Kola keeps getting isolated against Sarr. Complete mismatch. Scary stuff

Mike Dean really does do hi utmost to give decisions against Arsenal. bookings, penalties. I still remember the nonsense making Guendouzi retake and retake a free kick and evntually booked him when he parasitically placed the ball. He's an arrogant referee who really does seem to have a problem with Arsenal.

Notice how he shook his head when var overruled him for the arsenal penalty

case in point from Dean - that should be a nailed on yellow as Arsenal broke. Unbelieveable

Declines a yellow for a cynical professional foul on Nelson with Arsenal on the break it's hard to argue against your point. Which is that he's a c.unt right?

Another 2 for Dean. A bad late foul on Tierney no yellow, then a watford player just tries to take out Aubameyang as he's on a run, he didn't get him but it should still be a yellow for the attempt

There is one person who is utterly convinced in the perfection of Mike Riley. And it’s....

Mike Riley

Have to say Holding is doing everything he can this game to prove that he doesn't have an Arsenal future

Let’s hope that next week Chelsea are equally as useless against us up front.

Hope not. He’s been dreadful.

lost count of the number of times we're defending with at least 6-7 in the box and Watford only have 3 maximum and they still create the chance. So much work to be done

I'll be glad when this season is over..............

...barely hanging on.

Thank goodness that’s over.

Welbeck could have had a hat trick.

Job done for us. Rested some players, no injuries, Aubameyang somehow and for some reason plays every minute ever, ready for the cup final

I probably dislike Denney less than most Arsenal fans, but quite happy to ram his relegation down his neck today simply because of the constant reminder we have of his comments he made, and whilst they may have been partially true it broke a bit of an unwritten rule in football that you say whatever you want on the pitch but you remain respectful for your opponents off it.

See you later Troy

Back to the cricket..........................

Several referees with real time and slow motion angles disagree with your wrong decision? No you know best, it’s just Arsenal isn’t it...

Missing out on Europa would be a blessing. (Not financially) something just doesn’t feel right about that final. Have a feeling chelsea might beat us this time

In the end 8th seemed about right for us this year, signs of positive change under Arteta but some dour stuff.

Do you think? The feel good of winning a final, the financial boost, the players that competing in Europe could attract, more european experience for our younger players, and another shot at champions league. I think there’s a lot of upside that outweighs the negative of the schedule. Especially for us atm.

Know exactly what you mean. Financially we need Europe but this squad is just so wrong at the moment. Would be intrigued to see how Saliba and Mari could play together at the back. Key for me though is some creativity in midfield. When Wenger let the defence stagnate for too long we still would get CL as we had goals everywhere in front of the back four. Now we only really have Aubameyang and the occasional flourish from Lacazette. We need more form our wide men and more goals from behind them.

I can see a repeat of Baku next week if we play the same way as we have this last week.

Also, I wouldn’t mind that Sarr from Watford. Also, unpopular opinion but I don’t mind Troy Deeney as a bloke. He spoke very well post match and having listened recently to a Louis Theroux podcast where he was the guest, he has had a tough upbringing, spent time inside and has made the very best of himself since being released.

According to Foot Mercato, Barcelona have proposed two transfers to Arsenal. Either Vidal and Rakitić for Matteo Guendouzi, or €50m (£45m) and Guendouzi, for Coutinho.

I would jump at either and although the idea of signing more over 30s doesn’t appeal usually having a couple of seasons with Rakitic and Vidal in the middle running things is attractive

Just want us to focus on the league, screw the cups anymore. We have to get back in the champions league

Yes next week does feel a bit like Baku. My goodness it would be amazing if we won and Arteta won a cup in his first season, something just seems to tell me we are going to stumble, hope I'm wrong.

No to both for me.
Don’t want any more expensive older players where the motivation is probably more for the money than anything else.
£50m plus Guendouzi for Coutinho is crazy....all these clubs who spend too much on a flop and then value that player based on the mistake price they paid rather than true value.
Vidal and Rakitic would make us better next year but what happens in the long term and how on earth do we afford those wages! And they are 32 and 33. This would be the last big contract, are we going to give them 3 year deals on £200k a week each?! Barmy to go for that
If Barca really want Guendouzi tell them they can pay the cash price or they can trade some of the talented young players they have

Feels like the only way we can win the cup is a very low scoring game, conceding possession and attacking on the break.

Holding worries me from his recent performances but I think he’s better in a deeper backs to the wall performance where he just concentrated on heading and clearing everything.

I think Tierney has to go in the back 3, which means Saka or amn can play left wing back. Hopefully Bellerin overcomes his knock. The rest of the team picks itself from the semi final

I agree Rich.

