Oh my, it’s close. I have butterflies in my stomach this morning. Apparently, that light adrenaline loosens the bowels, so be careful if you have a long train journey into work… carry a plastic bag just in case.
This is most consequential week in North London history (I mean, I’m trying to hype over here). There is so much riding on it. Arsenal hasn’t won a European trophy since the CWC in 1994. We’ve lost three since. Zaragoza, Gala and Barcelona. It’s Unai Emery’s chance to make history in his first season.
The added complication of the week is that the scum down the road also has a big game against Liverpool. How will our WIN affect them? Will it ramp up the pressure on them to deliver? Could a win actually work in our favour? I mean, don’t be stupid, a win will ALWAYS work in our favour.
The team looks to be practising hard. Shout out to the Arsenal.com for this nerve calming beauty.
The squad looks fit, they look summer tanned, and the manager looks calm. He owns this trophy, Wednesday night HAS to be his.
Chelsea appear to be up to ‘mind games’ because Kante has travelled with the squad. I mean, if this were a Conte 11, I’d be bothered, but a more advanced Kante doesn’t quite add the same punch to a game of football as he used to sitting deeper.
I’m more concerned about Hazardaryan
It would appear my elite organic marketing campaign to raise awareness of his TRUE heritage did impact culture like I’d hoped. I feel like Yaxley Lennon right now. I deserve a milkshake thrown at my advertising credentials. Did the liberal elite of Chelsea shadow ban my social adverts? Or were my adverts just shit? Who knows, but I’m deeply suspicious about how my work could have failed.
… and really, he is the difference maker out there on Wednesday. The one truly world-class player. The big question is whether he’s up for it. Can a Chelsea squad that’s already seen their CL bonus paycheck muster the energy for one last roll of the dice in Baku for a midnight kickoff?
Oh, I also don’t like the idea that Hudson-Odoi could do something. The Englishman has a great story, would hate for him to turn it on.
Who knows. Part of me suspects the ultimate fuck you prize for Sarri would be to win the cup and fuck off the Juventus, so I wouldn’t rule out a big game.
Interesting to note that Chelsea has players in their squad that have won the trophy before, so the Europa magic doesn’t sit solely with our manager. David Luiz, Azpi and John Terry sure to be thrilled to be part of the game again.
The important issue of the day for us is our defence. Which will show up, the shit one, or, the shit one? It’s likely we won’t keep a clean sheet, having only managed that twice away from home all season… the second most important click moment has to be Auba and Lacazette. They are going to have to take their chances when they arrive.
I know that ‘feelings’ don’t matter when it comes to football… but I feel weirdly confident. Everything is rolling out way, I’m not sure Chelsea are a reliable team these days and I think we have ample firepower to cause damage if our big names show up on the day.
We’ll have to see, I’ll be back with a BANGER of a preview tomorrow.
BIG LOVE x
Elmo
I doubt that anyone can guarantee the safety of another if they veer out of their duties
Assuming Mykhi decides to go the the central square in Bake to hoist an Armenia flag, the outcome would be expected.
There’s a reason why Olympic athletes are kept in restricted villages during the games. There’s nothing sinister about what the Azeri ambassador stated.
Joe
Hear you mate, not here to argue just call it as it is.
I remember after the liverpool defeat, for a so called arsenal blog this place was a disgrace. So called ‘fans’ laughing at the defeat, they were loving it.
Like i said REAL FANS will enjoy the win and hate the loss.
The rest will act like the tossers they are.
COYG.
And fuck spurs, them winning can’t happen. No.
“We all know them, un cc victorious pierre.
These cunts are absolutely frothing at the mouth for us to loose.“
What are you on about? I’ve never wanted us to lose a final, I’m an Arsenal fan before I give a shit about any one person associated.
Arsenal need a win, we need CL money and prestige to build quicker. My views on Emery are pretty clear and I’ve said plenty on the subject. Nothing that happens tomorrow changes those views.
Cc
‘I’m an Arsenal fan before I give a shit about any one person associated’
Wow!
Your wenger defence and consequent emery bashing says otherwise.
I do apologise for lumping you in with certain posters that want us to lose tomorrow tho.
My bad.
Seems that the rumour that Emery was part of the four man short list of manager that Barcelona wanted has been replaced that Erik Ten Hag is the fourth man. Allegri, Koeman, Martinez and Ten Hag. Frankly that list baffles me. Frankly Allegri would be a culture shock to the socio. Imagine their reactions if Barcelona tries to win 1-0. Koeman and his man management skills would see half the team put a transfer request within six months. Martinez will organise a defense so shambolic that they will win game 6-5. Ten Hag look the least bad choice. He already… Read more »
@Dissenter,
How do you interpret the following by the Azeri Amabassador.
