***** ARSENAL CHIT CHAT *****

I doubt Arteta thinks he needs a goalscorer. The goals don't come from that position primarily, like Liverpool and like City before Haaland came. Yes, we could do better with someone else but lack of goals wasn't the problem last year and it certainly isn't this year either. I think Arteta has proved people wrong again as we've scored bucketloads since Jan. 31/33 points and 38 goals scored.

We were close to the FFP limit after last summer, so spending big wasn't on the cards in Jan. CL money will help a lot but we may still need to sell the likes of ESR, Nketiah, Nelson this summer to spend big. Osimhen is too injury prone and would be a massive gamble. Toney mightn't be worth it at the price, he seems keen and will be a free agent after next season. Mbappe is unaffordable and would only be played as a wide attacker in Arteta's system. Would be ridiculous to play him as the 9 in that system. He doesn't play there for France or PSG either.

Even Bournemouth have a decent goal scorer.

yeah and he's the focal point of their attack in a completely different system. How did goalscorers like Auba and Laca suit Arteta's system?

No disrespect to the fans but I`m glad they got knocked out because the bust my coupon at the weekend.

Bunch of bottlers. Just like last year.

Why would the focal point of any attack be a player who couldn’t hit a cow on the backside with a banjo?

Auba was the focal point of our attack and scoring at the same rate as Salah, Kane, Aguero before Arteta arrived. Arteta stuck him out on the left because the wide positions are the focal point of his attack. He didn't have the players to play his system then but he still did it. Then he tried him as false 9.

I've explained to you how our FFP situation means the players you want aren't at all realistic (for at least another year of going deep in the CL and prob selling a few players). We can do better than Havertz or Jesus in that position but highly unlikely given FFP restraints.

Yet here you are harping on about Solanke.

The 9 position drops deep and wide to link up with others and then arrives in the box late. He is not going to get 25 PL goals a season wihout the others getting less. Do you want a new system or a new manager? The team scores enough. They will not score many more with a goalscorer up top. The others will score less. Like Haaland at City. He has made them more one-dimensional up top and despite all the hype had little impact on them winning the PL and CL last year. They didn't score more goals and played Inter(!) in the final (who kept him quiet).

I see Newcastle had two goal scoring centre forwards yesterday.

Didn't see that. Who were they playing?

Isaak and Callum Wilson.

Isaak’s run was brilliant and a great finish. There is talk of him as one Arsenal may be interested in. Gykores was another. Not sure what to believe until it is done. Talk is Edu has the money and they are weighing up options. I do not see how a goal scorer with pace weakens the team.

They were playing Sheff United. Nketiah got a hat-trick against them and they have already smashed the record for goals conceded in a 38 game PL season and will surpass the record for a 42 game season as well.

Oh please lies damned lies and statistics

It’s football. Pace breeds fear, playing on the shoulder causes defenders to play deeper giving more space to the midfield. A goal scorer forces defenders to defend and leaves others with more room.

A goal scorer also provides hope for his own team. They know there is a chance. Anyone who can also provide something out of nothing lifts the spirits.

So Arsenal score more goals against the shift kickers and low block without a goal scorer..great!  They concede less goals against anyone else also great tbf.

Bayern Munchen are being embarrassed at home. Sporting Lisbon knocked Arsenal out last year.

All sides are better with a goal scorer. Why do they get paid the most?

A goal scorer is the final missing piece. Even Arteta knows it.

I have no idea who would be a good fit for Arsenal, who is affordable or who is available but everyone knows Arsenal need to goal scorer before they can move on

A pretty good season overall and given the run-in, we've done well to take it to the final game. I didn't expect that. Well done to City. Four in a row is quite an achievement.

I don't buy into the narrative that Spurs will down tools against City, but they are playing a better side who have never slipped up when in this situation.

Interesting window coming up. My hope would be to move a few fringe players on for decent money and then invest in a couple of marquee signings. There's the nucleus of a side there that should be competitive for a couple of seasons at least.

Will be interesting if Pool beat Villa as it will mean Spuds will then have a decent chance of finishing in 4th spot by beating Citeh.

Spurs still have a very good chance of getting CL if they beat City imo.

Whisperingdeath • April 30, 2024 2:55 PM BST
Oh please lies damned lies and statistics ......

I introduced 'stats' for the context you ridiculously didn't give. Newc strikers scoring against the worst defensive team in PL history. Why didn't you mention that?

lurka
lurka 14 May 24 16:11 Joined: 25 Oct 10 | Topic/replies: 18,921 | Blogger: lurka's blog
Spurs still have a very good chance of getting CL if they beat City imo.

