What are the forum’s thoughts on Arteta very publicly and clearly calling out Aubameyang’s discipline? That is twice now. Can he remain captain? Surely stripping him of captain burns all bridges, and Aubameyang still has 18 months on his deal - who takes him off us?

It feels like we’ve got 2 halves of the squad right now, the new squad plus youngsters and the out of favour plus the contract expiring ones.

Leno, Cédric, kolasinac, Mari, elneny, Nketiah, Lacazette, Aubameyang and maybe Pépé would all probably be moved on by Arteta if he could right now. I’m hesitant to put Xhaka in there because I’m not totally sure how Arteta sees him. I think he likes him because he can control what Xhaka does on the pitch and he’ll play to Arteta’s instructions more than most….but I think he would also replace him if a different type of player came along.

I think Arteta has shown he’s not afraid to shake up the status quo if he wants a specific type of player by removing Leno and bringing in Ramsdale - which at the time wasn’t a problem position for us

Can anyone think of a recent signing that had such a negative reaction from Arsenal fans but completely turned it round to perform outstandingly well and become a fan favourite. Ramsdale has been brilliant

Back from the game despite the best efforts of TFL

Thought it was a good performance. Tommy, Tierney, white and especially Ødegaard were terrific. Actually Odegaards best game for the club. He’s played himself quite rightly into the 11

No conclusion here, some days we will look good, some bad.

What’s Arteta supposed to do? Apparently he missed training to get a tattoo in Barcelona, if that’s true how can you say the manager is wrong. George graham would have dropped him indefinitely then *%^@** him out the club.

Ultimately players should be accountable

The negative reaction was from a minority of ‘fans’ via social media. Most right minded people and certainly those who go to games were appalled at the time. It was outrageous.

Fortunately, along with his undoubted ability, he has the strength of personality to get the crowd with him and to drown out the nonsense from the naysayers. He has a huge amount of credit in the bank from the real support.

Btw the club captain is one of either Tierney or Gabriel. 2 genuine leaders. Everyone knows this.

Only problem with Gabriel is his English, not sure you can make him captain.

IF that is true about the tattoo then he has burned his bridges completely. I rather hope that it isn’t that.

This is so true. The crowd were behind him from day 1 and actually he gets so much love I think every time he now makes an average borderline save our fans are in raptures it’s brilliant.

I’ve said it previously but despite his great performances when he makes his first major blooper watch the internet lot turn on him to create a new agenda.

Ok quick story ….. I was queuing to get into the ground a little early for a change and the guy in front of me in the queue who looked like a literal walking advert for the club shop dressed in all Arsenal garb even shoes was ranting about the manager and club non stop manically.. I mean embarrassingly, loud stupid, ridiculous and the people ahead of him could barely look him in the eye. He started talking to me and moaning about arteta, Aubameyang blah blah blah. Before anyone says it wasn’t Ty off Arsenal fan tv who I’ve ran into before although I bet this a****** has been on aftv at some point. I pointed out it’s not perfect but we have to hope but he wouldn’t have it shouting embarrassingly and coming across like a fruitcake.

It’s weird man, like there’s some kind of sub culture that’s being created like mods and rockers, goths even when men in their 40s feel they have to dress like some Arsenal obsessed clown then counter it by slagging the team and manager off non stop.

I just can’t make sense or this nonsense anymore. When I was younger these twats must have been around but nobody listened to them or I didn’t notice them

Good result ... any win in this league is hard fought . Liverpool and Man City only scraping 1 - 0's

Makes me laugh when asked the first time about Aubameyang .... Arteta says it's a disciplinary issue and thats all I am going to say let's talk about the game ;

Yet over and over those slimy press d**&&& try a multitude of ways to resurrect the topic .

Maybe Barca was just a stop over back to London or on the way to where he was actually going. Being that he was allowed a personal leave, who knows what it entailed so to speak. Yet that pic he posted smiling while getting that tatoo apparently ruffled a few feathers, not just MA.

Well seeing as I one of the ''evil " offended persons let me explain it for you Darren .

What gets up my nose slightly about American is he spouts whatever.......then hasn't got the nuts to back it up when challenged .

I used to get on fine with him , he loved Kiwis , mentioning he had a Kiwi girlfriend who broke his heart .

I took an interest in his alma mater the Auburn Tigers because I thought he was left out in the cold a bit . No -one answered his posts .

Then on ONE ocassion I disagreed with something he said , that was it ...... KAPOW the portcullis clattered down , the drawbridge got raised .

He immediately "went into you're picking on me " mode and refused to communicate forthwith .

He always gives it the " I 'm a real hard arse and wont be bullied " etc etc but is exactly the opposite .

Just recently Top Gun was having some heated verbals with a few forumites and a host of others [ which I thought quite cowardly ] took the opportunity to snipe from the sidelines while he was warring on other fronts .

Did he ban all those who were slagging him ...NO ... he's still here as obnoxious as ever [ ] standing his corner .

