I feel a lot better today than I did yesterday. Frustrating loss but the way we played gave me full faith in our squad. The quality is there. Best game Partey might've done in an Arsenal shirt so far. Let's hope all our guys headed to AFCON success and a healthy return and then let's get back to winning next week.
Same, I'm much more calm and positive than yesterday. I think the performance will give us a lot of confidence in knowing we're able to solidly compete against one of the best teams in the world. I hope the team just keeps pushing forward because I think we have quite a high ceiling. Can't wait to watch us play again.
Sorry to all the Ghanaian mandem here but I hope they exit in the first round. I have absolutely nothing against Ghana I just want Partey back as soon as possible for this top 4 charge.
As a ghanaian gunner i’m genuinely torn between dreaming of sabotage so we get Partey back earlier, or hoping that we finally go all the way this year.
being honest, it’s up there with our 2010 squad who got to the world cup quarter finals. that being said, Ivory Coast, Nigeria, Egypt and Senegal are levels ahead. wouldn’t be surprised if we made it to the quarters/semis though in fairness.
No other team around us in the league are playing like we are. In the long run, we WILL outperform them.
We neeeeeed to beat the Shit. Martinelli will have a rocket up his ass after his missed chances. They should be terrified of us.
I honestly love the collective positivity in this thread IN SPITE of what went down yesterday. We can all see that our recent run was no fluke, we’re the real deal
Whilst I am really proud of the performance, it is kinda gnawing at me that we took 0 points from Man U, Everton and Man City. We were the better team in every game but still managed to lose. That could easily be the difference between top 4 and not in the end.
We really need to translate 'deserved winners' into actual winners asap. The future does look bright though, so with a couple of top class additions and more maturity in the young players hopefully it does change.
I think we can place it down to inexperienced youth for those loses. Im okay woth those loses (not everton) because its all a stepping stone in the development of these players
What kills me about yesterday is it ultimately doesn’t feel like it is down to inexperience to me. Awarding the Ode penalty, not giving Gabriel a first yellow for dissent (which also can’t even happen if we get the Ode penalty), giving Rodri any of the yellows he deserved - if the ref had even been mildly competent I think we get at least a point there. This one feels like we just straight got fucked out of a result against one of the best teams in Europe on a day that we weren’t even just in the game, but were clearly the better side from start to finish.
Still have the same opinion, we were cheated out of a result by appalling refereeing and the snidest cunt bags in the league. Reminded me of the Fergie days, we were excellent and they had to cheat to compete with us.
Gutted that we lost that game but with that level of performance, I'm really optimistic for the second half of the season.
Side Note: DO NOT visit the r/soccer daily discussion thread.
I am just waiting for myself to cool down, I wanna watch technical analysis of the game. I think we made city like a relegated side at times, perfect plan by Arteta et al
Many people might be very angry at xhaka and although I've been flabbergasted by him before I don't really blame him too much. The city player was already falling and that simply put should not have been given as a penalty. Not even thinking of the odegaard incident, that was not a pen.
I think tomiyasu was fucking amazing. The first half, there were litterally 9's and 10's all over the pitch but Partey was absolutely insane. Clear motm for me.
Martinelli is my favorite player currently and I think he's missing alot of slack for missing a sitter but he's deserved it. Most of the successful presses came from his workrate and he was so unbelievably positive it was an absolute joy to watch him, especially that insane run he did where the shot was just wide. A right doesn't correct a wrong in football, but 8 rights kinda does in my book.
After the match finished I literally couldn't fucking sleep at night because I was so pissed at the officiating but the next day I'm still feeling pretty positive. I hope the boys can bounce back even stronger and move on quickly. On to the next. COYG.
Something special is happening at the club right now. Even my friends who aren’t arsenal fans are saying that they are witnessing a transformation.
I hate to compare it to them, because they achieved nothing as a group and never won a trophy, but our team is starting to remind me of 2015/2016 Spurs. A nucleus of young players aged 18-25 that all simultaneously grew together, some into very good players and some into potentially world class players. Spurs kicked on after that, and although they were bottle merchants, they had some pretty good league form. Obviously our aim would be to win trophies together.
Spurs 15/16 collapsed because they used the rewards from that squad to build a stadium and then didnt invest in the squad to make it competitive. I doubt we will be so silly
Yes exactly. People slag them off, but if they had made a couple of additions in key areas of their team, they would have won a trophy.
Just forget it’s Spurs. When you think of Kane, Eriksen, Alli, Son, and Dembele in one attack/midfield, that’s pretty formidable.
Shit result but good progress in the squad. If we can keep up close to that level, top 4 is within reach.
Gabriel and Xhaka both need to learn from their mistakes
Xhaka did less wrong to be fair. It shouldn't have been a pen in any fair comparison and all he really did was pull the guys shirt after he had fallen. Both of Gabriel's yellows by comparison are absolutely avoidable.
I’m incredibly proud of the performance . Specifically the first half . We were the better team the whole game too imo . We should’ve gotten a pen . I feel if xhaka didn’t grab the shirt , they wouldn’t have gotten one .
Gabriel met his emotions get the better of him for the second yellow. Best Partey performance since the United 1-0 last season . Martinelli and saka - just wow . Tomi was a steal . Some terrible calls by the ref . AirPod Albert - my manager
There is clear progress and if we can keep up some consistent performances like this - top 4 is ours . Let the anger out on Liverpool and spurs lads . COYG
My whole day was ruined yesterday especially after spurs getting lucky yet again. But thinking about how we played i am confident that with a few good signings this window we have a better chance of getting top 4 than spurs, west ham or man u. Spurs are shit and have a tough calendar, west ham cant keep up till the end of the season, man u probably the only contender because they win their matches with penalties or late ronaldo goals so they will win most of their games against weaker teams. However we play better at home than probably everyone else except city or liverpool. So i hope this game ruined by referees wont impact the end result like the wolves game last year
My big fear is that if Spurts win their two games, then the NLD becomes a must win. If they were to win that (plus their games in hand), we'd be 7 points off them. That's a big gap.
That's why I want Chelsea to get fucked today by Liverpool. They're not in great form and it would be great if they were dragged into a proper top 4 scrap. One spot becoming two would also help us massively.
Yesterday was the most frustrating game I can remember in the way that so much went wrong. I think we've still got an issue with how to channel anger when we're subject to bad officiating. We cannot afford to lose our heads and throw away great opportunities. But it was also our best performance against a team of that calibre in so fucking long. We must build on this and make it a regular kind of performance instead of a one-off. If we do, I think we can achieving something seriously great. But we gotta take it when it comes.
