You mean when Arteta was captain of the team.

Thanks Haz
Also saw this on the Premier.league website

a) If the FA Cup winners finish in the top five of the Premier League, their UEL group stage place will go to the next-highest ranked team not qualified for UEFA competitions in the Premier League.

Europa league is not that BAD.
We are never going to win the champions league but qualifying for it would have progressed our development, increased finances and attracted a better type of player.
Still good players out there that will come to us with no champions league football.
Europa league minimum is a must.
Surely not even we can *%^@ up top 6.
Can't see palace getting past 2 of city Chelsea and Liverpool.

Oh yeah how about Sanchez.

You are deluded if you think their squad isn’t better equipped generally than us. They have players they can give minutes to ease injuries and rest legs. We have Swanson and azeez. No point discussing it further. You’re clueless

In some positions yes - they have a few more full back options than we do, although it should be said their starters aren't as good as ours. In others? Definitely not. Skipp and Winks as options in central midfield is pretty much on par with Lokonga and Elneny. Moura and Bergwijn as attacking players are worse than Smith-Rowe and Pépé. Sanchez is decent, but so is Holding. Overall there's very little in it, and I think there's a reason why you're focusing on our respective bench options in one single games where we had more players out than they did.

No if you stuck smith Rowe on our bench yesterday I still wouldn’t swap ours for theirs. They have far more experience and cover. No way would their fans swap winks for elneny btw just ridiculous suggestions and even you don’t believe that.

Didn't say their fans would make that swap, I said it was a pointless one because both players contribute very little. Still very little difference going back and forth looking at our respective benches, and certainly not 'night and day'.

Imo it's Arteta's fault for not giving the younger players a chance when we are playing well so they can built up their confidence.

Why not give Tavares a few games when we are not in a *%^@ position, when we are playing a must win game. Give the burnt out or very close to burnt out players a break. Give the subs a game and use the likes of Emile Smith Rowe, Saka and Oodegard a break.

Rotate the squad so everyone gets a game don't just play the same 11 players all the time, it's a recipe for disaster.

A spoilt brat? Stroppy teenagers grow up. I’m convinced getting rid of Guendouzi will come to be seen as Arteta’s biggest mistake as Arsenal manager.

https://www.mirror.co.uk/sport/football ... dium=email

Really enjoying the tempo of the City v Liverpool game. I bemoan our tempo so often, if you watch the 1st 5 minutes of our games you know if we're up for it or on it, or if it is going to be another lethargic frustrating performance. City at the start of this game were taking quick free kicks, getting throws back in play quickly, getting the ball forward quickly, no meaningless dithering at the back. I'm convinced this is the way to play to be successful, and play to this high tempo all the time. It unsettles even the best players in the world

I think I missed that Saka got booked for diving yesterday. It is a rarity in the game now, the yellow card for diving just doesn't happen. Ridiculously ironic that Saka is the one the ref picks out when he's also not given anywhere near enough protection week in week out.

I made exactly this point in post 545327, page 13634. It’s another thing I reckon Guendouzi would have helped with. He had tremendous energy and covered practically every blade of grass in each game. I know some criticised him for that in making the wrong decision where to go and when. But that’s surely something that comes with experience.

Jesus has been brilliant for City and has probably given Robertson more problems than any right winger this season. He's surprisingly had the better of him physically. I made a call earlier in the season that I'd be more than happy if Arteta thought he could prise Jesus away from City.

There are a lot of players who can run and run, being intelligent about it is key. I thought Connor Gallagher was brilliant at this when we played Palace. Guendousi has energy but I wasn't always convinced with his defensive discipline and awareness.

Looking at where we can improve this in our team, I think Arteta likes Ødegaard leading the press but we need a striker who can do this all game (watch Darwin Nunes for Benfica), and I would say we need a bit more tempo from the centre of the park.

If it is to be Europa league next season I'm ok with that but the squad needs 7-8 quality additions. We have 18 outfield players, 3 of whom are at the end of their contracts. The club has done a lot of emergency surgery in a short period of time and a lot of it has worked out well but it has to be followed through

Fabinho is a bit lucky to not get a red there - it is one of those dark oranges. No attempt to play the ball and put his studs in above the ankle. He was lucky to not be booked earlier for going through the back of Foden

Thiago fortunate to not pick up a second yellow card there as well for that. I've got no problem with the benefit of the doubt but apply it to everyone

Divine intervention.

For the two best teams in the league by some distance it is surprising how both teams use longer direct passes to good affect. Its something we just don't seem to have in our tactics.

