An Arsenal performance that has the media purring but with their usual caveat thrown in

The football played by Arsenal tonight was sumptuous, Wengerball at its finest, the movement, the freedom, the flow, the tempo, Ozil the conductor, Ramsey the lighting rod, Lacazette and Mkhitaryan the support act, and Xhaka on top of his game too, midfield and attack showing Wenger’s vision of how the fans should be entertained.

It was so good that it had the media, pundits, whingebag fans scurrying around for something to suck the joy from the night. Wait, whats that, CSKA scored a goal, oh goodie, bound to be something there. Of course with all goals there is always something that can be blamed upon the conceding team, the Golovin goal was as good a freekick as you will see in a very long time (should that be game), it was up over the wall, back down just enough to go into the postage stamp. Can we blame Cech, no, not on a goal like that, two keepers would have found it hard to stop it. What about the freekick itself or the build up to it. Bingo, the angle in there. Its said that on average six mistakes are made on every goal scored. Well Arsenal made 3 obvious mistakes on this one, 1. Mustafi hooked the ball back towards the middle of his area, on edge of the area, then 2. Xhaka hoofed the ball up in the air, and 3. Koscielny charged out to try and win the high ball only to be called for a bit of a barge on Golovin.

so to summarise, Arsenal banged in 4 goals, the Ramsey one a worldie, a goal of the season contender in fact, the build up on all our goals was Wengerball at its best, Ozil was supreme, our returning striker got 2, Ramsey got 2 and its no joke to say that with a bit of luck he would have had 6. We cocked up a bit on their goal, but the tie looks fairly securely in our favour. But much of the Arsenal blogs, the media, the football pundits, are dwelling on the one goal out of five that we did not score. Narratives to be adhered to it seems. You know, the old “a better team would have”. Never mind that tonight the better team did.

@edminton1966

I have to admit that we go into tonight’s game ,with me knowing as much about the opposition as I do about quantum physics. So basically I’m not going to be much help to anyone.

What I do know is that this competition is now very important to all concerned with Arsenal FC. I think we have reached the point where we can say that it is our season.

Arsene has said he expects to have a full complement of fit player to chose from, so no excuses on that front.

I think he could go to the old 4 3 3 line up with

Opsina

Bellerin, Mustafi, Koscielny, Monreal.

Wilshere, Ramsey, Xhaka.

Mkyitaryan, Lacazette, Ozil.

Well that would be my best guess anyway. I ,of course, am not suggesting for a moment that that should be the line up, just that I think it might be.

We are unreliably informed that we are interested in buying one of their midfield players, so that is something else we can watch out for.

Let’s hope we play well and the result will look after itself.

Have a great night my friends and we will speak on the other side of it.

Well what a dreary game of football that turned out to be. I think if we had scraped a 1-0 then that would have been a better reflection of the game. It was painful watching.

Let’s start with a positive though, the back four looked solid. Mustafi was excellent in his defensive duties, Chambers decent, but their passing, particularly Mustafi early doors, was poor. Monreal was his usual solid self, but it concerns me when Hector gets the ball in tight spaces, he often loses it and puts us on the back foot.

Ok on to the not so positive, the midfield. I thought Jack had a stinker. His passing was off and he seemed to slow our play down needlessly. ElNeny, although not letting the side down, also didn’t add much to our dynamism. Aaron was good enough but looked to be blowing a bit from early on. All in all the midfield was at best sluggish, at worst ineffective.

Up front Danny gave his critics plenty of ammunition and was lucky not to get hooked a lot earlier than he was. Mesut was on an off day for him and Aubameyang had little service to make anything of.

Still, once the penalty went in , Xhaka ,Lacazette and Mkhitaryan were introduced, we looked a much better outfit. It seems to me that Xhaka is becoming the heartbeat of the team. I also think Lacazette is a much more than just a goal scorer, I really like his game.

So that’s it, sorry about the gloomy, but  let’s be honest, it was a very forgettable game of kick ball.

Arsene Wenger has lost his voice and was substituted by Steve Bould in today’s press conference, sparing him from answering the same questions he gets week after week, sometimes three times a week. I bet he was delighted.

Anyway, Steve has upset the malcontent by voicing his respect for Arsene

“Steve Bould On Wenger
I admire him immensely. He’s takes an unbelievable amount of stick off an awful lot of people. He is one of the great managers, it’s a pleasure for me to sit next to him.

Do you think he has been treated fairly?
I’m not here to answer those questions. I’m sitting in for Arsene to talk about the Stoke game, I’d much prefer you concentrate on football if possible.
He has done a great job as far as I’m concerned. He has done for an awful long time.

Can you give us an exclusive that he’ll be here next season?
I’d love to.

Do you sense Arsene’s hunger is still as great as ever?
Absolutely. He’s remarkable. Behind closed doors I’ve never met anyone who is as hungry and determined to win football games.

