Losing Saliba and Tommy at the same.time was critical. With hindsight you could say that we should have had more cover at right back given Tommy's awful injury record. AMN? It's easy to say that after the event though. The main thing is that we strengthen the team and the squad so that we can mount another challenge next season.

I'll throw Rodri in there, he joins an illustrious list of City defensive midfielders over the last 10 years who are seemingly allowed immunity to any yellow cards despite being the most cynical players on the pitch

Guardiola knows how to coach that. Busquets was the same.

Listen to Arteta every time he's disappointed with the team and he talks about 'winning duels'. It is so so important. We must target players in the summer who hate to lose a duel.

For me, I think this summer is central defence and central midfield are the critical areas to address. We need pure athleticism, power, pace and mobility in these areas.

Central defence no. Honestly as long as we have a fit saliba and Tommy that’s fine. Your choice third centre half won’t be pele

I have been alive since the 70s and haven’t seen an Arsenal side win a league title without a bonafide 30 a season striker. Football has changed but I really don’t believe you can do it without one. Mark my words if we don’t address it we will get nowhere.

Pep has made a bit of a mid season change for me, he's gone away from traditional full-backs and gone with 4 CB along the back. How often do you see any of those back 4 in the final 3rd? They make sure they have those 4 back and secure with Rodri mopping up in front of them. For any other team that means you lack something in attack because you don't create those 2v1's in wide areas, but City can use Haaland and De Bruyne and others to mitigate that.

BT Sport has just said City have used the fewest number of players in the league this season. Their injury list this season has been ridiculously fortunate. Not 1 notable injury at all. The other big factor is, yes they have a small-ish squad but they don't drop off in numbers 12-18, the bench are all pretty much as good as the starters, and even if they're is a slight drop off the guy coming in still starts for most teams in the prem (Alvarez, Mahrez, Foden for example)

I think the move is to move Holding on (1 year left on his deal, surely won't get a new one) and then you need to bring in another right-sided CB upgrade - and bring someone at the level of Saliba and Gabriel. We've got CL next year, you can't play those 2 all season.
City have Dias, Akanji, Stones, Laporte, Ake as 5 players who all keep the level high at CB and most of them can play full-back as well so they can keep the squad smaller.

78 goals after 33 games isnt far off title winning
38 goals against after 33 games is on track for ending up at least 10 goals too many to win the title.

I'd love more strikers and right wingers but I think the 3 key positions we target in the summer are, right-sided CB, No.6 def-mid and an athletic No.8.

Ornstein said we're looking at Rice + Caicedo for the No.6 and Mount and Kudus of Ajaz for the No.8

A fit Tommy seems like a pipedream. He has been chronically injury-prone.

Also.1989...Alan Smith. Bloody good centre forward but he wasn't a 30 goal a season man.

Ok it’s done. Ill be at wolves to see us off but really I’m mentally disengaging so .. Ill go first

Player of the season…. For me controversial but 1) Partey 2) starboy 3) Martinelli

Game of the season … 1) united home ( honestly *%^@*** amazing) 2) Bournemouth 3 ) spurs

Pre match Boozer of choice this season 1) Canonbury tavern 2) coronet 3) errr Santa Maria pizza Islington. (Don’t ask)

Best catching poisoning award pre match …. 1) pick a chicken shop on the Holloway .. just any one

Most disappointing player, 1) Fábio vieira 2) lokonga pre loan 3) sorry Rob

Best limbs moment of all time 1) nelson ended up 3 rows down from my seat

It’s over but see you at wolves

25 in all competitions. These days that would be 30 for how good he was.

I think City go for Bellingham this summer. There is still a home grown quota for the league so top clubs will really try to stack their team with any fantastically talented English players and Bellingham is right at the top of that tree. With Haaland imperious they are odds on for the league next year already.

This league really is 19 relatively competitive teams where 5-6 stand out and 1 who are miles ahead of the rest.

Just out of interest has anyone seen an image of the second goal where the var lines and drawn AND we can see de Bruyne taking the free kick in the same frame? When I saw it live I thought it was well offside. I can see from the image shown on tv that Whites foot plays him on - despite white being pushed in to that position, but what you can’t see is if they’ve frozen the game at the exact moment the ball leaves de Bruyne’s foot.
I saw another tv broadcaster was casting doubt on the offside decision and talking about the PGMOL having to apologise as they got it wrong.

