Erikse

Imagine if that no pen decision was the other way, and ended up mattering. The Arsenal fans would be talking about it for over a year.

I was replying to this: "I don't know why we didn't spend a fortune in January if the financial regulations aren't holding us back then."

I think we just don't want to buy at an inflated price mid season. A bit ironic maybe given how much we overpaid for players last summer, but I think that's what it is. Ross Wilson also talked about this, that the deal "has to be right" etc.

Exactly. Which is why I thought those choices were odd.

I didn't mention his injury. Did you forget that your original point was about how devastating playing extra games is for us? Is it not then out of utmost importance to not play key players in games where they don't need to?

True, we actually rested Bruno against Bournemouth in a 0-0 game to play him against Bradford. I forgot Trippier, who was also on the bench for all 3 games that week, while Livra started all 3 games including Bradford.

It's about being realistic. This year we are in Europe, big difference. The outcome was that we had to play 2 games against Man City after a load that our squad isn't made for (which is the arguments being made here), and it wasn't close. Last year we beat Arsenal with a fit squad. Anyways, as per my last post, it's not like we're giving up the Carabao by starting Willock, Barnes and Lascelles against Bradford for instance. I didn't say that we should have given it up. There's a big gap between giving it up and going all in. Now, what are our chances in the FA Cup then, after this heavy load?

If we weren't in Europe just like Fulham aren't, then I wouldn't have a problem with it. We started Joelinton, Bruno, Gordon, Thiaw and Botman against Bradford. All of them started again against Arsenal a few days later, and most other games aswell. You don't think that Barnes, Lascelles and Willock, who were on the bench in both, were good enough to play against Bradford?

Allright, so we have to accept that the season will fall apart just incase there was a tiny chance of winning it again. While literally everyone else rorates more because they don't care about trophies.

Why on earth did we have to go all in on Carabao in a season like this then? If that load was going to break us, was that a risk worth taking for the very slight chance that we might win it again, in a season where the game load is going to make it very hard for us to win it anyways? That was several extra games for key players (even against Bradford) on an already heavy load, and then it probably caused us to have to play 2 extra games in the CL aswell, given how close we were to top 8. We're not Man City who can compete on 4 fronts, so we need to prioritize.

Really well done on the goal.

If we can be as efficient as them, only with a much bigger bugdet, then that would lead to great things.

https://www.facebook.com/reel/895490150115445 One of the main reasons why Haaland barely ever score against us.

I just urged us to sign Haaland on twitter. Who will write the article?

So it's basically just Louis Saha saying that Man Utd should buy either Bruno or Tonali, and now it's framed as a transfer rumour?

Classic Mourinho. Lists the players he won the Europa League with as if it was some kind of underdog story. Yeah, barely beating Rostov, Anderlecht, Celta Vigo, and Ajax was such a big achivement with players like Mata, Rashford, Valencia, Pogba, Mkhitarjan etc. I'm sure those opponents were packed with world class players in comparison.

0-1 Bodø Glimt. They just keep going. Incredible.

We did that with Livra and Hall. Heck, even Joelinton, Wilson, and Burn. If something else works a lot better, then I don't think Howe would keep playing him as a striker, even if that could hurt his hopes of playing regularly in the WC.

Sorry if this sounds cynical, but why on earth should we care about maximizing his chances of going to the World Cup as Germany’s No.9? Are his chances better if we bench him instead of playing him in midfield? The only thing on Howes mind is to maximize our chances of winning football games, as it should be.

I think a big part of the transformation came from simply deciding to play him in midfield instead of up top (he was never a striker). There was still a lot of work to be done to make him 100% comfortable in that position as it was still a new role for him, but I think the first few months after getting moved to a new position was his best spell as a midfielder for us since Howe came. Atleast the most consistent. The improvement was instant. He has had some great spells after those first few months, but not as good as those first few months imo. I remember that he topped several stats for midfielders in that forst period, for instance he was nr. 1 in the league for tackles per 90 by a mile, which was an instant effect after changing position.

Was it VAR that made this linesman incompetent aswell?

Our new right wing.

True, but with that team they should be able to win in other ways..

To add to that, I believe Dyer wasn't on pens like Gordon is.

Arteta will probably get the sack if they don't win PL or CL. They'd have to win both cups or something for him to stay another year in that case.