Suburban Gooners

Happy Friday people. Hope it goes well for you and your kin. Me, I’m toiling in the boredom levels of no Arsenal to think constantly about, but the fact I have my folks over for the weekend and the fact The Management and I are doing a bit of tourism ... read more

It’s understandably quiet at the moment as we head into another one of these international breaks. Honestly, these things are quite vexing, I must say. If we can look at anything positive from it, it’s that our momentum had been stuttering of late, but I’d really rather be playing Bournemouth ... read more

So Welbz has had his second operation in his ankle and as the club reported on the official site it has gone as well as can be hoped. Not being any kind of medical professional I have no idea what his timescale for recovery is and you can understand the ... read more

After a week in which many teams have European football there’s often a tendency for the games to be a little flat. We used to see it back in the day of the Champions League attendance we had. Perhaps that could be labelled at a few teams at the top ... read more

Ahh man am I hanging this morning. Like, PROPER hanging, which is what booze will do to you. A LOT of booze. But what always sobers the mind is an Arsenal game and so as I hazily stab at my MacBook this morning (as I start today’s blog it is technically ... read more

Happy Saturday unto thee. Although with the Welbeck situation, as well as the fact that the club are talking about Danny getting well soon, etc, I think we can put a few together to think that it’s probably the worst. And that’s a horrible situation. It’s horrible for the player ... read more

It was a weird old game yesterday. With the goals we’ve been getting all season and the plaudits from an attacking point of view but not a defensive one, it felt as though we should have been dispatching Sporting Lisbon with a little more ease on our own soil. After ... read more

It’s another Europa League game at the Emirates tonight and a chance to see if we can progress through the group stages and top the group with a win tonight against Sporting Lisbon. It’s the part of the group that I’m sure many of us thought would be the biggest ... read more

A wet and grim day in London, made all the more grim because of that ‘orrible lot getting a last minute winner yesterday but still, at least the scousers messed up and with a second defeat in the competition, they’re hardly looking infallible. As for us it’ll be some words ... read more

There’s little time for further analysis for Emery and his charges, with a potentially decisive game against Sporting Lisbon on the horizon in just over 60 hours time, that could have a further bearing on how we line up in future Europa League games. I suspect we’ll be getting a ... read more

I didn’t blog yesterday on account of a raging hang over that really didn’t see me feel human until about 2pm yesterday, but suffice to say that despite my personal fear and negativity surrounding a potential home battering by Liverpool, we have a really good account of ourselves and I ... read more

I’ve been struggling in my mind to make a case for us all week for this game, in an effort to try and manage my own expectations and forgive me – dear friends – if this blog comes across as a little too apprehensive, but I am not looking forward ... read more

I said it yesterday, I’ve said it a couple of months back when the announcement of Gazidis was made, but don’t let the door hit you on the way out Ivan. Yesterday he was officially gone and it said so much about his tenure that half of the people who ... read more

Well my warnings from yesterday were certainly a bit of a waste of time in the end, eh? I said we shouldn’t underestimate Blackpool and whilst there was a little patch after we went down to ten that looked a little nervy – not helped by some shoddy ‘keeping by ... read more

Back on the horse today lads, there’s an opportunity to extend the undefeated run to 13 and despite the fact we’re all bricking it for Saturday evening, we should still approach tonight’s game with the right attitude, approach and hopefully, safe passage in to the quarter finals of the League ... read more

With another game coming so quickly after the poor Palace performance on Sunday, there’s barely any time to draw breath for Unai Emery and his charges, as is the same for us as fans. Taking stock of performances like Sunday is important because Emery will need to analyse just why ... read more

Today is a blog of, ultimate lunch, frustration I’m afraid. It’s frustration because that wonderful winning run that we’ve been on came to an end away to Crystal Palace, but also it’s frustration about the way in which it happened. There were a a few factors involved in the way ... read more

