17th of Aug, 2019. A month prior, I had bought the Arsenal Red Membership with no hope of ever getting a chance to watch a match. It didn’t arrive for 2 weeks. I reached out to Arsenal support and they sent a copy of the membership card; it came with an Arsenal book, a red and white Arsenal muffler, and a woven winter cap. I was delighted after receiving the package and next thing was to try and get a ticket somehow.
Searched through reddit about how to get one, realised it’s almost impossible to get a ticket on Red Membership but I can buy one from the ticket exchange. So, I did exactly that. I didn’t realise how big the stadium is, at that time… and booked the cheapest one which was at the top.
And, the biggest mistake was, reaching 2 hours before the game. It was sort of empty outside, with mostly families lining up for pictures for their kids. No queues, and not much people once I went IN. An hour later, stadium was packed with 60k+ fans, players warming up. It was ecstatic.
It was the game against Burnley, under Unai Emery. Dani Ceballos started his first game for us on loan, we had David Luiz too starting his first game in Red and White after a move from Chelsea. We went ahead in 13th minute from a Lacazette’s goal, assisted by Dani boy. Happiness didn’t last long when Burnley scored one just before the half time. It was in the 64th minute when Auba scored the winning goal for us, stadium was buzzing, people were singing and I was on my arse for the rest of the game.
Wonderful experience. Brilliant atmosphere. Dream to watch Arsenal at Emirates was done. I managed to watch few more games before returning from UK, but the first game was special, even though I couldn’t see the players’ faces from up top.
The featured image on this post was the first pic I took of Emirates.
In this 4 years, my love and passion towards AFC has increased – so yeah, it affects my mood even more now. This love made me start a blog, which has 168 articles, 7,599 approved and genuine comments, and 91,500 unique readers. Things have gotten better, both at the club level where we are competing with Man City for the title, having one of the youngest and best group of players playing for us; and for LiR where the traffic is increasing as day passes.
Thank you, for all your support. LiR wouldn’t be anything without the readers.
Cheers.
For any team with serious title aspirations anything other than a decisive win on Monday will be a serious red flag scenario…that said, it’s got potential banana skin written all over it…on the road, tough environment, some bus parking tactics and a built-in injury-related tactical excuse to boot…on the other hand, maybe Havertz will actually make his first official appearance of the season and all will go swimmingly
“We got to get this TW right” will come and haunt Arteta. A Chelsea reject, an overpriced DM and 36mill out of the window with the outcome not known for years. He has 12 days to save it.
.
Watching the matches so far it is going to be a war for the top 4 as it is no longer a top 6 but more like a top 8. With the exception of City after watching them last night, no other team is a sure in. Our 2nd place finish last season is deceiving and I expect 4th place will be a surprise.
.
But all is good because if we finish outside the top 4 it is a good chance that our MIT will be gone.
Tony
The RWC is a most welcome event and for me I love to watch Scotland but they are in a group of death. Shame on the guys who drew this up.
.
For me, would love to see the following teams winning it in that order: Ireland, New Zealand, France.
.
Will be back in the US Sep 5th just in time for the first game. Been for a week in London it has gotten so much worst since I left it 15 years ago, except the mentality of the Brits as deluded as the Arteta fan boys.
Good day out at King Power. Result was sickening but check out Rambo’s equaliser which was as good a goal as any he scored for us including that one against Galatasaray. Cardiff fans gave it the big one so there’s hope. Leicester’s fans were mute til that second goal went in. They’re already imagining they’re going straight back up so I’d like to see them disabused of that thus autumn and winter. A long day but not without the usual fun bits. After this one and the draw to Leeds I just hope they can start converting some of these performances into wins. Runnarsson looked totally shite in the warm up!
TRVL & Killroy
Agree 100% with both of you – Monday nights an important game, we were poor against Forest and need to show some form.
This season is going to be an absolute battle for top 4. If Liverpool don’t make it Klopp will be out of a job. Chelsea have got to make it with the money they’ve spent (how the fuck aren’t they breaching FFP?), ManU expect to be there, Newcastle have big ambitions, a couple of good performances / results and the Spuddies will think they’re the second coming and then you’ve got the chance of a surprise team popping up.
For the neutral its going to be great for the fans its going to be exhausting and emotional.
