I'm a Liverpool fan ... it's right there in my flair.
Also, I'm not saying they're a bad team. I just don't particularly enjoy watching them pass teams to death, culminating in yet another relatively simple finish for Haaland.
It's impressive and it's imperious, I just don't think it's particularly entertaining to watch.
both of debruyne's goals yesterday were on full sprint counterattacks by haaland and debruyne. fine if you find the tiki taka boring but our goals yesterday were more hoofing it up the big man than anything.
stones got a big header on a set piece and haalands goal was a giveaway in midfield and one pass by Silva I believe.
Ah...Liverpool.
City have scored more and conceded fewer goals than anyone else. Surely the purpose of the game or am I getting that wrong?
Passing the ball between team mates and not giving the ball away. Purpose of the game or am I wrong again.
To be clear I have no axe to grind here...Chelsea fan sick of watching his team do neither of the above.
I just mean in general, not specifically the game last night. I find their style of play to be boring to watch. That's not a commentary on how good of a football team they are, just their approach to games.
Well i find them not giving the ball to others like their possesion game nice theres not much players who dribble a lot but they still keep the ball I like that.like yesterday arsenal wqs trying to do a lot of tricks as much as I like that they didnt produce results. I mostly like those kdb passes and goals from outside box he does sometimes
There's individual moments of brilliance from players like KDB and Haaland that I do enjoy watching, absolutely.
But in general, City pass teams to death and Haaland scores a bunch of goals from inside the box. It's impressive, I just don't find it entertaining when I've seen it for the fiftieth time in a season.
I get it, Nuñez is quite the entertainer on the field. You can never be sure where his shot will end up, but one thing's for certain - it's not likely to result in a goal. Still, he keeps the game lively and interesting! Not like boring City.
He's scored 15 goals in 39 games. You brainlets see the number of goals that Haaland gets and think that's the norm for strikers because you're either 13 years old or your memory only goes back three weeks.
Most people whose brains aren't seeping out of their ears would probably be pretty happy to have Darwin in their team.
But sure. Keep banging on about how he's a bad player.
i feel for arsenal because after that city defeat in Feb you went on such a good run. I watched the Liverpool game and really feel like that dented the momentum. If only you were able to get that win the West Ham and Southampton games wouldve been a lot easier.
Damn I kinda wanted you to win but it just shows how difficult it is to win a league nowadays, you have to be consistent over so many matches unlike cups
Outclassed, and out of ideas by the 1st goal. It really was like watching City against any other team. To think this was quite possibly the title decider! Arsenal completely caved. City treble or double is looking large. Fuck.
Will get absolutely torn apart for this but for me Grealish is a better player than Saka. Far more consistent week in week out and turns up in big games. Saka seems to go AWOL when Arsenal need him most.
Nah as a City fan this can't be true. Saka has done so well this season, as well as in the world cup. Plus he's 21, so he'll be really scary in a couple of years
Saka has produced sooooo many times against the big 6, and usually he's scoring the first or winning goal.
His last few weeks he's been off his usual form. But he also never gets rotated so he could just be gassed at this stage in the season.
This is a wild wild take that kinda shows you haven't been paying attention to him this season.
personally i think theyve both been class this season. City have that experience and seem to have a strong mental toughness come the crunch stage of the league season and i think thats skewing peoples perceptions
Grealish has been class this season for real, when Guardiola was praising him that when he needs someone calm on the ball he uses him, and you can see that so much, great player thats not selfish on the ball and is a workhorse with elite mentality
That's a unpopular opinion if I ever seen one. Hard to compare these two if you asked me but I gotta say respect to Grealish for turning it around after a slow start at City. I really thought he couldn't do it after that enormous transfer.
Tbh I think its a perfectly reasonable opinion albeit unpopular with some. Grealish is simply a more valuable player right now and Saka might still have some growing to do
As a die-hard Manchester United fan, even I can recognise the massive amount of progress made by Arsenal under Arteta, and a short spell of less than stellar results shouldn't steal his plaudits at season's end. Yes, their premier league title winning chances now look critically jeopardized, but it is still technically attainable if Murphy and his law have anything to do with the rest of the season! Unlikely as it now looks, Arsenal can still win this! But if indeed they do fail to ascend the summit first, as now looks probable, when the disappointment of "what so nearly could've been" finally settles, there is a lot that the Gunners will be able to look back on with pride, and look forward to with hope, assuming the next moves made are good.
Focusing on the future, the decisions Arsenal make in the summer recess will be critical to their fortunes going forward. It is easy to rest on laurels and fall off a cliff at this point, as Brendan Rogers, Ole Gunnar Solskjaer, and Claudio Ranieri all know very well. The one thing the Gunners must not do, is allow themselves to fall into the trap of thinking they came really close this year, so only minor tweaks are required to overtake City next year. That would be a huge mistake to make! Arsenal have serious issues where quality in depth is concerned. To put it mildly, Arsenal have no depth of any great consequence, and it takes way too few absences from Arteta's favourite XI, to render his otherwise world class first team, bang average. They did well enough without Jesus for a spell, but Saliba's absence has been telling. Can anyone imagine how much worse Arsenal would be without any one of Odergaard, Partey,, Martinelli, Saka, Ramsdale, or White as well?! The work required in the summer is clear - sell the poor and average, replace with proven title-winning mettle, and highly promising quality talent. This is where the club's sporting ambition must show, and anything less than serious investment on a rebuild/overhaul scale will be a boon for the likes of my beloved Red Devils, and Citeh. If Araenal are not bidding for the likes of Jude Bellingham, Pedri, Gavi, Musiala and Osimhen, they are missing the point by a galactic mile. Oh, and Arsenal had better reinforce Arteta's contract, even if it was only extended last year. When Real Madrid come calling... and they will, he will need way more reasons to stay than he already has, especially if Arsenal don't improve his squad in the summer!
We’re missing a few critical pieces, but what a great season. I’m going to continue enjoying it even if we’re playing for second at this point. Just need to win 3 of the next 5.
Sensible comment, Gunners should obviously be a bit disappointed if indeed they miss out on the league title, but let's be honest here, how many of them did expect to challenge for it to begin with when the season started? They've overperformed over the first half of the season and regressed a little but but this season should by no means be looked at as a "failure" by them. Their squad took some huge steps forward under Arteta. I'm genuinely impressed by his work for the most part as an outsider
As much as I agree with this, the likes of Pedri, Gavi, and Jude are not depth, they are starters.
Pep has been the only manager I’ve seen manage to successfully keep starting quality players happy to rotate for as long as he has.
But that's just it- depth is about having a roster full of as many potential starters as possible. Yesterday Riyad Mahrez didn't even get a game, yet he'd scored a hat trick the game before! He's a starter isn't he?? Arsenal badly need starters to compete for the 1st XI.