Clearly wouldn’t have affected the result but it’s so tight that it basically comes down to when the var refs stops the video, a frame later and Stokes would be offside and it would still feasibly be the moment the ball left de Bruyne’s foot as the best estimate

Really? I think I can safely say you must be stark raving bonkers

Has Saliba signed a contract extension? Otherwise do we have to sell him next transfer window? Unpalatable.

It's been a fantastic season. Squad wise as well as mentally we were prepared for a top 4 fight. In that kind of fight, you can drop points because the other 2 or 3 sides will also. We jumped over CL to title contenders and we were simply not mentally ready for it and we didn't have a squad that was built for a title fight. We got a squad built for top 4.

We found ourselves in a title fight. And in a fight down the stretch against a side that may eventually be talked about as one of the best PL sides ever if not the best. If City ends up winning the treble, and in the manner I think they will possibly go down as the best PL side ever.

This is going to sound crazy but I think they may have a harder time against Man Utd than they will against Real Madrid. It's a cup derby final and Man Utd will play out of their skins. They'll lose but they'll play out of their skins. May 9th City travel to Madrid and I'm going to guess a 1-0 or 2-1 win for them. When Man Utd won their treble the football gods gave them every bit of luck. They won the league by a point and were by far the lesser side in the CL final. The FA cup final was their easiest game.

The wound is fresh and still painful but in June you will look back and say to yourself overall the season was way above expectations and pray tell, even a successful one.
Real Madrid hasn't seen Haaland with top class players around him. Dortmund were a good side but no where in class to City obviously. My guess is the fouling will be very cynical and the scoreline will depend on the referee. I can see a RM player being sent off possibly. Referees give deference to RM so they will get to pull shirts, elbow and kick more than any other side.

City could possibly end up winning the treble and making it seem fairly easy. They have not lost in any competition since around mid February. They had 3 draws since then. One in the league a week later and the 2 draws in the CL I wouldn't count. They were 2nd leg games where they won the first leg convincingly and some bench players started.

I think after the season, it will be a story about how City was unstoppable instead of how Arsenal choked. When this City side in its present form is focused I don't think there is a side on the planet that can stop them. They are winning games by 3 or 4 goals now in the league consistently. Palace was the toughest game they have had in the league in the last couple months winning 1-0. The rest they have won comfortably. Even 2-0 at home to a Newcastle side that is notoriously hard to break down. The rest of the games they have scored at least 3 goals in each league game other than those 2 since late February.

I don't think some of us fully comprehend just how good this City side are or have been since February. Routinely now, 3 goals a game home or away in the league for the most part.

I'm relieved. Of course I'd have preferred we won but we'd have needed all our players healthy to even have half a chance at a draw.

This is the crux of the matter.

I don#t claim to be the first person to say this but as I woke up at 4.45 am my thoughts went to the game.

It's the long ball that's killing us and VAR on one occasion today and many others where goals have been denied or pens not given.

Long ball. We don't use it enough and we can't defend against it. We are always beaten by bullying CF types. All the managers that stuff us are long ball specialists.

Why don.t we have a cf like Haaland? We do we have Balogun. Why don't we use him the way City use Haaland?

Why can't we defend against the long ball? Bring in Fat Sam or Pearson or and get him to sort out how to defend against the long ball.

We have the players to do it we just need Arteta to use the long ball and learn to defend against it too.

Do thet this year and next year we will win the Premiership. Don't and we won't. It's the reason we can't finish off games nand why we are not a Finals team. Why have we always gone to the end of a tournament and then failed to win through? The long ball, time and time again.

I don’t think he’s that player. He’s more of an anelka run in behind type.

I do agree though and we can’t vary our play enough. The player that kind of springs to mind is Ivan Toney and whilst he’s not the worlds best I think if we had him he would start every game which kind of tells its own story

That is true, DHD.

We can over-analyse what we did wrong, but the point is that City's execution was perfect for their goals, and if we had set up differently, they probably would have found other ways to score. With our current squad, we don't have a lot of tactical flexibility, and one can understand why Arteta went with the tried and trusted.

Also, you have to take into account all of the unnecessary drama of our last three games. Spunking away two 2-0 leads then making an absolute hash of a home game against the bottom club, is hardly the prep we needed. Even if we'd been on run of 8 wins going into tonight's game, we would still had had only a fighting chance of getting anything from this game. This is the same City team that walked all over Bayern Munich.

