Well a finger or elbow cannot be given offside but I assume the point you’re making is the tinniest margins for offside. These are the rules that have always been there in the game we just had humans judging it rather than computers. I’m all for giving the margin to the attacker but not as much as Wenger’s idea does.of you did it by measuring just the two players further at back and furthest forward foot I think you’d find an middle ground of moving the advantage line to the attacker without going overboard. Sure there would still be some barely believable onside calls with players miles apart from each other but you’d take out all the body lean stuff where offside lines are drawn from a tilted forward head or an armpit in running motion.

https://youtu.be/17hV9wlFVzk?si=aYOyDugjZgTE5sya

Would love another performance like this on Wednesday. That away kit!

Always wonder if we were still unbeaten away wearing that kit.

Anyone know?

I couldn’t recall any but I checked and found two games we lost in that yellow kit
Villa 1-0 away in the league
West Ham 3-1 away in the league cup

This is onside with Wenger’s new offside law

Chris Kavanagg is the ref for our Brighton game. He’s the ref who decided he had no choice but to send Rice off c Brighton last year.
He’s also the ref that had that shocking Villa v Newcastle cup game so naturally he’s rewarded with an important title race match

Perhaps people who attend the games can assist with this question. Is there enough talk between our players on the field: calling for the ball, man on, directing a pass - square pass. I know in a stadium it is difficult to be heard at times but do our players have the confidence to do this. Arteta must be able to be heard so I think they should be hearing each other. I just think sometimes when we make poor decisions at our own end we could avoid the situation. Plus when a forward thinks he might be free for a long ball - a call like now could work. Maybe they don’t play like this anymore.

surely that’s an outlier

That’s a red card anyway. Plus the ball must be ahead of them

I have often wondered about that. Presumably the game would be far less compact than now. Some major implications would be unpacking the usually overcrowded midfield; build up play would change hugely as strikers could live permanently in the box waiting for the longer ball; so a different type of midfielder might emerge - technically excellent quarterback distributors rather than athletic rotators and space deniers? The lovely through ball could become a rarity. Also the thrill of seeing a quick and clever forward outsmarting a back line - a la Vardy or Henry - would probably disappear. Would be good to see it trialled just for fun.

I have always thought using the square would be useful. In Gaelic games a player cannot enter the parallelogram in front of the goal unless the ball is in there. If you enter before the ball it's a free out. An offside could be a striker being inside the square before the ball is passed and without there being an opposition defender. Easier to officiate.

It can be offside. Right now VAR draw a line across and if any part of the attacking player's body is beyond that line it is offside. https://www.bbc.com/sport/football/arti ... 98d0yzzn8o Wenger rightly thinks there should be daylight. It would the game easier to officiate.

The sudden fuss about grappling in the box is just a great example of bias

It’s been part and parcel of game for decades

Most examples show six of one and half a dozen of the other

It’s strange how all clubs do it, yet it needs clamping down on just when Arsenal are doing well

Mourinho sides were famous for this and there was never the degree of fan and media hysteria

lol

https://www.dailymail.co.uk/sport/footb ... chman.html

It has retuned with a vengeance this season. It went of fashion for a while when teams started copying Guardiola's possession based style where lobbing balls into the box is almost distained. Slot is right though. It makes for crap viewing.

It isn't bias. It is a valid talking point. The marquee game of the weekend was Arsenal v Chelsea. It was a poor match absolutely littered with pulling and dragging at corners. There has undoubtedly been a change this season and we are very much part of it. It badly needs addressing for next season because it as a terrible blight on the game.

https://x.com/RobsonKanu/status/2028759 ... 48103?s=20

Good man Rice

https://x.com/afc_monty_/status/2028838 ... -j6VVZXEoA

Very interesting to hear Neville talk about Arsenal gk (Leno) being weak and soft for being blocked from a set piece v Brentford in 2021.

We were undoubtedly poor at set pieces back then. Since we’ve become the best in the world at them and now Neville and the rest of the football punditry is killing us for that as well.

The evidence just keeps mounting up and the only conclusion is where Arsenal are concerned too many people cannot be objective. Their opinion is clouded fundamentally by the fact that they don’t like to see Arsenal do well

Not convinced at all by that

It’s always been there - Mourinho’s Chelsea and Pulis’ Stoke for example

Big games can often be cagey, this is selection bias of retrospect, you remember the great 4-3 results and forget the nil nil bore draws

Hi Gunny,

It is a horrible watch.

When we were on the receiving end against Brentford and Chelsea it was just horrendous viewing and a nightmare for the old ticker.

Every corner kick or throw-in against us was just a melee and it felt like we could concede at any moment.

Imagine what its like for the teams who play us every week watching their team trying to cope with Declan Rice and Saka's deliveries. The goalkeeper is pinned, the rest of the defenders aren't even looking at the ball just involved in a wrestling match with their opponent.

That said, what can you do about it?

https://x.com/afc_monty_/status/2028864 ... -j6VVZXEoA

Another one. Last 5 seconds of Neville here talking about late Wenger teams “I just wish they would correct this issue about power and strength”

Arteta has done exactly that and now people are criticising us for that as well.

I’m reminded of a quote a while back in football that when Fergie starting giving you compliments as a team it was the worst because you knew you let team was no longer a threat to him.

I’d much rather listen to the tactical opinions of any of the premier league managers on the state of the game than any pundit.

