Good afternoon Positives,

I shall make it brief and, I  hope, to the point. I admit the positives of the game today, though not impossible to find, are a little thin.

Let me however get the brutal bit out of the way.

We played today as a team lacking or short in probably two essential elements.

First, we lacked confidence that when we have the ball and we are in the final third of the field, with the white painted oblong things in sight, we are actually able to ‘do’ something with the football.  We look so hesitant in our approach play as we move towards the opposition box  we don’t seem to believe we will score.

I do not blame individual players and as individuals we have very good players.  Jack for example for long periods was very effective in controlling midfield and winning us the ball. It is a collective failure to transform possession, and often good field position, into serious scoring efforts and to test the keeper. Begovic had bugger all to do today, and even that he messed up with Hector’s shot.

To what extent that loss of collective purpose is a consequence of missing ” star” players, through injury in Mesut and Santi’s case and by reason of the transfer shenanigans in the case of Alexis I shall let others decide.

Giroud’s absence is a gap that probably few Arsenal fans, me included, thought would be so significant. We have only young Eddie on the bench to change our attacking options, and that ain’t enough. Even so the players out there today should have coped far better with the Bournemouth challenge.

Second, the quality of our passing from open play and from  the occasional dead ball we gained today was poor. Pass after pass went astray.  I saw maybe one incisive, accurate ball ( for Hector’s goal). Add that to our tentative, nervy approach play and where the next goal is coming from I do not know.

And well done the Cherries. A deserved result in which what you had, as a team, you used better than what we had.

Right that is the sack cloth and ashes done.

Luckily, probably very luckily, our next two games are at home. Our record in front of the Emirates faithful remains impressive. Let us put our travel woes behind us.

Of our players today Jack, as I said above,  I thought played well. He looks fit, and more important he looks as though his brain is back up to full PL speed. Subject to his physical condition remaining intact I think we can expect him to have a Summer in Russia. Another good effort from AMN. Very good going forward and the only AFC player to open up the home defence on his own, before clipping the bar. He was a little off it in defence first half but more solid in the second.

Off you go then – this is not Anfield.

@LaboGoon opens the programme – and he’s not predicting 0-0 

Good day Positivistas ……

Arsenal face Bournemouth at the Vitality Stadium this afternoon, looking for some respite after recent results.

We of course didn’t start 2018 the way we would have liked, so a positive result would really help set the tone for us to kick-on to stay in touch with those teams fighting it out for a top 4 finish. Bournemouth themselves are desperate for points as they hover just above the drop zone by a single point.

So for both of these teams there is plenty to play for.

Looking at Eddie Howe’s team you immediately associate them with energy and commitment. But this season they are a bit topsy-turvy, blowing hot and cold; hot when the opposition are all over the place, and cold when you come at them direct and well organised. And for a team that has picked up just one victory in their last 10 PL games, Eddie is getting a surprisingly easy ride when so many others are taking a lot of heat. But he’s a good guy that always try to play good football and not hide whatever weaknesses behind a bus. Which has always suited us as we have scored 13 goals against them in 5 games since being promoted, conceding 6 goals of which 3 were in an entertaining 3-3 draw in this fixture last season.

So for us it’s important to approach this game in the right frame of mind and not allow outside pressures to stifle our performance and tactics. We need to go out there and get on with the business of the day.

Team news: after an initial scare mid-week Jack seem to have recovered from his knock. Ramsey and Kolašinac returned to full training and is expected to play a part. Özil will be subjected to a late fitness test for a swollen knee. By the end of the month we could be back to a full complement – Santi aside of course.

With the promise of goals for us today it would be foolish to write the Cherries off. Despite a rough patch they still remain a good side, so we have to look after our play, take care of the ball and focus on playing our natural game, while staying switched on defensively.

Last but not least; another thing we need catching a break from is inept (and I am being polite) refs. That’s the least we deserve after Mike’s ‘confession’.

So thank you for being a Friend.

Good luck to our boys and everyone watching the game today. Hopefully after the game we all will be filled with renewed optimism.

Well I’m happy with that result, I certainly have no complaints about going to the home of the champions , who are in great form with no injuries, with six of our nailed on first team starters missing, and playing in a more defensive way. It was however, not a case of parking the proverbial bus.

For all the stick Iwobi got on twitter, I thought he put in a good shift. Yes, he seems to freeze when he gets into the box, but he carried the ball well and always looked to get on it. I feel he offered more than Danny, who has struggled a bit of late.