Howdy folks and welcome to another matchday. A matchday in which the possibility of winning 12 on the bounce is very real and yet at the same time I find myself exceedingly nervous that we could completely bugger up today’s game against Crystal Palace at Selhurst Park. I don’t know ... read more

The Thursday night footballery that we saw means that this is another Saturday with which we all spend collectively with our families and friends. I’m going to the Royal Mail Postal museum. But it does also mean that we get to have a bit of a digesting session on Unai ... read more

After an 11th consecutive victory we really should be getting any minor niggles and parking them right now I think, but it’s hard to completely ignore them, so I’ll quickly get them out of the way first and then we can start to talk about the good stuff. Sporting Lisbon ... read more

Matchday Thursday can be made all the sweeter when the Tiny Totts have fluffed their lines and whilst I’ll not be dwelling too much on their misfortune ahead of a big game in the context of our group stage safe passage to the next round, it would be remiss if ... read more

It’s the middle of the week already and having had that most boredom inducing thing of an international break last week, there’s barely any time to catch our breath, as the team travel out tonight for Sporting Lisbon away tomorrow. It should mean an Emery press conference and I must ... read more

I could really get used to “second half Arsenal” you know. Like, really get used to them. I’m not too fussed about “first half Arsenal, if I’m honest; in fact I’d happily never see “first half Arsenal” ever again, thank you kindly. That’s what we have to get used to ... read more

Morning folks and ‘Happy Match Day!’ To you and your kin. Man am I glad this has finally come around. We’ve had to deal with a ridiculously long international break, sit through a weekend of other teams playing, before finally getting our fill from 8pm this evening. And I for ... read more

Happy Saturday to all of you wonderful people from a slightly grey Amsterdam, in which this weekend I’ll be spending my time ahead of a marathon on Sunday morning and I must say thanks to the TV companies, because for once they’ve worked in my favour. I don’t get back ... read more

Proper football is finally coming back on the agenda and with it we’re getting some lovely little sound bites from our man Unai. Ahh I can’t tell you how much I’ve missed being able to talk about upcoming Arsenal. I don’t know why but this particular international break has felt ... read more

Sooooo little to talk about in the Arsenal world right now. When headline news is the existing Arsenal ladies manager signing a new contract extension, plus Arsène Wenger saying how it wasn’t good news for Germany to lose Mesut Özil (well, duh…), you know it’s been a slow news week. ... read more

Ahh man this Interlull is interminable. It feels like the world has literally ground to a halt as we patiently await the return of actual, proper, football. I’ll be honest with you, even the news that Henrikh Mkhitaryan bagged goals and assists for Armenia, or that Reiss Nelson bagged an ... read more

Happy Monday folks. Hope you’re all fine and dandy given the international break boredom we are all collectively enduring right now. I mean it really is a snooze fest, eh? I’m not sure how anyone can claim to have any interest in it at this time of the year. Especially ... read more

So it seems there is so little to talk about when it comes to The Arsenal this morning, that all I really have to peruse over for my morning bowl of Frosties is a story emerging that Thierry Henry is about to take the reigns at Monaco, after Jardim was ... read more

I’m sorry but anybody who can get remotely ‘up for’ this selection of international football boredom festivals that are arranged for this weekend probably needs an enima from Dr Seward from Dracula Dead and Loving it. For me the only purpose these intermissions of proper football provide is when we’re ... read more

With no proper football on this week it feels a bit weird having little of interest to talk about, especially given the winning run and the volume of Arsenal matches we’ve been gifted. Even the European competition has been fun to see us win, albeit with a little bit too ... read more

I write this blog every morning on my way to work. It’s a bit of a schlep and so I get about 45 minutes to compile some thoughts and as a result I’m not exactly one for research to the nth degree. I write this blog as a compilation of ... read more

After the first ten minutes on Sunday when we all realised that Emery was adopting a 4-4-2 against Fulham, I think it took me an additional ten minutes to believe it, such is the way with football fashion and the penchant for following trends. Wenger himself moved from 4-4-2 way ... read more

