ARSENAL BATTLE THE TEMPTATION TO PLAY VICTIM (AND WIN)

by .

Watford: 19 fouls. 2 bookings.

Arsenal: 6 fouls. 4 bookings.

We start on a gripe because we won which means I’m allowed to complain. So what is going on here? Why are referees allowed to go into a game giving a bigger team a handicap because they want to even out technical levels with fouls. Why don’t that have tech that tells them rotational fouling is going on? It’s so shoddy refs can be conned like this. Or worse, just uniformly favor other teams. Considering how nonviolent our team is and how little fouls we make, it’s striking how bad our sending off/booking rates are.

I also want to bring this point up because some people, including weird Arsenal fans, are complaining that we didn’t kick the ball out of play when there one of their players went down in the build-up.

I’m sorry, but just as I don’t think the police should help drug dealers retrieve their ill-gotten gains when a rival gang steals from them, I’m not going to talk about class issues when a Watford player, feigning injury, 60 minutes into a rotational foul strategy, doesn’t get sporting behavior when he hits the ground.

It’s mildly amusing that the sort of Arsenal fans that talk up Conte for his ‘win at all costs’ mentality now want to talk about Arsenal dropping a bit of that for the first time in a long time.

So what about the game? I thought it was good for a lot of reasons.

Everything went against us. Saka had a goal disallowed early on, please don’t ask me to explain why that’s now offside, but apparently, it was.

Ben Foster had an outrageously good game.

Auba missed a penalty after Lacazette was smashed down by Danny Rose.

Danny Rose didn’t get sent off.

Auba took a touch on an Odegaard goal that made it disallowed.

The atmosphere was one of those weird muted Sunday types where people are sensing something rubbish might happen.

We basically had all the ingredients there for a sucker-punched 1-0 home defeat we’d have to ruminate on for a few weeks.

As it turned out, we weathered the game and its travesties really well. Not everyone was at their best, but as Arteta said in the week, everyone was united around the mission and worked like monsters all game.

Our defence was rock solid all game. Ben White had one of his best in an Arsenal shirt. He’s everything we needed this summer and more. He opens the game up because he’s a non-traditional centre back, you can’t press him, stand off him, or lunge in because he’ll beat you like Aaron Ramsey and go on a run. In fact, his run led to our first goal… a tackle on him allowed Laczette in, with ESR sweeping in to open the scoring. He’s also a good defender, he’s sharp in the tackle, he’s surprisingly good in the air, and he won’t be shoved about. Let’s be honest, the debate that we didn’t need to replace Luiz with a ballplaying centre back really was one of the worst. Who is talking about his price-tag now?

The full-backs were really good again. Tomiyasu in particiular. He contributed well to the final third with some line-breakers and good crosses. It’s also really nice to have a centre back like object on the right, because it means we have 3 defenders that are good in the air from corners. 4 when you consider the height of Nuno. The Portuguese had another solid game, he doesn’t look inexperienced and his stamina is off the charts. Those mazy late-game runs will count as he gets older. I thought he had another reassuring 90 and he’s certainly asking questions of Kieran Tierney.

Gabriel. I read someone say that you just get used to him dropping 8 out of 10s. He’s moving into that level of reliability we’ve not had in that role for a long time. No one intimidates him, his passing is great, and he is an absolute menace from corners. He was very unlucky not to chalk up another goal when hos downward header bounced off Ben Foster’s legs.

Auba didn’t have a good day out, but I won’t knock him. He’s doing an immense amount of work for the team regardless of how he’s playing in front of goal. He missed a penalty, he’s in a bit of a rut there, but I just love his attitude at the moment.

Lacazette, Smith Rowe and Saka all had solid games. They’re finding each other and working out patterns. It’s nice to see the bonds forming and the trust grow with each game. Again, Saka was really unlucky not to be the first scorer.