I've been slaughtered on here several times when I opened my gob especially in the good old days when I was 3/4 way thru a bottle of rum , fully tanked at 2 am in the morning
.... waking up thinking "Oh my God wonder what I typed last night " ............... grin and bear it .

American would gain great deal more respect if he manned up and replied to any who disagree with him instead of having half the forum on foe .

I take a great deal of interest in American politics and delve into it a lot more than just listening to the mainstream media , so I'll go back and read his take on US affairs and make a reasonable respectful judgement .

My view is a manager should only say things from the dressing room if its in the best overall interest of the squad. Sometimes a public lashing motivates a player, rarely but it can.

The dressing room is like the Las Vegas advert "What happens in Vegas, stays in Vegas" we have in the states. Generally speaking, you only say good things in public about what happens in the dressing room. "He's a leader in the dressing room".

A player has to be able to trust his manager not to publicly embarass him. The man has a wife, kids (sometimes), friends, millions of people who follow the club. It's very, very touchy.

Its why we don't find out about some things till years after retirement or someone publishes a 'tell all' book.

I've come to lose respect for some of our fans and their being reactionary to events within the club. I used to object when people I know who support Chelsea or Tottenham say Arsenal fans act like spoiled children. It seems to be the prevailing thought among some rival fans.

I chalked it up to simple rivalry babble and banter. But now....

Think you’ve made some good points there kiwi. For me the most irritating thing about American is his persecution complex about being trolled and bullied. I would say he’s as likely to troll people are anyone is to do it to him. I don’t like his ‘I am bullied’ claims either. I’ve seen kids who were bullied at school and what they went through were many times worse than what has happened to American here. So much so that I reckon his claims cheapen the understanding of what bullying is.

As I suspect you do, I wonder if American is simply unable to accept others disagreeing with him. But that’s surely the point of being on a forum like this. Members have and give their views. Some may agree with them, others may disagree. Yet the point should be discussing the views with others rather blocking those who disagree.

I would be absolutely astonished if as a percentage of his posts that people reply to, there was anyone on the forum who gets fewer replies than him. Sure he does get occasional replies, but quite rarely and I imagine to a much lesser extent than other posters. This has made me wonder why he bothers using the forum.

I’m not meaning this as a tactic to get him to use his own time more meaningfully, but he might just as well write his thoughts on a Microsoft Word document and not send it to the wider public via this forum. Because with his multitude of posts here, he wouldn’t get many fewer replies with a private Microsoft Word document not sent out via the internet so unread by others, to the ones he gets here.

He mentioned Exiled in an earlier post. What annoyed Exiled the most is the way American was always asking questions on the forum. However, when someone bothered replying to tell him the answer to his questions, he never acknowledged the reply. Many years ago I recall American asking about the split of Arsenal and Tottenham fans in areas of North London. It was something to do with that, although I don’t recall his exact question.

I gave him a full answer, using not only my own experiences from being born and bred in North London but going to school there, and previously working and living there; but also the findings in a published book. American gave me no acknowledgment at all for my efforts. Exiled had obviously done the same with the same outcome.

If he’s going to ask these questions, and it was before the blocking facility was introduced to the forum, he should bother to acknowledge members who answer him. As I say, that clearly bothered Exiled.

If he turned up at my office and asked for special leave to get a tattoo he would remember my reply for the rest of his life. If he asked for leave for an urgent family issue then fine but getting a tattoo and being late back would not be, even if after the personal matter was sorted.

Arteta did right

Call me crazy but I'm expecting a win against the Hammers. My optimism may be clouded by seeing them as the 'old' West Ham, where we would win a scrappy game against them. I don't think it will be easy. I don't think it will be a big scoreline, but I think IF and mean IF we come out like we do for big games, we'll win a 2-1 game. I don't see a clean sheet, but I can see us scoring a couple times.

If we were away, I'd say a draw.

I agree but to play devils advocate some managers may have made up a niggle as the party line….also you wonder if Arteta would have taken such a public stance if it was Saka who broke the rules for example?

You’re right, the fans in the stadiums have been wholly behind him - potentially initially as a counter reaction to the nonsense online, but quickly simply because of his outstanding performances.
The sidewinder kick from hands to release Martinelli yesterday was superb and something both he and Martinelli should look for more

I’ve seen a few people who go to games mention Ødegaard as a natural leader of the team as well. I’m not suggesting he be made captain ahead of the two you mention but interesting to note the leaders who can emerge from this group

Nice to see another goal from a corner….and another disallowed. The delivery seems to have got so much better. Saka, Ødegaard, Smith Rowe and Martinelli all putting in top class deliveries and we look like we have a plan in the box to attack the ball.

That plus his great knack of involving the crowd behind him. It’s like he is sharing it all with them. A wonderful thing of having a player who cares.

Gotta add Tierney to the list if not at then near the top at putting in a cross in play.