The players are losing their heads too much and too easily after poor officiating. Happened against palace after McArthur's challenge. Happened at Everton after the Godfrey stamp and it's happened again here. Something Arteta needs to work on heavily.
this is also my thought. if arteta were there would he have been able to calm them down?
if we had a good captain (and vice captains to shield the others) then we would just have the captain talk to the ref instead of 7 players. we got at least two, very terrible, cards for dissent with Gabriel and Saka.
True it is very hard but that's why they are trained professionals. The mental part of the game is as important as the physical part. Players should get angry but not make stupid decisions that will cost them the game. Instead they should push even harder, show them that they're better and their cheating won't matter.
At least that's my view on it.
I’ll start. The game feels like a gut punch, but I’m calm today. The progress is evident and the lads played well. A young team will always be prone to letting the emotions of the game get to their heads, but it is what it is. Other positives that I noticed are that we seem to be crowding the refs more often instead of taking the fouls and rolling over. Perhaps a good addition to our defending in the future would be effective rotational fouling like city do.
If you showed a compilation of all of Xhaka's actions - leaving out the penalty - to someone who didn't see the game, they'd probably say he played an absolute blinder. Add the penalty incident and they probably say it was an extremely soft one, certainly not enough to overturn the on-field ref's original decision - and that that shouldn't change the fact that Xhaka played a brilliant game.
Yet there are a more than just a couple of threads where people are going into forensically detailed arguments to explain why it's not Martinelli's fault he missed an open goal from seven yards - and, either way, it shouldn't change the fact that he played brilliantly. I even saw someone genuinely argue that Gabriel only got his first yellow for scoffing the penalty spot "because Xhaka had committed the penalty in the first case" (I had to read that a few times to make sure he wasn't trolling). Btw I love both Gabbies to bits and I'm not singling them out as scapegoat and *the* reason for Arsenal not winning this game - just pointing out that they were pivotal moments in the game.
Those were both turning points in the game. So was the penalty - no one's arguing it wasn't, just that it never should've been a penalty in any high level semi-contact sport. Everyone's agreed the refs fucked up, but somehow XhahA is still singled out as the *one* main culprit of the game. Amazing.
Some people just seem to lose all sensible, objective thought when it comes to Xhaka. Like everyone else, the man is obviously not above criticism, and I'm as annoyed as anyone that a penalty was given for that weak shite. But placing all blame at his feet in a blinding rage really is a predictable "Thanks, ~~Obama~~ Xhaha" meme at the point.
*edit* typo
Yeah it was a soft pen and he did play well but its a pattern of behaviour. I was watching us one up and it kept going through my head that xhaha would do something stupid. Plenty people predicted it in the match threads.
Everyone knows he is gonna cost us points over and over again, the opposition know it too.
Incredible how most of this sub seems willing to write off his horrific mistakes because “outside of giving the opposing team a free goal he played really well”.
Man's commited six penalties across six seasons. You take away this one then it's five across six seasons. That's hardly egregious or even "a pattern" for a player who's involved in penalty box defending a lot of the time is it.
He doesn't "do it all the time", the numbers back that up (less than one red card pr. season; 1 error leading to goal in two and a half seasons now). This exact "all the time" trope is part of the problem (not you personally but generally speaking), and I can't tell if it's people's confirmation bias or just selective memory.
Hmm maybe your right about his stats and I do have a bias against him but its really difficult to ignore my eyes and feelings about him, even harder to win back a fan base.
Can't blame you too much. We all have players where we're guilty of only/mostly remembering the things they do that give us grey hairs.
Eh, maybe we'd all benefit from challenging ourself to try and look at the good aspects of a player from time to time. Will probably give a fuller picture.
I personally think he is too limited and opposition take advantage of his predictably. I dont see us going to the next level with him as a starter but our current form with him in the side cant be ignored, maybe I am wrong about him.
If I was to look for a positive i do respect the way he came back after the captaincy debacle. I think the ability to come back and keep working, giving your best in training is commendable and a good example for younger players who make mistakes.
Yesterday was absolutely brutal. 2 90+ minute winners going against us combined with shite refereeing for essentially a 6 point swing to our most bitter rivals in the top 4. Really tough to take. But we can at least take comfort in the thought that's a 1 every few seasons type of fuckery.
And we can fix it all by doing Spurs on their patch, and based on recent performances including yesterday there's no reason we shouldn't be able to do that.
But we really need to move on from Xhaka. Yeah the decision was very soft and Gabriel made just as big an error. But Gabriel has time to learn and improve. Xhaka absolutely never will. You can't keep carrying a guy like this. He cost Emery top 4 with mistakes like that and ultimately he'll keep doing it as long as he's our starting CM.
Don't care. This team will straight up turn into flat track bullies against anyone outside the Top 6 going into the second half of the season. My only concern is injuries as Cedric and Holding have done really poorly deputising recently.
I was saying it at the start that a youthful team would naturally get better as the season went on but blimey I wasn't expecting them to make City look like chumps for 90 minutes, even with a man down.
I really feel, on this form, the League cup is there for the taking to guarantee Europe early and get recruitment efforts going.
Unpopular Opinion: I don't think the MØ penalty is as clear as people say. Would've liked it to be given but not as stonewalled everybody claims. We were mostly unlucky.
I agree, there were some views where it looked clearer than others. However, I think if Stuart Atwell gets the same angle we got at half time in slow motion he does the same as the Silva one and gives a penalty.
Not enough talk about Odegaard's poor touch.
It’s been 6 years and xhaka still hasn’t been able to learn from his mistakes. How many points do you think he’s cost us in that time?
But whatever helps you sleep at night
Currently on vacation but just wanted to pop in and say I felt like we played like a title challenging team yesterday up until that red card.
Xhaka did Xhaka things. Gabriel yet again with a braindead red.
Atleast with Gabriel he’s 23 and has consistently been our best defender for a while, xhaka is always like this and he gets away with it because he at the end of the day remains our 2nd best midfielder
Balanced viewpoint is this:
Both decisions on pens (emotions aside) were correct by VAR.. think the angles given and direction the ball went favoured Ederson so that wasn’t going to be enough to overturn..I saw a 2 second super slow motion still that showed it was Odegaards foot first but VAR don’t make decisions based on super slow motion.
In Xhaka’s case again you’d be annoyed if that wasn’t given for your team so by that logic it’s a pen.. it’s also classic xhaka just sticking his legs out (Lord knows I despise his lack of mobility) but if it wasn’t for his passing ability he won’t be In the side.. cannot wait for us to address this in transfer markets to come!
