It’s exactly that, they looked deflated and mentally beaten and then bang they are straight back in it.

Without the cock up we win that game 2 or 3 nil

I think that decision to not award a penalty today is probably up there with the worst I've seen against us since the Sokratis winning goal was ruled out v Palace a couple of seasons ago, the one where var ref invented a foul by Chambers.

I do think Arsenal have not had the rub of the green with a lot of decisions this year, viewed in isolation many people may make a case for each of those decisions being correct, but then we see time and time again the same instances with the opposite decision up and down the league.

For my money apart from this penalty the worst decision we've had was to rule out a Lacazette near post header v Leicester because VAR deemed Xhaka to be offside and blocking the GK vision. He obviously wasn't and tellingly not a single Leicester player was appealing for it as the goal went in. If a defender or GK have any whiff of thinking they can get a goal chalked off their arms are straight up in the air pleading for all their worth. Another terrible decision

What a disheartening game. Just when you think a victory would really set us up for a crucial run of fixtures, we contrive to throw the game away and it feels like a defeat. I feel a bit sorry for Arteta today as we had good chances, bad luck and that's not his fault. For Xhaka to be involved in yet another calamatous event makes you feel for all his positive atributes he is an unlucky player.

Despite the obvious candidates of Xhaka and VAR for me the game’s turning point came earlier than that. If Saka had stuck away that glorious chance in front of goal I believe that we would have nailed that match stone dead.

I thought Pablo Mari and Chambers were excellent today.

Partey shows moments of absolute brilliance but does misplace some passes and get caught in possession a little too much at the moment. Hope its rustiness and adjusting to the pace of he PL.

Kante at Anfield during the week. His hand was by his shoulder when the ball struck it. No peno given. The one in the Chelsea v Man U game last week. Peno not given. The handball rule is plain stupid to the extent that there has been an attempt to change the interpretation mid-way through the season.

Let's stop pretending we are unique victims.

Also, not handball-related but in the overall context of refereeing, cheating is absolutely endemic in the game and those running the game have completely reinterpreted the degree of physical contact which qualifies as foul play. Refereeing is not easy when half of what they are officiating on is fakery.

Thought john was right and Partey had a good first half but looked sluggish second

I do wonder if it’s one of those situations where once the season is over he’s sent away immediately to have a mystery operation the moment a last ball is kicked

Feels like they've changed it more than once too. The only justification I can see for not giving that penalty today is because the distance between Pépé and Pieters isn't big enough. Fair enough if that's how you want the rule to be applied, but I've seen a dozen penalties given this season that completely ignores that part. It's just an inconsistent mess at this point.

I think you are right about that. And about not getting the rub of the green with decisions. We were quite unlucky today. I do feel this side is better than our form suggests, and that we might well 'click' if we can just get that confidence to manage games and see them out. But today's game is exactly the sort we need to win, scrappily or otherwise.

I'm not sure it's actually fair to change a rule like that halfway through a season. Some teams will have definitely have benefitted from the earlier interpretation.

I felt that was probably a pen today but if the interpretation has changed I hope we do not see the same situation rewarded with a pen in subsequent games involving other teams or it makes a mockery of the revised law.

I kind of agree with this but at the end of the season the table doesn't lie so let's see where we finish.

Evening Socrates.
I'm giving Arteta a pass this season. If we are still floundering around in mid table in November, it will be another matter!

There have been a number of arguments about whether it is Arteta more to blame or the players more to blame for us being 10th. I think today shows it is far more on the players. Yes, Arteta has made mistakes and you can say 'he is the one continually picking these poor players' but that isn't really fair, what other option does he have than to work with the players we have - and by and large his transfers have far more hits than misses considering the budget he's had to work with (He's bought 8 players in for an average of udner £10m per player)
Arsenal seem to continue to fall to individual errors, how can a coach mitigate for that other than buying new players? I'm not absolving Arteta from blame but it is absolutely clear to me that we simply need better players because the ones we have whilst capable of looking ok for a few games are always liable to mess something up, some of them have done it for 3 different managers now.

Henry said that Guardiola told him that he (Pep) brings the ball to the final 3rd, then it is effectively over to Henry to score the goal.

The policy is to play out from the back. The problem is we don’t have the technicians to do it if Xhaka thinks he can take 2 touches in his own penalty area and expect someone not to be on him. It’s on him. Sorry

But if you’re right and we don’t have the players to play out from the back, why is it Arteta’s policy for the team to do so? I assume you’re not claiming the players have taken it upon themselves to play out from the back against Arteta’s wishes, as that would be beyond laughably ridiculous. So doesn’t Arteta have to share some of the blame, however much you want to point the finger solely at Xhaka?

The FA have released a statement saying the arsenal penalty wasn’t given due to the ‘close proximity’ of Pépé/ball/Pieters. I think that is nonsense post justification in an attempt to defend their officials in any way.
Pieters is running at Pépé with his arms out in an unnatural position. This was not a case of ‘he had no time to react’ or ball just kicked straight at his hand. It is 100% a handball
That exact situation will be given as a penalty later this season and almost certainly has already.

It is nonsense. It looks borderline deliberate. He can see where the ball is before Pépé flicks it and he moves his arm towards that spot. How anyone can claim it wasn't at least extremely careless of Pieters to have his arms flailing about towards the ball like that, is beyond me.

