Good morning Positives,

A sumptuous Sunday lunch served up for Arsene’s birthday by the players yesterday and enjoyed by all who attended. I think that sums up our collective experience of the game yesterday – what say you ? Even those home supporters who had the mental strength to stay to the end will have seen football played with a quality and at a speed they have not seen in their ground before. It may have been an unpleasant experience for them, but The School of Science will have picked up the lesson.

The four horsemen of the Evertonian apocalypse were Sanchez, Lacazette, Aaron and, standing tall in the saddle, Mesut Ozil. The point is made that this is the first League game that Arsene has been genuinely able to call on all our best players and start them on the pitch together, unimpeded by injury or fatigue. The first thing I noticed was that ball was moved forward much faster yesterday, and the players were moving faster, to my eye at least. The second thing I noticed was that there was always a player open to take a pass in the final third of the pitch because of that sharper movement, and because the home side had a second less to set their defence in place and ensure their lines were fixed. Lacazette’s movement and ability to find a yard in the box stood out, Alexis and Rambo were both on the front foot and one or the other offering themselves to the passer. Mesut was the puppet master of the ensemble. He rarely wasted possession of the ball. Each pass was picked with a purpose. The only mis-controlled pass he made all afternoon was when he had slipped over.

Elsewhere on the pitch Sead and Hector were rampant. Absolute corker of a goal from Nacho – and I admit until it went in I was a bit nervy. I was delighted that Granit did not let the setback of the first Everton goal put him off his game and he dominated the centre of the park. Did you notice he stayed on his feet for every tackle yesterday ? And for an old guy who already has said he intends to stop playing in May Per put in a hell of a good performance.

Best goal of the afternoon ? Mesut’s header. Ticked all the boxes.

Of our opponent’s then Pickford flung himself around with commendable effort to ensure the thrashing did not move into the territory of total humiliation. Sunlun last season, the Toffees this season. He does like a goalkeeping challenge that lad! I rather liked young Vlacic as well, but I cant really explain why (?)

No complaints on Pawson and a reasonably clean game. Gueye was never going to last another hour after his first card and I think even he knew that.

So with that gushing waterfall of clichéd and purloined prose I shall bid you auf wiedersehen for the week as I head up to Windermere.

Nelson has brought his lead  so I shall not be too lonely wandering as a cloud.

Enjoy your week.

Good Morning Positives Arsenal,

A satisfactory result and, I thought, a good display last night from a line –up formed from returning casualties and youngsters, with just a hint of je ne sais quoi with the surprise insertion of Mo Elneny into the centre of the back three.

Of the game itself I admit just 14 hours on the details are fading and thee was not a lot of high quality football. My abiding impression of the evening is the crowd rocking noisily  from the appearance of the teams to the final whistle, all except one moment that is. On the pitch I have flashes of Jack surging forward with the ball at his feet, Francis crashing in and out of tackles, and Reiss Nelson always available and in space to deliver a series of good crosses. Petr Cech was the busier first half goal keeper and he was very much in charge at the back last night, shouting and pointing at his makeshift defence with gusto. For a long period each time Matt Debuchy touched the ball I crossed my fingers but for a man who has played no first team football for a season he looked genuinely sharp and fit. He has come a long and no doubt very frustrating road. His return does however open the options up for Arsene to rest Hector, if required.

If the game of a swirling mist of half images then it is illuminated by one shaft of light, a few seconds of footballing quality that will remain in the memory long after the 2017/2018 Europa League campaign is consigned to historical record.

The neat and speedy build up to create the chance for Giroud was good by Jack and Theo, but Olivier’s finish with his back to goal, surrounded by defenders and with a gently looping ball was superb. There was no luck, no random chance in his careful guiding of the ball into the corner of the Belgrade net. For at least five seconds even the Red Star hordes were silenced. I have stolen this from elsewhere this morning but the line “he may not be a world class striker by the conventional measure, but he scores plenty of world class goals” sums up our Frenchman perfectly. It was a night on which, until the 86^th minute not a lot had gone right for him, with much sweat but no reward, but he persevered. He who endures conquers. When the season is over that goal is still likely to be among my best moments.

The only disappointment I had last night was the red card for the Rodic which I thought was a little harsh and Francis’ involvement in the player’s second yellow regrettable.

So off to Goodison on Sunday. I watched the closing few minutes of their game against Lyon last night. Dead man walking Ronald, dead man walking. Needless to say we shall have probably ten different starters at kick off time but, as Arsene made clear in his pre and post match, Jack is not that far away from the Premier League start he craves. The momentum is positive.

