Several commentators tried to work out what the exodus implied, although the Guardian’s commentary that the “sight of the mass defection seemed shocking” seems a bit over the top. As is, asking “What kind of fans were these, who by turning their backs and heading for home made a gesture that could be seen as raising the white flag on behalf of themselves and their team?”
They are the sort of fans who demand success and who will celebrate success wildly, but then be less willing to support the team when things are not going right. We have a few of those at Arsenal: they are called the aaa and eighty or so of them have been walking around the stadium with banners demanding Mr Wenger should leave before some (but seemingly not all) of the games recently.
All clubs have people who leave before the end of the game – and leaving early at Wembley is a serious safety option where the kettling plan employed by the police is incredibly dangerous, and is utterly dependent upon the passive acceptance of the plan by all the supporters. One only needs a small group of fans to become “boisterous” in that awful journey up to Wembley Park station, and start pushing forwards, and there will be deaths.
But maybe it was the memory of the 2-2 draw with Gent at what will be Tottenham’s home stadium next season that had their supporters on the way out. Either way, it all seems a long way from crowds staying to the bitter end in order to support the team. Everything is down to success now; the longer term counts for nothing.
Thus 22 years of finishing above Tottenham won’t be enough for some Arsenal fans if we don’t do it this year. And not only is it all about now, it is also most certainly about the victory of opinion over evidence- as indeed with the commentator on Untold who wrote in, in response to the article about new stadia causing clubs problems, to point out that Southampton had done ok after moving to their new stadium in 2001, (thus ignoring the wretched evidence of relegation to the Championship (under Arry Redknapp) and then League One soon after – not to mention administration). Ah, details… Pesky little blighters.
Anyway, the challenge for Arsenal today becomes one of getting a two goal lead over Tottenham with 10 minutes plus added time, and then watching the home support drift away. Maybe it is too much to ask for, but dreaming (as well as the hardnosed reality of the league table), is what supporting a club over a long period of time is about. And let’s be fair, and balance the comments above with the fact that through many of the 22 years of coming lower than Arsenal in the league, they have kept their support.
But let us move on to the game. Leading up to it we have the injury question. Here is physioroom’s analysis.
| Rank |
Team |
Injuries |
Last man down |
| 1 |
Sunderland |
9 |
B Jones |
| 2 |
Liverpool |
8 |
D Sturridge |
| 3 |
Manchester United |
7 |
T Fosu-Mensah |
| 4 |
West Ham United |
7 |
A Masuaku |
| 5 |
Crystal Palace |
6 |
Y Cabaye |
| 6 |
Everton |
6 |
M Besic |
| 7 |
Bournemouth |
6 |
B Afobe |
| 8 |
Tottenham Hotspur |
5 |
M Dembele |
| 9 |
Watford |
5 |
C Cathcart |
| 10 |
Swansea City |
5 |
L Fer |
| 11 |
Southampton |
4 |
V van Dijk |
| 12 |
Hull City |
4 |
D Meyler |
| 13 |
Manchester City |
4 |
C Bravo |
| 14 |
Middlesbrough |
4 |
A Barragan |
| 15 |
Stoke City |
3 |
J Walters |
| 16 |
Arsenal |
3 |
L Koscielny |
| 17 |
Leicester City |
3 |
W Morgan |
| 18 |
Burnley |
2 |
B Mee |
| 19 |
West Bromwich Albion |
2 |
H Robson-Kanu |
| 20 |
Chelsea |
0 |
|
It is shocking just how far down we have to go to find Arsenal these days. They have got Koscilenly, Mustafi and Santi Caz injured at the moment, which means they suggest Ospina is fine and they have dropped Le Jeff from the chart. But that also leaves the issue of Perez: is he really fit again?
This latter case shows how difficult the calculating of comparative numbers is. Also some people are counting Jeff R-A as he has been listed this season as a member of the first team squad, and is out for the rest of the season, but that does seem to stretch things a bit. Other clubs clearly have not put their fridge players on the list. (A fridge player is one who might play on the beach on occasion, if you see what I mean).