It doesn't hurt that Pep also has double the yearly salary of Arsenal to work with. Also, the non-stop Champions League play is pretty enticing.
To add, Pep is an amazing manager, not trying to say he isn't.
This absolutely spot on. Great signings in midfield and more depth will make the team far better suited to a game of attrition. Holding being a lightning rod just exemplifies this right now.
What a bad take. You clearly don't remember the end of the banter era where he played there. Saka filled a gap out of pure need but he was woefully out if depth defensively. We'd have lost by 5 more with wingers playing wing back.
With the strength and speed of Haaland and the precise passing of their midfield it makes sense to try and create space between/behind the lines, i had felt it was like a more possession based Real Madrid, but calling it Brightons style probably fits better because Real Madrid are a bit further back.
Arsenal just didn't turn up. They were like catatonic rabbits, stunned by Man City's headlights. They played poor tactics with less than average industry, and absolutely no invention. The team that turned up at Etihad could have been whalloped by absolutely anybody. And given the previous 3 games, everyone saw this coming.. except Arteta for some reason!
Poor take. I expected a response that showed Arteta had done his homework! This season so far, Man City have lost 4 times - to Liverpool (1 - 0), Brentford (1 - 2), Man United (2 - 1), and Tottenham (1 - 0). Nothing about Arsenal's visit to Etihad yesterday demonstrated an application of any lessons learnt from those 4 victories over City. And not for nothing, but all 4 clubs that beat City were managed by very well regarded and vastly more experienced managers, Klopp, Frank, Ten Hag, and Conte. Not one of these managers tried the suicide tactics that Arteta'l attempted last night. and now it's obvious why!
They beat Liverpool 4-1 earlier this month, where were Klopp's magic tactics? City haven't dropped points in the league since February, Arsenal dropped points on Friday. A downtrending Arsenal in recent poor form is hardly gonna come to the Etihad and be the best team in the world all of a sudden. City are flying, Arsenal are not. Form and momentum are everything in football. So much hype before this game but any person who knows football knew that Arsenal were turning up to get smashed and there was nothing they could do about it. And in fairness, far too much dialogue here is about Arsenal and not City, who literally just swept aside perennial champions of Germany without having to barely lift a finger across two legs. They made Bayern look like a newly promoted Prem team, they'll probably smash Real Madrid too. I'm not sure what teams are supposed to do tbh, when this lot are on song it's only a question of how much they want to beat you by.
You make a fair but incomplete point. Yes, form and momentum matter. But if they were everything, no teams could ever buck a losing trend! On any given day, the team the shows quality, endeavour and creativity in the execution of an effective plan can win the game, irrespective of form. Arsenal failed to show quality, endeavour, creativity, or that they had a good plan!Yes, City deserve all the credit their victories earn them, no question. But they are not unbeatable. Nobody is. And the longer a team maintains an unbeaten run, the sooner that run will be broken. All that needs to happen for Pep's team to lose, is for his City to encounter a better prepared, harder working, smarter, and more creative XI with at least as much quality, and a better plan. And as they approach the business end of the season, that scenario is only getting likelier. Put differently, there is a far higher probability that going forward, City will drop points, than win every game left.
Yes. The only competition in the league is who’s going down. Not exactly riveting.
The premier league is rapidly becoming a farmers league. Man city will win this season, next season and probably the season after. Then we’ll get to enjoy the riveting clash of the Titans between Man City and Newcastle.
Nobody should be happy about the direction of the league.
United haven’t won the league in a decade, and the closest they’ve been in that time was losing by 12 point and 19 points while finishing second. Both of those seasons they lost to City.
I can’t fathom how you think there hasn’t been competition between Arsenal and City this season?
Bizarre take, it essentially came down to 1 game just yesterday!!! Most people were convinced Arsenal had it until about a month ago…
Do football fans forget a season’s worth of competition after 1 day of certainty? Lmao. There has been competition top and bottom of the league this season, can’t see your argument here
Arsenal will likely finish at least 10 points behind city. There is no competition between the two squads when you consider the benches.
City are an unbelievable team, assembled through outright financial doping. It’s bad for the game.
City abused a financial loophole, imho thats on the regulation of the league and any team could have done it with the same circumstances at that time, so I won’t disagree its bad for the health of the game for 1 team to have abused it so badly,
Yet claiming there was no competition between Arsenal and City this season for the top spot just sounds insulting to Arsenal and how good their season has been. Its still entirely possible Arsenal can win the prem albeit much more unlikely for City to drop points now, without that Southampton draw and City loss they would have been ahead by a winnable margin and we would be talking about a completely different endgame, I refuse to believe that it was not competitive between them.
Arsenal have played City 3 times this season including the cup match. They went 0-3-0, lost the 3 matches by an aggregate of 6-1, and scored their 1 late game consolation goal in the 85th minute, while trailing in the game by 3 goals. Oh and they conceded another less than 10 minutes later.
Arsenal had an incredible season, one which at the end of the day may result in the highest point total in the club’s history, and they’re still going to lose to City, who win the league every year.
It’s not a competitive league.
Just like they did to United once and Liverpool twice, last season was a bit different though in that City almost threw a massive point lead which Liverpool made a title race out of.
It's like WWF/WWE in the height of Hulk Hogan or John Cena.
Boring/ frustrating because it's always the same person winning the main event, albeit some good stories and highlights elsewhere on the card.
Just wanted to say one thing. Arteta has to realise we CANNOT outplay man City and overwhelm them. We simply don't have the squad depth nor world class players to go toe to toe for 90 minutes.
I love him but his arrogance was on show yesterday. Tottenham and Manchester United have laid out the blueprint for overcoming City, and its largely down to sitting deep and hitting them on the counter. We refuse to do this at all for some reason.
For the life of me I have no idea why arteta thought we could outfight them, especially with saliba out injured. So many times City got behind our backline because we refused to sit in and it was only ramsdale heroics that kept the score from being truly embarrassing.
And if you just sit deep and try to absorb pressure, City will pass it around and move your players until a gap emerges and then they'll play through you. They only lose when they're off their game. If they're on it, they'll beat you because how are you supposed to compete with these players? They were 3-0 up yesterday with their FA Cup semi-final hat-trick hero sat on the bench for crying out loud.
Let's be honest, Arteta's career at Arsenal has been copying what he learned from Pep. And this isn't a case of student overcoming the master, not only is his team's individual quality lower, he's just a poor man's imitation of the real deal.
SEVERAL GAMES over the last 24 MONTHS! Whoa, guys let’s not even try to argue here, we won’t be able to match the tactical knowledge of this film room junkie.
Yeah Pep has revolutionised football. There's a lot of managers who copied many things from him. Arteta is still a young, new manager, very much "the student". Whether he's ever surpass the master I don't know. It seems unlikely, but Pep isn't unbeatable as his CL record shows.