Enjoy your Friday.

Dobar Dan Positive Arsenal fans,

My apologies on behalf of the Board that we have been lax in failing to produce a proper pre game review for the  tie in Belgrade a little later but I trust you will find the evening nonetheless enjoyable.

Red Star are tucked into 2nd place in the Europa group and at home, in front of 50,000+ excited locals, they have to fancy their chances of nicking at least a point. Our last Champions League evening in nearby Zagreb was a little aggravating, if you remember. Red Star have not lost in Europe this season, are top of the Serbian Super League  and their home form has always been the foundation of their success. Given the largely comfortable results this week in the CL from English clubs my heart says be bullish, my head says we should be controlled and  wait our chance. No gung-ho, no charging in. A French referee and linos which may assist us. Let us take the points, which would pretty much guarantee progression to the next stage, and get back home.

Clearly we shall see a much changed Arsenal side from the starting line up at Vicarage Road and Jack appears to be champing at the bit to get at the Serbs. Olly is surely to lead the line and is it time to give Theo his chance?  There is one player who has no risk of fatigue depriving us of his talents this season. And the is a rumour of Matt Debuchy starting !!!!

For those of you with an eye for coincidence it appears that Dusan Savic,  who scored the winner in our only other game against to Serbs, has a son playing tonight. Listen to the strangest commentary from way back when. Nice goal though.

Kick of at 6pm UK – enjoy the game.

https://twitter.com/arseblog/status/919480110880903168

Fortunately for me, I’ve been stuck in the wilderness with no internet.This seems to have been a blessing in disguise, as the usual melt down occurred  with the normal lack of perspective. From what I can gather, the game changed when Watford were brought back into the game with a phantom penalty? Correct me if I’m wrong ? After that it seems a panic set in and the team did not perform well in the final knockings of the game.

So immediately, following a desperate wait of 7 games, the good and the great of Arsenal bloggers, tweeters and podcasters,were able to rush for their cyber tools, and launch headlong into their tried and tested attack on the manager, players, board and assorted scapegoats.

Well then, here is my opinion of what the headlines for these turgid efforts should read

“A BLOG IN THE PERFECT IMAGE OF ITS AUTHOR”

Every defeat is evidence of incompetence and every victory is evidence of the opponents’ incompetence.

Here is the thing, we are all disappointed following  a defeat. We all get annoyed by the mistakes made by footballers and the perceived mistakes made by management, but we don’t all behave like demented toddlers that have had their ice-cream taken from them. We don’t all have to break our necks, rushing to our phones or laptops, to take to Twitter and blogs in an attempt to be the leading prick on the internet.

You can be critical of Mesut Ozil for missing a golden opportunity, but can also see that he set up 3 decent chances in his cameo. You can be critical of Xhaka for not doing enough to stop the goal, but realise that after 2 international games and 90 minutes of PL action, he could be tired both mentally and physically. You can think that Jack should have been subbed on, but accept that because of an injury to out best CB, that wasn’t an option. In other words “be fair”.

We were basically cheated out of the points, as we were at Stoke, that’s 6 points. SIX POINTS.add them to the total and things would look a lot different. If you’ve been burgled, perhaps you could have bought a guard dog, or a better alarm system, but the fact remains, is not your fault that a ne’er-do-well broke into you home. Be disappointed with the performance of the team if you must, but at least be outraged at the dreadful officiating.

Good morning Positive Arsenal fans,

I thought I would feel better in the morning after yesterday evening’s disappointment, and I do. The elixir of rest and time passing. It must be magic.

Part of the improvement in my mood comes from the realisation that our casting away three points that I had assumed that all we had to do was collect at the gate has not done us much material harm in the Premier League. With Chelsea losing we effectively where we were in the table among the big boys in the competition. A chance to make progress spurned. Citeh’s demolition of Stoke an unwelcome reminder of goal scoring at its best. What we must do is ensure that when Mansour and his 40 thieves stumble, as they surely will, we are close enough to take advantage.

Of yesterday’s game ? A fairly even first half with us just shading possession and ahead through the most unlikely of scorers. They all count etc. and Per absolutely hammered the ball with the force and direction that left Gomes static. My feeling at the time was that there was a lot of possession, but much to much sideways passing. The only real creative effort came from Alex Iwobi who took the opposition on with the ball at his feet. Or young dynamo even managed to stamp on Richarlison’s hand – pity it had not been his head but hindsight is a great thing.

