3rd after 8 matches and ahead of all main CL challengers.
Emery out!

I thought we did well enough in the first half to wonder if perhaps the team is learning lessons from previous poor performances. However, the second half made me think perhaps lessons haven’t been learnt after all because we struggled to control Bournemouth when we needed to. I thought all the players did okay, though Pépé does seem to hold on to the ball too long. I have to commend Emery for bringing on Willock and Martinez too. It’s funny to think we are 3rd and only a point behind Man City as our performances aren’t totally convincing.

Anybody notice that turn of speed from Luiz near the end. I did't think he could move that fast............

I didn't like our team selection initially. Way too defensive I thought for a home game against Bournemouth. It worked out but it helped make it a more tedious game. That game could easily have been a draw from how we were set up. The late substitutions helped create a bit more.

It didn't strike me as a defensive selection at all. I think there was a lot of attacking promise on display.

Our front players and midfielders coughed up too much possession in the second half, and Bournemouth made better use of their possession.

I don’t think it’s a defensive team selection it’s just that the 2 pivot midfielders in ceballos and Guendouzi aren’t supporting the strikers enough and not providing enough decisive passes and though balls for Aubameyang.

They might be instructed to do this in which case it’s overly cautious tactics or alternatively just aren’t playing well enough but I watched today’s game thinking we really are missing Ramsey

Chelsea have had a few more convincing victories than us. 4-1 and 5-2 away. Yes they got humped 4-0 by Man U and gave up a 2 goal lead v sheff utd but they seem more fluid going forward. I think Hudson-odoi is a big player to get back for them.

Agree with those saying about the lack of midfielders getting up or beyond the strikers, it is harming us a bit. I also think missing Lacazette is hurting us. Getting him back gives us a dual goal threat up top.

Yeah, I'm going to say it 8 games in. Liverpool will win the title and the media will go on a nostalgic bore tour down memory lane. 20 years since they last won, blah, blah effing blah.

30 years...

Chelsea run hot and cold. But I do agree so far they are looking the biggest competition to a top 4 spot. Luckily, there is room for both of us. They can be better and we still get top 4.

There was a point in today’s game where a Bournemouth player made a pass that hit the referee, the ref stopped the game and gave an uncontested drop ball to Bournemouth. Is this some new rule I’m unaware of? I always thought the ref is part of the field of play so it’s play on if it hits him?

I can see why Pépé’s penalty shout wasn’t given has the defender touched the ball....but if you take each part of the incident as separate parts, Pépé goes to take it past the defender, defender touches the ball, As the ball comes back to Pépé off the defender he touches it past the defender who doesn’t touch the ball, defender brings down Pépé.

There was a law change this year. It was to stop the situation where a ball hitting a ref gave an unfair advantage.

Although that doesn’t quite seem to apply to what you’ve described.

Dropped ball : laws 8 and 9


https://www.uefa.com/MultimediaFiles/Do ... WNLOAD.pdf

I definitely thought Pépé had a legitimate PK claim. The referee seemed to have based it purely on the first touch of the defender who got the ball, credit to him. BUT I thought Pépé could still get to the ball that was nudged away and the defender impeded him. Maybe the referee thought, the momentum of the defender was unavoidable given the first legitimate and fair tackle and I can see that point of view and if reversed and we got a PK I'd feel a little hard done by. However, I think part of defending is not just the initial contact but also follow through and its often a foul in other such similar circumstances outside the box.

I'm not going to complain about how we win during this rebuilding process. And we are certainly a rebuilding project.

City and Liverpool fans can complain about how they win because they are a finished product. We can't. We need to get to top 4 again as a priority. How we get there doesn't matter right now. The great sides we had the early '00s didn't always win pretty. There were more than a few 'One Nil To The Arsenal' wins in those days, especially given the fact pitches in a lot of clubs seemed better for horse racing than football.

