Lucky really that the forum has someone with such superior views that they are able to share that fact, repeatedly - ad nauseam.

Partey made a game high 14 ball recoveries today. I think that’s exactly where his strength is. Still don’t think he’s been brilliant but for the odd game but injuries are an excuse and also our expectations are higher so even at 70% ability he is better than anything else we have.

Although the point should be moot. We are injury free and have quality sitting on the bench. There's no excuse for the way we started today. What was the gameplan? We also need to cut out the schoolboy errors. You just don't go to sleep when they have a free kick!

Have some Eboues for that

I’m not sure the quality is there without a fair bit of drop off from 1-18 in our squad to rotate without performances suffering. Take the 3 best players out of our line up (probably Saka Tierney and Ødegaard atm) and we’re not the same team.

That’s not an excuse for the first half today I grant you. I guess what I’m saying is the players will feel, I think, that the games in the Europa now are make or break, and it wouldn’t bother me if Arteta made sensible rotation to protect our best players for Europe now we’re in the quarters - but I would expect league performances to take a slight hit.

How was Lacazette not given a penalty today when Fabianski completely cleaned him out as he lobbed the ball over him and it was cleared off the line? Didn’t win the ball, clearly took the man and the ball was in play the whole time.
The fact he ‘got his shot away’ does not matter a jot. Refs are complete bottle jobs, if we keep having to use the phrase ‘anywhere else of the pitch and it’s a clear unarguable free kick’ we are then looking at refs not able to apply the rules of the game because they are facing a decision which gives a side a big chance to score a goal and they are too scared to do it.
I wish a pundit would grow a pair and put one of these ex ref pundits on the spot and ask him exactly where in the rules it says that isn’t a penalty

Harry Kane gas just won the most Harry Kane penalty ever. It’s so weird he doesn’t play the ball and just goes across the man instead sliding in. I think it’s the best blatant ‘winning’ of a pen I’ve ever seen. He’s a great player and arguably just as good a cheat.

Berlin have decided Guendouzi isn’t good enough

Guendouzi initially impressed following his summer move, but according to reports in BILD, the player is now ‘conspicuous’ for his ‘theatrical appearances’ which club are unimpressed with.

https://www.mirror.co.uk/sport/football ... c-23764221



...those tipping him for global stardom look a little silly right now

That would be everybody else except you then?

Correct

I am surprised that our resident expert has not sung the praises of another brilliant Leno performance?

It seems to me that Bellerin will leave and Arteta wants to see if Chambers can be the reserve for Soares. He is not good enough. For every okay game, there are many poor games. But we may struggle with our numbers of home grown players and we may have to keep him.

As for Aubameyang - I don’t supposed Real would take him in exchange for the big O.

Notice the audible scream from Kane as he made sure the minimal contact happened. Let’s see MOTD do the same hatchet job tonight....

Compare it to Fabianski taking out Lacazette today. I firmly believe that if Kane had exactly the same instances of the numerous penalties we’d had denied this year they would have all been given for him

Leno made a mess of the second goal but watch closely and it does take a deflection off Mari. Doesn’t mean he shouldn’t save it, just that it makes it a bit more difficult.
Martinez also made a mistake for spurs opener today if people are keeping score

When Lacazette gets wiped out by Fabianski, if he’d touched the ball wide of him instead of shooting, Fabianski would still have wiped Lacazette out as he wouldn’t be able to stop his momentum and I bet the penalty would have been given. Where the ball goes from the striker should have no bearing on whether it is a penalty - but in refs minds it does. It needs explaining

I didn’t see any fault in Leno for the 3 goals.

First is a screamer,

2nd should have been pulled back by the ref because the ball was in the wrong spot and I wasn’t even sure if it had stopped rolling. The other share of blame is on the defenders who just stopped. It’s on his near post but he gets a pass because of the first 2 points

Third, I’m sorry it’s another David Luiz classic. Food and drink cross that Gabriel or holding would have dealt with. It’s a free header.

