Morning all.
Happy birthday to Arsene Wenger who is 67 today. Most of us would be considering retirement at such an age and maybe he is but in the meantime, all we can hope is that his newly found mojo remains for the rest of the season. But we are heading towards a month which so often in the past, has really mucked up our league challenge. November! That’s the first hiccup, the second then arrives around March/April if not before.
Right now though, Arsenal appear to be in good form, winning nine and drawing two of our last eleven matches. The last seven fixtures have seen us secure maximum points. Good, but this bunch of players can’t sit back and think all is rosy, neither can the manager as there’s always something which can be improved on and in our case, it’s we are conceding goals too easily.
Middlesbrough however have not won since the second match of the season and their manager will be keen to stop such a rotten run of form. Funny enough though, they have a decent record against Arsenal having lost only one of the last six league matches against us, although four of those matches ended in a draw.
The last time we played Boro was back in the 2014/15 season in a FA Cup fifth round match. Olivier Giroud scored twice that day sending us through to what would be an FA Cup winning season but the one we’ll all remember best though is January 2006 when Arsenal were simply too good on the day. 7-0 was the final result.
History and form:
- The Gunners have scored 1,2,3,4,5,6 and 7 goals in Premier League matches against Middlesbrough – one of four clubs to do so against another in Premier League history (also Chelsea vs Sunderland, Everton vs Sunderland and Man City vs Norwich).
- Mesut Ozil has been directly involved in 51 goals in 90 league games for Arsenal (18 goals, 33 assists), the same total he had after 90 La Liga games for Real Madrid (14 goals, 37 assists).
- Boro have kept just one clean sheet in their last 19 away Premier League fixtures, away at West Brom.
Granit Xhaka is suspended for this match and the next two. Per Mertesacker and Danny Welbeck miss out through injury, as do Aaron Ramsey, Olivier Giroud Chuba Akpom. Grant Leadbitter is injured for ‘Boro and both James Husband and Fabio will undergo late fitness tests. The visitors will also be without Calum Chambers.
Boro don’t park the bus apparently so this could be a very open and entertaining game, one which you’d put your last 5op on us to win. Perhaps..
Have a great day guys.
Morning all.
We really ought to be winning this one.
If the lads show up, it should be comfortable.
We are on a roll, so let’s hope the intensity is there and we put them away.
Just hope complacency doesn’t set in as it has in years gone by when a team near the bottom arrive at The Emirates…
Rico, the signs are very positive at this stage that our squad is made of different stuff to previous years, though that’s not totally confirmed yet 🙂
I need a few more months to be convinced anything has change Scott… 7 to be precise…
Agreed, but again, the signs are positive and that’s all we have to go on at present.
Could be worse 🙂
Absolutely agree. One game at a time eh…
That’s it.
I am looking forward to a win this afternoon. Its going to be a bit nippy on the terraces though.
Confident then Adam… 🙂
I always am Rico. You know that. 🙂
🙂 Adam…
https://www.facebook.com/Arsenal/videos/10154325443577713/
Morning Rico and all.
We should win this comfortably butunder 3 days rest since our CL game but we didn’t go full throttle in that one.
For those who have never been there Middlesborough is yet another shite hole of northern England 😉
Hi Kelsey, you certainly like to think we can beat them. They were dire last weekend at home…
Hi all
Good stat about the goals against Boro. Thought we may have done the same against Everton but can’t remember a 5 against them. Definitely a 6 and 7 and several 4s
2005 we beat Everton 7-0 Bob, I was in St Lucia watching… lol
Easy 4-0 victory. Btw my boy Perez post CL interview said he expects to do “big things” at Arsenal and it’s just a matter of time. Maybe the rumours about OG being on his way out is true.