As for the Tiny Totts, they have
| Player |
What’s wrong |
Advised return date |
Return now? |
| Dembele |
Ankle Injury |
April 30, 2017 |
Late Fitness Test |
| Vorm |
Knee Injury |
April 30, 2017 |
|
| Winks |
Ankle Injury |
No Return Date |
Major Doubt |
| Rose |
MCL Knee Ligament |
May 5, 2017 |
Major Doubt |
| Lamela |
Hip Injury |
June 1, 2017 |
Major Doubt |
And so finally to the team
Cech
Gabriel Koscielny? Holding
Ox Ramsey Xhaka Monreal
Alexis Ozil
Giroud
If Kos isn’t fit then maybe Mertesacker could play – or if not we are going to have to use one of the full backs or defensive midfielders in the back three. Coquelin maybe.
Here’s the beach assuming that the injured not listed on Physioroom really are still injured. Choose seven out of…
Martínez, Bellerín, Gibbs, Mertesacker, Elneny, Coquelin, Walcott, Iwobi, Welbeck
Last: if David Rocastle had lived he would have been 50 this coming week, and I understand there will be some appreciation of that at the game. A nice thought.
We know for sure that the duds have a goal or 2 in them. Its all about keeping our focus defensively as a team for the full 90 mins and taking our chances.
One of the most hilarious early fan exits was by our own in that amazing 5-7 win over Reading in October 2012. At 0-4 down they were leaving en masse (seriously) and missed one of the most exciting come back games ever. Driving down the M4 & listening on the radio must have been torturous.
I wasn’t at that match, but was present for our last double over Man U in 2007. We were losing 0-1 and the early leavers were on their way home when RvP & Henry scored two very late winners. Another result to be savoured, but missed by many.
I use to sometimes leave early when I was a North Bank youngster and afraid of the dangerous crush exiting Highbury, but switching to the Clock End cured that bad habit.
If they are pushing for Tot to win PL then we will see that in the game Eve-Che. If this happens then Arsenal will be in for a rough(er) time later. By the time we play it could look like this:
1 Chel 78
2 Tots 74
3 Manc 68
4 Manu 67
5 Pool 66
6 Ars 60
But as in life, the best laid plans sometimes fail, so come on Arsenal, do your thing.
Gabriel , Kos and Xhaka, tread lightly today, you won’t have to do very much to get in trouble in this game…..and don’t copy what Wanyama does, and expect to get away with it
Hopefully, Ox is unleashed today
This is a very key game. Win & we dent Spurs title hopes while we’re still in with a top four chance; lose or draw and it’ll be the reverse.
UTA
Title hopes?
Anyone failing to equate a few dozen AFC fans leaving Reading’s stadium as captured on the TV cameras with the tens of thousands of Tottenham supporters leaving the beautiful home of the sweet and knowledgable FA also shown for all to see on the to broadcasts, such a person must be:
A) a liar
B) a Tottenham fan
C) both of the above?
I was typing my comment but my connection switched off and I lost my comment typing. I can go back to retype it allover again.
I just want to say, Arsenal will beat Tottenham Hotspur today by 0-3 @FT 90m + with goals from Sanchez in the 21st minutes and another one by Ozil a free kick he bent beyond Iloris into the top left corner of the post in the 23rd minutes saw Arsenal led at halftime by 0-2. And on 24th minutes into the 2nd half of the game, a lofted kick into the Spuds box was headed out but met by Monreal who took a whirlwind shot into the Spuds box but the shot was diverted into the net by I think Erick Lamela.
At this juncture, the Spurs fans started trooping out in mass leaving the White Lane Stadium mostly quarter filled in by the Gooners. At the final whistle to end the match by referee Michael Oliver, Arsenal have won the match by 3 goals to nil.
My 3-4-2-1 Arsenal starts and bench once again:
Cech
Paulista Holding Monreal
Bellerin Ramsey Xhaka Chamberlain
Sanchez Ozil
Welbeck.