England women are as devoid of self belief as England men. Spanish women try to get the ball unlike England women consumed by “It’s coming home” media hype. No10 should have been taken off earlier. Lauren James has been no nonsense tough though
England women lost to Spain 1-0, with Spain looking more dangerous . England centre back has been good ,so also Eaps. The rest mostly meh.
Everton are awful, they should just relegate them now and give everyone 6 points.
Kilroy
The RWC placings your have could well ring true.
.
Marc
That made me chuckle. I think it’s the spreading of the players’ contracted’ payments spreading the fee over I think I read up to 8 years.
.
Of course Newcastle can loan any decent player from Saudi, so they have the perfect soft sand shuffle past the FFP.
.
See how the Chavs do tonight with Poch. Probably not the game Moyes wanted for the Hammer’s 2nd game.
West Ham don’t seem to be missing Rice. Going to be a tight game if the first 17 minutes are to go by.
@Marc
Chelsea and FFP is very easy. FFP is a UEFA thingy and since they are not in any European computation it doesn’t apply. For the EPL it is Financial Sustainability and it is far more relaxed then FFP. In addition since they hand out 8+ year contracts, the whole transfer fee is amortized. So for £96mill it is only £12mill per year. They sold Havertz which was £65mill so if they buy a £96mill player hand out an 8 year contract and sold Havertz they still got £53mill to spend as they are that much in the black.
.
UEFA did away with the amortization over longer then 5 year contracts and so if Chelsea where in an European competition they would have had problems. The corrupt EPL will not look at closing this loophole of 8 year contracts until next season.
Chelsea were excellent and rather dominant for the better part of 80 minutes, but, in a similar vein to our current lineup, they have a glaring lack of clinical finishers…why else would Enzo be first up to take a penalty…it’s clear that the Nkunku injury could be a real stumbling block for them, which is likely why they’ve been sniffing around for Balo…that said, they will still remain a tough out for anyone this season, considering their tactics and now totally revamped midfield…on this day though, Caicedo was a step behind, Enzo was underwhemming in the final third and Sterling, albeit spectacular on the dribble, still can’t seem to buy a goal for the boys in blue…with Chelsea, United and Newcastle failing to secure any points this weekend, we had better take all 3 against a bang average Palace side
Killroy
Completely forgot Chelsea aren’t in Europe – its just something you assume.
A lot of us here are old enough to remember the calamitous start that the Bruce/Pallister partnership had under fergie. They were a laughing stock. But we all saw how that went. That was one of my earliest lessons in not judging a player too early. But I’ll tell you what,if that Chelsea player,Disasi, turns into a quality player I’ll go off the drink and return to mass. He is deplorable. Christ, Chelsea fans must be aghast that they’ve signed someone this bad. £38 mil/€45 mil for a 25yr old from the French lge. William Gallas said he was shocked when Chelsea signed him(disasi), politely saying he didn’t think he was ready to play at a club like Chelsea. He was poor v Liverpool, though he did score. But I was keeping an eye on him today, brutal. I only mention this because I’m fascinated by the chelsea ‘project’ and the bulk signings. If they can get one as wrong as this then ,like I said, Chelsea fans may be worried.
Well done to the hammers though, Antonio on his day is a phenomenon, while I’ve always liked Bowen. Not sure that Paquetta is the answer to Man city’s problems,though he is neat and tidy.
Everton are horrendous. That’s one particular board that should have a health warning for it’s directors. Things will get very nasty there very soon unless someone finds a wad of cash under the couch before the window closes.
Villa at home are going to be quite formidable this year but Emery tends to be a little too open on the road by epl standards. Still,they’ll be entertaining.
