Keep Calm… We’re 5 Clear!

54 Replies to “Keep Calm… We’re 5 Clear!”

1. Well said Sammy!COYG!!

2. Just a further point, someone on a the news show finished a piece with this morning with the line: ‘Arsenal only 5 points clear.’

   I know how the meant it — 5 rather than 7, but I just had to look.

   There are only 5 clubs that have been 5 or more points clear after 15 games in the whole PL era.

   Only once has the club failed to go on and win the title — Newcastle’s meltdown in 1995-96.

   No assumptions, predictions or anything, but there isn’t much of an only about things.

3. when you can see the potential and then don’t see the potential come out , people tend to overreact. After having done so well to get out of early pressure , then play the arsenal way and force the opponents in to mistakes and scored a super team goal then you give away a goal to a simple cross at the other end is the sucker punch. If it was a 0-0 , the reactions wouldn’t be so over the top.\\Yes we are 5 clear owing to others inconsistency , but we could’ve been 7 clear if we had just held on for another 7 minutes.

4. WELL SAID

   The ‘fans’ slagging Gibbs and Sccz off need to hang their heads in shame.

   We were 1 up and got pegged back by a great goal. Simple as that.

5. Arsenal onljy needs a strong holding midfielder and cup this year is ours.
   d

6. Great post Sammy.
   We were a few inches away from a Giroud wonder-goal that would have relegated Deulofeu’s goal to mini-wonder status.

7. Thanks ,Sammy – we have everything to gain this season ,so no idea where this apprehension is coming from .After all we were only managing a top 4 finish since 2005 .
   For Christmas I would like to have more than 40 points, so I know for sure that we won’t be relegated !
   Watch this space for my New Year wish !
   Come on guys ,just enjoy the show !
   Viva La Revolucion !

   http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-K4or2Hlbjs

8. r.iris,

   If I had 1 million pounds, I’d be a millionaire 🙂

   We added a point to our lead. This weekend is better than last mid-week when all contenders won, point-wise. This last weekend, we gained a point over one of the major rivals. No one that I know is celebrating our result against Everton but it is not a game to despair about or get overly critical over.

   Onward to Naples!

9. Good article. If a draw in one of easily the best games of the season so far is viewed like a crisis for Arsenal, then I dread to think what would have happened had we lost.

10. Guys,Guys what do you expect from the morons??? Arsenal is the only team that makes news,all last weeks draws and a loses don’t count but just imagine if we had lost it will be in the news and radio, TVS showing that goal for a month so who cares when the deluded talk!! Just enjoy 5 clear

11. The crisis is in the integrity of football – something which 99% of fans project onto AFC and AW rather than face the brutal truth.

    Once again there were anomalies in the game. If AFC are still atop after MU and Chelsea, expect the corrosive process to gather steam.

    And when AFC are no longer 5 points clear, is it then time to panic? I don’t think so. Better not to get too excited either way, since it all is rigged anyway.

12. Thank you Sammy.

13. Well 7 points would be perfect, 5 is more than enough.

14. Sammy,

    Nice one – well put and I’m in full agreement.

    COYG

15. had written something similar but had no internet today.

    completely agree with you Sammy, this is a time to enjoy

16. 5 points ahead and two 6 pointers are imminent.

    Calm. Sure. Delusional. No.

    We shall soon see to what extent AFC leading the league by 10 points will be tolerated. The Everton game and the scheduling, plus the last 10 years of evidence, should be good pointers as to where this is all going

    Keep Calm and Don’t Get Ril(ey)ed

17. Thanks Sammy. This is an excellent article at a good time. I expect some refereeing crap in Jan – Feb for sure. Hopefully we are strong enough to ward it off.

18. marcus,

    What do you want man? No one is delusional here. All that I see is cautious optimism. And why shouldn’t we be optimistic?

    To be clear, I get and agree with your general sentiments but I don’t see the point of repeating such. If we cannot be happy about our current position because we might slip along the way then we might all just give up on following the team and check the league table after the last game in May.

    Let’s be cautious, yes but by golly shout it out and loud, we are top of the league.

