Well, didn't see that coming. Welcome surprised even though it could have easily been a loss. How we kept a clean sheet I have no idea.

I've thought Holding had upside potential ever since that cup final against Chelsea a few years back. Oxade-Chamberlain said "he bossed it' at the back in his first cup final. Pers played great, best defender on the pitch possibly that day but he's a german international, he's expected. Holding wasn't expected to and did great in a big game. Since then we've seen him regress but rose again in stature when given a run of games.

At the risk of sounding like a party pooper, I wouldn't make any more out of it than it is. We beat a good team with a combination of us playing well, the opposition making mistakes they normally wouldn't and a bit of luck.
We are capable of beating any side in the league on our day. So, has sides lower the table have done against the top sides.

This game should be one that instills belief and hopefully have the players buy in to the project. It certainly doesn't mean we've turned a corner. Far from it.

Smith Rowe. Well played sir.
Can’t believe we won but second half we defended very well.

Not sure on Ødegaard. Think he flatters to deceive a little and certainly doesn’t look like a 50 million pound type signing.

He's been inconsistent for sure, but the West Ham game alone is almost enough for me to want to sign him permanently. There's quality there, and he's at the perfect age for us when trying to rebuild the team in my opinion.

The Guardian said Chelsea were insipid and that Arsenal were deserved winners?

Not £50m for me, unless its part of a £200m splurge

Wouldn’t disagree.

That’s one good game from several he’s played though right ?

I suppose it depends on the fee 25 to 30 and maybe worth a bite but they are going to ask for 40 or 50

Oh well the Kroenke can sleep better now, knowing there is no need to invest in the squad

Great win
Didnt envisage that at all.
Real backs to the wall.
Need to win our last 2 and hope others slip up.
Just checked the table and incredibly only 3 points behind west ham though they have a game in hand.
A defeat and 2 draws for them and 2 wins for us and we would finish above them by a point.
Absolutely ridiculous considering they were going seriously for top 4.
Only a point behind spurs now.
Need Everton and liverpool to both lose tomorrow.

Just recalling AG awhile back mentioning an obnoxious Chelsea fan at the Cock n Bull, not certain if the one he mentioned here is the same though. No point bothering with assorted accents.

It certainly was Rünarsson.

The commentator throughout the match tried to add some unlikely scenario we just might squeak by with European football if we win and this and that happens, the euro does this, Saturn does that and a butterfly flaps its wings in Singapore.

We're not playing European football next season. Yeah, numerically we're in it with a shout but I doubt it.

I rather we do not sign him. I think Willock is a better bet right now after his Newcastle stint.

Kudos to Leno in yesterday's game. He was good.

Thinking about it, I should have more faith in our moving up the table a little. We are in a decent position. We are among 2 or 3 teams whose fortunes can go up or down on each result. We'll see what happens. All we can do is win our games and the football gods decide the rest.

Depends what you mean by European football. https://www.skysports.com/share/12304202

Table since Christmas.

They're different players I think. We've seen Willock try to operate as a No.10 and it doesn't suit him, he needs the ball in front of him to run on to. Ødegaard is a superior creator in that sense but Willock looks better at making those late runs and being a goal threat.
If we can get Ødegaard on loan for another season I'd take it as it allows us to divert funds to other areas of the team, we can't afford to spend £50m on Ødegaard. At that price I'd be more tempted to go for Buendia at £40m

and yet our form doesn't feel like we're a top 3 team since Christmas. What it does show is how congested a lot of teams are, a few good/bad results in the season are the difference of 4-5 places.
We're certainly not as bad as some of the results we've had this season, but Liverpool would say the same with some of their home defeats - and I'm sure anyone finishing 5th to 9th will point to 4 games where they really should have picked up another 10 points which would have had them in the top 4.

Arteta was very stern in his post match chat, calling out the media for misrepresenting his quotes. I think he took the reporter asking the questions by surprise because once he said what he did the reporter knew he had to keep asking him about that topic but didn't seem prepared and Arteta was just angry and silent waiting for the next question. I liked it. BUT, do it once and don't make it a running theme, because if you keep calling out the media they'll just come back twice as hard and you'll never win.

The margins are small right

If Xhaka didn’t get sent off at Burnley and the ref didn’t give that ridiculous penalty at Wolves we would be 5th right now and there would be a totally different atmosphere around Arsenal.

Despite our problems my feeling is our bad start was a bit of an anomaly and if we had Ødegaard and Emile Smith Rowe raring to go at the start of the season it might have been a different story.

The two Burnley games are the ones that really stick out for me. We were in control and looking likely to win the game at home, the red card cost us 3 points. Away from home a terrible error from Xhaka and then a terrible one from the ref to not give the penalty for handball.
We've only been well beaten 6 times I'd say, Villa at home, Spurs away and both games v Liverpool and City. The other 7 defeats have been touch and go, small margins - but equally we've had some wins that were very tight.