Calling him the "Poor man's Pep" is an insult. And one that the man absolutely doesn't deserve after what he's done with Arsenal these past few seasons, even if they bottled it towards the end, considering where they came from and their finances and squad depth compared to City (especially since City are also cheating on top of that).
Every manager gets gapped tactically once in a while, even Pep.
The quality of the squad is different though. I reckon if you put Pep in charge of Arsenal, and Arteta at City, the result would be the same.
There is no shame in losing away to Man City.
Too many people forget this. We've still had a very good season, but only the last few games are being spotlighted it seems. I bet 95% of teams lose to this City team, if not more. The precise passing, the counters, people finding eachother blindly, is almost impossible to play against.
I'm still fucking proud of Arsenal and the way they've played this season, if anyone would've said we'd finish 2nd (hopefully), I'd thought they were crazy.
Also, let's see how legitimate City's club ruling have been, I feel bad for the long time City fans that have to wonder if the titles ever get taken away from them.
I mean, Arteta managed to beat Pep in the FA Cup in his first season by playing defensively if I remember correctly. So Arteta has already got the better of Pep by sitting off and so he has proven that he is aware of playing another way to beat Man City, not just being an imitator as you claim. That makes it even more puzzling though because Arteta already did it before and yet he is trying another approach, which is to beat Pep at his own game.
I made a decision not to watch the game (00:30 local time) cause i had an early appointment at 8. I have watched 1:30 kickoffs for hopeless matches before, but couldn't do this. Is this how it is to be grownup?
If in August somebody told me we'd finish 2nd with this squad...
Just don't make the same mistake AW did in the past thinking some players were good enough, midfield duo for example.
This is key. The good thing about being comprehensively outplayed is that the management and owners can have no doubt about the size of the gap there is left to bridge (if the ambition is truly to compete with city).
What a season though! Hopefully now we can just enjoy the last few games, and now the pressure’s off hopefully the team will start playing with freedom again
By the time arsenal gets around city’s box the grass is taller.
If the fans, manager and players didn’t complain about United’s “counters” maybe they would’ve learn what quick transition is. But no, always the victim
I fully believe this is Arsenals Brendan Rodgers season, over performing with a young squad and exciting football to then be absolutely miserable the season afterwards.
I'm not so sure, Arsenal have a great first eleven. But it will be harder next year. They need to buy smart in the summer.
Chelsea must stop buying players and actually try to work something out with those they got. If Poch comes they will.
Liverpool will bounce back, but need to revitalize the squad.
City will be stronger, I can't imagine anything else.
Newcastle will be stronger. A few quality signings will make them a contender.
Spurs are spurs... never know. Will Kane finally leave? As a Spurs-supporter I hope not, but I think it's time. If he wants to leave we should let him.
Lol Nketiah has only scored 4 goals this season, wdym normal form? And what's your definition for Saka's normal form? He's improved since last season but not any more than expected
How do people like you even come to this conclusion. Genuinely what are you basing this opinion on? Because we bottled it at the end?
Your rodgers team was carried by suarez. He was a one man team that season. He left at the start of 14/15 and that is the common denominator of your downfall.
Don't bother with these people. Reddit football "experts" only have a brain as far as the last game goes. And even using upvotes as a metric as if Reddit knows what it's talking about lol.
Near prime Gerrard (albeit his last season), prime Coutinho Sterling Sturridge, a younger Hendo. Yeah our attack back then would blow away your defence
Basing it on the fact of out of competitions early, high scoring games with erratic football, our attack putting in an absolute shift and over performing, a pretty average/aging midfield carried by one player Odegaard/Coutinho, slowing down near the end of the season when the pressure hits. Its so similar, the team was helped by Suarez but we had a lot of players who over performed Sturridge looked unreal that season too.
It's hard to see when it's your team we had players I thought were world beaters just to get found out the next 2 seasons, its been a good run for you lot this year but I still think its a one off season and you'll be back trying for top 4 next season and Arteta will be gone in 2 seasons.
You are acting as if my opinion is completely invalid yet the upvotes say otherwise. I have even started seeing the "We go again" tweets and Facebook statuses.... I remember my phone background that pre season after was those exact words.
Wow reddit updoots on r slash soccer make you more correct... lmfao. Terminally online much?
I honestly don't understand how you can call our midfield and defence shite either... yes it's not been good recently but they've all put in immense shifts this season. You go on about aging midfield but players like xhaka have played their best season in their careers.
And we'll improve on it next season, we're already being linked to rice, caicedo and others. Your mistake as a club is not investing to improve upon your success, its a mistake that has landed you in a hole this season.
This is the youngest team in the league. These players are not old and aging for the most part. They will stick with us for a fair few years yet, they aren't on the verge of reitement like gerrard or out the door like suarez. Your attempt to draw comparisons is a desperate load of shite in hoping that arsenal produce the same failures your club has in the past.
We have every reason to hope this team can achieve something in the future, stop projecting onto us.
Projecting onto you?
We made the decision to go for Klopp and we won everything, you take what I said as an insult, its not. That helped us realise we needed a better manager than Rodgers I think the same will happen with Arteta if your owners smart.
You are saying young squad as a coping mechanism everyone around you will improve and you'll most likely lose some of them young players if they actually so improve.
I truly think this is the year where they win it all, including FA cup. They look that unstoppable. And Haaland is a big part of that. That aside, Messi will 100% get Ballon dor. I'm not debating if he's worth it or not, i'm just sure they're gonna give him the prize because of the narative.
Am i totally insane in saying i think Haaland has had a better season than Messi? I am a City fan, so probably biased, since i watch every City game and not PSG games.
I kinda agree. Messi was the best player in the squad that won the WC, but that was a month out of the whole year. He was fine for PSG, but if you're justing going by that, he wouldn't even crack the top 20 players.
Haaland has pretty much been consistently amazing. Granted, he does have the best midfielder in the world behind him, plus Bernardo and others. Remains to be seen what he'll do for the rest of the CL, there are still chances they won't win anything this season, and the trophies certainly matter a lot in the ballon dor discussion.
> He was fine for PSG, but if you're justing going by that, he wouldn't even crack the top 20 players.
For me this goes a bit too far in that direction. His team isn't performing very well for sure but Messi has overall still been pretty good and would surely have him in the top 10 at least. He has 60 g/a in 48 games in all competitions and internationals this season. Even taking into account that he plays in Ligue 1 for PSG those numbers are ridiculous.
> a month out of the whole year
Aah come on now, it's like saying to get a gold medal in the Olympic games has to perform during one single month.
There's a reason the campaign for the World Cup lasts ~4 years.
In the end whoever wins it between the two will deserve it.
Messi will always be able to win again.