19. Great times, Arsenal is the best title challenger at the moment
    Accorrding to dectech predictor, after 15 fixtures:
    team, points, points difference from predicted points

    Arsenal 35 +6,14
    Liverpool 30 +2,81
    Chelsea 30 +1,15
    Man City 29 -0,85
    Everton 28 +4,62
    Tottenham 27 -0,71
    Man Utd -5,16

    total points predicted:
    Dectech, Statto, Euroclubindex
    Arsenal 73 79 80
    Chelsea 74 75 74
    Man City 74 75 73
    Tottenham 68 70 69
    Everton 65 68 70
    Liverpool 64 66 67
    Man Utd 66 66 66

20. Although we haven’t had the real real real real real test yet in playing a team above us in the league, Everton are certainly, by far, the best team we have played this season so to have drawn this is great, these are exactly the types of games where you should settle for a draw if that happens. A win would have been heaven but a draw is not a bad result.

21. Teams from top to play up to fixture 19
    Arsenal: MC(A) Chelsea(H)
    Liverpool: Spurs(A), MC(A), Chelsea(A)
    Chelsea: Arsenal(A), Liverpool(H)
    MC: Arsenal(H), Liverpool(H)
    Tottenham: Liverpool(H)
    MU and Everton already played against other top teams.

    No team has enough points & easy fixtures to replace Arsenal at the top of the table at the end of the year.

22. I feel that people are missing whats going on under the surface

    Wenger was apoplectic about the fixture crunch, and he was very unhappy about the refereeing of the Everton game. And normally he keeps his own counsel on the PGMOL and the FA.

    He obviously feels AFC are being reined in…..

    As things stand we’ve probably had about 4 points docked so far this season – WBA and Everton (Lukaku fouled Koz leading up to the Everton goal); also I suspect Chelsea have had some points gifted. (e.g. WBA penalty)

    So instead of being 11 points clear, AFC are 5 points clear. Next up two 6 pointers.

    When the dust has settled things will be clearer.

    Stay calm? Ok, because there is nothing to do; but if in 2 weeks time AFC are about neck and neck with MU and Chavski, there will be a creeping sense of ref creep I am sure.

23. What a cracking game we saw yesterday and well played Everton. A draw was a fair result though after being 1-0 up with so little time left it was dissapointing. Anyway isn’t that what people pay their money for? To see a great game of football? I thoroughly enjoyed it.

    I’ve often wondered why people, Arsenal supporters in particular, pay to watch their team? Is it to win things? Or becuase it’s your team, come what may? It helps to understand their reactions when things don’t go your way.

24. I also pointed out Wenger was uncharacteristically(if we go by his behaviour this season) critical of refs and persistent fouling yesterday. Walter, I also recall you wondering before yesterday’s match if we would be allowed to go 7 points clear at the top. We all know we were robbed against Villa, WBA, and to a certain extent yesterday. Are we seeing 2008 all over again?

25. Yes yesterday we lost 2 pts. So i like us to keep it as it is, 2pts, why are we putting the pressure on the team, come on we have hard games, title winning games, we need to be united, stop analysing, we played so good, yes our midfield were s**t in first half, and look what they got, a draw which could have been a win, if this is a team when they play s**t, am lobing it, oyes the team not the ….
    Anyway i have to add am afraid i have to add my voice to marcus, yes i can fel the riley effect, but yesterday i couldnt see bias as much as i saw a referee afraud to get out the yellow, now that will always play in Everton advantage.
    Look at first 40min. When we go attacking and they counter, they wwre really dangerous, why we defend as a footballers and that is what happens when u r defemding a counter. Now when they attack and they counter, piece of cake, tackle him, and they knew the yellow wont be out of the pocket, we should have used those tactics yesterdau, and then tell me how would they be dangerous.

    And come on all they got are shots from outside, and an offside chance, plus the goal, we got 3 one on one, ramsey volley, the goal, flamini shot, flamini with goal open( fuckin hit the ball man) and ofcoarse the should have been great goal to Giroud.

    What are we moaning about we are top of the league with five pts for God sake.

26. Not sure if it is 2008 yet Al but if we continue we will see just that. The question is with utd seemingly out of the picture, which team will they favour this season? A rich London team or a rich northern team?

