Chavs at home

[SteveO 35]

4th place beckons...

Don't be so stubborn and conservative

[Dan_85]

4th place beckons...

Don't be so stubborn and conservative

Don't worry, I see this morning Chauncey Wenger has proclaimed that we'll bounce back tomorrow. Of course, we haven't ever heard that before every other big game spanking

"I believe this year we are a different animal..." shortly before Almunia flaps it into his own net & Denilson is overtaken by Phil Dowd.

[augie]

It's crazy to think we were 10 minutes away from a 7 point lead against Everton.... now 100 minutes or so of Arsenal's league season later and we're in danger of dropping to 4th!

Madness.

The only madness is the level of surprise people are showing over something that was so predictable weeks ago. 7 points clear being a quirk of the fixture list? Never

Apparently I was being stubborn and ridiculously conservative when I said we'd still be scrapping for 4th but I fully expect Everton to beat Swansea.....so if Lord Wenger continues his mightily impressive winless run against Moaninho we'll be 4th at Christmas, one point above 5th place

Stunning progress

What surprise? - we drew with Everton and lost at Citeh. People are disappointed but it's hardly a shock to anyone.

I also don't think many people think (or ever did think) that finishing 4th is anything other than realistic, so I wouldn't paint yourself as some sort of radical thinker when it's basically what 90% of others have said.

The main difference is that, for many, there has been progress in 2013. I stand by that.... 2011 and 2012 were awful. Who know's what 2014 will bring, but 2013 has been far less shit that the years that proceeded it. That's always been my argument... and, in truth, I'm not sure many people have tipped us for the title, so I think that view is something of a myth and used only to belittle those of us who show a little optimism.

No tangible progress my friend. Come on now and allow yourself to look back over the past few months. The Ozil signing has generally lifted (falsely in my view) a lot of the previous doomers into thinking this is the start of some big spending revolution and that we were genuine title contenders. Maybe not you, but nor do I accept that a few weeks ago 90% of fans thought we'd be finishing 4th.....far far from it.

If we are 4th at Christmas, one point above Everton, out of the League Cup (like last year) and 2nd in the CL Group with the prospect of another Munich stuffing (like last year).......I'm sorry that all speaks for itself. We spent £42m on one player in a position we didn't need......some players have progressed e.g. Ramsey, some have regressed e.g. Wilshere.

We generally defend better against the average teams and have been more consistent picking up results against them. We still can't beat United, Chelsea or City and we still look wide open in the big games

Fail to see how much has changed other than that, and my view is consistent with what it was when we were on the verge of taking a 7 point lead

If the footballing calendar was January - November and excluded the hardest games we'd be champions

More or less echoes what I would have said The one thing that I will add to that is that it is very hard to assess our progress when the others (manure, chavs, the scum and even citeeh) are having poor runs - if even two of those clubs were showing the type of form they did in seasons past, then we would have been trailing them for the last few months and our perceived progress might not be as obvious

[SteveO 35]

4th place beckons...

Don't be so stubborn and conservative

Don't worry, I see this morning Chauncey Wenger has proclaimed that we'll bounce back tomorrow. Of course, we haven't ever heard that before every other big game spanking

"I believe this year we are a different animal..." shortly before Almunia flaps it into his own net & Denilson is overtaken by Phil Dowd.

Apparently he knew somewhere along that run of difficult fixtures "we'd be in trouble". Of course, being a guy who never makes the same mistakes twice (or eight times ) he'll address the fact that our February and March fixture programme is possibly the toughest we've ever had, and go out and make the crucial signings that we need in January.

Such an intelligent forward thinking manager who has worked in football for 30 years wouldn't be so silly as to allow us to approach that period with Giroud as our only striker (unless you're a Fat Nick or Postman Pat fan)

[Sam59]

biggest frustration is that Wenger even said pre-season that this year, the PL is the most open in many years. True. So why didn't he strengthen adequately in key positions, especially striker. He identified Suarez but let Higuian (et al) go while putting in an inadequate (by today's daft standards) offer for a player who, like him or not, would have turned us into serious challengers.