I suspect every team has their own 'nearly' or 'if only' moments this season so we are rightfully where we are on merit

So what is left to play for? The slim chance of 7th (or even 6th!) and Europa Conference League football next year?
To catch Spurs we need them to take a maximum of 4 points from the last 3 games v Wolves(h), Villa (h), Leicester (a). AND, for us to take 2 wins from Palace (a) and Brighton (h). If that happened we'd pip them by a point

We'd also need Everton to take only 6 points from their 4 remaining fixtures, Villa (a), Sheff Utd (h), Wolves (h), City (a)

if West Ham only take 3 points from their last 3 games Brighton(a), West Brom (a), Southampton (h) then we would overtake them as well if we win our 2 games

How much of any of that is feasible? I'd give that a very, very slim chance of happening and can see us finishing 9th as the most likely position

Next seasons away short is pretty smart

Arsenal have a 5 year contract on the table for Smith Rowe - lets hope we can get him signed up. Real break through season for him. We need to allow him to grow, same with Saka who is even younger, they have carried us too often this season.

Right now Smith Rowe and Saka have a bit of Charlie George about them. Came up through the youth system and are living their biggest dream.

However, at some point, they will want to win things. Kane wants to win things, so he's seriously considering leaving the club he loves. Not everyone is Le Tissier, where just playing for the club you love almost as much life is itself is enough.

An obvious connection eh ?

Hey ever wondered if Kanye West and Fred West are related ?

Charlie George (from Islington) and Smith Rowe (from Croydon) were boyhood Arsenal fans. Saka (from Ealing) didn’t support Arsenal. He actually supported Newcastle because his dad supported them.

I'm guessing American Gooner hasn't looked at the table recently.

More generally, its actually silly how people buy into particular narratives, and just stick to them, regardless of facts. Flat-earthers and conspiracy junkies aren't the only ones who do this.

Spurs have to win two of their last three to be sure of finishing ahead of us. Everton likewise. They just dropped another 2 points thanks in part to Martinez's heroics. And I wouldn't bet against us winning both of our remaining games.

Sure we're still third favourites to finish 7th, but even if we miss out, we're probably going to end up very close to Spurs and Liverpool in the table. We had a terrible first half of the season, and shot ourselves in the foot in Europe, but actually we haven't been nearly as poor this season as people make out.

Good to hear. But I trust they come with two legs?

The shirt looks nice too.

Exactly, which is why I disagree with your argument that we need a major squad overhaul. I think we are evolving in the right direction.

The fact that we've had two players from the academy establish themselves (Saka probably was 70% there already after last season) and a quite a batch more that really look promising, is also massive.

Getting on par with City, United Chelsea and Liverpool will be a tall order, mind you.

Very interesting.

Maybe it hurts us technically table wise, haven't bothered to look, but I always cheer for Liverpool over Man Utd.
The very first match I can recall ever hearing about in English football. I vaguely recall as a little kid on American news, the sports section, seeing cops on horses and masses of people having to walk down a gauntlet and the commentator saying it had to be done for safety. The commentator and all of us wondering why all this over a game. Like 'really? Is it that serious?'. Came to understand 'yes, it is'..lol.

This is correct. It doesn’t always have to be extremes, one thing or other. It’s perfectly reasonable to believe Arteta has made some mistakes but also has done a good job generally whilst dealing with impossible circumstances

The first half of the season was poor and yes the semi final exit disappointing but there’s certainly evidence with some restructuring we could surprise a few next season.

Depends on what we want to achieve really ? Compete for a title or top 4 ?

For me our absolute essentials are 2 midfielders (no10 and CDM) and a better right back

That might get us a place closer to top 4

Nice to haves ..... left back cover, another creative midfielder to provide cover from the bench and maybe a new centre back.

Then consider replacements if somebody leaves.

Can we get MOTD to get their scream-ometer out for that Bruno Fernandes scream just then. He was back up on his feet within seconds!

We need top quality signings at CM and rightback. We need to find a good up-and-coming left back and resolve the keeper situation too.

As for the rest, it depends on how you see our current lot. What about Emile Smith Rowe? I agree with you that his Emile Smith Rowe's dynamism and footballing brain give him the edge over Ødegaard. If Emile Smith Rowe is the business (although with young players you always have to be wary about making big decision after just one good season) what is his best position? no10? Should we be getting another 10? Or an 8?

I think Smith Rowe is a no10 who can also play effectively from the left in tighter bigger games. Would make sense to sign a more experienced no10 to rotate with him and share the load. A massive part of our problem is when we get a injury to a key player we can’t replace them so try numerous different solutions to a problem that can’t be fixed.

Think the club view Partey as the no8 and want another player to come in at the base of our midfield.