By Walter Broeckx
This was May 19th all over. A tight game between two teams that look tired at times.
Is this Christmas period congestion of fixtures really a good way to produce good football? I don’t think. By the way players have to be replaced after injuries it sure isn’t a healthy situation to play that many games in such a short period. And the quality of the games goes down a lot. Not just in this game but in the things I have seen this weekend.
So more injuries than usual and the quality of the matches goes down. Something to think about I would say.
But on to the match. I will try to avoid the ref as much as possible. But I thought he was as useless as he can be and his way of interpreting the laws of the games beggars belief. The fact that Tioté and Williamson didn’t get a yellow card for their tackles and persistent fouling is unbelievable.
Of course Arsenal did get his share of the cards when the players who clearly had enough of being kicked started kicking back after a while. Once again the ref showed his terrible anti-Arsenal bias and his terrible pro-home bias. The only good thing I can say is that at least he didn’t invent a penalty or so to “even things out a bit”. Mind you in the years gone by he has evened enough out against Arsenal…
Newcastle who didn’t have to play on Boxing Day thanks to a very generous referee Atkinson were in good spirits before the match of course. Being close to the big boys and having trashed Stoke (that itself is always pleasant of course), confidence was high.
Arsenal started rather well but not having Özil and Ramsey was a bit visible. Both out with an injury at the same time is something we could have done without. Koscienly came in the place of Vermaelen who seems to have no luck lately. After his fine displays in both London derby’s he was sick. Probably the same bug that is affecting my throat I think. No Monreal on the bench also and I wonder if he also is sick or injured?
Not many goal chances from both teams in the first half. A few shots from distance but overall to many times the last ball went wrong. Newcastle were not threatening the Arsenal goal neither so it all was just very close with two teams battling it out in midfield. And with battling you can understand it in the battling way. Probert was a spectator. I think he didn’t realise at times that he was actually the ref in charge and not the 4th ref. Sorry, couldn’t let it go.
The most dangerous attempt in the first half was in the extra time. Wilshere not understanding a pass from Koscielny and Newcastle suddenly had space. Koscielny with a first block and the Szczesny with a good save that turned the ball in a corner. That corner was headed towards goal and a combination of the crossbar and Wilshere kept the ball out.
In the second half I noticed that for an inexplicable reason for me our players didn’t seem to notice the great runs from Theo. On a few occasions he had seen the gap and ran in to space but only finding himself in space without the ball. I think we missed the guys who could pick out such passes in the first half of the season…Özil and Ramsey.
When the ref gave a foul halfway the Newcastle half for the 17th foul of Tioté of which only 3 had been given nothing seemed up at first. But Theo put the ball in the path of Giroud who nodded it home from close range. 0-1 to the Arsenal and now we were really back in time.
And then just like last season we got the chance to score the second goal but Krul and a Newcastle defender on the line prevented a Walcott goal and then Giroud made a mess of the rebound. Surely should have done better even with his weaker right foot. But Giroud likes a bit of Hitchock I think.
Gibbs had to come off with an injury I’m afraid and Flamini went to left back and Arteta came in for him in midfield. A bit later Wenger sent in Jenkinson for Walcott and Sagna moved to the centre to stop the big guys from Newcastle to score. The last change was Bendtner for match winner Giroud.
It wasn’t pretty at all. It was defending like in May. Keeping them away as much as we could. And last season we proved that when we really want it we can defend and park the bus. It is not our first option but when it is needed we can do it. I’m not proud of it to be honest. But 0-1 up at Newcastle, a win taking us back to the top of the league, players looking tired… hell why wouldn’t we do it.
The most frightening moment came when Szczesny had a moment he has had before… remember Liverpool. A back pass that he could have cleared a bit earlier but he waited a bit too long and then shot it straight at the face of Remy. Remy didn’t know what hit him (it was the ball Loic) but to our and Szczesny’s relieve it hobbled wide. What followed then was Newcastle throwing the ball at our backline time after time and our defenders standing in the right places most of the time. BacPerKos did their job helped by the rest of the team who worked their socks off.
