Come on man, they had like 75% possession in that first half and dominated every aspect of the game. Sure we missed some chances but so did they. Had they played like that today the score would've been reversed.

You started it. I haven’t said anything to you.

And for that Spurs are up close at 5th place to our 4th place in the table.

[Edit: 6th place]

We managed to take ball off them at times & I thought it was more us not playing well. Last year they were brilliant but I don’t think they pass as quick and all look a bit tired. I think they can still win it but they don’t look as good as they have been.

On our game last night, I liked the fact we tried some different placements and tactics. Our first goal gave me great hope for the future. I almost think at times the players are scared to try different things. Arteta is a control freak and he needs to empower players to try some different things. I am starting to think that was the Guendouzi problem - he tried different things- pushed further forward etc and Arteta didn’t like that. Our games against our next 3 opponents are teams where they have shown they can be taken apart or are very vulnerable. We need some good results to prove we are moving forward.

Its a FORUM. What you say here is said to everyone. If you want to say that same nonsense over and over exclusively to Bernard, use PM.

The frustrating thing from our game is how little we tried to trouble their high line with longer balls over the top as villa did today. The few times we did it we troubled them.
Of course the first half press from Liverpool was so good it made it difficult to get any time on the ball to get your head up and pick the pass but nonetheless both Leeds and villa have found a way to do it to them

Yeah, they were well up for it, but the moment Mané was out for today I thought that’s a massive loss for them. But I thought they’d misfire up front, not lose 7-2!! Shearer said it this evening Mané leads their press which is the focal point of their whole system, and he was mustard against us. Adrien in goal is a disaster for them mostly whenever he plays and Thiago out with COVID too maybe it’s rattled the squad a bit. Allisson was touch and go against us, but couldn’t he be injured for our game, oh no.

They were full strength against us and Arteta didn’t want to expose Gabriel for some reason and also didn’t start Ceballos. I think we suffered for that, and also we were a bit underwhelming. We’ll give them a much harder game at home later in the season I think.

I’ll do what I want cheers

Thanks for your interest in my affairs

Let them beat each other. A draw would be ideal but in the larger picture, its a loss for Man Utd who I consider the far bigger threat this season than sperz.

I remember the days Man Utd used to own sperz.

Physician, heal thyself.

Is that you Donald

Can anyone remember there was a game fairly recently where an Arsenal player had his shirt pulled in the box and it was rapidly dismissed by pundits because there wasn’t a ‘clear triangle’ formed from the shirt pull? At the time I remember thinking ‘oh another “rule” that will only apply to us. Then all we here after yesterday is about Luiz shirt pull, MOTD2 have it plenty of coverage but nothing in the analysis about the dangerous tackle on Aubameyang.

And for yet more inconsistency see the tackle Luke Shaw made, identical to the one Xhaka got sent off for against Swansea (and fair play to MOTD2 this time for mentioning that exact incident) we all knew at the time that Xhaka’s red would be a case of 1 rule for The Arsenal and 1 for everyone else.

When was the last straight red for an opponent playing us? Excluding the denying goalscoring opportunity reds

But it was feasible a European giant would want him. The transfer rumours at the time linked him with the likes of Barcelona, Manchester United, PSG and Inter (I never saw anything about Real, who I think you brought into the equation a day or two back). His attitude clearly messed his chances up at this point in time. But if he sorts his attitude out, I wouldn’t bet against him ending up somewhere like that. The way he started both his last two seasons tell me that.

Guendouzi on loan with only 2 years left on his deal. Other clubs who send their players on loan in similar circumstances ensure they get a 1 year extension on the contract to protect the value.
I posted on here a few days ago all the players with contracts expiring in the next 2 years, this was the worst summer possible to have a lack of money floating around the game when we needed a big clear out

Manè missing was the reason Liverpool fell apart. He is their talisman as he was last season if anyone can check opta I think it will be proven so.

There is no doubt for me that Guendouzi can sort his attitude, but it may need playing under the right manager to do it. He was linked with top teams but was that more him and his team than any genuine interest? I feel that a midfielder with Guendouzi’s skills and limitations is slightly fading from the game, not that I see that as a good thing. But look around the prem and see how many teams play slow possession death by a thousand cuts football. The whole game is moving towards a more athletic ability and away from skills.guendouzi isn’t slow but he doesn’t have good pace and lacks power. He can run all day but doesn’t seem mobile enough.

I rate him higher than Salah as a natural footballer. Salah’s stats will be more impressive but he’s so selfish and has the penalties. Mané is a much more intelligent player, so strong on the ball are rarely miss fired in front of goal. It was interesting when someone said he leads the press because I thought it was always Firminho who was the trigger.
7-2 was unbelievable, and it could easily have been 10.