27. An interesting analysis and opinion of the tactics putting us five points clear
    http://www.7amkickoff.com/2013/arsenals-defense-keeping-the-opposition-shooting-from-afar-plus-win-a-free-ozil-print-from-11cannons/

28. Understand the sentiment but the first 35 minutes of the game against Everton was not acceptable. I don’t care what has gone before it. When I watch 35 minutes of an Arsenal team not closing down and just letting the game ‘play out’ and pass them by, I get annoyed. Fortunately the team did wake up after the first 35 minutes, but we cannot afford lapses in concentration and effort.

    It has been a truly great season so far – credit to the team and management – but there is a long way to go and I don’t want to see any signs of the players taking the “foot off the pedal”.

    We have a real chance here and we have to do everything to take it. No one will convince me that the team put all their efforts in to that first 35 minutes. Everton players were receiving the ball in 15 yards of space and running unchallenged to our penalty area. It was poor.

    I am not upset we drew – we will drop points as will everyone else. It was just that first 35 minutes that bugged the hell out of me, not Gibbs, not Szczesny, not anyone else. Just the overall team effort for that period.

29. I think it’ll be the rich London team, Mandy. For some reason they view it as less foreign than the northern one. And not to mention their love in with the anointed one. I’m also slightly concerned by their refusal to rule utd out.

    On another note I was thoroughly disappointed by Alan Smith’s article in the telegraph singing praises for the Everton team, particularly Mccarthy. Shocking, the depths these ex players are prepared to plumb to just to sing for their supper.

30. Have a feeling you could be right Al though the way they shoot themselves in the foot means they will need the sort of help they got against west brom and sadly they may get it. There is another slightly less rich London club doing well with the refs but fortunately they are not contenders. Watch out for Liverpool if they get up there. Any thoughts chippy?

31. Agree Mandy. I doubt though we will be hearing from chippy anytime soon 🙂

32. jayramfootball,

    The game was played for 90 minutes, not just the 1st 35. The only reason for this revisionism is that you, like many others, are upset we dropped 2 points. I am as upset as you but we need perspective please. You said they they were “running unchallenged to our penalty area”, well I REALLY think that you need to see the game again. Their first shot on goal was in the 56th minute!

    They closed us down in the first 35 minutes but it was all bluster and little substance. In the last 5 minutes of the 1st half that we pressed them more, Howard had to make 2 outstanding saves.

    What I find frustrating is our own fans being overly critical of our good performances while over praising our opponents for less, if we fail to win or score from all our chances.

    I’ve seen the game twice now; Everton were not as great as been lauded and Arsenal were unlucky not to have won. We were better than them. The same would have been said about the North London Derby had Tottenham been lucky to get a draw. They huffed and puffed but Arsenal had all the real chances.

    I think it is honourable of Everton to come to the Emirates and give us a good game but I just cannot accept the now evolving common wisdom that we were dire while they were great. Please see the match again when you are not under pressure for perspective. Even on MoTD (with their diabolical editing), Arsenal had all the begging chances, including Giroud’s against the bar.

33. I watched the whole match again and we did indeed play better than Everton with the outstanding sly refereeing to let play go on after a counter from a foul. It did indeed look like we were conserving energy for Napoli. Do you think Wenger will start bendtner and Gnarby? with corzola and maybe Monreal playing left wing? and start Verminator that would be fun!

34. Everton were good, but we were as good or better for much of the game, even with our midfield three looking a bit below their best. The media have totally ignored the fact that Howard kept Everton in the game in the first half.

    Barry clearly had the objective of kicking Ozil out of the game and should have been booked for his first foul, which was quite early in the match.

35. The things we have had to contend with in past seasons have not gone away. However, we are a better and stronger team and have great team spirit and solidarity. We are less easily thrown by clear refereeing bias than we used to be and keep fighting.

    We have a flexible formation that it is hard for our opponents to deal with. From Arsene Wenger’s comments after the Everton match he is alert to methods opponents develop to try to beat us. He is also fully aware of refereeing inadequacies that work against us.

    We are doing very well to be five points clear at this stage. And of course everyone is enjoying it. But we need to keep very watchful of every attempt to derail us. Analysis on this site before and after matches helps that.

    Stand up for the Arsenal!