So here we are after our last match of 2013. We are in first place. Top of the league. Doesn’t this feel great? If this cannot make you happy then what can? We are competing at the top. Who would have thought that on that dreadful August 17? Well I can imagine one man? I think he would have believed we could do it. Did I? I could hope for it but saying that on August 18 was enough to be called an idiot. Well, don’t mind being an idiot at all then.
COYG, Bring on 2014!
Great result from the gunners, brilliant for Olivier G, so pleased for him.
Liverpool score after 3 minutes, hope its a draw.
WE ARE ARSENAL WE’RE TOP OF THE LEAGUE!!!!
Important goal from the BFF (Big F***ing Frenchman!) & a good win from the team. 3 points to see us into the New Year. Well done Gunners!
Very happy! One nil to the Arsenal! We beat the twelve men again.
We are top, I said WE ARE TOP!
82 points for the entire 2013, wish the season was calendar year!!!
Sammy, you are partly ruining my tomorrows article 😉 🙂
Walter wrote:
“It wasn’t pretty at all. It was defending like in May. Keeping them away as much as we could. And last season we proved that when we really want it we can defend and park the bus. It is not our first option but when it is needed we can do it. I’m not proud of it to be honest. But 0-1 up at Newcastle, a win taking us back to the top of the league, players looking tired… hell why wouldn’t we do it.”
And I echo you in saying why the fuck not?
Hell yeah, we are the best team in the EPL in 2013. It’s officially 82 points from 38 games.
Come on Gunners, let’s win this thing!
So thrilled for Giroud. Before the game Glen Hoddle was talking up Giroud saying what a great contribution he was making to the team despite the drop in goals from him.
I don’t understand how our players ended with 3 yellow cards to Newcastle players’ zero. That could only happen in a game where the ref was blowing for fouls one way…
Jenkinson needs a football brain badly.
@meaner
Don’t spoil it! Stick by the boys.
colario,
When on game pundit panels, Glen Hoddle is always a breath of fresh air. He is always honest and seldom follow the crowd. When Gray and Keys were going apoplectic on Al-Jazeera about that phantom Liverpool ‘goal’ at the Emirates, he was the lone voice of reason.
I am not surprised that he sees Giroud’s whole picture as a player and not just his recent misses. Those of us who had faith in the guy are rewarded today.
And all this was done without
Ozil
Ramsey
Vermaelen
Monreal
Arteta (for much of the game)
Oxlade-Chamberlain
Podolski
Gnabry
And throughout the summer there was all this screaming for us to go out and buy, buy and buy again.
Interesting that the AAA are still claiming that we only bought Ozil because they demanded it. If I remember aright they demanded that we should buy lots of players, and that Ozil was never mentioned. But I suppose it is nice for these people to have fantasies.
If Jenkinson had thrown the ball quickly and Bendtner lost it and Newcastle went on to score, the young man would be getting the blame for being naive and not taking his time. I guess, as one of the default scapegoats of the team, he can’t win.
By the way meaner, the team was in “run the clock” mode, so I don’t blame the poor fella for not being in any kind of hurry. I am not saying he shouldn’t have, I just don’t see any reason to call him stupid over it.
Great win for a hard working and determined team – against another physical side.
I note Pardew has complained he didn’t get enough breaks from the ref – what an idiot Pardew is! The ref should have had Tiote off and carded some others bar codes!
Tony , whatever happened to the BSM ? Did that company that made those black scarves go bust ? Damn ! Here I was trying to corner that market !
It was supposed to have been the next new fashion breakthrough and was to be highlighted in the Milan fashion week !And also in Timbuktu too !
Has there been a sudden upsurge in suicides by hanging with black scarves in the London area ?
We’ll all miss those AAAAs ! Really !
Like the common cold, the AAA is always with us. We had one on the other day saying that we are totally screwed unless we buy three top players in January, including a high quality striker.
Bootoomee. There was only 1 castle player stayed closed to Jenk, and Bendtner was alone, and you felt we should “run the clock”, brilliant indeed.
BTW I didn’t label him stupid, but I don’t mind you calling him that lol.
I think Webb has had another stinker in this one, chelsea got away with a few reckless fouls and pool could have had two penalties in the second half. Wonder what BR might have to say about that.