On previous post, Rico, Scott, and Adam good points on Pep and managers adjusting tactics. Pep did adjust his tactics against Barce and they still got punished because his holding midfieder cant hold on to the ball and pressing after the ball is in play didn’t work. EPL may not be the most attractive league, but it’s the most demanding. Pep is finding that out, he’s no longer playing possibly 3 difficult league games and then concentrate on CL. Before CL game City played Everton, Barce played Deportivo, big difference. It’s hard to argue that he doesn’t have his players yet, when he spent over 100m on 4 players.
Good afternoon alll!
20 th minutes: Bournemouth 0 Toots 0
Wilshere is playing
line-up:
Arsenal XI: Cech, Bellerin, Mustafi, Koscielny, Monreal, Coquelin, Elneny, Walcott, Ozil, Iwobi, Alexis
•Arsenal substitutes: Ospina, Gabriel, Gibbs, Reine-Adelaide, Maitland-Niles, Oxlade-Chamberlain, Lucas
9 minutes gone but AW needs a player in January to compliment Santi.imho
Ozil and Santi are dropping deeper by the minute.
Afternoon all btw
Afternoon guys, how are we playing?
Nearly one nil down, twice.Defence still not playing as a unit,A familiar story after 15 minutes of Arsenal’s dominence.
Cech struggling with long range as usual…
Element is doing well in the deeper role but him using higher passes
Its all Chinese to me Rico..lol
Saved by the crossbar wasn’t it?
Ha ha BT.
Hey BT…you well?
Another lucky escape…
Not bad Ts…how about yourself?
Trylng to keep up with Chinese commentary… Lol
Bloody great picture though..
Kodi BT?
We are lucky not to be 2 or 3 down.Maybe 2 games in 3 days is too much.Cech has saved us 3 times.
Mustafi looks in pain.cech saved us earlier
I am myself Bt.
I am watching on movista TV futbol…not bad at all
Correct Rico..
brrrrrr..
I’m watching on my Tv 🙂
Ozil can’y play too games a week.
TW also
We were lucky not to be down
and of course, we didn’t shoot
I’ll keep that one in mind Ts, always good to have back ups..
Monreal getting roasted yet again, who is covering him. Meanwhile Sanchez’s shot was sublime.
Ozil is hardly in the game.Perez and the ox coming on.Will Perez win us the game ?
Mustafi lucky not to get a red card?
Bit wild Rico, gave the ball away.
Just thinking about Xhaka’s red last weekend Bt…..
Catch up tomorrow guys, it’s Saturday night ??
Enjoy your night Rico….bubbly time. you called it….lol
Same old Arsenal! We had an opportunity to get a little daylight between us and the rest of the pack, at least until tomorrow! But what do we do? We fail to score and judging from the radio commentary we could and perhaps should have have conceded, several! Euro hangover? Perhaps, only positive, we didn’t lose and the defensive Arsenal players will have earned me a shed load of fantasy football points! Shame the forwards couldn’t oblige though.
I thought that if we played in CL on a Wednesday we should be scheduled to play on the next Sunday. How come we didn’t? The extra day’s rest may well have made all the difference. Am I sniffing a conspiracy here? Didn’t Man shitty play on Tuesday? Mmm?
Thanks Mystic Rico for the correct headline !. 🙂
Like I always say, I`d rather have lost to the Bulgarians and beat `Boro !……………….although nice to watch a six niller, I would have rested players on Wednesday.
He may be at retirement age our Arsene, but would you give up work on £8M per year just to get a state pension of £155.65 per week ?………….not sure what he would get in France, but I bet it involves onions and garlic rations !.
Anyway !…………….who`s pissed off like me for dropping 2 points !…………………….to easy !……………….who`s not pissed off then ? 🙂
Top of the league but today,Swansea and Burnley was not title winning form.Half the league will play like that against us.Why pump high balls into the area with Sanchez and Walcott the only ones to receive,
Theo played well,Ozil hardly in the game and we are far to reliant on him and Sanchez that’s why we need at least two players of that quality to supplement the team.
I seriously worry about our defene,huge gaps time and time again.
A point gained or two dropped.At least we have two very good keepers.IMO Cech saved us roday.