Great game. Liverpool were very lucky. Anthony Taylor is half-blind

If Gallagher had played for Arsenal at the same age as when Guendouzi did, you would quite possibly have doubted his defensive discipline and awareness too.

I bet Guendouzi will end up being recognised as a greater player than Gallagher.

Thing is, moving Xhaka to fullback and thus weakening midfield and defence in one fell swoop, and playing Smith Rowe, who is neither in form nor comfortable in a midfield three, was just a bad move. Simples. What was he thinking? Is he planning to play that way for the rest of the season, or he just hoping to get away with it for one game?

There were other options. Tavares had a bad game last time out, but he's not a bad player. If you don't trust him in a back 4, bring in Holding (perfect for this sort of game) and make a plan.

Also, I'm not convinced that Nketiah is as bad as you make out. Not worse than playing Lacazette week in and week out, anyway.

Having said that, I completely agree with Bored. A couple of shocking results doesn't make Arteta a bad manager or the team a bunch of surrender monkeys. 5th or 6th would be disappointing but still represent decent progress.

Well, when Guendouzi played for Arsenal he didn't play in the same position as Gallagher. Gallagher is the most advanced of the 3 central midfielders, (demonstrated by his 8 league goals this season) Guendouzi wasn't that for us, he is more for Marseille and he's playing better because he has less defensive responsibility.

In terms of energy, workrate and tempo there is a difference between runnig around a lot and running intelligently, cutting off passing lanes, being the trigger for the press. I'm not saying Guendouzi can't do that but I've not seen him do it the way Gallagher does.

If I had to put one of those players in to our team right now I'd chose Gallagher. (Gallagher is 2 months older than Guendouzi)

I can't believe Mahrez didn't just put his foot through it in the 94th minute, decided a chip over Allison and cleared the bar by 10 feet. He had a clear shot 20 yards from goal, on his left foot, I've seen Mahrez bend them in to the far corner from there in his sleep

Other than Son + Kane, the biggest difference between us and Spurs has been their ability to win games that had no right winning, or winning games late or winning them where the opponent had most of the game. They started the season with 3 1-0 wins when they were outplayed in each. They had last minute winners v Watford, City and Leicester. When you're not playing well you need that individual spark because the collective isn't working.

Compare that to us and whenever we've played poorly we've dropped points. Even in some of the tight 1-0 wins like Norwich, Burnley, Wolves, Villa we've been the more dominant side and deserved to go 1-0 up at the time and didn't have too many scares to see out the game.

If there’s only two months in the ages how can you criticise Guendouzi for a lack of defensive awareness just because you thought Gallagher played well against us. He did not play for us at the age Guendouzi did. I believe that makes your criticism of Guendouzi hopelessly feeble. His energy is what we desperately need. Running intelligently can come with experience.

Didn’t you say it wasn’t sustainable? Haven’t they more or less sustained it? Perhaps there other nine players aren’t quite as ordinary as some make out?

Very few of the Mikel Arteta boo boys actually go to games. The majority sit at home, watching on dodgy streams, hoping Arsenal lose

They are life’s losers. Watching games at home alone, hoping their agenda fulfils itself. I feel sorry for them. I will be at the next game. And the next game after that. And so on. Backing my team. Hoping we win.

Meanwhile there will be some weird little kids (or adults whose brains have never fully developed) sitting at home alone cheering on our opponents. Moaning about Guendouzi, Saliba and all sorts.

These folks don’t want a successful Arsenal. It’s a joke

Meanwhile back in the real world.......

There has been talk this week of City v Liverpool being the best rivalry the prem has ever seen. If we're talking pure rivalry then it has to be Arsenal v Man U 97-2004, firstly it is a lot longer period but more importantly the two teams absolutely hated each other and had iconic captains and managers that hated each other. Klopp and Pep is more of a mutual love in.

If you're talking about these rivals in terms of their quality then that is a better argument. Liverpool and City are hitting consistency and points totals that Arsenal and Man U didn't hit. One big difference is the depth and strengths of their squads now as opposed to ours and Man U's squads back then. We obviously had strong squads but it wasn't world class players twice over in every position AND top class players that don't even make the bench.

Last minute winners and lucky victories aren't sustainable. Spurs most recent victories have been pretty emphatic and deserved. Scoring goals for fun.