I don’t have any sympathy for Liverpool – but for the second match in a row ref decisions have cost them points and by coincidence (or is it a coincidental?) both Chelski and the Manchester Oilers have been gifted points, allowing them to close the gap on us.
meaner,
You did worse. You said he “needs a football brain badly”. Considering that he is a professional footballer, you have in effect said he had no brain.
On hindsight, we are all geniuses but as I said earlier, if he had made a quick throw and that one single Newcastle player had been collected the ball (not impossible) and they score with it, what would you be saying now? Probably blaming Jenkinson for not taking his time.
To be clear, I agree with you that he should have made a quick throw but in light of what was going on at that moment in the game, I understand Jenkinson’s state of mind. There is no need to say he needs “football brain” over that. I might agree with you if we were chasing the game 🙂
For the fact that we won the game due to effort of all the players, including Jenkinson, I was hoping that we would leave the abuse and insults for another day. But that’s just me.
Think oil money is talking. Maureen gives the game away by saying Luiz can go and have a great holiday in Portugal after picking up a ‘deliberate’ 5th yellow. Given he instructed two of his players to pick up yellows while at Madrid , I wouldn’t put this past him, what a clown of a manager.
I think the whole team worked their socks off today, everyone, and it would be very unfair to start picking on little things (that didn’t matter in the end anyway) for criticism when we won, given everything that we were up against today.
To be honest Jenkinson had his head turned away from the pitch and was looking at the ball that went towards the advertising boards in the way one does when one is 0-1 up at Newcastle. So he probably didn’t know that Bendtner was all on his own in the middle of the field.
As some say imagine if Bendtner wouldn’t have got the ball or wouldn’t have scored and Newcastle would have picked up the ball and scored… imagine what he would have to endure.
Mind you I also was shouting at my TV: turn around Jenks, turn around and throw that ball to Nick… Think I didn’t shout hard enought 😉
Anyway, we are TOP! Off to the pub, to have one for the team 🙂
Interesting. Listening to Liverpool/Chelski on the radio, there was little indication that Webb was anything other than a Master Referee imbued with fine British qualities.
However, I did catch the BBC corporate line, from the stupid guy who does most of the talking in a Northern Irish brogue.
“You can question if the referee has had a bad game, but you cannot accuse him of bias”
Well, there you go. A blow for independent journalism, not……..I mean of course another blow for state owned totalitarian newspeak.
Al
1-0 Away from home against the a team in what could be their best form of the season, with a referee that appeared to be biased for some reason*. Not more I can ask.
*Such observations would not be recorded by followers of AFC if we got officials performing like that at Home in favour of the Home team once in a Blue Moon. There comes a time when you have to ask the question.
Walter,
Totally shouting at my TV for Jenkinson to make a quick throw too. I agree with meaner minus the he “needs a football brain badly” part. Well, after today’s hard fought win at least 🙂
May I also add that Newcastle had won against Chelsea (2-0), at Tottenham (0-1),won at MU (0-1), drew with Liverpool (2-2). The only loss against a top team was on the opening day when they lost 4-0 at Man City. I guess there has been a few dodgy offside calls going against them that day 😉
So winning at their place is a big win and an important win. A win where we took points where our opponents failed to do so.
marcus,
Myself, jambug and many here believe that the referees and PGMOL are not the problem with officiating in the EPL. It is enabling media.
It is okay to say that other people’s wallets can magically end up in my pocket but you cannot accuse me of being a thief. Nice logic that works in favour of the dishonest.
And these people are paid heavy to shape public opinion by speaking through the mainstream mass media.
* that is of course before they had to play The Arsenal 😉
Wasn’t our back 4 once again BIG… F*****G French-German-French-English?
Joke of the month:
Pardew saying the ref’s decisions went against Newcastle.
I had to read it a few times to make sure I’m reading it right.
#unfuckinbelievablebullshit
http://uk.eurosport.yahoo.com/news/football-pardew-wanted-free-kick-171734553–sow.html
@meaner, I apologize to you on behalf of Jekinson. He remembered his mistake against Chelsea in the capital one cup. and you know of course that experience is the best teacher. so telling us that “he needs a footballing brain badly” indicates to me that you hardly learn from your mistakes. thanks a lot for accepting our apologies. COYG.