Totally agree. City are a machine at this stage of the season and I'm pretty sure they will prevail.

If Spurs can nick it though they have an easier last fixture against a relegated club whereas Villa have to go to in form Palace. Spurs will have a completely different transfer window with CL qualification and that has to be worth playing for.

I've made my feelings clear on this for weeks. Pretty sure City will be champions. They are some team and we've done well to push them to the final game.

Sorry lurka

The point I have been trying to make is that Arsenal will be a better side and more of a threat with a goal scoring centre forward. It’s so bleedin’ obvious it does not need stating. I am just interested into why Arteta has not gone gone one as yet ( FFP accepted ).

Fair play to Arteta for building such a good side and Team. I was not a fan and still am not but he has walked the walk. Credit to him.

Again the signings of Jesus and Zinchenko have galvanised the team with their attitude, expectations, skill and desire.Arsenal are at the next stage now. A striker is required and I believe Arteta is looking at some. Let’s see what Edu comes up with.

And for all the oddity off-stage this was a great game for Haaland, and a significant one too. His first goal on 51 minutes was his 11th touch, first shot, first real moment close to goal. It was a tap-in from four yards out. It was also a lovely goal because he made the right movements, read the angles, found the space.

It was the goal of a killer, and a killer is what you need when this kind of game is stating to twang at the nerves. Haaland is often criticised for not carrying his weight, for being a kind of regimental mascot, a ceremonial Nordic hatstand, when City win via the familiar nine-man outfield swarm.

Here he did exactly what he was hired for, making the difference in a game they had to win.

Oddly enough it was also a kind of first, the first time he has scored the key opening goal in a season-ending must-win. His celebration was a different, a little more wild and unbound. This high-wire game might just turn out to be the best moment of his season.

Ozil no longer a Spurs fan

Emirates will be giving us an extra 20m a year for shirt sponsorship from next season so that will help a lot.

I agree that a finisher would be a great addition to the squad in theory but I don't think it will result in us scoring more, not sure if it will be possible to find a player like that who can play our system for an affordable price, not sure that player would go straight into the team without learning the system either. Also, Havertz numbers in terms of goals/assists when played as a striker this season are better than Martinelli/Trossard, Saka and Jesus both this and last season and he's improved even more in the run-in. It's his first (half) season playing the role so he might get even better at it.

On the basis of all of that I'm not sure a big money striker will be the priority for Arteta, maybe a back up/Plan B striker. The LB position is the biggest priority for me. There is a complete imbalance on that side defensively and going forward compared to the right and teams are targeting it. Timber was bought for that reason but how reliable will he be after a knee-injury?

For all that guff about Haaland, he has been more of a flat track bully than a big game player this season. I doubt City wouldn't have won without him given the attitude of the opposition.

City wouldn't have won much at all if they stuck to the FFP Rules.
But watch this space.

Arsenal being linked to every striker in Europe. Hopefully Chelsea will buy most of them before Edu makes his move.

Anyone see much of Gykores?

Secret of Arse success
They eat pancakes-4
Before the match
So says Rice baby

Arse rehearsing the EPL winners celebrations
LUNATICS

We'll almost certainly finish as runners up. A great season, just judged by the the number of wins. Fair play to City, just too good.

As  bonus, you can always spot a Spurs special needs poster cropping up on this thread by the emojis. Bless. It's literally on every post she puts up.

A strange bunch.
Imagine giving up on a CL spot just to try & stop Arsenal winning the league?
Absolutely bonkers.

Don't claim that Arsenal supporters wouldn't have felt the same if Spurs were in with a chance of winning their first league title in decades (like Arsenal were this season).  You don't remember 2019-2020 season when many of your lot claimed they'd sacrifice winning the Europey League final against Chelsea if it meant Spurs not winning the Champions League final against Liverpool?

Bottling it at home to Villa a few weeks ago and dropping 9 points to Villa and West Ham is what cost you the title....not Spurs losing to City.

sofa, gooners would never face that dilemma of having to chuck a match to stop Spurs from winning the EPL.

The attitude of your fans simply exposed the small club mentality which is endemic at the Lane. Was there any talk of Man U fans wanting their side to chuck their game v AFC in similar circumstances? No, they focus on their own side. They don't exist just to troll their neighbours.

Getting 52 pts from 57 is hardly "bottling it" to a state owned team faced with 115 charges for breaching rules.

Btw, what's this Europey thing all about? How did AFC playing in one final affect the outcome of Spuds playing the CL final?
What's more, you would now be in the CL if you'd put in a shift v Cheaty. Talking about cutting off noses to spite faces!!

