Morning all.
Back in 1977 and through to 1984, Brian McDermott made 61 appearances for Arsenal FC in midfield but he didn’t quite have what it takes to make it with us and he was sent out on loan to Fulham and IFK Norrköping before eventually departing for good.
Most people these days will probably know him more as a manager than player, and at my local club, Reading FC where he was well respected. Well according to the Sunday People, he’s coming back to Arsenal and joining up with our scouting team, a role he had at Reading before stepping into management. Welcome home Mr McDermott!
Mourinho’s ‘specialist in failure’ comments back in February about Arsene Wenger have reared their ugly head again and the under tall big head maintains he has nothing to apologise for.
What I said was a consequence of something. I didn’t get an apology, so I don’t apologise.
My feeling about it is, we get over it, forget it and move forward without thinking about what happened.
There is no need to apologise. Intelligent football people don’t need that. So we finish it and move on.
Of course we all know what happened next. Arsenal went on to win the FA Cup, Chelsea won nothing. Of course it was probably nice for Arsene Wenger to win something after all these years but his record against Mourinho is very poor and that’s something our manager wants to change and he certainly wants no repeat of the drubbing we took earlier on this year:
It was a massive, massive disappointment. It was the lowest point of the season. When we lost 8-2 at Old Trafford, we had no team on the day, we had nobody at the back – so that was explainable.
The players will want to put things right after last season and will be up for it on the day. I will never forget that day, but was very proud with how we responded.
Let’s not forget we played all but 17 minutes of that match with ten players! Not an excuse for the way we defended, but I doubt they’d have got 6 goals had we had eleven players on the pitch.
Mourinho is a bitter and twisted man, one who clearly thinks that everyone is interested in what he has to say and to be fair, he usually has plenty to say and not always is it very pleasant. He loves to talk about opposing managers, usually a few hours before the two sides are set to face each other which is no doubt all done in attempt to win the pre-match mind games and he’s done this to Wenger far too many times to mention.
Arsene Wenger must put a stop to the dreadful results against Mourinho, Arsenal must stop the rot at Stamford Bridge but in my opinion, if we try to play like we did on Wednesday we’ll get a pasting. Wenger has to plug that great big hole in midfield which has been our downfall so many times this season. He has to put chains on both Chambers and Gibbs and stop them from attacking at every opportunity and if and when we get a corner or free kick in the Chelsea half, we can’t afford to send defenders up in numbers as Chelsea will hit us hard on the break.
When Chelsea get a corner or free kick, leave Danny Welbeck on the half-way line as that will make Cahill and Terry think twice about pushing up. Welbeck has pace, great pace and he’d beat those two with ease.
Today is surely about one thing and that is defending like the players lives depended on it and that means every single one of them. Stifle the midfield and give them no time on the ball, just as other sides do to us so often. Protect the back four and don’t leave them exposed and vulnerable!!
Park that bus Arsene, park that big big bus and then hit them hard on the break!!
And finally, make sure there are no passengers on that bus!!
COYRRG’S!!!
New Post up……………….
Sand castles on the beach? Wind breaks under the pier? Candy floss and slot machines? Have a marvellous time Rico and don’t forget the suntan lotion, lashings of it, dangerous chap the sun!
Have a good ‘un.
Morning all
Have a good one Rico…..
Rico, enjoy 🙂
Morning all…
Just a quick hello and goodbye, off for a few days by the sea…
Catch you at the weekend and be nice to Wath…
Stay safe all….
Ttfn….
I know Lee, but I’m asking why it just keeps happening?
Can’t comment on the staff included thing… I just read an article in the Telegraph saying ours was more. Cahill gets a straight red and the whole game is different…. my aunt has a set of nuts and she’s my uncle!
Lee, on the wage bill……I’ve been told our list included all staff where Chelksis included players only.
Morning all.
Disappointing result again.
One question…….I reckon the first 6 or so fouls were from Chelski, yet the first time we fouled we cop a yellow……why?
We have not hit men or thugs yet seem to cop a lot of cards, yet our guys are mauled most weeks.
Last week it was Kaboul.
Last night Icanovic never made a clean challenge, and I don’t even need to mention the Cahill axe job.
No excuses as we had our chances, but this one issue pisses me off week in, week out.
Lee, we are a work in progress……
We need a Matic type player, I find it amazing that we are offering Arteta a 1yr deal, would the chavs or citeh be doing the same?…..I’ve also come to the conclusion that we could sign five world class players and still come up short. The problem is Wenger.