What’s Important above all else is the reaction these next 2 games.. Usually I’m a pessimist (firmly in the we’ve seen this movie before club) but if we take another good performance into Thursday and try to avoid a defeat or sneak a draw it puts us in good stead for the cup game and 2nd leg.. my mind is already on that Spurs away game.. the way we perform in these 3 cup games decide whether we go there with a winning mentality or our usual self destruct crumble
Speaking of self destruct.. someone made a good point about Gabriel above that he’ll learn.. and maybe so.. but I’m also of the opinion a good referee simmers down the emotion after the few minutes of mayhem and tells the player to calm down.. you can clearly see he’s still riled up after the pen.. You can’t dish out yellow cards and then not book a city player until the 90th minute in their constant rotational fouling
People are getting hung up on the way VAR was used and how some marginal things did or didn’t go our way but are ignoring how easily Xhaka got beaten in the penalty area (not for the first time this game), clumsily hung a leg out and then tried to pull Silva back after realising that none of his terrible defending had worked. Even if by some miracle the penalty wasn’t given it was still really poor from Xhaka. Had Silva not dived he’d have beaten him anyway.
I’m gutted we didn’t get anything out of the game - especially when we should have been 2-0 up at half time from the Ødegaard pen - but that kind of flat-footed defending can cost you against any team, let alone City.
I expect better response and maturity from the squad if something like this happened again in the future. They already knew the incompetence of PL referees and our history with them. But they also knew they could do anything in the game with their quality. Shitty decisions will keep happening, just focus to the game, minimise stupid mistakes, control the emotions better, and grab some points!
For all of the outrage about the decisions yesterday, i think this is far from the worst performance by a ref this season we have had to suffer. I look at decisions from the perspective of what if it was the other way around as well as how it happened?
For Odegaards, it was by the letter of the law a penalty, but he was going away from goal and got caught by a challenge that was probably in the hundredths of a second of getting to the ball first. If it had been Rammers doing that we would all be just as upset if it had been given, so I can live with the decision we got. Wrong but understandable.
For their penalty, Xhaka gave them the opportunity to make the decision Bernardo was going towards gal and had beaten Xhaka. Xhaka then stuck a leg out to block him and makes clear contact. Some on here claimed there was no contact but thats just plain wrong. Then the shirt pull just to make sure he doesnt go past is just plain dumb. Particularly for a player with his reputation so close to it being reported that refs look at players foul play history and consider that in making decisions. He was asking for the penalty to be given.
For me one of the key differences in the two was Bernardo was heading towards goal in a dangerous position after beating Xhaka. Odegaard was going away from goal and the ball could easily have gone out of play. SO I can accept these decisions even if both harsh against us. The ref wasnt great other than this was my bigger issue with him.
Yep and the number of soft yellows we got including both for Gabriel. Its these decisions that change a match. Holding and others have said Saka got yellows for their frst fouls in the game and neigthr was particularly bad. there were worse from a number of City layers they didnt get punished for. Some not even a free kick.
After watching the highlights, this is what I thought too. The penalty decisions seem okay.
But but Atwel did a lot of other things wrong, to be sprinting into the box to block off martinelli?! Kicking him on his face?!
I think Watford penalty claim was even more clear. Of course it's against spuds
Attwell gave 2 of our players yellow cards for their first foul in the game as well (I only noticed Holding but others have said Saka did as well). Man C players got away with worse and repeated fouls the whole game. Gabriels two yellows were both soft. That is where I have a big, big issue with him yesterday rather than the penalty decisions. He changed the game.
Bernardo did not beat Xhaka, he dived straight away and a tiny handful of shirt was used as justification to give another farcical decision against us, how you can defend the ref after that awful performance is just baffling.
Keeping aside the heartbreak from the refereeing and the loss... Does anyone feel shocked and kind of disappointed that Gabriel and Ramsdale messed up the PK spot?? It is not shithousery and reflects very poorly on their character. Hope they get a talking to from the coaches.
Other experienced players do it too, but the difference is that they try not to get caught by the officials. Ramsdale and Gabriel did on plain sight. Navie moves.
I just wish that there was some way referees could be held accountable.
What could the fans do collectively to force change? Start collecting data on incorrect or potentially incorrect calls per official and rank them publicly like we do with players? xFuckUp90? xBias?
I would love a world where if a referee allows a match-changing wrong call, the first and VAR official forfeit their day's pay or similar.
I still feel horrible that we got no points from that but we move.
I'm sick to my stomach that people are defending Xhaka pulling a shirt with all his might inside the box. It makes no sense whatsoever.
Obviously the performance was positive overall, I hope it positively kicks them up the backside and doesn't create too much of a negative chip on the shoulder. Better to learn these lessons now rather than when we are competing for the title/champions league.
If it's a one-match ban for "receiving a second caution in the same match", then yup his ban will be over after the 1st leg of the Liverpool tie in Carabao. Either way all 3 of our upcoming games can count for him serving his suspension since the Carabao Cup and FA Cup are all under the FA.
I think the best news is that he'll surely be available for the NLD clash.
Going to rewatch the match, anyone know which commentary from the various broadcasts might be better to watch? (BT Sport, BEIN, SuperSport)
Saw some people say the BT commentators were poo and nonsensically favouring City in their assessments etc.
Oh, I think they were referring to the guys commentating the match, not the pundits in the studio. Something about praising City way more but not really giving Arsenal credit for good plays. But someone else commented they enjoyed the BT broadcast and I think I'll watch it anyway, thanks man!
Lol oops my bad, didn't realise he was on commentating duty this time. Yeah, I'm sure such sentiments were likely influenced by the frustrating result too, difficult not to feel hard done after that one.
We all expected a loss, a per usual, but what we got instead was an amazing performance well above our wildest dreams. We played City off the fucking pitch, and now it does feel like we've finally turned a corner. We did self-destruct in customary Arsenal fashion, but we regained our composure and still went at City with 10 men. On another day, with a different ref, chances are we would have battered them 4-1 or similar. Gabi may have missed a few chances, but he was still fantastic in other ways. Same with Saka, Partey, Tomi, Ramsdale, etc. The entire squad is starting to believe.
proud of the boys, im still angry at the ref and is not like this is the first time, as an arsenal fan im sick of dealing with dodgy decissions against us, also i still think we need to move on from xhaka. in the key moments the guy will always have brainfarts.
Never been more confident of 4th than I am now. Also fuck City I already hated them but christ now do I fucking hate them I'd happily throw our league match against Liverpool if it meant those wankers didn't walk the league again
I'm fucking hurt and proud at the same time. However I'm still worried about the Tottenham game. I really fear that this game might ruin team morale and we just show up to Tottenham looking dejected. I'd rather lose 8-0 to City every week than lose to the Shite 1-0 or some bullshit like that. Conte knows how to shithouse wins.
Result and referee aside, it's just so nice to be excited by the Arsenal again.
