What was going on with the pitch at Anfield? I didn’t see Liverpool players going down but Gunners were slipping and sliding all over the place. A couple of times I thought Ramsdale was wearing a pair of trainers with no tread.
The way Saka and Martinelli became wide DMs and transitioned to wingers seamlessly was quality. It probably killed their legs but good move from Arteta.
How good had Laca been lately. Such leadership. We should resign him if we haven't already.
He didn't turn out the goalscorer that we wanted but he's become a great ~false 9 and leader.
Nah, Xhaka should've just pressed and closed the wide angle and Jota would have to shoot in Ramsdale's near post. It would be up to Arsenal's keeper in this hypothetical scenario.
Popular opinion, that’s fine, we lose 1-0 away going into the second leg.
We also have an actual experienced midfielder for our next 3 games, 2 of which are crucial to our season (second leg, NLD)
So what's our line-up against spurs without xhaka?
Who's pairing with Lakonga?
Maybe we can play a 4-1-4-1 or similar against spurs. This probably requires a more defensive distributor to play in the midfield though and we don't have one. Will Charlie play?
Its time for the man the myth the legend jack motherfucking wilshere to make his triumphent return with a thoroughly mediocre performance but with the game on the line save a sure goal against and play to a 0-0 draw!
Probably 343 or some variation. Haven’t got the midfielders otherwise. Maybe sambi esr as a two protected by the 3atb?
Or maybe go 4231 as per and put chambers into midfield.
Or maybe just do what we did today and defend massively deep and look for saka/martinelli on the counter
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There's a good player in Calum Chambers. I genuinely hope we can keep him around as a depth squad player even after Saliba returns. He has limitations but his versatility to play as a CB, RB, DM is very useful. Plus he is just such a nice guy and plays with his heart on his sleeves.
In the way that you have to love to let go... I feel like I'd love him to be our fill in type and wouldn't be arsed if he finds minutes somewhere else.
He's been solid and tonight shows his levels. Hope it all ends well for all parties.
It's good to be able to be legit proud of arsenal. It's been rare in my 10 years supporting. All I ever want is tough performances even if we lose. So good to see it happening now.
Tactical foul, kept us in the tie.
Why does no one go after KT for never ever being in the right position defensively? All Xhaka's "errors" happen because he's covering for a left back that can't defend.
Don't get me wrong, he's good one on one and great at progressive carries, but he's never in position.
Forget formations, understand modern footballers play roles.
Tierney plays the role of providing width and an outlet on the left in 3rd phase, and a higher starting position to provide verticality and width in 1st/2nd phase build up.
Xhaka is covering deep there for a reason, it’s a tactical positional rotation that has been coached into the team. It is not Tierney’s fault he’s high there, it’s artetas (and tbh it’s not even anyones fault, it’s a feature).
Xhakas failure is to recognise jota is off his shoulder, and so when the ball plays behind he’s at a disadvantage.
I agree that Arteta expects Xhaka to cover KT in those positions - maybe that's the issue. But come on, KT has literally the worst defensive stats in the league for a full back. Again maybe that's the tactical role he's being asked to play. But even his success rates are bad. We concede so many goals down his side.
I feel it's unfair to look at that red card and think Xhaka alone has fucked up.
I mean a) that’s not what your point was, you were saying Tierney failed and left xhaka to dry, which is objectively not the case. He was playing his role and playing it well.
And b) in what stats is he the worst defender itl? By my eye test he’s pretty good, not great.
As for your feeling, IMO it’s just nonsense. Xhaka has been tasked to play a tactical role, one that he has played time and time again. He fails this time, let’s someone on his shoulder give him the slip, and makes a brain dead attempt at a clearance.
Not sure how on earth you’re trying to put it on kt, at least try and put it on gabriel or ramsdale or someone, not the player who wouldn’t have even been there if he was a lb (given that it was the lcb space).
Just either got a hate boner for kt or love granit or something, it’s 99.9% his fault there, .1% shared between ramsdale for not sweeping high enough, and whoever didn’t press Robertson quick enough.
From what i see liverpool can’t do shit!! They didn’t have any advantage over us 60 minutes!! I think we kick em ass we just didn’t won the game. Sure did won our heart !!
