Definitely this fellow is ecstatic with Senegal AFCON final win.

Of course you're last statement is true but it is also true of every penalty in the shootout, you'd always feel more confident when you're best taker is taking it.

If Arsenal were in a shootout and I could choose the order of our best 5 penalty takers and the opponents best 5 penalty takers I'd have ours go from best to worst and theirs go from worst to best. For a 70% chance that their best penalty taker doesn't even get to influence the penalty shoot out it has to be the best way.

In any shootout you can only guarantee that you'll get 3 kicks minimum, why run the risk of your best player not being able to take one.

If the best taker goes first, if worse penalty takers after him miss then it may still not go to the last kick. I think differently to you and approve of the best being left to the fifth. If others miss before him, then there’s not much that would change.

Indeed, in saying this I’m fast reaching the conclusion that in many shoot outs it may not make any difference regardless whether the best goes first or fifth. The example that started the debate off, Egypt losing yesterday leaving Salah until last, can be balanced by the point that the same principle worked for Senegal with Mané being left until last.

As I say, I’m coming round to thinking it may often not make much, if any, relevance to the outcome.

The Saka leaving rumours show no sign of stopping. Outstanding young players may usually want to play at the highest level and win trophies. Regarding the play at the highest level factor, I think it could be critical to finish in the top four to get into the Champions League. Hopefully that will make him extending his contract more likely.

https://www.football.london/arsenal-fc/ ... dium=email

Apparently since 2012, Arsenal have the third highest next transfer spend in England, after the two Manchester clubs.

http://e.football.london/_act/link.php? ... Id=8697098

He’s under contract for 2 more years. They’ll have to cough up a grealish type fee if they wanted him in the summer. If he wanted to leave at this stage I’d have to say Id find it quite impatient on his part as he’s only 20.

If he leaves I’m not sure we would go from there frankly. I’m not sure we would be able to complete a turning cycle in evolving our side without our best players leaving. It would start feeling really futile. We would need some miracles in the transfer market

A thing in our favour is the clubs shopping for him are limited. Assume I was his manager, I would not be interested in a move to Liverpool because if you look at their squad are growing old very quickly and could be on the slide. And assuming he will not go to another London club like Chelsea so that leaves Manchester clubs : United are a basket case, so that leaves City. They could be our problem. Maybe he could consider overseas clubs but they are all in financial trouble.

I agree that there are some challenges ahead for the club. I feel he loves the club, but like many that have gone before him (Ces, Van Persie to name just 2), he may not see the club as being able to what he wants to achieve. I would think every time he turns up at England training his head will be filled with players talking about CL games (including finals), being champions of England and he will be sitting in the corner thinking about how great we played the day we lost 2-1 to Man City.

If I was managing him I would extend his contract at Arsenal, but have a clause put in that failure to make CL qualification in any given year would result in him be free to leave, with maybe a realistic release clause price (60mill) which would obviously be lower than Arsenal would want. Otherwise just see out his current contract and leave for free. The club would be backed into a position of either signing the contract or selling in the next eighteen months.

It will all give the media lots of headlines from here forward.

It’s an interesting debate (with the lack of much arsenal football on at the moment). I did read a study that was done where they looked at the success rate of penalty takers in shootouts where the kick was to win the shootout vs to ‘not lose’ the shootout and unsurprisingly those players taking penalties to win had a huge % success rate in comparison to those taking a penalty to just stay in the shootout. This study was done across years and years of shootouts so had no need to account for ability of the taker. That study would certainly support the theory to always chose to go first if you win the toss but it would also (I think) support the theory to have your better players take the earlier penalties so that you are more likely to be ahead in the shootout by the time crucial kicks come this taking more pressure off your taker as they’d be more likely to be in a position to shooting to win.

I just googled it a bit and there is also a theory that the two most important penalties in a shootout are the 1st and 4th….

Not sure why you think he wouldn’t go to Chelsea. Cole did and he was an Arsenal fan. Saka wasn’t. Indeed he’s from Ealing which is predominantly a Chelsea area, although I believe he actually supported Newcastle.

I am not sure he would want the grief that follows from moving to another London club. But it is not impossible I admit.

I honestly don’t think it’s that big an issue. Players have played for not only Arsenal and Chelsea, but Arsenal and Tottenham, as well as Chelsea and Tottenham. Just like players have played for both Manchester clubs, both of Liverpool and Everton, and even both of Rangers and Celtic.

Overmars sent dick pics en was 'overzealous' in his approach to women. Had been going on for years and apparently the club knew.

Would be nice but don't think it will happen. He's 27 this year and would likely command huge wages so think if anything he'll be off to Real, Barca or maybe Newcastle / Man City / Chelsea who could afford his wage demands.

Dick pics AND overzealous.

But isn't that a bit of a self fulfilling prophesy because the last player to miss is always the one kicking to 'not lose'?

Also if the better goal kickers go first then the weaker ones coming later would surely feel more pressure knowing that one miss could be the end of it, whereas if you put a weaker kicker first then they may feel marginally less pressure knowing that there is still time to rescue the shootout if they miss?

In terms of it being self fulfilling there are players who take ‘not to lose’ penalties who manage to score them so their numbers go in to the success stat for that kind of penalty.
I suppose in terms of your second paragraph you can sway the argument which way you want. I’d say the weaker penalty takers are more likely to be taking a ‘kick to win’ if they go later, therefore feel less pressure.