36. “What I find frustrating is our own fans being overly critical of our good performances while over praising our opponents for less”
    Bootoomee that is one of the best descriptions of the methodology of the AAA I have heard

37. I’d like us to be enough up in the next Everton match to witness Barry get the cynical comeuppance he so sorely deserves. Really amazing what the Webbmaster did to engineer a draw. Vigilance.

38. Almost wonder if wenger predicted things bob. flam was the obvious player to stand up to those tactics but also the obvious one to get a red in doing so. is that why he was introduced late? Barry and McCarthy should have been stopped earlier but this is Webb who on the biggest stage of all showed he could not deal with a kick in a Spain players sternum so what chance do arsenal stand with him? Shame Martinez normally a positive manager with now a good team reduced to rotational fouling but unfortunately for him refs will not be so lenient of such tactics against most other teams in this league. Webb did just enough to make a difference at times unless you think different chippy?

39. Yawn.Untolds obsession with conspiracy theories to expain away every lost point.Can’t accept that there

40. cont (cat sat on laptop) are times when Arsenal are outplayed by the opposition and Wenger out thought by his opposite number.I wish Arsenal could play like Everton did y/day at OT.Never happens.Talking of cynical fouls,you all seem to like it when Flamini completely takes out a player.Should have seen red at home v Tottenham.Where does that fit in with your conspiracy theories?

41. Linz,
    You’re a doltish fiend. Attacks on Wilshere and Ozil happened by your own vicious admission. If it’s wrong it’s wrong, wherever and whenever. Gag on your own vomit.

42. Mandy,
    yes, AW’s seen it before and has now openly exposed Webb’s impact in a way perhaps subtle enough worded to avoid a fine. very thin line. perhaps The Dean will be sent in soon with a sword behind the red cape. And I have to agree with you on how Flamini wouldn’t have put up with it and the red card would surely have been delivered. Barry and McPrick were the designated tools this time. It’s time for fans to bring red cards to the pitch and show them in unison so that Riley knows he’ll not get away with sowing another crime scene like the one that launched him into office.

43. Linz,
    Your cat has the sense to stop your rubbish. You don’t deserve to be its keeper. I love your cat. A feline gooner to cherish. They know you better than you know yourself. Take a lesson.

44. Bottomee got it perfectly right…..AAA’s love to pump up other teams and diminish any Arsenal effort as this gives them a false sense of ¨superior¨ insight and knowledge. they are both pitiful and delusional, all in the same gesture.
    Linz….yawn, same old my pussy got my tongue (or keyboard) anti-Arsenal crap from a Spudsucker. Stick to burning down shops on seven sisters road mate…more your style.

45. Untold regulars are like the arsenal team putting out the filth while staying classy

46. @jayaram, first 35 mins….Well, If you counter their pressing game with your own, then probably you end up tired and pulled apart as the game goes on.
    BUT ARSENAL instead defended with confidence and in the first half, Everton had 5 shots, but 0 on target. BUT we had 2 on target. For all the Everton supremacy, as claimed, we had better chance to score….

    May be, yes its 2 points dropped. But its 2 point dropped to a brilliant goal (from iffy circumstances)….

47. Bootoomee
    I agree too 100% with your statement that some of our fans are overly critical of our team while praising the opposition for less. It’s worse with some than others, and they do it all the time regardless of the opposition; be it Napoli, Bradford, Stoke, etc.

    I don’t get that kind of supporting, being against your team all the time. I do it all the time against united, but then again they’re not my team so it’s understandable, and is to be expected. But against the team you claim to support???

48. Some have it easy ….

    Golf on Christmas Day
    Four old timers were playing their weekly game of golf, one remarked how nice it would be to wake up on Christmas morning, roll out of bed and without an argument go directly to the golf course, meet his buddies and play a round.

    His buddies all chimed in said, “Let’s do it! We’ll make it a priority; figure out a way and meet here early, Christmas morning.”

    Months later, that special morning arrives, and there they are on the golf course. The first guy says, “Boy this game cost me a fortune! I bought my wife a diamond ring that she can’t take her eyes off.”

    The second guy says, “I spent a ton too. My wife is at home planning the cruise I gave her. She was up to her eyeballs in brochures.”