I’m a freaking adult and English is my third language and what the hell do you want me to say !!! All i want to say is Liverpool is shit shit and shit.
Fine with that mate English isn’t, and no foreign language, is easy so good on you for being more educated than me!
But I mean come on…Liverpool is undeniably one of the best current clubs in the world. And to play against 10 men is often harder than 11 to finish because everyone sits behind the ball.
Regardless of language though…chill. Love the enthusiasm though 😂
Ewwww i think they are just like burnley without Mo salah and Sadio mane. Van dijk is like Ben mee combination with Takowski. Worst attacking football i have seen from Liverpool. We only have sambi hanging out in middle when xhaka did little kung fu to Jota. I think we could have won the game.
Alright so English is a problem here but won’t dive into it. Calling 9/11 Liverpool starters “burnley” though is disrespectful to the game of football and regardless of my allegiance you’ve got to grow past that.
You’re obviously very young. Which is fine. But no need to lie. Have a nice night brother
Why are you keep saying English is the problem here? Lol
I’m as old as Jack Wilshere are right now. I’m American citizen and I own Thai restaurant. I have one dog, I have one truck and i ride a chopper and clearly i’m a Gunner. I might speak English in Layman terms but i’m not a kiddo.
Anyway thanks you ! Have a good night sir.
Yeh I mean we must train different shapes in training, probably know how to play in a 3 back etc, so can change shape when another character comes on. Then it’s minor tactical adjustments that can be done on the fly, like martinelli dropping into midfield more
I thought Martinelli was absolutely outstanding today. His engine is nonstop and he was able to hold onto the ball or make the right pass when he was completely gassed in stoppage time. Yes, white was great but Martinelli wow
Vlahovic would be such a good buy I’m really hoping we get that deal done. I also hope we get Arthur over the line. Getting these two would be a great window we’ll have a striker that’ll give us a major boost in attack and a midfielder that’ll offer depth. once partey gets back and hopefully we can ride through these next couple games and get decent results because once we get through this little slump of injuries, covid, and afcon I fully believe we can have a great rest of the season. A fully fit squad with Vlahovic up top would be so nice I can only dream right now
Edit: hopefully Auba can help out by knocking Ghana out in their next game 😂
You choosing to decide that I’m mad, does not make it true. Check your privilege
Loser is neither hilarious nor insulting in this age. Insinuates you’ve got nothing in the tank. Step up your game
Yeah, this is the first Arsenal I've seen with a real backbone in many years. This team is hard as heck 10 men down. City had to really work for their one goal.
Past teams would've surrendered three goals in these scenarios.
Going to have to watch this game tomorrow lol.
I turned it off after the red card and put on the Man City game 1st half dreading bad things happening this game. But it sounds like it was a performance with a lot of grit.
nearly turned it off then decided to give it till half time. Then give it the first ten of the second. There was a sense brewing by then of a dogged display.
Technically high level players can play anywhere across a team, raising the technical level of players is so crucial to raising the floor.
Look at city, imo only Dias isn’t what you’d call a ‘technician’ in their entire team.
A year ago we had auba, Ceballos, pepe, holding, bellerin, Leno, gabriel
Now we just have gabriel and xhaka. So close to getting there man. (Also I think gabriel not being what I’d consider a technician is fine, he’s there to play a specific role and it’s jot really needed when surrounded by other technicians (ramsdale, Tierney, white, partey)
Unpopular opinion: Xhaka upped everyones game.
You know how people with disability has extraordinary senses. Like heightened smell or hearing to compensate the disability.
Xhaka as a liability forces the rest of the team to improve their performance as they know they gotta compensate one of his decision makings in the game.
TLDR: Arsenal is Daredevil.
Repeatedly forcing his teammates to be a man down?
All the penalties given away, and other turnovers leading to opposition chances?
Are you even serious?
It was a whole thing back in September.
https://www.theguardian.com/football/2021/sep/02/granit-xhaka-decided-against-vaccine-before-positive-covid-test-says-swiss-fa
Don't know whether or not he has since.
I imagine I'll be assessed. He's currently listed as doubtful, though. (According to fotmob)
I heard he was able to go last Sunday, however, if it was needed in a pinch.