Ainsley had a super game next to Sambi. I’m so, so happy he’s focused himself this season. He has it all to do whatever he wants in the game. Arteta made the point after that he’s just different this year. He’s more urgent, his body language is better, and he’s thinking about his career a little more. I was a bit worried about the two of them in the middle, but Sambi continues to prove he was one of the bargains of the summer. His pass completion was 87.3%.

It was also worth noting that Odegaard came on and looked like he wanted to impose himself on the game. He played a few really good balls, he should have scored if it weren’t for Auba, and his running was truly appreciated.

Ramsdale nearly made his first mistake missing the ball. Luckily Josh King couldn’t make the angle. Overall though, I liked his game. He’s trying to find Auba with daisy-cutters into feet, which is quite the skill. That’s a big improvement on the launch balls he was doing earlier in the season. His pass completion rate was 81.3%, quite exceptional when you consider the ambition of his choices. I love him

So we did it. 10 points from 12. 4 very different games. Palace on that Monday now looks like a really good result, Lacazette set the ball running for a really good run.

9 games unbeaten. 6 cleansheets. We’re 5th in the table. 6 points from top. 2 points from Liverpool. Our goal difference is back to 0.

Arteta has a better win ratio than Wenger for the first 100 (matching GG on 56%). Considering the team he inherited and the moment in time we just went through, that’s pretty decent.

The team is finding performances. They’re digging deep. Every summer signing looks like a winner. Every senior player getting game time is putting in a shift. The squad is unified. The fans are unified.

The progress is very, very real.

I like that we’re finally a club where everything looks like it’s in good shape.

There’s loads to do this season. We have to improve our in-game management. Squad rotation needs to happen so players are ready for a busy December. We still need to do better in open play. The players are all still sussing each other out. But this train is finally moving and it feels good.

What I like the most out of all of this: We did things the hard way after trying to short-cut for 5 years. We took a chance on a young innovative coach and gave him time. We stopped signing old bums (time thiefs acc to Arteta) and aged down the squad. Our approach to recruitment considered the character of the players as well as the skillset put through a very, very specific vision of how the game should be played… and you can see more than green shoots now.

It’ll still be tough. There will be bad moments. But now we can see the promised land, we don’t have to catastrophize every blip along the way.

Right, that’s me done. I couldn’t do the OTW yesterday because everyone is out and about but we’ll have some content for you this week.

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Tom

Kinda funny reading posters clamoring for a clinical goal scorer after having seen them lambasting anyone who dared suggesting a £50m CB might’ve not been a priority.

LoveSausage

Asoa,

Yes, but he’s still talking about it from the perspective of a victim.

“I loved the club too much.”
“I sacrificed the best years of my life.”

It’s kind of sad really. As if he wasn’t paid massive amounts of money and given full control of the club. No reflection over the inertia or the poor mentality that set in.

Sometimes I wish he’d come back and join the board or something. But every time I hear him talk I regret it.

LoveSausage

Tom,

There’s really nothing funny about it. Most people who were against spending 50M on a CB were arguing that the money needed to be spent elsewhere, like MF and CF. Luckily, White is looking better by the day but we still need to invest in other positions.

AFC Forever

Underrated “If I were Arteta, I’d ask the team to do it again. And again, another time. All these thuggish teams bending the rules to the max, give them a taste of their own medicine.” My sentiment exactly. I watched Artetas interview with Amy Lawrence and it was so refreshing. It looks like it may have taken too many years but we’re finally getting that hunger back. I love the fact he’s making players appreciate how fortunate they are to wear our shirt and what it means and filling the training ground with memories of what we once were. He… Read more »

DivineSherlock

Terraloon

PGMOL is the last bastion of dinosaurs , once the likes of Mike Rileys leave , we will hopefully see the standard of Refereeing go up a level.

