a fine prospect and was unlucky not to have his name on the scoresheet, and Lerma eh? Goal of the Month contender.

So off we go to the Ukraine.  A point required and the Europa Group won, which would be handy although hardly pivotal. The big focus this week for Emery, for the players, for all Positive fans will however be next Sunday, 2.05, and do not be late.

Enjoy your week.

@LaboGoon emerges from international hibernation, and thank goodness… 

Here we are again… breathing a huge sigh of relief with the last international break of 2018 out the way and equally excited to be at the start of what is going to be a very busy period with the fixture list chuck-full in the run up to New Years Day – when we often rank the contenders from the pretenders from the relegation candidates. Ergo it’s vital to maximize performances to make sure we don’t have too much ground to cover later on.

Good morning one and all.

The Unai Emery evolution faces a stern test this afternoon with a trip to the Vitality Stadium to face a Bournemouth team enjoying their best-ever start in the top flight.

When Eddie Howe started his managerial journey with the Cherries they were in Football League Two and started their season on a 17 points deduction. Ten years on they are excelling well beyond their expectations and look to disrupt the party of the ‘big six’ – a measure of how much the man and his team are steadily growing year on year with modest resources. Take a bow mate!

Just before the inter-break both sides went through a bit of a wobble; the Gunners struggled to turn draws into wins and the Cherries picked up just one win in their last four Premier League games. So the break came at a good time as they are now keen to press the reset button and get back to winning ways.

Arsenal have had a mixed time playing Bournemouth in the six PL fixtures against each others. We beat them quite comfortably at the Emirates but on our travels to the south coast we’ve seen them really cranking it up. In our three visits there we beat them, then we drew and they finally got one over us in the last outing – and this season they are a much better side with a real cutting edge to them.

Howe’s steadfast belief in his ideas has made the Cherries an attractive side with attackers that can be a real handful and their “goals for” are only bettered by the top five teams on the PL table. If we want any joy today we need to find a way to negate that threat.

The habit of starting games slowly cost us in recent times as we lacked the infamous second half performances to offset it. With the hosts a side that gives it their all at the Vitality that and any defensive issues are what they will look to take advantage of. Of course them looking to play on the front foot will suit us as it will bring the trio of Özil, Lacazette and Aubameyang into the game. We know how deadly they can be if they have that extra bit of space to work with.

With both sides expected to have a right go at each others there are goals in this at both ends to make it a very entertaining encounter to look forward to.

Let’s go!

Good morning Positives,

A game nine and a half out of ten of us had marked down for three points but, as it turned out, a game I was happy to escape from with the solitary single point as reward. The unbeaten run goes on, and we remain in the chasing pack for he CL places, but an unexpected and unwelcome slip. Three points from the previous nine PL points on offer, and now three points behind our North London neighbours. Plenty of time and games to improve and return to winning games, but a check to our confidence certainly. That we stagger into yet another international break is, for once, a welcome interlude in which Emery can get to work on the training pitch and iron out the ‘kinks’.

Of the game itself a sluggish first half, even among  Arsenal’s sometimes slow starts with no urgency in our movement, and little accuracy in our passing. Wolves game-plan as superior to ours, when  they advanced over the half way line they looked threatening and we never did. Having rattled us the duly took a deserved lead.

A better second half and a far, far better last 20 minutes when the kitchen sink was duly flung at the obdurate opponents. But for some dreadful marksmanship from Auba the equaliser should have come earlier but, eventually, Mkhi forced in the goal, scruffy, lucky even, but fair recompense from a lot of sweat from our lads. The visitors retained a sharpness that but for Leno would have embarrassed us further but Atwell eventually blew his whistle, thank Gawd.

No contest for the MotM so well done Bernd. If MotM was a podium ceremony you’d probably have been on your own.

We shall rise, we shall be better, we shall smash Tottingham. Know this.

Enjoy your week.

@LaboGoon addresses his flock this Sunday 

Good morning one and all.

Arsenal host Wolverhampton Wanderers at the Emirates this afternoon with the intention of going into the international break with a win …… and nothing less.

Given the remarkably competitive nature of teams above us on Premier League table, getting 3 points against ‘lesser teams’ is as crucial as it has ever been. Mancity, Chelsea and Liverpool at present don’t look like dropping points against anybody except amongst the top-six, Spurs despite not at their ‘pressure putting’ best still find a way to eke out results. So on that I think these games fall in the ‘must win’ category if we want to remain within touching distance of the top-four.