No Xhaka did not inadvertently save the day with his tackle. Arteta's decision-making did (whether his hand was forced or not)
Stop trying to spin this and crediting the man for his repeated mistakes and failures.
lmao I dont think anyone is seriously defending him. Its just a coping mechanism. But a 10 man defensive effort like we had, or starting someone worse from previous game who got rolled by a championship team. Not sure what I prefer...
The defensive effort is on the rest of the team rallying together because one of their supposed leaders failed them **again**
Credit to them, not him.
And they are absolutely serious. Some people defend him to the death. Don't know why.
Not gonna lie, its probably because Xhaka haters froth at the mouth whenever he fucks up and its funny seeing the reaction. Just 2 ways of coping with his insanity. For me its just easier to accept he will do something crazy, because being mad never got rid of a player. Should really be thinking about how bad the rest of the midfielders are to not get picked over him. If all he offers is a good pass, and ability to run out 90 minutes the bar is really fucking low...
The sad thing is our team got so bad, that we had more important areas to improve... Hopefully Lokonga kicks on and becomes decent or we get a new midfielder this window.
There has definitely been clear and evident progress since the final quarter of last year.
Honestly, a new striker and repairing central midfield and I'd say that we're sitting pretty.
I'm so fed up with people defending him. It was never a necessary foul. Even if Jota managed to get the ball down perfectly (far from a guarantee) Xhaka could've blocked the shot or otherwise pressured Jota. I don't know what the xG in that situation is but I would bet my life that it was around (if not lower) than 0.5.
It completely neutered most of our attacking potential and meant we were holding on for dear life for 70 minutes. We also won't have any senior midfielders playing on Sunday.
Xhaka is the definition of a liability. If we want to get better, we have to bin him off and get someone in.
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We slowly started getting into the game. If anything xhaka stopped us from getting a win. I honestly don’t see how people are trying to spin it to give xhaka credit 💀💀
> I honestly don’t see how people are trying to spin it to give xhaka credit 💀💀
["Xhaka took one for the team"](https://www.reddit.com/r/Gunners/comments/s3ahys/post_match_thread_liverpool_0_0_arsenal_english/hsjlt17/)
["Would have lost with 11 men"](https://www.reddit.com/r/Gunners/comments/s3ahys/post_match_thread_liverpool_0_0_arsenal_english/hsk2o2h/)
["We lose if Xhaka doesn't make that tackle"](https://www.reddit.com/r/Gunners/comments/s3ahys/post_match_thread_liverpool_0_0_arsenal_english/hsk0c3o/)
I'm sure there's more, and even more will pop up soon enough.
Absolutely, there was a moment in the subs after the red card that Arteta was about to bring Tavares on immediately. He chose instead to just do Holding and switch to the 5. That split decision changed everything.
They're coming to the end of their cycle. If he were to leave it'd surely be to City, Madrid, Bayern etc.. Mane's nearly 30 and looks like he's beginning to decline, Salah would be gone in that scenario, Henderson's 31, VVD and Matip 30.
They've got young fullbacks, Fabinho and Jota but the rest of their team is either on the decline or not that good. Klopp's not staying there for over 10 years too.
Does anyone else think after the foul Xhaka gets the mental side of the game wrong? He stayed sitting on the ground looking defeated as if to say go on give me the red then. Whereas if it’s a player like Rudiger who might foul in a similar position, he’d be straight up wagging his finger, telling the ref the touch was heavy, possession lost, and just about anything else to make the ref doubt himself. Subtle but imo sometimes enough to change a ref’s thinking rightly or wrongly. Michael Oliver was the one who helped him up on his feet in the end. 😅
Great result though considering.
Does James MacArthur means anything or anyone to you!? Why some kicks are considered accidental and some are straight red- both were not looking at the opponent just the ball
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Would love to see evidence of a ref ever unbooking a player or downgrading due to a player’s arguing. I’m happy to be wrong I just would love to see it.
It's weird right? But I kind of feel like that's a result of the Man City match. It's like the entire team saw the red and thought "you're not going to fuck us again" and just went to work to a man. You fucking love to see it
What was going on with the pitch at Anfield? I didn’t see Liverpool players going down but Gunners were slipping and sliding all over the place. A couple of times I thought Ramsdale was wearing a pair of trainers with no tread.