As for the selling Aubameyang nonsense all I’ll say is where are you getting the 70 million quid from to replace him then Einstein

It’s deflected but also Look how close the guy is. What 6 yards out? Are you expecting him not to score?


The third was the worst, our central defenders not marking or thinking. I do think that might have been a game for Rob Holding today not Luiz.

Rich. I questioned it at the time. If it was a penalty last week why wasn’t it a penalty this week
Chambers. Good guy. Good pro. Hasn’t got the pace to be a top top defender in a top top team.
Kane. Terrific player but complete tosser. The way he gets himself between defender and ball backs into him and then goes down.
I think I was wrong about Odegard. Technically excellent and very intelligent. I think it unlikely RM will sell him but if they do there’ll be a rush for his services.
If we’d put up a decent team and performance against Southampton we’d likely be facing Leicester in the FA Cup Semi.
Stating the bleedin’ obvious. Worst 30 minutes of the season best 45 minutes of the seasons
Come on you gunners.

The report says he’s moody, stubborn and resistant to advice. Guendouzi’s problems are in his head. If he had a decent attitude the footballing world could have been his oyster.

Why bother with a child?

Agree that it is debatable. Just stating my opinion about Aubameyang at this moment. Pépé or Martinelli would have given more from the left flank.

TG please take a blood pressure tablet before reading my reply. I knew you would see the Leno performance as perfect. Says a fair bit about your judgement. No doubt you agree that it would be a big mistake to have Luiz at the club next year, just as it is this year. Very poor managerial decision. Then Aubameyang - I am sure we can get another forward who doesn’t score or contribute for a lot less than that. Another poor managerial decision to offer him the extension. Should have flogged him off.

We could have won it BUT we shouldn't have had to be in that position in the first place. Stating the obvious. Just like any gooner when the game kicks off you are hoping, praying, willing the team to win.

Inbetween games when you can better reflect on things you see things as they are if you are honest to yourself and to your own observation.

In the time between matches, some gooners honestly think moving up the table is easier than some of us (myself included in that group) that its a tall order and no where as likely as some think. I don't blame anyone for being what I consider overly optimistic of what we can do both in the league and in the Europa Cup. Our opinions are a summation of many things individually.

Last night shows why some people are overly optimistic if you look at the last 50 minutes of the game. And also shows why I (and I presume others) are far more pessimistic of our chances.

To do the type of run we need to move up the table you must be consistently good and I'm at a loss to see what evidence there is of that this season. I've not seen enough football as probably everyone on this forum but I've seen over 20 years worth. There is a point in time where 20 years is about the same as 50 if you are observant and have understanding.

He’s our top goal scorer this season. For the third season running.

There’s talking nonsense then there’s this. It’s just slagging off our players for no reason. You hate all our best contributors. There’s some deep rooted psychological reason for your self loathing

Wonder where he’ll end up? Nice of Lille or somewhere like that.

Nobody decent will touch him with a barge pole

I’m not having that Leno shouldn’t have saved the second goal. Any ball that squirms under the gk at his near post like that should be saved whether it was deflected or not. I’m a Leno fan but that was a mistake. He wasn’t alone in that first half and wasn’t the worst culprit

I see Fred had an attack of the Xhaka’s when playing the ball out from the back yesterday. 2 common factors, neither player plays the ball first time, it is the only way to play that situation. If you are centre of the pitch running back towards your own goal and receiving that pass you should know you’re going to have the hungriest of players closing you down, 1 touch is all you’ll get.

It’s not Bob Wilson at his near post the blokes right on top of him. Paying no attention to what happened previously is really unfair on him. The game should have stopped.

