Dean useless as usual, Mourinho still the master in killing football pleasure

By Walter Broeckx

Just before the game started I saw a comment after the match preview article from a Chelsea supporter and he said:

“What have you been smoking, the comments are worse than the article, Dean will let Chelsea players go out to injure? Its a game between two good teams why can’t you gooners just respect that and stop getting in the excuses before the game has even kicked off? the result won’t decide the season and City will likely end above us both anyway.”

I hope Charles who wrote this comment will have seen the game. So I like to say that if we would have played any other team that we would have feared for that team to go out and injure our players. Based on our experiences since many many seasons and referees analysing Dean and his Arsenal matches many times we come to such conclusions.

But let us get back to the match and if Charles is honest he could come back and admit that well Dean was a bit easy on some Chelsea players tackles.  Charles did you see the assault from Mikel on Arteta? Now as a ref watching this together with another ref we couldn’t believe our eyes. This was diving in, studs showing and catching the player on his leg. LUCKILY not his standing leg.  Otherwise Dean would have been close once again as one of our players was put together on the field after his limbs hanging off. Dean was there when Eduardo got maimed you know.

So Charles we know our ref. And so did Mikel. Diving in like that can cause serious injury and there is only one  punishment for such an act: a red card. But did you notice Dean not even giving a foul. That is what Arsenal has to face each and every time we have Dean.  That he didn’t give us a penalty a few seconds later is business as usual for Arsenal and certainly for people who have been alert to our work. Like we said in our preview it has been 23 matches before the start when Dean gave us a penalty. The count is now 24 and we should have had one in this match.

But well if he would have given it I would have fallen of my seat as I just knew he would never give us one. As he refused to give us the most blatant penalties in those 23 matches he did before. One famous incident at Old Trafford springs to mind when Fletcher took out Arshavin with a 2 foot tackle, then collected the ball with his hand, laid in front of his feet and played on. All this with Dean standing 8 meters away, unsighted and he just did nothing. Needless to say he later gave MU a penalty when we were 0-1 in front.

Back to this match. Chelsea should have been down to 10 men after 36 minutes. That leg breacking tackle that Dean missed could and should have changed the match.

And later on Ramires also came very close to getting a red card. Again going in with an outstretched leg and catching Arteta on his foot. We were even surprised he did blew the foul and gave him a yellow card.

Much more the Dean we know was when Ivanovic tried to kick Özil his head off his shoulders. Again a dangerous attack and no, it doesn’t matter if Ivanovic played the ball or not. He came from behind so he knew he would get his boot in the face of Özil and what did Dean do? Nothing. And then you wonder that things almost got out of hand?  The Chelsea players felt they could kick and that Dean would do hardly anything.

So Charles forgive us but we haven’t been smoking anything. We just refuse to have such a blatantly biased refs in our games.  In fact our talk before the match was spot on. As usual when it comes to refs. I might ask the question: what has Dean been smoking before this match to let such dreadful attacks go unpunished?

On to the match. Mourinho came for a 0-0 and got it. That it was once again a dreadful affair for 60.000 people who paid good money for this match will be no problem for him. For him £100 is small change. For the 60.000 who wasted their money on another boring match of football it is a lot of money. But what do millionaires like Mourinho care about the fans. Or billionaires like Abramovich.

The good thing is that Arsenal didn’t got caught in the Chelsea tactics. In such matches it is important that when you cannot win, you make sure you don’t lose.  And that is what we did. Chelsea tried to pull us forward and catch us on the break. They nearly did a few times but we stayed very disciplined most of the time. Good to see that. Only one chance for Chelsea when Lampard his shot came off the crossbar. The football Gods didn’t want a negative team to win it seemed.

Because we stayed careful we didn’t create a lot of chances. So it all stayed rather scrappy. With Dean the scrappiest person on the pitch. In the final 10 minutes we created the best chances. And one big miss from Giroud that should have hit the target seemed the biggest chance for Arsenal. But minutes later it was Cech with a finger tip when Giroud looked to have shot the ball in the goal. It wasn’t to be.

Dean with a late attempt to give Chelsea a free kick when the Chelsea player was looking for the foul he knew he would get and got. But the Arsenal wall this time prevented a score line that would have been very unfair for Arsenal.

This result puts us now in second place on goal difference. Arsenal and Liverpool have 36 points. I don’t know if this will make us title contenders or not as we couldn’t win against Chelsea but we have beaten Liverpool already with 2-0 so the pundits have to explain that.

We didn’t win but the most important thing is that we didn’t lose. And that with the clean sheet is something we should build on for the next matches.

And finally may I say that I am delighted for the come back of our captain. Vermaelen had one moment with a back pass that could have been better. But for the rest he was as solid as can be and together with the likes of Bac-Per-Gibbo he just did a good job.

Next stop West Ham United. Time to get back to winning ways on Thursday?

 

 

160 Replies to “Dean useless as usual, Mourinho still the master in killing football pleasure”

  1. Dean is bent at worst and biased at the very best. Joses brand of football will get him the sack for a second time, nobody, not roman or anyone else wants to see that, with the players they have especially.
    Well done the players for managing something set against them, they had to be very careful, dean would have punished us at any opportunity it seems. Great from TV good to see him back.
    Well done to untold, spot on for the ref prediction, as usual, though maybe not hard with this biased piece of filth out there today

  2. it is a second game when refs didnt give red and penalty against arsenal opponents.
    walter…is there any legal possibility to do smthing with that ?
    write a petition… call to riley’s bosses (if there any)…i don’t know…ANYTHING!!?!?

  3. All for supporting your team but this is about as biased a report as I have ever seen. Neither side were ‘negative’. Both sides played not to lose but both tried to win. Chelsea had more chances (fact). Dean actually had a good game by keeping things calm in difficult conditions. Both sides got away with the odd tackle. Never a penalty as agreed by Sky pundits who also couldn’t agree over Mikel/Arteta tackle. How come this ‘pundit’ thinks they are the font of all knowledge on such decisions. Fair result in the end. Please be more objective in future!

  4. I suspect that Dean was looking for an opportunity to send Ozil off. The time it took him to respond to the spat between Ozil and Ivanovich, after the latter’s dangerously high kick on the former is suspiciously long. He seemed to be waiting for things to deteriorate further so that he could apply some punitive actions like a red to our player and a yellow to Chelsea’s.

    When Sky presenters are unanimous in their agreement that we deserved a denied penalty, it says all that one needs to know about the bias of Mike Dean against Arsenal.

  5. So Neil, I take it you find yourself Mr. Objective then?

    Why don’t you take foreign media as ‘neutral’. In my country the match commentator and the people in the studio agreed that:
    1. Mikel should have been given a red card (match changing decision in favour if Chelsea)
    2. It was penalty as Willian clearly connected with the foot of Walcott and swiped his leg away.

    Sky pundits???? Do you really have to rely on them to form your opinion? Poor Neil.

  6. The real bright side of the game was TV5!
    He did great, and I sometimes I could feel he wants to go forward and join the attack!