It’s just this simple I said it before Santi is the most important player on this team because he allows Ozil to be Ozil and Sanchez to be Sanchez…. when ever he’s missing there is no movement or creative, that’s why AW don’t rest him.
Jun got home. Can’t remember a thing about the game. Night all.
Wont be top of the league for long as Liverpool are showing what to do with over 70% possession !………………We had 75% and nothing to show for it !…………….we only had 43% vs the Bulgarians and scored 6 !…………..should have given `boro more of the ball !. hahaha
You must remember that we had a lot of the ball, Adam. 🙂
In days of old when I had 75% poossesion of a woman`s body on a date, I`m sure I scored !…………………………..Our motto is Victoria Concordia Crescit !………………should have been……………..et omnes foreplay nulla penetratio…………..all foreplay and no penetration. 🙂
Ditto your comment Obi.
I suppose the Cazorla back up was meant to be Wilshere , we had no schemer today and with Elneny and Coquelin as two holding midfielders we were too slow in the build up and they were prepared to give them as much of the ball as they wanted. This meant that they could double up on Ozil , Sanchez and Walcott allowing them no space or time. It was clever tactics and we fell into the trap letting them set themselves and with Traore’s pace draw us forward and hit us on the break. Today was one of the days that Cech saved our bacon and the point.
Incidentally was Ozil offside.
Didn’t see it so can’t comment…….sounds as though I’m one of the lucky few.
Ts @ 8:51, you have always said it though, that when Santi is not there the attack starts too deep. Btw Ts we couldve used Jody Classie today.
Adam@ 6.39..really…jun..
Incidentally was Ozil offside. Yes he was.
Morning all…
Morning Boss…
Morning Rico and BT.
Jun 🙂
Morning Adam & BT..
Haven’t seen any of the game yet, not sure I want to… ?
The cricket is exciting though… 😉
Rico, do those two words belong in the same sentence?.. ?
Morning Adam…
They do BT… ?
Don’t bother Rico.
You’ll get deja-vu.
I’ll take your word on that Rico…lol
🙂 Adam. Thought as much…
Ha ha BT…
I’m off guys, out for lunch and a birthday party. Can’t wait…. to get home.. ?
Have fun Rico…
Coquelin and Elheny together do not work. . They are similar players. Remove role each other.
Without Santi, the team does not work.
As last year, Santi output was the beginning of the fall.
I hope Giroud arrives fast.
Depends on the opposition JM, if you are playing a team that has a 9 man defence then Coquelin and Elneny are probably not inventive enough…
Against Man City at the Etihad maybe they’d be a better fit…?
Sunderland playing Wednesday in the EFLCup, means they won’t get a whole week to work on a system to stop Arsenal, as we saw with Middlesbrough. That’ll hopefully help us at their place next weekend, at a venue which is not a lucky ground for Arsenal teams in recent years.
Actually (a) to Sunderland is never a positive for us…
Past visits to Roker Park and the Stadium of Light remain among my least favourite memories of Arsenal away days….
I guess Pep and AW share the same philosophy….I just heard Pep say he will play all midfielders if he was able to…. That is very strange consider he has one of the best strikers in the world in Aguero. I guess the striker position is a dying breed for those two.
Ts I think that Tadic and Classie combo/ side is the most underrated in the EPL. I take both anytime.
Ts, I think that Tadic and Classie combo/ side is the most underrated in the EPL. I take both anytime.
Kev. You won’t be making the interesting drive to the sunny north east then? 🙂
Hi all, seems everyone at the top of the table is dropping points. Pep is coming to terms with how strong this league is…
Yesterday’s game I feel we were lucky not to lose- pretty much thanks to Cech. Rotation will be key cause playing on Wednesday and Saturday is taking a toll. Even Bellerin seemed slower!
We are still within touching distance…I wonder what excuse they’ll come up for Pogba this time.