Is that hunger still as big as you’ve seen?
It’s as big as I’ve ever seen.”

This turned him immediately from a downtrodden hero, to a snivelling yes man as predictably as night follows day. How dare he make a nonsense of the bollocks spouted by Arsene’s detractors?

The other day I endeavoured to watch a Youtube video where someone had assembled an array of the most pretentious bunch of expert fans, bloggers and podcasters, all falling over themselves to tell us how the club was in need of major changes and desperate to convince us of how they knew exactly what is needed to be done to make us great again.

I wont put a link on here but I think it was called something like “A catalyst for change”. Only watch the drivel if you have a strong stomach.

But I digress . Among the other bollocks spouted by these leaders of opinion I noticed this particular statement.

“We know that Steve Bould isn’t allowed to coach defending”

Said one of these great sages.

Well for a start “we” don’t know anything of the kind. We do know that there are loads of halfwits that repeat this bollocks and even more halfwits willing to accept it.

Here is how I see it. Steve is one of the best defenders the club has ever had. He is Arsene’s assistant. He will coach defenders how to defend. To think he sits twiddling his thumbs after he has finished putting out the cones is frankly ridiculous.

However, what he wont be allowed to do is set the team up . That is Arsene job, and if the assistant manager was doing it there would be something very wrong. We know Arsene sets the team up to attack first and I suspect Steve would set us up in a more conservative way. But he will coach the players how to defend within the set up Arsene dictates, and that is exactly as it should be.

He’s bald now you now?

Good morning Positives,

What a good result! A 5-1 aggregate score and two legs in which we comfortably ended the games in  control is a rarity in European competitions at this stage where the ‘better’ clubs are coming face to face.

Of the game itself I thought we started a bit jittery and out of sorts, not helped by Kosc’s injury. The Frenchman immediately looked uncomfortable after going up for a corner, and not able to run so I was surprise it took 4-5  minutes to take him off.

With Laurent gone the teams traded possession for the next 30 minutes with neither side showing really testing the keeper or creating a clear goalscoring opening. Milan’s final ball was poor, as it had been to the San Siro, and our attacks ran went to the edge of the visitors’ box  before running out of ideas.

The goal from Calhanoglu on 36 minutes was entirely unexpected, for me as much as Ospina. Good goal, 30 yards, corner of the net. Could the Colombian have been more alert and at least got a hand to it? Could Bellerin and/or Mustafi have shut the striker down quicker as their shouting match after the goal went in hinted at ? We shall never know.

There was a bit of a groan around me I admit but the goal was exactly what the tie needed and we responded immediately. We  surged forward and within a minute it seemed Danny went down in a heap. Even from the other end it looked soft  as the referee and the 5th official eyed each other up coyly. The Swedish referee nevertheless pointed spot-ward and Milan players went beserk, as I suspect any group of players would do in similar circumstances. Nessun sente da che parte preme la scarpa, se non chi se la calza. For all the fuss Danny stepped up and despatched the generous gift left and Donnarumma dived right. A collective sigh of relief was heard as far away as Hampstead Heath as we knew it was not going to be one of ‘those’ nights. Referee Eriksson compounded his guilt a few moments later by denying Milan a penalty when Callum Chambers arm was up but  that  would have been harsh.

The rest of the game I admit is a bit of a blur although as I did not get home until 2 this morning is a bit fuzzy anyway. The main recollection however is of Arsenal largely controlling the game.  The pivot of that control last night being our Swiss midfielder, though whom it seemed most ball was channeled from back to front, and against Granit wall the RossoNeri battered to little effect as he covered ground and space, nicked the ball away and put a sly foot in as required. A really professional performance and capped by the killer second goal as far as Milan were concerned, a shocking cock up by a keeper who up until then in the tie had been excellent. Man of the match Xhaka. Enjoy your moment, you have worked hard for it. Merit points for Aaron, Jack, Mustafi, Callum and Danny.

Of the atmosphere 90% of Milan fans in the ground and singing an hour before kick off ! By Kick off + 5 I could see only a few empty seats in the upper tiers in the East and West Stands at the sides but it looked full to me. Plenty of noise throughout and lots of fans stayed after the final whistle to applaud all the players on both teams off the pitch. Arsenal fan next to me left immediately Donnarumma fumbled the second goal into his net – he’d seen enough.

At midday UK time we shall discover who the next opponents are in the Europa League and the hoopla will start again.

Enjoy Friday and the international break.

There is one thing about this season that will stand out, we have had more “the biggest game of the season” games, than ever before. It seems like every game is the biggest game of the season and tonight’s game feels just like that.