Arteta says Football has evolved and unless they change rules it won't change:
“I was really upset the way we (Arsenal) conceded a goal against Chelsea. And Chelsea, look, the quality that they have, the amount of set-piece they scored.

“Manchester United, they're doing so well. The same, I was at Man City, used to work a lot on them. So it's something.

“There are phases, and there are moments when a team has an opportunity to do certain things and the game is evolving, and the game is becoming more and more difficult.

“Before, when you used to do a game plan and you just invert a full-back and bring an extra player in midfield or a false nine, opponents are finished. Big overload. 4v3 inside, 2v1 inside, time on the ball. So dominant 78% of possession, the other opponent two counterattacks, set pieces, the game is done now.

“Teams are adapting, teams know, after every sequence of play, whether it's a throw-in, a restart of play, an open-page situation, after direct play, exactly what they have to do.

“And everything is almost man-to-man. So it's going to be a different game unless we change the rules, because the evolution of the game is that.”

Plenty of managers queuing up to say grappling at corners needs to stop. I assume they will be relaying that instruction to their players and I don’t expect to see any of it from them then. Hurzeler had his say on us, so let’s see how Dunk and Van Hecke defend our corners tomorrow. Carrick as well said it must stop. Harry Maguire please follow your managers instructions

Good question Soc. I have often heard people say a few penalties given and it would stop but when the whole box is at it who do you penalise?

uh oh looks like we’ve pissed off Donny. That’s not good

by the way if you are getting wound up by the media now after a 2 1 win i don’t think you will be able to cope when we inevitably blow this in the final 9 games

A limit on number of players allowed in the box from a corner could take the heat out of things a bit - say max of six per side? Would allow officials to see better what is going on? Mind you ot might just lead to grappling amongst the guys on the edge or just outside the box!

Agree that this is a rather manufactured concern - I first saw Leeds doing it under Revie.

Your finger or your elbow are not the point of reference for offside as they cannot legally play the ball. Offside lines can be drawn from the armpit of the defender or attacker, and every other part of the body but nothing from below the armpit. Laws of the game link below on offside
https://www.thefa.com/football-rules-go ... ---offside

The rise of goals from set pieces this year is born out in the stats, no denying it. My view is it is a clear reaction to the uber-coached tactical side that every team has now. When people say the league is low on entertainment that may be true but they then equate that to low on quality. If they mean low on flair and attacking individual quality then yes that correlates but it’s not low on defensive quality, the organisation, the man to man marking, the low block, tracking runners, pressing. It’s the way the game moved as a reaction to the tika taka Pep and the ultra high press Klopp style. Most teams can go man to man and can bait the press to then hit you direct, teams now live in fear of the quality of the opponent and feel vulnerable when they have the ball. The answer has been to look for other methods and set piece was the easy route to eliminate the tactical and defensive brilliance.

Slot looked upset after that game. I won’t gloat however until the Brighton game is over.

I wonder how many Wolves players wished they had the same level of self-belief they are having now. If they did, they would not be stuck at the bottom of the EPL. The manager and their players must be kicking themselves for waking up too late.

I agree. Plus any of the players who display quality will be on the shopping list of any EPL club who needs reinforcements.

Pep Guardiola: "I don't agree with people saying the league is not good this season, or the winner will not be good. It's tougher. It's really, really tough.”

Virgil Van Dijk: “This is the toughest and most competitive Premier League season I’ve ever experienced.”

Tough game tonight, feels like make or break.

In terms of the title race it's a case of who blinks first.

Would like to see Zubimendi step up in a tough away game. Declan Rice cannot carry the midfield on his own.

I believe Arteta would have already tried MLS in a midfield role. If he has not, I think MLS might work out well in an attacking mid role. I believe he will find Gyökeres faster than Ødegaard would.

Word is Rice, havert and Ødegaard are in with the squad - not sure if they are all fit enough to start.

I think Ødegaard coming off the bench in the wolves away and chelsea home game would have been perfect. Calm, retains the ball, organises the team. We've bemoaned his lack of thrust but perhaps in these tight title run in games he has a huge role to play in midfield as I cannot see him resorting to just booting it back to the opposition. We miss Merino as well.

Potentially a game for Nørgaard tonight?

A number of the players can then have a week off as we should fully rotate v Mansfield in the cup before the CL game. In fact right now I think the FA Cup has to be a fully rotated team no matter who we face

Meanwhile in France, Nwaneri provided the assist for Aubameyang to score a late winner for Marseille. Unfortunate opponent was Lyon.

I'm a little worried about Nørgaard. He seems slow and the BHA midfield can be nippy.

I think this article is basically right about ugly football, although it miss-assigns blame and goes way too far in labelling Gabriel and Rice (!!) as mere thugs. Arsenal are as much sinned against as sinners and we would be able to adapt if refs actually enforced rules.

The blame lies with FIFA, FA and the match officials. They've created a situation where teams that do the ugly stuff well get away with it and get results. So obviously everyong is trying to do it and we do it very well.

(However the article is right about Pep being to blame for boring possession football however. Can't blame the refs for that!)

https://www.dailymail.co.uk/sport/footb ... OWELL.html

Jeff Powell once wrote an article equating Arsenal Red to Communist Red and saying we were the worst thugs ever to walk onto a football pitch when we got red cards under Wenger. He either knows what’s he’s doing and he’s a *%^@. Or he doesn’t know what he’s doing and he’s a (senile, old) *%^@.

Of all the people not to pay attention to I’d pay no attention to him the most.