Go to Baku you are safe there, if you want to play the issue then that’s a different story.
To me and most casual observers, it is a veiled threat.
Two Thai Arsenal supporters who were wearing a Mhikitarian replica shirt and their Chélsea supporter friend were stopped by the police.
When you have that level of paranoia displayed by the police, imagine what it would be if the real Mhikitarian were to show up.
https://twitter.com/SkyFootball/status/1133474002838663168?s=19
Before you said that they should have known better, I am pretty sure that the issue with Mhikitarian are at the bottom of the Thailand media news cycle.
Marko/RH,
Think you owe me an apology in the Emery/Ramsey injury thing.
#PedroKnows
Valentin, the list is so bad… none of those coaches has the footballing DNA of Barca.
Struggling to pick through what the fuck this means. “But after, in his mind, he was thinking “my future, my future, my future” and something I said to him and in the press conference [was] he was a little distracted. Really, I was thinking his performance is not with the balance and regularity. “But when he decided his future, in this moment it was difficult for us because he decided his contract is difficult for the club to close and I cannot do nothing, but after, really the last three months he was amazing. Amazing. “When we played against Tottenham,… Read more »
PedroMay 29, 2019 00:55:32 Seems to me,or as it reads -that Aaron and his agent were looking for Arsenal to match the offer or better from Juve,taking into account what Ozil was offered previously-£350k p/w..In between Emery and his colleagues-Raul et al felt his mind was not at an Arsenal,could not match it based on their own valuations and perception of him. When called upon,he delivers a performance remains professional and in hindsight, Emery thinks maybe we dropped a ball or clanger on this one. A bit like the Beckham scenario at Real Madrid when Capello was managing them.Capello did… Read more »
Pedro, Translation from Basque Spanglish to English (unfortunately Google Translate doesn’t cover Basque Spanglish, so my translation will have to do): “While Ramsey was agonising about his future his performances were not up to his usual standard. Once his future was decided and he signed with Juventus I was a little unsure about whether he was still fully committed to giving his all to Arsenal for the remainder of the season. But he played fantastically well. Before we played against Tottenham, I said to Aaron: I know how much the services against Tottenham mean to you. Play as well as… Read more »
How much the derbies. – not services!
Words, good translation.
A shame that interview happened before the game, but whatever.
PHD, you can come back on, but any casual cunting and you know the drill.
Joe, you are a such an unbelievable hypocrite, sometimes I have to double take… you were banned for wanting the opposition to win, now you’re taking the high ground and tutting at those doing the same?
Unreal.
Pedro
Pardon my intrusion but that reporting shows you were wrong.
The reason why Emery didn’t play Ramsey was because his head wasn’t right until he settled his future.
‘It has nothing to do with Emery not fancying him or any of the other things you suggested.
Dissenter, no problem at all.
> Arsenal yanked the deal they were negotiating that Aaron was down for signing
> Emery dropped him
> Then when he’d signed for Juve they brought him back in and he played a blinder
Literally, the exact thing I’ve been saying all along.
Long and short, Emery didn’t fancy him, then he realised Aaron was pretty good.
… and I’m pretty sure you were jumping all over the mismanaged injury stuff as well.
REGARDLESS
Big game tomorrow
COME ON ARSENAL!
New post at 0900 sharp!
As an Arsenal fan,would be fantastic to see us win the Europa Cup. High time,we won something of note in recent times, rather than some fans frothing over FA Cups as some sort of high end, global status level achievement. All that said,us as a club of our stature,history and potential-should really be looking at the CL as our holy grail,and in contrast seeing the Europa Cup as a cup falling below such standards,our remit so to speak. But alas,here we are today 2019-and the Europa cup is our level. Beggars cannot be choosers…This is our level circa 2010-2019. I… Read more »
“Before you said that they should have known better, I am pretty sure that the issue with Mhikitarian are at the bottom of the Thailand media news cycle.”
Seriously Valentin? You need to get out more.
What a numpty statement to make.