Bench:
Martinez Maitland-Niles Koscielny Gibbs Coquelin Iwobi Giroud.
para, if Chelsea are still on 78 and Spurs are still on 74 too which means they both lost their match to Everton and against Arsenal today. How can Arsenal who are already on 60 points remain on 60 again after beaten Suprs as your table suggested? I think you wanted to say, Arsenal 63 which they’ll certainly reached after this match had ended.
Samuel, did u see that result in the dream??? Can we put money on it? I don’t gamble, but seems tempting.??
Same old shit at Old toilet.
How to go Swansea! Fabianski between the pipes.
Samuel Akinsola Adebosin
“by the time we play”
meaning at the start of our game.
So many fouls Manu got off today.
Michael Owen falling over himself to defend Rashford for his dive. Laughable and embarrassing.
At least the host is trying o give them a hard time.
Wonder if a key player of ours will get the shit kicked out of him with impunity or get sent off and suspended for the Maureen Utd match?
Nitram, I assume Owen’s attitude springs from a/ It’s Man Utd and b/ It ain’t no Furriner it’s a brave Ingerland Player
Para
Graham Poll saying Swarbrick had a fine game, apart from the one almighty cock-up.
Don’t they ALWAYS have ‘fine’ games Graham ??
Didn’t watch the match but have seen the dive so I cant comment on the overall performance.
Well gouresh, I don’t have any dividends to share out to those who might wish to place their bets on my 0-3 win prediction scoreline in favour of Arsenal in this match. But Paddy Power could be of help.
@ Nitram, Man Utd 1-1 Swansea City is a good result for Arsenal in the table. All the Gunners need to do at the Lane later this afternoon is to trounce the Totts by 0-3 away win scoreline @FT 90m + to keep enhancing their standing in table to collect a UCL ticket for next season campaign
markyb
Exactly.
English players DONT dive they WIN penalties.
Not just defending him but actually PRAISING him for it. Unbelievable.
Similar to the apparent garbage that that idiot Durham on Talksport came out with to defend Deli Alli. By all accounts he only tries to break peoples legs because he loves Spurs so much. Sick.
This double talk and double standards when analysing incidents and behaviours is quite honestly a complete and utter joke.
Love your optimism Samuel?
The Ladies game against Sunderland is on BBC Sport live at the moment. 31 minutes played and no score. Arsenal dominant in terms of possession for the first 20 mins but more even at the moment.
COYLG
Watching Eve v Che with sound low while listening to some lecture.
54 minutes in the Ladies game and still no score.
Not the greatest of Arsenal performances to be fair. Too many missed passes so far.
Got to be odds on a dodgy Pen WON by Alli today, expect more diving than the red arrows
Everton 0 – 2 Chelsea
79th minute
Boro 2 – 1 Man City
77 minutes
All the more important to engineer a Totts win today to keep it ‘The best League in the WORLD’
So, there is no agenda for Tots to win PL.
Still, Arsenal cannot relax.
Looks like Giroud up front.
Everton 0 – 3 Chelsea 86 mins
Boro 2 – 2 City 85 mins
Full time in Sunderland and the match ends goalless. Not enough quality from Arsenal. Need to do more in their next game on Thursday evening at the Hive.
I’ll be surprised if City don’t nick it.
Boro really are that bad. Lets just hope they can cling on.
Arsenal team
Cech
Gabriel, Kos, Monreal
The Ox, Xhaka, Ramsey, Gibbs
Özil, Giroud, Alexis
Subs
Ospina, Theo, Holding, Iwobi, Danny, He Tor & Le Coq
COYG
Everton 0 Chelsea 3
Boro 2 City 2
Full time
Boro second goal by Calum Chambers
Man Utd 1 – 1 Swansea
Boro 2 – 2 Man City
Everton 0 – 3 Chelsea
So far so good.
COYG
Andrew
I saw that. Good lad.
Arsenal look like they control their own destiny…COYG
Comment on the BBC website that Manchester is the capital for dodgy penalties. Both City and Manure bpenefitted from dives today. Boro must be livid as every point for them is precious.
