yeah man, don't get me wrong I obv wanted 3 pt tonight but this was the game I expected in terms of how it played out. Howe sets up to frustrate, does it against all the free flowing sides.
Yeah he's more of a central player, we needed someone to really stay wide to create space as Newcastle knew we would come in field and seemed happy to bunker in front of/next to their PK box
Gabriel shirt pull and the Xhaka handball late were obvious penalties in other premier league games this year and in the world cup SO OF COURSE they aren't clear penalties for us. Can't have Arsenal having it their own way can we? But I'm sure we see more of Saka kicked around and getting a frivolous yellow.
Which? I've seen the handball one given. I think it's 50/50. Burn horse-collaring Gabriel is a foul all day everywhere else on the pitch. Not sure why VAR didn't at least say have a look.
Interesting though that clickbait bullshit ESPN article immediately after the match was arguing this. Fwiw, I lean toward your take.
I think that as the players have gotten better, Arteta's toned it down a bit as well. The number of head in hands red cards has gone down as well (remember the Auba and Eddie red cards?).
The more we have obvious control of a game, the less wound up he gets. And for the most part this season, we’ve controlled every match. It’s just that when you don’t have control of a game, I think his energy transmits anxiety
Tend to agree with dez: Zinchenko's role could be a lot more effective with a LCM who is more offensive and attacks the channel, likewise Xhaka's role could be more effective covering that left side for a LB who is more offensive minded and overlaps often.. https://t.co/C3kwBU2926— Dezildezzz (@Dezildezzz) January 3, 2023
Some of my local buddies-Gooners and I have a text chain during matches. At the conclusion of this one, I said "while I love the Xhaka redemption arc and think he's been mostly fantastic this season, there are still times when I suspect a more dynamic incisive left 8 might help us break down teams better."
Who do you think would have been a potential difference maker? Vieira? The bench was pretty light on attacking options.
Part of me thinks the lack of attacking options on the bench is a plan to get Stan & Josh to open their checkbooks this month for reinforcements asap. Late in the match I was thinking I would have preferred last season’s version of Pepe over any of today’s bench options for attack.
Wasn't really being serious. I saw speculation ESR might be back for Oxford, would have been nice to have him as a healthy option off the bench. Vieira might have made an impact. Tierney would have offered something different, maybe not for the better. Holding and Elneny are only good to hold a lead, not create one. The one sub Arteta did use in Tomi wasn't going to change things much from White. Don't really think Mudryk is the type of player who would have made an impact, either. Big target man might have been a good option
We needed more take-ons centrally around the box. It's much easier to get ready for an interception when you don't have to set yourself as support for a man getting dribbled. This is the sort of game where you want a Sanchez. Not winning is annoying, but we go again.
Newcastle were excellent in achieving exactly what they wanted. A number of our players weren't at their best, but credit to Newcastle for leading them down that path. This was a proper English match of high stakes and there's nothing like it in football. I hate to say this because 07/08 is my favorite Arsenal side and certainly the best of the oil money era, but this is the sort of match that made that team come unglued. Today Newcastle came out like the bully on the block and by the end we had them shaking. They're a good side who should finish top 4 based on what we've seen so far and Arsenal showed a lot of spine today. After this game has my feeling for this team wavered or grown? It's grown.
Newcastle are strong defensively pretty even game. I would’ve liked to of seen Saka more isolated vs burn as he can roast him all day. Eddie was a bit all over the place I felt and had team mates pointing for him to move
True. But also he was a player under Wenger when we had little support from referees and endured injuries to Eduardo, Shawcross and also many calls against us. I think as a manager now, that has made him become animated and tough. It also wins loyalty from the players since he's fighting for them. It's more of a good thing than bad unless he starts getting reds.
Yeah, I was wondering about the White sub, but I suspect he was gassed. After that play where he chased down Willock in the corner and made a bit of an awkward (but effective tackle) he looked spent. But obviously I'm speculating. I think I agree about Mudryk. From what we know, he's a run into space guy and not a break down packed defenses specialist. I dunno, but maybe his pace and fresh legs running at tired ones would still have helped.
This replay angle makes the handball seem more than 50/50, IMHO. Looks like he's turning into it, instead of trying to pull/tuck his arm away. This is a penalty all day long… https://t.co/OmDFp1NXqg— John Williamson (@willow1886) January 4, 2023
Yikes. The Premier League's implementation of VAR is quite bad. Not bad in the "Juve didn't win because VAR's cameras didn't go out far enough to catch a player playing someone onside" but bad in the sense that there's no transparency and it feels like the VAR official is basically a bad pundit. Yesterday's performance was down to Newcastle defending well/cynically (Scott Willis has some interesting numbers on that - you guys should look them up), and also a tired team after three games in eight days coming back from the World Cup. The holiday fixture list is tough.
Sure. But tapping the "both things can be true" bingo space (or AV pod coffee mug), we all know that in a game with such fine margins, decisions or non-decisions like this and the Gabriel horse collar can absolutely turn the outcome.