@boo
I do agree to a large extent. The media is a much bigger player than the refs, who are really just small fry.
All these sports I guess are little more than media events, so the onus is on the media to determine the quality of the product.
I suppose the ultimate solution would be an extension of what I personally do already.
(I follow the match through the medium of this website)
Perhaps if Walter could do an edited feed of the match, with constant analysis amongst several other refs, we could get a new kind of media event.
We would be a few minutes behind the ‘live’ version, but I would much prefer watching the match on sceptical.tv
The closest competition in the EPL must be for the title of the most dreadful referee. At one stage, Dean’s position seemed unassailable, but then the performances of Atkinson and Probert are really threatening his position.
Like his favourite club, Webb seems to have dropped out of contention this year.
This was the first win away in EPL under that clown Probert.
Points/ Dectech predicted points/ difference after 19 matches
Arsenal 42 34,35 +7,65
MC 41 38,51 +2,49
Chelsea 40 36,78 +3,22
Everton 37 31,15 +5,85
Liverpool 36 32,19 + 3,71
MU 34 34,71 -0,71
Tottenham 34 35,3 -1,3
MU, Liverpool, Arsenal have 10 home matches to play, other teams have 9
A great result at a difficult place in a difficult time of year ,when results are more important than the style.
Having been critical of Mr. Probert before the game , it’s only fair I give him credit for being almost equally bad for both teams and not having influenced the final score.
I’m glad Giroud scored the winning goal and I hope this will ease the pressure he found himself under from some quarters. If I could give him one advice , it would be not to show his frustration when things don’t quite go as planned and continue working as hard as he has .And perhaps take some shots from the edge of area after he traps the ball and pivots on to his left. The Everton game showed his powerful shot when he decides to unleash it.
I was happy to see Walcott execute a perfect inswinger , something I said before Arsenal didn’t do enough of. It’s the type of ball that puts defenses and keepers under tremendous pressure and even if untouched , has a chance to end up in the net.
If we can only get those types of balls from our left footed players , our free kicks and corners would yield a much stronger return .
There seems to be a mini debate going wether Jenkinson has a “football brain ” or not.
I haven’t seen his scan results 🙂 but it’s important to remember that players coming on as substitutes , do so with a specific set of instructions and I’m pretty sure his would’ve been to slow the game down and protect the lead , rather than to try to brake on goal and score another.
With Pardew claiming the refs should have given them something, does this make him the new Fergie?
i had to pinch myself again,but we are totl,something tells me that mancity are going to screwed in their away games,watch out they have swansea on 1st jan.
a quick thought: flamini looked good on the left back position,it looked as if he was born there,and it was great to see rosicky bossing the game with those slides and tackles,his kids would be proud of him,i think he:s taking the epl title personally
My wish list for the new Year:
1. Arsenal to win the EPL. That’s non-negotiable:)
2. Manure to finish outside the Top 4.
3. Giroud to score 20 goals.
4. Bac to sign a new contract.
5. Sczez to stop targeting his opponents:)
6. Probert be demoted from EPL refereeing, followed by Taylor, Mason and Atkinson.
And, 7. The capital sinner MikeR be thrown out of PGMOB and on the field as a ball.
Bootomee @6:30
yes., although I was screaming at the telly like a muppet at the time, Jenks used up the clock a bit more holding onto the ball for the throw in.
bjtgooner,
or, another re;ated possibility: was Rodgers punished for denouncing the refshite to the medja as he initially did.
sorry bjt: meant to write “related possibility” (actually mean likelihood)
tshirt,
How about an extended contract for Rosicky? He’s got the football nous and he plays younger than his years and is proud and passionate and wants to be here. One thing about longish-term injuries (as he’s had them), you don’t put as much mileage on them legs.
marcus,
yes, and who owns the media?