Well, what a happy Monday we have here thanks to The Arsenal, eh? Five goals away from home, nine wins on the bounce, six in the league, Auba and Laca both getting two, plus one of the contenders for goal of the season thanks in large part due to some ... read more

A 12pm kick off is a funny old thing. It’s the earliest type of kick off you get in the Premier League and whilst I’m no fan of Sunday games anyway, I can tolerate these more because it still feels like you have something of a day after the team ... read more

Morning all and welcome to another weekend. And it’s one of many this season in which our Saturday’s are sadly not taken up by The Arsenal. It’s not fun really and doesn’t feel right but I guess it is what it is. For the positive yin of having plenty to ... read more

I’ve gotta say – the good thing about Thursday night games is that it makes the Friday morning commute and subsequent Arsenal blog much more palatable. Especially when the lads have gone away and notched another win and another three points to take us closer to Europa League qualification. And ... read more

I don’t really care that the Timy Totts and Scousers are in a bigger competition than us; seeing them lose is pleasurable in any competition and so to witness that ‘orrible lot concede four at home to a Barca team that hasn’t been in the greatest of form, is mighty ... read more

In football things change so quickly, don’t they? Life moves fast and within a few seasons the fortunes of a team can look very different. Everyone is praising Liverpool for their transfer team and dealings these days, but it wasn’t long ago under Rodgers that they were lambasted for their ... read more

With a game very far away on Thursday to worry about, I wonder if we might start to get trickles of news about the squad heading out to Baku to play Qarabag on Thursday, from today? It’s a fair old schlep to play football and because of that everything probably ... read more

If ever one needs an example of how quickly fortunes can change in football, one need look no further than Alex Iwobi who with a couple of impressive substitute appearances in the league and a decent game against Brentford last midweek, has suddenly found himself thrust into the fan spotlight ... read more

I didn’t expect an easy game against Watford yesterday and despite the fact we got the cushion of the second goal, it certainly was what I expected from a team who have started the season well, because Watford were a confident team that rocked up at The Emirates yesterday. You ... read more

Ahh that most sacred of things: a three o’clock kick off. How I have missed thee. I know we got one the other week against Newcastle but it didn’t feel the same because a) I was in New York and not at St James’ Park watching the game, and b) ... read more

I like Aaron Ramsey. I like his energy, the spaces he occupies, the goals he has scored and I think a fully fit Ramsey is a massive asset to the team. So whilst my title is provocative in a sense, it is 100% how I feel and is not indicative ... read more

It’s fair to say that the main requirement of yesterday was delivered: a better first half and progression to the next round of the League Cup. The former was important so as to avoid our lacklustre first half performances becoming “a thing”. We’d not exactly clicked in the first 45 ... read more

Match day for The Arsenal unfortunately – not from my perspective because we haven’t played and won our League Cup game as it hasn’t been played yet – can’t really be laced with lashings of schadenfreude in relation to Derby’s win at Old Trafford. If we can overcome Brentford tonight ... read more

Tuesday is upon us friends and what I always like a about Tuesday after a Sunday game, is that it’s usually when all of the stats boffins come out with their analysis on matches, firing xG charts into the great beyond of the internet and generally telling us why the ... read more

A few ‘firsts’ from yesterday’s game that were worth picking up on I thought. First of the ‘firsts’ – a clean sheet! How about that eh? Turns out we do know how to do those, even with our most impressive defender of the season – Sokratis – picking up an ... read more

Today’s game against Everton will by no means be a walkover. The Toffees are a bit unpredictable like us and despite the fact that we have a brilliant record at home against them, they have players that can hurt us and so I naturally have that horrible feeling in the ... read more

Happy Saturday folks. It’s one of many this season in which Arsenal aren’t playing but yesterday Unai spoke to the official site about the game tomorrow and there’s a word he said a few times that keeps ringing in my head as I compose some of my usual garbled thoughts ... read more