I didn't criticise Guendouzi's lack of defensive awareness 'JUST' because Gallagher played well against us. I didn't bring Guendouzi in to the point I was making about high tempo. Guendouzi with us and Gallagher with Palace play in different positions. There is a difference in what I call general defensive awareness - ie: the player in front of the back 4 vs having defensive awareness in being able to press from the front, knowing how and when to do it and to do it relentlessly ie: what Gallagher does for Palace.
When Guendouzi was with us his strengths were his passing and his energy and the fire he had - but his weaknesses for me were he could switch off defensively. He'd struggle to track runners and he'd sometimes struggle with his lack of pace. It seems the Marseille manager has helped mask those weaknesses by playing him further forward. There is also the possibility that he just suits playing in the french league more than he did the premier league - I know which league I think is harder to play in.
I know you're a massive Guendouzi fan so I won't change your mind, nor am I trying to. Lets just see how his career goes.

I fully expect him to have a great career and be worth millions in lost transfer fees for what Arteta got rid of him for.

I do agree that the Premier League is a higher standard than the French league. But he competed as well as run around a lot for Arsenal. At the beginning of two seasons in the Premier League I think he shone.

Dare I suggest you’ve fallen into the club of thinking Guendouzi lacks pace from reading this forum? He doesn’t. He has average pace. Not super quick but certainly not slow.

And then there are those who make up their own thoughts, and hallucinate them as well.

On a completely unrelated topic to Arsenal, I found the television series of The Ipcress File deeply underwhelming. It went on for six weeks and watched all six episodes. The acting wasn’t as good, the storyline confused, and it was all a bit tedious plus a struggle to sit through.

I fully accept I’m probably not qualified to judge the television series fairly. I rate the film so highly, I was never going to enjoy a remake of it in any form - by film or television series. But whilst accepting those qualifications as a critic of it, I was disappointed by the television series.

The impression I got was of them largely sustaining it way beyond the time you said it wasn’t sustainable for, prior to their recent form.

I have seen a report that Xhakas grandmother past away and he was at her funeral in Kosovo on Wednesday and back by Thursday. Just a thank you to Granit for his efforts in doing that and for giving your best for the club. There are posters on here who may not rate him as a midfielder but without him we look like a team near the bottom of the league.

This is the run of games I think I first mentioned that spurs method of winning wasn’t sustainable. They were second best in pretty much all of these games and won 3 of them with goals in the 95th minute or beyond. Immediately after this run they beat Leeds 4-0 and everton 5-0, I’ll stand corrected but I doubt I was referring to those results as unsustainable. It was more about them picking up wins they didn’t deserve with last minute winners

I know still images don’t tell the whole story but there is no getting away that this tackle from Fabinho is a red card. When you watch it at full speed there is actually no way he can win the ball, it is a deliberate attempt to take Foden down and instead of just tripping him he’s gone studs in above the ankle.

West Ham and Man U also losing did us a big favour. When we get in this kind of form it is hard to see where the next win is coming from. 7th palce is europa conference league, only 5th and 6th are Europa league assuming that Palace don't win the FA Cup - then I think 6th is Europa conference league.

On current form and fixtures it wouldn't surprise me if Spurs ran away with 4th place now, probably sealing it before we even meet them. Man U and West Ham have much tougher fixtures so we need to make sure we stay ahead of them both.

Watching City v Liverpool yesterday I was trying to work out which players from any other team in the league would actually get in to either side's 11.
They have the 2 best GK in the league
I can't think of any better full-backs than Trent, Robertson, Walker, Cancelo
VvD, Matip, Stones, Laporte (and Dias) - Possibly Rudiger but he plays in a back 3
Fabinho, Thiago, Henderson, De Bruyne, Rodri, Bernardo in midfield - there is probably a case for a CM from Chelsea being better than Henderson - peak Kante or Kovacic
Then up front - Salah, Mané, Jota, Sterling, Foden, Jesus - The only two players I can make a case for is Son and Kane neither of whom would be out of place in those sides.

We may be biased and look at Partey or Saka but in my opinion they probably still aren't at the level of any City or Liverpool player.

Those 2 clubs are miles ahead of the rest

On Martinelli's offside goal. Has there been a definitive angle which shows Martinelli definitely head of the last defender? From everything I've seen it is impossible to tell exactly where the last defender's foot is because other players are blocking the view - so then you're guessing where his foot is likely to be based on the rest of his body? Was that what VAR did at the weekend. 4 minutes is a ridiculous length of time. I think we have to move towards a system with VAR that if it is taking that long to try and work out a possible infringement then you have to go with the on field call. Other sports with video replays have done this very easily. There is the onfield call and the video has to conclusively prove that was wrong or you stay with the onfield call. Cricket has the 'Umpires call' for close ones and in Rugby Union the refs will say to the video ref 'my decision is try, is there any reason why I cannot award the try'