Stuart,
I think Pardew has been a Fergie lapdog and still a snake; but for the record, he did say have this to say in praise of AW before the match (from the Guardian match mbm):
“Clubs can learn from Arsenal. What a job Arsène Wenger has done there. I really hope he wins the Champions League this year. He deserves it.”
“We’ve introduced a lot of French players because of market forces,” says Pardew. “Arsène’s first port of call when he arrived here was France, for the same reason. I’m disappointed not to have more British players in my team. I want more British players but I’m certainly not going to argue with our French contingent. They’ve been brilliant. It’s a world [transfer] market now. Arsène maybe saw that before other managers; we owe him a bit of a debt.”
I agree about the media being the primary nefarious factor, with one notable exception: Mike Dean is competent, and he is out there to deny us penalties, free kicks, etc…
@bob
With family duties absorbing time I have not followed the latest on Rodgers. The initial comment from the FA was strangely phrased and suggested that they were investigating Rodgers rather than the appalling refereeing at Man City – interesting. Today Liverpool suffered from some bad decisions again but Rodgers was surprisingly circumspect in his post match comments. Looked to me as if he had been nutted.
Walter had asked about Monreal, I read that he too was sick.
@Marcus. I just read the commentary on the BBC website. That way I get some work done while the game is going on. I think I’ve seen a bit more than 1 game so far this season. Arsenal is nice to watch, too bad cable companies have to be so archaic in their policies.
Oh, the season is now half over. Perhaps I will have half of 1992/93 to write about before the next game? Soon, anyway.
COYG!
What Tiote did was what Von Brommel did to us in a CL Cup tie where he got away with murder. He siad you must learned to commit “intelligent foul”.
And that was what Tiote did, slyly clipping heel, ankle-tap, body-check, etc. with ref giving him teh benefit of reasonable doubt as 50:50 situation. Notice he didn’t go in with full-blooded tackle and body-check like ROisckya dn FLamini did and were booked.
But there is a God up there and he got punished with that foul and Walcott lovely chipped shot over the top …
SInce May 2005 at Cardiff, I believe this is the 2nd time that Wenger played “anti-football” and invited a toothless Newcastle to attack them in the last 10 minutes with a line-of-5 protecting Szczesny.
We have a pragmatic Wenegr this season, willing to scarifice his “Beautiful Game” to get a result. It is good that we are learning to play “Ugly Football” and “Anti-Football”. Is it all due to Boulds’ influence?
Szczesny?
I don’t like it that he committed howlers in 2 successive games as if he had reverted to his flapping self circa 2010.
Both of them can cost us the game.
This is the SECOND times I saw his goal-kick got blocked by a swift opponent. We should thank Lady Luck that we were not punished by his howlers at Boylen Ground and at St. James Park.
Hope BFG will send a rocket up his buttends during Monday post-mortem at Colney.
bjtgooner,
With the media spotlight on him and coverage emphasizing the strong possibility of him being punished (as well as some media pointing out the refshite), it made him back down a bit (not totally, but a discernible bending of a knee the next day after he has (so rightly) popped off. From what you’re reporting about his post-game style, it seems that nutted is the word. How could it be otherwise when it’s each club/manager out there on their own and there’s no solidarity shown among them. As long as its each team and its tribalist concerns, then all will suffer from the unified strength of those FA/PGMOL bullies with the whip handle and the power to suspend. Time for the red cards to the stadium yet? This will continue.
Bob
Spot on. Another possibility is if next time any of the usual suspects are assigned to oversee one of our home game why boo him continuously and disrupt the game getting started. Do this until he walks out in shame and another takes his place. Hopefully the massage will get to riley that we will not tolerate this crap anymore and he won’t assign them to our games anymore. Only drawback might be if fa takes action against the club with fines and probations.
One thing is for sure. The fans can and must do something about it. Without the spending power of the fans the EPL will come to a sorry state.
Ps.. CONGRATULATIONS TO AW AND THE CREW.
DAMN PROUD OF EACH AND EVERYONE. EVEN CARL. 😉
It feels good to be a gooner right now. Who knows if we shall win the league but despite some horrid injuries we are doing well. As for our performance today, meh, it’s not as if Newcastle are in the relegation zone. They play some pretty tidy football and are right up there. There entries were almost all long balls trying to go over top of our defenders…I’m not sure if they even tried to pass through the middle once today. (I could be wrong, though).
