I just don't buy in to the notion that Arsenal lacked maturity and experience needed to see the game out in the midst of a title challenge. That only stands true if THIS team have done it time and time before - or if City hadn't done it at all. But yet we've shown far more mental fortitude than weakness this year, holding on to 1 goal leads, scoring late winners, having the best away record in the league (most goals scored and fewest conceded), our record v the top 6 - the list is endless.

City went 1-0 up away to Villa and couldn't hold on conceding an equaliser with 15 to go. They got picked off v Liverpool to lose 1-0 to a late goal when the pressure must have got to Cancelo who made a disastrous mistake to let Salah run through and score the winner. They lost 2-1 at home to Brentford naively pushing on for the winner themselves and leaving them wide open at the back for Toney to pop the winner in the 98th minute. They took the lead against Everton at home, and were pegged back in the 2nd half to only draw 1-1, ditto away to Forest conceding an equaliser with 6 minutes to go. 1-0 up away at Old trafford only to concede 2 goals in quick succession because they were unable to withstand the pressure of the derby atmosphere at OT, and finally lost away feebly to Spurs 1-0 when they never really looked like getting back in to the game.

You see in you can create any narrative you want. In none of those games were City's mentality questioned, and rightly so, they simply just didn't play well enough to win - the same must be said of us when we don't win because the side have proven their mentality numerous times so it shouldn't be lazily fallen back on as the reason for us not winning

Exactly. I was scratching my head at the decisions. We had them on the rack and we let them away with it.

The crowd didn't seem to bother Real Madrid recently.

I felt yesterday was one of those games where Ødegaard was unable to have much influence and Partey was left to try to control Liverpools midfield almost singlehandedly which is not an easy thing to do even against the likes of Fabinho and Henderson who are not at their best this season.

You could clearly see how the quality of a Caidedo or Rice alongside Partey might have changed the whole dynamic of the game.

I felt Salah was their most dangerous player and the one most likely to score or create an opening and yet we persisted with an inverted fullback on his side of the pitch which left far too many moments where he was free to receive the ball in space and Gabriel was forced to deal with him, which to be fair he did for the early parts of the game.

As soon as the Liverpool pressure began to crank up the obvious move for me was to put Tierney in at LB and put Zinny in alongside Partey, giving extra defensive solidity down our left side and more presence in the centre of the midfield, thus killing two birds with one stone if you like. We needed Zinny's technical skills and passing range in the middle but we didn't need the huge spaces he left behind when he moved inside from LB, especially with Salah waiting to pounce.

No idea what the Kiwior move was all about, Arteta hasn't seen fit to give him a sniff of action in previous games, even against moderate opposition, but he chucks him in at the deep end at Anfield.

One frustrating aspect of this title challenge is that City have 100+ financial fair play breach charges hanging over their heads.

So, are they cheats or aren't they? The PL lawyers must be fairly sure of themselves to hit them with over 100 charges.

People saying it could take years for all these charges to be heard and City to make their defence. Frankly, that isn't good enough.

https://twitter.com/Gunnersc0m/status/1 ... 7127065602

Adrian Clarke is a pretty reasonable Arsenal commentator, I listen to him a lot on The Handbrake Off podcast. He says exactly what I said with regards to Xhaka. What he did had zero bearing on the result and he's an easy target and if it was 99% of any other player we wouldn't be talking about it.

I think people are looking to string two unrelated events together in a tenuous way because it is Xhaka.

Where is the criticism for Casemiro who has been banned for 8 games this season due to his lack of discipline.
Xhaka has had 5 yellow cards in 30 games and only 23 fouls in 30 games, he is simply not the player people are making him out to be any more. Casemiro in 19 games has 5 yellows, 2 reds and 35 fouls. If pundits excuse Casemiro's ill discipline because of his all round good play then Xhaka needs to be looked at the same way rather than with more than a heavy bias towards any past behavoir.

Agreed, and Jorginho wasn't that player to come on. If he was fit it would have been far more of an Elneny type game. High energy, plug gaps, win tackles, win 2nd balls, be physical and keep the ball.

For me those charges can only go 2 ways, it has to be all or nothing due to the seriousness of the charges. Either you admit defeat and let them get away with it or if they are guilty (they obviously are) then the punishment has to be severe enough to fit the level of gains they cheated to get. So for me, a fine is out of the question. Even a small points deduction or transfer ban is out of the question. It has to be relegation and stripped of the trophies they won which are directly linked to the cheating.

I agree we needed to push on and play how we did in the first 35 minutes and I'm sure Arteta has some regrets but there are 11 players on the pitch who are all equally culpable for us dropping too deep, misplacing passes, not winning duels. I honestly think Arteta believes the team he had on the pitch was the best one to see out the game. There is far more to it than just bringing a sub on, it doesn't always instantly fix what you want it to - especially in a ridiculously fast paced game that can be tough to get in to as a sub.

I also don't believe for one minute that when we went 2-0 up Arteta called the team over and said ok, what we do now is sit really deep, let them have the ball and dictate the game and our only chance will be to spring counters. Sometimes the team doesn't do what the manager wants.