Well now, that was fun and once again, as The Management often says, The Arsenal did The Goals. Now I don’t know about you, but I like that, regardless of the opposition. When I was a wee nipper or a grumpy teenager I used to get frustrated when Arsenal didn’t ... read more

Hooray for match day I say! After the last few days of it being about Ivan and his departure, after back-to-back away games in between an international break, we finally get back to The Arsenal at home and tonight is the first time I’m back to The Emirates since the ... read more

Welly welly welly. Wellington wellington wellington. Welbz Welbz Welbz. After much speculation and after the initial scoop by Arseblog on Monday evening, we had confirmation from the club that Ivan Gazidis will depart Arsenal for AC Milan from the end of October and despite the statement from Sir Chips that ... read more

Back in Blighty and back to normality for me after Portugal and New York at the weekend and whilst I was hoping to talk about the Newcastle game, impact of Torreira, Xhaka, etc, etc, it’s Gazidis who seems to be dominating the topic of conversation after Arseblog News broke the ... read more

Morning you wonderful sexy bitches, you. Well, it is for me as I write this now, having flown out to New York for the weekend with my company for a bit of a jolly. So the next couple of days will probably be somewhat disjointed blogs, although I will be ... read more

It helps to settle the nerves on a Thursday morn to check out the official site and see certain players back in training. For too long we’ve had situations where the international break has been followed by a collective holding of hands, silent prayers said, a hope of no missing ... read more

Mother Nature has seen fit to reward my ten days of sunshine in Portugal with typically drab weather this morning. But as I sit here on the Met Line waiting patiently for my People’s Chariot to disappear into the grey smog of London, I am at least thankful that my ... read more

Unai Emery knows he doesn’t have a squad capable of beating the likes of Manchester City, Chelsea, United and Liverpool to the crown this season, but he’s not in it for the short term. A successful campaign for the gunners this season will be a top 4 finish, just so ... read more

Morning all from a cloudy Algarve, in which i’m typing today’s blog whilst overlooking the sea and wondering why the sky isn’t blue, which is most irritating. And as I sit here and tap away I am thinking about Granit Xhaka and the way in which he polarises opinions amongst ... read more

Winning football matches away from home you say? Well yes please. Although perhaps we could work on making it a little bit easier for ourselves by actually doing it without brain farting our way in to conceding goals and having to rely on our forwards to do the business each ... read more

I think this is going to be tough against Cardiff today. It’ll be gritty, they’ll leave tackles in on us, try to be overly physical and despite the fact Stoke are thankfully nowhere near playing us again in the league, I reckon we’ll have a similar experience against the Welsh ... read more

Morning one and all and welcome to another weekend. One in which we have to wait until Sunday – once again – before we get to see The Arsenal in action. Still, at least we have some interesting titbits of information to digest, starting with the Europa League draw. Never ... read more

Morning folks. It’s super-early O’Clock for me today, on account of an early finish and trip to Portugal for a bit of R’n’R today and as I sit here blurry-eyed thinking about Sunday’s game and Emery’s press conference that will happen at some time today, there are a few things ... read more

Morning fellow Gooners. It’s been a bank holiday week in the UK which means the week is one day less. So why the frig does it feel like I’ve already done a day longer than normal? Might have something to do with the fact I’m offski to Portugal tomorrow evening ... read more

With all of the hoo-ha of the start of the Premier League I think most of us had forgotten the fact English clubs can’t become embroiled in an end of August transfer scrap on Friday. It’s been refreshing to know that there won’t be any destabilising of players as the ... read more

It’s funny how in football harmony can do quickly turn into discord. Just look at the situation at Old Trafford right now. A pretty stinging defeat to the horrible lot from the other part of north London and what do you know? Jose is at odds with everyone again. Having ... read more