Morning all,
I thought we pushed ball really well yesterday and it looked promising.
Ref was useless on all accounts and missed many red and yellow card fouls. Missed a sure penalty but we never seem to get penalties these days.
I don’t understand the urgency to get the ball out from defence when we are so bad at counter attack.
i also don’t understand why one of the midfielders didn’t take a yellow by cross checking Hazzard outside the box.
I blame kos for the 2nd. He seems to have a problem ball watching. He does it in corners and free kicks and again yesterday. He didn’t see Costa on his shoulder at all. Two defenders and no one steps across Costa to block his run?
The wage bill thing is baffling too…
Never beaten the midget….. says it all really!
We are below West Ham!!!!
Says it all.
Keep dropping points and there will be plenty to look up at……..
I only look up mate 😉
Saw MotD highlights…
Cahill, straight red….
He goes off, then it’s a different game…
Good to see MotD highlight (at last after all these years) an opponent rotational lay fouling Arsenal players…
The referee of course, ignored it as those cretins always do…
Kev, having looked at the table there is only 4 points between Arsenal and 17th.place.
Kev, every point is a prisoner, we need to get a winning rhythm going and quick.
As for Chelski, after today they’re not our worry it’s those around we have to beat.
It’s still tight BT, with, I believe, 4 points covering 2nd place and down to where Arsenal sit…
At this early stage I reckon that Chelsea are out of sight.
Kev, i hope your right, we need to start racking up points and quickly.
Stritchly!!!
My vote goes to the Hairy Biker…
Cheers for info BT…
I chatted to a good mate and my son about the game and got two slightly different impressions, but there ya go…
It doesn’t help my black mood…
Arsenal should win their next six games…
Hull, Burnley and Anderlecht at home.
Swansea, Sunderland and Anderlecht away…
ManUre at home is gonna be Wenger’s next serious challenge…
Night Rico….
I’m off to watch strictly, love it 🙂
Nighty Bt and all – have a lovely evening…..
It was, safety car on twice, a horrid crash which has left a driver critically I’ll in hospital and the race was stopped before the end…..
It wasn’t half chucking it down from what i seen.
Never Bt and another win this morning…..
Not forgetting his twin, Lewis, Rico….
Ha ha Bt, you latched on to Theo and me quickly 🙂 🙂
Well it does mention Theo, Rico……lol
Tai, so much in your comment makes sense…. We’ll to me anyway…..
Potter – the ref got many decisions wrong imo, Cahill, kos, chambers and oscar – all four could have been off with a different ref and of course Welbeck. For me the description handball was clear cut and I wonder if he did it on purpose, just like he did the back heel for Barca…..
JM, perhaps his head is at Arsenal lol
Well, I’ll say it again that there’s no dignity in losing but I don’t think Chelsea got this win easy. This is the toughest Arsenal side Mourinho must have faced. Arsenal gave as much as they got, well, except the goals…and I think Welbeck and Sanchez had a lot of influence on that.
While I’ll forever find it hard to forgive Wenger for not signing the desired DM, I’m quite confident that Walcott’s coming back will truly kick-start our season…if Wenger learns to play to the strength of every opposition like he did in this match, he will turn our season around.
Wenger’s tactic was spot-on…maybe the execution couldn’t match the perfection…but choking the middle, keeping our defensive shape, despite Hazzad’s continuous threats, not bulking under Chelsea’s challenges … and having Welbeck and Sanchev run at Chelsea defence presented real difficulties for Mourinho…Mourinho had to bring in Mikel to defend his lead because the threat was real he could drop points…in the end, after admirably making Costa anonymous, Per and Kos fell to Fabregas’ con! Such little details…but without Debuchy, Arteta, Ramsey, Walcott, Giroud …playing Chelsea was going to be quite Herculean.
william Carvalho report from a today newspaper about his yesterday performance: plays down the pace, lost too many balls and is not concentrated.
Another Song…
It was a good shout for a penalty , but the way things were going on today we were never going to get one .
Nipping out with the woofa….
Bt, he’d be dropped if he did but my answer is no…..
