Morning all.

I was surprised by the response to yesterday’s blog about the financial restraints that are stopping Mikel Arteta and Edu building the squad they want to challenge.

What it showed to me is that the vast majority of Arsenal fans are still positive about the future, about Arteta, and understand the circumstances he is working under.

Those who are sitting crying for his head, trying to spread negativity throughout the fan base really are on the minority. They sit on Twitter or on YouTube and their negativity is amplified through running multiple accounts and orchestrating “pile-ons” via WhatsApp groups.

This then makes the outside observer think there is a lot of Arsenal up in arms. When reality it is probably just half a dozen kids at Newham College. It is the social media echo chamber.

There is also a huge difference between being critical of a performance and spending your waking hours spreading negativity on twitter day in, day out.

Moving on, yesterday evening we got drawn at home to Newcastle in the FA Cup.

Under normal circumstances, I would be fuming.

FA Cup 3^rd round day is one of the great days of football, often providing some of the best trips away. From Preston to Sutton and more, we have had some decent trips in recent years. But there is nothing worse than being drawn at home to a Premier League team in the FA Cup.

Zero excitement.

We are already at the stage of the season where the FA Cup is our best chance of a domestic honour this season.

Arteta has lost just 1 out of 15 cup games – that last minute defeat to Olympiakos in the Europa League. Hopefully that record continues.

Those who managed to get a ticket for Thursday are now counting down the sleeps until they will be back at the Emirates.

With 3 home league defeats in a row, fans being in the ground might change the atmosphere a bit and push the team forward.

Onwards and upwards. And remember, those people constantly spreading negativity on social media will only end up affecting their own health.

Keenos

The Arsenal Quiz book.

Now on pre-sale.

All profits to @NHSCharities

Let's show once more Gooners have the biggest hearts.https://t.co/vlaHeBWIC8 pic.twitter.com/powVyqL9Ce

— 🎗 ///SHE WORE/// 🎗 (@SheWore) November 2, 2020

Arsenal (1) 1 Wolverhampton Wanderers (2) 2

Premier League

Emirates Stadium, Drayton Park, London N5 1BU

Sunday, 29th November 2020. Kick-off time: 7.15pm

(4-2-3-1) Bernd Leno; Hector Bellerin, David Luiz, Gabriel Magalhães, Kieran Tierney; Dani Ceballos, Granit Xhaka; Willian Borges da Silva, Joe Willock, Bukayo Saka; Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang.

Substitutes: Alexandre Lacazette, Alex Rúnarsson, Rob Holding, Cédric Soares, Reiss Nelson, Mohamed Elneny, Eddie Nketiah.

Scorers: Gabriel (30 mins)

Yellow Cards: Hector Bellerin, Rob Holding, Kieran Tierney

Arsenal Possession Percentage: 56%

Referee: Michael Oliver

Assistant Referees: Stuart Burt, Simon Bennett

Fourth Official: David Coote

VAR Team at Stockley Park: VAR Andre Marriner; AVAR Sian Massey-Ellis

Attendance: A maximum of 300 attendees due to UK government coronavirus restrictions

Okay, let’s not put too fine a point on it, we need to win this match against Wolverhampton Wanderers today, and win well. Our only goal in 476 minutes of Premier League action was against Manchester Untied back on 1st November, and we now have a mere thirteen points after nine matches; historically our lowest points tally after ten Premier League fixtures is fourteen, back in 1992-93 and 1994-95. Let’s go!

The match started off in a lively manner, with the visitors having the best of the early play. After five minutes, there was an extemely bad head clash between David Luiz and Raul Jiminez after an Arsenal corner. David Luiz was patched up and continued with the match, but Raul Jiminez was stretchered off and taken to hospital for concusion assessment. The match continued after ten minutes, with both sides looking flat after the injury to Raul Jiminez, and after a while, we started to play with purpose and desire. Wolves, however, proved difficult to break down and just before the half hour, Pedro Neto opened the scoring for the visitors; their lead did not last long however. Just three minutes’ later, Gabriel levelled the scores with a superb header from a cross via Willian. The goals livened the match up, and a little while later, Bernd Leno was called into action after a Wolves corner, when he saved a strong header from Leander Dendoncker, and this preceeded a period in the match when both sides squandered chances to score. In the ten minutes’ injury time, the visitors took the lead when a shot from Pedro Neto was parried by Bernd Leno, only for the quickness of Daniel Podence to jink the ball past three Arsenal defenders to stroke it into our net. Time and time again we were getting caught out by long balls, not to mention our backs being exposed by Adama Traore and Pedro Neto, with the defence looking stranded at times. Our best chances came when we managed to catch the visitors on the rebound, but as half-time beckoned, we can look upon this half as forty-five minutes of wasted chances.