  7. Oh Neil,

    and they also agreed that if the FA didn’t take retrospective action and ban Mikel for 3 matches for his assault they are criminally neglectful.

  8. yellow for walcott an rosicky…and nthing for odi
    100% penalty (MC was awarded for dive in last games last goal) on walcott

    an there was ZERO “odd tackle” from arsenal players.
    so yeah…”more objective in future”

  9. Persian,
    agree you could see his body wanting to go forward but then his discipline took over and he stayed back. As ordered before the match as that was what Chelsea was looking for. TV running upfield, losing the ball and then hit us on the counter. Mourinho his game plan failed.

  10. A very good post Walter. I had my fears even before the match started, especially when I realised Mark Dean was the centre referee. Anyway, I don’t want to see it as two points lost rather it is a point gained.

  11. Neil wrote:

    “Never a penalty as agreed by Sky pundits who also couldn’t agree over Mikel/Arteta tackle.”

    You are a liar Neil. Both Gary Neville and Jamie Carragher agreed that it was a penalty.

    On the tackle, they agreed it was a bad tackle. They only disagree on the colour of the card. Jamie said red while Gary went for yellow.

    If you are going to lie, at least do so on an issue that is not easily verifiable and not watched by millions.

  12. If Chelsea were going for the win, why bring in Schuerrle and David Luiz to shore things up? Happy and relieved to get a point, some of the crowd were upset that we didn’t go all-out attack but they missed the point, that is how we have been undone by similar teams in the past on the counter-attack. Predictable and unacceptable refereeing once more from Mr Dean; now just Dowd and Probert to deal with before we can go on a bit of a run…

  13. http://instagram.com/p/iR8H8_Nr8M/

    Walcott is known to be one who doesn’t really dive. As anyone can observe by paying attention to Willian’s follow through, it’s a clear and simple foul. Looked like it in real time from the other side of the ground (!), this angle used in the link is as conclusively can be.

  14. Thanks Walter, though I didn’t see the match but followed a live update from arseblog. He did mention several unpenalised fouls from chelsea players. So reading your article now explains everything. A draw, that we can live with.

    And thanks to UA, I’m learning to know the EPL refs by name especially the AAA ones. Shame on Dean anyway.

    As I said on Sammy’s 12 days of Arsenal article, my 7 goals thriller did not happen. Had santi played, maybe we would have gotten the goal fest I wanted. Does anybody know why Santi or anybody from the bench did’nt play?

    Onward to Westham on boxing day. COYG!

  15. Walter
    Exactly!
    I was very pleased to see him stopping himself from marching forward
    This team is very mature now, we are going to win the league for sure

  16. May I also point at the fact that the shot against the crossbar was the result of Lampard pulling Arteta back and so making room for himself. needless to say that Dean missed that foul of course.

  17. Neil, go read that link posted by Finsbury, 101greatgoals.com, it mentions the same incidents raised by Walter in this article where dean should have punished Chelsea but chose not to. And that’s not an Arsenal site.

  18. Good article Walter.

    Should we speculate? Suppose Arteta had caught Mikel with a similar late tackle, what response would Dean have made?

    What would happened had Walcott fouled a Chelski player in our box?

    What would have happened had Ozil kicked at a Chelski player’s head?

    And what about the Ramires playacting – what a disgrace – simulation?

  19. The best thing is that all our players walked off on their own legs. And this was not down to Dean but despite Dean.

    I have warned for it now on a few occasions and I fear we will see another terrible leg break this season as long as the refs keep on allowing such things and letting other teams get away with it unpunished.

  20. Also, which team will such refereeing and condoning of excessive physical contact affect the worst? The England national team, particularly in tournaments!

  21. Ok Mikel went in with stud showing but so did Arteta. Had the ref blown for a foul the Walcott penalty incident would not have happened as both incidents were in the same phase. It probably was a penalty but Walcott was on the way down before any contact so he sort of added to the decision.
    Ivanovic was high on Ozil who was not stood upright so it wasn’t as high as it looked but probably was a foul but Ozil then led with his head on Ivanovic
    Arsenal as the home team showed nothing for 80 minutes but to suggest that Chelsea only had the one chance is bias in the extreme and something that the stats don’t support

  22. Sums it up Mahdain, week in, week out. We have flown too close to the sun for the system that governs this league

  23. @Mike T

    I understand you are a Chekski supporter and as such will see events differently. But Walcott had changed direction when his foot was kicked in the opposite vector – its a bit hard to stay on your feet in such circumstances.

    But before you besmirch Walcott’s name – can you think of any Chelski players who fall over rather easily? Let he who is without sin…….

  24. I read somewhere that replays showed Ivanovic winking at terry in the aftermath of his scuffle with Ozil? If true,it confirms that these Chelsea would have been given instructions on what to do to get the other players wound up. I didn’t like the way he grabbed and yanked Ozil’s arm too,Ozil was ready to walk away and that yank appeared designed to wind him up some more. Ramires is a dirty player too, I have seen enough from this thug that he’s starting to make suarez look like an angel.

  25. Mike T,
    Lampard on the side line going through Sagna when Mourinho made those ‘he got the ball gestures’.
    First Mourinho might be a great coach but he would be the worst referee in the world. He played the ball is not important when you come in like that. Going through a player is dangerous and thus always a foul and a card.

    But that signalled that Chelsea could kick as they liked. They knew it.

    Compare with Arteta: he also showed studs you say. yes but his studs were aimed at the ball and he won the ball cleanly. It was Mikel who came late and with studs showing. If you go in like that you either have to be 100% sure that you will win the ball (like Arteta did) and not go towards the man (Arteta didn’t go towards the man). Mikel came late so should have been careful and not go in with his studs showing. He could have pulled out of the tackle by adjusting his foot. But he didn’t as he was well aware that Dean wouldn’t card him for it.

    A few seasons ago the same ref allowed Chelsea players to attack Diaby his ankle like that (I don’t know if it was Mikel or that other tug you had over there) and twice the ankle of Diaby bent over in the most strange ways. Twice the ref didn’t give a foul. A bit later Diaby was taken off injured and he didn’t came back that season.

    Dean being the ref when Eduardo got maimed.

    So forgive us for being a bit touchy when Dean is around. I think he has overseen most of our terrible injuries of the last seasons. And we had a few as you will remember and I don’t have to recall all the names of the players like Eduardo, Diaby (3 or 4 times), Ramsey, Sagna (twice), Cesc,…. the list goes on….

  26. “We are used to it” says Arsene Wenger on Dean’s performance.

    Kind of echo my attitude to officiating in the premier league. I am always hoping that we play well and take our chances. I know that we’ll get nothing from the refs. They’ll only kick us in the nuts as much as possible.

    It makes one to have very little faith in the state of affairs of football administration in this country.

  27. If the “Premier League” wants to remain the “top competition” in the world, it would be smart for “them” to start listening to what “the world” has to say about it.
    The commentators/pundits/whatever in my country (holland) made a special mention of the worst man on the pitch today: the referee.
    English media may be papering over the cracks. But the rest of the world won’t be paying lots of tv-money for this travesty much longer.