We go into home game leading 2-0 from the first leg and if we don’t qualify for Friday’s QF draw the meltdown will be humongous. The cyber-gates of hell will open and everyone will be queuing up to stick the biggest hobnail boots in that the world has ever seen. The type Elton John might have worn in the 70s.

While we are throwing all the cliche about, it’s a must win tie.

We are led to believe that all the players that could be fit, are fit. So at least Ramsey will play. Kos, Bellerin,  and Monreal are also likely to be returning. Danny, Xhaka, Ozil, Mustafi and Mhkitaryan seem nailed on, with Ospina in goal. That leaves one place up for grabs. I expect it will be Jack but if it is then ElNeny can consider himself very unlucky, as he was excellent against Watford.

So lets hope for the best,

Oh, and up the Arsenal.

Good afternoon Positives,

Six changes but the job done against a ‘muscular’ Watford side who, as we all too well know, have proven to be a damn nuisance before at the Ems.

The first half was no great advert for Premier League football and while both sides had flashes of quality passing I did not think was crisp or accurate.  Again our opener came from a dead ball and a defender scoring. Eight minutes gone and I assumed we were in for another Palace/Everton style scoring avalanche. Yeeeehaaah as us cowboys say. But NO, fool that I am. First, Sead slotted a sharp cross in to PEA but the striker could not connect, then Mesut danced through one on one on the visitors keeper only to be thwarted by a Greek foot. Goodness that second goal was elusive.

For our opponents Pereyera blazed over from 6 yards with the whites of Cech’s eyes clearly visible. Other than that the remainder of the first half I thought was even, with bits of attacking menace  and errors from both sides.

The opening of the second half was somewhat uncomfortable – if you watched it with me I shall say no more and if you have not seen it yet don’t bother. We were under pressure and not really able to control the game or hold the ball for10+ minutes. However we held together. Repeated corners from Watford were dealt with well by Cech and our defenders. Shkodran and Rob Holding were a model of concentration and good co-ordination. Richarlison and Femenia pressed on the flanks but during this important phase we did not ‘crack’.

And then, as the rainbow emerges with little warning from the dark, wet sky so our second and decisive goal was slotted home. (That is not me below but I wish it was)

With the two goal cushion I was, for a full 60 seconds, chortling to myself and entirely relaxed. The game was over, the points settled. Off you go Watford, on you go back to Metroland.

No – no and thrice no. AMN made his first rick of a good performance in the right back slot and up stepped Deeney to take on our helmeted stopper. And despite the 16 previous penalties required him to fish the ball out of the net today good fortune was on his side. A powerful strike by the ugliest man in Watford but an equally solid left hand from Petr send it spinning up and away. It had to be Deeney Karma, kismet, the Fates, the fickle Finger of Fate etc. – do you know what I mean ? .

If Watford had the services of a good finisher rather the tub of lard they employ at Number 9 who can say. It is good however when an outstanding competitor and general good bloke like Cech gets what he deserves. 200 up.

After that a final goal on 77 minutes from Mhki who spent the afternoon being abused by Alan Smith on Sky and kicked all over the shop by Watford. I felt like giving the commentating equivalent of Eyeore a kick at times during today’s game to be honest, but at 3-0 I am magnanimous.

So that was that. A useful three points. I am hard pushed to really to pick out one or two Arsenal players who stood out today as it was, like Thursday, a good 11 man performance. We shall see if Shkodran’s groin is up to another game this week later on.

Enjoy the rest of the weekend.

@LaboGoon and the Arsenal vs Watford programme notes

Good morning one and all.

Early kick-off for the Arsenal as they host Watford just after lunch.

The past few weeks leading up to the San Siro has been tough on all of us as football showed it’s unforgiving side, and with that the natives became restless. Playing on foreign soil proved to be the tonic as the players had to dig deep to snap out of whatever hindered them… and oh boy, how glorious was it.

The AC Milan result and indeed commanding performance were huge for so many reasons, more importantly it gave us back of that feel good stuff we lacked recently.

Firstly though, today will be anything but a cakewalk. Watford came into a bit of form of late, losing just one of their last five games and they also seem to have this irritating habit of lifting themselves whenever they play us. So be prepared for a contest.

With a Jack Wilshere tweet to remind Troy Deeney they had not forget him questioning their “manhood” after our last meeting, Watford too should expect our boys wanting their own back. So today could get a bit spicy.

Getting into top 4 may be beyond us at this point but winning each game is as important now as it has ever been. With Europa representing our best opportunity of returning to the CL next season it is vital we get it right in the PL to carry form, momentum and togetherness there.

Team news: after initial injury scares Chambers and Kolašinac returned to full training, so the same squad that did duty in Italy is available for selection. The talismanic Monreal also returned to training but will only be available after today.

Everything of the best to our players and manager today and may they give due reward to the Emirates faithful for their unwavering support through the sunshine and rain.

Home is where the heart is.