Agree with Wes, I can't think of a single occasion when I have wanted Arsenal to lose a match to stitch up an opponent. I'm not old enough for that too have ever been relevant to Spurs... anyways. Ironically had Spurs won that match they would have finished 4th. Can't see Postecoglou hanging around with such a small mentality fan base to deal with.

Arsenal didn't bottle anything this season, it was a fantastic run since Christmas, every team is entitled to one a poor result and the Villa game they could have been two or three up at half-time. Tactically the manager got it wrong playing Zinchenko left back to cover for an injured player, a mistake hopefully he won't make again.

"had Spurs won that match"

Spurs were trying to win the match, it had nothing to do with the fans, we were beaten fair and square and no the Arsenal players didn't bottle, they were, in fact, superb throughout and put up a good fight, but aside from Villa, Arteta was wrong to think that a draw against City would suffice; it was quite arrogant really to think they could win the rest of their games. He should have had more faith in his players and taken on City... then the title would have been truly deserved. Your loss I guess.

Why do you keep harping on about the hardest game of the season where a draw was a better result for Arsenal? What about the other 9 games where Arsenal dropped points which were far easier not to? Very likely they'd have lost it if they went for the win and then you'd be on here saying they should have played for the draw.

Reducing a 38 game season to one game is ridiculous.

The comments from Ange indicate Spurs were not trying 100%. That might do you more damage than one game or missing out on CL. Anyone with ambition or a winners mentality is under no illusions now.

May 19, 2024 -- 5:39PM, Wesdag wrote:

sofa, gooners would never face that dilemma of having to chuck a match to stop Spurs from winning the EPL. The attitude of your fans simply exposed the small club mentality which is endemic at the Lane. Was there any talk of Man U fans wanting their side to chuck their game v AFC in similar circumstances? No, they focus on their own side. They don't exist just to troll their neighbours. Getting 52 pts from 57 is hardly "bottling it" to a state owned team faced with 115 charges for breaching rules.Btw, what's this Europey thing all about? How did AFC playing in one final affect the outcome of Spuds playing the CL final? What's more, you would now be in the CL if you'd put in a shift v Cheaty. Talking about cutting off noses to spite faces!!

How about Liverpool back in 1995-96 where they were playing Blackburn late in the season?

Liverpool legend Kenny Dalglish returned with his Blackburn Rovers side on the brink of winning the championship, but a victory for the Reds could deny the Kop idol the title and hand it to arch-rivals Manchester United.

The Reds, in fourth place and with a UEFA Cup place in the bag, clearly wanted to win but fans certainly didn't want to see the championship head to Old Trafford.

"The only thing in our minds that afternoon, though, was winning the game," recalled Liverpool midfielder Jamie Redknapp. "We're professionals and we want to win every game we play."

Alan Shearer put Rovers in front with a record-equalling 34th Premiership goal of the season before John Barnes struck back for the Reds after the break. Then, in injury time, with the game heading for a draw, Redknapp smashed in an absolutely brilliant long-range free-kick that was greeted by near silence at Anfield.

"It was one of the strangest moments of my life on a football field," said the match-winner.

As Dalglish waited nervously on the touchline, news filtered through that Manchester United had only managed a 1-1 draw at West Ham United and the title was Blackburn's despite defeat at Anfield. Both sets of fans ended the day happy.

Did Liverpool supporters also "expose a small club mentality" when a large percentage of them wanted their team to lose the game if it meant their bitter rivals Man Utd not winning the title?
And Villa wouldn't have been hammered by Palace if CL football was not already in the bag.  I am absolutely certain that Arsenal fans would've reacted similarly had the roles been reserved.

Lol sofa,

Imagine have to dig nearly 30 years into the archives to try & get Spuds off the hook.

The problem you have, is that rather then relying on individuals own accounts, there is footage available.
You can quite clearly see both LFC goals were cheered & celebrated as you'd expect them to be.

Also, you have to look at Spuds' small club mentality in the context of your recent history with Enic's general lack of ambition:

- sacking Mourinho days before a final
- Conte's rant
- Ange's post match assessment of the Cheaty loss.

As I've said before, gooners would never be in that situation. The last time we might've been JFK was still alive & the Beatles weren't a thing!

The Arsenal = CLASS
Spurs = WANNABES

Ok, I can see you guys are still hurting so I'll leave you alone to grieve in peace. Have a great summer.

Not hurting at all sofa.
Simply resigned to the fact it's hard when up against a state owned side.
Btw, what would you know about hurting?
That would indicate a near miss.

I see the Spurs squad got on a flight to Melbourne within 5 hours of the season ending to play a friendly and tap into their new found Aussie market. Priorities.