Tai, I screamed penalty but that was to Kev by text. Clear cut for me…. But of course, Fabregas will get a pass on that one……
In all fairness Ozil did not start on the left wing , he was played on the right wing and came into the middle as he swapped sides with Sanchez . Basically we do have to look at Wenger who yet again was out thought by Mourinho who even managed to get Wenger’s mind off the game by instigating a push and shove match. As usual we had a lot of possession but it was all down the middle and easily swallowed by Matic , Terry and Cahill who used physical strength both fairly and unfairly without rebuke from a impotent referee who tried everything he could to stop us playing by bringing back play for free kicks so that he could have a chat with their players and giving them time to reorganise in the process , and played advantage when we were running up the standard blind alley. The better team won and won quite easily to be fair and as for the Cesc debate it will run on . We have to remember it was Wenger that did not want him back citing Ozil as the reason. Today in the first half he played deep alongside Matic and dictated play from there and in the second moved forward and tore us a new one. We didn’t want him back and today he showed why we really did..
Kev, JW played well today imo, Danny Boy had little to feed off and could easily have seen red for bad tackle on Fab, and was careless in possession on occasions.
rico,
Yeah…we lost and there’s no dignity in that but for the first time, I saw Wenger play against Mourinho the right way – cautiously. And when you are defensively committed, you lack appropriate numbers in the attacking third. If there was just Walcott, I’m pretty certain we could have come away with a point.
How come no one talked about Fabregas’ clear penalty? Raising his hand to the ball, deflecting Wilshere’s goal-bound shot for a corner to me, was a stone-wall penalty! Then it was 1 – 0.
I was screaming for Ox to come in for Ozil…but Carzola, our best player, left instead. Ozil completed 90 mins. I’d never get to grips with that.
Until Costa scored, Welbeck was doing far better in same match than the Spaniard. It’s just that monster of a DM, Walcott’s pace and we shouldn’t buckle against any side.
Nine points is huge but there are 31 weeks still to do something about it. Until we face Man U, let’s go for four straight wins. We got no choice though.
Rico,do you think if Ozil had been signed by Chelski, he would be playing the way he is now?
How did Welbeck play?
What about Jack and Sanchez, Rico?
To be fair Kev, it might but sadly, that day never arrives…..
I’d have thought facing his old boss would have put a bit of fire in his belly Kev but no, he was lethargic for most of the game. A passenger but he did improve when Santi went off and he moved? But to be honest, I’d have kept Santi on and taken off Ozil…. But hey, it’s only my view…..
Long live The King……
Rico, I cannot pass comment on Ozil as I didn’t see the game…
What I did read on another blog was someone suggesting that things will improve when Diaby returns…. 🙄
I see that Ozil is copping a load of flak again…
Was he in his favoured position or stuck on the wing again?
Maybe we should look at Wenger, as Rico so rightly said earlier in the day, today isn’t a time for passengers and Wenger should have realised this and maybe picked someone else in the Ozil role?
Of course, the lack of depth to our squad, limits Wenger’s options…
His fault again I suggest and not Ozil’s…
Kev, we have one of the most technically gifted players money can buy but it seems he can’t be arsed to play for us… I’m bordering on thinking we should cash in and replace him…
BT, he grows it in his shed… 😉
Rico, i know….lol
Me too Kev and badly!
I didn’t see the game, but listened to most of it on TalkRubbish…
Of course their view is slanted, but it seems that Arsenal were playing at their limits to contain Chelsea, and that the Chavs just waited until our defence made the type of mistakes that we perpetually make when Wenger faces Mourinho…
Arsenal, it seems, put up a fight this time, which I suppose is some kind of progress, but it’s never gonna be enough until Wenger brings in more physically imposing, as well as technical, players…
Andrew, we could but then so could have Cahill and Oscar so all even lol
Bt, maybe a but and an if only…. And that if only does not involve either fabregas or costa for me lol
Kev, is it one he put together in his lab?
BT, I use hair gel, Lee lent me some of his special stash…
Agree rico, disappointed, but for once we stood up to them and weren’t bullied. Even AW. Mind you, we could have seen red. Missing Welbeck for 3 games or Kos for one would have been disastrous.
Adam, I’ll put it to one side for ya mate… 😉
Rico, I just that that scumbag cut their wrist on the glass…
Rico, they did stand up well and there is a but…..
2-0 WHU
You know, for once I thought our boys stood their own against a very strong Chelsea side – apart from Ozil, we weren’t pushed off the ball so easily and we showed character. Yes we lost which pees me off big time but there is a but for me….