Who else is feeling jitters about tomorrow? It’s becoming more and more
Pedro How can you compare wanting to rid a tyrant like wenger to people hoping we lose the Europa league final to prove a point about emery It’s so completely different. Also because we and YOU knew that winning the fa cup or some league match under wenger was going to do NOTHING to change wenger or help arsenal. We got worse. Which we all knew would happen. “ oh wenger will build on this”. “ oh this will be wenger’s summer after the big fa cup win” Bollocks At least with emery we know him and the regime will… Read more »
Jay
“I do apologise for lumping you in with certain posters that want us to lose tomorrow tho.
My bad.”
yes it is “my bad ” whatever that means …..presumably ” I’m as thick as shit” …but I will accept your grovelling apology as I have never or will ever want Arsenal to lose a football match in my life , unlike many on here .
Interesting comments from Cech though about the level of expectation at Arsenal.. As I knew along.As many fully informed Arsenal fans knew along.In fact all of the ambitious players left citing lack of ambition at the club.And even Nasri, when he left back in 2012, alluded too as much, and to paraphrase him”That players at Arsenal were happy to pick up their wages and had no ambition.He left for Man City to win trophies when celebrating their EPL Trophy.”And funnily enough he too was branded a mercenary by the Arsenal faithful.. Actually here is Nasri’s quote back in 2012: Now,… Read more »
Joe “At least with emery we know him and the regime will build on a win and do something good for arsenal. Great even. Massive massive massive difference.” Talking bullshit as per usual ….this regime should not fill anyone with confidence as so far they have awarded new contracts to xhaka and mustafi, 2 players that Le grove are desperate to see the back of, failed to renew Ramsey’s contract and then there was the Suarez debacle, so what makes you believe that a regime that have shown incompetence on par with wenger , are going to do “something good”… Read more »
Pierre. Oh Pierre have awarded new contracts to xhaka and mustafi, 2 players that Le grove are desperate to see the back of, Wenger signed mustafi to a 5 year deal and he has 2 years left. No one has awarded him a new deal. Ramsey was wenger’s fault as he was allowed to enter into his final year of the deal because wenger didn’t sort it out when he should have ala Sanchez and ozil. Ramsey has aRsenal by the balls and was asking way too much because wenger fucked it As for xhaka. They renewed him because he… Read more »
Nothing’s changed except we have a group of highly paid professionals making the mistakes instead of just one.
Everything. Has changed. They are still cleaning up wenger’s mistakes(mustafi) and not making the same mistakes and Letting players run down their contracts.(xhaka, Ramsey ozil Sanchez)
So finally game day is here after what has seemed an eternity since the Burnley game. Sarri stormed out of Chelsea’s evening training kicking his cap in the air when leaving the pitch. Must be a reverse psychology tactic for settling the Chelsea squad. Leno or Cech? Ozil to start? Who cares as long as we win? Emery’s credentials suggests that the EL Cup is His domain – it’s where Emery has excelled in his career. Emery should really have no excuse now; he knows Chelsea and should know how to beat them especially if Kante and Hudson-Odoi are out… Read more »
KPMG the leading accountancy firm have just published their valuation of leading football clubs and sadly Arsenal are now dropping like a tombstone behind many of our competitors. They value us at just US$2,008 Billion. The current list is now: 1. Real Madrid 2.Manchester United 3.Bayern Munich 4.Barcelona 5.Manchester City 6.Chelsea 7.Liverpool 8.Arsenal 9.Tottenham Hotspur 10.Juventus So we have now dropped behind Liverpool a club who were almost bankrupt six years. Spurs are now ranked just behind us! This is starting to show the stagnation and lack of performance at the club in recent years. This is despite the rhetoric… Read more »
The club lost that winning mentality when Vieira left the club . I have said before that it’s certain players with a club that provide that winning mentality and when they leave the club , they take that mentality with them . These players don’t even have to be regulars in the starting line up , it is the influence they have in the changing room and the values they adhere to which rubs off on the other players. Luckily we had Tony Adams for a long period and Vieira stepped into his shoes but not all clubs are that… Read more »
EmiratesstrollerMay 29, 2019 04:54:02
I’m curious to know why you think this has happened? Why we have plummeted?
Reasons for our decline.
1. Lack of ownership ambition.
2.Poor Management at club.
3.Poor investment in team
4.Poor Transfer and Contract decisions.
5.Failure to qualify for Champions League.
6.Stagnation.
E=stroller .. We were 9th last year.. now we are 8th,… that’s not dropping .. more like we are staying the same.
EmiratesstrollerMay 29, 2019 05:13:04
Reasons for our decline.
1. Lack of ownership ambition.
2.Poor Management at club.
3.Poor investment in team
4.Poor Transfer and Contract decisions.
