Good morning Positives,

And a fine morning again in Norfolk, and a Bank holiday to boot – a rare combination.

A top game yesterday that had me on the edge of the technical area until the 94^th minute. A commendable performance from our lads, one and all. No hint of any panic or fright as we played smooth, patient football all afternoon, always on the front foot, passing, passing, passing and gradually driving the Baggies back. I heard/read some frustration that we were “passing too much” and had “too much possession”. I am afraid that to finally crack open the visiting side yesterday that the game we played was required, totally dominant in possession, pass after pass after pass, before finally putting them to the sword. The bullfighting metaphor struck me as apt. Mesut the torero with the cape and hook, Olivier with the sword as matador, the panting beast stumbled to its knees before its lights, finally, went out.

As I say I was pleased with all our players yesterday. Because WBA were not remotely interested in attacking from open play the pitch was open for our unrestricted use. All three of our full backs had excellent games. Hector put in his most attacking performance that I can remember, very effective and deserving of a goal. Gibbs was excellent and his constant pressing on the wing worked well with Sanchez, and Monreal stepped in to keep the pressure on the by then wilting visitors.

Further forward the Coq and Granit combination worked well against the Albion midfield. Both players have bags of energy and are fast over the ground which is about 90% of midfield work in the PL nowadays. Win the ball, then pass it swiftly to the players who don’t waste it. Granit – the shooting from 25 yards son – leave it for now eh?

And finally the men at the tip of the spear, Alexis and Larry, both of whom carved chances out against Albion that on another day, and with a keeper less awake than Ben Foster, would have brought a 2 or 3 goal margin of victory rather than the single goal win.

Against us was arrayed a visiting side who played their part exceptionally well also, resolute defenders to the death, throwing their bodies and heads in until finally they were skewered. Pulis did what he does best, scrape a gang of modestly talented journeymen into a defensive wall of greater quality than its constituent parts. Tony knows when he is beaten at his own game though. To quote the defeated manager on our winner;

“He put his hand across him early and outmuscled him,” said the West Brom manager, Tony Pulis, almost in admiration. “I think if Gareth takes a step forward, then he stops Giroud pinning him. Once he pinned him he is so strong and overpowers him. I’ve got no complaints.”

A defeated manager with “no complaints” Pffft –As flies to wanton boys are we to th’ gods. They kill us for their sport.

Of other aspects of the game ? Bad luck for young Kieran to go off after a clash in which both players could have been seriously injured. Hopefully for our full back he just has a badly bruised knee and will be fit for Palace. No gripes with referee Swarbrick yesterday. Not one of my favourite whistlers but a workmanlike performance with no errors I saw. One minor negative; Giroud needs to control the ‘dissent’ business. A pointless yellow card that early and you are one clumsy challenge or stray arm away from reducing us to ten men. And that would have ruined everyone’s afternoon!

That is me for this year – thank you for reading !

Good morning Positive Arsenal fans,

A brief review of yesterday’s painful events this morning. I am sure that most of you have endured a downbeat Sunday evening and Monday morning, as the result of yesterday’s game lapped at the edges of our consciousness. I know my past sixteen hours have seen evidence of most of the symptomatic signs of upset; anhedonia, irritability, loss of confidence, diminished appetite, disrupted sleep pattern, difficulty in concentrating, and patchy memory. Yes fellow Positives the symptoms still come, despite my long experience of being stung by the malicious insect of footballing misfortune. The feeling, at this stage, I cannot intellectualise away. Later in the week I shall feel better, but not today.

I feel I should discuss the game as that is in my job specification at PA.

First half good, excellent early goal, may have got a second, matched Citeh all over the park, sound defensively, the home side lively but Pep clearly frustrated and on the edge of panic. I could see, as Mr Atkinson led the players off at HT, a three point haul from the game as entirely feasible.

Second half ? Well I am afraid to say we managed to drag up another grimly awful second half effort, very similar I thought to that we produced at Trafford Park a few weeks back. Now I admit the equaliser was a set back, a very soft goal whether it was onside or offside, and to some extent that may explain a jolt to the collective Arsenal system. But we have had setbacks and lost goals all season. A goal against us does not explain a fractured display over the next 45 minutes in which passes went astray, possession was surrendered tamely and the impression was given that the players who had been so competent in the first half had been replaced by a bunch of chaps who had never played together before. Did we ever really threaten Bravo’s goal in the second half ? ( Shakes head and puffs out cheeks) The outcome of our disjointed second half display was inevitable. I would not mind if we had been played off the park by a Citeh side at their best. The home side did not even adopt the “aggressive” Everton approach. I thought the opposition were distinctly ordinary.

It is neither my style nor the purpose of this blog to apportion blame or to allocate guilt. I think we can rely on others to do that. I suspect the players, manager and coaches travelling home last night felt as disappointed as we do. They know that they did not perform as they can do, and have done on so many important games this season. It must be for the players to look into themselves, and the manager and coaches to work hard to ensure our next game against the Baggies on Boxing Day is 95 minutes of sustained good football.

If there was a simple answer to avoiding our second half syndrome then it would have been erased long ago.

Anyway that is my five-penneth. You will get no meltdown  or outrage on here. I suspect it will be quiet on here today but I will be in and out with bits and pieces. Please enjoy your week in the run up to Christmas and the day itself.