  28. Notthatimportant,

    Also in my country they said that the ref was shocking in his decisions and was very bad and that Arsenal had every right to feel hard done by.

    Once the rest of the world will lose interest in the PL they fall will come and it will be a hard fall. As they get most of their money from ‘that rest of the world’

  29. Mahdain, don’t know,but as with all such things, just have to follow the money somewhere. If there is something going on, we are clearly not part of it, that makes us dangerous, wenger may even write a book one day. Have a feeling the refs are just the weak and easily and relatively cheaply bought foot soldiers in something much much bigger

  30. Walter, Jamie Carragher (who thought Mikel should have got a red card) had a very similar analysis to yours of the difference between Arteta and Mikel on that incident.

  31. About time the world caught on to untold ref previews and predictions, they could affect betting markets more than the criminals!

  32. Definite Pen, Tackle was reckless but a sending off a bit too far PERHAPS!, all other incidents neither here nor there.

    Arsenal are really doing themselves no favours by putting in low quality performances against their fellow contenders.

    Theo was very poor today really failed to provide width and supply crosses, very tame performance.

    We really lacked quality crosses from the left also, where was our left sided midfielder.

    Ver and Per where great especially the former a great positive

    We really just lacked the faith to take on a man or two and shoot, Subs should have been made, but a good point.

  33. This is the title from the Idenpendent by the way: “Arsenal 0 Chelsea 0 match report: Dean’s mistakes deny top spot to Arsenal ”

    Hell even I didn’t go that far 😉

  34. Mandy,
    That might be a bit too short time I think. I doubt it even the PGMOL will push it that far….

  35. Arsène not saying too much might have something to do with Mr. Avenger who is the next ref. Last time we talked very loud about a ref Mr. Dowd stepped up at Newcastle…so be careful…

  36. Shame that M. Dean is allowed to referee! We all need to complain about him to FA and RA, as Dean is an embarrassment to the game!
    Of nothing happens, I’d like one of our player to break his jaw, as it seems nothing will stop his prejudice and bias!

  37. Maybe Walter, but they can always say it is a different competition! Do you think the refs will lay off us for a while, or do we have this until the end of the season? They way this seems to be reported in other countries is embarrassing to the Uk footballing powers that be
    This must all be a real culture shock to poor old Ozil!

  38. Playing agaist this type of team and against with Dean type of ref, it is rather be careful and not lose.

    What those 12 men did was more or less expected so Arsenal should employ the proper strategy to make sure nothing goes wrong. They did and good job.

    As I said yesterday, drawing this game is fine. They broek the losing trend and probably shorten their dip in performance.

    Get rest and win the other games.

  39. Walter, one point I think you’ve missed repeatedly here is that Mikel actually got to that ball before Arteta. Both players went to ground with studs up. The Chelsea Mikel seemed to start his lunge before the Arsenal Mikel, the Chelsea Mikel was the first to make contact with the ball, and both player attempted to drive through the ball with studs in the air.

    It would be extremely harsh in my opinion (and I’m also an experienced referee) to card one player here for a reckless challenge while not disciplining the other. Both players made rash and reckless challenges that put the other at significant risk, and it would be awfully harsh to card one and not the other in that situation.

    That said, Deano missed a clear penalty

  40. Say all you want but mourinho and chelsea are thugs. I wouldnt play to my full heart if the opponent slide around without respect or concern for opponents. I think they deliberately play like that getting a cue from man city last week. These are dangerous territories and I admire how wenger and his players stood up to it without crossing the line. (I really wonder where is the line now). Offer Steve Austin as the on pitch onforcer job and we will win everything

  41. Im afraid we are going to see our dear old friend Taylor very soon… We have Moss after Probert so maybe Taylor after that? i wont be suprised to see him in the cup match

  42. We could have won the game if we used the wings better, Theo absent and no left mid looking to cross, M.Dean is a joke but this is just an excuse for bad tactics poor team selection and no plan B.

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  44. We can confidently expect the FA to take retrospective action against Mikel for the leg-breaking assault that was “not seen” by the referee, who was only yards away.

    Oh no, silly me! After all, it was nothing really serious like raising a finger to the crowd.

  45. In the seasons past, Mr Wenger would have complained (rightly so) and whole world would have been on his back.

    BUT with this team he is assured and he has created a mentality in the team to rise above this partisan refereeing and deliver the results. Hence his subdued reactions. Every game we play, I dont expect much from the referee. Instead look at our boys how they respond to it and just enjoy our game.

    As for Mourinho and cry babies remark….well we have all the rights in this world to complain. When your players get assaulted, and the people responsible for policing the game turn a blind eye, what do you expect????…..

  46. Its not just the red and the penalty incidents, but Frank .. good old frank that he is , the integral english national team player got away with four fouls and no yellow card, 3 in the first half and in the second that i counted before my stream went wonky. Rosicky commited 2 fouls up to the same point , I tried to keep a positive frame of mind at that time thinking – ok ref made mistakes atleast he was equal in that he didnt give yellow to either rosicky or frank, he gave a yellow to rosicky for his third foul . Just then I started wondering , if only his name was tomas effington and playing for an “english ” team he wouldnt have received his yellow and this kind of bias is sick.

    Yes yellows make a difference, especially in a match where both teams are pressing, once you receive a yellow you wont press that hard because the lines are thin , you dont know if the second yellow will come in foul no 6 or 5 and that would free up space. Its not the first, I am sick of refs declaring open season on arsenal players. It was the same at Napoli, same with City and same here, the template is set. Have 3 central midfielders kick the shit out of arsenal players and get away with it when playing against them.

    Also , when in BIG matches the first foul generaly receives a yellow when arsenal player does it, and the commentators usual excuse is – ref is letting him know, he is exerting his authority and stuff like that. After the first foul in yesterdays match , the same commentators said, ref is letting him go as its too early in the match. How naive do they think the viewing public are ??

  47. a possible hint to why Arsenal has to endure such shit refereeing:
    “Mourinho blasts ‘foreign crybabies’ after Arsenal game ”

    Mourinho is clever to know from where the wind is coming. So painting Arsenal as a foreigners team does the trick in England.

    So despite both teams having 3 British players on the field it is Arsenal who are the ‘foreign’ team.

    I can imagine Mourinho saying before the match: it is Dean so just go out and kick them. Or do you really think that teams are not aware of his aversion of Arsenal. Maybe Dean considers Arsenal also as a foreign team?

  48. One great consolation for us is that, unlike Chelsea fans, we don’t follow a team built on negative defensive football, based on parking the bus and “hitting” the opponent on breakaways.

    Strange to see a squad of multi-million pound, genuinely skilful players under instructions to play like Stoke.

    Ramires and Mikel are simply dirty players who repeatedly get away with dangerous fouls, but what job satisfaction can Hazard, Oscar, Mata etc enjoy in having to play in that fashion?

