Finally, someone else who agrees about how we miss the drive, desire and skills of Alexis.

Whilst it was a poor result (before the game) and a good result (with 5 minutes remaining) I don't think we should overlook the fact Wolves have drawn with Man City and also at Old Trafford this season. Wolves certainly limited the space for us to create the chances we'd normally expect to make against this level of opposition extremely well; have to say they were very impressive on the counter attack too with Costa a handful. Had they not sat off as much in the second and gone for it a bit more they may well have won the game.

Good point, Goonie.

Palace would probably be demanding £50-£60m for Zaha.

In fact, just googled it and saw this:

https://www.90min.com/posts/6083110-tot ... e-contract

£70m for Zaha. LOL

I didn’t really mean him specifically more his type of pacy winger. One that can contribute a dozen goals and half a dozen assists a season.

70 million would be ludicrous for him however palace are just nothing without him

I know, I don't disagree with your point. Just thought I'd mention he would probably cost a fortune.

I agree with this, and after gifting them the first goal it was always going to be difficult. Wolves are a good side, a cut above most newly promoted teams.

I think it is fair to say that arsenal, spurs and Man U have had a number of positive results in the league that their performances had t deserved.
For us you can look at the wolves game but even everton and watford before that weren’t great performances.
Man U have been relying on last minute winners to paper over the cracks.
Spurs have been grinding our results without playing well.

Eventually this catches up with a team, arsenal now on a run of 3 draws, Man U were very much second best v city. Just waiting for the spurs bump.

The 3 at the top are well ahead of the 3 I’ve mentioned above in terms of convincing performances to go with the 3 points. In fact I’d say it is a league of 1, city, then Liverpool/Chelsea. City have played arsenal, Liverpool and spurs away. Get past Chelsea away without defeat and I think an invincible season would be a good bet

Let me help you clear the cobwebs ...... Emery has brought in Torriera and Guendouzi who help BUT he is still allowing these fairies to make multiple passes back to the goalie under the slightest threat .

What happens then ..... the goalie pumps a Hail Mary forward and most often because we aren't a big combative side we lose possession .
Surely an outfield player , thirty metres further up the pitch should have more chance to find a team mate .

Why this constant pass back ...the more passes back and sideways the less time you have to score a goal

When we were great ; Bergkamp , Pires , Henry etc ...we were always looking to go forward .

Surprise , surprise that is where the opposition's goal .

Your point about Aubameyang ... look at his goal compilation for Dortmund ..... HE THRIVES ON SPEEDY SERVICE .... he isn't getting that .

Against Sporting we knew a draw was enough to take us through ; so no-one broke sweat , back four exchanged the required twenty million passes Arsene would have been proud of .

The mindset in the team is fundamentally flawed ...we need a Roy Keane , Allan Ball or Graeme Souness in midfield to talk on the pitch .

That may well be but I bet didn't City and United didn't put in such a limp penied performance as we did .

If Arsenal is ever to play with consistent urgency and drive, players like Özil & Xhaka needs to be replaced. Both prefer to play with panache, thus has moments of lapses.

Özil has the skill set to play with panache and look world class. But, his mental strength and drive is no longer there. His hunger is no longer there. He turns off too often. I think he motivation to perform is only when he is trying to answer his critics. And when his cannot get his game on, he simply doesn't care.

Xhaka, on the other hand, is simply a nunce. He tries to look classy, but often gets careless instead. It is only when he stops trying to look classy that his game is more exact, because he had to think harder. Against Pool, he did not dare to act cool. But then he thought "it is only Wolves", and resorted to his ways, and gave them their opportunity. From thereon, the team was on the back foot.

You astutely used the ‘c’ word in the first line. Consistent - we have a number of players who fail the test. They can be brilliant at times or absolutely terrible. None of them are consistently very good like Henry Pires etc. & then great on their best days. the list of them is the concerning feature plus they fill key positions & in some cases have done for years. Add to the 2 you have mentioned Ramsay ,Mustafi, Wellbeck and others who have gone. They build a career on sideways passes instead of incisive forward passes. I think We will never compete until the bad day for a player equates to just a good to very good performance. The fact that Wilshire & Walcott have failed to impress at other clubs is an indication that what was acceptable at our club for the last 10 years has simply not been enough.

A change of culture in any organisation usually takes at least 3 years.