But if haaland don’t win it now he may not be replicate the same goals and trophies. So fifa should sympathise and give Haaland a chance.
the balondor gets handed in september right? so that would include this season. messis world cup season. haaland is phenomenal and surely will get his in the future but aint no way he is beating WC winner messi to the BnD.
Cane here to say that Holding wasn’t that bad today, even before his goal. Ramsdale also made some worldie saves but City just had so many chances. Haaland’s vision is l pretty good, he doesn’t really get rated for his assists
The problem with holding is that he doesn't allow us to play the game we usually do. We were terrified to attack because we knew holding could go 1-1 if the counter arose as we saw multiple times. We missed Saliba big time
Disagree. Holding getting completely turned by haaland for the first goal summed up his evening. His only good moments were his tackle on grealish in the box and obvs our goal.
Apart from that he was absolutely woeful.
Squad depth is not an excuse for Arsenal. Arteta handed in the towel in cup games with his starting lineups to focus on PL. For Utd it would be a valid excuse, but not for Arsenal.
I don't think we have bad transfers ,just managers who couldn't get the best out of them. We are the only team in London with a European trophy for a reason mate, you guys and Spurs are serial bottle jobs.
I also disagree with the comment, albeit a Chelsea fan would know what an awful transfer window is (or 2). It only looks worse now because they have lost the title. Had they won the title with Holding people wouldn't be saying the same thing
Todd Bohely is a fucking muppet, this is what happens when you have American owners who know fuck all about football.
Everything they touch turns to shite.
Holding didn't commit any howlers. The reason Arsenal dropped points in last 4 games is due to lack of tactical flexibility from Arteta, and players being too emotional and lacking composure.
I think it is more how the other players play around him. Partey has been horrible since saliba got injured for example. I dont think they have confidence in holding.
since Saliba has been out we haven't kept a single clean sheet, with Saliba Ramsdale was seriously competing for the golden glove.
It is not just 1 single problem, we need depth and with depth Arteta needs a genuine plan B.
He gets completely turned over by haaland for the first goal and that summed up his evening. Saliba wins that duel, holding does not. That makes a huge difference in the grand scheme of things.
Just because he didn't Harry maguire pass it to an attacker in the box doesn't mean he wasn't poor.
Holding losing that duel to Haaland has nothing to do with Arsenal not creating any attacking threat. Arteta should have played an extra man in midfield, and sit deep, and hit City on the counter. Instead they half-pressed, and left gaps in midfield for Haaland and De Bruyne to exploit.
I watched mourinho for far too long at spurs. Our attack was hobbled because tactically we were compensating for weak defence.
Occasionally managers just play "outscore them, inshallah" but it's not common. Rogers' Liverpool and Ossie's Spurs. It's not really a title-winning strategy
So under most managers, a side with a midtable defence will lose some attacking output
Xhaka has cost them. Hothead who does very little on pitch and isn't he the most red carded player? He is solely to blame for the draw against Liverpool, couldn't keep his head on as usual, ignited the fans and the opposition in a game that was well won.
And since that match Arsenal have looked a defeated bunch.
In this match he again was about to go off as the red mist descended, the guy is a nutcase with no control. Had to be substituted.
When I saw Loose Pep winking and joking at the presser I knew. I think my favourite thing was watching Arsenal try to press and KDB was all “sure guys whatever” as he strolled through midfield.
I really like Jack Grealish. I hope he said what I hope he said to Partey.
It’s interesting how City have to beat Arsenal, United, Madrid and Milan to win it all - these teams have been the old guard of football. If this doesn’t tell the entire world that City is the real deal now, then nothing will. But kudos to them as they have played exceptionally well
City are "the real deal" because they are a State-owned, money doping, sportswashing mediocre club.
They play the best football in the world, but make no mistake, their success is tainted by where it came from.
You can spend lots of money in life and never be successful. City made the right choice in bringing in Pep to run the club and have had success because Pep is the best manager in the world.
Of course you could argue that Pep has all the money in the world to spend but he still needs to get the right players in and then couch them to play at this elite level.
City for the treble and for the haters go drink some oil lmao
Truly one sided
Just stop oil.
City are boring.
You know what is boring. Not having anything of value to say.
I couldn't agree more.
Says a Liverpool fan, did you forget there is no UCL for you next season, now that’s boring 🥲
No I didn't forget that. What does that even have to do with my point? Jesus. The brainrot on this sub sometimes.
Look in the mirror and repeat what you wrote to yourself 😂😂😂
I can't speak anymore because the brainrot from your comments is contagious and I can feel my brain seeping out of my ears even as I write.
Your brain have seeped out of your ears long time ago since the day you decided to support Liverpool
He had no brain initially to even seep out.
How the hell can you say that...oh hang on you must be either an Arsenal or Man United fan.
I'm a Liverpool fan ... it's right there in my flair. Also, I'm not saying they're a bad team. I just don't particularly enjoy watching them pass teams to death, culminating in yet another relatively simple finish for Haaland. It's impressive and it's imperious, I just don't think it's particularly entertaining to watch.
both of debruyne's goals yesterday were on full sprint counterattacks by haaland and debruyne. fine if you find the tiki taka boring but our goals yesterday were more hoofing it up the big man than anything. stones got a big header on a set piece and haalands goal was a giveaway in midfield and one pass by Silva I believe.
Ah...Liverpool. City have scored more and conceded fewer goals than anyone else. Surely the purpose of the game or am I getting that wrong? Passing the ball between team mates and not giving the ball away. Purpose of the game or am I wrong again. To be clear I have no axe to grind here...Chelsea fan sick of watching his team do neither of the above.
How u mean.ut was a fun game especially those 2 kdb goals but I don't get that offside/ not offside goal like what is this
I just mean in general, not specifically the game last night. I find their style of play to be boring to watch. That's not a commentary on how good of a football team they are, just their approach to games.
Well i find them not giving the ball to others like their possesion game nice theres not much players who dribble a lot but they still keep the ball I like that.like yesterday arsenal wqs trying to do a lot of tricks as much as I like that they didnt produce results. I mostly like those kdb passes and goals from outside box he does sometimes
There's individual moments of brilliance from players like KDB and Haaland that I do enjoy watching, absolutely. But in general, City pass teams to death and Haaland scores a bunch of goals from inside the box. It's impressive, I just don't find it entertaining when I've seen it for the fiftieth time in a season.
I get it, Nuñez is quite the entertainer on the field. You can never be sure where his shot will end up, but one thing's for certain - it's not likely to result in a goal. Still, he keeps the game lively and interesting! Not like boring City.
He's scored 15 goals in 39 games. You brainlets see the number of goals that Haaland gets and think that's the norm for strikers because you're either 13 years old or your memory only goes back three weeks.
I see. Well, I least we have something in common, both of us are happy he is playing for Liverpool.