MidwestGun

Good post Peds… I mostly agree with all that.. In real time it didnt even register that Rose kicked it out to be honest, I bet half our players didn’t even notice . Even if they, did the spirit of the game goes out the window when one team is clearly trying to push the limits of an unwritten agreement by play acting, rotational fouling, and constantly barking in the referees ear every 3 mins about fouls that didn’t exist on our part. Anyhow… other then that, Saka was offside no doubt not even an arguement about that. It’s always… Read more »

DivineSherlock

BoB N16

I seem to recall a match we defeated them ,in the PL . I think Reiss Nelson scored , Van Dijk made an error . Emi Martinez saved one from Trent in the last minutes. If we have a fit Partey we have a good chance , right now their midfield lacks substance

I like the fact that we could live with Watford’s fouling. I would like us to be even more savvy with the use of subtle dark art manoeuvres when needed. Is that coachable or determined by the individual intelligence of the player. City are experts in this area.

Gonsterous

Pedro

I don’t know what arteta is doing, but it seems to be working.
Top 5!!

Hope this isn’t the High point of artetas tenure and we keep getting better. It’s hard being a manager because the expectations on you are never enough.

Hope edu and his team are eyeing up a juicy CM in the jan window. I won’t expect much movement but a CM minimum will do wonders for our top 5 run.

Dissenter

I thought Auba was a bit naive when he allowed Sissoko to keep lecturing the official like that, all game long.
A better captain gets in on the act to break it up.

Sissoko worked the referee all through the game.

Tom

“PGMOL is the last bastion of dinosaurs , once the likes of Mike Rileys leave , we will hopefully see the standard of Refereeing go up a level.“

Maybe, but I wouldn’t bet on it.
PGMO isn’t there to implement the rules of the game as written but rather to help the league in creating the most attractive product they can.
They’ve been very successful at it.

AFC Forever

Tom “Kinda funny reading posters clamoring for a clinical goal scorer after having seen them lambasting anyone who dared suggesting a £50m CB might’ve not been a priority.” Here we go again. You really are showing your ignorance here Tom. If you think we could have kept Leno and that back four and only needed a striker you really shouldn’t be so arrogant with your views. You don’t know what you are talking about if you genuinely believe that nonsense. We needed White for what he brings to the team dynamic. It was essential we can play quickly from the… Read more »

NORG

The Legend that is

Your man was the expert of the Dark art of fouling. He had the knack of hurting another player without being detected (most of the time).

Topside Northbank

AFC Forever, Green shoots of improvement, mentality and attitude being two. The last ten years we have suffered some real drubbings 8-2 at Utd, Chelsea 6-0, Liverpool away several times let alone the meek surrender at City 5-0. However badly our club has been run and we can all list them and spend the days, weeks, months and years as sites like this as I have read over the years it comes down to one thing. I can’t tolerate the acceptance that went with those defeats, deflection by management and players. I know we can’t compete with several clubs financially… Read more »

Pedro

Gonsterous, i hope so too.

Winning games like yesterday gives me hope it won’t be. We’d lose or draw games like that last season.

Big month ahead.

Karsa

We would have bought a striker in the summer to go alongside our 50 million CB, but we couldn’t shift Laca or Auba. Abraham would have come in if we had been able to create a spce for him.

Tom

Dissenter, maybe the starting point should be that Auba is NOT a captain material.

MidwestGun

I agree that Auba isnt the best Captain.. For me it would be Gabriel.. he was working the official for us when he noticed… Watford trying to influence Friend. I also like having a CB as a Captain if possible. But I do understand why Teta would be reluctant to take it away from Auba…. would come across to him as an insult probably and we need him to be mentally in the games.

Man this is going to be a long International break… I’m already missing the PL and it’s only been one day! hahaha

Kroenkephobe

AFCF – Forever! Get off that bandwagon you so keenly jumped on an re read what I wrote. I was trying to strike a balance between some on here claiming it was a blow against perceived and perennial victim hood (we’re no more victims than other southern teams) and others who may have seen it as a betrayal of the ‘Arsenal Way’. It’s nuanced you twat and Watford entered the game in such a way that they deserved little sympathy and we, on the other hand, thoroughly deserved the win. Pull your head out of other people’s arses and express… Read more »

Jamie

“Your ‘mate’ Jamie was even less complimentary”

Every time you whine I feel sorry for you.