The last thing I want to see us do is turn into a retirement home for ageing has-beens or a parking place for misfits and other clubs mistakes.

We need to look at players in their late teens/early 20s with the potential and the hunger to do great things. Whether we can persuade those types to join us is another thing.

Our defence is obviously shite, not one accomplished CB at the club.

However, I read that in terms of chances created we are 16th in the PL. That suggests that creativity is at least as big an issue and also how on earth does Aubameyang score so many goals when he's feeding on crumbs.

Luiz, Sokratis, Özil - we are already there.

Hi Soc.
I think if you took a random set of fans views, even non arsenal they would all come up with different areas of the team that are the most important to address.
Apart from GK you can easily make a case for the most important part of the team to improve being:
Central defence
Defensive midfield
Creative midfield
And even strikers who can take the pressure off Aubameyang

I’ve got no problem with the award of Watford’s penalty. My problem is that those are never given. How often do you see a striker get off a clean shot at goal that gets saved, goes wide or over and instantly after he shots he gets cleaned out by a desperate lunge by a defender....and how often are those given as penalties?! Basically never.

I think its our worst finish since I've been watching Arsenal. But it must be said I caught us at a good time. On our way to 3-0, we looked pretty good. And we got progressively worse after that. The game could easily have been a draw or even a Watford win if the golden chances have gone in.

We played decent team defense early on that went by the wayside as the game continued. Why are we looking at aging attackers? Coutinho I like a lot but we need central defenders. No one we have should be any more than a back up. There is no central defender on our side presently we can go into the season and confidently say, this player can be a foundation for top 4 ambitions. None. They can all have decent games even string together a few but its laughable to think any side who is top 4 quality would rely on what we have.

No amount of team defense no matter how organized is going to change that.

Helping Aubameyang get to the golden boot

I’m all for passing to a team mate in a better position to score, but that was ridiculous as it made the chance harder. At 3-2 up Aubameyang’s golden boot shouldn’t be in anyone’s thoughts. Win the game first

City have started spending already, expected to complete the 40 million euro signing of 20 year old Valencia winger Ferran Torres. Obviously City will find some way around the rules and their accounts will show they haven’t been affected by the lost season ticket money and having to return a big chunk of broadcasters fee

Hi Rich,

Almost every area of our team needs improvement.

I feel this is a pivotal summer of recruitment because with United and Chelsea making top four the spending power amongst those four clubs will make it incredibly difficult to bridge the gap.

Chelsea appear to be dining at the top table again transfer-wise. Werner, Ziyech and potentially Kai Havertz as well. If they get a new keeper and CB then they look capable of moving to the next level.

United will always have huge spending power. If they get it right this summer they too could move up a level.

Clearly spending big is no guarantee of success, as we've seen with United in recent seasons and even with our own Pépé deal. The most astute deals do not always cost the most money. I just hope that we are putting in place a worldclass scouting network because relying on Raul's contact book of superagents is not the way to go in my opinion.

Read this from a journalist on twitter this morning
"Mason Mount. 51 appearances, at least three different positions, seven PL goals and five PL assists. All in a breakthrough season and aged just 21. That's pretty amazing. That's why I'd make him my Chelsea Player of the Year."

And yet Pépé with 5 prem goals and 6 assists is the flop of the season according to many pundits including Jenas

We're going to be left a long way behind these clubs. The thing is with a Man U is they may make mistakes in the market, and big mistakes at that, but they rarely have to live with the consequences beyond that season. If they buy a £50m flop they just go and buy another, and another until one works. It would be like us spending £50m on a right winger this summer because Pépé hasn't been as good as we wanted.
Now more than ever we have to get every transfer decision spot on, in and out.
It is a lot easier to go and throw £200m at Mbappe than find the next Mbappe for £2m, the chances of getting it right are so small - but we have to get it right every time for virtually zero net spend if we are to get back in that top 4 because at the moment we're miles off

The Mirror are reporting that Arteta’s been told the transfer budget is £30m. I would hope that’s a net figure, but regardless of that if anyone thinks we’re going to see loads of the positions improved that they feel require strengthening, try overdosing on the new ‘enhance your realism’ tablets that have just come out.

https://www.mirror.co.uk/sport/football ... id=2184360

And over at City, he would have been used to that sort of budget spent just on catering.

I think that sums things up Rich. As people who read my posts will know, that’s why I think the ownership is a far more important debate than which players are bought and sold. I still recall Stan saying words to the effect that he didn’t buy Arsenal to win trophies around the time he took over following Fiszman’s death. For me that says much more about the ownership philosophy of the Kroenke regime than Josh coming out with more optimistic, politically correct advice to Arsenal fans that we should feel excited.