I've been looking at how long we have gone without a title, I took a look at Man Utd. Ferguson was smart. After he won by stealing van Persie he retired knowing the landscape has changed. They have gone without a title since 2013, 8 years and counting and I think its safe to say they won't win one in the next few years. It will take a special season with very little room for errors for them to get past Liverpool, City and now Chelsea. But its really Liverpool's and City's league. Man Utd have finished runner up twice in the last 5 years so they are not as far away as one may think but if we look closer at those tables, they never got within 12 points of the title winner.

They could go the rest of this decade without a title. That's the good news. The bad news is we will probably not win a title this decade as well.

I am bouyed by the fact that fortunes can change for the good or bad rapidly in football. Ours might change for the good.

I always find it funny how a pundit will generate their narrative of the game depending on favourites and underdogs. Yesterday I heard from many pundits that we were lucky to be 2-0 up, didn’t deserve our lead and MOTD said the score line flattered us. Of course you could make a case for that if that is your agenda….but imagine that game the other way round? Arsenal start well but only test the Saints gk from range, Saints then clinically finish two goals and then dominate the rest of the game hitting the post twice to beat us 3-0 away. Would there be any talk of flattery or not deserving it? Of course not.

It is the natural human nature to favour the underdog at every turn but it also creates narratives that are misleading in games.

Ramsdale now has 8 clean sheets.

Our defence and keeper look so much more solid it’s unreal. They seem to defend now as a proper unit rather than individuals which I haven’t seen for years. Communication everything. The opposition can’t get at us down our right flank now because we have Tommy instead of Bellerin. It makes such a difference. Left side ? Tierney who doesn’t hold many prisoners. If anyone says we haven’t improved this year they can’t have paid much attention to the back 4 which is possibly the best we’ve had since we won a title.

Keep an eye on the West Han game today to see if Declan Rice picks up a yellow card, it would be his 5th and would rule him out of the game with us - which would be a big bonus

I couldn’t believe lineker said that. We were well in control. Aside from the 3 goals saka and martinelli hit the post and there was a 10 minute period in the 2nd half where we laid absolute siege to their goal and should have scored.

I think because of the fascination with ramsdales rise and success now there’s extra focus on the saves he’s making and the suggestion the game was more even because he had to make 3 stops. Honestly if he had let in any of those saves he made yesterday it would have been disappointing because none of them were nailed on goals and really he should be stopping them.

Btw I thought Mikels use of the phrase “non negotiables” was awesome and I intend on ripping that off domestically and professionally too over the next few weeks

Ie “eating your Brussels sprouts is a non negotiable I’m afraid kids”

Have to say I agree wholeheartedly with this …

https://www.onlinegooner.com/articles/view/5867

It was very toxic last week after the defeats at United and Everton. Let alone the women losing to Chelsea and Barca. Or the U18s to Colchester to cap a miserable week to be a Gooner.

Too much so.

It’s absurd some of the opinions that have been sweeping about, so I leave the final word on Saturday's magnificent win to Gooner contributor @legrove on Twitter who was present at Saturday's match.

“Our young players really thrive on fan interaction. Saka, Ødegaard, and Martinelli were all reviving us up and encouraging us to back them.

"Great to see the relationship between fans / players repair. Also great to know the toxic fan commentary online has zero hold in the ground.”

I'm sure we can all get on board with that, and if you can’t at least do,the decent thing and join me on the sofa at home shouting at the screen and not the players.

So, if you're one of the Arteta out brigade do the decent thing and go and support Liverpool, you’ll stand a better chance of imaginary rubbing the imaginary cup your fevered ego so desperately needs to feel nourished this year.

I’ve seen some criticism that we’ve only beaten weak teams or teams in the bottom 6 this season. Of course this ignores the wins against Spurs and Leicester, and also ignores that Burnley drew at Chelsea, Southampton drew at city, Villa won at Man U and Watford beat Man U.

If you can consistently beat the bottom 10 teams in the league home and away you are going to be right up there for 4th place

Yeah, that's always been the formula. Beat the ones below, save for the odd shock loss and don't lose to the contenders around you more than you beat or take points off them.

Good to see that Chelsea’s women lost yesterday to Reading’s women. That means if ours beat Leicester’s later today we open up a four point gap at the top.

I was surprised and disappointed to see how much Chelsea dominated Arsenal in last weekend’s final. We were hopelessly outclassed. But they’re comfortably the best two sides in the league, each team before this weekend having dropped points in one single fixture with Chelsea losing away at Arsenal (three points dropped for them) and us drawing away at Tottenham (two points dropped for us).

So if we end today with a four point lead, I’m hoping we can win all the games left apart from Chelsea away. Even if we lose that one, winning all the others would still give us the title by one point.

On something non football, Hamilton was robbed of his world title by the F1 stewards

Quite bizarre wasn’t it? Made no sense whatsoever.

Burnley draw with West Ham. If we beat them mid week now we will go above them on equal games.

I really hope not too many of our fans tried to commit suicide after 3 bad results recently. Their sacrifice might not have been justified

Obviously had he not been late getting back, then getting a tattoo wouldn't have been an issue.

Apparently Mercedes have started an official protest into the resulting end of the F1 win by Verstappen over Hamilton.