5.Failure to qualify for Champions League.
6.Stagnation.
———
So,who is accountable?
On whose doorstep, does the accountability lie with,in the grand scheme of things?
Who has presided over the six points you have made overall?
Who calls the shots,who makes the overall tough decisions?
What is the bottom line?
Emirates Stroller
To be fair to Mid West since 2011-2019,according to the KPMG list we have been roughly hovering around 8th place,bar circa 2011 where we were positioned around 6th according to the KPMG Table.So,not much movement overall from last year.
But,I do get your other points.
PSG is dropping like a stone.. Because their ad revenue has dropped. Because it was bogusly inflated by bogus sponsorship and now it had to be adjusted.
Liverpool and Spuds have increased understandably because they have made the CL finals.. It matters.. I think you are reading a little too much into it to be honest. If you look at it realistically we are about the 10th best team in Europe.. which is about where are valuation comes in.
Strangely enough .. I’m not worried about tomorrow.. I guess it’s today now. I probably should be.. but this seems to be our gig.. now. Just in case though I have cold beverages on ice. Either way… I’m ready.. plus I made a couple business appointments for early in the day .. keep my mind off of things.
Monstrous match for our recovery efforts. I feel like the boys will be up for it. If we score first.. I will feel really good about it..
Don’t get yourself over excited about the mustafi contract Joe , I was just testing your knowledge.😇
Good to see that the likes of you and Graham actually want the club you support to win a final this time..
I believe there is a strong possibility that the locals will make it like a home game for Chelsea due to the Mhkitaryan situation..
It may actually be quite a volatile atmosphere in the ground , if so then that isn’t good news for Arsenal.
Venkatesham “We need to make sure we are really disciplined,” he told the club’s official website. “A good example of that is senior players that aren’t towards the end of their careers, we need to make sure that those players, when they’ve got two years left on their contract, we’re making the difficult decisions. .We’re either renewing those players’ contracts, or we’re selling those players. So we’re going to have to be brave with those decisions along the way, because we can’t be in a situation where we are allowing players to walk out the door for free unless they… Read more »
MidwestGun Let’s be clear we were told by both Hill-Wood and Wenger after we built the stadium that Arsenal would be “competitive” with the top clubs in Europe. They suggested that the only clubs who could/should outbid us in transfer market were Real Madrid and Barcelona. Since then we have seen our club overtaken by the likes of Man City, Chelsea and Liverpool with Spurs now moving up the pecking order. The key difference s between us and most other clubs in list is that they have invested their money “in known quality players” and bought and sold them at… Read more »
E- stroller …yep that’s all true and yet our valuation has been about the same. We are consistently in the 8th to 10th range.. You suggested we were dropping .. that’s not true..others are passing us up and others are dropping. We stay the same. We know why City and Chelsea passed us up. Huge cash infusions. Your talking about something different though when your talking about transfer budget versus Club Value. Guarantee if we hadn’t built a new stadium our Clubs value would truly have dropped like a tombstone.
EmiratesstrollerMay 29, 2019 06:16:49 MidwestGun Let’s be clear we were told by both Hill-Wood and Wenger after we built the stadium that Arsenal would be “competitive” with the top clubs in Europe. —– You forgot Gazidis..”We can compete with the Bayern’s et al” ——- “The key difference s between us and most other clubs in list is that they have invested their money “in known quality players” and bought and sold them at right time.” You forgot,Liverpool’s commercials also. ——– “The key difference s between us and most other clubs in list is that they have invested their money “in… Read more »
Emery “Once his future was decided and he signed with Juventus I was a little unsure about whether he was still fully committed to giving his all to Arsenal for the remainder of the season. But he played fantastically well.” This still doesn’t explain why he benched Ramsey for 9 consecutive league games after he was substituted on 29th September . According to Emery, he was a little unsure whether Ramsey was STILL fully committed in January which mean he believes he was fully committed prior to signing for juventus. It basically confirms what I have been saying all along… Read more »
Pedro I don’t understand
How are you vindicated on Emery being behind Ramsey’s injury? Or indeed yanking his deal?
As for realizing how good he really is, well the man has been talking about how good Ramsey is as a footballer since he joined so I don’t get this he doesn’t fancy him bit. He doesn’t fancy him at a certain price probably because he believes he can get better value elsewhere but has nothing to do with underrating his ability.
Anyway this is no day for Emery back and forth
COYG bring that cup home.