I’m expecting worse fron 16:30 when we kick off.
both manchester clubs with blatant (ie ‘clever’) dives today
i only hope that is the limit for one day
Looks like Spurs ‘Fantastic’ season is going to end up trophy less………….again. Tic toc tic toc.
So it looks like all they’ll be left to celebrate is finishing above there North London rivals and a top 4 finish, which if I recall correctly is not actually allowed to be celebrated.
Ccooommmee ooooooonnnnn uuuuuuuuuu ggggguuuunnnnneeeeerrrrrrssss
Ccooommmee ooooooonnnnn uuuuuuuuuu ggggguuuunnnnneeeeerrrrrrssss
Okay. It’s only us Everton can harass at the Goodison park when we went there to play against them this season. But against Chelsea today, they quacked and scattered into pieces. What an irony. We can only hope now to settle for the 2nd spot in table again this season with the 2 Manchester clubs dropping 2 vital points each today to give us the chance to eventually rise to that 2nd spot if we win all our remaining 6 PL games. And that 6 miles rising up journey we MUST start at Lane this evening by beating Spurs there. Remember I predicted Spurs will crumble to a 5 game losing run beginning with their match against us today. Liverpool won’t give us any problem for that 2nd table spot finish because they’ll drop points. And of course, we’ll beat Man U when they come calling at the Emirates Stadium.
No one has won more titles at whl than Mr Wenger…..
And we can put an end to their title charge at whl…
Ccccooommmmeee ooooooonnnnn uuuuuuuuuu ggggguuuunnnnneeeeerrrrrrssss
With both Manchester clubs only being gifted a single point a win for us is even more important. We might not be able to catch Spurs for second but third is entirely possible now. Just need to win, win and win again.
How was that a Xhaka foul!!!
It wasn’t. Oliver gave it to his kin!!
The ref is being boringly predictable.
Sky commentators speaking about Alexis & the throw in. Typical of the media picking on anything rather than the reality.
Why didnt Ozil take a shot, losing it nearly resulted in a goal.
Two open goals missed by Spurs
Referee trips Rambo!!! What the
Well Xhaka pulled vertongen… referee let’s it be…when he clearly wins the ball… foul!!!!
Referee talks to Xhaka and Vertonghen, and after that the referee hurts Xhaka? How does Xhaka get injured just after a group talking?
COYG!
We live in a world run by criminals.
Absolutely brilliant refereeing, as we’ve always come to expected.
how was that not a penalty on Gibbo?
Xahaka needs to work on his clearances
Comment on the Sky feed, Vertongen is now down receiving treatment after kicking the back of Xhakas leg, Spurs will be hoping its not too serious WTF
The keeper didn’t get the ball but his intent was to get it so Oliver says anything else is not to be considered.
When the initial foul was given against Xhaka, it is clear that Xhaka plays the ball but the spud falls over grabs the ball & Oliver thinks that must be a foul against Xhaka…. simples.
Hahaahaha…. Exactly. But Xhaka was talked to and foul called against him….
What is surprising is the security at corners. Ozil about to take a corner & loads of blind Spuds screaming for Oliver to come over & rescue Wilson from the sharks (Wilson is a ball that was befriended by a castaway). Soon after Oliver departs a terrorist runs down the steps ready to attack Ozil. Now that guy should be thrown out & banned.
” a terrorist runs down the steps ready to attack Ozil.” You should write for the Daily Mail..
Ccooommmee ooooooonnnnn uuuuuuuuuu ggggguuuunnnnneeeeerrrrrrssss
Stop falling asleep lads, you seem to drift off for moments causing us problems
There we have it.
Spuds are working hard, Arsenal are still a little too easy going.
Penalty!!!!!!!
Ohhkkay
So either we wake up now or we lose bad.
Oliver playing 12 th man!
Arsenal seem to wait for things to happen, Spurs are making them happen.
Menace that was a penalty all day long, Gabriel was naive. Kane made the most of it but Gabriel was nowhere near the ball.