  49. Good to see that Dean established his authority in order to protect Chelsea players from those 2 well-known enforcers, Walcott and Rosicky.

  50. Vermaelen, solid game. He did his trademark running and giving the ball away. But one of the midfielders stayed back to cover the run. I think his running from deep can add a new dimension to our game. More time on the pitch better it will be….

  51. The title of this piece is inappropriate. If Dean were simply “useless” it would not be as intolerable. In fact, he is a competent referee, who knows exactly what he is doing, -so we must draw a different conclusion from his performance, which was exactly as predicted, except that he didn’t succeed in his attempts to get all 3 points for Chelsea.

  52. Off to another topic.
    As you know, I spy on the Sp*ds 24/7.
    Today’s conversation was between Joe Lewis and Daniel Levy:
    Lewis: I heard Zinedine Zidane is tired of the situation at Real Madrid, and we could sign him as our coach because of our unique strategic stratospheric partnership with Real Madrid.
    Levy: Why do you want to sign Zidane when we have Tim Sherwood?

  53. Before those who ‘worship ‘ Dean , Moanrinho , Chelski and that of ‘THE EPL IS NOT FIXED ‘ post here , just read this and …….leave !

    In ancient Greece, Socrates was reputed to hold knowledge in high esteem. One day an acquaintance ran up to the great philosopher and said, “Socrates, do you know what I just heard about your friend?”

    “Hold on a minute,” Socrates replied. “Before telling me anything I’d like you to pass a little test. It’s called the Triple Filter Test.”

    “Triple filter?”

    “That’s right,” Socrates continued. “Before you talk to me about my friend, it might be a good idea to take a moment and filter what you’re going to say. The first filter is Truth. Have you made absolutely sure that what you are about to tell me is true?”

    “No,” the man said, “actually I just heard about it…”
    “All right,” said Socrates. “So you don’t really know if it’s true or not. Now let’s try the second filter, the filter of Goodness. Is what you are about to tell me about my friend something good?”

    “No, on the contrary…”

    “So,” Socrates continued, “you want to tell me something bad about him, but you’re not certain it’s true. You may still pass the test though, because there’s one filter left: the filter of Usefulness. Is what you want to tell me about my friend going to be something I can use for my benefit?”

    “No, not really.”

    “Well,” concluded Socrates, “if what you want to tell me is neither true nor good nor even useful, why tell it to me at all?”

    The man stared at him, and without a word turned around and left, dejected.

  54. Two games against title rivals, 4 of our possible goals denied/disallowed, 3 potential leg breaking challenges against us unpunished, 4 possible points stolen…. need I say more.

  55. “no red” for mikel
    “50 50” penalty on walcott?

    is it different view on the same rules….or different rules?

  56. hahhah….@ brickfields, perfecto.

    My comment is as useless, but its true and something good. Good one brickfields.

  57. I just hope Mourinho’s cry babies press antics come back to bite him. Please let crystal palace play chelsea soon. please. once pulis’s connies kick hazard, oscar and scrhulle then we’ll see who the foreign team is and who the cry babies are.

  58. Something you have not mentioned Walter, the two yellow cards we got. They were both very similar to me. Walcott and Rosicky both opted out of an intended tackle seeing it could get them booked but were booked nevertheless thanks to simulation and biased Mike the Dean of cheats

  59. What answers does PGMOL have for Dean’s performance? One thing is for sure that they will think twice before handing him games at the Emirates…he was hopeless but nevertheless we got one point and I think this was an important one. We had to get our defence sorted and that is what we did…not a bad result overall…COYG

  60. Steve 3:04am
    You say Mikel actually got to the ball first, wrong, Arteta did. If you can’t watch it again take a look at the pics that are in the link provided by Al the gooner, you’ll see that at the point Mikel makes contact with Arteta’s leg the ball is way off Mikel’s foot in the direction Arteta was kicking the ball in. You say you’re also a ref, so letting your incorrect comments go unchallenged could twist the truth more as people are bound to pay a lot more attention to what a ref has to say than an ordinary fan(though it shouldn’t necessarily follow as there are some refs who are terrible, like dean)

  61. Walter, I completly agree with the analysis.

    Dean’s performance was a disgrace. I counted 3 yellow cards in the first 15 minutes – Ramiers, Mikel, Lampard. On top of that, the penalty and the red card. Plus very soft yellow cards against us.

    However, the most interesting point in this match was not the referee (and usually to be honest it is not the referee) – it was Ramsey. Until the 70th minute it seemed he was completly not there. Almost no accurate passes, 2 turnovers that could have turned into goals, really bad decision making. And that, in my opinion, was the difference between us winning or not – Ozil had 2.5 players on him every single second, Arteta was very good, the defense was great, but we needed Ramsey and I kept seeing him deeper than Arteta for most of the match.

    Then, around 75th minute or so he came back to life, 5 accurate passes, a very nice dribble and a take on, and I think that if we had 10 more minutes we would have won it.

    We need Ramsey in his best to keep on winning, and last 3 matches he was not at his best. Last night was, for me, one of the most mediocre performance by him this season and I hope that he will come back to himself soon.

    The positives are that our defence is rock solid, Schez is a maestro, we god Poldi back, we are second spot on goal difference and our main rivals are playing each other in the next 2 fixtures.

    Don’t remember when was the last time that we were in such a good position in XMAS.

    COYG

  62. More positive reporting of dean’s shambolic refereeing performance from the foreign media. Interesting to note almost everyone is pointing to the same incidents as poor refereeing by dean; the Mikel challenge, the possible penalty on Theo, and that high challenge on Ozil from ivanovic.
    Only Mourinho and his equally blind Chelsea fans think dean had a good game.

    http://prosoccertalk.nbcsports.com/2013/12/23/referee-mike-deans-record-in-arsenal-matches-will-continue-to-be-scrutinized/

  63. Walter
    Do I feel like I’m wearing a pair of orthopedic boots, because I stand corrected.
    I stated before the game that I thought Dean was clever enough to know he was under the microscope and would call a clean game. Wrong!!!
    It’s clear to me now that he simply doesn’t care what anyone thinks . He simply won’t give a penalty for Arsenal.

    It was a good result for us and I’m happy with the team set up by Wenger. It was more important to not lose than to win. If I can complain about something , it would be the fact Arsenal try to play the same style of football regardless the conditions or opponents .

    Playing quick, one touch football is great when conditions are suitable, otherwise it leads to a bucked load of turnovers and opportunities for a counter which Chelsea had far too many .
    If Wilian were able to find a better pass on two occasions when Chelsea had four on three , the result might’ve been much different.
    Nothing says you can’t take a touch and play a more accurate pass quickly.

    Another minor gripe of mine would be not enough shots on goal from different positions , especially when pitch conditions were such as today .It seems Arsenal are hell bent on walking the ball into the net.

    While I’m still complaining , why not take a few short corners especially against a side like Chelsea , who are very physical and very good in the air.
    Arsenal players by nature ,like most technical players avoid contact thus not very good competing in aerial battles.