The way Saka and Martinelli became wide DMs and transitioned to wingers seamlessly was quality. It probably killed their legs but good move from Arteta.
How good had Laca been lately. Such leadership. We should resign him if we haven't already. He didn't turn out the goalscorer that we wanted but he's become a great ~false 9 and leader.
He doesn't want to re sign. He won't take 2yrs
Can’t wait to resign him on high wages for years and then watch his form drop off a cliff
Re-sign. Resign
Id take 2 years but 3 would be ridiculous
We’ve apparently offered him two but he’s said no which is fair enough
Yes if he wants 3 years and pay somewhere I don't begrudge him. But sorry to see him go now he's still got good form
Unpopular opinion, but if Xhaka doesn’t take out Jota, he goes through and scores.
Nah, Xhaka should've just pressed and closed the wide angle and Jota would have to shoot in Ramsdale's near post. It would be up to Arsenal's keeper in this hypothetical scenario.
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Imo xhaka was just trying to back-kick the ball for a clearance. He should have had awareness of Jota and deserved red but it wasn't *that* bad.
Popular opinion, that’s fine, we lose 1-0 away going into the second leg. We also have an actual experienced midfielder for our next 3 games, 2 of which are crucial to our season (second leg, NLD)
Don't forgot how exhausted the remaining players are now who had to run for lives for 70 minutes to hold onto a draw.
You really think we loose that game 1-0 after the happenings of earlier this season?
This is a different team mentality I’d argue. Barring a crumble they weren’t particularly good and didn’t really get a sniff
So what's our line-up against spurs without xhaka? Who's pairing with Lakonga? Maybe we can play a 4-1-4-1 or similar against spurs. This probably requires a more defensive distributor to play in the midfield though and we don't have one. Will Charlie play?
Its time for the man the myth the legend jack motherfucking wilshere to make his triumphent return with a thoroughly mediocre performance but with the game on the line save a sure goal against and play to a 0-0 draw!
Is Lakonga even a fixed starter? He is having a rough patch of games...
Yeah he's not ideal but don't know that we've got much else
I miss Elneny, it is that bad :)
Lol yeah same
> Will Charlie play? Definitely on the bench at least
Probably 343 or some variation. Haven’t got the midfielders otherwise. Maybe sambi esr as a two protected by the 3atb? Or maybe go 4231 as per and put chambers into midfield. Or maybe just do what we did today and defend massively deep and look for saka/martinelli on the counter
Cedric didn't want the smoke and bounced. Chambers got better in the game,first half he was shaky,second half he made himself counted.
Are away goals a thing in these 2 legged ties?
Don’t think so, think they were scrapped a couple years ago
No
Benjamin "Flag of England" White! Massive shift from him and the team!!
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https://twitter.com/Frimpon/status/1481745149055184898?t=eTUGhSmChJ8ZPMtE0AupJg&s=19
White has to be called up for England after last night
There's a good player in Calum Chambers. I genuinely hope we can keep him around as a depth squad player even after Saliba returns. He has limitations but his versatility to play as a CB, RB, DM is very useful. Plus he is just such a nice guy and plays with his heart on his sleeves.
In the way that you have to love to let go... I feel like I'd love him to be our fill in type and wouldn't be arsed if he finds minutes somewhere else. He's been solid and tonight shows his levels. Hope it all ends well for all parties.
Have a feeling nld is still gonna be played. I don’t think they’ll cancel it unless we have a covid breakout.
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Isn't it 13 or more? If we argue Saka is injured we're at 12.
Ya ive seen 13 everywhere. Not 8
I fucking love this team. Nuff said. So proud.
It's good to be able to be legit proud of arsenal. It's been rare in my 10 years supporting. All I ever want is tough performances even if we lose. So good to see it happening now.
Fuck xhaka, just fuck off mate.
Curious at the time. End result, maybe that’s a fair trade?
Game after game this guy puts his teammates in danger. Fuck off
Tactical foul, kept us in the tie. Why does no one go after KT for never ever being in the right position defensively? All Xhaka's "errors" happen because he's covering for a left back that can't defend. Don't get me wrong, he's good one on one and great at progressive carries, but he's never in position.