List all the other monikers you’ve used to post here.

Kroenkephobe

Une tricoteuse. C’est toi AFC.

DivineSherlock

Tom Maybe, but I wouldn’t bet on it. PGMO isn’t there to implement the rules of the game as written but rather to help the league in creating the most attractive product they can. They’ve been very successful at it. I dont disagree with your point but now the League is a global product , If fans see Euros or World Cup and the standard of officiating in those tournaments , the expectation would be to make the officiating better in the league too . But yeah the FA is more concerned with Ratings and controversial decisions so the pundits… Read more »

Pedro

Tom, we couldn’t sell any of our striker and Auba is one of the most clinical in the world. Think the plan was pretty clear in the striker department… one in one out. 6 points off top with one of the most exciting back 5s in the league isn’t money misspent.

AFC Forever

Topisde I ” can’t tolerate the acceptance that went with those defeats, deflection by management and players. I know we can’t compete with several clubs financially to get elite players but the excuse and seeing teams roll over the minute a game goes against us I can never accept.” Great comment. We were as soft as butter. I agree with what Arteta said, there was a culture problem in the club. Players didn’t seem to respect how big we are and what we demand. The least I ever demanded was that we started to behave like the big club we… Read more »

Tom

“ In real time it didnt even register that Rose kicked it out to be honest, I bet half our players didn’t even notice “

Midwest, the way Rose has been playing lately I think it’s fair to say our players might’ve thought he was passing to a teammate

Bob N16

Sometimes Kroenke you verge on to the poetic.

DivineS – all I can seem to remember are Liverpool comfortably beating us!

AFC Forever

Kroenke

“You’re like one of those old women who used to do their knitting by the guillotine during the French revolution who stopped only to call for more blood.”

You are new to this football banter malarkey aren’t you.

‘You’re not knitting any more
You’re not knitting
You’re not knitting
You’re not knitting any more”

Don’t think it will catch on. It’s up there with your Arteta Out whatsap group mate.

Bob N16

Take a bow Tom with your Rose comment.

Tom

Divine, the league has been a global product for years now and that didn’t stop them from cheerleading Leicester to their PL title.

AFC Forever

Tom

“Midwest, the way Rose has been playing lately I think it’s fair to say our players might’ve thought he was passing to a teammate.”

Made me laugh. That’s more like it Tom.

MidwestGun

Hahaha Rose was by far the worst player on the pitch, He looked like he was on the Eden Hazard workout program as well. Packing on the weight around his middle for the winter months.

AFC Forever

Divine

Keith Hackett said everything we are about PGMOL. He was a former referee who also ran PGMOL for a number of years. The fundamental issue is that they do not want the English game changed. The FA are adamant the English game must retain it’s physical aspect and that means allowing a more robust, free flowing game. PGMOL is a protectionate.

DivineSherlock

AFC Forever

I dont mind the physical part of the game really , its the bad calls we get due to the refs incompetence/bias that hurt . I like what theyve done this season , theyre letting 50-50 decisions go and not blowing the whistle and then have a 5 minute waiting period to check in VAR . The issue is bad refereeing , not punishing the obvious stuff.

Shaun

Tom 14:05, agree with your comments about Mike Riley, what does he actually do. Why after the previous weeks games doesn’t he come out and explain what the same incident in City v C Palace and Leicester v Arsenal resulted in 2 different coloured cards for the defenders that denied the goal scoring opportunity. I can accept a ref may have a bad view but he needs to state why VAR did not bring it to the attention of the ref to upgrade to a red.