Well some of the pundits are looking at the keeper and suggested he does not inspire confidence in the defence. I think it is a little bit of that and I would not discount that tiredness after 2 big seasons of shutting down other teams may not have caught up with them.

With the way we play I can’t see us sweeping too many teams off the park, but I also can’t see many thrashings. Arteta has us much more organised and harder to score goals against, the downside is it makes us pretty dreary going forward with a real lack of shots.
Playing Aubameyang centrally and having genuine wide players helped yesterday

Just to clarify for you. My use of the word feasible in the previous post you cited meant I did not say the opposite WOULD happen.

Deadline day, and no credible links to any midfield signing. I won't keep harping on about it, but what's so weird about all of this is that it's not a case where there's a debate about the quality of our players (like with the striker position). Even if you were to rate Xhaka, Ceballos and Elneny as top class, we're just short in numbers. I guess you could add Willock to that, but he's young and more of an attacking player. Our schedule for the next three months looks like it could be quite insane, so even if we're banking on making it to January it's an extremely high risk. Several of our rivals are looking vulnerable too.

Hi Rich,

I bit like the Torreira deal, it stinks. Not even a loan fee for Guendouzi. Unless of course we are making space for incoming upgrades which now seems highly unlikely given the few hours we have left in the window.

Torreira may not have been a automatic starter but he would have played lots of minutes, started lots of games and it would not be unthinkable that he could have ended up as a starter. He certainly has enough talent to be a starter given the midfield options we currently have.

Exactly Haz, why hinder yourself by loaning out players who might well have been needed given the schedule and the likelihood of injuries or illness along the way.

I mean, the only reasonable explanation is surely that we're confident we'll be bringing someone in?

I suppose all we can do is wait until 11.00 pm when the window closes and see if anyone does or doesn’t arrive. My own guess is that nobody will, but that is only a guess.

Has the Torreira loan been confirmed?

Not sure, Bernard. Last I saw Athetico were waiting for a sale to fo through before buying.

All very messy.

The Martial sending off is just ridiculous. Lamela does exactly the same thing to provoke the reaction, if not a little worse, which is clearly visible to VAR. Surely either both go or they both get a yellow.

In my view a sending off should be a last resort because it spoils so many games and ruins the spectacle for the watching public, unless you support the team the 10 men are playing against.

Martials arm was more handbags than violent conduct, ditto Lamela's initial provocation. A yellow each would have sufficed.

What's weird about the situation with Martial and Lamela is that Lamela got a yellow card, so it's not like the ref completely missed it. Just a terrible decision all around, but Martial will be suspended against us so I'm fine with it.

I always believed retaliation was punished more harshly than the original offence.

Apparently Arsenal have made Gunnersaurus redundant as part of their cost-cutting measures.

I get the bit where there are no fans in the stadium at the moment but I can't imagine he is especially highly paid and surely he has become part of the fabric of the club for junior supporters. Couldn't they have used him in promotional videos and that sort of thing.

Others may disagree but this club is fast losing its identity.

Gunnersaurus is gone. Obviously wage bills are too high and this will allow us to bid for Messi in the next transfer window.

Wonder how many Premier League clubs don’t have a mascot. Mind you, I always thought mascots should have some sort of link to the club’s history be it the crest, stadium, location, nickname or whatever. Like Stamford the Lion at Chelsea, Filbert Fox at Leicester, Monty Magpie at Newcastle, Gully (a seagull) at Brighton, Wolfie the Wolf at Wolverhampton and Chirpy the Cockerel (or Chicken) at Tottenham.

I never saw what a dinosaur had to do with Arsenal. Suppose we’ve had a few managers or directors who were dinosaurs.

Yes it was case of letter of the law rather than common sense prevailing. Lamela should be lambasted for his woeful overreaction to a feather tickle.

Don’t be ridiculous

It’s a cuddly dinosaur. I suppose there is going to be a player revolt now eh?

Surely it’s a 2 day a week job at its busiest ? I’ll go out on a limb here and suggest it might be a part time job rather than a 70 hour week

I understand there may not be a ton of transferable skills involved. His green cuddly suit might prevent him from getting work in the bar trade. He could try and do the knowledge I suppose but his huge green head would have to go out the drivers window.


This is some Owen Jones type stuff surely

I thought the biggest impact was having Willian play centrally. He managed to get between their defensive lines and took every opportunity to run into space or at the backtracking defense. Made all the difference to our attack.

But that's the whole point TG, its pin money to Kroenke. I would guess that the amount saved is so inconsequential that the negative publicity it generates far outweighs any financial gain.

It's madness, especially when fans are already up in arms at the lack of transfer activity.

Why do it?

I say it's about time Man Utd were on the receiving end of a *%^@ decision. Martial cheated to get a penalty so deserves to get something go the other way.