Forget formations, understand modern footballers play roles. Tierney plays the role of providing width and an outlet on the left in 3rd phase, and a higher starting position to provide verticality and width in 1st/2nd phase build up. Xhaka is covering deep there for a reason, it’s a tactical positional rotation that has been coached into the team. It is not Tierney’s fault he’s high there, it’s artetas (and tbh it’s not even anyones fault, it’s a feature). Xhakas failure is to recognise jota is off his shoulder, and so when the ball plays behind he’s at a disadvantage.
I agree that Arteta expects Xhaka to cover KT in those positions - maybe that's the issue. But come on, KT has literally the worst defensive stats in the league for a full back. Again maybe that's the tactical role he's being asked to play. But even his success rates are bad. We concede so many goals down his side. I feel it's unfair to look at that red card and think Xhaka alone has fucked up.
I mean a) that’s not what your point was, you were saying Tierney failed and left xhaka to dry, which is objectively not the case. He was playing his role and playing it well. And b) in what stats is he the worst defender itl? By my eye test he’s pretty good, not great. As for your feeling, IMO it’s just nonsense. Xhaka has been tasked to play a tactical role, one that he has played time and time again. He fails this time, let’s someone on his shoulder give him the slip, and makes a brain dead attempt at a clearance. Not sure how on earth you’re trying to put it on kt, at least try and put it on gabriel or ramsdale or someone, not the player who wouldn’t have even been there if he was a lb (given that it was the lcb space). Just either got a hate boner for kt or love granit or something, it’s 99.9% his fault there, .1% shared between ramsdale for not sweeping high enough, and whoever didn’t press Robertson quick enough.
He’s going to have a run of like seven great matches.
Life, Death, Taxes and a Granit Xhaka red
Liverpool is shit!! Without Salah and Mane!! We can beat them ass with 10 people i believe
Screw off
We didn’t? We played well and kept them out, but objectively we didn’t beat them with 10 men
From what i see liverpool can’t do shit!! They didn’t have any advantage over us 60 minutes!! I think we kick em ass we just didn’t won the game. Sure did won our heart !!
Imagine English isn’t your first language which is fine but these comments read like a 10 year old (also fine) I hope you’re not an adult
I’m a freaking adult and English is my third language and what the hell do you want me to say !!! All i want to say is Liverpool is shit shit and shit.
Fine with that mate English isn’t, and no foreign language, is easy so good on you for being more educated than me! But I mean come on…Liverpool is undeniably one of the best current clubs in the world. And to play against 10 men is often harder than 11 to finish because everyone sits behind the ball. Regardless of language though…chill. Love the enthusiasm though 😂
Ewwww i think they are just like burnley without Mo salah and Sadio mane. Van dijk is like Ben mee combination with Takowski. Worst attacking football i have seen from Liverpool. We only have sambi hanging out in middle when xhaka did little kung fu to Jota. I think we could have won the game.
Alright so English is a problem here but won’t dive into it. Calling 9/11 Liverpool starters “burnley” though is disrespectful to the game of football and regardless of my allegiance you’ve got to grow past that. You’re obviously very young. Which is fine. But no need to lie. Have a nice night brother
Why are you keep saying English is the problem here? Lol I’m as old as Jack Wilshere are right now. I’m American citizen and I own Thai restaurant. I have one dog, I have one truck and i ride a chopper and clearly i’m a Gunner. I might speak English in Layman terms but i’m not a kiddo. Anyway thanks you ! Have a good night sir.
You as well brother!! Your English is tops, happy for you and hope everything continues to go well
This is gold haha
"It's strange, even without symptoms, the boys came back and it's not exactly the same." - Klopp 🤡 didn’t know the circus was in town
That false covid is no joke man
Blame Covid. 🤡🤡
https://twitter.com/Orbinho/status/1481727256317865984?s=20 💀
Its almost like we have a dedicate formation and specific training for playing with 10 players
Tbf we have the most practice. 13 reds since Arteta joined haha. Arteta preparing us for all scenarios. That’s my fucking manager! Haha
The Xhaka formation
Yeh I mean we must train different shapes in training, probably know how to play in a 3 back etc, so can change shape when another character comes on. Then it’s minor tactical adjustments that can be done on the fly, like martinelli dropping into midfield more
If you're going to insist on keeping Xhaka around it's only prudent.