Nigel Tufnel

Tom….November 7, 2021 17:20:18 Are Europa League games included in Arteta’s first 100 matches in charge? Did Wenger play the likes of Dundalk in his first 100 Arsenal games in charge?This comment makes your agenda so obvious. The guys record is his record. Old time manager stats must include many league opponents that were not a difficult as the league is today… from middle to bottom. They also didn’t include the free spending man city and Chelsea type teams that possess 2 starting 11’s.You hate Arteta, we get it.What’s particularly stupid is that you persist with it … in the… Read more »

NORG

Hence my comment about the individual intelligence of the player of which DB is of the highest order.

Kroenkephobe

Bob
Cheers mate – now you’re making me blush!

AFC
Lame. Try harder and put your shandy down.

Nelson

“Midwest, the way Rose has been playing lately I think it’s fair to say our players might’ve thought he was passing to a teammate.”
__________________________________________________________________________

For me, it looked more like he was trying to give a throw in instead of a corner. Unless one of the ball boy looked like his teammate.

LoveSausage

Divine,

Couldn’t agree more. Every CL game I watch is almost a shock to the system because there are no ref decisions to fume about. And those aren’t easy games to officiate either. So I really don’t see why it wouldn’t be possible to do in the PL, even while retaining the more physical aspects of the game. We take it for granted that the best foreign players should play in the PL. Why not the best foreign refs too?

Marx

Sambis needs to work on his physique, too lightweight and slow. Ive lost count of the number of times hes been bullied off the ball by opposition. Hes also a bit slow which makes it even harder for him. His position requires power and speed. You need to look at AMN performance to understand.

Bob N16

Don’t see that about Sambi Marx.

Not saying he’s the finished article but I appreciate his physicality, composure and decision making – I’ve not once considered that he is a slow player. Given that he’s so new to the PL and to the team I’d say he’s performing really well. AMN was good yesterday but he can also learn from Sambi about when to turn, move and pass.

If you think he’s slow, how would you describe Xhaka’s speed?

Amazing how people can judge a player so differently, particularly their physical attributes.

Johnno

Pedro. First the good. Love the enthusiasm and your take on Watford. Rainieri is the most misunderstood manager in the league. Cuddly eccentric uncle. My ass. His Chelsea team were cheats. His Leicester team were cheats. And his watford team are cheats. . Watching him lecture arteta like a bitter old man that deserved nothing, added nothjng and got nothing was revealing. Shame the media chose to ignore it as it doesn’t fit their narrative on him. Now the bad. Mate – you run a blog about football. Not just any blog – onewith some heft. You should know the… Read more »

Kroenkephobe

Just for my education, is there something (even) deeper in the antipathy towards Rose than the mere fact that he was a spud? I recall that rather remarkable goal he scored against us as a kid on his debut, but has he ever said or done something to rile up the Arsenal base? It’s all relative but when he played for them, I tended to think of him as one of the more acceptable ones. I know he was treated pretty shabbily towards the end of his time by Levy et al and that he was a vocal opponent of… Read more »

Tom

Nigel, the only thing pathetic around here is posters like yourself losing their shit over other people’s comments.

Dundalk, Molde, and Rapid Vienna’s total value is about £30m combined and I can’t remember a weaker Europa league group ever,
6 straight forward Arsenal wins with their reserves no matter the manager.

If that’s irrelevant to the first 100 games winning % then you must be even dumber than your posts come across.

Bob N16

Pantomime villain Kroenke.

Maybe five years ago I happened to be at a Harringay primary school when Rose turned up, gave out some prizes, signed loads of autographs and generally came across as a decent human being.

Joined in with the ‘Even Spurs think your shit!’ chant yesterday though!

DivineSherlock

LoveSausage

Foreign refs might help or just maintain accountability ?

ESR called up to Senior national squad .Very Well deserved lad .

Kroenkephobe

Bob
Heartwarming. I used to live on the ladder on Wightman Road. Handy for getting quickly to absolutely nowhere. Used to be some good graffiti up there and it was definitely an Arsenal foothold in Haringey. Ever remember what was known as the Gooner triangle? Struggling to remember the exact coordinates but maybe it was Finsbury Park – Cally Road – Highbury Corner. Anyone else remember?