Morning gooner. It’s one of those rarest of things in the UK today – bank holiday – which means a bit of s lie in and a morning spent in me PJs watching the Unai Emery press conference again, as well as some more fall out from the victory against ... read more

Ultimately what we wanted yesterday was an Arsenal win and so when Danny Welbeck calmly swivelled and rifled home the third goal in injury time, the overriding emotion was obviously relief from most of the stadium and also for me. I think if I was to choose a word to ... read more

Happy Saturday one and all, hope you’re having a good one, especially since the season can now officially start today after a couple of engine stalls. Of course the engine could still fall apart on us today and anybody expecting West Ham to be a nice easy ride should probably ... read more

Emery did his presser yesterday which of course is delicious for somebody who needs something to write about on a Friday morning commute, so I got one am hoping that he replicates this format for the rest of his Arsenal tenure, cos it dun’half ‘elp with my #content. I like ... read more

Having talked quite a bit yesterday on our Wednesday night ‘A Little Bit Arsenal’ show about how Emery isn’t afraid to hook players regardless of their status in the squad, this morning I find myself waking up thinking about the substitutions he’s making at the moment, wondering whether it will ... read more

As I was on my early morning run I was listening to an Arsenal podcast and contemplating our new life under Emery and the egos in the dressing room. Talk turned to Aaron Ramsey being benched, to whether Mesut Özil will keep his place, to Xhaka, then also the impact ... read more

Howdy folks, hope you’ve started your day in a positive fashion, reading through messages of Dennis Bergkamp who yesterday in 1995 signed for The Arsenal and went on to become a legend at the club. Thierry will always be my king, but Dennis is god. That’s how it is with ... read more

Two days after the defensive shambles that was Stamford Bridge and still the result is stinging a bit, but after a day of boozing for the parents Ruby wedding anniversary, plus reading the views of the players and other Arsenal fans, in pleased that we all seem a little more ... read more

I feel weird writing about Arsenal this morning. Weird because I don’t know exactly how I feel. Often I will feel happiness, elation, anger, sadness, frustration, but today I feel a little bit of everything. And that’s weird. Ultimately I guess the emotion that overrides all is sadness because we ... read more

Saturday is football and football is Saturday. I love it when The Arsenal play on a Saturday (even if the actual kick off time is rubbish). It feels right and proper. And what with this being the first Saturday of the season it feels extra exciting. I have that nervous ... read more

Unai Emery delivered his second press conference of the new season yesterday and I think it’s fair to say it was a mixed bag for us. The positives are that he’s getting to grips with the language more every week and it feels like he should be able to deliver ... read more

Happy Thursday y’all! It’s technically still summer in the UK but given the drizzle that has engulfed my particular corner of the world, you’d never have guessed it, because it’s looking pretty grim. As grim as Carl Jenkinson’s hopes of getting out of Football limbo, where he currently resides, too ... read more

I wonder if Ivan, Raoul and Sven have been playing Football Manager over the summer, because that’s the only fathomable explanation why they’ve decided to issue a ‘not-quite-official’ declaration that Unai Emery’s job is safe. There were a few reputable places online reporting it yesterday and when I read it ... read more

Morning all. Happy Tuesday unto thee. Hopefully you’re feeling grand and the usual bitter taste after a weekend defeat doesn’t feel as lingering in your mouth as it usually does for me. I’m all for the idea of the season taking a reboot after next weekend, you see, because with ... read more

I expected us to lose against City because they’re two years into the development of their team under Pep. His training, his identity of his team, the way they press, the acquisition of the types of players he wants; all of it was quite clearly evident yesterday as City we’re ... read more

Morning all! Excited? I know I am. Of course I’m also absolutely bricking myself as to what lies ahead because quite frankly, the Premier League random fixture generator couldn’t have made it more difficult for us if it tried. Man City were so many streaks ahead of everyone else last ... read more

So, we have a press conference ahead of a proper game to digest, eh? Uni took to the press conference and spoke to the assembled hacks to talk about the game this weekend and once again, he sounded like his English is improving at each time and once again I ... read more

