timeEd32

I don't think there's any chance Arsenal finish outside of the Top 4/5. Odegaard was a big miss and most teams don't wind them up the way we do.

Oh for fuck's sake.

I think it's a reasonable stance that a referee who isn't allowed to do a club's matches due to allegiance should also not be the VAR ref. That's asking for trouble and/or bad optics.

I know they are one of the league's darlings but it really feels like the Premier League needs to do something here. A manager having a tantrum minutes after the match is one thing (as embarrassing as it was), but a club releasing a statement like this when in the grand scheme of things it wasn't really anything that crazy (unlike Liverpool who very wrongly had a goal disallowed) sets a dangerous precedent. I also find it comical how Arsenal, starting with Arteta, could have started a very different narrative which is that we should have been down to 10 men in the first half and honestly that would have been fair. They've made it all about the goal just because VAR looked at three things as if the number of incidents has any meaning. The return fixture is going to be one of the games of the season. I think I'm now looking forward to it more than Anfield, though I have no idea how we'll keep 11 men on the pitch.

I can't even remember now - how / when did he get hurt?

If it happened at the other end I think we'd be talking a lot about how good of a save Pope made. The ball is played to him underneath his body so he had to take a touch and then let it run in front for a split second. He got a decent enough shot away but the keeper did well and got his knee on it. An excellent chance, but hardly a sitter.

This is likely true and can be extended to top 5. Long way to go but there's a decent chance that whomever finishes 6th in that first Europa League spot will feel a bit hard done by. Will be even in more true if England fail to get the extra place.

With the state of the squad right now I’ll be shocked if we can follow that up with something from this game. But who knows with this team.

Can it be reviewed when it’s been reviewed in the game?

Agreed, he’s back and just in time.

Everything about that was spectacular. Drama, controversy, and three fucking points. I don’t know how we play Dortmund in three days but whatever.

Win the ball > slip in the rain > booked

This is wonderful. It’s everything I wanted during the Ashley years.

Very lucky boy. Eddie needs to have a word.

I don't think we would have done it, but one of our best options to create some FFP wiggle room in January would have been selling him and the massive wages he's on. Could have helped fund a CB or striker, depending on what's happening with Botman/Isak. What a bummer.

We are home to Fulham and away to Luton either side of this trip to Stamford Bridge.

It's before Christmas.

Boro please. It’s not the real thing but derby withdrawals.

Don't understand that at all.

God I'd love to see some rants tonight from Mancs about how they just lost to a team with Ritchie and Dummett.

It's somewhat comical how ridiculous this is but we're also an injury to Wilson / Bruno / Trippier / Schar from our season going off the rails.

I agree, but also in a world with more normal injuries the backline would have Lascelles, Tonali would be in there, and Murphy / Barnes / Wilson could all have a chance.

This isn't really a fair way to look at it. We finished 4th last year exceeding everyone's expectations after 18 months prior heading straight for relegation. The team needed serious investment to make up for the preceding years. That investment happened in consecutive windows in 2022 without any real progress on the revenue side. We've been playing a revenue vs. outgoings balancing act ever since then. On the bolded bit - per all reports everyone involved in running the club is involved in our transfer strategy. It would have presumably been a group decision to take the approach we did. I'm sure Yasir has asked why we didn't know about Tonali's gambling habits but ultimately that's a bad break as is Barnes. We've had additional bad luck with Willock, Joelinton, Botman, Murphy, and Isak. Our two most promising youngsters are also unavailable right now due to injury / illness. It seems pretty disingenuous to question why we signed two extremely promising fullbacks when we have almost an entire XI unavailable for various reasons.

You're missing a whole matchday - they need to go to Milan. I'm also not just granting them 3 points against PSG (though PSG may have qualified by then, which would not be ideal).

The next 2+ weeks are going to be very tough. No Tonali, no Murphy, I'm assuming no Isak, and maybe no Botman for some of it. After an intense effort last night we have: 2 days off Wolves (a) 3 days off Man Utd (a) 2 days off Arsenal (h) 2 days off Dortmund (a) 3 days off Bournemouth (a)