Apart from being a rather stunningly innaccurate description of the way we play (the most consistent criticism against us this season has been that the keeper doesn't pump enough hail marys) football these days is about possession. Every good team in Europe focuses on it, and all of them involve their keeper. You can't score if you don't have the ball, and some of our best results this season has been a direct result of that philosophy.

For the most part this season we have attacked with a lot more speed and drive than in recent years. A bit weird to pick apart our team completely after the one game where we got stuck.

Two of our best players this season.

We're lucky Emery isn't as fickle as fans who wants to replace our core players and change our entire philosophy after every bad performance. We've still made great progress in the grand scheme of things.

Arsenal for the title in 2020-2021. I'll hold you accountable to this one

Arsenal for the title in 2020-2021. I'll hold you accountable to this one

I would put Lacazette and Torreira as the 2 best players for us this season.

Not writing Özil and Xhaka completely off. But one is inconsistent, the other has too many lapses of concentration.

..............................................................................................................................................................................................

Okay let's put Bjorn Alvaeus in his place .....You can't score if you don't have the ball ....really ..... have a go at this
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=feMkeG-SxkM ..

"Every good team involves their goalkeeper "........... sure to keep out goalbound shots ...not pass back to the f&&%%$ every five seconds and under zero pressure .

We are better Haz but I don't think we've turned any corners ...the amount of first halves where we don't turn up is depressing ....and I don't believe we've addressed any issues that Bernard and I moaned about for the last eight years about size .

Wolves how ever well they've started their campaign shouldn't totally dominate us .

You just focus on results ...us really clever rum filled thinkers see problems ahead .

Been a problem throughout my life Gaz ... the little mealy mouth . Taking your advice tonight a few Bundies .

Not going to watch the V8's next week ...I'm sure Lowndes , Whincup or some other Holden reatard are going to push McLaughlin into a penalty and let the biggest Kiwi w%%%ker in history .."the Giz "win next week .

Son and I hate van Gisbergen more than Greg Chappell

And to start the build-up from the back. City does this, as does Liverpool, Barcelona, Bayern Munich etc. You and Sam Allardyce might think it’s nonsense, I think there’s a reason why so many successful managers see it as a vital component of a team. I think it’s also obvious how we’ve improved with Leno.

It’s certainly not just about results. We’re noticeably better in many aspects of our game than the last few seasons. There’s more urgency in the team, we don’t get stuck passing it around the opponents box nearly as much as in previous seasons, several players have raised their level considerably since Emery took over. Not perfect by any means, and we will still have bad performances, but overall we’re well ahead of where most expected us to be at this point.

Back to the Welbeck contract offer. He's paid more than enough to save a few quid for a rainy day and yet some on here want to hand out charity blankets. Do you remember a bloke by the name of Van Persie? You know that guy who was a tonne more talented, spent almost his entire career in the sick bay then after a couple of good seasons, pissed off to Man U? A contract has a start and an end. Welbeck has probably earned more than most of us could in 20 years and yet you think he deserves a handout. Bloody ridiculous and totally soft. No wonder the team were so limp and insipid on the weekend. Probably looking at the framed photos of themselves, with love hearts drawn all over, being held up by the crowd.

I think it may have been my post which started this whole debate. Just to clarify, I don't think it makes any sense for the club to offer Welbeck a new contract. No skin off my nose if they don't, and if they do, then that's the club's decision. All I did was respond to a post which said "withdraw any contract offer to Welbeck" which appeared on here a few hours after the poor fella was stretchered off the pitch in agony with a shattered ankle. If thinking that statement was a bit hasty and inappropriate makes me "bloody ridiculous and totally soft" then guilty as charged your honour.

Rumor has it Poc at sperz may go to Real Madrid. If so, it was always a matter of when not if, he gets offered a big club position.
However, I think sperz is at a level now where they can attract a top boss themselves.

He sure ain't going there now.
RM just appointed another Argie Bargie, Santiago Solari on a 3 yr deal.

https://www.touchlinefracas.co.uk/tacti ... breakdown/

Good tactical analysis of Arsenal v Liverpool here

Even Wenger was being touted, I think. The media is full of rumours, sells their columns.

http://global.espn.com/soccer/real-madr ... until-2021

Good cheeky post, I like it

No don't think it was yours. I think it was Bernerd saying we should offer him another years contract after the current one because he got injured. Like I said in my first post, support him through his rehab while on contract and maybe allow him to use the facilities to continue getting back to full fitness after his contract ends by why we'd pay him after the contract ends I simply don't understand.