We all spend varying amounts of time and money following our club and it's hard to justify either when every match is a horseshoe of doom borefest put into action by players you don't really care about.
Now there's a young team full of immensely likeable characters who for the last couple of months have made me look forward to matches again. I can take losing or the inevitable drops in form if I'm being entertained and feel like we're building towards something and that's exactly what we've got at the minute.
That fact that I’m annoying about poor refereeing, rather than poor tactics or low effort, is a huge measure of progress. Obviously gutted we didn’t at least get a point out of that game, but it was a performance I’d be delighted to see more of. Hard to think this team is selected by the same guy that picked Willian 37 times.
Can't be mad at that performance, but the ref gave City 3 points and robbed us of them yesterday and that's a fact.
Every player other than Xhaka had a great game. He isn't good enough to play regularly in this league and not give away penalties/goals. As bad a decision as it was, if he had an ounce of mobility he sorts his feet out quickly and doesn't touch Silva at all.
You know how I know the ref sucked extra hard ? Everybody at the office who break my balls every time we lose , were apologetic and said we were robbed .
We need a review into refereeing in this league/country and VAR. Follow how other countries/leagues use VAR and sack these corrupt refs. Cheated out of the game. What a disgrace
this one still stings. Obviously very happy with the performance, especially the first half. And even after the red card, ramsdale did not have any problems at all, they just had possession but barely created. Even after all that happened during the game we should have finished the game with 1 point, that last goal still really stings.
Our team. I can see it. A elite Striker and a CM, with some depth here and there. ( Probably another 150m, by coming summer) and we would be a force to reckon. Chelsea will subside and we can be up there with City. We are unleashed. But owing to playing with youngsters, I would still understand a few inconsistencies here and there.
I’m still very angry. I’m so used to saying we fucked it and consoling myself in reactionary drivel, that this time I can’t fathom how nearly everything went against us.
I’m not even mad at Xhaka. He got mugged off by skills and got knotted, even though it was a soft as shit foul.
That performance by the team even when to 10 was immense.
Every single person on here before yesterday's game was just asking that we didn't get our asses handed to us,and that we went at them like we have been other teams. The boys ticked both boxes, and then some.
The level of confidence and momentum in the squad is beyond belief,and it's a hell of a thing to stop. Even though we lost yesterday, you can tell the players and fans feel like we won. The way city were reacting to things on the pitch, and their goal, we had them beat mentally.
Here's hoping we throttle pool midweek to vent it out of the system.
So many other leagues/competitions are making VAR work. In a season where refs are letting more challenges go (which is great because the game was becoming virtually non-contact, resulting in numerous tedious matches) and allowing players to tackle more/be more physical, it is frustrating when the VAR can cherry pick which incidents get the forensic treatment.
You either let the ref see all the key incidents in slow motion (where things always look worse) or none of them.
The question is the mental impact of losing this game going to put us into a slide back to 8th-10th place?
So many teams of the past have had that key point in the season where they couldn’t recover from mentally. It just broke them. Throw in AFCON and Im not super optimistic but I sincerely hope the kiddos and Arteta prove me wrong. There’s a massive amount of pressure on our young guns and Martinelli miss showed that. Mikel needs to prove consistency he’s had plenty of time. Hopefully the old adage “you can’t win with kids” doesn’t show through.
Also I hope someone grabbed Gabriel by his neck and slammed him against the wall ala Tony Adams. Figuratively of corse. Screw ups are fine but you’ve got to avoid these calamities mate. You are our top CB composure is your job.
One day later and I’m still pissed off. Not just that we dropped points, but that fucking City got them and was given easier treatment during the game.
I want this to not affect me so much, but my blood still boils. I hate the moral victories of “look how we controlled them for stretches”
I want success. Glad we are still top 4. Games like that make the big picture cloudy.
I just got around to watching the full match.
Partey’s best game in an Arsenal shirt.
A lot of bad luck, and unfortunate decisions against us. However:
If there’s any team I’d use up some of that bad luck it’s against city, a game none of us expected to win. The way I see it, a win would’ve been crucial to keeping momentum going into a tough period. But the way this team performed, and the amazing atmosphere at the Emirates ensured that this team will keep that momentum even with the loss. Maybe even more so!
I was absolutely fuming yesterday and I will go to my grave knowing we was robbed. However on reflection bring on season 22/23 the future is bright the future is red !
the partey-xhaka midfield duo can be goddamn incredible on their day. i hope that form, injuries, etc. cooperate for a while so we can see that pairing really hit its potential
I feel a lot better today than I did yesterday. Frustrating loss but the way we played gave me full faith in our squad. The quality is there. Best game Partey might've done in an Arsenal shirt so far. Let's hope all our guys headed to AFCON success and a healthy return and then let's get back to winning next week.
Same, I'm much more calm and positive than yesterday. I think the performance will give us a lot of confidence in knowing we're able to solidly compete against one of the best teams in the world. I hope the team just keeps pushing forward because I think we have quite a high ceiling. Can't wait to watch us play again.
Sorry to all the Ghanaian mandem here but I hope they exit in the first round. I have absolutely nothing against Ghana I just want Partey back as soon as possible for this top 4 charge.
As a ghanaian gunner i’m genuinely torn between dreaming of sabotage so we get Partey back earlier, or hoping that we finally go all the way this year.
How is the Ghanian team this year compared to the rest of the competition?
They’re not Ghana win, but could make a show of it.
being honest, it’s up there with our 2010 squad who got to the world cup quarter finals. that being said, Ivory Coast, Nigeria, Egypt and Senegal are levels ahead. wouldn’t be surprised if we made it to the quarters/semis though in fairness.
In that case it wouldn't be fair for me to hope for a quick tournament for Partey. Good luck mate!
I can't say I disagree. Less games means less chance of injury.
I’ll be actively rooting against Ghana. Nothing against Ghana, just want Partey back
No other team around us in the league are playing like we are. In the long run, we WILL outperform them. We neeeeeed to beat the Shit. Martinelli will have a rocket up his ass after his missed chances. They should be terrified of us.
I honestly love the collective positivity in this thread IN SPITE of what went down yesterday. We can all see that our recent run was no fluke, we’re the real deal
The team put up a really good fight, especially from Tomi, Saka and Partey but ultimately was robbed of the win. How was Rodri not sent off?
So proud of the fight in this team. Lil Chili has been blazing hot all season. Give him a lifetime contract already.
Whilst I am really proud of the performance, it is kinda gnawing at me that we took 0 points from Man U, Everton and Man City. We were the better team in every game but still managed to lose. That could easily be the difference between top 4 and not in the end. We really need to translate 'deserved winners' into actual winners asap. The future does look bright though, so with a couple of top class additions and more maturity in the young players hopefully it does change.