I was waiting until the season was over to give everyone a chance to at least point out where the club went wrong this year but no one has me timed it so here you go.

David Raya isn’t the goal keeper people think he is.

Evidence 1 - Newcastle Away

All the talk post match was whether or not the ball went out and the infamous push in the back but what on earth is David Raya doing?

He’s on his near post as the cross comes and then hopelessly tried to shuffle back in a vain attempt to do something.

Very poor.


Evidence 2 - Aston Villa Away

Leon Bailey drives to the byline and with no more pitch in front of him he crosses it into the box and guess where David Raya is? Yep the near post.

He has completely surrendered the goal to Villa and the rest is history.

The ball drops to McGuinn who can’t believe his luck.

Evidence 3 - West Ham Away

I think you know what I’m going to say but this one is even funnier.

Jarrod Bowen is pretty much outside the pitch when he gets his cross back in but moron Raya stays on his post with his back to the play and Soucek smashes the cross into an empty net.

I’ve got no idea what he was thinking.

Was he worried Bowen would shoot from that angle? Lord he have to be Thanos with all of the infinity stones to score from there.

-

What is annoying about this is that he does this every game.

Against United Garnacho fired in 2 crosses so quickly that Raya was still on his near post and turning to look at the fiejd of play as the cross comes in. If United had a decent striker they would’ve scored.

So it’s pretty clear that even Arsenal’s goal keeping coach doesn’t see this as an issue which is absolutely Fkin bizzare.

In fact you can even seen him at times with his arm extended as he’s watching the cross but making sure he’s as close to the bear post as possible…so this is something he has been thought to do!

-

Unfortunately whatever benefits people think he brings it’s far be outweighed by his positioning flaw and the points he has cost us.

We could’ve be champions if we had drawn two of those games.

I’ve never seen Ramsdale do this and to be honest I think Raya has pretty much made saves I would’ve expected Aaron to have made.

I don’t think he’s the big shot goalkeeper people believe him to be had I do worry about us next season because I doubt he will fix his positioning.

-

If I was Arteta I would sack the goal keeping coach and all of his staff asap and get someone more competent in because like I said this is absolutely shocking goalkeeping and it hasn’t been picked up on.

This is big man thing now…either he sorts out the goal keeping coach now or it’s him next season after Raya costs us more games and we win nothing again.

-

Have to say we Arsenal had more pressing concerns than replacing Ramsdale.

Centre forward, left back, midfield cover. How hard is this?

C’mon Edu

Arsenal have given up two Titles. Not saying they are better than Citeh yet but they had chances and fluffed them.

I again say I am not an Arteta fan but he is taking the team in the right direction . I hope the missing pieces are provided.

Lol ELG,
So it was all down to Raya why AFC didn't win the League.
Yes it was harsh to dump Ramsdale but you must be the only gooner I've heard point the finger at Raya.

Raya only looks good because of what's in front of him.
Ramsdale had Holding in front of him rather than Saliba at the end of last season which wouldn't have helped.
Ramsdale has a silly mistake in him but he's a better shot stopper.

Never liked Arteta as a player other than as a penalty taker.
Anyone that persists with players like Partey, Zinchenko, Nketiah or Jesus obviously can't see where changes need to be made.

ELG's post doesn't mention that Arsenal only faced 6 shots on target in total in those 3 games but conceded 5 goals.
Raya not solely to blame but didn't help matters.

Guys we’re talking about very fine margins and like I said in my post if we had just held on for a nil-nil draw in two of those games we would be Champions.

You can’t tell me that for all 3 goals his positioning was correct because it’s not lol

It’s bizarre goalkeeping and I have no idea who thought him this.

What has  annoyed me is there was no attempt by the manager, goal keeping coach or the player to correct this flaw because it carried on for the whole season.

In fact it’s been the complete opposite with praise being cast upon Arteta for his bravery in selecting Raya over Ramsdale yet no one mentions his BLUNDERS in these games and that he has carried on doing it.

So basically the much vaunted goal keeping coach from Brentford looked at this, didn’t see anything wrong with and just carried on as normal.

Sack him…now.

-

I genuinely believe if Raya doesn’t correct this flaw then we won’t win anything next season.

I know you guys are all super passionate but you have to be able y to o be critical and be able to identify these sorts of flaws otherwise we’re not going to improve.

It says about this job the club has done that no one is willing to criticise stuff like this but instead just shout people down when it’s brought up.