Come on lads, be a little more direct and make things happen.
Always that split second too late, indecision.
Kane cheating as usual & Oliver aiding & abetting the crime!
Shouldn’t we be bringing on some attacking subs about now?
A penalty that would never have been given to Arsenal, yet we concede, time after time. Absolute fucking joke.
And here come the first
The ref… Satan’s little helper.
The ref really does not have to do much, we are making it easy for Spuds by not being sharp enough.
How many shots have spuds had? I’ll bet at least twice the amount we had.
Half asleep again.
The ref’s a cheat; the Spurs players happy to follow his lead; and the media are professional liars.
OMG, we crossed the ball into their pen area!
Are we going to play now?
God I can’t wait for video refereeing. It’s also time for FIFA to address this relatively modern style of cheating where players intentionally get fouled to try and win penalties and freekicks.
Kane did it to Coquelin a year or two ago if I remember rightly, to get him sent off. He’s a specialist, frankly.
see? Work work work while we are half asleep
Got an Argie manager, possibly the most despicable dirty cheats in the history of the game
Do you really think they will stop cheating? I don’t.
Yeah! Kane got intentionally fouled from behind. Does that a lot
ManCHESTER United has that accolade.
Not watching the game Leon I see.
I am sorry, but we were very poor toady
Much closer than you by the look of iit
They push into you and fall down to get their fouls.
Yet another shyte, lacklustre performance, consisting of giving away the ball multiple, multiple times and a lot of hoofing up the pitch. What the fuck has become of this side.
Because my comments aren’t filled with blind negativity Leon?
When are we going to ever move away from wooden-top defending and take defence seriously? We have been Mickey Mouse throughout the game and to be quite frank embarrassing!
We need a plan to reverse this mess and renewing a contyract for a couple of years is just a band-aid and not a solution.
No direspect intended but your comments sound so immature.
What a waste of time today.
Urgency?
Movement?
Innovative?
Pressure?
Creative?
Fight?
Backbone?
Will?
Yea!
Sadly all coming from Spuds, to the last breath.
I already dread next week.
What we need is just refereeing – not for one game but entire seasons, then and only then can we truly judge.
Personally i felt this performance was one of the best we’ve played against a good side. Had the urgency and tenacity and physicality we showed against man city but unfortunately this spurs team is not as weak as city, eventually their all round class prevailed. No shame losing to a better team after giving it a Good go
Always these people who only comment when the team lose.
Sadly, a naive, inept performance that has made the media/WOB very happy
20 shots from Spuds.
Arsenal about 8
Fake fans; lovers of negativity; and agenda peddling tools.
Don’t know if you are interested but the match report is online
Spurs the better team – are you trying to be funny?
Gooneress
If being negative & immature is commenting on Spurs missed open goals, suggesting it’s time for our subs and disagreeing over a foul challenge, I’ll take that over your “positive” BS any day.
“Satan’s little helper”. The most stupid comment on this blog in weeks.
Really? Some blaming the ref? The same ref who for example didnt book Xhaka for a clear shirt tug on Vertonghen or a clear handball on Alexis?
Spurs were just better, in every way, end of.
The scoreline was flattering to us,to be honest.
@ markyb – Assuming that comment was directed at me, you clearly either have an extremely poor memory or do not thoroughly read the comment sections, if you think I only comment after an Arsenal loss.
Just spotted the Allan Partridge obsessive’s earlier comment, Never misses an opportunity to distort the truth to suit his trolling.
“Genius”??
Tough match & we lost to a highly motivated team. It is not going to be easy with sloped fields but then again we need to improve our hunger. I would hate us to start cheating to win, but it seems the acceptable face of football. It’s a little like dodgy expenses……….. acceptable from some while others get jail.
Wrong
@ Markyb – I comment on fair sized portion of all articles and have been doing so for over a year; certainly not just when Arsenal loose. I am a supporter of both the team and manager. In this instance, it is you that is wrong.
Jammy, I was merely trying to indicate that my comment was not aimed at you, quite a few beverages had been taken at that point.