    To say that “The happy one ” is a dirty motherfucker is like saying that frog’s ass is watertight – both are beyond doubt. The overly phisical play from Chelsea players was clearly instructed by Mourinho.
    Much the same as he influenced Real Madrid dirty play against Barca when he was in La Liga.
    Ivanovic’s reaction to Ozill not taking kindly to almost getting decapitated would’ve been comical if it wasn’t per instructions.

    As for the non pen by Fletcher against Arshavin you mentioned , funny thing- fletcher himself admitted he felt it was a penalty and most media reaction was “stone cold penalty but it didn’t matter because 20 seconds later Arshavin scored”, so see ,Dean wasn’t trying to tilt the game but rather give Walcott the impetus to score a goal from open play like Arshavin did .

  64. Aside for one second from the frustrating game, I just want to wish everyone at Untold a safe and happy Christmas, -and special thoughts to Adams family.

  65. Tommiegun

    Ramsey did have a stinker and It was very unusual to see Wenger choose not to substitute him or anybody else for that matter , on nine day’s rest no less .
    So much for having a strong bench.

  66. Tom that was classic, “Dean wasn’t trying to tilt the game, but rather give Walcott the impetus to score a goal from open play like Arshavin”. Hehehehehehe

    It’s a shame the focus of the game is refereeing decisions. Yet, you know nothing ‘ll be done about it.

  67. Dear All,

    Christmas is church bells chiming joyfully
    Across the wintry sky, telling of the miracle
    That came from God on high

    Faith makes all things possible, Hope makes
    all things work, Love makes all things
    beautiful, May you have all the three for this
    Christmas.

    Christmas brings the message that
    God is always loving and ready to sacrifice any thing for us
    Let celebrate that message with pray and praise

    May the magic of Christmas, Bless you with heavenly gifts,
    fills your hearts with divine light
    May the essence of Christmas remains always with you

  68. @ Brickfields re Socrates.

    And that explains why Socrates never discovered that his friend was screwing Mrs. Socrates.

    Happy Christmas all.

  69. Ramsey’s performance. Well I agree, with Tommie and Tom, he had ‘not one of his best’ game. But with him on the field we always have one extra man in attack and defence. Let’s not forget, he was involved in a couple of attacks which almost ended in goals…

  70. The Boring one, and Chavski, a match made in heaven. No high profile club is lining up for Borinho, and the people haven’t taken to Chavski, wasn’t 2014 the year they became self sufficient and forvever ditch the begging bole?

    We on the other hand have another issue, money bags across the glob see us as potenial investment, or, a legit good money laundering operation.

  71. To make matters worse, commentators (and fans) were claiming the Mikel challenge was acceptable because of the weather. What do you think, if it snows this year and I drive my car as I normally do when it is warm and dry, would I be able to use the weather excuse if I were to hit a child because I was out of control? “if it wasn’t for the weather…..”

  72. Talksport (sorry not my usual tune in!) have brought up the Dean-Arsenal record and currently discussing

  73. Stuart

    I think the Boring one is losing it, Guardiola never reacted to Borinho’s tactics, this really gets under his skin. Wenger is doing the same, unusually calm in the interview.

  74. Definition of incompetence: Mike Dean

    Definition of a crap night: Mike Dean

    Definition of a miracle: Mike Dean has a job refereeing

    Definition of a new project: How to get Mike Dean sacked?

    Seriously where can we complain as paying customers about his performances and why he is allowed to referee at this level. There needs to be a more concerted effort to remove these incompetent officials – they need technology and they refuse to use it so we need to keep bashing them hard.

  75. It was a penalty. As for Mikel’s tackle it could have been a red but if it had have been would it have been a game changing moment and who for? Remember when Chelsea had a player sent off against Barca, who won that then?

    At least we didn’t lose or get totally owned like we did against City who if they keep their form should win the league easily.

    Too many poor performances though. Ramsey was invisible for most of the game and if anyone needed proof that Giroud is not a world class finisher last night proved it. Chelsea weren’t great at all and we should have been more positive. I’m sure we have a psychological issue with the very best English teams.

    Ozil should have been subbed and Cazorla put on and get Pod on for the last twenty minutes.

  76. A|,
    Did you go and bring a red card against The Dean to the Ems?
    Did you urge others to bring red cards to the Ems?
    The ocean of red cards would be something to put this Smeagle on notice and possibly curb his bent zealotry. That would be something. Papa Walter can’t do what only fans together might.

  77. If Mikel was a Red then Arteta should also have seen Red though IMO as both were making the same challenge. The fact that only one connected and the other didn’t is neither here nor there, it comes down to the fact that both players created a dangerous situation for the other with potentially bad outcomes.

  78. “something we should build on for the next matches”
    Walter,
    And how about an additional striker in January?
    All quiet on that front, but the question is begged. (full stop)

  79. The trouble is Rupert that so many on here have whipped themselves into a frenzy that they fail to focus on Arsenal and continue to point the finger elsewhere
    Arsenal were the home team the onus was on them to take the initiative but did they? Quite simply no they didn’t.
    Till the 85th minute Arsenal didn’t have a shot on target. Walcott was poor, Ramsey not much better. Neither of your two full backs really got forward until the last 10 minutes et, in all this your manager didn’t think it was right to try and change shape or indeed players

  80. Stuart

    At last someone says it as it rally was and not just so it fits the Dean is to blame brigade.

  81. “get Pod on for the last twenty minutes.”
    Rupert,
    I agree (with your implication) on an additional striker in January. But Pod has not played a lick, so throwing him into the fire is no panacea but desperate, your 20/20 hindsight.

  82. If Arsene Wenger, who we all agree is a decent manager, chose to allow all the 11 players complete 90 minutes, I consider it to be a statement of how well he believed the guys were playing and not a negative statement on our bench as being insinuated.

    Aaron Ramsey might not have scored 2 goals yesterday but I have no idea how his performance can be called a “stinker”. We were playing Chelsea for goodness sake. They had 2 to 3 men on our main goal threats at every point in the game. BTW, Ramsey gave a great lobbed pass that Giroud hit wide. One of our best chances of the game.

    It was a game in which the team did what they had to do and for the lousy officiating, we might have won.

    Onward to the next game.

  83. Dean should be objectively independently assessed on last nights performance with the results properly audited and then made public through the various news media. His interpretation of what constitutes a foul and a card varied depending upon the shirt colour. How can a referee book Walcott for pulling out of a tackle when he ignored Mikels , the tackle on Sagna, the trip on Walcott and the high boot on Ozil. The only logical reason is bias. I know why Walcott was booked as he had questioned Deans sanity when he turned the penalty down. Despite that we had chances to win the game as did Chelsea. Both sides lack quality up front.

  84. @Mike T

    We are on top, level points at present. Yes, we would love to have won, however, it is just as important not to lose. The Boring one, setup his team to counter us, we on the other hand did not play into his tactics.

