Ehhhh. On some level, I can't get worked up about this - it was stupid to say on camera, but referees are people too. They're allowed to have opinions about the people/teams they're refereeing, especially when those opinions are based on their interactions in a professional capacity. Oliver getting paid by Abu Dhabi and then reffing Man City games is a far bigger issue than this.
I think there were signs in the last few International breaks that his favored status at Ghana might've been coming to an end. And of course that's largely fine with us Gooners. Especially with his injury history, and specifically the few times that he came back crocked from Ghana duty. And the fact that at last he's been back to good form for us this season. Yikes, that's still going on??? I thought it had been quietly put to bed (no pun intended!). It seems like it's been 2 years now.
I don't know if I agree. Referees are the equivalent of public servants for football. I think this is the same as LA city council folks getting caught on tape being super racist, e.g. https://archive.is/OUBAg. 100% agree that Oliver getting paid is way worse though, but this should still disqualify him I think (beyond his name just being Coote). If you can't keep your bias to yourself and off video -- how the hell are you going to keep it off the pitch.
More than! British justice, everyone. https://www.dailymail.co.uk/sport/f...ier-League-footballer-probed-rape-claims.html His initial arrest was in July 2022.
If you'd asked me 2 years ago, I would've bet money that Partey would not be an Arsenal player in November 2024, let alone a key starter/contributor so far this season. If his legal troubles are kept at bay until the summer when we can part company with him on a free transfer, it may prove to be phenomenal luck for our club, assuming it's not some kind of masterful legal manipulation of the situation by our mgmt.
I didn’t mean in a literal sense. 1856402197573186011 is not a valid tweet id This guy is a super villain
Seriously you're asking that question? First of all, go back and look at my posts about Partey since the news broke 2 years ago. I've consistently said I don't want a rapist (or anything even remotely similar) anywhere near my team. I didn't even want an ear-biter with elite goal-scoring skill. Is Partey currently a convicted rapist? Or did he settle out of court (implying guilt)? I'll admit I have not followed his case closely for over a year now, including any new news from recent days. And I'm kinda proud to say I don't do Twitter... never have. But I was under the impression that the answer to those 2 questions was "no". Correct? My saying "phenomenal luck" today was couched in that presumption of innocence. But it was also, of course, looking from the point of view of the club, management, head coach. I.e. they invested heavily in an asset which, as has turned out (so far), they're still able to have the use of... and especially this season. And I think the club would consider themselves very lucky (or as I alluded to, somewhat legally skillful??) to be able to reach the end of his contract, while still, getting PT out of him, before they cast him loose this summer. And let me make this clear... I would strongly vote for them to do that, not that I have a vote in the matter.
This season has already made we realize just how big of an anomaly last season was, in terms of the lack of injuries and the massive opportunity it presented to win the league, which we wasted.
I was always cognizant of last season's good luck with injuries, and frankly when we finished second by a whisker, I thought to myself not only "damn that was a waste" but also TBH "that was probably our one good chance, we can't expect another". Always hopeful of course, but now we see that the league is no longer a binary fight with Citeh, which seems to make our chances even smaller.
If true, stand them all down immediately. Absolutely unacceptable. And anyone who claims to support Arsenal, quotes Bergies famous quote of a club that accepts everyone, but then abuses someone reaching out for help after potentially being raped by one of our players can ******** off, they aren't Arsenal supporters to me.
Timber injured on the first day and out for the season. Partey, Jesus, Zinchenko, and Tomiyasu doing their typical play a few matches, then out several weeks, rinse, repeat, with the latter two (and Timber) resulting in having to play Kiwior in big matches and run White into the ground. So, I don't agree we had a lack of injuries last season.
The only player in the above list that hasn't been injured at some point this season is Partey. Add to that, White, Califiori, Merino, Ødegaard, and Saka, and this season's injury list looks significantly larger than last year, and it's only November. Technically you could throw Raya, Gabriel and Rice onto that pile as well, but they haven't missed significant time.
Right. But my point wasn't that last year's injuries were worse than this year's. It was only that they weren't insignificant. Thus, it's not farfetched to think they contributed as much to the point difference between first and second last season as much as "throwing it away" did.
AS Roma must like things in 3's. They're just hiring their 3rd manager of the season so far. That manager is being given his 3rd stint at the club. Guess who? Retired 78YO Roma fan Claudio Ranieri of course. They sit in 12th place in the table, so let's just hope he can move them up, so that they don't have to can him to go looking for their 4th this season.
Just watched a very poor game of soccer in Kingston Jamaica. On a predictably poor field. USMNT squeaked out a 1-0 that coulda/shoulda been a draw or worse. Poch’s first competitive* match was quite lackluster. Only one way to go from here! * If Nations League is a real competition