Our second half display to the 71^st minute carried on in the same vein, keeping ahead in the possession statistic and ensuring that when Watford crossed the half way line with intent then were forced to play in long speculative balls or try to shoot from way out. With Mesut’s arrival we opened the Hornet’s defence up twice and but for some good wok from Gomes would have had at least a decisive 2^nd goal.

And then the PENALTY (see previous post for details and discussion).

Now with 20+ minutes left and having created a couple of highly score-able opportunities in the preceding few minutes before the setback my assumption was that we had more than enough time, and certainly the playing resources to put things right. We had not lost at Watford for 30+ years for goodness sake.

But No. Now since 7.24 last night I have seen and read the full range of accusations against individual Arsenal players individually, and I have seen then harangued collectively, Arsene, Bouldy and Vick Akers have been in the arrested and charged for their criminal incompetence.

It seemed to me, reflecting and rerunning that final phase of the game in my head in slow motion we could not decide what to do. In terms of attacking or “chances” the assault I anticipated on the Watford goal never even started. Our game without-the-ball disintegrated. We could not get control of the damn thing for more than one or two passes. When Watford had the ball then it seemed they had time and space to ass and open colleagues to choose from. For us we scuffled, seemed to have no time and picked the wrong pass. We found ourselves pinned back for long periods and when our defence managed to clear the ball it would come straight back with menaces. Under this barrage I make no complaints against the back three (including the surprised Rob Holding) or Cech, or even Hector or Kolasinac. The defence battled manfully as wave after wave battered our defensive wall. Eventually though the weak point was located, the sea rushed through.

We slunk away in defeat. While the devious penalty earned by the young Brazilian was responsible for us not earning at least a point it was the final 20 minutes that defined our evening.

Anyway we move onward to Red Star and thence to Goodison on next Sunday lunchtime. I shall make no predictions though Everton away has been a happy ground for us for most of Wenger’s rein. We could certainly do with one of our strikers scoring away from home, and I don’t care who. I shall keep my eye on the game from the Amex with more interest this afternoon as Koeman’s number may be up.

It is Mesut’s 29^th birthday today so I trust he will enjoy his day, a I do all of you this sunny Sunday morning up in Norfolk.

@arse_or_brain sets the afternoon up nicely

We have all seen our back-up lads do extremely well at the start of the season and we all know they would be needed in the Premier league at times this season. With the international break taking its toll on already tired legs, wild emotions and injuring some of players that looked fully fit, then this could be the time those players on the edge to step into the spotlight, take centre stage and take the plaudits for the quality we all know they have.
The Hornets have done well away from home and this is the best start to a season for a long time but their home record so far has been poor, even though they have played top teams. Conversely our away form has looked poor on paper until you look a little closer and realise although we weren’t on top form at Stoke we were still very unlucky and against chelski gave possibly our best performance of the season.

JACK IS BACK and with most of the squad dusting down the international cobwebs this could be his re-coronation as young King and saviour of English football, even though Arsene has said he wants to be cautious with him. Talking of returning players Per could be back in and obviously his height could be vital and his experience calming for those around him.
I would suggest we need a fast start so in the later part of the game when the miles start to tell we can control the tempo and reduce the need to run at full pelt except on the counter of which we need to make more use of and make correct decisions at critical times. Our counter attacks are one of our poorest areas and if we get that right the goals ‘for’ column could be greatly inflated and teams would be finished off earlier.
Enjoy yourself wherever your watching P.A.s COYG.

Our thanks to today’s guest poster Eduardo @edminton1966

There has been lots of noise in the last couple of days about KSE attempting to buyout the 30% Arsenal shares held by R&W Holdings. 

It all stemmed from an article on Arseblog – http://news.arseblog.com/2017/09/kroenke-turns-the-tables-and-makes-bid-for-usmanovs-shares/ – from almost a week ago, but was not taken up by the mainstream media till one of them did a Q&A at this month’s AST meeting.  Something I found very odd.

By the way when journos contacted Arsenal FC they said they were unaware of any such bid.

So there was lots of fake panic and gnashing of teeth on Arsenal blog world and across Twitter, with the AST and many of its members to the fore in demanding that Arsenal not be let into a single owner’s hands, you see if this 30% was bought out by KSE that would mean that 97% of AFC shares would be in a single owner’s hands and this in turn would open up the option for that owner to force the buyout of the other 3% of shares.  It would be the end of the AGM, it would be the end of accounts on display, it would be the end of endless analysis of the accounts, it would be the end of the 15 minutes of fame some AGM go’ers receive through interviews with the media, where they proclaim how “upset” they are with all things Arsenal, and most outrageously of all it would probably mean the end of the AST (now I know there is a reason they are upset at the prospect of a single owner, but what could it be).