Happy Days….Fonzie,,,a £1 towards more Brylcreem …
Get it DNA tested Kevin, might belong to the scumbag who broke in……
Kev. I dropped that £1 there last week. 🙂
Well losing to Chelsea was a bummer.
But let’s look on the bright side, I found a £1 in the back of my cab 20mins ago.
Happy Days….
Stubborn,stupid,rigid Wenger.
“This season”. ……….bugger.
BT. I am now mate. I need to be although, frankly, I am not really surprised at anything I have seen those season from the club. Apathy is a dangerous thing where supporters are concerned.:)
They do Bt but today I think players need to look at themselves….
Seems you guys are disappointed…..lol.Wenger will never win again morinho,he will never win EPL again.I repeat,Wenger will never win EPL.he’s too stubborn and rigid
Adam, are you dazzed?
Chelsea were never troubled, they did to us what they always do. Soak up our tiki taka shit and hit on the break. Easy. Away from home We shud be soaking their pressure and hitting them on the break.
Same old same old.
BT. Can’t say really but I guess it will be post Arsene.
Is it true that Our wage bill is higher than theirs!
Adam, when?…..lol
Rico, i get where your coming from, but these mistakes keep happening, Aw keeps tell everyone how intelligent his players are. A front two main goal threat that cost £50+ and all we can manage is 1 shot…..
A very disappointing day but typical in so many ways. One day it will change though.
Come away, not came away….
Bt, I get that one shot on target is not good, I really do but had we came away with 0-0 and that same stat, surely we’d be pretty pleased?
I’m more cheesed off for gifting them a penalty and playing a high line against Costa who is lethal in that situation. We’d done so well to keep him quiet all match and then present him with a lovely bow tied gift. Both kos and merts should know better, especially merts who is so bloody slow.
Then why did Ches race off his line just as both defenders got back?
We are the authors of our own downfall imo…..
Our hopes in be champios, were finished today.
Held against Everton, totts, city, lost against Chelsea and only two victories this year. This is our score. How can we be champions?
Besides, we were very slowly. Chelsea kills every attack when they needded and when the were not enought organize. AW never won Chelsea with Mourinho and it’s strange why he have only the same plan and the same way of playing. If Chelsea score, the game is over.
Rico, unfortunately the mistakes happen and keep happening, and as Lee eluded to 1 shot in 90 is embarrassing.
Fair enough Lee
No surprises really, we don’t have what it takes and that’s the bottom line.
Mourinho is a better manager imo
He Will always get the better of wenger imo…..
Rather than gurn, moan, and act like a child on the sideline, wenger should put more of an effort in during the transfer window, and maybe just maybe we would have an actual chance of a good result on days like these….
Still we’ve been in the champion’s league for 250yrs and paid for the stadium! Please fucking get a grip!
It bothered me Rico….it was embarrassing!
Fabregas to Costa for the second….Ozil couldn’t of hit a cow’s arse with a banjo!
Kev, I’m with you there, passion and intent comes from the top!
How many trophies did Arsenal win, with David Dein on the Board?
How many trophies have Arsenal won with Kroenke on the Board?
Bt, I agree that we weren’t good enough. But, a silly mistake by Kos gifted their first and pressing too high up in defence gifted them a second, neither should have happened.
I said in the post that we needed to park the bus and no passengers were allowed, we’ll Ozil must have been sat on every bloody seat and how Santi was the first player off I don’t know.
Lee, playing away at Chelsea, no shot on target wouldn’t bother me had we not conceded…. I’d have taken 0-0 all day long….
Anyway let’s reward mediocrity with bumper new deals!
Beaten by a much better organised team. We flatter to deceive and weave wonderful patterns and go nowhere fast. Shameful really . 1 shot in 90 minutes .
As long as Kroenke is the major shareholder, nothing will change.
Kroenke will never take on Abramovitch.
We ain’t gonna win another League Title whilst Kroenke is in charge…
Nine points adrift in October…. this is just going to pan out like every other season! Still in Wenger we trust.
Up for The Cup…
Me too Bob, shame the bloke knows how to win a football match though!
I think the chavs have been miles better….their big names performed ours went missing, fucking embarrassing that we had one shot on target in the 90th minute! Same old same old….getting fucking boring again and again!!!
Wenger made a massive mistake not signing Fabregas and Arsenal made a massive mistake resigning Wenger!