Jack and Xhaka were both very good, as was ElNeny when he replaced Jack.

All three centerbacks played well with Hector and AMN playing a disciplined game, but still venturing forward when the opportunity arose.

Not many chances for either side. Perhaps that the Arsenal Yer Da wants back?

Shame about Jack’s knack, but hopefully its just a short term hiccup to his very impressive return to first team duties.

@arseblagger (Pedantic George)

Seconds out , round 7.

So far its won 3 drawn 2 and lost 1 in the Conte Chelsea vs Arsenal. However the 1 loss was at The Bridge.

Once again I have absolutely  no idea what type of a team we will be able to scratch together for the semi final of the Cup of Milk Trophy. or whatever you want to call it. Worryingly thought is fear we will be up against a full strength Chelsea team , in good form, in their own back yard. If we can avoid losing, I’m calling that a fantastic result.

So there you have it, try to enjoy the game and I’ll see you on the other side.

@arseblagger (Pedantic George)

@ReverendGooner provides an antidote to this morning’s sombre mood 

Well parishioners as we sit back and pick over the still warm carcass that was 2017 and reflect on our team’s ups and downs we can either be one of two things, we can say hey it’s not all that bad and we are still in with a shout of the top 4 and 2 cups with 16 weeks to go or we can scream ‘Man the Lifeboats’ I’m getting off this tub before it takes me down with it. Now I don’t know about the rest of you enlightened ones but I am definitely the former rather than the abandon ship brigade so I won’t be grabbing my life jacket just yet if you don’t mind. We currently sit in 6th spot as I write this piece 8 points off 2^nd place and while this is not ideal its not exactly the end of the world either.

The detractors would have you believe that this is an absolutely catastrophic situation and that the end of the world is nigh. Our manager ‘the old duffer in a sleeping bag’ as some portray him still harbours a large degree of optimism for the season as do many Arsenal fans but hey he’s hardly going to come out and say that we are royally f$#@ed is he so let’s look at where we currently are and more importantly let’s look at our fans expectation and rightly or wrongly where they believe we should be.

Like many of you cyber pilgrims I’m quite active on social media and interact with many fans from both sides of the managerial debate and the biggest commonality is there is no commonality its very simple in that you are either for the manager or very much against him. You can drone on with some justification about match scheduling and referees who cost all teams points with their poor decision making and performances but I don’t think that’s the problem I think its us the fans that are the problem. Fans have expectations and want the club to show ambition to match that expectation but how realistic is that and how realistic are the fans expectations. I say show the same ambition in your own life before demanding it of others then demonstrate that success before holding yourself up as a beacon of hope and enlightenment.

Now some of you will disagree with my opinion and that’s fine that’s your right and one that I am happy to accept as a part time blogger. Over the period of last year, I have had a good look at some of these so called real Arsenal fans and their constant on line rants about the Arsenal Football Club and in particular the owner, the manager, CEO & squad. They offer advice and comment on where it’s all going wrong and how to fix it on everything from owners share allocations, to the corporate structure of the board and of course how to win the PL & CL before the pub closes.

I have had a closer look at the person offering said advice and demanding that Arsenal match their expectation and realise they are just spouting off to paper over the cracks of their own short comings just like the dad at Saturday morning football who was never actually any good at football but continues offering advice to his son’s team demanding perfection and telling everyone how it should be done. We all want Arsenal to do well and we all want to win the PL, CL and every other trophy but there has to be a large slice of reality applied to that expectation. Every other club is trying to do the same thing at the same time and a myriad of factors need to be taken into consideration in order to achieve this. The rise of social media in recent years has only served to amplify this call for ambition from fans 24/7. Now fans can interact with the players, administrators and the media on a one to one basis and while this is a serious step in fan participation and interaction it’s not always been for the best.

The ongoing saga that is the Sanchez/Ozil contract negotiations have further exasperated things which has also served to raise my awareness of the ever-increasing amount of contract and business law experts there are within the Arsenal fanbase. As someone that studied business law at university and works with complex business contracts on a daily basis I would still not deem it appropriate to offer advice or counsel to Arsenal on how best to resolve the issue because I simply do not know the background behind these negotiations or the foundations that the original contracts were based on yet we have Bill the brickie, Steve the Tesco’s manager and numerous bloggers, podcasters and fan tv host’s telling Arsenal’s executive & legal department exactly how it should be done.