As was pointed out by one of the commentators last night, we're the youngest team in the division, and youngest team has never won the title. Its a brilliant core of players to build on, and I'm confident Arteta and co know what needs to be done. Whether we can get the players we need and whether that will be enough to get us ahead of City (not to mention Newcastle, United, etc., etc) is another matter.

We had no right to expect this team to win the league this season. So, disappointment is a valid response, but bashing the players and management or saying we 'bottled' it is completely out of order.

And we are still top and the proverbial fat lady, although having cleared her throat, has not yet broken into song.

I think that it might have affected the result! That second goal coming just before HT was an absolute b**(^. There is always hope when you are 1-0 down. Just because you've been battered for 45 minutes, doesn't mean that 2nd half will be the same (we've seen the reverse of this to our detriment all to often). 2-0 down Arteta probably thinks he can't bring on more defensive players.

Your point about VAR is spot on. There is no reason why they can't make VAR more transparent. They must have a wide angle that they can show, or a split screen (if not, why??). The commentators also seem, for some reason, to be disinclined to push it when they think there has been a wrong decision. Its amazing that it looked so offside in real time but not when they zoomed in like that.

I saw a stat somewhere that City won about 70% of defensive duals and we won 50%. The goal scorers win the plaudit, but City's defense cleaned up everything and effortless beat our press last night. Stones in particular is imperious at the moment.

The game came at the worst time for us, we’re terribly out of form and City are flying, we lost our most important cog in defence and City have everyone fit.
The confidence that was there in our play earlier in the season isn’t there any more. We had it in the first game against them and played much better but we’re undone by mistakes, we weren’t outplayed like tonight

Watkins is my favourite for our no 9

Out

Emile Smith Rowe 30
KT 30
Balogun 35
Pépé 20
Jorginho 5



In
Rice 100
Toney 60
Caicedo 70

Spend 110 ish

Not sure he seems a little similar to what we have for me.

What I would say about Nketiah is at least he knows it’s his job to attack the penalty area and ask questions. Jesus was all over the place last night as he was againest saints. Just wasn’t effective

I wonder if we might go back in for Vlahovic. Not been great at Juve but a big strong lad with an eye for goal and still very young.

I've watched Balogun a few times and he very much plays on the shoulder of the centrebacks looking to get in behind with his pace. Doesn't involve himself much in the build-up play.

Is that what we need? Don't know.

I found some of Keown's comments a bit odd last night, specifically when talking about Haaland and Holding. Essentially he wanted (as he would have) holding to put a reducer on Haaland in the first battle, 'take a yellow card if needed' - I mean that is nonsensical. Yes be physical, and I agree with him on the first goal that if you can't win the ball you need to find a way to foul him without getting a card but to just smash him does nothing.

People were talking about Haaland vs our defence last night as if this guy hasn't done this to every seasoned defender up and down the league this season. 33 goals in 31 games.

We're being criticised for not stopping him influencing the game, you can say that about every great player and every team they face. Sometimes they are just too good.

Rasmus Hojlund is more the type we might go for, only 20, playing for Atalanta, big tall guy but with very good feet and pace. Really burst on the scene this year.

I could see a situation where we sell Balogun to the highest bidder, we need to raise funds from our squad and he should fetch £40m+.

If you want the best CF (vaguely available) then you go for Osimhen, he'll move for £100m+ even if he does move from Napoli. All the big clubs will be in for him so I don't think we stand a chance. If you want a player who you know what you will get then you go for Toney. I think he'd suit us.

Toney would be great as a big physical striker but surely he is going to get a very lengthy ban......he has as many charges against him as City.

Anyhoo...the morning after I dont feel gutted more meloncholic. Its been a great season but being pipped by the the richest and most dominant team in Premier League history is a bit depressing. I think they should be forced to change their name to Abu Dhabi owned Manchester City. Over to you plucky lil (Saudi Arabia owned) Newcastle...

Hi Rich,

Trouble is, we always say "if we sell x,y and z this summer we will raise £75-100m" but it never seems to work out that way. We always seem to end up offloading for fees far less than the perceived market rate.

I don’t really view it as them simply being too good. There was a long list of things we did badly yesterday. There’s definite room for improvement everywhere it just feels like there’s no point going over it. Me I felt the set up was wrong and we should have played 2 holding midfielders to stifle them but it would have meant leaving out xhaka and changing the system. These things are marginal I assume but really when I saw the same line I was shocked and knew we would lose.