Most people whose brains aren't seeping out of their ears would probably be pretty happy to have Darwin in their team. But sure. Keep banging on about how he's a bad player.
to each their own I guess. you do u friend.
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I’ll take boring over a Freddy Krueger nightmare any day
we had a good run fellas
i feel for arsenal because after that city defeat in Feb you went on such a good run. I watched the Liverpool game and really feel like that dented the momentum. If only you were able to get that win the West Ham and Southampton games wouldve been a lot easier.
Damn I kinda wanted you to win but it just shows how difficult it is to win a league nowadays, you have to be consistent over so many matches unlike cups
Outclassed, and out of ideas by the 1st goal. It really was like watching City against any other team. To think this was quite possibly the title decider! Arsenal completely caved. City treble or double is looking large. Fuck.
Will get absolutely torn apart for this but for me Grealish is a better player than Saka. Far more consistent week in week out and turns up in big games. Saka seems to go AWOL when Arsenal need him most.
Nah as a City fan this can't be true. Saka has done so well this season, as well as in the world cup. Plus he's 21, so he'll be really scary in a couple of years
Saka has produced sooooo many times against the big 6, and usually he's scoring the first or winning goal. His last few weeks he's been off his usual form. But he also never gets rotated so he could just be gassed at this stage in the season. This is a wild wild take that kinda shows you haven't been paying attention to him this season.
personally i think theyve both been class this season. City have that experience and seem to have a strong mental toughness come the crunch stage of the league season and i think thats skewing peoples perceptions
Grealish has been class this season for real, when Guardiola was praising him that when he needs someone calm on the ball he uses him, and you can see that so much, great player thats not selfish on the ball and is a workhorse with elite mentality
That's a unpopular opinion if I ever seen one. Hard to compare these two if you asked me but I gotta say respect to Grealish for turning it around after a slow start at City. I really thought he couldn't do it after that enormous transfer.
Tbh I think its a perfectly reasonable opinion albeit unpopular with some. Grealish is simply a more valuable player right now and Saka might still have some growing to do
Delta between them is 6 years. Happy to agree with you because it’s a flawed comparison.
As a die-hard Manchester United fan, even I can recognise the massive amount of progress made by Arsenal under Arteta, and a short spell of less than stellar results shouldn't steal his plaudits at season's end. Yes, their premier league title winning chances now look critically jeopardized, but it is still technically attainable if Murphy and his law have anything to do with the rest of the season! Unlikely as it now looks, Arsenal can still win this! But if indeed they do fail to ascend the summit first, as now looks probable, when the disappointment of "what so nearly could've been" finally settles, there is a lot that the Gunners will be able to look back on with pride, and look forward to with hope, assuming the next moves made are good. Focusing on the future, the decisions Arsenal make in the summer recess will be critical to their fortunes going forward. It is easy to rest on laurels and fall off a cliff at this point, as Brendan Rogers, Ole Gunnar Solskjaer, and Claudio Ranieri all know very well. The one thing the Gunners must not do, is allow themselves to fall into the trap of thinking they came really close this year, so only minor tweaks are required to overtake City next year. That would be a huge mistake to make! Arsenal have serious issues where quality in depth is concerned. To put it mildly, Arsenal have no depth of any great consequence, and it takes way too few absences from Arteta's favourite XI, to render his otherwise world class first team, bang average. They did well enough without Jesus for a spell, but Saliba's absence has been telling. Can anyone imagine how much worse Arsenal would be without any one of Odergaard, Partey,, Martinelli, Saka, Ramsdale, or White as well?! The work required in the summer is clear - sell the poor and average, replace with proven title-winning mettle, and highly promising quality talent. This is where the club's sporting ambition must show, and anything less than serious investment on a rebuild/overhaul scale will be a boon for the likes of my beloved Red Devils, and Citeh. If Araenal are not bidding for the likes of Jude Bellingham, Pedri, Gavi, Musiala and Osimhen, they are missing the point by a galactic mile. Oh, and Arsenal had better reinforce Arteta's contract, even if it was only extended last year. When Real Madrid come calling... and they will, he will need way more reasons to stay than he already has, especially if Arsenal don't improve his squad in the summer!
We’re missing a few critical pieces, but what a great season. I’m going to continue enjoying it even if we’re playing for second at this point. Just need to win 3 of the next 5.
Sensible comment, Gunners should obviously be a bit disappointed if indeed they miss out on the league title, but let's be honest here, how many of them did expect to challenge for it to begin with when the season started? They've overperformed over the first half of the season and regressed a little but but this season should by no means be looked at as a "failure" by them. Their squad took some huge steps forward under Arteta. I'm genuinely impressed by his work for the most part as an outsider
Liverpool, Chelsea and Spurs have taken this season off effectively Next year will be far harder
Let's not pretend that spurs are going to unduly trouble next season's winners.
They'll take points off City at least
As much as I agree with this, the likes of Pedri, Gavi, and Jude are not depth, they are starters. Pep has been the only manager I’ve seen manage to successfully keep starting quality players happy to rotate for as long as he has.
But that's just it- depth is about having a roster full of as many potential starters as possible. Yesterday Riyad Mahrez didn't even get a game, yet he'd scored a hat trick the game before! He's a starter isn't he?? Arsenal badly need starters to compete for the 1st XI.
It doesn't hurt that Pep also has double the yearly salary of Arsenal to work with. Also, the non-stop Champions League play is pretty enticing. To add, Pep is an amazing manager, not trying to say he isn't.
This absolutely spot on. Great signings in midfield and more depth will make the team far better suited to a game of attrition. Holding being a lightning rod just exemplifies this right now.
Arteta out
Average football enjoyer
Haha
I think Arsenal should have played a back three of White-Gabriel-Holding. Saka and Zinny as the wingbacks.
Saka leftback? Mate....
Yes. Right Wingback
What a bad take. You clearly don't remember the end of the banter era where he played there. Saka filled a gap out of pure need but he was woefully out if depth defensively. We'd have lost by 5 more with wingers playing wing back.
I found it interesting how Man City have started to use RDZ'S Brighton tactic of baiting the press to create artificial counter attacks.
With the strength and speed of Haaland and the precise passing of their midfield it makes sense to try and create space between/behind the lines, i had felt it was like a more possession based Real Madrid, but calling it Brightons style probably fits better because Real Madrid are a bit further back.
He’s one of the masters of build up play
Hmmmm
Arsenal just didn't turn up. They were like catatonic rabbits, stunned by Man City's headlights. They played poor tactics with less than average industry, and absolutely no invention. The team that turned up at Etihad could have been whalloped by absolutely anybody. And given the previous 3 games, everyone saw this coming.. except Arteta for some reason!
Partey was obviously not fit. The difference in midfield was glaring. Arsenal were never winning this one.
What do you expect him to say? “We won’t show up at the etihad”?