If they applied the proximity thing consistently, which they won't, it would effective give defenders a licence to spread their arms to make themselves a bigger block, once they are within a couple of feet. They could get away with charging kicks down, like in rugby!

https://twitter.com/SalibaEra_/status/1 ... 94276?s=09

When you see it like this it's clear and evident our not friend is an idiot.

Been really impressed with Pépé.
Now looks a real threat and been more consistent. Hope he starts on thursday

We have been done good and proper by Kevin Friend and his cronies.
Utter scumbags

Was just thinking
Would a season out of Europe be a good thing or bad thing?
Finance wise obviously bad but would it harm us on the pitch.
More saturday kick offs.
More free weeks.

Like Arteta has just said the policy cant be altered for poor moments of indecision from a player who whilst not being good enough is probably the best we have in his position. Our goal started from Leno. It’s an individual error from a player who can’t play a one touch pass

If a player has his hands along his body and the ball hits him from close proximity, I can accept a penalty not being given because the defender can't really do much about it. In this case, Pieters comes into the situation with his arm outstreched already, clearly using the arm to make himself bigger. Proximity surely doesn't matter in that case.

Spot on. His arm, whilst it could be argued is in a natural position, is giving him an unfair advantage. Penalty all day, and all year, long.

I think considering this weeks results it would be an absolute disaster financially but on a footballing level a good thing.

Haven’t agreed with much you’ve posted lately, but you’ve got a good point here

Cheers mate, I guess

Have we benefited from a debatable VAR call this season? The only one I can think of is the Villa early goal by McGinn at the Emirates where it was ruled out for an attacker being offside and blocking the gk view. At the time that seemed pretty harsh on Villa because there was no chance of saving the shot. But other than that can anyone remember a big, big call that has gone our way or we’ve got away with?

Agreed.
I think we would still attract players regardless of in Europe or not.
We are still viewed as a step up by a lot of players.
Going to try not to stress about our league position but easier said then done.
Actually got a good feeling about next 2 against west ham and spurs.
Winning the europa would be immense.

Then it’s a stupid policy. You can’t have it both ways. Praise Arteta if he plays a system you don’t think we have the players to do so. If you are right, that’s why it’s feasible we could win more points with a different manager. And I’m not an Arteta critic.

Otherwise if you think it was a one off mistake by the players involved, do you think we do have the players to play Arteta’s system? Because that isn’t what you said earlier.

Like I said the policy is correct. All the decent teams play out from the back. If the pass goes to Partey or Saka from Leno this wouldn’t have happened because it was Xhaka and he’s essentially the technician that failed it’s on him. We have the players to do this bar him and time and again he’s found short. So we’re clear when I say technicians I meant Xhaka specifically not all the other players.

Bad week for you. After slandering Partey and saying Xhaka was better Partey helps create a goal and Xhaka costs us one. I’d keep schtum on that one for a bit

Why did MOTD do a farcical piece showing Lacazette screaming and shouting after a tackle. They put a ridiculous ‘screamometer’ on the screen. I don’t know what the piece was meant to do but it just fuels the ‘same old arsenal always cheating’ nonsense. There is still a narrative that arsenal can be kicked and don’t like it up ‘em, and that we also dive and go down to easy so how can that be seen as an unbiased piece from MOTD?

Also why was Dyche given free air time to moan about a ‘certain’ penalty he thought Burnley had without asking him about the handball?

Because Lacazette's behaviour was absurd. There was nothing wrong with him yet he lay on the ground clutching his leg as if it had been caught in a bear-trap and screaming like a loon.

This should answer your question. Piss takers in high places. Football isn’t fair and it isn’t just, you make your own luck. AW tried to be decent about it and there’s some sense of the Arsenal way, but results-wise it’s just weakness, and we know that’s true. The cynics, the cheats, the rich and the corrupt mostly prosper. Reminds you that football isn’t the real world, or perhaps it perfectly represents the real world. Bit of a cesspit at times, just with less at stake.

Well you didn’t specify Xhaka before did you. Which considering you take every single opportunity to criticise him surprises me if you really only meant it was him. There’s nothing at all for me to “keep schtum” about, as you put it. Partey has made a slow start to his Arsenal career. His contribution to Arsenal’s goal today doesn’t change that. As I’ve said repeatedly I believe he’ll end up a fine signing. But it’s not unreasonable to suggest he has to improve to do that.

By the way, I didn’t actually say Xhaka was better than Partey. But if you like bending the truth (I’m too polite to say lie), I’ll shrug my shoulders. Obsession can be an unhealthy characteristic. Perhaps you should seek clinical advice over your obsession with Xhaka.

You must be related to Xhaka. You only see the good stuff and put blinkers on to avoid the rest. Partey in a wheelchair has the edge over Granit and you’d deny it.

No I’m not. I am closer to Hazuki’s view of Xhaka than your opinion, but when he does eventually leave I won’t be concerned at all. Yet as I implied in my edit above I think you come across as worryingly obsessed with him.

Not really he’s just a liability and I’m surprised how many fail to see it. Hence your daft comments about him being better than Partey

And this is the incident they choose to mock and highlights when players have been doing this all season, winning penalties and getting players sent off for it. Where was the BBC’s outrage over screaming when Longstaff the Newcastle player screamed to get smith-Rowe sent off which var over turned because he didn’t touch him? What about when Bruno Fernandes screamed when he stamped on a villa players leg and Bruno ended up winning a penalty? Should we expect a comedy fake dive from all the presenters for the next dive from Salah or Kane? Come on, we all know we’re a completely easy target in the media and this sort of thing is a factor is us getting decisions on the pitch.