Marshall, maybe they will finally realized he’s overrated and overhype. Anyone looks good going forwrd with Vidal, Asamoah, Priolo, Issla and Marchisio around. 90m, really? Talk about corruption in football.
Evening guys.
Good to see City drop points and Mourinho take a pasting. Makes our result even more annoying!
Another 5 wins and United should be safe for another year.
Adam ?
I’ll go if you wanna come along mate…
I’m sure you’d enjoy a nice relaxing trip up the M1 with me at the wheel… ?
Agree there Rico !………………..as good as it is Mansour City, Spuds and Manshafter dropping points ( would have preferred Manshafter/Chav draw ), I`m still pissed off at us not being able to beat Middlesomething !………….yeah, it will be nice to beat Reading on Tuesday, but I`d rather lose if it meant beating Sunderland away on Saturday !……………the league( if we`re in the running) will always come before anything else !……………fcuking Middlesomething bastards ruining my weekend and it looked so promising at 2:45pm on Saturday when I was sexually aroused by the Spuds dropping 2 points !……………….It`s been a limp weekend since our game ended ! hahaha
Mmmmmm……………….One point between the top 5 !………… but just noticed the Spuds have dropped down to 5th………not so limp after all !. hahaha
A really wasted opportunity Lc….
Remember Jose, when your mob smashed Arsene 6-0…
Well what goes around eh Jose..?!
Night All
Well said Kev!
Night to you, and all…
I hope The Arsenal are top & Maureen is sacked by Xmas 🙂
Tough day for Jose, he can only blame himself, “almost the same team he underachieved with just dismantled the team he is underachieving with” – Robbie Mustoe. Classic.
LC, what you need for your affliction of a ‘limp w’end, is a lump of Vi gara! It comes blue(navy) and white! Ha ha!
Pep’s experiment, presently continues to fail……what a shame. Sometimes being in ‘total control’ is not the best way forward.
As for the dwarf, he’s getting his, I think. Only hope is that we do for him and his too! Arsenal rolling manure in the sh1t would give me and so many others sooooooo much pleasure.
Night all, sweet dreams.
Morning all..
Morning Rico and all.
Morning Bt. You’re up early again… 😉
There is no better feeling than watching Jose in despair..
Good morning Rico and all
Hmm, does a wannabe grime artist who seconds as an over rated player £80 million player stop a 4-0 thrashing? 😛
Maybe Jose could do with another Fernando Santos or Ranieri or, del Bosque or even a Pelligrini to build a top team for him so he can take credit for being the best manager since Arrigo Sacchi. After taking swipes at Cruyff and AW and not giving much respect to Sir Bobby I would love Jose to be barnished to manage a team in Kazasthan..
Joe Say is a legend…..in his own mind lol.
He leads with his chin so gets tapped on it every time people get the chance.
Truly a scumbag of a man.
Morning all.
I’ll take any wager from anyone right now…..De Gea will NOT be at Utd next season.
Takers??
Just quietly, Joe Say may not be either bahahahahahahahaha
Morning Ts.
There is, and that’s us causing him it….
Scott/Ts.
I bet Mourinho still beats Arsenal at OT though and takes at least a point at The Emirates…
Rico, I bet he doesn’t 🙂
Scott- a cyber fiver from me on your bet… lol; my only disclaimer is he will start his second season but he will not finish it.
Hoe- say’s henchman Jorge Mendes can’t save him when yanited start plotting
Morning all……………………………..I`ll bet my LEGO house that Wenger still doesn`t beat Jose !.
You’re on Scott. I’ll let you know my Paypal details…
You soft pommy buggers.
Harden up 🙂
It’s Wenger who needs to do that Scott.
You`re right Scott !…………………we need some “hard” Bruce`s !…………a few naked photo`s of Skippy should do the job ! 😆
As long as it’s not Dame Edna LC… lol
New post up now.
Le Coq- so true but you know that is an aside. 😛
You know Jose would rather beat AW 10 times than say ‘Hail Mary’s’ 🙂