Maybe I should shoot a few Investment JV contracts over to these guys for a quick look see on mate’s rates to make sure I’m doing the right thing; the simple truth is we have absolutely no idea what goes on behind closed doors and due to very strict privacy laws we are not about to either. The other great bone of contention is the CL and why Arsenal don’t win it? Today’s CL is nothing more than a UEFA sanction El Classico for Barcelona and Real Madrid (Real³ or Barca¹ have won it past 4 years) and on the infrequent occasions other clubs have won the cup its because they have spent an inordinate amount of money to do so and Arsenal Plc are simply not prepared to do that.

On the one occasion we did manage to get to the final we were robbed by a doggy Barcelona supporting referee appointed by Platini’s equally doggy UEFA. In regards to the PL where do Arsenal fans expect Arsenal to be in the league table? If you take any notice of Twitter OR Facebook then we should be right up along side City which is fanciful. Where in our history have we ever been an English & European powerhouse that some fans speak of? The answer of course is never. We have never been an all dominating force like the Utd & Liverpool sides of the past we have had patches of domination and the closest we came to dominating a decade was in the 30’s under 3 different managers: Chapman. Shaw & Alison winning the title 5 years out of 10 (31,33,34,35 & 38). Bertie Mee put together a good side that won the Fairs cup in 1970 and the double in 1971 but then came the wilderness years (1972-1988) punctuated with a League Cup in 87 and the FA cup win in 1979 against Utd. Then there is that old chestnut we want our Arsenal back which again is fanciful stuff. George Graham our 2^nd most successful manager in history won 6 trophies in 8 years (1986-1994) but when he was fired for taking a bung the club was left in an absolute shambolic mess both on the inside and out with Alcohol addiction, drug taking and gambling (The Tuesday Club) prevalent in the squad & the club also beset by financial issues so where is this mythical Arsenal they all speak so fondly of.

Arsenal are the 3^rd most successful club in English football history but they are still some way off the success that Utd and Liverpool enjoyed. Arsenal were always a good cup team that could nick the odd premiership until the Frenchman came along and modernised the entire set up and I think the Arsenal the younger fans keep referring to is of course Wenger’s Arsenal of his 1^st 10-year tenure. Wenger’s time is drawing to a close and new blood is needed to take us into the future because the man simply cannot go on forever but his achievements should never be sneered at or belittled by fans who are either too young to remember Arsenal before Wenger or the ones who are old enough but have conveniently forgotten or choose to gloss over the real facts to suit their current argument. As for where Arsenal should be as far as fan expectation well how long is a piece of string.

Some football fans go their entire lives without seeing their club win a trophy let alone the PL title and yet they turn up game after game to follow their team come rain or shine. They love their team and follow it with passion, loyalty and commitment accepting the good with the bad. Sure, they might have a moan but they don’t carry on the way some Arsenal fans do. Some Arsenal fans seem to believe that we have some inalienable right to always win and win well with style and panache. You will often here the phrase “a club as big as Arsenal” should be doing a lot better than they are. You will also hear the argument that Arsenal now has a lot more money & should be competing better than they are but doesn’t everyone have more money now and no one has more money & the power of investment equity than City.

So, taking into consideration the fact that the PL is awash with money which has dramatically reduced the gap between a lot of the clubs don’t you think where we currently are fighting for top 4 and 2 cups is about right or do you think we should be spending billions of another people’s money to win the PL & CL just to satisfy fan expectation? You know like Manchester Utd are in the post Fergie era. If some of you really do think 3 trophies in 4 years is a bit meh and the FA Cup is nothing more than a B grade trophy these days then maybe you really are “Somewhere Over the Rainbow” so click your ruby slippers 3 times, say there is no place like home and come back to reality.

Here endeth the lesson parishioners

This afternoon The Arsenal play the once great Nottingham Forest in the biggest domestic cup competition in the world. The fact that the mighty Arsenal have won this competition three times in just four years should not make us blase towards it. Think about the joy we all felt at the final whistle of those finals, then tell me that wasn’t one of your great memories of your supporting life. From the fight back against Hull, to the artistry against Villa and the defying of the odds against Chelsea. Great times, Truly great times, I want more.

Forest are currently sitting 14th in The Championship and should be no problem for a team sitting 6th in The Premier League, but it’s never going to be that simple, We simply wont be fielding anything like the Premier League team, due to our hectic schedule and quite extensive injury list, I suspect the team will be the weakest we have put out this season. However, there isn’t a player in our squad that isn’t a very good play and we should have enough if the attitude is right.