    Home/Away the boring will use the same tactics against the tougher teams!

  85. “What answers does PGMOL have for Dean’s performance.”
    Asif,
    He did what they wanted. No answers needed because fans raise no questions. How to raise questions? Bring red cards at flash ’em at him. Questions must be made visible. Otherwise, silence – and no answers. Hand wringing is a waste of time. We deserve better, but won’t get better from the PGMOL.

  86. @Bob

    People like Usmanov, including the middle eastern fake sheikhs, will be pushing for a stake in Arsenal. If you look into Abramovich/Usmanov, you’ll see how civil rights and land have been stolen. The money trail also reveals a larger laundering operation, the same can be said about the Sheikhs.

    Football now offer’s a cleaner front on a global level.

  87. “Dean should be objectively independently assessed on last nights performance with the results properly audited and then made public through the various news media.”
    andy bishop,
    however articulate and high-ground you may be and feel, you know that won’t happen. the medja know and play THE game. so our red carding the refshite to make visible in the media is one step to try. Individual handwringing, however articulate, is dismissed by the heartless medja lenscrafters by practiced silence, or (as the vicious Maureen just put it) with the typical cold-hearted smuggery of the septic aisle: ‘they like to cry’.

  88. I think people are being overcritical regarding last night. The conditions were absolutely dreadful – pouring with rain throughout, a strong swirling wind. Mistakes were far more likely. Also it made hitting long passes very hard indeed so that option was taken off the table – making defending easier.

  89. isn’t this the same media who usually say EPL matches cant be fixed because players are paid far too much to even consider the puny ( 70k might I add) sums they will receive for fixing.

    and its the same media that said at championship – accusations i must add – that 70000 will get a red card, because that is 4 weeks player salary or some other nonsense.

    and its the same media that said PL refs arent paid enough

    English referees first became professional in 2001 when the Professional Game Match Officials Board (PGMOB) was formed. Top Premier League referees are paid an annual salary in excess of £70,000, which includes a retainer and individual match fees of around £1,000.

    Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2225220/Mark-Clattenburg-racism-row-Chelsea-players-charged-referees-room-acting-like-bouncers.html#ixzz2oOCkyq9h

    so , here I am thinking 1+1 =2 , why wouldnt a refree be tempted ?????

  90. @Mike T. I agree. I understand that this site takes great pains to aim criticism everywhere else rather than the giant French elephant in the room.

    I have no idea why we appear to be playing for a draw at home against Chelsea and yet we go all kamikaze against a far superior team, at home at least, in Man City.

    Having said that Dean was still poor on the night, though of course that doesn’t excuse the frequent poor performances against the best English teams.

  91. @bob, agree but we should be going for a win here and it’s not my fault our striking options are limited.

  92. @Dan.

    I’m not sure I get your point?

    I didn’t have a good view of our penalty as I was the other end of the ground, and haven’t seen it subsequently on TV. But very happy to accept it should have been if that is the consensus. If the same thing happened the other way round then if it was a penalty it should have been given. Just want a level playing field.

    As for Dean, would he have given it the other way? I hope he would have been completely consistent, but the evidence suggests he may not have been.

  93. Trust reasonable Rupert to don his ‘only adult in the room’ hat yet again and admonish all us children for being bad losers again. I will go sit on the naughty step for an hour.

  94. All Aljazeerah pundits were of the opinion that both red card & penalty decisions were incorrect.

  95. bob
    Didn’t get the chance to go to the stadium, if you were talking to me,or.I’d loved to let dean know what I really thought of his performance 🙂 But the crowd showed him in the end what they made of his performance last night, of that there’s no doubt.

  96. Predictably the knives are slowly coming out, there’s just no pleasing some people. I have read the match report from various publications and not even one of them thought dean had a good game, in fact all of them unanimously agree on the 3 key things dean got wrong ; the penalty, the Mikel challenge and the high boot on Ozil. Of course many of them go on to highlight that Maureen wanted a draw and got it. So there, playing against a team that came to get a draw,in horrible conditions, against a bent ref, and still we hear how poor Arsenal were.

    Rupert, can I ask a question, you seem to be saying having a man sent off would’ve made Chelsea a better side and could’ve resulted in a win for them therefore it was good for us Mikel was not sent off?

  97. Who is the “giant French elephant in the room”?

    I remember clearly that a certain dysfunctional contributor does not enjoy being described in zoological terms yet he has the neck to describe someone else similarly.

    I do hope those who felt it was unfair to describe him in derogatory terms will now come forward and admonish him for the phraseology noted above.

    I note that the same contributor, in his dysfunctional way, prefers to play amateur football manager rather that concentrate on the clear ref bias – some things never change!

  98. Say’s it all that the one person commenting with whom Rupert seems to empathise is Mike T the self proclaimed Chelsea supporter. At least Mike T is honest.

  99. Thanks for this article, and the preceding ones re this match.

    And thanks to almost all who’ve commented. You’ve pretty much covered anything I would’ve written. I haven’t seen anything written about a deliberate kick to Ramsey’s ankle, early doors, which Dean laughed off. I thought that assault really hurt Aaron.

    Of course it’s merely coincidence that the shit-kicking of Arsenal’s players continues, game after game, year after year, with the severity and quantity of assaults allowed – mangified, according to their league position!

    I’ve just spoken to an Ars fan/mate who was at the game last night. He’s pissed off cos Arsenal “can’t win the big games/ they try to walk the ball into the net/Wenger’s lack of subs”, blah blah. I used to send him the ref reports but he got sooooo angry.

    Seeing he has provided me with a ticket once in a while I’m reluctant to tell him the extent of which he’s been brainwashed, and that whilst he goes to many games, he simply can’t see what’s going on. (The last game we attended together was Reading 5 Arsenal 7. I pointed out the fouls from Reading player’s that the ref was ignoring. His eyes just glazed over.

    Merry Xmas Tony, Walter and all Untolders.

  100. I presume Rupert means Giroud? Ollie didn’t have his best game but then no did. From my seat I couldn’t see the penalty incident but had a very good view of Ivanovich’s assault on Ozil’s head.

    As the for the rest of the game I think Rupert is missing the point which is that having been well beaten at City we needed not to lose this game more than we needed to win. Especially with 15 minutes to go. To be second on goal difference at xmas instead of 4th is psychologically a much better situation.

    If in pressing Chelski harder we had shipped a goal on the break how would Rupert be feeling today? Happy?I think not.

    This season has a long way to run so keep the faith gooners

  101. I remember now the first yellow card foul was from Azpilegueta(or something like that) on Aaron. A kick from behind on his calf and that was the moment when Dean should have made it clear that he would not allow that. If you give a yellow card then the players now the line. Now he did nothing.
    this resulted in Lampard trying to kick Sagna in two at the side line that was not even called a foul by Dean.

    That was two reckless challenges and should have been two yellow cards. Not given. The message was clear: kick them “foreign” crybabies.

  102. Rupert,

    apart from calling Wenger an elephant you also seemed it very necessary to mention he is French.

