Losing Aubameyang at Chelsea will be a tough pill to swallow. Start Martinelli.

Let's appeal the red card and see if we get a reduction some how.

I wonder what those Palace fans who made and put up those anti VAR posters are now thinking?

So so frustrating.
We really needed to capitalise on our dominant start because we weren't going to be able to keep up that dominance for the whole 90 and with Zaha in the team they were always going to have a few moments.
Really needed a 2nd when we were winning.
Felt we let them off the hook and allowed the c***** to turn it into a scrap.
Needed the 3 points to stay in touch with teams above us who have easy games today.
Really hope torreira is not badly injured as we need him.
Aubameyang was silly but so many times that's just a yellow.
Pépé shot. Why not go in!!!!!
Arrrggghhhhhh

I can't believe you've taken part in team sports if that's what you think LTG.

With ten men there wasn't much chance we'd get more from the game than a draw and even risk losing it. Just gotta write this off, learn from it and move on and progress.

Yeah if you’re getting hammered and then complain about 1 little thing that’s a bit embarrassing, but the tone of how a referee officiates has a huge impact when it’s closer than that, which is why before every international test in rugby and domestically also tbf, you have the same debate and the same attempt to influence the referee to call things in a way that suits you.

Maybe because in rugby there seems to be more of a lean towards the obvious differences between the styles of referees and the stronger view of the umpires rule is law. Which is why they try to change the umpire not the decision. Maybe.

I watch a lot of rugby union and whilst the ref can still be frustrating they are far more consistent than football refs. You may not like the way they are continually punishing a collapsing scrum for one team but they explain why it is being punished and it’s up to the other team to stop doing it. In football you have refs who give a yellow then let the next guy off.....book a player for tallying up 3 fouls but ignore the guy on 7 fouls. It is totally arbitrary and they are pretty much all to a man completely oblivious to any kind of gamesmanship and small advantages footballers try to eek out in every single game. Ball goes out for a defensive throw right by the corner flag yet every single time that defender is allowed to take the throw 10 yards further up the pitch. Same with free kicks, just always trying to gain a tiny advantage it’s almost like a ‘haha I got that one last you ref’ even if there is really zero advantage in the context of the game.

He could have booked Ayew in the first half. He could have given us less yellows. So how does that affect the scoreline then?

I hope the football gods will bless Tottenham for 2 hours. Then go back to damning them.

Agree LTG. Nitpicking over referees decisions is pointless. I didn't notice any major errors, though I thought Ayew deserved a yellow and AMN didn't.

Potentially by affecting the game itself, the mindset of players, but these are all ifs and buts now.

Anyway, I’m sorry for this but...

come on Tottenham!

Whenever I want them to win they lose anyway, even my treachery backfires. They just bring me no joy.

Two main wishes for the rest of the season (among a few), Liverpool lose and we beat Tottenham and get a 'two fer' with Mourinho in charge.

Liverpool should have been 1 up with a free header but other than that Tottenham looking good. Give mourinho time to prepare for one match and he's tough to beat.

Mother, father, cocker spaniel. C'mon scum.

I agree that the odd yellow or foul or not don’t affect the score, but a constant stream of yellows for one team whilst letting the other team off mean that the team getting the yellows have to be half a yard slower to every press or every tackle.
Someone like Ayew was obviously pressing and harassing the defence, he made 7 fouls and must have stopped us building as we wanted from the back, of he goes in the book every arsenal defender has an extra second on the ball (for example). It is tiny details but they do influence the way a game can develop especially for a team who is intent on getting in your face

The AG good luck charm can only do so much.

Don’t know if it’s still the case, but I thought bans could previously be increased by frivolous appeals. Appealing against Aubameyang’s sending off would be totally frivolous so if that rule is still in place, appealing would be far more likely to get him an extra game ban than a game less. It was a sending off all day long.

Hi B,
What was amazing is all the fouls the ref let Ayew get by with.

Hi, can’t say I noticed them at the game. We’re any really naughty or was it just the sheer number of them?