If Moronho died tomorrow I would go out to celebrate. Words cannot describe how much I hate the bastard
Spuds win…..
Rico, flattering or not, we still not good enough…..
2-0 is flattering imo
O DANNY BOY!!!
Welbeck FFS….
Nice Danny, lol
We’re really are just not good enough….
Wenger beaten again by the midget….
Wtf is wrong with Ozil absolute shite today…
oh well 9 points now already, a long season of battling for fourth and i must admit i don’t like our chances this year
Why does AW always keep ozil in a game when its clear he is doing us more harm than good?
At last, shame it’s taken so long to book Oscar
cant knock the commitment from most of them – just not there
i dont think we’ve had a single shot on target all game – we just not at these levels anymore
Play the high line against Costa was naive….
and costa potter – think i called that one unfortunately
Undone by two defenders who couldn’t, get back….
Undone by Cesc , what a surprise.
FFS!!!! TYPICAL!!!
Bollox!
Do any of the Chelsea players Potter?
Does hazard ever lose the ball without falling over ?
THE OX!!!!!! THE YEAR OF!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Santi off???
COYRRGS
COME ON !!!!
Why doesn’t anyone bloody shoot!!!
Why didn’t Ozil shoot..
Go forward not back to ches!
Settle down!
Oops flamini, Costa will get you for that lol
Oz, passion
we need to settle on the ball especially ozil, take our time and make the runs. Costa worryingly quite that half – lets hope it continues
Bt, fingers crossed eh…
The Scum winning…FFS!!!
Bob, I’m tempted to agree lol
yes it does exactly 50/50 – thats my point – Wenger keeps whining on the bench doesn’t help our cause at all
The Ox to fire one in from 25 yards in the second half…..
Who are our subs guys?
I would settle for a loss to see Wenger knock Moronho out and Bouldy to sort out the long haired wanker next to him
The dwarf is absolute poison, absolute poison!
Bt, a big ouch! Lol
they are rushing us into everything and the forward line seems plan-less as we enter the final third again
What about Cahill and Oscar Oz? Agree kos is lucky and perhaps chambers but it cuts both ways….
how about put Ozil central where he’s supposed to be?
JM, he’ll have to against hull and if kos isn’t careful, so will Hayden.
Take out ozil bring on chambo imo
we having a go at the Ref after 2 possible red cards let slide? wow
I’d take Ozil off if he doesn’t get more involved early in second half, get oc on…
lessons: Maureenhoe is a petty man, Chelsea teams are bunch of thugs, Wenger is tired of allowing the dwarf to have a filled day messing with him, English referees well are just English refrees ( devoid of brain), Fabregas signed for a dog after been trained by a noble,
How the hell is Cahill still on the pitch?
Bellarin must play until Debuchy is out.
Chambers has the performances of a Dm (well, almost…) but isn’t a right back.
Chelsea is very well posicioned on the picht
Sanchez mus be carefully…
Agree Lewis and spot on potter!
Ozil seems to be a one legged man.
He makes Mert looks like the quickest gunner on the pitch
Sure does devil and to add insult to injury, Atkinson failed to play the advantage just to give him a warning!
Was a good half.
Martin Atkinson , bent bastard . Living up to his record for Chelsea.
Ozil on the wing doesn’t work arsene, when will that penny drop. Also lads, if you don’t shoot, you don’t score!!
Good first half imo, one crazy moment from kos is the only difference.
Rico, is he due an OUCH?…..lol
How wasnt Oscar given a yellow?????
Beggars belief
Atkinson is a knob!!!!
Chambers suspended for the game against Hull.
That means that Bellerin will get another run out.
Shoot u twats
Where’s Dat guy Welbz today?
Exposed defensively in midfield. What a shock?!
FFS!!!
Chambers suspended for Hull.
Chambers that was stupid….
How is Cahill still on the pitch.??!!
Good to see arsene get angry. ,that shove on maureen..hoe made me vhucle.
Arsene 1 Mourinho nil hahaha.
Fuck off!!!! Dwarf !!!
Dirty bastard!! Go Arsene lol
Come on!!!
Factoid:
Courts is has an enormous nose! Why?
Keep this up for another 80 mins we could be ok. Lol
Hi Micko, crazy eh…..
The great something Bt!
AW…The Great Tactician !! Rico!!!!
O2 O2B O2B A GOOONNERRR!!!
The Ox would have helped out defensively as well rico, strange one that.