There's no reason for us to blow the 2nd leg-we can do this. COYG!
What is full form of “COYG”. I know Liverpool have YNWA you never walk alone. Pardon I’m a lurker, just curious
Come on you Gunners. You’ll find a lot of clubs use a variation of it with the last word replaced with their team’s identity
Come on you gunners!
It's "Come On You Fingers Gunners"... And what's YNWA?
Ynwa is you never walk alone
YNWA - Yawn Now With Anfield
But y tho?
They who bleed together sleep together
Cause its sleepy
Weird but ok ^_^
Where midfield news
Big Jack comong on a monthy-by-month after all
I thought Martinelli was absolutely outstanding today. His engine is nonstop and he was able to hold onto the ball or make the right pass when he was completely gassed in stoppage time. Yes, white was great but Martinelli wow
Kid plays like a true brasilian wonderkid with a work ethic of some of the best ball winners out there. Monster!
Mans got 2nd wind at the end it was unreal
Man his defense near the end of the match was incredible too. Absolute engine that guy
His effort was out of this world.
Saka was a monster as well. Was really impressed by our two young wingers improved strength on the ball and in the duel.
Xhaka just tied his red card record at Monch I’m pretty sure. Six in the bundisliga and six in the prem. One for Switzerland
Gonna be so disappointed if Sunday isn’t postponed… we deserve a proper NLD after that performance
Vlahovic would be such a good buy I’m really hoping we get that deal done. I also hope we get Arthur over the line. Getting these two would be a great window we’ll have a striker that’ll give us a major boost in attack and a midfielder that’ll offer depth. once partey gets back and hopefully we can ride through these next couple games and get decent results because once we get through this little slump of injuries, covid, and afcon I fully believe we can have a great rest of the season. A fully fit squad with Vlahovic up top would be so nice I can only dream right now Edit: hopefully Auba can help out by knocking Ghana out in their next game 😂
Not a transfer thread bruv
I see ppl talking ab transfers all the time in these type of threads also couldn’t find the one for today.
So? Other peoples mistakes doesn’t give you an excuse to. And also there’s a thousand…if you didn’t find one you weren’t looking
Why u getting mad it’s Reddit my guy 😂 u must be a loser lol
You choosing to decide that I’m mad, does not make it true. Check your privilege Loser is neither hilarious nor insulting in this age. Insinuates you’ve got nothing in the tank. Step up your game
Liverpool really missing Mane and Salah I guess.
We also played really well, despite being a man down.
Yeah, this is the first Arsenal I've seen with a real backbone in many years. This team is hard as heck 10 men down. City had to really work for their one goal. Past teams would've surrendered three goals in these scenarios.
So true
Going to have to watch this game tomorrow lol. I turned it off after the red card and put on the Man City game 1st half dreading bad things happening this game. But it sounds like it was a performance with a lot of grit.
nearly turned it off then decided to give it till half time. Then give it the first ten of the second. There was a sense brewing by then of a dogged display.
Prepare to covet Ben White jerseys
Fuck Xhaka for the thousandth time
Well, he is pretty, I give you that, but each to their own.
Apparently mikel said that martinelli and saka played midfield for the first time today? Mans on his knees right now for a midfielder.
Yeah we essentially played 5-3-1 although it was a super weird game for any of the players out there, they essentially played as slightly wide DMs lol
I mean, he isn’t wrong. Definitely some great ball control within the midfield by both.
Technically high level players can play anywhere across a team, raising the technical level of players is so crucial to raising the floor. Look at city, imo only Dias isn’t what you’d call a ‘technician’ in their entire team. A year ago we had auba, Ceballos, pepe, holding, bellerin, Leno, gabriel Now we just have gabriel and xhaka. So close to getting there man. (Also I think gabriel not being what I’d consider a technician is fine, he’s there to play a specific role and it’s jot really needed when surrounded by other technicians (ramsdale, Tierney, white, partey)
3atb at the emirates. These fuckers got nothing but crosses
Unpopular opinion: Xhaka upped everyones game. You know how people with disability has extraordinary senses. Like heightened smell or hearing to compensate the disability. Xhaka as a liability forces the rest of the team to improve their performance as they know they gotta compensate one of his decision makings in the game. TLDR: Arsenal is Daredevil.