I honestly couldn’t even begin to predict the line up, so I wont bother . All I can say is I’m looking forward to it and expect us be win. I think it will be a very hard fought win all the same.

Enjoy your day my friends

Up The Arsenal

Evening Positives fans,

A point each, not a bad game of football, plenty of quality footballers on both sides. Ample cut and thrust although neither side had the guile to really open the other up. Half chances, and some good keeping, but the defenders had the edge over the 90.

However yet another game ruined by a player cheating . A slight contact on the Hazard resulting on an incredible tumble and writhing. Utterly fucking pathetic – but you know that.

Blame Taylor though – he is corrupt – incompetent – blah blah blah.

I have had enough of football.

Shotta is upon Friday.

Enjoy.

@ReverendGooner leads the congregation into the Feast of St Basil the Great 

Well hello parishioners and welcome to 2018 hopefully a year full of promise and success for each and every one of you. I know I said I would not be back in the pulpit until mid-January but needs must & our Lord Gooner is a most severe task master & came to me in a vision telling me to write this 1^st Psalm of 2018. Well actually id hit the communion wine a bit hard the night before and it dawned on me in my dishevelled and un-holy state to write about this topic. I guess we all sat there in total disbelief as that wretch of a referee Mike “Vlad The Impaler” Dean awarded West Brom a penalty for what can only be described as a decision which was ludicrous beyond belief. Not that I need remind you most learned of scholars but the rules for hand ball are very clear.

• the movement of the hand towards the ball (not the ball towards the hand)
• the distance between the opponent and the ball (unexpected ball)
• the position of the hand does not necessarily mean that there is an infringement
• touching the ball with an object held in the hand (clothing, shin guard, etc.) counts as an infringement

Regarding this incident Callum Chamber 1stly was very close to Kieran Gibbs when the ball was struck and had no chance of avoiding contact. The ball clearly moved towards the hand and not hand towards the ball and lastly his body was not in an unnatural position so what in god’s green earth was Mike Dean thinking as this clearly was not a penalty. When Petr Cech attempted to ask the Dean about the incident at the end of the game Dean said nothing and simply booked the goalkeeper even though Cech was clearly polite and respectful in his approach & manner. Furthermore, Cech whilst being interviewed states that Mike Dean had clearly gone against the latest FA directive on what constitutes handball in awarding the penalty but this this nothing new is it. Mike Dean has made a name for himself in football by making the game about him and his erroneous decisions rather than about the game itself. The issue here though is not about Mike Dean who many Arsenal fans rightly or wrongly believe is a cheat and openly tries to influence games with his decision making Its about the FA & the professional Referees Association’s (PGMOB) almost inquisition like vigour & secrecy in protecting itself & its officials from any comment or scrutiny even after a match official has had an absolute shocker of a game. Any manger. club official or player who dares to question the almost holy and divine right of the match official’s refusal to comment of clarify on a poor or wrong decision is immediately sanctioned without impunity.

Mike Riley the chief inquisitor rarely speaks publicly and even more rarely acknowledges that his match officials have fouled up & this all leads to allegations of corruption, favouritism or incompetence from the attending press and fans alike. His case has not been helped in recent times either with retired referees like Mark Halsey stating in his book that he used to chat to Sir Alex Ferguson on the phone prior to a game or Clattenburg’s recent tell all about looking the other way during an important Spurs match. Accusations that Howard Webb played favourites and was very anti Liverpool & who can ever forget Graham Poll’s 3 yellow cards at the World Cup. Whether the FA likes it or not the monster they have created in the EPL has too much money in it and more importantly too much money at stake. Those 2 points dropped or should I say robbed from Arsenal could mean the difference between top 4 & CL football and missing out on Europe altogether, the cost of that could be staggering in terms of both financial loss and competitions that they cannot play in. Referees should never be the reason why teams fail but all too often we are seeing more and more of it which is at the absolute detriment of the Premier League. In the Everton Utd match there was an identical incident to the Callum Chambers penalty and the referee just waved it away and played on. Where is the consistency from the FA & PGMOB? How can one referee adhere to the current directive yet Mike Dean basically do as he pleases. The FA have proven with the Kane & Ali incidents that they rule the game & the rules of the game at their discretion and they are the ones that need calling to account over the state of the refereeing standards in the PL and as for Mike Dean I’ll leave the last word to Garth Crooks and his famous rant. “It’s not about you Mike the game is not about you so just ref the game & stop seeking attention”.