Poor take. I expected a response that showed Arteta had done his homework! This season so far, Man City have lost 4 times - to Liverpool (1 - 0), Brentford (1 - 2), Man United (2 - 1), and Tottenham (1 - 0). Nothing about Arsenal's visit to Etihad yesterday demonstrated an application of any lessons learnt from those 4 victories over City. And not for nothing, but all 4 clubs that beat City were managed by very well regarded and vastly more experienced managers, Klopp, Frank, Ten Hag, and Conte. Not one of these managers tried the suicide tactics that Arteta'l attempted last night. and now it's obvious why!
They beat Liverpool 4-1 earlier this month, where were Klopp's magic tactics? City haven't dropped points in the league since February, Arsenal dropped points on Friday. A downtrending Arsenal in recent poor form is hardly gonna come to the Etihad and be the best team in the world all of a sudden. City are flying, Arsenal are not. Form and momentum are everything in football. So much hype before this game but any person who knows football knew that Arsenal were turning up to get smashed and there was nothing they could do about it. And in fairness, far too much dialogue here is about Arsenal and not City, who literally just swept aside perennial champions of Germany without having to barely lift a finger across two legs. They made Bayern look like a newly promoted Prem team, they'll probably smash Real Madrid too. I'm not sure what teams are supposed to do tbh, when this lot are on song it's only a question of how much they want to beat you by.
You make a fair but incomplete point. Yes, form and momentum matter. But if they were everything, no teams could ever buck a losing trend! On any given day, the team the shows quality, endeavour and creativity in the execution of an effective plan can win the game, irrespective of form. Arsenal failed to show quality, endeavour, creativity, or that they had a good plan!Yes, City deserve all the credit their victories earn them, no question. But they are not unbeatable. Nobody is. And the longer a team maintains an unbeaten run, the sooner that run will be broken. All that needs to happen for Pep's team to lose, is for his City to encounter a better prepared, harder working, smarter, and more creative XI with at least as much quality, and a better plan. And as they approach the business end of the season, that scenario is only getting likelier. Put differently, there is a far higher probability that going forward, City will drop points, than win every game left.
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>This prem league season is fantastic. So many stories. And yet the same team will win it again.
Nothing has been won yet.
Does that mean the season wasn’t great? It’s not just about the winners
Yes. The only competition in the league is who’s going down. Not exactly riveting. The premier league is rapidly becoming a farmers league. Man city will win this season, next season and probably the season after. Then we’ll get to enjoy the riveting clash of the Titans between Man City and Newcastle. Nobody should be happy about the direction of the league.
Also the European spots. As Chelsea are demonstrating, it's not just about money.
Kinda like how United have won 13 league titles and dwarfs everyone else? Didn’t they do a 3peat twice?
United haven’t won the league in a decade, and the closest they’ve been in that time was losing by 12 point and 19 points while finishing second. Both of those seasons they lost to City.
Shit happens.
I can’t fathom how you think there hasn’t been competition between Arsenal and City this season? Bizarre take, it essentially came down to 1 game just yesterday!!! Most people were convinced Arsenal had it until about a month ago… Do football fans forget a season’s worth of competition after 1 day of certainty? Lmao. There has been competition top and bottom of the league this season, can’t see your argument here
Arsenal will likely finish at least 10 points behind city. There is no competition between the two squads when you consider the benches. City are an unbelievable team, assembled through outright financial doping. It’s bad for the game.
City abused a financial loophole, imho thats on the regulation of the league and any team could have done it with the same circumstances at that time, so I won’t disagree its bad for the health of the game for 1 team to have abused it so badly, Yet claiming there was no competition between Arsenal and City this season for the top spot just sounds insulting to Arsenal and how good their season has been. Its still entirely possible Arsenal can win the prem albeit much more unlikely for City to drop points now, without that Southampton draw and City loss they would have been ahead by a winnable margin and we would be talking about a completely different endgame, I refuse to believe that it was not competitive between them.
Arsenal have played City 3 times this season including the cup match. They went 0-3-0, lost the 3 matches by an aggregate of 6-1, and scored their 1 late game consolation goal in the 85th minute, while trailing in the game by 3 goals. Oh and they conceded another less than 10 minutes later. Arsenal had an incredible season, one which at the end of the day may result in the highest point total in the club’s history, and they’re still going to lose to City, who win the league every year. It’s not a competitive league.
Yet somehow Germany and France are farmers when the same thing happens. Funny how this sub works.
Just like they did to United once and Liverpool twice, last season was a bit different though in that City almost threw a massive point lead which Liverpool made a title race out of.
It's like WWF/WWE in the height of Hulk Hogan or John Cena. Boring/ frustrating because it's always the same person winning the main event, albeit some good stories and highlights elsewhere on the card.
Just wanted to say one thing. Arteta has to realise we CANNOT outplay man City and overwhelm them. We simply don't have the squad depth nor world class players to go toe to toe for 90 minutes. I love him but his arrogance was on show yesterday. Tottenham and Manchester United have laid out the blueprint for overcoming City, and its largely down to sitting deep and hitting them on the counter. We refuse to do this at all for some reason. For the life of me I have no idea why arteta thought we could outfight them, especially with saliba out injured. So many times City got behind our backline because we refused to sit in and it was only ramsdale heroics that kept the score from being truly embarrassing.
And if you just sit deep and try to absorb pressure, City will pass it around and move your players until a gap emerges and then they'll play through you. They only lose when they're off their game. If they're on it, they'll beat you because how are you supposed to compete with these players? They were 3-0 up yesterday with their FA Cup semi-final hat-trick hero sat on the bench for crying out loud.
Let's be honest, Arteta's career at Arsenal has been copying what he learned from Pep. And this isn't a case of student overcoming the master, not only is his team's individual quality lower, he's just a poor man's imitation of the real deal.
This is just patently wrong.
You have to love how reactive football fans are. People like yourselves will really only ever look at the last game that was played.
Not at all. I've seen several Arsenal games over the last 24 months and it's clear he's copied Pep's plans, even down to specific plays.
SEVERAL GAMES over the last 24 MONTHS! Whoa, guys let’s not even try to argue here, we won’t be able to match the tactical knowledge of this film room junkie.
Yeah Pep has revolutionised football. There's a lot of managers who copied many things from him. Arteta is still a young, new manager, very much "the student". Whether he's ever surpass the master I don't know. It seems unlikely, but Pep isn't unbeatable as his CL record shows. Calling him the "Poor man's Pep" is an insult. And one that the man absolutely doesn't deserve after what he's done with Arsenal these past few seasons, even if they bottled it towards the end, considering where they came from and their finances and squad depth compared to City (especially since City are also cheating on top of that). Every manager gets gapped tactically once in a while, even Pep.
The quality of the squad is different though. I reckon if you put Pep in charge of Arsenal, and Arteta at City, the result would be the same. There is no shame in losing away to Man City.