That was that then. The transfer window closed an unsurprisingly, given that so many people talked up ‘madness’ and went on about a defender and Dembele from Barca, there were only outgoings yesterday from Arsenal. Lucas Perez ended an unhappy two years at the club by signing for West Ham ... read more

It’s transfer deadline day today – a lot earlier than it’s ever been – and despite some of the murmurings of a Dembele here, or centre half there, I think Arsenal’s revolving door at Colney will be more busy by the ‘exit’ part than the ‘entry’. We’ve got too many ... read more

Well it’s all been pretty much confirmed and after yesterday’s Kroenke news I’ve obviously had my say in yesterday’s blog. This morning I wake up resigned to the fact we are powerless to do anything. There are talks of protests, or not turning up to the first game, leaving the ... read more

We’re less than a week before the big kick off to the Premier League so perhaps inevitably, what with the transfer window shutting on Friday too, Arsenal are suddenly looking less than perfect when it comes to preparation with the new season. I’m talking of the Ramsey situation of course, ... read more

That’s it then. Final match preparations have been completed, a 2-0 victory against Lazio was secured, an Arsenal performance in which some of the returning players got valuable minutes and as is par for the course for The Arsenal, a positional crisis as we now seem to have both of ... read more

I’m at a wedding today. Which is going to be really awks when I put my headphones in at 7pm to watch the Arsenal v Lazio game on Arsenal Player. Oh well, people will organise life-changing events when the last pre season friendly is on… Tonight will be fascinating I ... read more

This time next week fellow Gooners, it’ll be countdown to Premier League match weekend one and we’ll be but a few days away from finding out just how ready Unai Emery’s charges are for the slog ahead. The summer has been kind to us so far. We’ve done business early, ... read more

A victory on penalties is still a victory, albeit a friendly victory and one in which I certainly think we can learn a bit from, get a bit excited about, but also be a little apprehensive. Let’s get the painful stuff out of the way first though. Like ripping off ... read more

I think this’ll be an interesting game this evening against Chelski. Yes it’s a pre season friendly. Yes it means little in the grand scheme of things. And yes the players are still adapting to life under Emery. But this will be a good opportunity for us to see what ... read more

Because we haven’t had a new manager in so many years prior to this summer, we haven’t seen the usual “this manager is working us soooo much more harder than the last one” type comments from footballers at Arsenal, so yesterday’s comments from Bellerin are welcome but I personally take ... read more

Morning folks. It’s a muggy old day in England, having been a muggy and rainy day yesterday and so here I sit on the tube, having a look outside on the Metropolitan Line at clouds and circular patches of water on the floor, wondering why the summer has ended so ... read more

Happy Friday Gooners. We have a match to digest! Whoop! Been a long time coming, eh? Too long it feels. The World Cup was good, but it was kind of like having a Quorn chilli-con-carne. It’s nice, you can spice it up to remove the fact it’s not mince but ... read more

It’s hotter than hell in the UK today. But you’ll nee find me complaining that’s for sure. I don’t care that I have to squeeze myself into a suit for work because this type of summer feels like it comes along once in a lifetime and so I’m just embracing ... read more

Happy ‘middle-o-week’ day to you and your kin. I hope it shall be a fruitful one and you take advantage of the day. Arsenal still reside in Singapore and we’re getting plenty of emoji-based icons to denote how hard they’re working, how they’re doing double sessions, all the while being ... read more

So the Arsenal squad are now in Singapore and the charm offensive of Asia is now well and truly underway. Over the next few days we’ll see plenty of happy and smiling faces and it will all be designed to exude a level of harmony that was not there before. ... read more

It’s a bit hot for three-piece suits in London, I can tell you that much, but when one has a personal ‘brand’ to maintain, the air temperature can’t get in the way It’s also getting hot over at the German FA by the looks of it, because yesterday Mesut ... read more