    The third guy says “Well my wife is at home admiring her new car, reading the manual.”

    They all turned to the last guy in the group who is staring at them like they have lost their minds.

    “I can’t believe you all went to such expense for this golf game. I slapped my wife on the bum and said, ‘Well babe, Merry Christmas! It’s a great morning — intercourse or golfcourse –‘
    She said, “Don’t forget your hat.”

49. The banker saw his old friend Tom, an eighty-year old rancher, in town. Tom had lost his wife a year or so before and rumor had it that he was marrying a ‘mail order’ bride. Being a good friend, the banker asked Tom if the rumor was true. Tom assured him that it was. The banker then asked Tom the age of his new bride to be.

    Tom proudly said, ‘She’ll be twenty-one in November.’

    Now the banker, being the wise man that he was, could see that the sexual appetite of a young woman could not be satisfied by an eighty-year old man. Wanting his old friend’s remaining years to be happy the banker tactfully suggested that Tom should consider getting a hired hand to help him out on the ranch, knowing nature would take its own course. Tom thought this was a good idea and said he would look for one that afternoon.

    About four months later, the banker ran into Tom in town again.
    ‘How’s the new wife?’, asked the banker.
    Tom proudly said, ‘Good – she’s pregnant.’
    The banker, happy that his sage advice had worked out, continued, ‘And how’s the hired hand?’
    Tom said, ‘She’s pregnant too.’

    Moral of the story? Don’t ever underestimate old guys.

50. The smart aleck…..

    Penis insurance

    An extra smart guy trying to pull the leg of insurance agent asked him: “Do you do Penis insurance also?”

    Agent: “Sir, we do Penis Insurance also.”

    Man: “You’d replace it with new one?”

    Agent: “No sir, once it doesn’t work, we ensure free service to Your wife for Life…”

51. Another Year Has Passed…

    Another year has passed
    And we’re all a little older.

    Last summer felt hotter
    And winter seems much colder.

    I rack my brain for happy thoughts,
    To put down on my pad,

    But lots of things, That come to mind
    Just make me kind of sad.

    There was a time not long ago
    When life was quite a blast.

    Now I fully understand
    About ‘Living in the Past’.

    We used to go to friends homes,
    Football games and lunches.

    Now we go to therapy, to hospitals,
    And after-funeral brunches.

    We used to have hangovers,
    From parties that were gay.

    Now we suffer body aches
    And sleep the night away.

    We used to go out dining,
    And couldn’t get our fill.

    Now we ask for doggie bags,
    Come home and take a pill.

    We used to travel often
    To places near and far.

    Now we get backaches
    From riding in the car.

    We used to go out shopping
    For new clothing at the Mall

    But, now we never bother…
    All the sizes are too small.

    That, my friend is how life is,
    And now my tale is told.

    So, enjoy each day and live it up…
    Before you’re too damn old!!

52. Brickfields Gunners
    December 10, 2013 at 9:12 am

    Another Year Has Passed…

    Nice one Brickfields.

53. I do think Arsenal were a little jittery against Everton, after all they did what we did not do, beat ManU, so the lads were a little too cautious, and made a few mistakes, but in the end they rallied and nearly pulled it off. This is the only thing i can say, but it needs to be conquered, and will be. After all they are still people with their emotions and that’s what makes it fun. Nothing good comes easy for Arsenal, unlike some other clubs.
    Onward gunners.

54. @Bootoomee and Arsenal3

    I agree that over 90 minutes we were the better side and that Everton did not get clear chances – our defence was actually superb in that opening 35 minutes. My point was that the midfield did not do their jobs for the first 35 minutes – they did not work hard enough. I think that kind of lapse in concentration and application needs to be stamped out at the club. It does happen on occasion (less so than previous years) and the fact Everton did not score is more down to our new found defensive organisation. Everton did have free run to our penalty area in that opening 35 but could not break through.

    I am not upset we dropped 2 points – we’ll drop more as will everyone else – but at the very least I want to see 100% effort for 90 minutes. There is no room for complacency. As I said I think we have improved but in my opinion Arsenal have suffered over the last few years with periods of reduced focus and effort.

    I think we have a a great chance this year but only if we treat each game like a cup final. We are capable of it – last two years of the run in are an example.