Well spurs appealed Son kicking his studs in to the chest of Rudiger and didn’t get an extra game fan for frivolous appeal. That was as clear as you want for violent conduct

The frustrating thing was he made a point of booking Lacazette for tallying up of fouls, none of which were yellows on their own, so he showed he was aware of accumulated fouls by players needing a yellow.

I think Opta tweeted Ayew is the first player to commit 7 fouls in a game and not be booked

No way was Son’s appeal as frivolous as Aubameyang’s would be. Sorry, not even remotely comparable.

Aubameyang misses sheff Utd at home, Chelsea away and Bournemouth away in the cup. He’d have likely been rested for the cup game.

Martinelli and Nelson can fill in on the left. Noticed when Martinelli came on today he went on the right and Pépé to the left.

When you see who has scored our away goals this season it’s clear what we’ll miss against chelsea.

Arteta has made us a lot more difficult to score against, we’re giving up fewer goals, fewer chances and fewer shots. Now we need to get going in the other direction. Having zero goal threat from any of our midfield is not great

Aubameyang’s tackle is much more likely to injure a player than Son’s kick out but in terms of the rules of the game I think Son’s is a more obvious red because there is very little leeway in kicking out at an opponent off the ball. Aubameyang type tackles are let off red cards far more often that Son’s kick to the chest in my view

Then sorry but I’m afraid I think your views on this particular issue are barmy. Son was rightfully sent off. But perhaps the appeal was based on a claim that Son’s kick had something to do with the way he fell. Laughable in itself, but in my opinion less frivolous than saying Aubameyang shouldn’t have been sent off. I think it’s far more likely that some players might get away with a Son type kick than an Aubameyang type foul.

Well we’ll have to agree to disagree because I’ve seen so many of the Aubameyang type foul not given reds over the years. Son’s kick outs are more rare and often if not spotted in a match are upgraded with video.

What is the view on the Robertson challenge doing the rounds on social media? He over runs the ball, lunges in, to pokes the ball away a split second before the spurs player gets there and his follow through is with his studs on the shin of the planted leg of the spurs player.
I’ve seen neutral fans say it’s a red card and I’ve seen others say it’s not even a foul.

Didn’t Torriera get a straight red v spurs for something similar? Winning the ball but a careless and reckless follow through got him the red?

‘Going over the ball’ type challenges have been specifically mentioned as a type of challenge along with tackling from behind and the ‘scissor tackle’ that referees were specifically trying to clamp down on quite a while ago if I remember correctly. So that fact that you get the ball should be irrelevant, how you make the contact should be seen in isolation. Out of control, in the air, reckless etc.

If he was lunging and out of control, sounds like a red to me if he was studs on the shin of the spurs player

If Liverpool go unbeaten in the league, I want them to win the treble so Man Utd feels the pain as well. (assuming of course someone else knocks us out)

Quite right Bernard .... Son's was a brush of the abs and Rudhiger made a meal of it .

Aubameyang 's could have been an ankle breaker ...far worse .

Rich has to take that line because it fuels his belief that it doesn't matter which referee ; they all ,

every last one of them .....run on that field with a pre concieved plan to punish Arsenal far more than the opposition .

And Pool marches on .......... looks like we need to do the business ourselves. Let Arteta build the team right up to the pool match, and beat them.

Pépé has had 2 very good shots coming off the bar. Perhaps he is trying too hard to get that spectacular goal, or he is too close to the edge of the penalty area when he took those shots. I believe he will score a lot more goals, if he is allowed to run more into the penalty area when we attack from the left (if he is playing right, and vice-versa). That means whoever is his partner full-back needs to be closer to pick up players in case we lose the ball. And then of course, our defensive midfielders needs to be correctly positioned too. I hope Arteta has a similar observation. I feel Pépé can score a lot more goals if he runs more into the penalty area, and try some simpler shots. His sole open-play goal for us, attests to this.

I am afraid I am not as positive as many on here about the Arteta reign. That is not to say I don't have hope that things will improve significantly.