I wouldn't blame Raya for any of the 3 goals mentioned. I think it's bizarre that you'd blame him for any of them or even highlight them when there are plenty of better examples of him making mistakes. To say that Bailey had no pitch left is an outright lie, he could have passed the ball in at the near post from the angle he had (but there were defenders who would have blocked it). He didn't think Bowen was going to shoot. He actually tried to Block Bowen's cross. He didn't have his back to play?!! Every keeper covers the near post in the Villa/Newc situations and he was going for the ball against WH. The 3 goals were scored from point blank range in the centre of the goalmouth and you're blaming the keeper?!

In the 3 games we failed to score. A rarity but I'd be focusing on that more than the defence/keeper as to why we lost. We went thru a period of creating chances and not putting them away where we lost 3 in a row to WH and Liverpool in the cup at home and Fulham away. Then we started scoring bucketloads and went unbeaten in the league for almost 4 months, won 12/13 and drew away to City. Failed to put away chances against Villa at home too.

You can blame Raya for a lot, the goal at Spurs being the most recent example. He was almost flawless in that game after that but his mistake invited all the late pressure Spurs applied. It didn't cost us tho.

Ramsdale was poor late on last season and the decision was probably made then. I don't think Raya was signed for his goalkeeping skills primarily but he doesn't seem any worse than Ramsdale in that department.

I think what ultimately cost us was not finding a key to Havertz a lot sooner.
He's been decent since playing up top rather than midfield.
Ironically, the game we lost to Villa, he was switched back to midfield.

Shouldn't have let Xhaka go. Just the type of player you want to unlock those 3 sides which all have a compact defence.
Better than Partey by a country mile.

Xhaka had one good season imo and then f'd off. Fair play to him winning the league in Germany tho. But a typical Arsenal performance from him in the EL Final. L'Equipe gave him 2/10. We've missed him this season. The left side hasn't been great from back to front apart from Trossard. A Fit Timber might have made the difference.

Fixture list for new season below

first thing I read was it was a horror start to the new season, first thing however I always look at is the run, and it's great for a title run in, from April last 9 fixtures had bar two are at least comfortable on paper. Unfortunantly it's negated by City's equally soft run in. The Xmas fixtures where it's easier to drop points with the congestion, looks fairly good too though where City's are that bit more difficult, could be the difference.

AUGUST
Sat 17  Wolverhampton Wanderers (H)   
Sat 24  Aston Villa (A)   
Sat 31  Brighton & Hove Albion (H)

SEPTEMBER   
Sat 14  Tottenham Hotspur (A)   
Sat 21  Manchester City (A)   
Sat 28  Leicester City (H)

OCTOBER   
Sat 5  Southampton (H)   
Sat 19  Bournemouth (A)   
Sat 26  Liverpool (H)   

NOVEMBER
Sat 2  Newcastle United (A)   
Sat 9  Chelsea (A)   
Sat 23  Nottingham Forest (H)   
Sat 30  West Ham United (A)   

DECEMBER
Tue 3  Manchester United (H)   
Sat 7  Fulham (A)   
Sat 14  Everton (H)   
Sat 21  Crystal Palace (A)   
Thu 26  Ipswich Town (H)   
Sun 29  Brentford (A)   

JANUARY
Sat 4  Brighton & Hove Albion (A)   
Tue 14  Tottenham Hotspur (H)   
Sat 18  Aston Villa (H)   
Sat 25  Wolverhampton Wanderers (A)

FEBRUARY   
Sat 1  Manchester City (H)   
Sat 15  Leicester City (A)   
Sat 22  West Ham United (H)   
Tue 25  Nottingham Forest (A)

MARCH   
Sat 8  Manchester United (A)   
Sat 15  Chelsea (H)   

APRIL
Tue 1  Fulham (H)   
Sat 5  Everton (A)   
Sat 12  Brentford (H)   
Sat 19  Ipswich Town (A)   
Sat 26  Crystal Palace (H)

MAY   
Sat 3  Bournemouth (H)   
Sat 10  Liverpool (A)   
Sun 18  Newcastle United (H)   
Sun 25  Southampton (A)

City having an easy run in is prob a good thing cos they'll prob win them all anyway and Arsenal don't have to play them then.

Purely from a betting point of view, Arsenal @ 2.84 to win the PL looks very short looking at early fixtures. Away at Liverpool, City, Villa and Spurs before end of September. There will be some trading opportunity there.

Longer term Arsenal have every chance of winning the damn league this year. They were excellent in 23/24, just a few slip ups, the Villa at home being the most damaging. It will be a total cave by the PL if City not hit with points deductions and Liverpool hopefully will regress without Klopp. Villa played well above expectations last season and will do well to maintain progress. The rest of the top half teams lack consistency and fighting for the Europa League beckons.