Bob N16

Kroenke – the school was on Mattison Road, off Wightman. Manor House isn’t far!

Bob N16

Gabriel also called up by Brazil – good for their egos!

andy1886

Kroenke – wasn’t Rose one of those ‘I only play football for the money, I don’t even like the game’ types? I seem to recall him saying something along those lines.

My first thought yesterday – who’s that tubby little b*stard? Yellow certainly doesn’t suit him, from the upper tier he looks like a little yellow fire hydrant and about as mobile.

I’ll be honest, I didn’t have any issue with the throw in leading to the goal, we were all fed up with the dying swan act by half time anyway.

Danny
Jamie

ESR called up the the England squad.

Bob N16

Danny, assume that’s Bellerin’s ‘finish’ in the derby.

Danny

Bob N16
——–
Yup, so funny.

andy1886

How Maguire is in the England squad is beyond me. In terrible form.

Bob N16

andy1886 – Mings was dropped by Villa a couple of games ago, only back in because of a suspension. His form like Maguire is poor. They are playing against Albania and San Marino though!

andy1886

@Bob N16, yes, I noticed that Mings was still in, just thought that Maguire has been even worse. Albania and San Marino are about their level at the moment though so we should survive. Hopefully ESR will benefit from being around the squad although I don’t expect him to play.

Bob N16

From an Amy Lawrence article 6th Nov, in the Athletic.

Love the fact that at London Colney reception there is a new floor-to- ceiling image of a smiling Wenger. The club asked him if he would provide a message for the players which could be put on the wall. He came up with: “Here you have the opportunity to get out the greatness that is in each of you”

AFC Forever

It’s good news for ESR and his mate Saka, they will be pleased to be together. But I would prefer them not to be around Southgate.

Andy, you are right about Maguire. He’s as mobile as a fridge, jogs instead of sprinting and his ball watching is alarming. He and Shaw shouldn’t ever be playing together.

Habesha Gooner

ESR and Gabriel with completely deserved call ups to their national teams. If they keep doing what they have been doing so far this season, then call ups will be a regular thing.

I also feel white is very close to a call up. Mings, Coady and Maguire aren’t better players than Tomori and White. And eventually they will earn their call ups too.

LoveSausage

Andy,

I always recommend everyone to watch All Or Nothing: Spuds because they are such a train wreck. But there’s one particular scene where Rose goes into Mourinho’s office and tries to be a hardman, telling him how he’s the best player they have in his position. And he just gets treated like an annoying toddler. It’s pure comedy gold.

Janky

Actually looking forward to the ‘pool game. After the break…….. I’m not expecting victory, and it isn’t an Arteta-out moment if we get turned over, but the team just looks so much stronger mentally than in recent memory that I feel confident they will go out there and fight. I just hope the tactics allow it and we don’t go ultra conservative. The back line is massive. Ramsdale as well. I am on record as being underwhelmed with the choice of White and Ramsdale back in the summer, so much money for a couple players that weren’t on my agenda… Read more »

Taylor Swift

There is no issue with the throw in. They came here prepared to bully and cheat us into submission. They couldn’t. It’s been years and years since we have had a “fuck you” attitude and it’s great to see. We would have lost that game in any of the last 13 seasons.

I’ve discovered a way to make Le Grove so much more enjoyable, stop reading posts by resident wankers, they are probably in their parents basement listening to Duran Duran.

Janky

“We would have lost that game in any of the last 13 seasons.”

That’s exactly how it felt.

And to have Danny Rose at the center of it, kind of makes it even less of an issue.

Northbanker

interesting how many Arteta haters have disappeared from the site. No doubt they will be back immediately when we lose our next game.

I am still questioning his overall ability with his selection and in game mgmt and quite how he survived the three sacking moments that would have seen him off at almost any otherPremier League club. Yet people do learn as they grow into a role. It’s in many ways quite refreshing that our Board hold their nerve for as long as they do.