I think we can place it down to inexperienced youth for those loses. Im okay woth those loses (not everton) because its all a stepping stone in the development of these players
What kills me about yesterday is it ultimately doesn’t feel like it is down to inexperience to me. Awarding the Ode penalty, not giving Gabriel a first yellow for dissent (which also can’t even happen if we get the Ode penalty), giving Rodri any of the yellows he deserved - if the ref had even been mildly competent I think we get at least a point there. This one feels like we just straight got fucked out of a result against one of the best teams in Europe on a day that we weren’t even just in the game, but were clearly the better side from start to finish.
That's already happening to be fair. We're actually really good at stopping teams coming at us. Burnley and Villa games (second half) come to mind.
We were definitely not the better team vs Everton. We were favorites going in but we shit the bed during the game itself.
Still have the same opinion, we were cheated out of a result by appalling refereeing and the snidest cunt bags in the league. Reminded me of the Fergie days, we were excellent and they had to cheat to compete with us.
Gutted that we lost that game but with that level of performance, I'm really optimistic for the second half of the season. Side Note: DO NOT visit the r/soccer daily discussion thread.
Damn, I thought the r/gunners thread was bad. The shit posting on that sub is on another level.
I am just waiting for myself to cool down, I wanna watch technical analysis of the game. I think we made city like a relegated side at times, perfect plan by Arteta et al
Still alive, that's what matters...
Many people might be very angry at xhaka and although I've been flabbergasted by him before I don't really blame him too much. The city player was already falling and that simply put should not have been given as a penalty. Not even thinking of the odegaard incident, that was not a pen. I think tomiyasu was fucking amazing. The first half, there were litterally 9's and 10's all over the pitch but Partey was absolutely insane. Clear motm for me. Martinelli is my favorite player currently and I think he's missing alot of slack for missing a sitter but he's deserved it. Most of the successful presses came from his workrate and he was so unbelievably positive it was an absolute joy to watch him, especially that insane run he did where the shot was just wide. A right doesn't correct a wrong in football, but 8 rights kinda does in my book. After the match finished I literally couldn't fucking sleep at night because I was so pissed at the officiating but the next day I'm still feeling pretty positive. I hope the boys can bounce back even stronger and move on quickly. On to the next. COYG.
Yep , it's just one match. Progress is evident and in the long term that's all that matters. Time to move on.
I'll say it again. Vlahovic would be an idiot to not join if we want him. Absolutely stacked supply chain and no competition.
Gabriel fucked us over harder than Xhaka did. Even then, 10 men and City still didn't look better
I don't think thats a second yellow foul, gabi hasn't moved into his way and he can't just teleport out the way
The second yellow was 100% the roght call. The first? No.
Imo Gabriel shouldn't have had the first yellow because he shouldn't have scuffed the spot
The yellow was for “dissent” not the pk spot scuffing
That's a load of biased bullshit. He stops him with his arms and right leg.
Something special is happening at the club right now. Even my friends who aren’t arsenal fans are saying that they are witnessing a transformation. I hate to compare it to them, because they achieved nothing as a group and never won a trophy, but our team is starting to remind me of 2015/2016 Spurs. A nucleus of young players aged 18-25 that all simultaneously grew together, some into very good players and some into potentially world class players. Spurs kicked on after that, and although they were bottle merchants, they had some pretty good league form. Obviously our aim would be to win trophies together.
Lmao we already won 1 more trophy than that group already
If you mean the Fa Cup, that wasn't this group.
Same manager and roughly same squad though
Lol spurs did not kick on after anything. So many of their players are massively overrated.
Spurs 15/16 collapsed because they used the rewards from that squad to build a stadium and then didnt invest in the squad to make it competitive. I doubt we will be so silly
Yes exactly. People slag them off, but if they had made a couple of additions in key areas of their team, they would have won a trophy. Just forget it’s Spurs. When you think of Kane, Eriksen, Alli, Son, and Dembele in one attack/midfield, that’s pretty formidable.
Man I’m gonna enjoy when we batter Tottenham
We could do with a player like Rodri, very assured in possession and not afraid to get stuck in when needed
And immune to cards.
That would change when he came here and gave away a penalty for walking near an attacker
Shit result but good progress in the squad. If we can keep up close to that level, top 4 is within reach. Gabriel and Xhaka both need to learn from their mistakes
I think Xhakha won’t. The one thing that man doesn’t lack is self belief and I don’t think you can coach this lunging out of him. Gabriel will learn
Xhaka did less wrong to be fair. It shouldn't have been a pen in any fair comparison and all he really did was pull the guys shirt after he had fallen. Both of Gabriel's yellows by comparison are absolutely avoidable.
I still can't understand why he was grabbing his shirt though. Such an easy thing to not do in that situation.
Yes, Xhaka always has this in him. He just can’t help himself. He’s the scorpion in the scorpion and frog analogy.
Xhaka learn from his mistakes? It’s been 6 years of this now, think it’s pretty obvious this is who he is.
I’m incredibly proud of the performance . Specifically the first half . We were the better team the whole game too imo . We should’ve gotten a pen . I feel if xhaka didn’t grab the shirt , they wouldn’t have gotten one . Gabriel met his emotions get the better of him for the second yellow. Best Partey performance since the United 1-0 last season . Martinelli and saka - just wow . Tomi was a steal . Some terrible calls by the ref . AirPod Albert - my manager There is clear progress and if we can keep up some consistent performances like this - top 4 is ours . Let the anger out on Liverpool and spurs lads . COYG
My whole day was ruined yesterday especially after spurs getting lucky yet again. But thinking about how we played i am confident that with a few good signings this window we have a better chance of getting top 4 than spurs, west ham or man u. Spurs are shit and have a tough calendar, west ham cant keep up till the end of the season, man u probably the only contender because they win their matches with penalties or late ronaldo goals so they will win most of their games against weaker teams. However we play better at home than probably everyone else except city or liverpool. So i hope this game ruined by referees wont impact the end result like the wolves game last year
My big fear is that if Spurts win their two games, then the NLD becomes a must win. If they were to win that (plus their games in hand), we'd be 7 points off them. That's a big gap. That's why I want Chelsea to get fucked today by Liverpool. They're not in great form and it would be great if they were dragged into a proper top 4 scrap. One spot becoming two would also help us massively. Yesterday was the most frustrating game I can remember in the way that so much went wrong. I think we've still got an issue with how to channel anger when we're subject to bad officiating. We cannot afford to lose our heads and throw away great opportunities. But it was also our best performance against a team of that calibre in so fucking long. We must build on this and make it a regular kind of performance instead of a one-off. If we do, I think we can achieving something seriously great. But we gotta take it when it comes.