    Well, well, well…. a bit of xenophobia against French people?

  103. Rupert, what a surprise you have been back last couple of weeks.
    I remember your constant criticism just before the Munich away game last season,it was once assumed you were a chelsea fan , not sure that is true but you definitely are a cock.I don’t know whow you watch your games but after every poor referee performance against Arsenal you always seem to make an excuse for the referee but never one for Arsenal.i find your comments so boring, the same after every poor result that I wonder if you are just a copy and paste merchant and have only ever made 5 different comments

  104. I am only ever pro everything arsenal but last nights performance was not good enough u.t.d city or chelsea would have gone all out for a win we did not . lost opportunity in my book the system wenger used last night was not complementry to ozil Ramsey giroud or Walcott . We looked ineffective this style does not win leagues

  105. The font,

    did you just say that utd, city OR CHELSEA would have gone all out for a win????????

    Please skip Chelsea from that list as they went out to sit back and hit us on the counter. That was all they did.

    I am sure that if we would have gone all out for a win and threw everything and everyone forward we would have ran in to a Chelsea counter and would have lost the game.

  106. @highamsparkgunner
    Please do not refer to Rupert as a cock. I have always considered cocks as extremely useful and capable of giving much pleasure, (mine certainly has), whereas Rupert is the exact opposite, useless and always deliberately pissing people off.

  107. Walter I was referring to the way chelsea play at home against the top 4 I always judge these games on would I be happy in a champs league tie to get a 0-0 at home and history tells us a draw at home to a close rival is not good enough in any competition . Chelsea were there for the taking and in my opinion we were too cautious

  108. Defo pen, Booking for Mikel, non of this matters when we played dump, chelski crowded the mid so we had to play down wings and we and beat a man or cross or both or cutback for late runner (Rambo) and we just did not get round the back, we did not have a plan B (NO SUBS), we did not play a left and right mid (or Theo was absent), really poor tactics against a largely toothless chelski, game was there to be won with a little balls and some real wisdom, I could have told you Jose will try to kill the game off and rely on stealing it on the break or a set piece, fook sake that’s all he ever does in away big games BORING mug.

  109. ‘Manchester’ Mike Dean, the vile referee who despises us and ‘celebrated’ a goal against us will one day surely have questions asked of him.

    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oLoBmf26gPs

    We actually ‘beat’ the chavs 2-1 in the bookings stats

    As for the weasel that is Mike Riley doing anything. He’ll be working out ways he can ‘haul’ his beloved united into the top 4.

    Never mind Malaysia. Let’s look closer to home.

  110. Tommie gun
    So you thought we played well and you are happy with the result and was happy that they totally controlled the first half chances to score and we were not holding on in the first half to there breaks .
    I for one was praying for half time so wenger could sort the problems, which to an extent he did.
    get real it was far below a championship winning performance and I for one want more from the team giroud needs to start scoring Gibbs has no confidence, arteta was miles too slow last night and sagna looked like his. Mind was somewhere else the £42 million man looked like the £42 quid man
    And when you say they lost at home to kopenhagen that only strengthens my view they were there for taking unless you are suggesting kopenhagen are a better team than arsenal

  111. I see very little mention of Ramires on Arteta… As I mentioned in a previous post on another article: expect to see refs going blind in our upcoming games, which will facilitate targeting of key players for long term injuries to derail our season. Arteta’s leg survived a shin pad breaking challenge, followed by another rough, high challenge by Ramires, all in one game. And yet we finished the game with more yellows than these thugs. This game is corrupt.

  112. @C4
    I expect you’re right. With Arsenal having topped the table for a little while it’s unacceptable to the money men. There’ll be bent refs, leg breakers etc.

    Any time an Arsenal player so much as farts he’ll be booked, while the knuckle-draggers will be set loose and given free reign.

    I wonder… do you think the refs get a bonus from their masters if an Arsenal player gets injured or sent off?

  113. Walter,
    Please consider changing the title of your article to “Dean useful as usual, Mourinho still the master in killing”,

    Joy to this world, gooners.

  114. “I wonder… do you think the refs get a bonus from their masters if an Arsenal player gets injured or sent off?”
    Seedy J, C4
    They get job security and a 50K payoff at the end of their careers for zipping it. (That is, after unzipping it for Mike Riley). Support Halsey. Go Gunners. Anyone consider bringing RED CARDS to all our matches? Dean’s next appointment?

  115. All because elephants were mentioned !

    What does Tarzan say when he sees a herd of elephants in the distance?
    “Look, a herd of elephants in the distance”

    What does Tarzan say when he sees a herd of elephants with sunglasses in the distance?
    Nothing. He doesn’t recognize them.

    What does Tarzan say when he sees a herd of giraffes in the distance?
    “Haha! You fooled me once with those disguises, but not this time!”

  116. Just have to ask , how are French elephants different from their Asian and African cousins ?
    Is it the way they oui ?

  117. Look what I found !

    There was an old man in France who used to get up every morning at five A.M. He would then go and sprinkle a white powder on the roads.

    When he was asked what he was sprinkling on the roads, he answered that it was elephant powder.

    The person then remarked “But everybody knows that there are no elephants in France!” to which he answered “I guess it must be working then!”

  118. It was a boring Sunday afternoon in the jungle so the Elephants decided to challenge the Ants to a game of soccer.
    The game was going well with the Elephants beating the Ants ten goals to nil, when the Ants gained posession.

    The Ants’ star player was dribbling the ball towards the Elephants’ goal when the Elephants’ left back came lumbering towards him. The elephant trod on the little ant, killing him instantly.

    The referee stopped the game. “What the hell do you think you’re doing? Do you call that sportsmanship, killing another player?”
    The elephant replied, “Well, I didn’t mean to kill him — I was just trying to trip him up.”

    My question would be , would Mike Dean have sent him off ?
    Or would he have tried to console the poor beast ? Seeing, that he was not that type of player !
    But I know that most cynics would want to know if the ant was an Arsenal(and/or French) player before they ‘frame’ their answers !

  119. Be very careful for what you wish for …..

    A man went to a doctor to have his penis enlarged. Well, this particular procedure involved splicing a baby elephant’s trunk onto the man’s penis.
    Overjoyed, the man went out with his best girl to a very fancy restaurant.
    After cocktails, the man’s penis crept out of his pants, felt around the table, grabbed a hard roll and quickly disappeared under the tablecloth.
    The girl was startled and exclaimed, “What was that?”.
    Suddenly the penis came back, took another hard roll and just as quickly disappeared. The girl was silent for a moment, then finally said, “I don’tbelieve I saw what I think I just saw… can you do that again?”

    With a bit of an uncomfortable smile the man replied,
    “Honey, I’d like to, but I don’t think my ass can take another hard roll!”

  120. An elephant is walking through the jungle when she gets a thorn in her foot.
    She is in absolute agony until an ant strolls by. So the elephant says, “Help me, help me.”
    But the ant refuses unless the elephants agrees to let the ant have his wicked way with her. Replys the elephant, “Anything! Anything!”
    So, out comes the thorn and up gets the ant and proceeds to enjoy himself.