I'm certainly not the only one who feels that the ref let the aggressive nature of liverpool's tackling go far too (see my post above to Adrian Clarke's opinion) and although each of these decisions were minor individually it builds pressure and momentum because you can't get out and win that free kick you deserve. Konate in particular was allowed to steam through players at will, at least 5 times I saw a foul by him that was called on us. That he was their only defender not to get booked is highly ironic

Apparently Liverpool haven't lost at home to a top 6 side since January 2016. yes it feels like 2 dropped points but it is a good point still and a point more than City got there

Of our 7 games left minus the City game, City have already played 6 of those exact games and they won 4 and drew 2. neither of us has played Chelsea at home yet.

Lets say we matched those results City got, we both beat Chelsea and we draw with City - City could still win the league by winning the rest. People will say we bottled it - nonsense. We'd have gone 12 wins and 4 draws in the last 16 and still not won the league, despite getting 1 more point in our last 8 games than City would have in the same set of 8 fixtures.

They wernt that bad. Me personally I think Tierney should have come on earlier and actually I’ve said repeatedly I think KT is your man for the away trips at places like anfield and old Trafford but Arteta doesn’t like to change it up. I don’t think you can criticise too harshly really it works 99% of the time. However I would put KT on Mahrez for our game v city and play him v saints to get match sharpness.

The real problem was the midfield collapsed in the 2nd half and we just didn’t get Bukayo on the ball anywhere near enough.

Gutting result really. We let them off the hook

* Greetings from Portugal. Firstly I don’t really pay much attention to the idea of Arsenal being bottlers if we don’t win the league as it’s clearly nonsense. Secondly, an away draw at Anfield is pretty much always a good result and it’s only in the context of trying to maintain our distance from an ominously resurgent City that it’s a bit disappointing. Thirdly, whatever happens with the title (and I don’t think we will quite manage it) it’s been a great season full of progress and promise by Arteta and the team. Unfortunately we are in the era of an all conquering Man City team who have now added a record breaking striker. I’ll be gutted but have nothing but pride if they pip us to the title.

https://twitter.com/ormondroyd/status/1 ... 1161179150

Liverpool should get a huge fine for this. We have consistently been fined for surrounding the ref. This is worse. Two players with hands on the ref, and a coach with hands on the ref as well as multiple players surrounding him.

If Robertson and Liverpool feel he's been elbowed by the linesman I still don't understand what they think they are trying to get the ref to do? Send off his own official?

Didn't bother us in the first 30 minutes either.

I thought Gabriel was fantastic yet again yesterday. In big games, particularly big away games he’s been excellent. In my view he should be the first name in the defence for team of the season. His job as a defender is far harder than anything any defender at Man U or Newcastle is asked to do.
Ask Maguire to play as Gabriel does, it would be utter carnage.

We missed Saliba. I thought Holding did well but I always get the impression he will be caught out. Or am I being unfair?

Absolutely no reason why we can't win at the financial fair play cheats' ground.

The narrative seems to be an assumed Man City win.

If anything, I think Newcastle will be tougher.

Anthony Gordon banished to the U21 for the rest of the season at Newcastle due to an internal disciplinary matter. Even in his short time at Everton you could see he had a chip on his shoulder. Can’t have these types at clubs, or you stamp it out very quickly. So glad we seem to not only be good in our talent spotting but we’re getting the right personalities in as well

https://twitter.com/mickquinn1089/statu ... -j6VVZXEoA

I think it would be awful if this linesman received any harsh punishment. Robertson instigated this by chasing after him to give him an earful and tried to put his hands on the official first. For me the linesman aggressively shrugs him off and catches him with a raised arm, not some swinging deliberate elbow.

Time for the FA and PGMOL to make a proper stand on the haranguing of refs that has crept back in to the game. They’ve issued a lot of fines to clubs but it is pennies to them and has done nothing to change behaviour. Fans, pundits and media need to play their part and just accept that refs will give yellow cards consistently to any player shouting and chasing after them for decisions.

Asp I’ve heard ex ref Mark Halsey call for an 8 game ban for the linesman! Talk about standing next to your fellow professional!

Another thought on their penalty. I’d want it if it was us so no huge complaints on the decision itself. But I don’t think it is an actual challenge by Holding there is more than an element of Jota simply slowing down and initiating the contact which refs have specifically been on the look out to stamp out, however this one wasn’t that clear cut so can understand it being given.
The biggest annoyance is it was out of context with how Tierney had reffed the game up until then, he had lt Konate and others get away with this kind of ‘steamroller’ tackle where the defender is putting high pressure on and the attacker crumples under it. Xhaka gets these free kicks all the time but had at least 2 himself not given like this, same for Jesus. I don’t think Tierney was consistent in his own decision making during the game.

City are on a roll. They are on one of those rolls that got them the title a few times. I hope, no pray they slip up and lose or draw but it wouldn't surprise me in the least to see them win all their remaining games save us and that is 50/50.

