Stottie

What a hit! Very pedestrian from Liverpool though, like us against Norwich.

Not bad but not good. A good chance for three points missed. Atsu played well and was very composed on the ball. Almiron lacks composure and maybe needs to slow it down and concentrate on basics like staying onside and finding a team mate. Jetro looked good. We bossed the first part of the second half, but they nearly won it after bringing their subs on. Bruce should have acted sooner.

Nearly an Arsenal goal there. Great pass and move.

Yeah, he should cut out the passive-aggressive comments. For a supposed fan of the club, he seems to like it being about himself. No amount of spin will wipe out his previous record of winning a low percentage of hundreds of PL matches. That is the main cause of people's concern.

Two banks of 5 and 4 for most of the game but they pulled it off. Regarding the inevitable comparison, Moura and Kane both fluffed good opportunities and the Lascelles one was a pen, so not quite a Rafa masterclass. Still pretty good though, and given who we've played, 4 against so far is a positive sign. I thought Joelinton looking like he was dawdling a bit in the big chance, but he scored and his overall game was very good.

Reminded me of a clip in the NFL. It certainly wasn't anything a football defender should be doing. Moura skies a sitter!

Martial blatantly pulled down but just about gets a shot in. Ref and VAR give nothing.

I can't wait till he settles in and hits his long term managerial average, over 10 PL seasons, of 1.11 points per game.

Flabby football. Doesn't bode well for the season.

Very wet so difficult conditions, but I think Arsenal were there for the taking first half. An opportunity we may later regret.

He could teach him the set penis.

I say 269 minutes, one fewer than a red-card suspension, which he'll probably get if the toolbox is down to argy bargy and no longer includes running.

If we're going down memory lane, can someone ask him about the dive when he was clean through against us for Liverpool? He had practically an open goal.

How to get lots of folk onside while spending the least possible money. From a football standpoint, I tried to find that stat about Matt Ritchie hitting the most crosses in the league last season, but couldn't find it. It is a plan B I suppose, but an all too predictable one. If Carroll gets fit enough to play, remind the lad that VAR is looking every time he jumps for the ball. You can't raise your arms any more.

Our current CMs only make do if we have Lejeune and Schar playing it out from the back. Stick a Lascelles and Phil Jones combo behind them and we'll get nowhere.

Without Rafa's system and guidance, I can see a lot of our players struggling. Rafa got the most out of many of them. Perez at Leicester will be fine because he's surrounded by better players and got a better manager than SB.

The likely fee meant that another English club would be the most likely buyer. I can only echo the comments that it's depressing to be so far behind Leicester.

What an absolute shitshow. What absolute bastards. Yep, that's it for me. Not staying up late to watch games any more. It'll probably do me good. Feel sorry for everyone who went to the games but won't any more.

Just regarding the ground, but if the money were there, I reckon the thing to do would be to wait and see how safe standing works out. If it's a big success, we could see Germany-style rules where the capacity can be up to double. Which means more folk can be closer to the pitch, giving you a real cauldron of noise.

His value on Transfermarkt has been updated to "20 million euros". Just passing it on.

Pleased it's over. I'd rate that alongside the Kenedy pen miss Newcastle=Cardiff game for entertainment.

First moment of quality in the game.

Shit half. As bad as any of our games last season. I don't like wanker fans screaming handball all the time, and that pen suggests its only going to get worse.

I think he's worth Phil Jones plus inflation, which I guess is 30-35m. Only half as many games as Phil Jones had, but in a more demanding position. More impact in them too. Same young English premium. As everyone says, the biggest issue is that any fee would not be reinvested in the team.

With Schar and Lejeune playing diagonals out from the back, Matt Ritchie hitting way more crosses than anyone else in the league, and Perez our #10 also leading the league by miles in tackles and interceptions, perhaps our midfielders aren't that overworked. Love the Hughes comment.