I’d like to see more of Pépé. He’s making a difference from the bench most games now. He got the assist for the equaliser and found himself in 2 good shooting positions at the end. It is well documented that Arteta had Sterling for one on one sessions and transformed him from inconsistent to a 20 goal a season winger. I wonder if he can do something similar with Pépé. One big thing I’ve noticed is how Pépé is now often right in the middle of the box when we’re attacking the other side. Earlier in his Arsenal career the ball would come in and he’d be too wide or too deep

I agree there was a case to be made for the free kick not being taken in the right spot but Leno has plenty of time to set himself for the shot. The shot is aimed at the far post and takes a deflection to bring it to the near post - that is the mitigation - but he should still save it. I’d wager Leno himself would be chalking that one up as his error.
The still image below shows where the shot was hit from, not right on top of him, shouldn’t get beaten at the near post from there

And this is as the ball is coming to Leno. I don’t think I’m being overly critical to say he should not be letting that in.
Still images don’t always tell the full story but you can watch the video and it doesn’t look any better.
This isn’t Leno bashing for the sake of it, I 100% defended Leno in the whole Leno/Martinez debate but it doesn’t mean I’m blind to a mistake. He has made one yesterday and he’s still a very good gk today

It’s really close considering he wasn’t set because the ref just let them take the free kick when they shouldn’t have. It’s a free pot shot that shouldn’t have been allowed. His shot was even his second touch. I really wouldn’t have expected the guy not to score from there

Last night kind of reminded me about this recent free kick episode

https://www.skysports.com/football/news ... les-it-out

Both situations were a shambles and somewhat unfair.
At what point did Moss blow his whistle for the kick to be taken? It appeared to surprise him as much as our defence. I am sure that he was taking out his line drawing spray as he walked forward.

Absolutely, one minute Leno is about to line his wall up next he’s dealing with a shot 6 yards out. Ridiculously stupid refereeing. It’s another cock up.

Suppose it depends how one defines ‘decent’. Lille are second in the French league, behind PSG. I would call them decent. Nice are much lower but still higher than Bordeaux where Koscielny went (and still is as far as I’m aware). I would call them decent too, as I would Bordeaux.

As I would Hertha, though he clearly won’t be going to Berlin. They’re not comparable to Dortmund let alone Bayern. But they are a fine club, one of the traditional sides with big and loyal support. Around the level of others (whatever their current standings or league positions) like Hamburg, Monchengladbach, Cologne, Stuttgart, Düsseldorf and Schalke.

Even if Guendouzi’s agent doesn’t see it as his own job, he appears to need good advice from somewhere on how to conduct himself. I’ve always considered humility a vital characteristic for success in any career choice or walk of life, not just football. He urgently needs somebody to persuade him to share my views on the importance of humility.

I expected more frankly, based on the hype around him and the 'cherry picked' youtube highlights. This being his first season in the league, I'll forgive him a little. I think he is a good player, but not the great player I was expecting. I'm hoping the player we thought we were getting or someone close to it, will eventualy show himself.

That said, I feel much better about our chances if he's starting. He's the best of the bunch (center mids), with Smith-Rowe being the exception but their roles are different.

Play to the whistle, and never go to sleep on a free kick, is what they told us in the Under 13s.

I repeat, this year he is not one of best contributors. Saka, S-R, Tierney , Leno and even Xhaka are ahead of him as contributors. He had a long period where he was not giving 100%. He might have reasons but he is the highest paid and captain and that means he should act like it.

This is true and another contributor for sure

He literally is our best goal scorer. You are incorrect

Saka has had an off game in his last 3 performances, if Aubameyang did that people would be calling for his head. Some players get a pass because of their age and stature Aubameyang certainly isn’t one of them.

If we win it passes without comment, if we lose it’s all his fault or Lenos for not saving a shot 6 yards out.

Saka gets a pass on the last three games because for most of the season he's been our standout player, one of very few Arsenal players who have performed consistently, at an age where he shouldn't be expected to lead the team.

Aubameyang gets griticised because for most of the season he has underperformed, when he's supposed to be our leader and best player experiencing his prime years. It really isn't very controversial at all.