Bt, I just don’t understand it, I really don’t. They have two weeks away after this, play him today and let him rest instead of playing for England…
I can’t stand all this ‘buddy buddy’ hugging in the tunnel, plenty of time for that after the game!!!
Just heard delay maybe because of fans trying to bring flares in.
Rico, is this Aw Plan taking shape?…lol
Delayed KO..
Well played on Wednesday OC, in fact so well played you miss out today!!
Crazy imo…
Afternoon folks….
we’re playing to get back into fourth United 2-1 rather fortunate in the end super goalkeeping display
hope jack holds his nerve tonight as well
Diaby’s doing the halftime tea and oranges! Bethe slips on the peel!
Oz, was thinking the same myself…
would not have played Cazorla TBH
No sign of King Abu.
Jack in for The Ox.
Morning Rico and a nice post, Morning everyone, this is one fixture I have dreaded since 2004 till date, Arsenal at Stamford bridge God help me, I will be shaking watching it but no 6-0 this time, if we don’t loose I will take any result……..COYG and coach- Wenger will ask Welbeck and Sanchez to defend the corners but I believe we can beat them if we set to counter attack as Terry and Cahill are not the fastest, commit Matic into fouls from the beginning he gets a yellow then run at Terry and Cahill, Ivanovic has a hot head and he will commit himself also, but Gibbs and Chambers shouldn’t bomb forward at the same time and the latter should stop the shirt tugging, if the team sticks to their game plan and Flamini tries to always intercepts Fabregas’ pass then I am sure we have a chance
Kev, the only fee for Delph that’s any value is a free, surely we have to be aiming for better quality than the Delphs of this world…..
Hi BT, yeah Delph’s contract is up this summer, might be available at a reduced fee this January mate.
Kev – doing well the Saints boss considering all he lost – hope they roll spuds, loosing to chelsea and then being bypassed by Spuds all in one night!!! aarrgghhh
Rico, this is the best time of the year for “shorts”….
What’s the scores?
Got a hunch that Southampton might get a good result today…
Rico, reasonable post..lol….as for Brain McDermott, it’s always good to see one of our own return to the fold. Did i see you suggest Delph earlier?
Yes Rico, you put your shorts away, Adam and I had to put our spandex away…
Ho hum, out come the long johns… 🙂
missed penalty
Penalty to everton
Hi Wavy…
Nipping off to get a couple of things done before ko… Back shortly..
Devil – just missed a great chance to level there – poor finish
Ha Oz, yeah Arsene luvs those public pronouncements, a bit like the ‘Best squad I’ve ever had’ shite, or ‘We’ll play our game’ which is usually followed by a defeat…
Afternoon all,
Parking the bus, isn’t that a ploy small teams use when playing away to the big boys !
Don’t know why but when I think of Brian McDermott I always think of our blue and green away kit for some strange reason.
Morning Adam, chilly here in the sticks, think it’s time for me to accept shorts are not for this time of year….
Everton are so poor that bookies are offering big on United loosing.
Wavy lets hope the Spuds don’t win otherwise we’re in for some real pain in the table (again)
Yes Oz, Flamini would be better letting his actions do the talking…
All that pre-match gobbing off usually leads to the said gobber having a stinker…
(Had a problem there with me spellchecker, risky. )
I never knew that Kev. Some things never change eh….
Kev – best natural finisher i have ever seen was Wenger’s comments on Pod – WTF has happened then?
me too – but head tells me cesc and Costa might rub someones nose in it today and Flamini trying to control Cesc uuumm
And as we speak the manure pile have shuffled into 4th spot courtesy of a very expensive angel! I wonder what St Peter thinks?
I’ll be interested to read Fred’s views on the hiring of McDermott…..
Akpom on the bench instead of Podolski, now that says it all if it comes to pass…
I wonder how close Lukasz was to leaving in the summer?
Welbeck, Akpom, Sanogo (:roll:) Giroud, Walcott, Sanchez, Ox.
I just can’t see where Podolski fits in anymore?!
Shame….
Oz, I’m about as good at tactics as wenger!! Him? Have a plan? The only plan he has derived is, wait for it……..NO PLAN,!!
I’d love us to win but I just can’t see it. I think a draw would see me do a ‘Goonie’!