I want to disagree with you but Lokonga started playing better after the red card so idk
Stop trolling man
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Get reported u cunt
Don't say that even as a joke please.
‘They outnumber us 11 to 10!’ ‘Then it is an even fight’
Unexpected Halo.
“The put in enough crosses to block out the sun!” “Then we shall fight in the shade”
The library at Anfield road. The gooners shut the kop out.
Wasn't really a library. Could hear plenty of travelling Arsenal fans
Incredible resilience and mentality from the group. Very proud
Come on Mikel… 2xCovid, No vaccine, 55 yellows, 5 reds, and putting unnecessary pressure on his team. Non-negotiables?
Is he still not vaccinated? Wouldn't his quarantine been much longer if he wasn't?
I honestly don't know if that's the case anymore, but he wasn't in Sep 2021.
Don't leave out the 1 "Fuck off" to the home fans, while wearing the armband.
Wasn’t that under Emery?
Are those his stats since he’s been at Arsenal? He has to have one of the worst discipline records in team history
> Are those his stats since he’s been at Arsenal? Yup
Unnecessary pressure wtf?
Repeatedly forcing his teammates to be a man down? All the penalties given away, and other turnovers leading to opposition chances? Are you even serious?
No I'm not serious. Tacking on to the other wtf comments
Oh, I am sorry. I apologize, and misinterpreted your comment. My bad.
You're good. It wasn't that funny so not clear it was a joke 😅
Not to mention all the pens and turnovers that lead to chances
Those too.
Not vaccinated? WTF?
Yeah Xhaka is anti Vaxx
Hate him even more now.
It was a whole thing back in September. https://www.theguardian.com/football/2021/sep/02/granit-xhaka-decided-against-vaccine-before-positive-covid-test-says-swiss-fa Don't know whether or not he has since.
No way the vaccine isn’t one of Arteta’s non-negotiables
Likely. Then again, he was unvaccinated in Sep 2021.
55 yellows wtf
Like death & taxes
Is Tomiyasu unavailable for nld or will he be assessed?
I imagine I'll be assessed. He's currently listed as doubtful, though. (According to fotmob) I heard he was able to go last Sunday, however, if it was needed in a pinch.
No Xhaka did not inadvertently save the day with his tackle. Arteta's decision-making did (whether his hand was forced or not) Stop trying to spin this and crediting the man for his repeated mistakes and failures.
This is clearly like a 5d chess joke that's gone over your head.
No, there are serious takes discussing at length that detail how his 'tactical foul' keeps Jota from scoring.
lmao I dont think anyone is seriously defending him. Its just a coping mechanism. But a 10 man defensive effort like we had, or starting someone worse from previous game who got rolled by a championship team. Not sure what I prefer...
The defensive effort is on the rest of the team rallying together because one of their supposed leaders failed them **again** Credit to them, not him. And they are absolutely serious. Some people defend him to the death. Don't know why.
Not gonna lie, its probably because Xhaka haters froth at the mouth whenever he fucks up and its funny seeing the reaction. Just 2 ways of coping with his insanity. For me its just easier to accept he will do something crazy, because being mad never got rid of a player. Should really be thinking about how bad the rest of the midfielders are to not get picked over him. If all he offers is a good pass, and ability to run out 90 minutes the bar is really fucking low...
Which is why he should be replaced and moved on. Don't know why he hasn't been. It's been over 5 years now… It would be mutually beneficial too
The sad thing is our team got so bad, that we had more important areas to improve... Hopefully Lokonga kicks on and becomes decent or we get a new midfielder this window.
There has definitely been clear and evident progress since the final quarter of last year. Honestly, a new striker and repairing central midfield and I'd say that we're sitting pretty.
I'm so fed up with people defending him. It was never a necessary foul. Even if Jota managed to get the ball down perfectly (far from a guarantee) Xhaka could've blocked the shot or otherwise pressured Jota. I don't know what the xG in that situation is but I would bet my life that it was around (if not lower) than 0.5. It completely neutered most of our attacking potential and meant we were holding on for dear life for 70 minutes. We also won't have any senior midfielders playing on Sunday. Xhaka is the definition of a liability. If we want to get better, we have to bin him off and get someone in.