Riccardo Calafiori looks a fine signing. Arteta bringing in a top forward is probably key.

I do hope this season is a good one, as fed up with same-old-same-old. I hope Man Utd winning with a late goal is not a sign of the season ahead...

Calafiori in particular looks a great signing. He looks not just skilful and athletic but aggressive and a winner. Timber back to seals the deal. If Merino signs that will take the pressure off over paying for a too forward.

I hope they can make overtures to Nico Williams for the future.

I really think Toney would be monster but have no idea about the money situation. Can’t see Osimen  or Gykores coming. Not sure who would be a good fit. The XL and squad is extremely strong now. Enough to win the title. A goal scorer should be found. A mercurial goal scorer is worth waiting for. It is the missing piece.

So what

No signs of oil in North London!

Will Citeh be fined,  transfer ban, points deduction or relegation? Probably not!

Battles are not won by those with the biggest battalions but those with the most intimidating lawyers. I fully expect Arsenal to be deducted points in a bid to stop them beating Citeh to winning this years title!

Lol sofaking, I love how he includes Spuds in the discussion.

Last time won a league title, nobody had heard of the Beatles & JFK was still alive.

Probably Rooney's folks weren't alive either!?

Leicester match turned out far more enjoyable than I expected. I doubt they will troubling any of the top teams.

The point is that neither team has won anything of significance in decades. Counting the amount of decades is nit-picking.

omg sofa this is desperate stuff from you. Trying to conflate Spurs lack of success with Arsenal is ridiculous, conflating Spurs with Portsmouth would be a better fit for this nonsense. Adorning the Arsenal forum with a mug shot of Rooney is an affront to Arsenal fans, akin to posting a mug shot of Sol Campbell on the Spurs forum.

Rooney made his Premier League debut in 2002 (another year in which Arsenal won the double) and including that year Arsenal have won nine major trophies; two PL titles and seven FA Cups...

tough game v villa at the weekend...looking forward to that one hopefully will be a great game

Aug 20, 2024 -- 1:19AM, Storm Alert wrote:

omg sofa this is desperate stuff from you. Trying to conflate Spurs lack of success with Arsenal is ridiculous, conflating Spurs with Portsmouth would be a better fit for this nonsense. Adorning the Arsenal forum with a mug shot of Rooney is an affront to Arsenal fans, akin to posting a mug shot of Sol Campbell on the Spurs forum. Rooney made his Premier League debut in 2002 (another year in which Arsenal won the double) and including that year Arsenal have won nine major trophies; two PL titles and seven FA Cups...

Copium^.

Adorning the Arsenal forum with a mug shot of Rooney is an affront to Arsenal fans, akin to posting a mug shot of Sol Campbell on the Spurs forum.

I had no idea Rooney was despised by Arsenal supporters but to compare it to Spurs supporters/Campbell is ridiculous stuff, Storm Alert. Do better.

Believe me Rooney is despised, his swan lake dive over his England team mate Campbell, one of many low points. It's not as if he redeemed himself by helping England play well.

Great to see Sofa so early in the season. He must be worried. He's normally blowing his mate I'm so Lucky at this early stage.

Very odd comment there, fink.   What on earth is going on in your head that you'd come out with something so vile.

Yeah, not good form here fink.
All friendly banter is welcome imo.

Fink Sisters was being kind, very kind.

That looks bad. I honestly meant blowing smoke. Apologies if any offence was taken.

tbf posting a mug shot of Rooney and the nonsensical comparison of Spurs lack of success to Arsenal did lay him right open to ridicule. I'm just sorting out my Sol Campbell mug shot to post on the Spurs thread at an appropriate time; I remember the stick I got daring to post a smily face after Spurs got beat by Bournemouth at home a couple of seasons.

Aug 23, 2024 -- 7:27AM, Storm Alert wrote:

tbf posting a mug shot of Rooney and the nonsensical comparison of Spurs lack of success to Arsenal did lay him right open to ridicule. I'm just sorting out my Sol Campbell mug shot to post on the Spurs thread at an appropriate time; I remember the stick I got daring to post a smily face after Spurs got beat by Bournemouth at home a couple of seasons.

It's just a bit of banter lads. I never thought it would cut so deep and result in so much anguish here.

what a fk idiot Rice was, deserved to be sent off, on a yellow then kicks the ball away which is a clear yellow, Arteta knew and didn't acknowledge him when coming off, even though he's said that opposite post match, cost us the match when in complete control and now he misses the NLD and will probably be replaced by Slowjinho.

