Tag Archives: West Ham

Arsenal set for the final day we have dreamed of for over a decade

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Afternoon all.

A much later than normal blog today as it has been a busy morning in the Keenos household.

The grass is cut, meat is bought for the BBQ and car has been given a run out. It is only now I am getting a moments rest.

In all honesty, I am glad I have had a busy morning as it has taken my mind off what might or might not happen tomorrow. It does a feel a little like the eve of a cup final and the nerves are beginning to creep in.

The obvious difference between tomorrow and a cup final is it is not Arsenal v Manchester City. We face Everton whilst they are at home to West Ham. It is not a case of “we win, we lift a trophy”.

I have seen a few people make comparisons with this season to 1989. That what we did in Anfield should be enough to give us all hope. And yes you are right. But also wrong.

In 1989 it was still in our hands. We knew if we won by two or more clear goals we would lift the title. Tomorrow it is not in our hands.

We could beat Everton 10-nil and still finish 2nd if Manchester City get the victory. The only way we are winning is if we win our game and City fail to beat West Ham. And I just can not see City failing to beat West Ham.

Tomorrow is more like 99 than 89 to me. We are relying on others rather than ourselves.

But that does not mean I think it is a foregone conclusion. Like Mikel Arteta, I believe the dream is still alive. And I will certainly be laying there in bed tonight thinking about what could happen tomorrow.

So plans for tomorrow?

For me it will be head to Islington for 11ish (it is a 4pm kick off remember). Go to a cafe on Upper Street before heading to The George (now called the Stag) for around 3 hours of drinking.

The George has always had a place in my heart and I still can not believe it has been 6 years since Pete and the team poured their last pint in there. Whilst it phoenixed a couple of years ago, it is not the same gaff that it used to be.

Sadly, The George is once again up for sale, and has been for some months. I would not be surprised the 13ish weeks of no Arsenal will see the end once again and we will return in August to see it boarded up. Once again I will be looking for a new home for my pre and post-match beers (and no, I am not going Brewers!).

If tomorrow is the last day for the second incarnation of The George, hopefully we see it off well regardless of winning the league or not.

For the rest of today it will be a case of keeping myself occupied. A few ciders in the garden before the BBQ goes on. And then it is a focus on tomorrow and the biggest question – will it be shorts weather?

UTA.