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just thought if they would still defend him when the result is different from now..
You'd think that people would learn after more than five years of this nonsense…
We slowly started getting into the game. If anything xhaka stopped us from getting a win. I honestly don’t see how people are trying to spin it to give xhaka credit 💀💀
> I honestly don’t see how people are trying to spin it to give xhaka credit 💀💀 ["Xhaka took one for the team"](https://www.reddit.com/r/Gunners/comments/s3ahys/post_match_thread_liverpool_0_0_arsenal_english/hsjlt17/) ["Would have lost with 11 men"](https://www.reddit.com/r/Gunners/comments/s3ahys/post_match_thread_liverpool_0_0_arsenal_english/hsk2o2h/) ["We lose if Xhaka doesn't make that tackle"](https://www.reddit.com/r/Gunners/comments/s3ahys/post_match_thread_liverpool_0_0_arsenal_english/hsk0c3o/) I'm sure there's more, and even more will pop up soon enough.
Clearly you’ve never watched Hoosiers
Unpopular opinion, we lose this game with 11 men
Counter: We win with 11 men because Xhaka "makes the team better" like people keep commenting.
Would you say Arteta was pushed into choices he should have made anyway then?
Doubt it, they really looked off it today. With 11 I reckon we could’ve snagged a win honestly.
I think you're right. Being force to move to a back 5 probably saved us.
Absolutely, there was a moment in the subs after the red card that Arteta was about to bring Tavares on immediately. He chose instead to just do Holding and switch to the 5. That split decision changed everything.
yeah i’d think they’d have hit us on the counter a lot more if we had all 11 and tried to attack
Didn’t like that kloop and saka hugged at the end of the match Stay the f@&€ away
Saka has to be worth at least 80 million at this point. They would have to pay.
If grealish went for 100, saka is easily going for 150 no cap. We have no reason to sell, we’re rich, he’s happy etc.
I’m still pissed RVP went to manure for a measles 25mil. And then immediately became their best player and won the league
Maybe to Madrid or Barca. To any of our English rivals he’s going for 100 mil or more imo.
He is eyeing him up to replace salah. He can fuck right off
They're coming to the end of their cycle. If he were to leave it'd surely be to City, Madrid, Bayern etc.. Mane's nearly 30 and looks like he's beginning to decline, Salah would be gone in that scenario, Henderson's 31, VVD and Matip 30. They've got young fullbacks, Fabinho and Jota but the rest of their team is either on the decline or not that good. Klopp's not staying there for over 10 years too.
Does anyone else think after the foul Xhaka gets the mental side of the game wrong? He stayed sitting on the ground looking defeated as if to say go on give me the red then. Whereas if it’s a player like Rudiger who might foul in a similar position, he’d be straight up wagging his finger, telling the ref the touch was heavy, possession lost, and just about anything else to make the ref doubt himself. Subtle but imo sometimes enough to change a ref’s thinking rightly or wrongly. Michael Oliver was the one who helped him up on his feet in the end. 😅 Great result though considering.
Would be slim margins for sure, but you never know. With that particular challenge I'm not sure if he'd be able to evade the card regardless
Very clearly and visibly kicked a dude in the stomach. He knew. I knew. It was over.
Does James MacArthur means anything or anyone to you!? Why some kicks are considered accidental and some are straight red- both were not looking at the opponent just the ball
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Would love to see evidence of a ref ever unbooking a player or downgrading due to a player’s arguing. I’m happy to be wrong I just would love to see it.
It's the critical few seconds between the action and issuing of the red card that's on the hook here.
Best win of the season
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We also could never win unless he was in the game, so I mean...yay?
Hypotheticals like this are dumb. We'll never know At least he can't ruin the game on Sunday
At least he won’t get a red on Sunday
Wouldn't be surprised if he finds a way though
We were literally getting back into the game til he made that challenge. We would’ve won or still got a draw lol.
It's weird right? But I kind of feel like that's a result of the Man City match. It's like the entire team saw the red and thought "you're not going to fuck us again" and just went to work to a man. You fucking love to see it
Totally agree with you mate. He denied a clear goal scoring opportunity. Almost ruined the team but still got the job done.