Anyway seeing as Arsenal deny any knowledge of the buyout and silent Stan has remained silent on the topic, the whole of Arsenal world awaited with baited breath for some confirmation of the story, one way or the other.  And never being one to miss a good PR opportunity Mr Alisher Usmanov has obliged by releasing this statement.

Usmanov Statement.

“In recent days there has been speculation relating to a possible offer for my 30% stake in Arsenal.  As part of that I can understand the anxiety that these rumours are causing to the fans as reflected by the Arsenal Supporters Trust.  In light of this, I would like to be clear that I am not holding any talks with Mr Kroenke about a sale.  My interest in Arsenal from the beginning was long term and my intention has always been to buy additional shares should they become available.  This I did with the purchase of the stake of my business partner Farhad Moshiri with which I increased my shareholding from 15% to 30% and also with my proposed offer for the stake of the majority shareholder which valued the Club at some £2bn.  That offer remains valid today.  I have always been and will continue to be an ardent supporter of Arsenal and I see my 30% stake as an important aspect in protecting the best interests of the fans in the Club. It has been well documented that I have no say in the running of the club, that my views differ from those of the majority shareholder and that I would like to assure supporters that I am open to various future scenarios – a constructive partnership with the majority shareholder, the purchase of this stake either alone or in a consortium, or if a party appears who shares my and undoubtedly the majority of fans’ vision for the club, I could consider the question of selling my stake.”

So that clears that up, or does it.

Has he said an offer was made, no. All he has said is he is not in talks to sell his shares to KSE.  So was any bid made ?

Any way I digress.  Back to the statement.  AU says he is in it for the long haul – finally something he and KSE agree on, that is Stan’s stock and trade line re AFC. Only difference is some AFC fans dislike it when Stan says it but do not object when Alisher says it, in fact they greet it with relief (even AST do, oddly enough)

Now more on the statement content, you see this is where I’m a bit confused, and I think that is exactly how the statement is designed, it’s a fudge.  You see AU says that he and Stan do not agree on how the club should be run, but bemoans that he is not allowed any say in the running of the club.  Why would anyone bring on to the board someone who does not agree with your views and methods of how the club is run. Who would create divisions in their own board.  Oddly this is exactly what AST called for once again only this morning.

That was fudge 1, well fudge 2 is AU saying that he is in it for the long haul, but he goes on to say that he would sell out if an agreeable candidate was buying out KSE shares too.

So reading the Usmanov statement I straight away flagged two scenarios that AU put forward, that I expected to have enraged AST and all those fans who were in meltdown over the prospect of Arsenal being owned by a single party.

1.      As stated above Usmanov would consider selling out to a third party if that third party was buying out KSE too.

2.      Usmanov would buy out KSE right now, in fact he reiterated that his buyout offer from earlier this year was still very much on the table.

So there you have it, Usmanov, very clearly states that not only does he want to have sole ownership of Arsenal, he is not opposed to someone else being sole owner of Arsenal, as long as that sole owner is not Stan Kroenke, after all big bad silent Stan is refusing to allow him a place on the Arsenal board, just cos poor little Alisher is opposed to him. 

Having spotted the glaring contradictions in Usmanov’s statement, and especially seeing his views on single ownership of Arsenal, I looked forward to seeing AST’s response.  I expected them, like me, and dare I say most of you as well, to have spotted how Usmanov’s views were so totally at odds with AST’s stance on ownership of Arsenal.  So quelle surprise, when I saw an article on football.london with quotes from an unnamed AST spokesman, welcoming Usmanov’s statement.

So what has Arsenal Supporters Trust got to say about this statement.  (taken from football.london article

“We got the statement we wanted Arsenal Supporters Trust welcomes Usmanov’s response”

“We got the statement we wanted from Usmanov,” an AST spokesman told football.london.

“It’s actually a reiteration of where he has been all along, which is ‘I would put money in, ‘I would buy it if it were available and I want it to be stronger’.

“There is almost a hint there as well that if someone else came in to break the impasse, as long as Stan sold then he would sell as well.

“It’s as good as you are going to get out of the situation for now.”

“Arsenal is too important to be owned by any one person,” said a spokesman. “The reason we say that is that having shareholders involved in the ownership structure, shareholders as in supporters, is kind of what custodianship is about and what being a club is about.

“But it also keeps accountability. We get the important accounts, which of course have just landed with everybody today. That’s helpful.

“We were able to make such a noise over the last couple of years about the £3 million payment, that’s it’s been stopped. That was mainly an AST campaign that we took into the AGM.