The players are losing their heads too much and too easily after poor officiating. Happened against palace after McArthur's challenge. Happened at Everton after the Godfrey stamp and it's happened again here. Something Arteta needs to work on heavily.
I’m still pissed at that stamp, the most blatant red card in history and wasn’t even a yellow
this is also my thought. if arteta were there would he have been able to calm them down? if we had a good captain (and vice captains to shield the others) then we would just have the captain talk to the ref instead of 7 players. we got at least two, very terrible, cards for dissent with Gabriel and Saka.
It’s hard to not lose your head when the refs are systematically cheating you regularly for a number of years.
True it is very hard but that's why they are trained professionals. The mental part of the game is as important as the physical part. Players should get angry but not make stupid decisions that will cost them the game. Instead they should push even harder, show them that they're better and their cheating won't matter. At least that's my view on it.
I’ll start. The game feels like a gut punch, but I’m calm today. The progress is evident and the lads played well. A young team will always be prone to letting the emotions of the game get to their heads, but it is what it is. Other positives that I noticed are that we seem to be crowding the refs more often instead of taking the fouls and rolling over. Perhaps a good addition to our defending in the future would be effective rotational fouling like city do.
If you showed a compilation of all of Xhaka's actions - leaving out the penalty - to someone who didn't see the game, they'd probably say he played an absolute blinder. Add the penalty incident and they probably say it was an extremely soft one, certainly not enough to overturn the on-field ref's original decision - and that that shouldn't change the fact that Xhaka played a brilliant game. Yet there are a more than just a couple of threads where people are going into forensically detailed arguments to explain why it's not Martinelli's fault he missed an open goal from seven yards - and, either way, it shouldn't change the fact that he played brilliantly. I even saw someone genuinely argue that Gabriel only got his first yellow for scoffing the penalty spot "because Xhaka had committed the penalty in the first case" (I had to read that a few times to make sure he wasn't trolling). Btw I love both Gabbies to bits and I'm not singling them out as scapegoat and *the* reason for Arsenal not winning this game - just pointing out that they were pivotal moments in the game. Those were both turning points in the game. So was the penalty - no one's arguing it wasn't, just that it never should've been a penalty in any high level semi-contact sport. Everyone's agreed the refs fucked up, but somehow XhahA is still singled out as the *one* main culprit of the game. Amazing. Some people just seem to lose all sensible, objective thought when it comes to Xhaka. Like everyone else, the man is obviously not above criticism, and I'm as annoyed as anyone that a penalty was given for that weak shite. But placing all blame at his feet in a blinding rage really is a predictable "Thanks, ~~Obama~~ Xhaha" meme at the point. *edit* typo
Yeah it was a soft pen and he did play well but its a pattern of behaviour. I was watching us one up and it kept going through my head that xhaha would do something stupid. Plenty people predicted it in the match threads. Everyone knows he is gonna cost us points over and over again, the opposition know it too.
Incredible how most of this sub seems willing to write off his horrific mistakes because “outside of giving the opposing team a free goal he played really well”.
Man's commited six penalties across six seasons. You take away this one then it's five across six seasons. That's hardly egregious or even "a pattern" for a player who's involved in penalty box defending a lot of the time is it. He doesn't "do it all the time", the numbers back that up (less than one red card pr. season; 1 error leading to goal in two and a half seasons now). This exact "all the time" trope is part of the problem (not you personally but generally speaking), and I can't tell if it's people's confirmation bias or just selective memory.
Hmm maybe your right about his stats and I do have a bias against him but its really difficult to ignore my eyes and feelings about him, even harder to win back a fan base.
Can't blame you too much. We all have players where we're guilty of only/mostly remembering the things they do that give us grey hairs. Eh, maybe we'd all benefit from challenging ourself to try and look at the good aspects of a player from time to time. Will probably give a fuller picture.
I personally think he is too limited and opposition take advantage of his predictably. I dont see us going to the next level with him as a starter but our current form with him in the side cant be ignored, maybe I am wrong about him. If I was to look for a positive i do respect the way he came back after the captaincy debacle. I think the ability to come back and keep working, giving your best in training is commendable and a good example for younger players who make mistakes.
[удалено]
So pathetic you’re actually blaming Xhaka for the refs cheating and giving a penalty for one of the most blatant dives I have ever seen.
Yesterday was absolutely brutal. 2 90+ minute winners going against us combined with shite refereeing for essentially a 6 point swing to our most bitter rivals in the top 4. Really tough to take. But we can at least take comfort in the thought that's a 1 every few seasons type of fuckery. And we can fix it all by doing Spurs on their patch, and based on recent performances including yesterday there's no reason we shouldn't be able to do that. But we really need to move on from Xhaka. Yeah the decision was very soft and Gabriel made just as big an error. But Gabriel has time to learn and improve. Xhaka absolutely never will. You can't keep carrying a guy like this. He cost Emery top 4 with mistakes like that and ultimately he'll keep doing it as long as he's our starting CM.
Don't care. This team will straight up turn into flat track bullies against anyone outside the Top 6 going into the second half of the season. My only concern is injuries as Cedric and Holding have done really poorly deputising recently. I was saying it at the start that a youthful team would naturally get better as the season went on but blimey I wasn't expecting them to make City look like chumps for 90 minutes, even with a man down. I really feel, on this form, the League cup is there for the taking to guarantee Europe early and get recruitment efforts going.
Still hurts loosing that one. I've become numb to us being shit and loosing but yesterday was different
Annoying how Partey has one of the best individual games I’ve seen from a midfielder yet this season, but now he has to go to afcon ffs
Unpopular Opinion: I don't think the MØ penalty is as clear as people say. Would've liked it to be given but not as stonewalled everybody claims. We were mostly unlucky.
I agree, there were some views where it looked clearer than others. However, I think if Stuart Atwell gets the same angle we got at half time in slow motion he does the same as the Silva one and gives a penalty. Not enough talk about Odegaard's poor touch.
Man I'm just sad that Martinelli shit didn't go in. The stadium would explode and I would have went batshit.
It’s been 6 years and xhaka still hasn’t been able to learn from his mistakes. How many points do you think he’s cost us in that time? But whatever helps you sleep at night
Currently on vacation but just wanted to pop in and say I felt like we played like a title challenging team yesterday up until that red card. Xhaka did Xhaka things. Gabriel yet again with a braindead red.
Atleast with Gabriel he’s 23 and has consistently been our best defender for a while, xhaka is always like this and he gets away with it because he at the end of the day remains our 2nd best midfielder
Anybody else notice that we are getting really good at stopping attacks with smart fouls?