Oh well. Summer, bbqs and beer belly’s incoming

.
Too my of thinking we need a change in attitude more than personal . We f((*&*^&% around so much with f&&^% SAFE passes , we nullify our strengths ,

Martinelli and Jesus have speed and control ; but because we f&&% around so much at the back pin point passes forward are beyond us .

Watch a few old tapes , when did Bergkamp and Pires play stupid little f***ckwit passes BACKWARDS like Ødegaard did ....?

We continually invite disaster , Zinchenko sprayed a ball across the face of our goal that could have gone badly wrong it contravenes basic principles .

Ramsdale touches the ball in open play far more than he should do ...and he's a bloody ditherer . He's not &&^%%$## Franz Beckenbauer type sweeper ..even David O'Leary .
We looked better at the end when Nketiah , Trossard and Nelson came on .

We got beaten by a better team no doubt but I'm convinced if we had a more forward thinking mentality it would have paid dividends .

We certainly need a muscular SOB upfront to provide a Plan B .

Just a little update for all your Home Handymen / Women my little Do it yourself cure for cellulitus on the leg

.....the ground comfrey , garlic , organic apple cider vinegar ...resulted in a skin eruption , sore as hell , oozing a white sticky gunk .

Waved the white flag and went to the doctor ...... anti biotic pills , anti septic cream ...and Voila .... immediate relief from the itching and a week later almost gone

I've always liked having one strong center forward who can be strong in the 6 yard box and play with his back to the goal like Haaland can at times. When you need a goal late in the game you can get a goal or a penalty from such a player. I didn't want to lose Giroud for those reasons. We were using him off the bench and he was a super sub. Chelsea couldn't believe their luck and they loved him there.

I still say start Jesus, he's much too good, not a replacement but an option for either needing a goal late or on those muddy northern pitches in the cold when one touch is near impossible.

We need Rice that's for sure. He'd change us in a significant way right away. Everyone wants to sell Holding but what quality CB will come in to be 3rd choice? Only way that happens is someone over thirty, lots of experience and just wants to play CL football possibly. No very good young CB of quality is coming to us for that.

The one little irritating thing is that although I'd take runner up over any cup except Champions League trophy. Even over Europa cup if it meant we finished outside top 4. If someone said Arsenal will be in the CL next year either as league runner ups or 5th in the league and Europa cup champions I'd take the former. Many if not most would take a European trophy and there is a strong argument for that. I think runner up suggests you are a force as its over 38 games.

Anyway, I really think we could have won it this season. The clubs remaining are Juventus, Sevilla, Roma and Leverkusen. I'd have loved to get Mourinho in the final and see that mug despondent.

Man Utd and City will both end up with trophies probably, Man Utd already winning the league cup. A shame we didn't get some sort of cup.

Anyway, I don't think there is anyone who doesn't want to see City beat Man Utd in the cup final. But who wants to see City win the treble? The only reason I want to see it is because it would piss off Man Utd fans.

*%^@ me I’ve read some bollocks about last night this morning from our “fans”.


https://forum.onlinegooner.com/viewtopi ... &start=555


I mean read some of those comments on that thread. All of our transfers have been rubbish, we got lucky this year and will fall apart next. Arteta is a “basque fool” and should be gone.

Utter cretins and morons hoping we fail masquerading as fans

Idiots on the internet? Who'd have thought? Every club has several million of them. Why waste time getting angry reading that nonsense? I'd suggest some deep breathing, a yoga session and a bit of Dame Edna with Parky: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ac0CJn0 ... el=ppotter

I agree but we're generally always talking about players we really don't want, no one any good wants and whose wages are sky high. Balogun is very different if the club decides to cash in. If Balogun was doing what he's doing and was on the books of say Manaco (for example) he'd be sold to a big (ish) European team this summer for £40m no doubt

There is the risk of overly praising the team that beats you to make yourself feel better about your own shortcomings, we didn't show what we could have but that was one of the most ruthless performances I've seen against us. I've seen us lose badly to big teams but often where we've had sterile domination and been naively picked off. This was different, this was peak Barca or those 5-1 hammerings by Bayern

Not angry just bemused. Parkinson ?

You must be joking. Wrote articles on why he hates Arsenal.