alexf

He's like Wan-Bissaka. 1-1 he always seems to get a leg in. Really impressed. Only time he looked like he as struggling was after Ritchie came on and they were able to double up on him but thankfully Eddie saw to that and swapped big Joe over.

Sort of game that suits him but he was fantastic. Aerially was superb.

Rice was very good in that game against West Ham at home last season. Let's hope he's not as dominant today and our midfield can take advantage of no Odegaard.

Ah I was watching with the sound off. Didn't realise it was Maguire they were looking at. Thought they had given it for Mctominay being off.

.

My "witch hunt" claim was on the assumption they gave him an extended ban just because they weren't the ones who discovered his initial betting. You can just keep redrawing the line now after he has already been caught. He already has a blanket ban across whole of football that is more than sufficient to cover his "crime". So if they discovered he was still betting on Milan for example after joining us, adding time to his sentence would feel incredibly unnecessary and would stink of just wanting to exert their authority and kick someone while they are down. Easy target so to speak. If it was discovered he had influenced games over here then that's a different crime and probably deserves a longer sentence due to the severity.

I think our lack of depth due to the injuries etc could be the problem here like against Wolves and West Ham. Even if we took the lead and were on top for a spell I think it's a big ask for these lads that have played so much football to see out the game against a strong team like Arsenal. If we had Isak, Murphy, Barnes, Tonali etc as options for fresh legs I'd be much more confident. Also hope we negate the Saka Vs Burn issue earlier this time and protect him aswell as possible.

Starting to feel a bit like a witch hunt. I mean even if he had, his punishment is longer than anyone else has got before. If he was betting AFTER being given the punishment then I could understand the talk of adding on time, but to try and make it a "separate offence" is just ridiculous.

I dunno what Miggy's circumstances were but for Joelinton, I think drink driving is a pretty shameful thing and probably shouldn't be incorporated into a celebration.

Come on then, apologise for being wrong.

Love how I keep reading that it was our B team. I would say this was comfortably a C team. Still had the likes of Barnes, Murphy, Miley, Anderson, Tonali all missing who would have started if fit. Plus players like Lascelles rested due to filling in for Botman recently. Plus as mentioned, essentially playing with 10 as Ritchie's legs went about 2 years ago.

Love him. Looked every bit a senior player aswell after coming on so early. Put a really good performance in, especially first half. Was surprised to see him on the left for a change but he was very effective in what he did.

Anyone else really curious as to how the Matt Targett in the deep Bruno midfield role experiment would have turned out. ? Was the most unexpected performance looking at the line up but it just proves why he is levels above the likes of Ten Hag. He makes perceived shit players look good and functional.

Crikey I forgot about him. He's an energiser bunny. Just never gets tired.

I mean we essentially won that with ten men aswell. No disrespect intended to Ritchie ? but he barely got near the ball, other than a few set pieces early on, and couldn't get near a player to make a tackle either. Felt bit sorry for him, must be hard as a professional when your legs have well and truly gone.

I actually thought he was a yard shorter which is why he was frustrated first half. Made great movements but didn't have his usual explosion to pull away. It's still there but just needs to keep building up the minutes and sharpness. But the goal was down to his directness and confidence. Hope he can stay injury free now.

Fantastic again. Didn't expect him to be so good defensively. Seems to be pocketing anyone who comes up against him. But then he had the confidence to just burn through the whole team and put it on a plate for Miggy. Think he has earned the trust of Howe now to get more minutes in the league and help keep Trippier fresher/try something differently tactically.

A colossus tonight. Just hope he can recharge ready for the weekend. Him and Almiron put in great shifts as the two first teamers who didn't get a rest.

What a story. Like a new signing him finally being back. Adds some depth defensively. Easy to forget he was one of the first to get Howe'd when he deputised for Trippier so well at the end of the 21/22 season. Chuffed for him tonight. Him scoring the 4th would have been too much ?

Is it wrong that I'd rather go out to them in the semi than lose a final again? They are the only side I would fear in the final, due to our mental block against them it seems. I think we would beat every single other side. Chelsea away is the the only other banana skin but we are a better team, they just have plenty of individuals but hopefully they are still faltering when we rock up.

I'd rather think of it as us taking out potential winners earlier and leaving us an easier fixture in the final. For example I'd rather face Liverpool over two legs in the semi of we get past Chelsea, than a one off game in the final.

Did Bowen just say "europeanly"??

Love him. So glad he's back. His ceiling as a player is so high. He would be in the England squad already if he hadn't been injured. Took that goal so well.

What happened to that A.Murphy who played preseason? Looked decent.

What happened to that A.Murphy who played preseason? Looked decent.