I watched the game in full so this is what I thought.

1-25 minutes - great domination but with very little real opening up of chances other than the goal. It was reminiscent of the Wenger era. Lots of possession but no result. As an aside I watched highlights of Chelsea and a couple of other games. They get players to the by-line and actually put in worthwhile crosses and hence chances. It was obvious for the whole game that Arteta did not want both fullbacks bombing forward and wanted Torreira and Xhaka to not venture very far forward.

25-45 minutes - we were starting to relinquish control and being put under pressure. There was a lack of triangles and we weren't looking good. Players went missing or just passed sideways often to people in worse positions. It was getting harder to move forward. Emery team all over. We started cruising and believing we had the game. We never got control of the game back.

Torreira subbed off 45 minutes - 70 minutes - no improvement and for some to suggest Guendouzi was the problem - go and look at the previous 20 minutes. We sunk back to our old ways. Real chances - a few. Pépé appears to be a potential match winner but if you do absolutely nothing for 80 minutes of every game - he is a luxury we cannot afford.

After the sending off - we actually improved at times in getting a few breaks forward but we were under pressure.

I have seen nothing in Leeds or this game to suggest we have dramatically improved. 45 minutes and 25 minutes in this game is all we put in.

Arteta said if players did not put in the effort they would have to go. Well over to you, Mikel, because we slip back very quickly.

Klopp has done it again. At Dortmund he beat Bayern despite having nothing close to the resources available. And stayed very competitive. He's done the same in the PL. Were it not for Liverpool (and for a brief period sperz), City would make the EPL look like SPL.

In hindsight we should have gotten him. I recall a few voices years against it. No one can say Liverpool are financially doped. They earned it. Fully. Hats off. It will be interesting to see if they can keep it up. City will always be a threat for obvious reasons. They have the resources to maintain a high degree. Liverpool may be able to...may. For the foreseeable future they will threaten Man Utd's title haul.

My Arsenal wishlist for the rest of the season is to see the current style of play and belief become permanent. Win the Europa cup. Beat Tottenham, Liverpool and City. Not necessarily in that order. Finish top 6. Bring in defenders in this window. Get rid of Mustafi and other dead weight.

Result of the weekend Leicester 1 Southampton 2.

They are looking like they really have turned the season around from the humiliation of their home game. well done to their manager who most of us thought would have been sacked after the 0-9

I think one of the key problems we have is the midfield balance. Torreira has become pivotal to the way Arteta wants us to play because he is the only one who really reads the game and has the athleticism to get in and make interceptions and tackles.

Xhaka's lack of mobility does not allow him to get around the pitch quickly enough to make timely interceptions and his tackling technique is poor. At times it seems almost very tackle he makes could be deemed a yellow.

Guendouzi has lost his way somewhat in recent months. From being one of the first names of the teamsheet he is now third choice. There is plenty of potential there but, like Pépé, there are also lot of rough edges to be smoothed out if he wants to become a top, top player. After his first year at the club I thought he would go on to become a worldbeater, now I am not too sure. He might still do but not without significant work on the defensive side of his game, notably his defensive awareness and tracking of runners etc.

Torreira and Xhaka works reasonably well, Xhaka and Guendouzi does not.

I would like to see us sign a midfield powerhouse to play alongside Torreira.

Lacazette is becoming something of an enigma, there is plenty to admire about his game such as the hold-up play and his work ethic but he's paid to score goals and without that goal threat he becomes something of a luxury if his presence pushes Aubameyang out wide.

Morning Greeny,

You could argue that if you have the amount of possession and overall dominance that we had in the first half an hour and don't really create much then you've only got yourselves to blame. We should have been two up at halftime and then poor refereeing decisions and marginal calls become more manageable. I realise that even a four goal lead is not beyond us squandering but the sending off might have been less of a hinderance with a two goal lead.

I think we have a tendency to blame referees and VAR for the fact that we are not a very good team, certainly not one that creates bucketloads of chances or has a ruthlessly high chance conversion rate.