I'd like to know who threw a wrench in the gameplan. I assume it was a vet and I tend to think it was up the middle of the field (Mari, Luiz, Xhaka and/or Partey). Whomever it was should never play in an Arsenal jersey again. Doesn't matter if you think the manager is wrong you do as instructed.
I'm not his biggest fan, but Chambers driving forward put the Wham defence under pressure, I thought he had a great second half. Credit where it's due.
He’s going to want an equitable contract. If Arsenal are able to sign him away from Real and don’t give him what he’s worth, someone else will come calling the following year.
I think we should go for two options this summer: Aouar or Odengaard. Really depends if Real Madrid wants to sell. My hope is Zidane would prefer his fellow countryman who is also of Algerian descent and we go in for Ø. If not we go for Aouar or someone who can fill that role. I dont want all our eggs in one basket.
Wasn't long ago that he was Fulham's POTY playing as as #6. Would be interesting to see him in a backup DM role if we started playing in a 4-3-3 more regularly.
Haven’t had a chance to watch the replay yet, but did VAR review the arm pull on Pepe in the 86th minute when MO11 played him through but Pepe only scuffed his shot? if Luiz gets a red card as a left defender not playing the ball against Wolves, how is pulling the arm of Pepe not ruled the same? To my eyes, that should have been an easy call for a pen, + a red card based on past referee decisions.
bruh, a bajillion years on and i am STILL unreasonably pissed at the bullshit card on diaby anytime i see anything newcastle.
this summer is going to be one of the few times the collective arsenal fandom roots for real madrid to go after - and get - someone like mbappe or haaland.
I don’t think it’s a penalty on Pepe. Which to your point just exposes the completely nonsensical interpretation of the laws. Like, why exactly is a possible incidental brush a penalty and red when 100x that contact is dismissed as ‘going down too easily?’
We're going to lose our sanity comparing everything to the Luiz-rule. I do it all the time and I'm gone. Save yourself
Exactly - a completely different standard is now being applied compared to say the pen calls Man U have been getting for just going down in the box under any contact
Being player of the year in a team that gets relegated is not a brilliant achievement, probably just shows that he's good for a side wanting to stay in the PL, but without fear of relegation. As I said, he played well in the second half, so good on him. Let's see if he can do this week in week out.
Did you infer from his comments that it was an intentional refusal to execute his instructions or just a failure to be able to do so?
Chambers could kind of be what AMN was supposed to be, a homegrown utility/supersub RB, CB, and DM. Probably only playing DM in Europa League or cup matches. I wish he could play LB. But it really depends on Chambers' ambitions. After his injury, he may be happy to have a utility role. But he's 26 now, he needs a move if he wants to be a regular starter somewhere.
I did not listen to the interview myself. I inferred based on the wording of the quote/interpretation posted here that it was an intentional refusal. I have sense read elsewhere that the actual interview may not have sounded quite as bad as what was posted here.
I mean there didn't seem to be any one reason for us to go 3 down? They kept busting Tierney so that was one thing. But the second goal was a bit freakish and suddenly we're were 2 down. And we got busted up the middle which happened to Partey all game. Like where were he and Xhaka on the first goal by Lingard?
I admittedly only watched high(low)lights from the match, as my son had an SCCL match in Knoxville, which is 3.5 hours away and I didn't have access to NBC Peacock. Yes, they won.
Xhaka and Partey both were far too deep in our box, yet neither of them followed a runner in there. They should have posted up around the d until they had a man to engage. This has been a major problem since the start of Emery’s reign. The ‘flat back 6’ shape makes it really hard to defend any kind of cutbacks.
But have we really seen a lot of that since Arteta took over? I'm wondering if fatigue played a bit of a role yesterday.
I can't say for sure, but I reflexively assumed it was just spontaneous failure, rather than obstinate defiance. What justification would there be for the latter, unless we think that the boss has completely lost the dressing room, which from what I've heard would be a rather large leap of faith.
It was strange though - towards the end of the game when that hammers player busted up straight up the middle and blew by Partey as if he was not here? Like you at least have to get your body in the way of that but also - like all game, there was just no defensive shape in midfield