As expected, Rob Holding replaced David Luiz for the second half, and we started in a lively manner. Arsenal looked better and created one or two good chances in the first five minutes, and as the game levelled out, both sides were trying to find different ways through each others’ defensive systems, which proved more than difficult. Willian went close with a free-kick ten minutes after the restart, and as the match went on, it was becoming obvious that we were getting nowhere, fast. Willian was substituted for Reiss Nelson after sixty-three minutes, and as is often the case after a substitution, the team are lifted by the presence of a new player on the pitch. Some good movement by our chaps outside the Wolves penalty area, saw the ball fall to Reiss Nelson, who blasted it over the bar, and this period in the match saw us create some good chances for ourselves with clever passing movements. With ten minutes of the mtch remaining, Alexandre Lacazette replaced Granti Xhaka in a final attempt to get the equalising goal. Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang came extremely close to scoring a superb header, and as we applied pressure on the Wolves goal, our considerable attempts were there for all to see, but it made no difference in the end, despite all our efforts and pressure, for the third Premier League match in a row, we finished a game with nothing to show for all of our hard work.

This match will always be overshadowed by the awful Raul Jiminez injury in the fifth minute, but this aside, it was an extremely disappointing evening for us overall. As much as the play moves well in the midfield areas, there are still question marks at the back, and upfront, in the bread-and-butter Premier League, we are just not firing. What is to be done? Our position in the Premier League is disgraceful for a club of our stature, and somehow Mikel Arteta is going to have to square this circle quickly. We travel to Tottenham Hotspur next Sunday for the first North London derby of the season; heaven forbid for the wheels to come off then, especially there of all places. We pray.

Remember everyone, keep the faith, get behind the team and the manager, as this season is going to be crucial for our future success in all competitions. Stick with the winners. Our next match: Rapid Vienna at Allianz Stadion on Thursday, 3rd December at 8.00pm (Europa League). Victoria Concordia Crescit.

Steve

Too Dearly Loved To Be Forgotten: Arsenal v Racing Club de Paris 1930-1962 by Steve Ingless (Rangemore Publications, ISBN 978-1-5272-0135-4) is now available on Amazon.

The Arsenal Quiz Book – £11.99

During the 1st lock down a Quiz every Friday on Facebook in aid of the NHS charities.

These Questions have been made into a book and again all profits will be to NHS Charities.

VCC Cycling Jersey – £75

So for a long time two friends of the site Dan and johno have been asking to do some cycling wear.

We got together and worked on a design and have been lucky that Le Col have agreed to make these for us.

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Clock End Wall Clock – £64

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Arsenal: The Complete Record – £18.35

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Highbury Hoodies – £35

We are the North Bank, we are the North Bank, we are the North Bank Highbury!

Whether you were Clock End or North Bank, East Stand or West, these hoodies are nod to Highbury’s past. Available in 4 different colours.

 

1989 Art Print (A4 size) – £12

Originally drawn by hand, this print immortalises the greatest moment in Arsenal’s history.

Bruised Banana Print Printed face wrap / snood – £15

Inspired by Arsenal’s classic “bruised banana” kit from the early 90s, these face wraps / snoods are a versatile accessory that can be used as a face shield, headband, bandanna, wristband, or neck warmer.

Hot Scotch Sauce – £9.50 for 2

Not an Arsenal product, but a product made by Arsenal fan and friend of the site Grampian Gooner.

Hot Scotch Sauce marries the heat of seasonally grown Scottish chillies with the peaty smokiness of the finest Hebridean single malt scotch whisky

 

Charlie George Print – £18

Professionally drawn by hand and then printed on high-quality giclee 240gsm matt poster paper. 

They don’t come much more Arsenal than Charlie George.

Sol Campbell Framed & Signed Prints – £145

Signed by Sol Campbell in London in July 2020, these 16 x 12 prints come framed and ready to hang.

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