Onwards and upwards!
“Probably the same bug that is affecting my throat I think.”
What the hell were the two of you doing ?? 😛
Newcastle followed the template AGAIN !!. 3 central mids, kick the shit out of our attackers and this time added bonus no yellow cards to any of them . gr8 .
As much as I can hate that diving Suarez, he did have a case for a foul on him in the box by Eto’o towards the end of the game in chlski-l’pool. If only oil ran out sooner in the mid east, we can hope for a fairer EPL.
Suarez….Well his reputation precedes him. Why else would Eto walk without a punishment for a rugbyesque challenge? Chelsea using rotational fouling to beat Liverpool???? well whats the use of all those jewels if you cant flaunt them??…Is Liverpool being ARSENALed????
We are seeing a trend in officiating, againt ARESNAL and Liverpool. I hope we stand strong.
FREEDOM !!! ????
The Escaped Lab Bunny
A rabbit one day managed to break free from the laboratory where he had been born and brought up. As he scurried away from the fencing of the compound, he felt grass under his little feet and saw the dawn breaking for the first time in his life.
“Wow, this is great,” he thought. It wasn’t long before he came to a hedge and after squeezing under it he saw a wonderful sight – lots of other bunny rabbits, all free and nibbling at the lush grass.
“Hey,” he called. “I’m a rabbit from the laboratory and I’ve just escaped. Are you wild rabbits?”
“Yes. Come and join us,” they cried. Our friend hopped over to them and started eating the grass. It tasted so good. “What else do you wild rabbits do?” he asked.
“Well,” one of them said. “You see that field there? It’s got carrots growing in it. We dig them up and eat them.” This, he couldn’t resist and he spent the next hour eating the most succulent carrots. They were wonderful. Later, he asked them again, “What else do you do?”
“You see that field there? It’s got lettuce growing in it. We eat that as well.” The lettuce tasted just as good and he returned a while later completely full.
“It’s fantastic out here in the world” he told them.
“So are you going to live with us then?” one of them asked.
“I’m sorry, I had a great time but I can’t.” The wild rabbits all stared at him, a bit
surprised. “Why? We thought you liked it here.”
“I do,” the rabbit replied. “But I must get back to the lab. I’m dying for a cigarette.”
Good time to remember this.. Ho Ho Ho
http://www.thetimes.co.uk/tto/sport/football/clubs/manchesterunited/article3918672.ece
A more radical idea regarding bent refs: how about Arsenal ticketed fans staying out of the stadium (I mean all 60 000 of them) at least untill half time, whenever Mike Tilted Dean and co are appointed. This will be on hell of a statement.
@Merlion 01:25 AM – just picking a thread from your thoughts…which is the contribution that Steve Bould has made to this team. Ours is such a professional unit that things seldom come out in the public domain – which is of course wonderful – but then as supporters we can never have enough…can we?
But after having watched Arsenal all these years…it just seems unreal at times that at 1-0 we can shut shop and defend against some real good team…this used to never happen. Maybe we have started doing defence drills too nowadays 🙂
COYG…way to go boys keep it up!
@ Asif – This season we have seen the Prof ‘do tatics” !
We have seen all 4 fullbacks on at the same time. What we are yet to see is our 3 regular CBs playing together !
I do have to admit that freekicks and corners don’t worry me too much these days .
The defence for the most part is solid and firm .May it remain so for much , much longer !
Tony,
“And throughout the summer there was all this screaming for us to go out and buy, buy and buy again.”
I always approached such demands with caution, but you can’t really dispute the fact that Arsenal continue to be short of players in some areas – admittedly, fewer than ever before.
You can’t *expect* to win the league with only one top-class striker.
Besides, we are definitely helped by having been edged out of the League Cup. If our goal was to pursue all available trophies, we wouldn’t have had the benefit of a free week before the Chelsea game, and with some of our players looking positively jaded v. City, I don’t expect we would’ve offered as much as we did against the Blues.