“If it were private, he (Kroenke) could take money out like that and it would be much harder to protest about. First of all to find out it’s happening and then what’s the forum that you protest in?

“So it’s really about keeping the club listed so you get the accountability that comes from it.”

The spokesman added: “And there are other protections that arise if he doesn’t own more than 75 per cent. He can’t do management fees, he can’t change the name of the club, he can’t load debt on.

“It would definitely be a retrograde step if he took it private – which I’m sure is his plan, he would love to if the opportunity arose.”

So you can see clearly from the quotes that the spokesman has seen that Usmanov has stated he would buy out Arsenal, and that he would even allow someone other than KSE to buyout Arsenal, the spokesman still welcomed it. 

Oddly enough the spokesman went on to extol the virtues of having multipal owners, “it would be a retrograde step if he took it private”.  But he welcomed the Usmanov statement.

Has all it took for this double speak from AST, been Usmanov to imply that he would be a sugardaddy owner “’I would put money in”.  The AST spokesman was quick to point out this line by Usmanov.

It seems AST’s principles are as easily bought as any glory hunting fan of any club, the promise of “I will put money in” is all it takes. 

Or is AST only opposed to Stan being a single owner.  Usmanov is fine though, this despite high ranking AST member Tim Payton tweeting today that it was Usmanov hoovering up shares that killed AST’s FanShare scheme, and also oddly enough that when FanShare offered their shares to him, he refused to buy, meaning KSE got to buy most of them.

You have to ask if  the  AST want a divided board at AFC, as they want Usmanov given a place on the board despite saying he openly disagrees with their decisions or how AFC is run?

tim payton‏ @timpayton

His desire to get to 30% damaged Fanshare as it killed Liquidity and requests for support got nowhere.

Tim Payton also tweeted Usmanov was offered the FanShare shares.

AST have questions to answer, or are they just hypocrites? 

Good morning Positives far and near,

My apologies for the late start this morning, a roofer booked at 12.00 arrived at 9.30 and if you knew how hard it is to find a decent contractor to repoint your stack you’d understand my priorities.

Yet another Arsenal win yesterday and another professional  performance from every player. For long periods of the game we were totally in control with Brighton pinned like a butterfly under glass, and Arsenal prodding and poking at them to find the relevant opening. It was not until the final 20 minutes that they managed to gain any consistent possession and by that stage we were comfortable and the points in the bag.

Most of my focus yesterday was, understandably on out attacking efforts but our defensive performance yesterday was very good and domestically it is five weeks since anyone managed to get past Cech and score. During that time we have had to employ several central defensive formations by reason of injury so the record over four PL games is to our credit. Nacho has been a permanent rock but yesterday Mustafi was the leader of the defensive gang, confident on the ball and always pressing the attacker.

Of our lads in midfield and up front it was definitely a day to saviour for the Alexiphiliacs rather than those of the phobic persuasion. The Chilean is getting back to his form of last season and yesterday had him creating several prime scoring chances, the most notable being the back-heel with left three Brighton defenders on their heels. Even I went the wrong way watching on TV. Top finish from Iwobi required and executed even with the space he had. Evidence of a maturing player, and congratulations to him . Aaron and Granit very business-like all afternoon. Lacazette another good day and a little unlucky not to trouble the scorer.

My only gripe on the day was that at 2-0 in front and with 20+ minutes to go we did not create more after Theo and Olivier came on. Both had enjoyed a goal scoring week so their ‘eye’ was in. I fancied that we would open up our by then tiring visitors but it was not to be. In fact, as I mentioned above, in the final 20 minutes it looked as though we had relaxed and allowed BHA to come back into the game. While a five goal margin to pass Chelsea I admit was ambitious I expected a little more.

Of a well organised Brighton a sound effort from their keeper and defensive eight. I fancy them to stay up. No complaints about Friend on what was a clean game, although a bit pernickety at times.

What does all this mean for us?

Well April the 2^nd is the last time we dropped any points at home in the Premier League. We have won game after game at home. Some easily, others with sweat and little art. Two away games in prospect starting on Saturday, both winnable although we went to Everton last season when they wee in the same disarray and let ourselves down. Koeman is the media’s whipping boy this week so they may be managerless by kick off Sunday week. However home form is the key. Next up at the Ems is Swansea on the 28^th. The foundation of a genuine challenge for the Premier League title by any club is winning games at home, not drawing, not allowing a keeper the benefit of save after save. We must perfect the art of breaking into the bus for the full 90 minutes.

Enjoy your week