A solid win in France midweek saw Aaron Ramsey continue his fine form this season. The poor Welsh bastard did get a little bit of unfair criticism over the last couple of years, so it's nice to see him enjoying himself.
Walcott also discovered a way to put one of his many, many chances this season into the net. All credit to him, it was a lovely volley form inside the box. I see what he means when he said it felt like the ball took ages to come down, but he hit it well. Hopefully that goal will restore his confidence a little and he'll start putting some more chances away. Don't get me wrong, he's been playing well, but 1 goal, 1 assist and 12 shots in all games this season should be better.
A home game against a tough and physical Stoke City Sunday will be a test for us, as they usually are. We've won the majority of games since they've been back in the Premiership, but they are never a pushover and usually manage to frustrate us with their cuntishness fouling and constant kicking at the heels.
As usual there is a lot of focus on Ramey vs Shawcross in this fixture, and how Ramsey will react. What's nice is that Ramsey is clearly hitting top form at the moment, and is arguably one of the best players in England right now, while Ryan Shawrcoss is.... well.... Shawcross.
It says a lot about a team who appoints such a gargantuan prick such as him as their captain. Neither him or his team have been particularly fantastic so far this season. Granted they got a decent draw against Citeh', but wins against Crystal Palace and West Ham don't give them any reason to be overly confident. Wankers.
Both Theo Walcott and Arsene Wenger made comments this week about how me need to improve our home form, and I couldn't agree more. Clearly we're a confident team away from home; a record 10 consecutive wines away from home. And as I mentioned in the last blog, we have to give so much credit to the away fans, they are often louder than the 55,000 some that sit on their arses at the Emirates.
Before the Emirates it was the "Highbury Library" because of our weak home support, and I think because of the masses of executive tickets sold at the newer stadium we're seeing the same thing now to some extent. It's baffling that you spend that sort of money to go see a football match and you keep your mouth shut almost the entire 90 minutes. Granted, a lot of those tickets may be bought corporately and given out as incentives or what have you, so we may not be seeing 55,000 Gooners necessarily.
There were a few times last season when (from sitting in from of my TV thousands of miles away....) it seemed like the atmosphere at The Emirates was electric! But with the effort the lads are putting in this season I don't think it's too much for them to ask for a bit of unconditional support, do you?
Fair enough if you've got 11 players jogging around not really giving a shit, but we've got a really great feel about this squad so far this season, and I don't think anybody can say they're not giving 100%. So if you're fortunate enough to be sitting a few feet away from them, let them bloody know how you feel and cheer them on! We're lucky to be Gooners and to have such a fantastic stadium to watch our team in, so let's turn it into a fortress where other teams will be cacking their pants at the thought of meeting The Arsenal there.
Our 12th man needs to step up and give 100%. The other 11 certainly have been. Come on you Gunners!
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