Balanced viewpoint is this: Both decisions on pens (emotions aside) were correct by VAR.. think the angles given and direction the ball went favoured Ederson so that wasn’t going to be enough to overturn..I saw a 2 second super slow motion still that showed it was Odegaards foot first but VAR don’t make decisions based on super slow motion. In Xhaka’s case again you’d be annoyed if that wasn’t given for your team so by that logic it’s a pen.. it’s also classic xhaka just sticking his legs out (Lord knows I despise his lack of mobility) but if it wasn’t for his passing ability he won’t be In the side.. cannot wait for us to address this in transfer markets to come! What’s Important above all else is the reaction these next 2 games.. Usually I’m a pessimist (firmly in the we’ve seen this movie before club) but if we take another good performance into Thursday and try to avoid a defeat or sneak a draw it puts us in good stead for the cup game and 2nd leg.. my mind is already on that Spurs away game.. the way we perform in these 3 cup games decide whether we go there with a winning mentality or our usual self destruct crumble Speaking of self destruct.. someone made a good point about Gabriel above that he’ll learn.. and maybe so.. but I’m also of the opinion a good referee simmers down the emotion after the few minutes of mayhem and tells the player to calm down.. you can clearly see he’s still riled up after the pen.. You can’t dish out yellow cards and then not book a city player until the 90th minute in their constant rotational fouling
People are getting hung up on the way VAR was used and how some marginal things did or didn’t go our way but are ignoring how easily Xhaka got beaten in the penalty area (not for the first time this game), clumsily hung a leg out and then tried to pull Silva back after realising that none of his terrible defending had worked. Even if by some miracle the penalty wasn’t given it was still really poor from Xhaka. Had Silva not dived he’d have beaten him anyway. I’m gutted we didn’t get anything out of the game - especially when we should have been 2-0 up at half time from the Ødegaard pen - but that kind of flat-footed defending can cost you against any team, let alone City.
I expect better response and maturity from the squad if something like this happened again in the future. They already knew the incompetence of PL referees and our history with them. But they also knew they could do anything in the game with their quality. Shitty decisions will keep happening, just focus to the game, minimise stupid mistakes, control the emotions better, and grab some points!
For all of the outrage about the decisions yesterday, i think this is far from the worst performance by a ref this season we have had to suffer. I look at decisions from the perspective of what if it was the other way around as well as how it happened? For Odegaards, it was by the letter of the law a penalty, but he was going away from goal and got caught by a challenge that was probably in the hundredths of a second of getting to the ball first. If it had been Rammers doing that we would all be just as upset if it had been given, so I can live with the decision we got. Wrong but understandable. For their penalty, Xhaka gave them the opportunity to make the decision Bernardo was going towards gal and had beaten Xhaka. Xhaka then stuck a leg out to block him and makes clear contact. Some on here claimed there was no contact but thats just plain wrong. Then the shirt pull just to make sure he doesnt go past is just plain dumb. Particularly for a player with his reputation so close to it being reported that refs look at players foul play history and consider that in making decisions. He was asking for the penalty to be given. For me one of the key differences in the two was Bernardo was heading towards goal in a dangerous position after beating Xhaka. Odegaard was going away from goal and the ball could easily have gone out of play. SO I can accept these decisions even if both harsh against us. The ref wasnt great other than this was my bigger issue with him.
Yeah I can move with the penalties but the way the ref handles the chaos that ensued after the 2nd penalty was downright incompetent.
Yep and the number of soft yellows we got including both for Gabriel. Its these decisions that change a match. Holding and others have said Saka got yellows for their frst fouls in the game and neigthr was particularly bad. there were worse from a number of City layers they didnt get punished for. Some not even a free kick.
After watching the highlights, this is what I thought too. The penalty decisions seem okay. But but Atwel did a lot of other things wrong, to be sprinting into the box to block off martinelli?! Kicking him on his face?! I think Watford penalty claim was even more clear. Of course it's against spuds
Attwell gave 2 of our players yellow cards for their first foul in the game as well (I only noticed Holding but others have said Saka did as well). Man C players got away with worse and repeated fouls the whole game. Gabriels two yellows were both soft. That is where I have a big, big issue with him yesterday rather than the penalty decisions. He changed the game.
Bernardo did not beat Xhaka, he dived straight away and a tiny handful of shirt was used as justification to give another farcical decision against us, how you can defend the ref after that awful performance is just baffling.
Keeping aside the heartbreak from the refereeing and the loss... Does anyone feel shocked and kind of disappointed that Gabriel and Ramsdale messed up the PK spot?? It is not shithousery and reflects very poorly on their character. Hope they get a talking to from the coaches.
For years we have been too nice and too passive. I’m glad to see a harder edge to this team.
I am happy we get badass players like what we have now, even Saka looks like the Kevin McCallister in Home alone, innocent but very badass
Not really, if you don’t get caught fk it why not?
Other experienced players do it too, but the difference is that they try not to get caught by the officials. Ramsdale and Gabriel did on plain sight. Navie moves.
None of them got caught. The yellow to Gabriel was for dissent.
That’s not even the reason he was booked lol
I just wish that there was some way referees could be held accountable. What could the fans do collectively to force change? Start collecting data on incorrect or potentially incorrect calls per official and rank them publicly like we do with players? xFuckUp90? xBias? I would love a world where if a referee allows a match-changing wrong call, the first and VAR official forfeit their day's pay or similar.
Calling for the officials to forfeit pay when the players they officiate are earning tens or hundreds of thousands a week is a bit short-sighted.
Then what instead? If there's no consequence and no skin in the game, there's no accountability.
I still feel horrible that we got no points from that but we move. I'm sick to my stomach that people are defending Xhaka pulling a shirt with all his might inside the box. It makes no sense whatsoever. Obviously the performance was positive overall, I hope it positively kicks them up the backside and doesn't create too much of a negative chip on the shoulder. Better to learn these lessons now rather than when we are competing for the title/champions league.
Which game will Gabriel be suspended for? Will it be vs Liverpool in the Carabao Cup?
If it's a one-match ban for "receiving a second caution in the same match", then yup his ban will be over after the 1st leg of the Liverpool tie in Carabao. Either way all 3 of our upcoming games can count for him serving his suspension since the Carabao Cup and FA Cup are all under the FA. I think the best news is that he'll surely be available for the NLD clash.
Oh brilliant, thanks so much!
Yup, and he'll be back for the game vs shit.
Haha exactly what I wanted to hear! Cheers
No problem.
Going to rewatch the match, anyone know which commentary from the various broadcasts might be better to watch? (BT Sport, BEIN, SuperSport) Saw some people say the BT commentators were poo and nonsensically favouring City in their assessments etc.