Did any of you take note of how smoothly Gvardiol fitted into the city defence last night? Fuckers have a diamond there. There still a few players short though. Worst city bench I’ve seen in a long time. Interesting to see where they go to resupply. Fati is available seemingly, has he fully recovered though? Someone should whisper to Pep that we’re willing to part with the Egyptian Pirlo if the money is right,he’s right craic in the dressing room!
as for the earlier Everton/Villa affair, it’s fairly obvious that the former are going to be in tough when it comes to their pending relegation fight, as their only viable Striker is both paper thin and has potted a grand total of 7 goals in 2 seasons…in regards to Villa, the Buendia injury will severely hamper their offensive capabilities, unless Zinola can find his Roma form from a couple years back…that said, if Diaby and Ollie can both pot 15+ goals, they could still compete for a Europa/Conference league invite, but I very much doubt they will equal or better their results from last season
injuries are clearly an issue thus far, which is rather disconcerting considering it’s only week fucking 2…this sucks shit because it means a whole host of excuse-making chatter, which I can only accept from those with obvious fiscal limitations, and a lesser brand of football, especially in light of the bigger names involved…hopefully this early days disturbing trend will be relatively short-lived
Almunia-agree with you on you Disasi take…he was a bag of toys today leading up to Antonio’s goal…not only did he make an amateur hour pass in the middle of the pitch, that led to a needless turnover, he gave him his preferred foot then made it even more difficult for the Keeper by trying to block the shot with his legs too far apart…I get it that it’s tough to stay compact in those situations when you’re a taller defender, but it’s not like you shouldn’t realize that very fact and act accordingly…he reminds me a bit of Matip, when he struggled for form during VVD’s time on the shelf…all defenders make mistakes from time to time, but the good/great ones don’t compound matters by doing dumbass shit afterwards
your Disasi take
Almunia
Agree you need to give players time to settle especially if they’re coming from overseas.
I think Its something I’m going to have to keep telling myself with regards to Havertz.
TRVL,
It was far more than just the goal though,he genuinely seems to have no technical ability whatsoever, considering he’s a professional that is.
Marc,
Except Havertz isn’t coming from overseas so I have made my mind up on him already,rightly or wrongly. If he changes it I’ll hold my hands up. I agree that even just changing clubs can be unsettling ,but every time I see that face……..
Almunia-agreed…I was just addressing the most obvious example of his footballing deficiencies from today’s fixture…Cheers
TRVL,
While you’re there,question for you, your previous thoughts on films showed you to have good taste,I’ve watched a couple of your recommendations since and enjoyed them. KP,Tony etc are also excellent go-to’s when looking for advice but I’d say Tony is asleep now and KP resting his weary bones.
I was just searching for a film to watch and realised I hadn’t watched a good Western in an age. So there’s my question to all, top 5 westerns ever,in order. I’ll tell you mine before I hit the hay tonight.
What an awful story about Spain’s goalscorer Carmona. Her dad died on Friday but she wasn’t told until after today’s game. The poor girl, my heart goes out to her. A timely reminder before we all lose our minds again this season that football is just a sport after all (sorry Shanks).
sorry for the delay Almunia, I just slipped out for a quick 9 before dinner…here goesmy top 5, in no specific order
(1) The Good, the Bad and the Ugly
(2) Hell or High Water
(3) True Grit (remake 2010)
(4) No Country for Old Men
(5) Django Unchained
not a huge fan of the genre, from an old school perspective, but you can’t go wrong with any of these masterpieces…Cheers
Almunia,
It’s disheartening. I don’t know what to say except to repeat – sports are not bigger than livee and families.
two very watch-worthy sporting events yesterday that I would recommend to one and all:
(1) the third and deciding set between the Joker and the new and emerging phenom Alcaraz
(2) the round of 61 by Hovland at the BMW Championship-he was 4 back at the turn until he shot a 28 on the back 9
have a good one
Almuhnia-that’s some bat shit crazy nonsense, although it seems somewhat par for the course considering the internal shit show within the Spanish women’s footballing hierarchy…heads should roll
Morning all
Almunia
I slept through the 2nd half and missed the Chaves getting handed their arse on a plate.
.
Good westerns are few & far between these days, but I’d agree with TRVL’s choices and add this page for you for future reference.
https://horseyhooves.com/best-modern-western-movies/
.
Seen most and have the others waiting to watch.
.
However, Hollywood is churning out some brilliant westerns in series form:
https://www.imdb.com/title/tt4236770/ Yellowstone is excellent as are the prequels:
https://www.imdb.com/title/tt18335752/ Prequel in reverse order 1923
Almunia continued
https://www.imdb.com/title/tt13991232/ The earliest prequel of Yellowstone 1883
Those are all brilliantly written, acted and scenery. 10/10 for all 3 series
You can add the Deadwood series https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0348914/ with Ian Mcshane & Timothy Olyplant + a worthy 8/10
.