AFC Forever

Janky

“I am on record as being underwhelmed with the choice of White and Ramsdale back in the summer, so much money for a couple players that weren’t on my agenda and never caught my eye in the league. I was wrong, they are transformative characters. Didn’t know we needed Ben White, glad the club did.”

Classy comment Janky.

Chris

This isn’t a direct comparison but I see a young Paul Merson in Smith-Rowe. Let’s hope he continues the goal scoring form because he is certainly one of the ones who could step up to 10-15 goals a season at this rate. We needed goals from others areas of the team and he is doing his part right now.

I thought we handled plucky Watford’s spoiler tactics very well, a great deal of maturity shown from the team.

AFC Forever

Chris

“I thought we handled plucky Watford’s spoiler tactics very well, a great deal of maturity shown from the team.”

The players showed maturity beyond their years. They were prepared for that because it never phased them at all. It’s easy for young players to get frustrated with teams that use the dark arts, cheating, but we just let them get on with it and didn’t get involved. Those are the games you drop points in if you’re not fully switched on.

Kroenkephobe

Kroenke – wasn’t Rose one of those ‘I only play football for the money, I don’t even like the game’ types Andy Maybe that’s it. A touch of beniblancoitis I think. I believe he also said at some stage that he was suffering from depression. Given how disenfranchised many of us are about work, I can imagine a fair few footballers who might also be suffering mental health issues. The glamour is easily seen through. The pressure, relentless repetitive training and the sheer number of tosspots (eg the Portugeezer and D Levy) involved in the game. For many of them,… Read more »

David

The officiating bias has been a theme for ages. To be fair Arteta’s miserable run last season was due in part to referee mischief. Sure no fan will ever say the refs are always kind right to them but no club plays Arsenal every week.
An inquest should be brought upon.

Chris

Smith Rowe called up to England squad!

Words on a blog

Eddie H appointed as Newcastle Manager: the first joke automatically follows:
“Howe way the lads.”

englandsbest

Glad and sad about ESR. At most he might get a few minutes of San Marino, when he could be having a restful period. Looking ahead, and assuming England qualify for Qatar WC, I am wondering how many players will be looking for an excuse not to turn up. That goes for players in all the major leagues, I imagine. To be honest I hope the tournament is cancelled, a disgusting example of corruption in high places.that should never have been allowed. It will also mess up next season’s European league programmes as never before, worse than it’s doing right… Read more »

Words on a blog

Glad for ESR – provided he doesn’t get injured!

Taylor Swift

Anybody who comes on here and says “I said this and I was wrong” deserves the utmost respect. I say wrong things every day!

bacaryisgod

Instead of looking at the transfer value of individual players, maybe we should look at the entire group of players signed this summer.

White, Ramsdale, Odegaard, Tomisayu, Tavares and Lokonga cost an average of 24.8m per player.

Looking like a good deal right now.

gnarleygeorge9

“1 + 1 will eventually add up to 3”

– Josh Kroenke

I’m trying to decifer this, is it code? Does it mean Diet Pep Si + Edu = 3 Trophies 🙂 I’ll take 2 Premier Leagues :trophy: :trophy: + 1 Champions League :trophy: No, we need to counter the Chav claim that London is blue; 1 Premier League :trophy: & 2 Champions League :trophy: :trophy:

R.S.P.C.Arsenal

Rotational fouling sums it up perfectly.

Leedsgunner

ESR better not get injured playing for England!

Graham

Now Gabriel gets a Brazil first team call up. I know as fans we worry the players will get invited, jet lagged etc but there is nothing to make a player more settled/unsettled in their club set up than being picked/dropped from their country.

Graham

Injured not invited!

Le Professor

“Everything went against us. Saka had a goal disallowed early on, please don’t ask me to explain why that’s now offside, but apparently, it was.”

That’s been offside for years. TWO bodies behind the ball that may or may not include a goalie. Sigh

Graham

Since 1925 to be precise. Before that it was three opposition players not two so even stricter.