We will look to bounce back following a recent blip that see us dropped 4 points vs Crystal Palace and Liverpool. Results could’ve been better if we made the most of the chances coming our way. The draw vs the Reds particularly was probably our best defensive display all season and showcased a fighting spirit and desire to not let a big game slip away after falling behind. Should we build on that we have no reason to doubt ourselves competing at the very highest level.

Wolves got challenges of their own. After starting the season on the front foot in their return to the to flight and playing with great competence, they’ve lost their way since coming back from the previous inter-break. Could be that opposition managers have worked them out as they are struggling both to keep a lid on things at the back and scoring goals. In the three games post the break they’ve registered as many defeats, conceding six goals and scoring two – both from penalty spot. However I expect them to fancy their chances and prove they have what it takes to get a result against one of the ‘big six’. They already held both Manchester sides to draws and put in a valiant effort coming back from 3-0 down to lose 3-2 vs our neighbours to show they are not your run-of-the-mill PL ‘newbie’.

The Gunners may have too much in front of goal though for the plucky Midlands side with the prowess of Lacazette and Aubameyang to call upon, and if Xhaka and Torreira continue their command of the area in front of the defenders it will defang the Wolves attack.

All things considered Arsenal have been consistent against teams outside top-six, especially in front of the Emirates faithful; and although no pushover Wolves could be in for a long afternoon if we play close to how we did in our last PL outing.

Good morning Positives,

A respectable performance last night from Arsenal against limited opponents. A win and three points would have tied the qualification package perfectly but taking into account events in the 25th minute it was not ever likely to be a night I remembered for football reasons.

Danny’s injury was, let me not beat about the bush, a bloody catastrophe for the player. It came out of nothing. The fracture resulted, I think, from his landing from an attempted header on goal. It was exactly the same ‘footballing’ movement that had given him goals against Brentford recently. He probably practises jumping and heading a hundred times a week in training and has every week since he was eight years old. Yet this time he came down and he suffered a serious injury. Inexplicable.

As for the implications it looked the sort of horrible injury from which a player wipes away any plans to kick a ball for the remainder of their season. With Danny’s 28th birthday in a fortnight and with  him already in the final year of his contract I hope his recovery is as swift and as complete as possible.

Back to the football, Arsenal step on from the group stage to the knock-our round never having had to extend ourselves in any match. Guendouzi and Ramsey controlled midfield throughout last night. Rob Holding and Sokratis were thorough in what they did and made no errors. Jenks and Stephan ditto. Tidy all round. Our only weakness was in translating a lot of possession into clear, scoring chances which did not happen. As I said in opening perhaps our usual ‘appetite’, that extra =/-2% that makes the difference,  had been taken away, on a stretcher.

Nevertheless, I shall take the easy Europa qualification in four games. In part that has been the result of Emery putting out strong sides in each  game, albeit with a sprinkling of youth to be blooded. The second factor is, regrettably, because the opposition put in front of us has been mediocre quality at best. I had expectations that Sporting Club of Portugal might provide little more sparkle last night but they produced the same display that they had put on  a fortnight ago. I was wrong.  So  limited were they  this the first time ever we have ever played a team over two legs in Europe and the opposition have failed to register a single shot on target.

There will be harder battles down the road.

On with Friday everybody, and work hard.

Good Morning this Sunday morning Positives fans worldwide,

The best game of football that I have watched for a long time yesterday evening. Both sides played quality football and had footballers in very position who were comfortable with the ball and had confidence in controlling and using it, despite the press of the opponent. A word of praise too for almost all the players who approached the contest in the right way yesterday. There was very little whining to the referee and diving and no serious foul play that I saw. The only player who let himself down was Mane whose dishonest efforts were correctly ignored by Andre Marriner from early in the first half.

Of the game itself ? I admit I was a little tense at kick-off to see how our defenders would stand up to the quicksilver Scouse front three in open play. For about ten first half minutes there was an early wobble but once the tremor had passed I need have had no worries. With Sead returned, though a little rusty, our back line played with full  concentration for the full 95 minutes. Tackles were clean and decisive. When the ball needed clearing it was hoofed. Every attacking Liverpool thrust was met by coverage of at least two defenders. The opposition clearly had a  few sights of goals but never the defence-splitting-racing-in-1:1-on- Leno of my nightmares. Praise too for Mhki, Auba and later Alex Iwobi for putting in the defensive yards to disrupt and harry the visitors’ work on the flanks. Our only weak spot on the night was on Liverpool corners from which Van Dijk appeared to  have the run of the six yard box. A bit of work required on that one from Unai.