Finally, if you’re a Sly fan Tulsa King is Stallone showing he’s still got it more than Arne 9/10https://www.imdb.com/title/tt16358384/
.
That should keep you busy for whenever you get a modern or old style western urge my friend. 🙂
.
LIR
Some strange results over the weekend not least Chelsea & Manure losing and some of the newer relations to the top 5 (5 CL places this season), such as the really fun to watch Brighton and Emery’s Aston Villa. Forest will get a few scalps as will the Hammers, Palace, Brentford and I hate to say but Spuds, too
.
Manure and the Chaves will be tough to beat, but won’t be challenging for the title, which I see between City, Pool, Us and Newcastle at the moment. I say us because we should be strongly challenging, but reading again that Spuds and Chavs want Bolagun, and yet for some reason Arteta doesn’t. Why? Because Bolagun broke the cardinal rule; he asked for some guaranteed playing time, so Arteta deems that as being disrespectful in his warped mind and sets a fee for Bolagun to be sold. Partey is also up for sale as is KT all red flags if we don’t replace, as we’ll fall again at the end of the season as the last 2 times. The press is saying our buying is being reviewed? Whether that’s a positive or negative we’ll see soon enough.
.
This is from a guy who has won nothing in 4 years. It’s funny, but Arteta wanted to do the same with Saliba and aren’t we lucky someone stopped the idiot, mistake ridden manager. Arteta’s Palace war cry is to ‘impose yourselves’ in the press.
.
Woy’s pwess is always tight and defending from pwessing in our final third. All joking aside, Roy, is not only a gentleman, but still a top manager even though he’s 76. He has my full respect.
.
If we want to be lifting the Title trophy at the end of the season, we have to go toe to toe with City and Klopp’s Pool. The only difference is when they drops the odd point we have to be winning and also our head to heads.
.
When you look at the simple maths there at 8 teams to fit into 5 CL places, the rest will fall into the Europa and conference Euro cups. I’m sure they find a way to add another Euro cup soon and devalue a Euro cup win in the process.
.
I think back in the 80s you couldn’t lose more than 3 games if you wanted to win the league. It was an unwritten statement, such as a top rugby union team will generally lose if they give away more than 13 penalties. I think the leagues will be similarly tight this season where every hard fought point gained is really going to make the difference. Every week we need to be making statements of our intent to win the league.
.
I think that’s a fair statement we all are invested in being Gooners, right?
.
So far Arteta has fucked Timber in the various ways he wanted a RB to play, but Arteta is a specialist in breaking players: Partey, Tomi, ESR, Saliba, Saka almost, KT, Zinchenko and Jesus with more to follow this season when he does his usual selection farce, as seen last week, and continuing indecision with his in-game management. He never understands why the negatives happen in games, as he feels he’s too good for that to happen to him. After all they don’t happen to Pep, so why me Arteta asks himself no doubt? It’s simple, we all can see that Arteta if is a far cry from Pep the cheque-book manager.
.
Arteta is still there rookie 1.0 of himself going into his 5th year.
.
KP
Rested up and ready for the week? I won’t wait up until 2am because it’s not the waiting up or going to bed at 4am, it’s the adrenaline that takes time to calm down even when it’s heavily herboxulated. 1 to 2 hours to find sleep is no fun, so I’ll find a repeat time on the Thai satellite.
.
How about LIR readers? Any thoughts on the season or tonight’s game?
.
Have a good one LIR.
Hola muchachos
I’m behind (English) enemy lines in Bristol seeing my mates off back to Catalunya so I’ll be brief (for a change!).
Western themed films? The Outlaw Josey Wales is terrific. The best and funniest spitting I’ve seen in any film bar none. Eastwood’s best in my view. And you can’t beat Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid for the sheer 3-way chemistry between Newman, Redford and Katherine Ross.
Hoping to be back in time for Woy and the Lego Toy Boy ce soir. Palace, Palace Who the fuck are Palace – as the old song goes!
Tony – I’m feeling knackered mate. After today I’m going to limit my time spent on motorways in little cars! I’ll catch up later. Went to a brilliant Northern Soul event yesterday. But no talcum powder and gyrating – just cider. Ouch!