It's why I think we need to win ALL the games we play aside from City. They will win the FA cup and I think they'll make it to the final of the CL and likely win it. They are playing very good football and now that Haaland has superior players around him who can take the onus of scoring, I think they'll win the d@mn thing. So, for me at the very least I can see them winning the FA cup and the CL. The title is dicey. I would make them slight favorites because we have to win at Newcastle. We can beat Chelsea at home with some effort. It will not be easy at all. But if we start out like we did at Anfield, we'll be fine.

I hated being right about going to Anfield, but I think many forgot their home record this season. It's an outstanding home record and beating both Manchester sides there says it all. They have only lost once to a late goal early in the season. They haven't even drawn many there. In any other season it is a decent result considering we beat them at home so we were playing a revenge minded club playing a club they are always up for.

That first half goal did it. I knew we needed a third goal and a few good looks. I will say this. We are a very good side. To go 2-0 within a half hour at Anfield is proof of that. A game they were up for, prepared for and still couldn't stop us when we were playing Arsenal football. We just need to be able to play 90 minutes of good, strategic football and we can't seem to manage it in some games.

I'm not going to do the sour grapes thing. Liverpool responded well, responded better than us and could argue they dropped 2 points rather than getting a point.

By the way for all of Liverpool's dominance in the second half between the 57th and 81st minute they didn't have a single shot at goal. Firminho came on at 78 mins and they went 4 up top and we reacted by going 5 at the back on 80 minutes. It was only after this point that we really came under the cosh

Worth remembering as well we don’t really need to win. A point hurts them badly.

Agree about Newcastle, another 50 thousand inbreds screaming at the ref for 90 minutes

Their home record is just as good as Liverpool's and they are actually on form as well. They drew with City, beat Chelsea, beat man U - lost to Liverpool 2-0 but that was with their GK sent off after 20 mins and they were still the better side. It will take a herculean effort to win up there.

It's going to be easier to score on Liverpool at Anfield than Newcastle at St. James. In my humble opinion, far better defensively. They were a tough nut when they came to London. Even tougher now. They will be packed in, counter when they see some sunlight between the center backs.

Having Jesus will help a lot. Martinelli is in form but Trossard is a better dribbler I think and that may be the difference in tight spaces.

Was it a foul? I thought not. Somehow the fact that there was 'contact' becomes the focus and gives the VAR officials an excuse not to overturn.

The Chelsea game at the Emirates is set to be moved from Saturday to Tuesday, due to coronation and police.

26th April - Man City (A)
2nd May - Chelsea (H)
7th May - Newcastle (A)

We’d have the same turnaround time as Chelsea whenever they play the game, but now we have two days less rest than Newcastle before that game. That doesn’t suit us

And why not bring on Jorginho for Ødegaard? Bringing on another defender invited pressure.

We also need to remember that hopefully we will have Jesus and Partey for our game with City when we didn’t have them both for the home game.
If City could somehow lose Haaland and Rodri before that game that would nicely even things up!

Gary Neville saying “I said all along City would just edge it”….I’m no you didn’t Gary you previously said “City will win it by 15 points”

This guy is going to crow so much about being ‘right’ despite being basically wrong with every single prediction this season

Saw a great point online….can you imagine if Gabriel was English and had put in the performances he had this season!!? The media would be touting him for player of the year

It was idiotic regardless of whether it was Xhaka or not. It lit the fuse on a dead silent crowd, got their players feeding into it and they scored a couple of minutes later. Xhaka has been great this year but it doesn’t take away from that moment being really stupid.

Possible 3rd kit for next season

I disagree, their goal got the crowd in to it, their goal lit the fuse, their goal sparked their players in to life…..their goal came so soon after Xhaka’s card and didn’t involve anything related in any way to Xhaka’s booking. We can agree there was no need to get involved, as there rarely is in any game but the one didn’t cause the next.

If people think this then I wonder what they would have made of all those famous Arsenal v Man U battles down the years.

Here’s how City have performed in their run in over the last few seasons. They average 5 dropped points.
However the 20/21 season Liverpool had pretty much won it by now so there was no ‘race’ for them. I’m struggling to think of a season City we’re in a genuine race and didn’t win it

Hi Rich,

There is still hope, of course.

It would be interesting to know who those points dropped were against and whether City had already wrapped up the title or had an almost unassailable lead.

When you look at the remaining fixtures for both sides I think you have to think City will drop less points than us.

The big unknown is how far City will progress in the CL and will those fixtures impact their PL performances.

I can already see the next thing the media will focus on with us, it is the fake injuries so Arteta can have a mini team talk.
It is the dark arts, but we’re hardly the first good team to do it.

So far they’ve tried us with;
No chance of top 4
You’ve only played weak teams
Overly celebrating
Arteta gesticulating wildly
Wait until you get injuries

It’s such a strange thing because you would have thought the team who is the absolute master of dark arts and has been doing this sort of thing for years and is also the team that is currently facing over 100 charges for cheating might be the ones that face more criticism than the only team who are making this season mean anything in the run in!