Good Friday morning Positive Arsenal fans,

A better performance last night than Sunday but the same scoreline against a set of attacking players who at this rate will tear up the Premier League record book easily. In spite of my early season scepticism, Citeh appear to be very serious contenders for the Champions League final. If there is a club or clubs out there who would have turned over our opponents in the form they were in last night then I have not seen them. I noticed all the pundits seemed to be cooing and gurgling about MC in contrast to their vituperative attacks on our players during the Carabo.

I have not checked the stats but last night I think Citeh had five serious efforts on goal and scored beautifully from three of them. We had probable five, perhaps seven, worthwhile chances, including the penalty, and yet did not trouble the scorer. In other recent games – against Palace and Everton we did to the opposition with our  first half goal-fest in each game pretty much  what the visitors did to us last night – we were home and hosed by half time. I therefore raise my footballing hat in admiration.

Having got that commendation out of the way I thought our lads did OK. Aaron looked fit again and it seems essential that if we are to put in a strong finish to the season he stays fit. Granit worked his arse off as always, Mkhi buzzed and earned his penalty. It is taking time for PEA to fit in and for us to play to his strengths but it is a positive work in progress. Hitting the back of the net though – that is what has let us down all this season. The problem has to be resolved – easily said – bloody hard to do.

In the world of strange football statistics I was informed last night was the worst sequence of three results AFC have suffered for 41 years, since February/March 1977, when we lost away at Middlesborough, Everton and at Highbury to the then very good Ipswich and the ‘appy Ammers. We then went on to lose our next two games. I survived the catastrophe 41 years ago, I suspect I shall survive it again.

So onward to Brighton for a Sunday lunchtime kick off and the chance to put two consecutive batterings by the Champions’ elect behind us. I did not see any additional injuries or fitness problems last night and Jack should be available if required. I look forward to a brisk start.

Enjoy your Friday.

@LaboGoon cocks an early snook at the snow

Good morning one and all.

Barely recovered from Sunday’s loss to Man City and it’s subsequent hysterics (which does have a life of it’s own) and here we go again……. hosting them at the Emirates. Hopefully our players are better at shaking things off than we are because tonight’s game is a big one.

Finishing outside top 4 last season was described as an anomaly, but should it happen again we can expect the suits not to be too chuffed as we are seen as better than that. Rightfully so.

10 points off CL qualification means each game going forward falls in that ‘must win’ category, because that is key if we want to prevent the points gap developing into an unassailable chasm. So with little room for slip-ups it is now time to throw caution to the wind.

This of course is easier said than done as Pep’s boys are beaming with confidence. In de Bruyne, Agüero, Sanè and Sterling they have four players who has been a real pain in the neck for all comers this season. So defensively we need better awareness and organisation, each minute of the game, we also need to be more clinical in our finishing than in recent times, when presented the chances to score.

There’s no denying that Mancity is by far the most dominant PL team, and sometimes in these circumstances the rest need to have a look at themselves to try other ways than the norm to negate their threat. We have seen the odd game this season when the Oilers didn’t particularly liked it when being pressed. And we have attacking players who, when able to overcome their mood swings and inconsistencies, can be as good and devastating as the best when things click. For me that provide the hope that we can beat these lubed-up chumps tonight.

We have Monreal out, which will be a big miss, however we have Mkhi back and I don’t doubt him and the rest will be determined to respond to Sunday’s disappointment.

A bit of history is on our side as Mancity hasn’t won a game at the Emirates in over 5 years – the 13th of January 2013 was a long time ago – so fingers crossed the Ems faithful help the boys keep that going a bit longer.

Can Arsenal do it on a frosty Thursday night in North London…

The next Arsenal boss will be a head coach in a framework. I’m not looking forward to AW’s departure. But I am looking forward to a time when the club’s identity is a sort of permanent shared vision rather than the philosophy of whoever is in charge at the time.

To which I say, thank f**k that AW has been here so long, to be able to reshape the club from top to bottom. It’s not time to speculate about his future, but his biggest gift to AFC will be that identity – style of play and faith in young talent.

The consoling thing about his departure will be seeing his ethos inherited by a group of people. That would bring a sort of permanence to it, instead of passing the baton to one bloke who has his own way of doing things.