It’s true people tend to exaggerate, though: it’s not like buying anyone will guarantee any trophy, or that not buying equals losing. But we need a new striker ASAP, if only not to be forced to play Bendtner.
I was not happy that we were still trying to force the pace of the game with 10 mins remaining. We kept loosing the ball in the midfield and they kept attacking us. Sheiznezeeeeee should have slowed the pace down once we changed Teo. As for Jenkension, I’d rather keep the ball than loose it. A lot has been said that he should have turned around etc. if I was in his place, I would have taken all the time in the world for that throw in. Great win but after watching the pool and hell-sea game, these so call pundits don’t give us a chance for the title. Looks like we are fighting at all fronts.
@Brickfields Gunners – But how can Wenger ‘do tactics?’ He doesn’t know any 😉
Where are our trolls/sewer rats hiding? Please enlighten us on the lack of tactical nous of our manager!
zdzis,
If/When AW does bring in an additional (agreed, needed) quality striker, UA will be singing his praises. Until then you’ll only get another “do we really need another striker?” article to dampen apsirations or little quips like the one you started your entry with. Anyone can see your point, but not those who somehow equate advocacy for that purchase as an insult to their long-held notion of self-sustaining development from within (or whatever, because they don’t really say). In this season, with a championship possible and the competition poised to pull out all stops to win it, we can afford to get that needed piece to help us across the finish line. We have orcs arrayed against us (always 12 men and it’s not going to get better from them, only worse as we move from strength to strength) unless we strengthen through quality ensurance. All praise to Giroud for his goal, but his exhaustion (given his miss of the sitter and others) is there in plain sight for any with eyes to see and to make that a story Told.
How about a whistle protest?
50,000 Gooner fans each with a whistle.
The ref misses a bad challenge…..WHiSTLE
The ref books Rosicky for farting……WHISTLE
If you cried and moaned repeatedly while rendering your garments about how terrible things are going to be for Arsenal in the season unless we buy a quality striker but after all the teams in the league, including those with loads of such quality strikers, have played each other, we are ahead of all the pack, you can’t continue to sing the same song. It can be safely concluded that you suck at predictions and can barely see beyond your nose where the Arsenal team is concerned.
Please give it a rest already and support the players that are already in the team and have put Arsenal where we are today despite your lack of faith in them. It’s not too much to ask.
Maybe, just maybe having being proven wrong up to this point, you might want to drop the “buy this, buy that” nonsense and instead, support the team, warts and all. At least, us ‘deluded fools’ who have towed this line have been proven right so far this season. We have no reason to change our position now do we?
Of course, we’ll celebrate any new signings because they would be Arsenal players then and what we do is support Arsenal payers like: Sanogo, Flamini and Ozil. What we’ll not do is irritate other fans with impotent demands for players while depressing them with dire predictions of how terrible things would end for the team unless one of the greatest managers in the game does what we expert Internet commenters advise him to do.
It would be funny it isn’t just fucking annoying.
Happy New Year anyway!
@ Bootoomee – I’m just glad that the cries that Arsenal are a selling club are muted now.
No more ,”Why ,oh why ?” cries for RVP , Song , Nasri , Ade , Cesc , Kolo ,Clichy etc.
But I do sometimes wonder that maybe if Bertie Mee had kept Charlie George , then the ’70s would have been much better ! Hmmmm !
I always tell this story whenever someone has problems moving on .
3 priests are walking one day and come to a river .The river is about 4 feet deep at its shallowest .As they are about to cross the river a young maiden arrives ,also wanting to cross.
As she is fearful of falling and drowning , she asks the priests if one of them could help carry her across .
2 of the priests are quite agast at this request ,ignore her and start to cross .The other more older , kindly priest proceeds to help her across ; much to the disdain of the other two.
He carries her across and places her on the opposite bank dry and safe ,and proceeds on his way. The other two, clearly unhappy ,follow him grumbling .
At night when they rested , the two of them gave vent to their unhappiness by demanding why the older priest had forgotten his vows of celibacy ‘touched ‘ a woman .
The older priest said ,” My only intent was to help her across and yes , I did carry her . But I have left her by the opposite bank ; you however …ARE still carrying her !”