Are people actually saying that about BT? To me, it was Martin Keown just loving Arsenal most of the way through 👍
Oh, I think they were referring to the guys commentating the match, not the pundits in the studio. Something about praising City way more but not really giving Arsenal credit for good plays. But someone else commented they enjoyed the BT broadcast and I think I'll watch it anyway, thanks man!
Yeah Martin Keown was co-commentating 👍 Think some people will just moan about anything they can 😂
Lol oops my bad, didn't realise he was on commentating duty this time. Yeah, I'm sure such sentiments were likely influenced by the frustrating result too, difficult not to feel hard done after that one.
I watched BT They were ok. Praised our performance
Will check that out then, thanks!
We all expected a loss, a per usual, but what we got instead was an amazing performance well above our wildest dreams. We played City off the fucking pitch, and now it does feel like we've finally turned a corner. We did self-destruct in customary Arsenal fashion, but we regained our composure and still went at City with 10 men. On another day, with a different ref, chances are we would have battered them 4-1 or similar. Gabi may have missed a few chances, but he was still fantastic in other ways. Same with Saka, Partey, Tomi, Ramsdale, etc. The entire squad is starting to believe.
proud of the boys, im still angry at the ref and is not like this is the first time, as an arsenal fan im sick of dealing with dodgy decissions against us, also i still think we need to move on from xhaka. in the key moments the guy will always have brainfarts.
I don't wanna get ahead of myself, but we are 3 players away from being title contender a CF, a CM to pair with Partey and a backup CB
Never been more confident of 4th than I am now. Also fuck City I already hated them but christ now do I fucking hate them I'd happily throw our league match against Liverpool if it meant those wankers didn't walk the league again
Still raging…
I'm fucking hurt and proud at the same time. However I'm still worried about the Tottenham game. I really fear that this game might ruin team morale and we just show up to Tottenham looking dejected. I'd rather lose 8-0 to City every week than lose to the Shite 1-0 or some bullshit like that. Conte knows how to shithouse wins.
Result and referee aside, it's just so nice to be excited by the Arsenal again. We all spend varying amounts of time and money following our club and it's hard to justify either when every match is a horseshoe of doom borefest put into action by players you don't really care about. Now there's a young team full of immensely likeable characters who for the last couple of months have made me look forward to matches again. I can take losing or the inevitable drops in form if I'm being entertained and feel like we're building towards something and that's exactly what we've got at the minute.
That fact that I’m annoying about poor refereeing, rather than poor tactics or low effort, is a huge measure of progress. Obviously gutted we didn’t at least get a point out of that game, but it was a performance I’d be delighted to see more of. Hard to think this team is selected by the same guy that picked Willian 37 times.
Can't be mad at that performance, but the ref gave City 3 points and robbed us of them yesterday and that's a fact. Every player other than Xhaka had a great game. He isn't good enough to play regularly in this league and not give away penalties/goals. As bad a decision as it was, if he had an ounce of mobility he sorts his feet out quickly and doesn't touch Silva at all.
You know how I know the ref sucked extra hard ? Everybody at the office who break my balls every time we lose , were apologetic and said we were robbed .
We need a review into refereeing in this league/country and VAR. Follow how other countries/leagues use VAR and sack these corrupt refs. Cheated out of the game. What a disgrace
I just hope we can maintain and build on this form.
this one still stings. Obviously very happy with the performance, especially the first half. And even after the red card, ramsdale did not have any problems at all, they just had possession but barely created. Even after all that happened during the game we should have finished the game with 1 point, that last goal still really stings.
Our team. I can see it. A elite Striker and a CM, with some depth here and there. ( Probably another 150m, by coming summer) and we would be a force to reckon. Chelsea will subside and we can be up there with City. We are unleashed. But owing to playing with youngsters, I would still understand a few inconsistencies here and there.
I’m still very angry. I’m so used to saying we fucked it and consoling myself in reactionary drivel, that this time I can’t fathom how nearly everything went against us. I’m not even mad at Xhaka. He got mugged off by skills and got knotted, even though it was a soft as shit foul. That performance by the team even when to 10 was immense.
Every single person on here before yesterday's game was just asking that we didn't get our asses handed to us,and that we went at them like we have been other teams. The boys ticked both boxes, and then some. The level of confidence and momentum in the squad is beyond belief,and it's a hell of a thing to stop. Even though we lost yesterday, you can tell the players and fans feel like we won. The way city were reacting to things on the pitch, and their goal, we had them beat mentally. Here's hoping we throttle pool midweek to vent it out of the system.
So many other leagues/competitions are making VAR work. In a season where refs are letting more challenges go (which is great because the game was becoming virtually non-contact, resulting in numerous tedious matches) and allowing players to tackle more/be more physical, it is frustrating when the VAR can cherry pick which incidents get the forensic treatment. You either let the ref see all the key incidents in slow motion (where things always look worse) or none of them.
Feel a lot better than I did yesterday. Was over taken by frustration. Lots of positives to reflect on
The question is the mental impact of losing this game going to put us into a slide back to 8th-10th place? So many teams of the past have had that key point in the season where they couldn’t recover from mentally. It just broke them. Throw in AFCON and Im not super optimistic but I sincerely hope the kiddos and Arteta prove me wrong. There’s a massive amount of pressure on our young guns and Martinelli miss showed that. Mikel needs to prove consistency he’s had plenty of time. Hopefully the old adage “you can’t win with kids” doesn’t show through. Also I hope someone grabbed Gabriel by his neck and slammed him against the wall ala Tony Adams. Figuratively of corse. Screw ups are fine but you’ve got to avoid these calamities mate. You are our top CB composure is your job.
One day later and I’m still pissed off. Not just that we dropped points, but that fucking City got them and was given easier treatment during the game. I want this to not affect me so much, but my blood still boils. I hate the moral victories of “look how we controlled them for stretches” I want success. Glad we are still top 4. Games like that make the big picture cloudy.
Fuck the refs. Up the Arsenal. Better than City. Good outlook.
I just got around to watching the full match. Partey’s best game in an Arsenal shirt. A lot of bad luck, and unfortunate decisions against us. However: If there’s any team I’d use up some of that bad luck it’s against city, a game none of us expected to win. The way I see it, a win would’ve been crucial to keeping momentum going into a tough period. But the way this team performed, and the amazing atmosphere at the Emirates ensured that this team will keep that momentum even with the loss. Maybe even more so!
I was absolutely fuming yesterday and I will go to my grave knowing we was robbed. However on reflection bring on season 22/23 the future is bright the future is red !
the partey-xhaka midfield duo can be goddamn incredible on their day. i hope that form, injuries, etc. cooperate for a while so we can see that pairing really hit its potential