I’m thinking of Mourinho coming in at ManU and shitting over Ferguson’s legacy (yes, AF was a rule-bending, pragmatist and I can’t stand the man, but his football was generally positive), or Monk at Swansea, abandoning everything the club stood for, style-wise.

I’m also looking forward to a time when there isn’t a constant referendum on one man. If we’re bad in the future there will be a whole cast of characters to blame! Again, none of this is to say I’m looking forward to AW leaving. But I think he’s the last of a different era.

Stolen from birdkamp

Good morning bearers of the Positive flame,

Such are the risks of contesting the final of a competition, that the prize is tantalisingly within one’s grasp, and when one’s reach is not quite sufficient to make that final fingertip contact , so the disappointment is all the more acute. Wembley for the past seven seasons has been an almost perfect ground for us, so to experience defeat was an unusual taste.

In truth we were beaten by a better Citeh side yesterday and I have no complaints.The steepest defeat I have ever seen Arsenal suffer in a final. Our opponents were worthy winners and 3-0 was a fair record of their superiority.

Of the game itself ? Neither side started particularly well in a scrappy first half as we all saw. A  moment of inexplicable defending by Mustafi allowed Aguero to pounce but after that both sides traded footballing blows. The Sky Blues probably made the better of their possession but we had chances to strike, with our best work coming down the flanks. Jack and Fernandhino were clearly excited. At half time I had no concerns.

Second half ? Well they stepped up a gear and we were comprehensively pinned down. I thought we defended solidly but when we did manage to get the ball out our midfield foursome just could not build anything with those scarps of possession, or keep the ball. I felt that where in the first half we had an ‘out’ ball to the wings after half time our attacks became much more narrow, and passes  were cut out or misplaced as we tried to thread them through a very busy midfield. Even the usually immaculate Mesut appeared unable to pick out a team mate. PEA became increasingly isolated and we were reduced to the ‘long punt’ to make any sort of impression on the Citeh back line or to involve Bravo in the game.

Most ‘UnArsenal’ but Citeh worked very hard to contain us and to control the game. They had a confidence in that second half that we lacked. The inevitable happened and we cracked under the pressure, the result of great perspiration on their part. At 2-0 it was probably over, at 3 we were holed below the waterline and sinking to defeat.

I do not intend to engage in a witch hunt against individual players, coaches or our manager. Clearly we did not play to the standard that on other days we have managed, and will manage again. I thought Sead Kolasinac played well, as did Jack and Laurent. In spite of his early howler I thought Shkodran stuck to his work and made several good last ditch tackles.

We shall dust ourselves off, clamber to our feet and move on.

Enjoy Monday.

Good Cup Final morning my fellow Gooners with a positive inclination.

This isn’t going to be easy today. I don’t mean the game, I mean typing this blog,as a 10 week old puppy is chewing my fingers as I speak.

We take on the might of  Abu Dhabi FC. and make no mistake “mighty” they are. They have made short work of winning the PL, and are gliding through to the quarter finals of the CL. The only blot on their landscape has been a FA Cup defeat to Wigan, in a game they dominated with 10 men and lost to a single shot on target. For us to triumph will take a monumental effort. Certainly a more difficult task than beating last years City team or Chelsea in the semis and final of our FACup last season.

I have no idea how we might line up. Do we stick with 433 or try the hybred 343/523/433 that has ElNeny with the task of deciding what the formation is in any given moment?

Will Ramsey be fit enough to start? Who plays with Aubameyang and Ozil up front? Is Jack and Danny well enough recovered to start?

Anyway, it looks a lovely sunny day in London and all we can do now is hope for the best. And By the way, our best will be good enough. I hope Arsenal.com  are sending out gifs of Mesut come about 6.30 PM

Good morning all Positives far and near,

A rather teeth sucking evening I admit. I had assumed the job ‘done’ at 3-0 but fair play to the Swedes who came along to their biggest game ever and gave their best, scored two and might have nicked a third.  70 seconds of poor concentration on 22/23 minutes and there was a hint of a wobble on the pitch, and the usual hysteria off it. After a few minutes of concern however the good ship Arsenal righted itself, by half time the panic was contained and we sailed on to the draw for the Round of 16 this lunchtime. Irrespective of which team we draw in the next knockout stage last night emphasised that to be sure of progressing we need to approach every game in the ‘right’ way, with no complacency that the job is already done,  with a strong team and an experienced bench.