Tony

Love sausage
My son came in my office as i was sorting out the Spuds and Palace docu. He looked at my iMac and asked what the ‘No All., Just Nothing label’ was and when I said the Spuds docu he walked out of my office laughing.

He’s turning out to be a good Gooner and what it means to be one.

LoveSausage

Tony,

Sounds like you’ve raised him right. My son is almost five and I’m doing my best to indoctrinate him. Lego Star Wars are still more interesting than Arsenal apparently, but I’m not giving up.

Tony

They say image is king and they are not far wrong when it comes to winning over people in the world of elite business or Fortune 500 and Blue Chip companies. The problem with billionaire offsprings is their tendency to take their playboy image too seriously. Females are probably worse, not that I have ever knowingly met any or been to the wedding of one, bar one mate who’s father owned a lions share in the northern entertainments worth hundreds of millions where I always went to look that their Ferrari range in their garage/wharehouse when I was visiting. Josh… Read more »

Gonsterous

As well as arsenal are doing, I feel arteta still has a lot to learn as a young manager.

His in game management is non existent and he doesn’t read the game very well.
His subs are always too late or forced due to injuries.

Iron out those flaws and we have a great manager because atm, I see a lot of good qualities in mikel too, like his drive, ambition and motivation to do well.

Tony

Janky my son started liking football at 7 where it took precedence over all games, as did Tae Kwon Do where he managed to use a little of both playing central defender in his tackles. Had to change that quickly after he got sent off for a high tackle kick to the head that almost knocked a lanky striker out. Executed perfectly it was competition like. Wasn’t easy telling a kid will full on ADHD that football has different rules to Tae Kwon Do. We got there in the end without too many casualties. He’s 13 now and 1.78cm and… Read more »

Tony

I feel the Hammer’s press from the front beat the Dippers. It slowed down the feed to their midfielders and MF possession, so Salah was like Auba with little service. This is where we can get at Pool in the same way. Pepe scared the life out of VVD in a previous game. VVD hates fast, tricky, ball-control runners like Pepe that backs him up at pace. Pepe should get some game time fr the last 30 minutes when VVD is tiring. That’s where we will get points from the game, especially now our back line is more stable and… Read more »

Tony

I would*

Tony

sorry I meant I wouldn’t play Auba*

SQ10

Watford had 4 bookings not 2. But yeah I still take your point. Second most fouls in league this season

Goobergooner

Man I am absolutely loving this haha. Good for tets, the new team is looking good despite the fact that they haven’t even had time to gel yet.

And then we have the return of granite

Chika

When was the last time we had 3 players called up to the England NT? Our players are definitely improving under Arteta’s tutelage.

DivineSherlock

If Juve terminates Ramsey’s contract , should we get him on a 2yr deal ?

Kroenkephobe

DS
In my view no. Were it to be an Ozil to Fener type deal where they continue to pay the large part of his wages perhaps, but that won’t happen. He’s the wrong age/overall fitness to play for this team. I reckon it’s very unlikely. Get Guen back for one last try.

DivineSherlock

Fair enough , I assume next year we replace Elneny with Patino . So we will have Xhaka , Partey , Lokonga , AMN , Patino and Guen . Also in emergencies we can use ESR and Odegaard as #8 . Still would have been good to have that experience around , wont have to play every game and so we can manage his fitness well too.

Jamie

I went on a golfing holiday last week. I’m jealous of Tony’s 13 year old whose drives carry 300 yards.

Kroenkephobe

DS
I’m rather hoping that GX makes a recovery in time for a transfer to somewhere (anywhere!) in Italy. I agree Elneny’s days in N7 are probably numbered.

Although I gather he’s not made a huge impact so far at Pompey, I think there’s room in that equation for Azeez and I hope Patino. The way Azeez morphed from a wiry teenager into a man over the summer was remarkable and he has considerable promise. It’s good to have these choices – credit to Freddie and latterly the BFG for overseeing it.