Anyhow, Chavs being my least favourite team on earth, I hope at the very least that Wenger can get his first victory tomorrow. Not holding my breath though.

[BournemouthRED]

everyones feeling nice and positive about this game then?

[northbank123]

It's crazy to think we were 10 minutes away from a 7 point lead against Everton.... now 100 minutes or so of Arsenal's league season later and we're in danger of dropping to 4th!

Madness.

And that is a massive problem for us - modern Arsenal don't do minor blips, our fuck-ups tend to be catastrophic. If we fail to win tomorrow we will have squandered that brilliant position we were in (as well as managing to all-but guarantee ourselves another last 16 CL exit along the way). So it amazes me when I see people talking as though our 7-point lead over United is in some way unassailable, we are more than capable of blowing that sort of lead in one dreadful month alone.

In fairness, 2 games (1 draw, 1 defeat) isn't the end of the world... it just shows how tight the league is at the moment.

Not saying it won't turn into a catastrophe by the start of January mind! - and yes, United aren't that find behind us. I still fancy them to catch us by May.

Yeah I was posting on the basis that we aren't going to beat Chelsea tomorrow as I'd be very surprised if we do.

[armchair]

Was massively up for the City game. More so than Ive been for a long time.
Had the heart knocked out of me again at that match. Cant seem to get the juices flowing so much for this one even though its a massive game for both teams.

[SteveO 35]

when those chavvy *word censored* in the away end start singing about their european cup we should respond with: have you ever gone unbeaten in the league (there were ten tottenham points in the gap) instead of just singing shit club no history as usual. gets on my nerves we don't bother singing about that

I'd worry less about that song......altogether less embarrassing than when they were all singing "Arsene Wenger, we want you to stay" during the League Cup match.

Hear that one Arsene? Expect to hear it again tomorrow if they are beating us

[MrT]

when those chavvy *word censored* in the away end start singing about their european cup we should respond with: have you ever gone unbeaten in the league (there were ten tottenham points in the gap) instead of just singing shit club no history as usual. gets on my nerves we don't bother singing about that

I'd worry less about that song......altogether less embarrassing than when they were all singing "Arsene Wenger, we want you to stay" during the League Cup match.

Hear that one Arsene? Expect to hear it again tomorrow if they are beating us

I can feel my blood pressure rising at the thought of those scummy wankers singing that again. This really is make or break for me, if we lose this it will signify that fuck all has changed with the mentality of the squad and the manager.

[singwordssosad]

I'm feeling pretty confident, even without Kozzer... 3-2 AFC, goal for Gnabry....

[Henry Norris 1913]

when those chavvy *word censored* in the away end start singing about their european cup we should respond with: have you ever gone unbeaten in the league (there were ten tottenham points in the gap) instead of just singing shit club no history as usual. gets on my nerves we don't bother singing about that

I'd worry less about that song......altogether less embarrassing than when they were all singing "Arsene Wenger, we want you to stay" during the League Cup match.

Hear that one Arsene? Expect to hear it again tomorrow if they are beating us

that one is fucking infuriating, if the AKB's needed further proof we're not a top club anyone hearing that shit would be enough, christ I can't wait till he's gone

[Chippy]

Anyone wondering about the impact of the weather on this? Might be cancelled? And/or a lot of gooners not able to get home. At least neither team has the League Cup to bugger up an early re-arranged fixture.

[northbank123]

Anyone wondering about the impact of the weather on this? Might be cancelled? And/or a lot of gooners not able to get home. At least neither team has the League Cup to bugger up an early re-arranged fixture.

Would be surprised if it was cancelled based on the reports I've heard. My reading is that some fans from outside London may have trouble coming in later on in the day but the club won't want it cancelled. There's no danger of them being held accountable (unlike icy concourse) and they don't have to refund anybody who can't make it, unless the ground is literally going to be half-full they'll want it played.

[Raggy]

4th place beckons...

Agreed!



Peace