Toon teenager, 1st start in a league match, game winner.
I'm still haunted by Rooney's strike against us for Everton as a 16 year old. I recall exactly where I was. Cock 'N Bull Pub, Santa Monica, Ca. Stunned.

I think dropped balls are inevitable as you get older. The way mine have been acting, they should get a SAG award.

Seems like 20. lol

Math was never my strength. Thanks.

8 games in and we're only 1 point behind City. Emery out!

Well done Newcastle!

I think you‘ve raised an important issue Gunfire. Inexperienced kids are normally going to be inconsistent. That’s the reality of the situation. He’s a fantastic prospect but for the first time Saka looked like he was running out of steam and a spell on the bench may benefit him and the team, as Willock has had. Fans are crying out for youngsters to play. But they have to be managed carefully and I think people should try and accept that useful teams like Bournemouth aren’t always going to be hammered 5-0 when we play inexperienced kids against them.

Also, the way some go on (and on, and on, and on) about Xhaka seems way over the top. , I’m not convinced Xhaka is the first place where people should look when they want to apportion blame for us only winning narrowly. Every time I log on after a game (or at any point) I wonder if I’m going to see Xhaka blamed for the rise in knife crime, world poverty or global warming.

I strongly suspect he could be a steadying influence on the younger players. As I’ve said I’m not a huge fan of Xhaka myself and for a vital game would be happy not to see him start. Yet he isn’t as bad as some make out and shouldn’t be blamed for everything.

Spot on, especially given the loss of Ramsey and the effective loss of Özil. We could see in the second half how badly those two are missed.

However, I am hopeful that with Torriera coming back fully we can drop Xhaka if needs be. The other three CMs really do look promising.

Yesterday also highlighted how we can't keep relying on Aubameyang, and how badly we Lacazette back.

Finally, two major positives: our two backup fullbacks were mostly good yesterday as were the centre backs, and Leno was again excellent.

If it had been given on field VAR wouldn't have overturned it.

However, I think it wasn't quite nailed on either way. Pépé did seem to be going down before he was fouled (if he was fouled) which blurs the lines a bit.

We miss what Ramsey gives us for sure, the nearest player to his skill set in the squad is Willock. Özil and Ceballos don’t run beyond strikers they want to sit in pockets or sit deep and get loads of touches and dictate play. Willock is more of a runner and wants to get in the box to get on the end of things.
I think getting that balance right in midfield and getting Tierney and Bellerin up to speed will improve is immensely. That’s not to say Kolasinac and Chambers did anything wrong yesterday, far from it, but they don’t provide the attacking balance the first choice two do.

International breaks are always a pain but having won before it starts and it gives more time to get key players back, it isn’t the worst timing for us.

We’ve got a run of fixtures where we’d expect to win most but I wouldn’t underestimate our next game away to sheff Utd. They look the best of the promoted teams based on their defence. Liverpool really struggled to beat them, and they beat Everton away. I’d happily take another scrappy 1-0 victory!

The two games where we’ve taken the most shots by some distance are spurs and villa at home. No coincidence that we were behind in both and were forced to attack more.

The problem for me, as I’ve alluded to before, is who do you replace him with from our current squad? Willock is an exciting player, but a midfield three of Willock, Guendozi and Ceballos just looks terribly unblanaced to me. Three players who have an attacking mindset and wants the ball constantly, with nobody to provide any depth. Torreira is a good dm in terms of energy and winning the ball, but seeing how we’re struggling with creativity I don’t see how making the midfield less creative makes it better.

That's a good point about steadying influence. He clearly is seen by people at the club as officer material and he is the dest and most experienced midfielder. I also agree he is not as bad as some make out. Leaving aside the rash tackles he is a decent player.

Torreira, Guendozi and Ceballos looks quite promising to me. Especially as we have excellent prospects with our fullbacks and wide forwards.

And yet he was *%^@ again yesterday ...