🙂 Rico
Thanks Oz, a draw for me 🙂
Wavy after all the sh*t we’ve given United to think they could finish the day above us is well….
good post Kev
Rico 😀
Practice makes perfect… 😉
Wavy – Wenger change tactics for opponents he doesn’t even bother researching, surely you jest? “We make them play our way” cough
Morning Adam….
Optimistic mate???
Afternoon Oz, I’m praying for a draw but not expecting it…
Rico, when Frank Stapleton left Arsenal in the summer of 1981, that left Arsenal with no centre-forward…
The lack of ambition and foresight of those in charge at the time, was breathtakingly awful.
Hill-Woods and Bracewell-Smiths were a byword for backward thinking and inertia.
Into that mess the Arsenal manager at the time, Terry Neill, had no choice (well he did, but by then he was out of his depth) but to use a small wing-forward (McDermott) as his centre-forward.
Brian tried manfully, but basically had the shit kicked out of him and a promising Arsenal career ruined by crass mismanagement…
The club was a shambles and remained so until David Dein and George Graham sorted it out….
That’s why I’ll take no lessons from the Hill-Woods, they presided over that malaise.
Morning Rico and all. Beautiful day out there today. Let’s hope it continues.
Should we lose today and, I’m with BT62, it’s time we did unthinkable things to dwarfies head, but if we don’t take maximum points and the improving manure beat the regressing toffees, they, the shit pile will move above us and into our prized fourth place. They will win the fourth place cup and the bragging rights that go with it!
I hope wenger has a plan, a very cunning plan that would astonish both me and Blackadder! Sadly I think he is a bit of a throw back, he employs the WW1 general’s impoverished tactics, ie dig a trench, park a bus and only go over the top when the whistle blows, shout and scream a bit and hope you don’t get picked off on the counter attack!
COYRRGs
1-0 to the Arsenal sounds good to me.
4 years of practice so far Kev, shouldn’t be long now… 😉
I suppose Coach, you gotta choose those who are not blessed with the greatest defending attributes, but at the same time, players that can threaten on the breakaway, like Walcott.
good post rico, hello all. The expect nothing less than defeat today and Wenger claiming how much we’ve improved because last year we lost 6-0. We are good at our level, this is not and hasn’t been for 10 years or more, our level. Mourinho owns Wenger and they both know it
Yep Rico, you’re getting there… 😛
Ozil and Sanchez would be ok as well Kev. Good point in keeping DW23 back to defend and those two up.
The thing is that with us its always 2 upfront.
Why thank you Kev, just one notch up to go then… 😉
afternoon all!
I want to be an Arsenal scout too! 🙂
Maybe for Portugal, Spain and Gibraltar 🙂
Akpon will be on the bench today?
If Podolsky don’t play today we will be sell on january
hope we finish with 11…
Morning Bt.
I hope he has a plan, can’t see another drubbing to be honest…
Ok, I am gonna be pedantic here Coach, I would keep Welbeck back defending, because of his height and heading ability, and leave Ozil and Sanchez up front.
Afternoon All
Rico, that was a really really good post…. 🙂
9/10 vgd…
Morning all, we return to the bus stop today, another defeat of last years magnitude would be totally unacceptable. Has AW a plan, who knows?. We are a stronger proposition in one department and pretty much the same elsewhere. So Arsene it’s over to you and boys to do us proud, the dwarf is licking his lips awaiting our arrival. Lets bloody his nose and mess him up, his time has come.
Not ours Devil…. 😉
Leaving Theo and DW23 up there will still leave us with 9 players. They will have a keeper in the pen area, the corner kicker and two defending the half way line. That makes it four. 11 minus four equals 7. Dont tell me that 8 players and a keeper cant defend a goal against 7 players.
Thanks Devil. If Theo was playing, I’d leave both him and Welbeck up on the half-way line but we need numbers back defending as well..
Imagine leaving SAnchez and DW23 on the half way line when defending a corner.
Good article Le Boss.
And yes, I agree that AW should leave DW23 on the half way line in a corner. I used to go one better though. I used to leave two players on the halfway line…….both on the sides. That used to flummox even the best defenders and usually the opposing team used to put 3 at the back to defend that. Add the corner kicker and their opposing keeper and that left 5 of their team against 8 defending in the penalty area. No brainer for me. And in 23 years as coach I conceded less than ten from a corner.
Only because I was busy Devil…. 😉
Good Morning Elves and fairies.
I hope we murder the chavs and the goblin today.
Off to read the Message in a bottled blog by the boss
1st