84': Red card for O'Connor, the Blackpool goalscorer, for a pretty bad scissor tackle on Aubameyang near midfield. Goes to VAR, upheld. 10 v. 10 for the rest of the way, probably.
Aubameyang nearly scored, but is offside, and is nearly through again, but is offside. Then Ramsey is put through, is ruled offside. The female AR (whose name I don't recall, but she's the regular PL one), nailed all three calls. Headed into stoppage time, SIX minutes!
Aubameyang's pressure forces a turnover by the Blackpool goalkeeper. In the ensuing possession, the ball is headed to Aubameyang for essentially a tap-in, but bull-headed Ramsey cuts it off and takes a horrific touch, killing the chance. Despite that, Arsenal doesn't relinquish possession for another full minute, Blackpool never gets the ball past midfield before Arsenal recovers it, pass pass pass, final whistle. 2-1 final. Kind of sloppy, much like the weather, but a win is a win.
I think his head was off. One of those calls that IMO shouldn't be offside, but probably was. Tough to tell from the replay angle provided though.
Just watched the highlights on Youtube. That was a very weak performance by us with a pretty strong line up on the pitch. We needed a confidence building blow out and saw just the opposite. Liverpool may kick our asses. Cech looked terrible. Didn't come for balls in the area when he should have and almost another guffaw moment. I'd be lying if I said I'm not scared for Saturday.
Yeah, that's what I thought at first. Because I assumed it was for the trip, which appeared accidental. But on watching the replay a few times, I decided that it was the grab that preceded the trip which was what warranted the yellow. Or at least you can see why the ref might've thought so. It's a shame that he'll have to miss out on Liverpool which is our first really big test in >2 mos.
Yeah that little escapade just reinforces how Emery is foolish to make him play with his feet. IMHO. There's no rule that says every keeper on your team has to play the same way. They should play to their strengths rather than trying to learn new tricks at a rather advanced age. And the rest of our team is more than capable of adjusting their play and expectations somewhat, for different keepers and how they tend to play the ball out.
I think it makes sense for a club to have a consistent philosophy in terms of how they want their goalkeepers to play, but that's a thing that you implement over a few years, and you make personnel moves to make it happen. If you can't, or won't, sell a player like Cech, whose footskills aren't good, then you train differently ahead of matches in which he's going to play. Asking Cech to play like Neuer isn't going to end well.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sian_Massey-Ellis I'm a fan of hers. She seems to be quality. And I love the fact that a woman has broken into the senior ranks of this behemoth which is the EFL. BTW, in last Sunday's title-deciding NYRB-OCFC match, there was another lineswoman on duty. First time I recall seeing this in MLS.
Other miscellany: On their goal, I thought Ramsey was pathetic. He like ducked down at the very moment he needed to be strong and challenge for the header. Smart, healthy rotation once again... Julio P as CB... I'll admit I've never heard of him before. But I also don't recall hearing his name called for any f-up's today. So there's that. AMN great to see back! Where did he play mostly? I was doing work while "watching" so I missed a ton of details. Jenks back too... after 2 years?! With his goonah history, I have a little soft spot for him. But not enough to think that he'll be figuring much for us in the future. Lastly, why were our fans loudly booing any BP player who entered or left the game? Seemed a lot more pronounced than usual, but then again I was listening with earbuds so...
The booing was mostly over how Gouzy was treated by the ref. Ramsey looked pathetic, but given the news that came out yesterday I suppose I shouldn't be surprised. AMN was ok, not game shape obviously sucks because he had such a successful preseason. Jenks seems fine tbh. He hasn't played first team ball in some time. But, I didn't expect him to embarrass himself or the team. And, I don't think he did. Played LB, and tbh Xhaka at FB can only last so long before teams target him. A large portion of the starting 11 needs a rest, honestly I would have preferred to see even more of the youth players.
Na, wasn’t a strong lineup. Best player in the first half was guendouzi. We had Jenko and some guy I never heard of with leichsteiner and mustafi and a fresh off injury cech. We did enough, ref was shite though. Blackpool didn’t even touch the ball for about the first 10 minutes. Have to say, other than his goal I’m not that impressed with ESR. He seemed to want to drive at defenders but didn’t have the pace or tricks to get by any. Right place on his goal though so fair play. AMN on the other hand looks like the real deal. He played at RF and was really good helping leichsteiner out defensively. His quickness is blistering. He has a few moves as well and I could see him being key for us in a season or two. An inch or two on a few offsides calls and we’d have battered them 4-1 or so.
I didn't get to watch yesterday but I tend to agree. What I have seen of him looks unimpressive. Think he needs more PT. Would be best if we could find a good place to send him on loan next season.
he seems like he could be a halfway decent prospect for a striker. never saw anything before that would have suggested he would (should?) be an attacking midfielder and he showed why this game. can't wait for him to be fully back and in the playing rotation. if, uh, nothing else, i'd have more confidence in him at left-back than xhaka.