Apparently there may have been an offside goal ? No idea, collective sigh of relief around me and a shrug. I saw on the BBC website when Klopp was asked if the referee/lino had made a mistake with the incident he answered ” I don’t know, but he did not make as many mistakes as we did today”. Good response.

With the defensive platform in place we had the opportunity to play football going forward, with Lucas, Granit and Mesut playing intelligent football. My impression was Granit played a lot more simple, short balls yesterday. Possession was rarely wasted and we gradually began to open up gaps in the Liverpool defence, for Auba and Laca to exploit.

After our best first half of the season, even though we were still at 0-0, I was not sure what would come next. During the first 15 minutes we were definitely on top, and looked the more likely to score, so it was a kick to the collective North Bank bollocks to see the goal from Milner go in.

Within seconds of the disappointment though the crowd, and from the way the Arsenal players went straight back back to kick off them too,  were back on the front foot straight away. No heads dropped and with half an hour to go the game was still wide open.

The substitutions ? Odd sequence considering we were 0-1 down but that is what head coaches do – shake the dice. Great calls when they work, and last night they did perfectly with Iwobi offering a trickiness and energy  that Mhki had not against a tiring defence.

Beautiful and deserved goal from Alex Lacazette. His celebration, (caught by the Arsenal photoman Stuart McFarlane above) absolutely wild.

And with the score 1-1 I sensed both teams slipped slightly down a gear, although Hector could have capped a sparkling evening with a winner in the 88th minute.

Man of the Match ? An impossible choice but in line with my comments about the foundation being in place it is a split decision between Hector and Rob Holding, neither of whom put  foot wrong all evening.

Enjoy Sunday.

@LaboGoon – he’s working like a dog, not sleeping like a log

Good morning one and all…

Unai Emery kicked off his Arsenal reign with a pair of defeats against Premier League title contenders Man City and Chelsea. Following that the team went on an eye-popping 13 game unbeaten run in all competitions and now comes another test against high flyers, with the benefit of having worked with the team a bit longer to drive home his vision for the club and toward finding a more settled matchday XI.

Arsenal host Liverpool at the Emirates tonight in what is billed as the PL clash of the weekend, so hopefully we will get to see a real cracker with plenty of fireworks (get it?!) with both teams coming into it off the back of a good run of form.

Last Sunday at Selhurst Park our winning streak came to an unexpected end via a draw, to serve as a timely reminder that in a league where teams are separated by fine margins we cannot afford to get too comfortable, because being 2 points off the PL leaders less than a week ago could turn to 7 with defeat before the end of this day.

The Reds haven’t done much wrong this campaign and very fine margins separate them from Mancity at the summit of the log. Compared to the Gunners they scored 20 PL goals to our 24, conceded 4 goals to our 13 and kept a respectable six clean sheets. They don’t seem to shy away from the big occasions either as they came through almost unscathed against Mancity, Chelsea and Spurs with 1 win and 2 draws, conceding just 2 goals.

Scoring goals haven’t really been a problem for Liverpool under Jurgen Klopp, putting a lid on things at the back is where they improved. So if we want to give ourselves any chance of victory we will without doubt have to be at our best and pull together as a team. Our “second half” performances drew many admiring glances and if we can turn that on from the outset, then it could well be the chisel to chop away at a stubborn Reds defence.

It’s hard to ignore our defensive issues, which hasn’t improved much since Liverpool put 7 goals past us last season, and if we aren’t switched from the start we will simply be asking for trouble.

The last time these two sides met though we play out a pre-Xmas 6 goal thriller at the Ems and there is every chance we could see something similar. Aubameyang has been in scintillating form of late to find himself joint top of the PL goalscoring charts after a slow start. With 9 goals in all competitions this is a fixture he is looking forward to. Lacazette will be disappointed with himself for missing a few recently too and will want to step up in this big one.

With two extremely attack minded teams going head-to-head, we can expect a game high on entertainment value from end to end, because both sides know the importance of getting a result.

The trip to the Emirates will not only be a measure of whether Liverpool can go all the way, but also whether Arsenal have indeed closed the gap between them and the ‘big clubs’ after dropping outside top 4 the last two seasons.

Who knows… a win and we may even be seen as bona fide title contenders by the press corps.

Good luck to everybody going to the game and fingers crossed we give Unai the cherry to put atop his birthday cake.