Good Afternoon fellow Positives,

Sadly, for you, words do not fail me after that excruciatingly disappointing result from the SJP. Be assured though – you do not suffer alone. We have not won a point since the turn of the year  on the road in the PL. Trust me every dropped point is a nail in my hand. I would however admit, looking back over those painful mostly Sunday afternoons, that we have not actually deserved to earn a point with some poor efforts.

I have not seen the stats for today’s game but I assume we had 75%-80% of the possession. And yet we lost, again, as we did in games in which almost exactly the same possession format developed,  at Bournemouth, at Swansea, Watford, we play well, get in front. We have better players than them, technically, probably fitter and more intelligent. We are confident, in control and then, and then, AND THEN – we fall apart and  lose.

I have read on here, and I have some sympathy, that these calamities are the defence’s fault, that they should defend better. Looking at the first Toon goal today, though not the second, I have sympathy there. It seems Rafa paid more attention to Shane long’s goal last week than Mustafi did. There is a lack of concentration at the back, I accept that. The notion however  that we must win games, in fact the only way to win games, is by keeping a clean sheet, i.e. relying on a defence that we know is gash,  seems wrong headed.

What distressed me more though is the lack of quality that we showed at the other end, in our attacking and allegedly creative play.  We had oodles of possession throughout, yet barely tested the Toon goal-minder Dubravka. In the final 25 minutes with Toon ahead I don’t think he had to make a serious save. What is the point of having “stellar creatives” (*Copyright Mandy) if we never get a shot or header on target ?

What to do ? Away from the Ems we are not a team at the moment.

We had no “Number 10” today, or  if we did I did not see him. We have Ozil, Rambo and Jack at the club, yet young Joe Willock had the job given to him, and he had no chance. He was eaten alive in midfield, in my opinion. Our creative output and goal threat, when it was badly needed,  was negligible today. And if we cannot score goals then on the road we are f*****.

Having got that rant out of the way well done to Mo Elneny today, another AFC Man of the Match performance for the Egyptian. 95 hard minutes in Moscow and he still looked like a Spring lamb today.

Enjoy your Sunday.

@LaboGoon proceeds in a North Easterly direction in an orderly manner

Good morning all. Arsenal is travelling up North to take on Newcastle. Our away record may not be anything to speak of but we do go into today’s game in good spirit after safely navigating our ship 3 Europa games away (fingers crossed) from CL qualification, and off the back of a 7 game unbeaten run in all competitions.

The last time we played the Magpies, back in December, they were low in confidence, in the midst of a mid-season slump. They have pulled themselves together since and is currently on a 3 game winning streak and more importantly they are scoring goals – 6 of them in their last 3 games. To give us pause for concern.

The host doesn’t need to do much to be safe from the relegation trapdoor, however I don’t think they will leave it up to chance. Rafa will start this game with a point and at the very least that will be how he would want to keep it, by setting up a virtual trench on the edge of their box, to leave his boys with a chance to nick all 3 points right at the death. So I suspect this could be one of those where we’ll bite our fingers through out.

In recent weeks, despite our unbeaten run, we’ve got some criticism for particularly the manner of our wins vs Stoke, So’ton and the 2-2 draw vs CSKA. When looking at the bigger picture, and to echo to words of some from this PA community, one have to accept that we will not always play ‘champagne football’. Ergo there should be a degree of satisfaction in getting the job done even if you don’t hit the highs. Making it so important for supporters to keep on cheering to help drag our team over the line.

One team news: as the game in Moscow took a bit out of the players so we can expect at least the spine of that matchday 11 getting a good, well-earned rest before diving in head first into another congested schedule. Notable absentees could be Aaron, Kosc, Monreal and I think perhaps Jack too. Granit Xhaka and Pierre Aubameyang – who look like someone who will be a big hit for us next season – will be back, providing the experience in what could be a weakened side.

The atmosphere at St James’ Park is known to be one of the absolute best in the PL so we will be upon against it and I hope the away support to get drowned out too much. But hopefully the players will show great resilience to edge it.

Good luck the our team and all supporters watching the game from wherever. Fingers crossed for Harry Kane to be on the right side of the scoring sheet today. COYG!

Good Morning Positive Friends,

Quite a night wasn’t it ?Having watched the wheels come off various other clubs allegedly commanding first leg leads this week I think we all knew we were in for a tricky night in Moscow. I did not anticipate quite how tricky it might be. I went through the full range of emotions, all the way from from stupefied, dribbling terror to ecstatic, loud purring over the 94 minutes.  I remind myself that whirl of highs and lows is why I watch football, winning raises the spirits on  the grimmest day, and even when we lose there is a still a buzz of being involved.