Correct. I am the heartless b****** who suggested we sever any contract negotiations immediately. Could have slipped the papers into his hand at the hospital or rung his agent and advised. Social work has never been one of my strengths. I have to say, the whole issue generated a lot of debate with Arsenal fans. Tomc just called me on my bloody minded hasty approach but I never thought he supported the idea of a new contract.

Mind you if I had been Wellbecks agent, and assuming he had an offer from the club already, I would have gone straight to the hospital, got instructions to accept the new terms and advised the club even while the club were still cleaning up the dressing room after the game. Offer and acceptance in legal terms.

But I don't think we have offered him new terms so it may just be daydreaming.

So there was an incident at the weekend, Sol Bamba scored a last minute winner for Cardiff and when he celebrated he took his shirt off which should be an automatic yellow card. Whether it should be or not is another debate but it is one of those very few rules in football that is black and white. Take your shirt off when celebrating = yellow card. For whatever reason the ref didn't spot that he'd taken his shirt off and then asked Bamba if he had taken it off, Bamba lied and said he hadn't so avoided the booking.
In my opinion that yellow card should be retrospectively given to Bamba. It is absolute nonsense to say the ref made his decision at the time and we can't go back and retrospectively act now. That may be true of a tackle that some people will think is a stone wall yellow because that is a matter of opinion. Taking your shirt off is a matter of fact so why can't the yellow be given after the fact? It doesn't diminish the refs role, by not retrospectively giving it you are just endorsing a mistake.

Anyway, it is a slow international week and this has been bugging me.

Mourinho looks ready to sell Bailly. I thought he looked good when he first came to Man U. Strong, quick, athletic. He's only 24, I think he could be a bargain for someone with more patience than Mourinho. Is he what Arsenal need? I'm not sure but for £20m (lets say) you might struggle to find a rough round the edges defender any better

If they say he cannot be given a retrospective yellow he should be charged with bringing the game into disrepute and suspended

A few players got visibly better under Mourinho (Drogba comes to mind) but he's also ruined many very good young playes with massive upside potential as well as established players. Pogba plays great for France and not for Man Utd. Its the manager.

I thought my first post was simply responding to someone else saying he shouldn't be given another contract. Which considering the poor bloke's injury, incurred while playing for the club, would in my view show a complete lack of class by Arsenal.

Nobody knows whether he's been offered one before the injury, but I've read nothing to suggest he has been. Nobody knows what he currently earns either, though I saw someone pretend he does. But as Perry Groves implied, I think the reputation of Arsenal would only be enhanced by giving Welbeck a one year deal on the same money.

Every player will know the same thing could happen to them. I therefore feel the club's reputation as a good employer can only be seen as a positive when we want to sign new players in the future. That reputation can surely only be enhanced by giving Welbeck a new contract. To me that makes it worth the money.

As it's the interlull, did anyone catch "They Shall Not Grow Old" on BBC on Sunday evening?

Along with many I'm sure, I thought it was a truly remarkable film which for me was deeply affecting.

As an evocation of life and death in the WW1 trenches, told by and featuring the common soldiers who were there, it is an extraordinarily important piece of work.

I did DHD, I get really angry with how those guys were treated, my own grandfather was in that battle. He joined up in 1902 served for ten years and when war broke out joined up again. He was gassed out in 1916 went in to a pub a couple of months later and was given a white feather so immediately went and joined up again. Saw the war out and died in 1921 of effects of the gas, buried in West Ham cemetery only to be dug up a few years later to be buried in a communal grave due to space. A home fit for heroes I don't thinks so.

I love reading how Sanchez is suffering at Man Utd.
https://www.express.co.uk/sport/footbal ... fer-gossip

So... if he goes it proves he was always going to go?

Therefore if he doesn't go?

Perhaps it doesn't disprove that he was never not going to go?

You Sadist!

That’s a sad tale Daf. Shameful in fact.

What got me was the way the nation’s teenagers (many well below age) joined up in their millions. They then spent the best years of their lives fighting and dying in unimaginably hellish conditions. When they soldiers returned, they were unsurprisingly, different. Changed. They were a breed apart from the young lads who’d left. Sadly, they were treated quite harshly by what they expected would be a grateful society who'd welcome them back. Both my grandfathers survived the trenches and both suffered all sorts of issues on their return.

As was said several times towards the end of the film, those who hadn’t been there could never understand what the soldiers had been through. That film offered a glimpse.