Tag Archives: She Wore A Yellow Ribbon

Stoke Away and the Ramblings of an Arsenal Traveller

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The head is cleared, the alcohol now out of my system, the disappointment has subsided. Up until now, I really have not had the energy to write anything and I have struggled for inspiration recently.

This lack of inspiration is not just due to the defeat to Stoke on Saturday, but my general apathy towards football at the moment. The game in my heart is slowly dying.

I can handle the poor performances on the pitch – usually – that is part of football, and something you have to accept. But the poor performances on top of the cost of ticket prices, on top of the cost of away travel, on top of awkward kick off times, and more recently, on top of not being able to get a beer at half time, I am starting to wonder why I do it.

With my general apathy to the game currently, when we do get a result like yesterday, it really does knock me for six. I have no problems with a defeat, and even of a shocking performance, but this season, more than any, poor performances have grated me.

As a fan traveling up and down the country, you put a lot in. A lot of hours traveling, a lot of money, your sell your soul to the club. You basically live and work just to spend your weekend in a crap northern town, losing your whole weekend to traveling and hangovers.

You learn to take the rough with the smooth. For every 6-0 away to Chelsea, you have a 5-2 at the same ground. For every 5-1 at Anfield, you have 1989. For every League Cup loss to Birmingham, you have victories against Hull. It is a tough existence. A rollercoaster.

Luckily we support The Arsenal, a successful side, so we do have more up’s then downs. We can quite easily go 4/5 months with seeing a defeat on the road. This however also makes losses hurt more. You are used to winning, not used to loosing.

Support Burnley? You know before leaving the home that you are likely to lose. You have not built your hopes up. It is a case of limiting the damage. Lose by the odd goal, you are happy. Score a goal but lose, not bad. Take the lead? You are ecstatic. Grab a draw? It’s party time. Win? It is the best day of your year. And win away to a big side, hell, it is better than when your kids are born.

Whereas at Arsenal, even a draw on the road is disappointing. Had we snatched the equalizer on Saturday, it would not have changed much. We should not be drawing at Stoke. They are games a fan supporting a club such as Arsenal expect to win. The failure hurts double.

But Stoke away, a defeat should have been predictable.
23 Oct 1996
Stoke City v Arsenal
Draw
1-1

01 Nov 2008
Stoke City v Arsenal
Lose
2-1

24 Jan 2010
Stoke City v Arsenal
Lose
3-1

27 Feb 2010
Stoke City v Arsenal
Win
1-3

08 May 2011
Stoke City v Arsenal
Lose
3-1

28 Apr 2012
Stoke City v Arsenal
Draw
1-1

26 Aug 2012
Stoke City v Arsenal
Draw
0-0

01 Mar 2014
Stoke City v Arsenal
Lose
1-0

06 Dec 2014
Stoke City v Arsenal
Lose
3-2

Arsene Wenger has won once from nine attempts in Stoke . It truly is a shocking record. It makes me wonder why I traveled up to the game with so much hope. It clearly is silly. They are clearly a bogey team to us.

Why so few wins? Who knows. Sometimes you just become someones bunny, a term iconised by Shane Warne who’s bunny was Darryl Cullinan. In 7 tests, Warne took the South African batsmen’s wicket 12 times. It was unprecedented.

Stoke at the weekend were actually a double bunny. In head to head between Wenger and Mark Hughes, Wenger has lost 6 and drawn 2 . He has never beaten a Mark Hughes away side.

What is odd is when you then look at the home record, it is the exact opposite.

From 8 games at the Emirates (or Highbury) Arsene Wenger has won all 8. I doubt if 2 asides in the Premier League have such contrasting home and away records.

It can be tough being an away fan. But what is for certain, next time we travel to Stoke, I will be like a Burnley fan. I will expect defeat. I will expect nothing from the game. I will go home happy if we get a draw!

Keenos

Arsenal A to Z of transfer Speculation – Open for business

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Long term followers of the blog / Facebook page / Twitter will know that every transfer window, we at SheWore like to keep a list of every players Arsenal are linked to in the month leading up to the transfer window opening, and during the transfer window itself.

So it’s December the 1st. That means it’s time for us to dust down the spreadsheet and start logging.

Of course, this is not us linking the players, nor saying we will sign them, it is a list to highlight just how much crap the media print to fill column inches / get web hits.

All players linked will be added to our dedicated page. Keep an eye on this and feel free to add players we’ve missed to the comments section.

On the opening day, we have already been linked with Karim Benzema, Lucas Silva and Sami Khedira

A.

B. Benzema

C.

D.

E.

F.

G.

H.

I.

J.

K. Khedira

L.

M.

N.

O.

P.

Q.

R.

S. Silva

T.

U.

V.

W.

X.

Y.

Z.

Arsenal victory did more than just paper over the cracks

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So that’s the cracks papered over then, some might say.

And to some extent, yes it is. Last night we faced the Borussia Dortmund who currently lie 3rd from bottom in the Bundesliga. The Borussia Dortmund who last weekend threw away a 2 goal lead to draw against SC Paderborn 07 (no, me neither). It was not the Borussia Dortmund that, before yesterday, had swept all aside in the Champions League, winning 4 from 4.

But there is no need to put a negative spin on last. It was a good, controlled performance and has ensured that, for the 15th season in a row, we qualify for the Champions League knock out stages.

Yaya Sanogo’s first goal for the club, whilst offside, could give a boost to a man who, whilst talented, has struggled since his move to England. He is still just 21, and I think we he could go from strength to strength – as long as he stays fit. Add this goal to the brace he scored for France u21s last week, his confidence should be soaring.

As for Alexis Sanchez. His finish was Pires-esque. This guy is a class above. Enough has already been written about him in other blogs. He raises the quality of our team. He is what you would expect from a big summer signing. I look forward to when Mesut Ozil and Theo Walcott return, as it will only make Sanchez better. It will be scary.

Of course, there were a couple of negatives. Sanogo limped off with a tight hamstring and, more worryingly, Mikel Arteta’s injury could rule him out for 5 weeks.

And Arteta’s injury really is the story of our season. As Olivier Giroud returns, Jack Wilshere gets ruled out for up to 10 weeks. As Laurent Koscielny returns, Arteta is ruled out for 5 weeks. It really has been one step forward one step back with injuries this season.

Personally, with the lack of central midfielder’s at our disposal, I would not mind us changing formation. Go 442 with Flamini and Ramsey in the middle, Sanchez and Chamberlain out wide, and Welbeck and Giroud up top. But it wont happy, Wenger will remain stubborn to his 4141.

Qualification secured for another season. A run of 3 games without a win ended. Let’s get the positivity and momentum going.

Our next 4 games are winnable. 12 for 12 is not out of the question. It might not put us back in the title race, but would catapult us up the league.

Back the boys on the pitch. Arsenal first.

 

On a side night, as a massive cricket fan, and someone who was out in Melbourne and Sydney for the 2010/11 Ashes series, last nights result pales into insignificance upon hearing the news of Australian cricketer Philip Hughes’ death. Just 25 years old.

The prayers and thoughts of everyone involved in SheWore go out to Philip Hughes friends, family and Sean Abbott.

RIP Philip Hughes.

 

Keenos