I’d still come back to the point that 7 out of 10 penalty shoot outs don’t make it to the 5th taker so if you do want your best penalty taker on a pressure penalty at least put them 4th rather than 5th

So that’s where Succession got its Roman Roy storyline from in the latest series.

I think grantyboy has made some good points, as of course did Rich. But the longer the debate goes on, the less convinced I become that it’s a vital question. As I have said, leaving Salah until last didn’t work for Egypt. But leaving Mané till last did work for Senegal.

I still remember the Valencia Cup Winners Cup final in 1980. Both teams had their usual penalty taker go first, and ironically both missed. Mario Kempes for Valencia, Liam Brady for Arsenal. But Valencia eventually won the cup because whoever took their last one scored and Graham Rix, who took Arsenal’s last one and I don’t recall him ever taking another for the club, missed his. So similar but in reverse to the Senegal Egypt final when leaving the best taker till last worked for one but not the other, that day having your usual taker go first worked for Valencia but didn’t work for Arsenal. But as Kempes and Brady both missed, the real issue was who kept their nerve between the non-usual takers. Sadly Rix didn’t.

For me the real issue is not if the best taker goes first or last, but which side goes first as that puts even more pressure on the takers going second. Also, what end of the pitch the penalties are taken must be an issue. But in the 2005 FA Cup final between Arsenal and Manchester United, Manchester United went first and the shoot out was the Manchester United fans’ end of the ground. So even going first and in front of your own fans may not work, as Arsenal won.

That was brilliant and very funny

I retract my earlier statement. He rightly deserves to get judged

Imagine being that weird you are willing to risk your 1M+ year salary by sending pictures of your Johnson to someone. I know some people have kinks but I just can’t get my head round that.

Bloke was the best winger I’ve ever seen. He was a killer. Wot a div

Never understood why Guys do that b%*&s%*^.
Its cringeworthy to think that that is going to appeal to a decent woman with morals ........or somehow make a woman think the look of your manhood is going to have her dropping everything for you.
Ok maybe the minority of women get off on that but surely for the majority it's a massive no no

Cant wait till Thursday.
Seems like ages since we played.
Apart from Tomiyasu who worryingly we have heard nothing about we should be full strength.
Plenty of rest we should be raring to go.
3 points will be absoloutely massive.
West Ham and Utd have relatively easy games.
Lets hope Watford and Burnley fighting for their lives can pinch something.

Agree 100%. Never understood the motivation.

Hoping Burnley can do us a favor tonight. Wolves is a must win. At this stage in the season, we have to go on a run.

My Ex GF used to like receiving dick pics.

Sadly, not from me though.

That’s worth a smiley.

Each to their own and all that but if a bird was asking me for one it would be definitely time to give her the P45 I’m genuinely not sure that’s a keeper

however a mate of mine was telling me he did on the request of a bird who asked and she reciprocated and he’d also done it before. I mean ffs I’m open to new ideas and all that but no way taking pictures of my Hampton wick.

Get the impression it’s more of a thing the women ask rather than fellas.

Maybe the club could run an “ask me anything” session on twitter with Marc Overmars so we can all understand. Get Artetas thoughts on it too. It’s a shame Ken Friar isn’t about as he’d run such things in the past

Not even sure where to start with this one. Horrible and stupid all rolled into one.

Loved and cherished? Yeah right.
I’m deeply sorry………..(that I got caught thru my equally horrible and stupid brother)

https://www.skysports.com/share/12535891

A friend of mine’s daughter had a relationship with a bloke from the north east, so they weren’t able to see each other as regularly as they wanted. My friend told me his wife found out that their daughter and her north east boyfriend both sent each other such pictures of themselves.

It obviously does happen, and I suspect more frequently than many of us realise.

I’ve never had a pet so can’t be called an animal lover. But however strangely and unacceptably we think Overmars has behaved, Zouma’s behaviour is arguably far more weird.

What an absolutely low life thing to do to an animal, it beggars belief.
Personally I'd give him 6 weeks or so inside, and make sure he got put in a cell with a few cat lovers.

Idiot

I think if overmars gets his head down for a year or so on low profile he will be offered a job again

Hampton wick
Hilarious!

He may be one for your future interests. Serial killers are often very cruel to animals and get off on killing them particularly when they are young.

Burnley down 1-0 at the half, a different side came out in the 2nd half. Deserved 1-1 draw vs Man Utd in pouring rain (when is it never raining in England? lol). West Ham the nights big winner as far as the table.

United drop points again

If we can just compose ourselves and pull some results together we could find that we finish the season in a very positive league position. 3 points this week would be such a massive result.

I can’t see it mate. This is a new era the era of “me too”. This stuff ends careers now.

Kurt zoumas cat has probably already got an interview lined up with Oprah Winfrey

Find the people moaning that West Ham didn’t drop zouma a bit much.

It’s a cat, he made a mistake. Let the RSPCA deal with it. Let him take the fine and get his animals taken off him. Maybe even fine him. Not Sure this is greenwood type stuff,

Yes, a thrilling winger, who if he had a yard on a defender was rarely caught. Could finish and was brave too. Of Arsenal wingers he and Geordie are my favourites.