    Meanwhile, in a tree directly above them, a monkey, who witnessed the whole episode, was in knots of laughter. Consequently he fell out of the tree on top of the elephant.
    Says the elephant: “Ouch!”
    Says the ant, in his own little frenzy: “Suffer BITCH, SUFFER!!!”

  121. @ Gianni Diaro – That looked very bad .Ramires is really a nasty piece of work .I shalln’t shed a tear for him when he gets his just desserts !

    @ bjtgooner – I think you’d love this one….
    Q: What do you get when you cross an elephant with a rat?
    A: A dead rat with an 18 inch asshole!

  122. As I’m about to move on to weasels and sewer rats , all the above jokes ( and more !)were from…..
    http://www.lysator.liu.se/jokes/elephant.html
    Jsut for an encore here’s …Q & As.

    Q: What do you call any elephant who is an expert on skin disorders?
    A: A pachydermatoligist.
    ==

    Q: What does an elephant with a runny nose (trunk) need?
    A: A blow job.
    ==

    Q: How do you make an elephant fly?
    A: Start with a 3 foot zipper.

    Q: Why won’t they allow elephants in public swimming pools?
    A: Because they might let down their trunks.
    ==

    Q. Why do elephants have four feet?
    A. Because lady elephants have big twats.

  123. Excellent writeup Walter and many fantastic commentators. I too am very worried with regards to the reinvigorated trend and for the health of our players. Its a credit to AARON & MIKEL to have carried on playing after the rough painful assaults they went through. How does this idiot look himself in the mirror everyday. And now with the maureenwhores ‘ foreign crybabies ‘ comment I fear the referees will keep on not protecting our players and out goes the level playing field. The damned media will jump on the band wagon and it will be 2008 all over again.
    As someone who has thought about this for years I have come to believe is that what AW & ARSENAL can do is minimal and probably will be counterproductive. It might get AW BANNED and that is not what we want. The only solution I can see is in the hands of the attending supporters. As soon as he steps on the pitch next time he works on of our games boo him, whistle loudly, call him out by name and make starting the game impossible and continue until he leaves the pitch. Shame him and his kind to a point that they won’t take that assignment ever again even if forced. We are also missing a strong and charismatic person at the FA board to further our cause. Just my two cents and a very happy and safe holiday season to all my fellow GOONERS, especially the ones that don’t abandon their club in their hour of need and support.
    UP WITH THE GUNNNNEEERRRSSS!!!!!!!

  124. And after all this, we’ve still got the most points in the League, and Chavski can moan all day long and still they are below us.

    From Seattle, Merry Christmas fellow gunners!

  125. @SeedyJ
    Bonus payments and such are a high risk, I suspect this has more to do with a mutual hatred for Arsenal that other clubs and officials share. Seeing us get screwed could be reward enough for them. I think bob is also correct, self-preservation must play a big part in it too.
    @Gianni Dioro nice link, funny how that tackle has been ignored by the media, as if to protect that serial hatchet man Ramires. He’s got a nasty record when it comes to such challenges. All the focus seems to have been deflected to the Mikel tackle and the Theo penalty incident, with the occasional mention of Ivanobitch’s attempted decapitation. They’re making it sound like these were chel$ki’s only card-worthy sins, when in fact there were plenty more. What bothers me is the general tone of all the media accounts of this match, which focus on praising maureen for this approach – an approach which almost cost Arteta his leg. And like true sheep led by media opinion, all the chel$ki fan’s that have come here to comment have pretty much cloned what’s in the British media, failing to mention Ramires, or Terry, or Dave for that matter. Can they explain why we got 2 yellow cards for nothing, when both times our players (Theo and Rosicky) pulled out of the challenge to avoid injuring a chel$ki player? How can a player be carded for almost fouling?
    At least media outside the UK are unanimously saying it like it is. Hence the need for a link to a Spanish site on order to get a gif of the Ramires challenge. 2008 all over again, as predicted.

  126. What’s with that last name Ramirez?? the one that plays for Everton is also a dirt bag player. Always aiming to hurt and maim…

  127. @goonerkam My Espanol isn’t so good, but I think the name roughly translates to “thug”. Might have to double check with Arteta to see if that’s correct.

  128. Hahaha. Ten four C4. I’m just glad ARTETA , who is so integral to what we are trying to do , nor AARON and BACARY didn’t end up seriously injured.
    You see this is not physical and robust football we all like to watch and even play from time to time.
    This is dirty and UNSPORTSMANLIKE behavior that needs to be rooted out from the field of honor ,that is the pitch. Shame on any manager that gives his players instructions to hurt and injury fellow professionals trying to earn a living. And double shame on any player that would carry out such orders. And triple shame on a referee that will accommodate such tactics and turn a blind eye. It is their job after all to protect ALL PLAYERS and enforce the rules evenly.
    I guess it’s true what they say. YOU CANT BUY CLASS , HISTORY AND TRADITION. I’m glad ARSENAL & AW have all those qualities in abundance.
    Roman must be so proud of the product his team of mercenaries show on the pitch, after almost a billion dollars expenditures.

  129. In my honest opinion we had two calls for penalties. There was a hand to ball incident in the game ,ignored by the referee, that had at least three ARSENAL players raise their hands and stopped playing so sure a handball offense had taken place. With proper enforcement of the rules we could have come away with maximum points these last two weeks.
    Not to worry though, I’m told by some very very knowledgeable people that the calls even themselves up at some f•••Ing point in time.
    Well, we shall wait and see. ARSENALS accounts go back a few years. That’s a whole lot of even• Ing out, one might say.

  130. Spot on. God knows for at least 7 years now we have been shedding light on this matter one contrarian at a time and most don’t change. They are either the lawyer type demanding solid ,beyond the shadow of doubt, type proof not understanding that these things are talked about and decided on in the darkness and shadows or the type that has an agenda to the end. One thing for sure, not true support and not worthy of your energy and breath….
    Don’t have to much of the bubbly now and I promise I’ll keep my tequila within reason. lol

  131. @Brickfields @ 5.04am

    You are correct, I did enjoy that one! I suspect our resident zoological dysfunctional specimen would not!

  132. @goonerkam I recall the handball too, funny how it’s been ignored by all. Contrast the non-given penalty decisions in our last games with the last few penalty decisions that have been given to man sh!tty and chel$ki (remember this Ramires dive?) and you can see which teams are getting a helpful shove up the table and which is being pulled down.
    On a slightly different note: I wonder if some of our “sewer rat” regulars are not moles sent by those who would love to see this site go down, trying to spread propaganda and hoping to get us to join the rest of the sheep. They clearly don’t belong. One wonders why they insist on returning here, when they could fit in so much better at sites like le g. I don’t go to le g because I’m from a different planet from those guys, so we would be unable to hold a decent discussion. So why do these guys insist on sticking around here? Can’t hep but wonder about their intentions.

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