I agree about the inexperienced kids though. It’s alright utilising on martinelli, Saka and Nelson now but at the business end of the season will they deliver the goods. At the moment I think we are far too dependant on Guendouzi who should be gradually eased in. I’ve got a feeling we could see a similar scenario to last season after January when we just run out of steam.

Torreira as DM ... Guendouzi as a box to box midfielder then Willock or ceballos as attacking midfielders with specific instructions to support Aubameyang with runs into the penalty area.

I generally think that if we aren’t gonna play Özil we will have to buy another creative no10 type as I’m not sure we have one otherwise.(although I have a feeling Emery doesn’t like them)

Happy with not explicitly looking for another no.10 (of the Özil type). I think width and a solid spine is what works in the premiership.

Video Ref at our game .....................Antony Taylor
Pen not given because B'mouth player touched the ball.Ignoring the fact he went throuh Pépé? if it had been out of the penalty it would have been a nailed on foul, wouldn't it? G agrees Halsey in the sun says it was a pen.

Gallagher verdict on Liverpool pen - it was a foul so penalty nm the axaggerated dive......

Foul on Salah according to G was a def yellow wtf

Brexit past week update

No more holidays, a hard Irish border and no more pizzas coming

Hooray, more sunny uplands coming in next weeks update

I didn’t think he was actually. Whatever word *%^@ replaces, not only must it be vulgar in its meaning, I’m sure it grossly exaggerates his performance in an overly negative sense. He wasn’t brilliant, but was okay, alright, decent or similar such terms.

Yep. I said as much last week. I don't think he trusts creative midfielders. He dropped both Özil and Ramsey last season. His favourite attacking ploy is the overlapping fullback. It's actually odd that such a conservative coach isn't much good at setting up his team defensively.

Liverpool has upcoming matches against Man Utd and Tottenham and I hope either or both beats them. At this point, I don't care who is playing them. I want them to get a loss in the league.

What is shocking is seeing Man City losing 2 matches already in the manner of how they lost it and to whom they lost to. Man City are operating at such a high level that its hard for such clubs (Barca for example) to mentally get up for clubs seemingly far below them. I've seen Barca play a number of times against inferior league opposition. Their stars are global stars and it seems like they are going through the motions playing a Getafe or Alaves away. They will save it for late. If its 0-0 at half time they turn it up after 50 or 60 minutes to get that goal and usually they score and then relax and wait to counter after the opposition comes forward for an equalizer.

City are like that. They will not be like that much more I imagine because they have a lot of ground to make up.

It's amazing a club, arguably the 2nd biggest in the country has gone nearly 30 years without winning the league. In the interim they have won every other trophy so its dissimilar from what both Man Utd ('68 to '92) and Arsenal ('71 to '89) went through. We won a couple cups. Man Utd about 4 FA cups in the interim.

I also would rather see Liverpool have the most titles if it can't be us. I hate seeing Man Utd with the most titles. Not that I want Liverpool to regain that crown but given a choice, I'd take LFC. I want us to expand our FA cup totals. I also fear at some point our number of titles will be threatened. I thought Chelsea would get to it in a decade or so when they were doing better. City may end up doing it with the money they have. Unless that oil and gas money runs low.

My guess is, its clubs like Newcastle, Everton, Southampton, West Ham.

https://www.skysports.com/football/news ... gue-offers

Arsene Wenger says he has turned down Premier League offers

It will be interesting to see Liverpool in more games where they go a goal down 2nd half.

...and it has come to pass, the 5th sign of the prophesied apocalypse. "...and it shall come to pass, a man appeared on a canon and the Devil, reddish in colour shall proclaim him".

Its actually great seeing old rivalries like that become amicable over the years. Some that I think will never become amicable? Sherringham, Giggs and Scholes and Arsenal. Me and Fat Sam. Me and...er..ah...nevermind.


https://www.mirror.co.uk/sport/football ... e-20534202
Sir Alex Ferguson's praise for Arsene Wenger on big night for ex-Arsenal boss