Rice showed no common sense there especially as on a booking.. I've seen several similar incidents this season where a player has not been booked, so as usual no consistency by refs. Hopefully won't affect NLD as long as Arsenal have attacking boots on.

Fairly routine win in the end. Even threw on a 17 year old for the last 20 minutes, which was taking the Michael a bit.

I like Postecoglou and it's clear there is respect between the managers. If he gets the support through the next couple of windows Spuds will be at least a Top 4 side. These things take time.

Important 3 points as I don't see us getting anything next week. City already look on a different level.

I think we'll keep a clean up there & maybe nick one against the run of play. 0-0 or 0-1 imo.

*clean sheet

We're away to Atalanta 3 days before
City are at home to Inter 4 days before

Really doesn't help, they get all the luck, and all the top lawyers to make sure they stay lucky as we'll soon find out.

Decent result yesterday when all is said and done. A tinge of disappointment having held on for so long.

Whatever the merits of the second yellow for Trossard - under the new rules it was a second yellow though you can cite refereeing inconsistencies - the fact that Arsenal were forced to defend for the entire second half probably didn't help City who I believe would have benefited from a more open game.

Four home games in a row now, including Tuesday where I would expect the full 11 changes. I still maintain that there are no easy games in the Premier League so the home fixtures against Leicester and Saints aren't gimmes. To take 7 points away at Villa, Spuds and City is good going.

Great result and performance yesterday. Unlucky not to get the points. Rodri out for the season should be worth more than 3 points tho.

Lovely that it happened against us.
Should dampen celebrations of their famous 2-2 victory v 10 men.

Excellent from Arsenal. They really are developing a winning mentality since the arrival of Zinchenko and Jesus. They are now displaying the desire of Champions. Citeh are still better xl and squad. Sorry for Rodri but big for Arsenal. Arsenal squad still short of a something out of nothing goal scorer and a creative reserve for MO. Defence looks pretty awesome and a great defence is the best form of attack imho. The Dutchie and Italian are kwality imho.

Still waiting to see how the new midfield will take control of things. Quite excited ‘bout dat. Citeh really do look like a monolith. I don’t see Arsenal succeeding yet but all they can do is their best.

Sterling looked good tonight, really quick and sharp, will be an asset this season, seems to have a new lease of life and a manager that rates him that will breed confidence

Our 16 year old keeper tonight was not born the last time T*ttenham won a trophy.

There were people looking to slip him in which was encouraging. Modern football is so boring at times. Nice to see Sterling getting in behind. Even the Italian was looking at playing through balls from the back which will stretch defences. I would like to see Arsenal play some breathtaking football not tic tac. Oh for the days of Ronaldinho, Eto’o and the young Messi. Only they surpassed Arsenal for excitement and beautiful football back in the day. Sadly those days are over.

Sep 25, 2024 -- 5:21PM, mesmerised wrote:

Sterling looked good tonight, really quick and sharp, will be an asset this season, seems to have a new lease of life and a manager that rates him that will breed confidenceOur 16 year old keeper tonight was not born the last time T*ttenham won a trophy.

His 20 year old sister wasn't yet born when Arsenal last won a trophy of any importance.

Girls, the only thing that counts is this season.

His mum and dad weren't yet born when Spurs last won a trophy of any importance.

   Two bald men fighting over a comb. Lets face it lads, we both support success-starved clubs.

Leandro Trossard, needs to get his head back on; a bit of a one man demolition job for Arsenal in recent matches. Almost certainly cost us a victory at Man City and ridiculous back pass contributed to William Saliba sending off and Bournemouth's win with further repercussions for Liverpool match. The lame pen miss against Shakhtar luckily didn't influence match thanks to the fantastic late Raya save. Arteta needs to have a word.

The Liverpool match is looking very tricky with all the injury concerns. Sterling has looked lightweight so far and I hope Arteta doesn't play him Sunday, we need eleven players against Liverpool.

Can't understand why Havertz, who has an excellent penalty record and was going for a record-equalling goal in 8 home matches in a row, doesn't take it?

Looks like we'll be missing our 3 best players for the Pool game. Calafiori missing is bad as well as that's Salah's side. Please not Zinch up against him. Hopefully Timber will be fit. A draw would be a good result imo.

https://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/football/videos/c5yw770pv81o

That blatant dive by Rooney still pisses me off. Of course "right twunt" Riley couldn't help himself with an appalling display (eight pens in eight home matches for Utd he officated ).

2 points dropped, we were the better team and should have won. Need Odegaard back though, it is starting to show.