Good morning Positivistas,

Our second defeat in 16 PL games came as something of a surprise, and needless to say a disappointment. I admit that coming into the game against our favourite opponents, and watching the hapless Toffees fumble around for the opening 20 minutes, there seemed very little chance indeed that we would not speed home with not only the points safely in hand but a probable boost to our goal difference.

Oh Andrew, thou shouldst not have been old till thou hadst been wise.

With the home crowd groaning in justifiable apprehension, from being battered and clueless, somewhere our hosts managed to find a spark of resistance midway through the first half. That smouldering heap of discarded blue rags grew into a small bonfire of hope with Coleman’s neatly taken goal. The home crowd awoke, a quiver of expectation. Despite our efforts at fighting the blaze early in the second half Everton piled the tinder on, and by the time Williams headed their winner we were opposed by a conflagration across the horizon that scorched our title ambitions and left us breathless and smudged. The home crowd went mental.

As Arsene rightly said they were aggressive, physical, and they knocked us out of our stride. Clearly they were never going to out-football us, or even out-football us, but they did what the had to do, and earned their reward. Our defects last night were that having controlled the game for the opening half hour, and made chances before half time, that we did not score more than one goal. In truth the goal we did get was hardly a classic. At 1-1 we created just one really good chance and even that was far from a tap in for Ozil. How unusual it was to lose to two goals, both headers, scored by opposition defenders? A full back heading in a goal from the edge of the 6 yard box from open play – most, most odd. There is clearly a message there both for our defensive organisation, and from the goals themselves which I suspect we could learn a little when trying to break open the packed defences at the Ems.

Of our lads last night I thought Koscielny was absolutely magnificent and that was as good a game as I have seen him play, a real captain’s performance. To come off the pitch having lost a game into which you have put so much must be sickening. Gabriel and Monreal, Le Coq and Xhaka also deserve a mention for their unstinting hard work and self control against an hour of physical mauling.

Of the opposition I thought their full backs, both of whom have been on the end of stick from EFC fans all season I read, were top notch. I cannot recall Hector having such a quiet evening for a long while as he was pinned back.

Having dissected, reviewed, learned and discarded we move on to the Etihad on Sunday. A four day break much appreciated and, I suspect, needed by our players who had as physically hard a game last night as they have had all season. I did not see any injuries last night which was a small but welcome relief.

In the course of a 38 game season two defeats is of little or no significance as it is resilience that brings success. A first defeat away from home for nine months is hardly calamity. We shall see what we learned.

Enjoy your week.

Good morning Positive Arsenal fans,

We sit astride the bolting donkey of the 2016/2017 Premier League this Sunday morning. From my view downward from the saddle I can see a few of our competitors in disarray, particularly up in Manchester. Our lead may not survive the Baggies’ efforts at the home of the Champions elect this lunchtime but it is nevertheless a pleasant marker in the season. We deserve to be where we are this morning because we play football in the right way.

The game yesterday was well worth the Category C money. The Stoke City that turned up was probably the best team that sad little Midland town has put out since their return to the PL. A very brisk start. While I dislike Arnautovic for this part on the Debuchy shoulder injury he played well as a lone striker. Why Klopp sold Allen baffles me. Stoke put together at least two first half moves of attacking football that were of good quality and but for some smart defending and our excellent keeper the one goal they scored might have even been two or three.

Of note in yesterday’s game I thought the arrival of Hector transformed our performance which, to that point had been a little hesitant and wrong footed. That is not to insult Gabriel who has filled in well in the defensive aspects of being right back but our young Spaniard’s speed and attacking threat are exceptional weapons, unique in the present time in England. Suddenly space and time opened along the left side of the visitors’ defence that had not been there before. No surprise whatsoever that it was the Hector/Theo combo that levelled the score at the perfect time.

Of the penalty ? As I was at the wrong end I had no view of it at the time. Seeing it on the box a few times since the award was one that I can see why it was made. When they go in your favour therefore the referee is a man of impeccable integrity, a sound knowledge of the game and exceptionally good eye sight. When they go against you the official  is an absolute tool, naïve beyond belief, and almost certainly in the pay of tyrannical Gulf plutocrats.

Memo to Granit: Keep you elbows a teensy-weensy bit lower ‘cos next time it may not be just a penalty that results.

However, having encountered what is becoming a familiar obstacle of the one goal deficit, we displayed a commendable certainty in taking hold of the game over the next thirteen minutes before the equalizer. As I said Hector was an important part of breaking into the Stoke defence, Alexis was his usual pinball self and Ozil, after a quiet start, made space for himself to work in which, before half time he just could not find.

Of our second and third goals both demonstrated the intelligence of the scorers. Ozil’s was a perfectly judged finish to a chance that most other players would have struggled to know what to do with. The German’s instincts made his choice of the placed header over the stranded Grant look simple. It really was ot simple at all.

And what an end to the week for Alex Iwobi ?? Saw the opening, chose his spot, lovely finish. Last two times the youngster was in the stadium his evenings finished in defeat by the Saints, and the game before that an own goal and his immediate substitution against the dastardly PSG. Last night the hero.

For once I was much obliged to Sky last night for spotting the stamp by Adam on Sanchez in the lead up to Iwobi’s goal. Fucking ridiculous behaviour, again, from the Scotsman. I had not seen Adams’ violence mentioned before so hopefully, having been alerted, the offence can be properly looked at and action taken.

For those of us with leisure to burn this Sunday a day of TV or streamed football stretches out, for those of you working and studying may your industry be rewarded.

Opening picture by an excellent NI photographer Paul Moane @paulmoane