Of our lads Sead did well, and Ospina had a good work out before Sunday. The disappointing thing was our failure to create good chances.  I am pleased that Arsene did not remove Chambers and/or Holding after their shaky first half as we had Mustafi and Nacho on the bench and it would have been an easy switch. Both our young centre backs need to  learn and they won’t learn very much if thy are substituted after 45 minutes.

I shall just call it a forgettable game and leave it there. For the visitors a marvellous night which  they thoroughly enjoyed. Was it 4,500 of their fans in the Clock End, almost a tenth of the town’s total population !?!  Oh for the simple pleasures.

Enjoy Friday !

@GoonerReverend reviews Arsenal fans far and near 

There has been a lot of recent debate about what constitutes a ‘real’ Arsenal football fan & in some cases this has led to the discounting the army of supporters that live outside the UK. The notion of a tight geographical fanbase might have been the case 30-40 years ago when football support was still traditionally based on local communities and in part where you were born and who your Grandfather and Father supported but that all changed with the advent of globalised TV coverage and then subsequently the inception of the internet and social media.

This has been highlighted even more so in recent times with a number of incidents on social media involving former players, TV pundits, high profile fans and fan platforms questioning the passion, footballing knowledge & the right to support of the overseas fans. In one particular incident one leading member of a fan platform stated that you are not a real fan of the club unless you followed the team home & away every week. This of course is a ludicrous statement and was quite rightly shouted down by many fans both in the UK and overseas for being exactly what it was an ‘attention seeking’ comment.

In another case a sometime wannnabe media personality questioned an Indian Arsenal fan online stating you don’t go to games like me so you are not a real fan & as such have no right to comment. Then of course there was the ex-player going to town on the expat Brit now living in the States & calling into question his suitability to call himself a fan. Many of these fan comments are throw away lines used to taunt someone in the heat of debate or argument but unfortunately there are those in the minority who actually believe that they are superior or the only real fans because they attend games.

The truth is that all football fans cannot dictate where they are born and in many cases it is simply not possible to get from their home to the game every week because it is logistically & financially impossible. The over used argument from some UK based fans is that they pay two thousand pounds for a season ticket which entitles them to be recognised over and above any fan living outside of the UK. The fact is that a season ticket does not make you superior nor does it entitle you to act superior over any other fan and if anything it’s a privilege and should be enjoyed as such. No one forces you to pay for a season ticket you do it because you want to and because you can and also because AFC have afforded you the right to purchase one over a long list of names waiting for the same privilege.

The other well-worn cliché is that these foreign fans who may attend a game once or twice a year are nothing more than tourists and dilute the fan base and the atmosphere at the ground. On a recent trip back to London to watch a game an Asian friend of mine spent £1,300 and took 3 days away from work just to attend the Everton game. When I asked him if the trip was worth the money he said it was the most magical moment of his football supporting life & he will do it again in September. That is an awful lot of money to spend on one game of football as well as being away from work for 3 days but yet he said it was all worth it without question. On my recent business trip back to London I was in a pub listening to an Arsenal fan complaining to his mates about Asian fans taking pictures of themselves in the Emirates before kick-off then he proceeded to show a picture of them taking their picture on his mobile phone. When I pointed out to him that he was equally guilty of the same thing he was accusing them off he merely shrugged & said they are only tourists aren’t they. I am an expat Englishman from Fortis Green, Muswell Hill in North London. I grew up a Gooner thanks to my Grandad and Dad as was lucky enough to attend many games both home and away for many years as part of our family group. I was lucky enough to be born in the district in the UK to Arsenal loving parents and I was lucky enough to be able to attend games on a regular basis. Many fans I meet as I travel around the world have never seen Arsenal play live as distance and cost make it difficult for them to get to games in the UK yet they follow Arsenal week in week out. Some can only see Arsenal when they make one of their overseas tours which have become all the rage in recent years. In 2015 Arsenal played Everton at the Singapore National Stadium on their Asian tour and over 50,000 fans crammed in to watch their team play. The atmosphere was electric and the fans sang their hearts out for the entire evening & the place sounded like an English football ground. Many had waited years for this moment and when it finally arrived demand for tickets over the 2 days of games was frenetic with demand far outstripping supply.