If Le Grove says we will win,it’s usually the opposite. When optimism is high,the rsults are usually low. Just sayng. PS Those figures by KPMG are mind boggling.When you factor in broadcasting rights,commercial rights and match day rights.. Unbelievable that Bournemouth generated £136 million in broadcasting revenue during the 2016/17 period & Southampton generated £143 million in broadcasting revenue during the 2017/2018 period..That was or is almost half our summer transfer budget for 2018/19 at Arsenal!! The reports needs closer inspection-but for 2017/2018 it appears that our commercial revenues and match day revenues were closely aligned,28% commercial 24% Match Day… Read more »
http://africa.espn.com/football/blog/marcottis-musings/62/post/3863365/uefa-europa-league-ultimate-preview-what-you-need-to-know-before-arsenal-vs-chelsea
While we wait for Pedro’s
Emery took exception to Ramsey( and Ozil) showing their displeasure at being substituted and decided to make an example of them by marginalizing them. ______ My God you have a one track mind.. well guess what we had Ozil and Ramsey both all last season …”not marginalized” in your words. which is I guess your new buzzword and we did Fuck all… so the point is moot. By the way Ramsey played less matches last season… in his non Marginalized role I guess. Ozil played 2 more matches last season so about the same. Basically you act as if Emery… Read more »
I have been criticising Wenger for more than 10 years. Not the 3 you suggest.
My view of Kroenke is more recent, because frankly the man has been only in
control of the club a relatively short time since the death of Fiszman.
Fiszman was never a billionaire in a position to invest heavy money in the club, but he was a man of vision and passion in the club. So you cannot blame him for the decline only perhaps the selection of his successor.
I hope the players are up for it after reading those Cech comments. Some much needed added motivation. It will be interesting to see how Emery wants to approach this. Play with high intensity or go for the counter.
Btw, how wonderful would it be if Ozil, Mustafi and Xhaka were to end up on the score sheet and help us win !
3-2 to The Arsenal…..
Pedro
There is a very revealing interview with Emery in today’s Daily Telegraph. I will
comment on it when you post your next thread.
For all the negativity about Emery I think that he is actually a very “clued up head coach” and far more intelligent and street wise than most of his critics
believe.
Come on baby give us that sweet CL cash.
Emery can say it’s about the trophy. And it definitely is, a European trophy Arsenal have never lifted before. Beautiful to think we will be European champions come tomorrow.
But actually it’s really about the money for us right now. Equally or even more so. Argue the philosophy and who is responsible for it till our deaths. We need that cash. Even if only so no one can use money as a cheap excuse for a mediocre summer and another season of running in place toward 4th/5th next year.
EmiratesstrollerMay 29, 2019 08:05:32 I have been criticising Wenger for more than 10 years. Not the 3 you suggest. ——— With all due respect,you criticising a manager(Arsene)is wholly different from wanting or calling for a manager(Arsene) to be expunged or discharged from his managerial duties, given he was past his due date of expiry, is an entirely different scenario or argument altogether. So you might have criticised him for a decade on tactics, substitutions,player purchases/sales,etc,etc.. But you certainly were not calling for his contract to be terminated forthwith over the last decade,let alone over the last three years. I think… Read more »
Emiratesstroller
“Reasons for our decline.
1. Lack of ownership ambition.
2.Poor Management at club.
3.Poor investment in team
4.Poor Transfer and Contract decisions.
5.Failure to qualify for Champions League.
6.Stagnation.”
7. Last but not least AKB’s like Emiratesstroller…..
Had time now to reflect on last night’s result. The reality is that we have lost FOUR GAMES and conceded three goals or more against Crystal Palace, Wolves, Leicester and now Chelsea in the last month. Significantly that has occurred following the injury to Ramsey in the Valencia game. Arsenal’s current problem is a combination of limited quality and numbers in midfield and the inherent weakness of our defence. We can argue about Emery’s game plan in all these games, but the reality is that he can only select from the resources, which are available to him. The only defender… Read more »
RT
The only thing that you can offer on this website is sarcasm and insults of other posters.
Your knowledge of football is zero and that was demonstrated clearly by your comment last night about Cech performance in the game. Cech could not be
faulted for any of the goals conceded and probably prevented an even greater
pasting than we suffered.
Phd2020
Sorry you are wrong, but I have argued for a very long time that Wenger was past his sell by date and that was long before I started posting on Le Grove.
However, you have to accept that in the first 7-8 years of his stewardship Arsenal were a successful club whether by accident or design. Once that
period of success was over he should have gone.