Keenos

Match Report: West Ham United 1 – 0 Arsenal

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West Ham United (0) 1 Arsenal (0) 0
Premier League
The London Stadium, Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park, London E20 2ST
Saturday, 12th January 2019. Kick-off time: 12.30pm
(4-2-3-1) Leno; Mustafi, Sokratis, Koscielny, Maitland-Niles; Guendouzi, Xhaka; Kolašinac, Aubameyang, Iwobi, Lacazette,
Substitutes: Čech, Bellerín, Ramsey, Torreira, Lichtsteiner, Monreal, Nketiah.
Yellow Cards: Mustafi, Kolašinac
Referee: Jonathan Moss
Attendance: 59,946
Maybe it was the look of horror on Laurent Koscielny’s face when Declan Rice’s shot hit the back of the Arsenal net. Or maybe it was the shrug of Alexandre Lacazettte’s shoulders near the end of the match that told the story of this sorry tale of woe; but either way, and whatever it was, the parts were far worse than the sum of the whole today. We started the match brightly enough, with Alex Iwobi making penetrating runs down and across the channels, with Sead Kolašinac working well alongside him. In midfield, Mattéo Guendouzi started to move with confidence, and one of the brighter moments for us in the first half was his attempt on the West Ham goal from 25 yards. 
However, our second half reputation for stepping up to the plate and dominating matches appeared to leave us quickly today. Within five minutes of the restart, we were a goal down due to bad positioning and sloppy defending which has been our problem for most of this season. To be fair, Mr. Emery sensed the seriousness of the situation and brought on Lucas Torreira for Shkodran Mustafi and the departing Aaron Ramsey for Granit Xhaka; ten minutes later, Ainsley Maitland-Niles made way for Hector Bellerín. At this point, we then appeared to drop to a flat back four, but to be fair, by now all bets were off. Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang only had one meaningful attempt on the home side’s goal, whilst in injury time, a header from Laurent Koscielny did find the back of the West Ham net, but his goal was ruled out for offside by Jonathan Moss, which not only disappointed our fans, but merely served to rub salt in an already painful wound.
Today was the day when we truly discovered that the story about the emperor’s new clothes was really written for Arsenal Football Club. Despite all the great football that was played a few months ago, despite the impressive victories and the jaw-dropping goals, this performance at The London Stadium today proved that all that went before didn’t matter and the real Arsenal is a flaccid, uninspired leaderless collection of footballers. 
What to do? Mr. Emery has already stated that Arsenal have no money available for permanent signings in the January transfer window, and that we are looking at loan deals to shore up an extremely porous defence. The owner of the club is conspicuous by his continued absence, and one is now starting to wonder if his modus operandi here in North London is merely one of investor and not benefactor, despite a net worth of US$8.5 billion and a reputation of not getting involved in any of his clubs’ day-to-day operations. Bearing this in mind, what we see is what we get and the players we have here is all that there is until the season ends and the summer transfer window opens. Even then, who can we attract to our club? Having been somewhere, it’s  going to be difficult to accept that we are still going nowhere. Our traditional rivals are continuing to improve, and we have just simply stagnated with our major role being a successful off-the-field financial showpiece for the owner’s ever-growing empire. There used to be a football club over there, you know?
Without new players of a certain level we will be heading for mid-table obscurity, and in the world we inhabit today, that will be sooner rather than later, I’m afraid. With our next matches being Chelsea and Manchester United, it’s now impossible to feel sanguine about the prospects of victory in either game, sadly. It’s not only now, with us drowning in the wake of this defeat that makes me concerned about the future; it’s the realisation that unless something drastic happens behind the scenes at The Emirates, this series of events will be replayed in front of us next season, and many seasons that follow. It’s going to be rough out there from now on. Nineteen days and counting until the end of the transfer window for loan deals. Remember everyone, keep the faith, get behind the team and the manager, as these early days are going to be crucial for our future success in all competitions. Stick with the winners. 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.

Arsenal’s most important game since their last most important game

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Today’s game against West Ham is the most important game since the last most important game.

It has been a tough week for some Arsenal fans as the realisation has hit that the last men running the club – Ivan Gazidis & Arsene Wenger – left us in a poorer state then they first thought.

The poor commercial deals, poor sales and poor coaching will take 3 years to undo. We are just 6 months into the future.

So the game against West Ham is very important to keep fans onside.

There had been a wave of hope and optimism due to a 23-game unbeaten run. This was hit with poor results against Southampton, Brighton and Liverpool. Some fans began doubt Unai Emery et al quicker than what they should. Probably motivated by RT’s and followers.

But negativity can spread quickly. We lose tomorrow, the crowd will be baying for blood at the next home game – next weekend against Chelsea. You can already hear the cries of spend some f*****ing money as attention seeking drips get out their (recently ironed by their mum) banners out, protest and call for a boycott.

These fans are short termist.

It was always going to take 3 years to get us back up an running.

Look at Liverpool. This is Jurgen Klopp’s 4th year in charge. They finished 8th in his first year.

If you really thought that by Gazidis and Wenger going, that we were suddenly going to spend £200m and be top of the league, you were deluded. This isn’t the club lying to you, raising your expectations. This is you lying to yourself, raising your own expectations.

After Chelsea it is Manchester United in the cup, Cardiff at home, then Manchester City away.

It is a tough run of 5 games, with only the home game against Cardiff a coupon banker. And this is why the fans support is so important.

Emery before has spoken about the fans, players and club working as one. Supporting each other. Backing each other.

If you get out the banners, start the booing, after just a little bump in the road. After a couple of poor games and 2 weeks without signing someone, then you need to take a long hard look at yourself.

Victory against West Ham keeps us on the right foot. It would make it 3 wins on the spin as we go in to the Chelsea / Man U home double header.

By the time Chelsea is over, we could be in the top 4, or we could be 9 points behind.

We the fans have a huge part to play. Back the boys, back the team, back the new regime.

Keenos