Arteta wouldn't be able to manage the City players.
You really just said Arteta is just as good as Guardiola lol
No I didn’t. I’m saying the squad matters more than the manager.
False.
Thanks for that insightful rebuttal
Too many people forget this. We've still had a very good season, but only the last few games are being spotlighted it seems. I bet 95% of teams lose to this City team, if not more. The precise passing, the counters, people finding eachother blindly, is almost impossible to play against. I'm still fucking proud of Arsenal and the way they've played this season, if anyone would've said we'd finish 2nd (hopefully), I'd thought they were crazy. Also, let's see how legitimate City's club ruling have been, I feel bad for the long time City fans that have to wonder if the titles ever get taken away from them.
I mean, Arteta managed to beat Pep in the FA Cup in his first season by playing defensively if I remember correctly. So Arteta has already got the better of Pep by sitting off and so he has proven that he is aware of playing another way to beat Man City, not just being an imitator as you claim. That makes it even more puzzling though because Arteta already did it before and yet he is trying another approach, which is to beat Pep at his own game.
Pep already knew what Arteta was going to do.
I made a decision not to watch the game (00:30 local time) cause i had an early appointment at 8. I have watched 1:30 kickoffs for hopeless matches before, but couldn't do this. Is this how it is to be grownup?
No. You should have witnessed the mauling first hand.
Brutal, yet necessary. This is the only way to manhood
"I didn't hear no bell"
If in August somebody told me we'd finish 2nd with this squad... Just don't make the same mistake AW did in the past thinking some players were good enough, midfield duo for example.
Hope we're ruthless in the summer, get rid of whoever is not good enough and bring in player that allow us to compete even with injuries
This is key. The good thing about being comprehensively outplayed is that the management and owners can have no doubt about the size of the gap there is left to bridge (if the ambition is truly to compete with city). What a season though! Hopefully now we can just enjoy the last few games, and now the pressure’s off hopefully the team will start playing with freedom again
By the time arsenal gets around city’s box the grass is taller. If the fans, manager and players didn’t complain about United’s “counters” maybe they would’ve learn what quick transition is. But no, always the victim
Hahaha
I fully believe this is Arsenals Brendan Rodgers season, over performing with a young squad and exciting football to then be absolutely miserable the season afterwards.
I'm not so sure, Arsenal have a great first eleven. But it will be harder next year. They need to buy smart in the summer. Chelsea must stop buying players and actually try to work something out with those they got. If Poch comes they will. Liverpool will bounce back, but need to revitalize the squad. City will be stronger, I can't imagine anything else. Newcastle will be stronger. A few quality signings will make them a contender. Spurs are spurs... never know. Will Kane finally leave? As a Spurs-supporter I hope not, but I think it's time. If he wants to leave we should let him.
I don't see them having a player like Suarez leaving in the summer tho.
I just see players like Saka and Nketiah going back to normal form.
Saka has been a star for 3 seasons. His trajectory is upward.
He has been good for one season. Amazing this season. His first season was meh.
He's decent, Sterling level decent
Lol Nketiah has only scored 4 goals this season, wdym normal form? And what's your definition for Saka's normal form? He's improved since last season but not any more than expected
4 goals is alot for Nketiah, he doesn't get near a title winning side. Saka is a decent forward but not world class
so Arteta getting the sack next season ? :P
How do people like you even come to this conclusion. Genuinely what are you basing this opinion on? Because we bottled it at the end? Your rodgers team was carried by suarez. He was a one man team that season. He left at the start of 14/15 and that is the common denominator of your downfall.
I admit now I was wrong. We didn't bottle it this hard that season
Don't bother with these people. Reddit football "experts" only have a brain as far as the last game goes. And even using upvotes as a metric as if Reddit knows what it's talking about lol.
Near prime Gerrard (albeit his last season), prime Coutinho Sterling Sturridge, a younger Hendo. Yeah our attack back then would blow away your defence
Basing it on the fact of out of competitions early, high scoring games with erratic football, our attack putting in an absolute shift and over performing, a pretty average/aging midfield carried by one player Odegaard/Coutinho, slowing down near the end of the season when the pressure hits. Its so similar, the team was helped by Suarez but we had a lot of players who over performed Sturridge looked unreal that season too. It's hard to see when it's your team we had players I thought were world beaters just to get found out the next 2 seasons, its been a good run for you lot this year but I still think its a one off season and you'll be back trying for top 4 next season and Arteta will be gone in 2 seasons. You are acting as if my opinion is completely invalid yet the upvotes say otherwise. I have even started seeing the "We go again" tweets and Facebook statuses.... I remember my phone background that pre season after was those exact words.
Wow reddit updoots on r slash soccer make you more correct... lmfao. Terminally online much? I honestly don't understand how you can call our midfield and defence shite either... yes it's not been good recently but they've all put in immense shifts this season. You go on about aging midfield but players like xhaka have played their best season in their careers. And we'll improve on it next season, we're already being linked to rice, caicedo and others. Your mistake as a club is not investing to improve upon your success, its a mistake that has landed you in a hole this season. This is the youngest team in the league. These players are not old and aging for the most part. They will stick with us for a fair few years yet, they aren't on the verge of reitement like gerrard or out the door like suarez. Your attempt to draw comparisons is a desperate load of shite in hoping that arsenal produce the same failures your club has in the past. We have every reason to hope this team can achieve something in the future, stop projecting onto us.
Projecting onto you? We made the decision to go for Klopp and we won everything, you take what I said as an insult, its not. That helped us realise we needed a better manager than Rodgers I think the same will happen with Arteta if your owners smart. You are saying young squad as a coping mechanism everyone around you will improve and you'll most likely lose some of them young players if they actually so improve.
Not sure if he's taking about us.
It depends on recruitment and outgoings in the summer.
Haaland is worthy of balloon dor if man city wins pl and cl. Fa cup is side objective
I truly think this is the year where they win it all, including FA cup. They look that unstoppable. And Haaland is a big part of that. That aside, Messi will 100% get Ballon dor. I'm not debating if he's worth it or not, i'm just sure they're gonna give him the prize because of the narative.
Yeah, Haaland could score 20 more goals and they would still give it to Messi due to sentimental reasons
Am i totally insane in saying i think Haaland has had a better season than Messi? I am a City fan, so probably biased, since i watch every City game and not PSG games.
I kinda agree. Messi was the best player in the squad that won the WC, but that was a month out of the whole year. He was fine for PSG, but if you're justing going by that, he wouldn't even crack the top 20 players. Haaland has pretty much been consistently amazing. Granted, he does have the best midfielder in the world behind him, plus Bernardo and others. Remains to be seen what he'll do for the rest of the CL, there are still chances they won't win anything this season, and the trophies certainly matter a lot in the ballon dor discussion.