Of the game itself ? Based on the final scoreline 2-2 and 6-3 on aggregate a casual observer might expect it was a dull match with a predictable result. Not a bit of it. Few Arsenal fans doubted CSK had “goals” in them and a fairer result from the first leg might have been 8-3. They had nothing to lose and they set about us as expected from the start. They have in Golovin one of the best young players in Europe. I suspect Arsene will have been making discreet enquiries last night about his plans. Around the young Russian  their support players were none too shabby either, and for all the fuss about the combined age of their back three ( 178 birthdays between them or some such nonsense) they kept us at arms’ length for long periods and it was only with Danny’s goal that we really opened them up finally.

Of our lads a super game from Mo, worked his socks off in the first half when we were under pressure, had a useful spell in the centre back line,  and still had enough gas in the tanks to play decisive through balls for both goals. Mo’s regular first team involvement in recent weeks has bright him on as players. His confidence is sky high and that contributes to the sureness of his touch and the accuracy of his passing.

Of our other lads Danny’s goal fest proceeds and his finish was top, top class. Rambo was another who worked hard when the home side wee in the ascendant, not to mention coping with a monster gash on the calf. And finally of notable performers who caught my eye step forward Callum Chambers, the right man who entered at the right time to do the job required.

Of things that did not go so well ? As we have seen before the back 3-4-5 do seen to develop the heebie-jeebies when they are attached early on in games. When their composure is rattle it takes them a while to get it back. Nevertheless when the game was in the balance from 50th minute and for the next 20 minutes Kosc, Mustafi, Nacho and Hector did stand up and see off the Muscovite horde. And finally Jack ? Who knows – as I read elsewhere this morning for a 26 year old he seems to have the physique of a much older sportsman. Plenty of games still this season for JW to re-kindle what was a good season until recently but somehow, on and off the pitch, he seems to have lost his way.

That is me done. The draw is at midday UK time fir the semi finals so no doubt we shall meet later to discuss the next opponent. Enjoy Friday.

Arsenal tip up in Moscow taking a 4-1 advantage form the first leg. Well in a normal week you might conclude that should be enough, but this week in Europe seems anything but normal.

With Mkhitaryan out for the foreseeable and Xhaka tucked up in bed with a sniffle I think the team will be

Cech

Bellerin, Mustafi, Koscielny, Monreal

ElNeny, Ramsey Wilshere

Welbeck, Lacazette, Ozil.

I don’t have much more light to shed for you ,so talk among yourselves, after all, that is what the site is here for.

Enjoy the game.

Good Afternoon Fellow Positives,

If you like your action end to end and of about 96 minutes  duration you will have enjoyed that game as much as  did. It is good to squirm on the edge of my seat, in a nice way,  until Mr Marriner thankfully put an even contest beyond doubt.

Of our brave lads it is a while since he has earned the accolade, or deserved the award to be honest, but Danny was on top form today and his three key interventions ensured we took the thee points. His downward clip to PEA for the opener was exquisite, a fortnight ago Danny would not have managed it. It has been a slow process returning from injury to recover that extra half yard of pace and split second of mental sharpness. Trying to find game time in such a talented squad must be frustrating, but today the Mancunian was very, very good.

Of our other lads Xhaka and Mo worked well in midfield, tidy and combative. Cech chipped in with a couple of decisive 2nd half saves, and Hector and Reiss Nelson worked well together to stymie Tadic and Bertrand. I would have liked to see Reiss be a bit braver in taking open the opposition with the ball at his feet but a good hour nevertheless. Rob Holding came off the bench and contributed a useful 20 minutes at a time we were wobbling. The young defender  is not averse to hoofing the ball hard and a long way – Shkodran please note.

For the Saints I thought James Ward-Prowse and Holberg stood out. If their current employers do suffer relegation I cannot see either of them will be playing Championship football next season. If Saints had managed to get a point this afternoon it would have been deserved – but keep that quiet – strictly between us.

High jinks at the end. I thought Stephens unlucky to get a straight red. No idea what Mo’s card was for, according to the commentator “raising his hands” (?)

The bigger picture is of course that apart from an enjoyable run out against the Saints we rested a few key players, and set out for Moscow with a run of 6 straight wins which does no-one’s confidence any harm. Life is too long to say anything definitely; always say perhaps.

Enjoy your Sunday.

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.