Happy enough with a draw. I laid Arsenal around 65 mins at about 1.53 when you could see they weren't too interested in a 3rd and were inviting Liverpool on. Martinelli was poor for the equaliser, running the ball straight into 2 Liverpool defenders when he could have held onto it. Arteta referred to it post match.

I can understand Arteta's mentality with the makeshift defence he felt needed protecting. Sick of these dark arts and now 'Mourinho' narratives from Carragher with no context. Every time we play like that in big games we are dominant and then suffer a setback like a key injury or red card. Arteta played like Mourinho to win the FA cup and the following season too at times and they were praising him. He prob learned to play like that under Moyes rather than from Mourinho.

It's a bit rich from Carragher too as the Benitez Liverpool team he won the CL with were unbelievably boring and out-Mourinhoed Mourinho 1-0 over 2 legs in the semi. There seems to be an arrogance from him that Liverpool are ahead of Arsenal or more serious title contenders despite finishing behind them the last 2 years. Never had anything so negative to say about City over the years despite all the allegations.

I did pretty much the same laid Arsenal at @1.63 and a few minutes later at 1.46. You could see it coming soon after Gabriel limped off and losing Timber just made things worse. I don't particularly blame Arteta for the Arsenal makeshift defence sitting so deep second half, Liverpool played much better once Slot had punched some **** into his players at half time.

Saka's goal was a brilliant take down and finish from White's excellent pass (reminded me of Bergkamp) and Rice's delivery for our second well worked set piece was very pleasing. Havertz & Partey; either could have done better for Liverpool's first goal and Martinelli's lax play outside the Liverpool penalty area directly lead to their second goal. Near the end ref Taylor's decision to blow for an ariel challenge, which a couple of seconds later effectively ruled out  an Arsenal goal was perplexing, as was the decision not to give a Arsenal a corner right at the death.

Carragher was talking out his backside, Neville was spot on with his punditry tbf.

There were a lot of pluses from the Arsenal performance. Partey was excellent as was White. Timber had Salah under manners, Merino looks good. There is though a frustration at more points lost from a game they should have won. They had both full backs on toast. I would take money for Martinelli to peruse Williams but I thought  he played pretty well apart from woeful finishing.

The kid should get a chance wile Odegaard is out.

Frustration and disappointment should not presume there are problems apart from that lack of killer instinct at times and a goal from nothing centre forward.

60 minutes gone.

Way too passive and pedestrian today. This looks as though it's only going one way.

Arsenal were playing superbly well until the first two stupid sending offs. They played well against Citeh one man down but since then the weeks seem to have fallen off.

Hard to put a finger on it. It seems the season is over already! Certainly feels like it. I just do not understand why they don’t play the kid while Odegaard is out.

He has a pretty decent squad now. I hope they can identify a striker for next year.

Certainly seem to have lost momentum since that City match. I thought they had got over the disgraceful Rice sending off, they were excellent against PSG and City. At least City stumbled a bit with players out yesterday, hopefully that will continue. Have a better idea about Liverpool by mid December. For the time being Arsenal need to focus on top four finish & qualify for next stage of CL and see how things pan out with teams around them.

For the time being Arsenal need to focus on top four finish & qualify for next stage of CL and see how things pan out with teams around them.

Arsenal would be hard pressed not to make knock-out phase of the Champion's league. Anything less than last season's last 8 must and will be considered as a failure.

And while the Carabao cup remains Arsenal's best chance of silverware this season winning it won't cut any mustard. Ditto the 'Erik ten Heg' FA Cup.

Make no mistake, Arsenal and Arteta are a a crossroads.

Don't think it's that bad, but trying to win the league and getting to a ninety-point season with a decent European run takes it out of teams. We saw it with Klopp where we had two great seasons followed by relative blow outs. Particularly if you've got some key players getting a lot of game time in. There's usually a price to pay for that.

The exception is City. Maybe that's why they seem to get off to a slow start and give everyone else the impression they're a fading force before getting to their usual relentlessness after the new year. Or maybe the difference with them is simply having Pep.

I think Arsenal have come so far. I am not an Arteta fan but begrudgingly you can see what he has accomplished and U think that has lead to the current feeling of disappointment. These blips lost the title over Christmas. Don’t get me wrong Citeh are incredible and fur Arsenal to fall so close as I say lends to the current deflation.

On the plus side effectively two new great defenders this season. The Italian might have the Zinchenko effect. He us a natural born winner.

Arsenal though need the goal scorer.

Surprised Edu is leaving, has a great job at Arsenal but obviously a bigger pay packet has swayed him, let's hope Josh Kroenke doesn't bring in a new dud sporting direction like Edu's predecessor spunking silly money on the likes of Pepe.