Arsenal v Aston Villa Post-Match Thread

[Ads]

The whole thing is cognitive dissonance to pretend Lego Head is the messiah rather than the Spanish Pulis who has spunked the thick end of a billion to win nigh on fuck all.

[Nev]

From the looks of things on the TV last night, every single Woolwich fan had spent £100 in the club shop, I've never seen so many scarfs and hats. Usually you get scalfers, old skool casuals dressed neutrally, the odd tourist with half and halfs, someone wearing a tracksuit top or replica shirt but everyone last night looked like an extra from Fever Pitch.

The whole place reeks of a desperate attempt to regain the heritage they junked when they left Highbury - the clock bolted onto the stand to somehow replicate the old Clock End in a ground that has no character whatsoever, that song etc etc.

I always feel that deep, deep down there is still a small bit of the old Man City within 115, probably represented by the few older fans left but in South, sorry, North London, there is nothing.

[rougegorge]

In all fan bases, the most vocal ones all seem to be the twats.

I’m very good friends with 3 Arsenal season ticket holders and all have the same doom thoughts before many games. Very congratulatory to me when we beat them (a lot recently).

One is even a Northern Soul DJ!!

Yes, I haven't experienced the generalisation that they are either the weirdest or the most cringeworthy fans in the country. As you say, all fan bases have people who are annoying, loud-mouthed etc...

My son-in-law is an Arsenal fan and is very reasonable as are the other ones I have met, so I could have been mixing in the wrong circles.

If you went last night or any other time in the past few years you'd think differently.

And I'm related to a Nose, he's a good bloke but I have zero interest im extrapolating his normal behaviour to the rest of the Chimney Boys.

Arsenal are Tarquin twats. Fuck them.

I didn't go last night but I have been a few times to see us at the Emirates in recent seasons, but I can't say I've experienced anything terrible nor would I generalise them as being some of the worst fans, but just my opinion.

[olaftab]

I know 3 Arsenal fans who I consider friends. They are proper decent balanced people. Obviously, otherwise they wouldn't be my friends.
However a few seasons ago I met 3/4 on the train back from Aston to New Street and they were total ******.  Massively disparaging about out city  and our club and then they asked me if there were any Michelin star restaurants in centre where they could possibly eat. I said there are 5 or 6 at which they laughed loudly saying "just that, there are more in Holloway prison".

[Meanwood Villa]

I still don't hate them as much as Man Utd, Liverpool, Man City and Chelsea

[ChicagoLion]

I still don't hate them as much as Man Utd, Liverpool, Man City and Chelsea

I know but they are making a bloody good effort with their plastic fans and wannabe anthem.

[Pat McMahon]

Adding my voice to those who know some reasonable Arsenal fans in London. I don't judge them by the Arsenal you tube twats who almost make the noses look sensible. The Arsenal fans I know respect us and are always complementary about Villa Park and our history. Not as marked as our deluded neighbours but they also have to put up with the headbangers at WHL who somehow think they are on a par with Arsenal, despite having only won the league twice in their history.

Last night showed we need to be at our very best to beat the top sides. We didn't take some really good chances in the first half, which was generally even, though our best work came in a spell between 10-20th minutes I reckon. All 4 goals came from errors - Martinez (although impeded he should have been stronger), Sancho, Digne and Garcia twice (a weak attempt at an interception then the lack of nous to bring his man down). For a while I thought they'd run riot and was willing the final whistle to come.

Wish McGinn had scored that sitter to make the score more respectable but pleased Ollie finally got his. It keeps his form going but also when we next play them they will be conscious he has scored in 3 consecutive games there. This plays in the heads of teams  -see us with Sarr.

One final thing: we need a throw in coach. We may as well just bounce the ball to the opposition.

[trinityoap]

Pat, I have been moaning for years about how often we give the ball away at throw ins or take so long that all our players are marked by the time that we finally get round to it.

[Meanwood Villa]

Only time we didn't automatically lose balls from throw ins was when we had Grealish

[Pat McMahon]

Pat, I have been moaning for years about how often we give the ball away at throw ins or take so long that all our players are marked by the time that we finally get round to it.

It's mad. For a team with coaches who have a fine eye for detail we are consistently atrocious at simply keeping possession. never mind doing something vaguely creative..

[OCD]

Still waiting for FIFA to bring in Wenger's idea of putting the ball on the floor and playing it.

[pauliewalnuts]

There are three things which put me off Arsenal (and tbh, I lived in Finsbury Park for a while in the early 90s, Arsenal Central basically, and they didn't concern me at all then, these are all recent things).

One is that their fans are the worst thing on the internet. They're so unbelievably cringey, they're just the worst thing out there. Seeing them on twitter and that cringey fucking AFTV is like being subjected to watching Jarsquatter (please do not google) on loop for hours.

The second is this immense sense of fucking entitlement they have. They genuinely can't lose a match without affecting some sort of righteous indignation that someone has been better than them.

The third is that in recent years, for a historic club, they've achieved a new sheen of artificiality, above all since they left Highbury. That 'North London Forever' thing is just absolutely hilariously shit, how naff. I thought Spurs singing that slow 'When the Spurs go Marching In' thing was easily the worst sound in football, but now they've got their new anthem, it's not even the worst thing in North London football.

[algy]

Pat, I have been moaning for years about how often we give the ball away at throw ins or take so long that all our players are marked by the time that we finally get round to it.

It's mad. For a team with coaches who have a fine eye for detail we are consistently atrocious at simply keeping possession. never mind doing something vaguely creative..

I just don’t get why folk are willing to pay tens of millions of pounds in transfer fees plus millions of pounds per year in players’ wages yet don’t seem to see the value in a set piece coach, let alone specialist coaches for absolutely everything - goal kicks, throw ins, warming up as a substitute, putting the kettle on, … you’d naturally assume that none of that would be left to chance. Yet it feels like it is sometimes.

[Toronto Villa]

This is why Emery is right. I know it was about us and our title chances and he quickly reminded every twat reporter before and after the game there is a long way to go. In the same way, all of a sudden perennial choke masters Arsenal have righted all the wrongs because they beat a depleted Villa last night (see Athletic article today by Mark Carey). It’s too early to determine that. At the business end of the season they have constantly fucked it up but the load blowing by sections of the media will have you believe it’s all going to be ok now. It’s unbearable. And as for Arsenal missing Rice and still winning last night, nobody talks about who we were missing. Or that Arsenal despite missing a key player who cost almost 2/3 of what the entire Villa starting XI cost, spent 10x what we did in the summer on strengthening the squad, and had unused players on the bench that cost the better part of £200M. So fuck them. All of them. The entitled deluded twats.