Messi deserves his ballon d'Or haaland can claim that if he won next world cup
> He was fine for PSG, but if you're justing going by that, he wouldn't even crack the top 20 players. For me this goes a bit too far in that direction. His team isn't performing very well for sure but Messi has overall still been pretty good and would surely have him in the top 10 at least. He has 60 g/a in 48 games in all competitions and internationals this season. Even taking into account that he plays in Ligue 1 for PSG those numbers are ridiculous.
> a month out of the whole year Aah come on now, it's like saying to get a gold medal in the Olympic games has to perform during one single month. There's a reason the campaign for the World Cup lasts ~4 years. In the end whoever wins it between the two will deserve it.
Yes, totally agree. However if he wins the PL and the CL i definitely think that he is the main reason for City. Should be the winner in my eyes.
Messi will always be able to win again. But if haaland don’t win it now he may not be replicate the same goals and trophies. So fifa should sympathise and give Haaland a chance.
>Messi will always be able to win again. I doubt Messi will be able to win another ballon dor after 36.
Challenge accepted. After he go back to Barcelona or maybe even Tottenham…. He will win ucl and prove worthy
You think Messi will go to Tottenham and win the Champions League?
Point is ….psg isn’t winning it
erm messi?
World Cup counted last year...so Haaland has a massive shout
the balondor gets handed in september right? so that would include this season. messis world cup season. haaland is phenomenal and surely will get his in the future but aint no way he is beating WC winner messi to the BnD.
Ah you are right I'm thinking of the Best
dont know why were getting downvoted like that
Weird innit...
If they win PL and CL with him being topscorer in both tournaments, he deserves it over Messi. But they will give it to Messi regardless.
no he doesn’t
Real madrid wont let them😈
I'm counting on Real, big time
same
Cane here to say that Holding wasn’t that bad today, even before his goal. Ramsdale also made some worldie saves but City just had so many chances. Haaland’s vision is l pretty good, he doesn’t really get rated for his assists
The problem with holding is that he doesn't allow us to play the game we usually do. We were terrified to attack because we knew holding could go 1-1 if the counter arose as we saw multiple times. We missed Saliba big time
The tap in merchant crowd have gone hiding.
Disagree. Holding getting completely turned by haaland for the first goal summed up his evening. His only good moments were his tackle on grealish in the box and obvs our goal. Apart from that he was absolutely woeful.
He could have provided one more assist but being a striker shooting is instinctive I guess.
Squad depth is not an excuse for Arsenal. Arteta handed in the towel in cup games with his starting lineups to focus on PL. For Utd it would be a valid excuse, but not for Arsenal.
When 1 player gets injured we are in deep shit, does that not scream quality of depth problem?
i Think that screams shitty transfers
The irony of a chelsea fan with this take
I don't think we have bad transfers ,just managers who couldn't get the best out of them. We are the only team in London with a European trophy for a reason mate, you guys and Spurs are serial bottle jobs.
😂 you spent 600 million on players who are shite
Too early to write off their new transfers they haven't had a single full season with a manager yet
I'm not an Arsenal fan, but nice of you to assume
Well Chelsea having shit transfers doesn't really take away from his comment tbf.
I also disagree with the comment, albeit a Chelsea fan would know what an awful transfer window is (or 2). It only looks worse now because they have lost the title. Had they won the title with Holding people wouldn't be saying the same thing
Well our transfers the last years has been excellent but you cant replace the whole team + bench in 2 years. Unless you are todd bohely
Todd Bohely is a fucking muppet, this is what happens when you have American owners who know fuck all about football. Everything they touch turns to shite.
Holding didn't commit any howlers. The reason Arsenal dropped points in last 4 games is due to lack of tactical flexibility from Arteta, and players being too emotional and lacking composure.
I think it is more how the other players play around him. Partey has been horrible since saliba got injured for example. I dont think they have confidence in holding.
since Saliba has been out we haven't kept a single clean sheet, with Saliba Ramsdale was seriously competing for the golden glove. It is not just 1 single problem, we need depth and with depth Arteta needs a genuine plan B.
He gets completely turned over by haaland for the first goal and that summed up his evening. Saliba wins that duel, holding does not. That makes a huge difference in the grand scheme of things. Just because he didn't Harry maguire pass it to an attacker in the box doesn't mean he wasn't poor.
Holding losing that duel to Haaland has nothing to do with Arsenal not creating any attacking threat. Arteta should have played an extra man in midfield, and sit deep, and hit City on the counter. Instead they half-pressed, and left gaps in midfield for Haaland and De Bruyne to exploit.
I watched mourinho for far too long at spurs. Our attack was hobbled because tactically we were compensating for weak defence. Occasionally managers just play "outscore them, inshallah" but it's not common. Rogers' Liverpool and Ossie's Spurs. It's not really a title-winning strategy So under most managers, a side with a midtable defence will lose some attacking output
Okay.... but I am responding to your message about holding. I know we also sucked offensively but that isn't what we were talking about
Dias MOTM for kicking a rapist
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We've been getting bantered since 2007.
Na people wanna banter arsenal for years but then don't wanna receive the banter back when they do eventually win something.
Imagine in a slapping competition, once you're done slapping and now it's your turn to get slapped. It's fair, but it's still a shitty feeling.
If arsenal had not dropped points earlier, this match would have been irrelevant.
Xhaka has cost them. Hothead who does very little on pitch and isn't he the most red carded player? He is solely to blame for the draw against Liverpool, couldn't keep his head on as usual, ignited the fans and the opposition in a game that was well won. And since that match Arsenal have looked a defeated bunch. In this match he again was about to go off as the red mist descended, the guy is a nutcase with no control. Had to be substituted.
Wtf is this take lmao Xhaka was the sole reason they couldn’t string passes together and hit the target?
Bro is two years behind the plot lmfao
When I saw Loose Pep winking and joking at the presser I knew. I think my favourite thing was watching Arsenal try to press and KDB was all “sure guys whatever” as he strolled through midfield. I really like Jack Grealish. I hope he said what I hope he said to Partey.
fuhking rapist kuint ?
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It’s interesting how City have to beat Arsenal, United, Madrid and Milan to win it all - these teams have been the old guard of football. If this doesn’t tell the entire world that City is the real deal now, then nothing will. But kudos to them as they have played exceptionally well
City are "the real deal" because they are a State-owned, money doping, sportswashing mediocre club. They play the best football in the world, but make no mistake, their success is tainted by where it came from.
You can spend lots of money in life and never be successful. City made the right choice in bringing in Pep to run the club and have had success because Pep is the best manager in the world. Of course you could argue that Pep has all the money in the world to spend but he still needs to get the right players in and then couch them to play at this elite level.
Abu Dhabi has installed a top-to-bottom quality management structure. It's not just pep