In 2016 Arsenal travelled to Australia on another overseas tour and in the game my son attended there were over 70,000 fans at the Olympic Stadium to watch Arsenal take on Sydney FC. Again tickets were snapped up by the football loving public hungry to see their PL team in Action proving that Arsenal could sell out any stadium outside of the UK such is the following and appetite for the club by foreign fans… Football is such a global game these days and teams like Arsenal are global brands so these tours and games are essential for the clubs to stay in touch with their ever increasing global fan base.

When Arsenal are playing in the mid-week European competition many fans around the world have to set their alarm clocks to get up at a ridiculous hour on a work day to watch the game. Social media and more specifically twitter has given us the ability to communicate directly with each other at stupid o clock and very often laugh at each other circumstance online. In my mind this is absolute support from the many fans who live in the far flung corners of the world where the Arsenal and its stars are idolised. They don’t have to get out of bed to watch the game before getting ready for a full day’s work but they do because of their love and absolute commitment to their team.

The days of Arsenal being a local North London club solely supported by local North London fans is well and truly over. Those days ended with my Grandfather & Fathers era. Many of the fans calling out overseas fans as tourists and not real Arsenal fans are not from North London either so it’s all a bit hypocritical as well as being completely unnecessary. Arsenal have over 12 million fans on the social media platform twitter and the majority of them live outside the UK. If you are one of the fans lucky enough to be able to attend Arsenal games regularly then you should count yourself lucky that you are able to attend in person because you were fortunate enough to be born in the UK. In my 20 years of traveling the world for business I have met Arsenal fans from all walks of life from all corners of the globe and I have found them to be as passionate, loyal and knowledgeable as any Arsenal fan in the UK and to brand them as no-knowledge tourists who don’t understand the game is insulting, inaccurate and ignorant. Arsenal’s Emirates Stadium has a capacity of just over 60,000 & and getting a seat at a game is only available to the very few… Just because one person lives in Manila in the Philippines it doesn’t make them any less of an Arsenal Fan than the person living in Islington or Haringey.

Overseas Arsenal fans deserve admiration and respect because they literally have to go that extra mile to support the team many of us take for granted.

Hear endeth the first lesson 

Good morning Positives,

A trip to Ostersunds the most mysterious of mystery trips. The home side with a very respectable set of results in Europe, a sub zero night, a plastic pitch, our not-quite first team on display. What would the evening hold ??

For those who saw the game a professional performance  from our lads against opponents who, for the opening 25 minutes ,appeared totally bemused by the event, like a bear woken unexpectedly from hibernation. From what  ( little) I understand about Swedish football they never play competitive games in February so their lethargy when suddenly confronted with a fully firing Gunner battery was understandable. At 2-0 even I was hoping the home side might pull themselves together and make  a game of it.

And having roused themselves Ostersunds did make a better contest of the next hour, drawing a couple of sharp saves from Ospina as well as as his confident penalty stop, and ensuring AMN, Mo and Ozil had a good run round in midfield. For me our best players on the night were Mhki and Hector, the young Spaniard seems to have recovered his spark for the game in recent weeks. And

Danny did OK, worked hard, made space but needed to be  a bit more decisive in front of goal i.e. greedy. Next Thursday he should get a second bite of the cherry and add to his goals scored tally.

I am pleased we got the third, an important psychological marker. Admittedly 3-0 is not quite the “tie totally put to bed” score Arsene was probably hoping for, but the job is done.

And on a final point, what a ‘liberal’ referee ! He gave almost nothing by way of fouls for either side, and not a card all evening. I checked out the Soccerbase statistics for Senor David José Fernández Borbalán. He is a highly experienced Spanish referee who domestically,  in CL and Europa League games, flashes yellow and red cards like a traffic light – Perhaps the cold got to him ?

Enjoy Friday.

This site was set up not for me, or the other blog post authors, to impress people with their knowledge (or lack thereof ),but for intelligent positive fans for discuss The Arsenal free from the pollution of most comments sections in Arsenal blogs. Every once and a while a comment is so well constructed  that I just have to publish it as a blog. Below is one such post.

Pedantic George @arseblagger.