Defensive reinforcements incoming

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Watching the Spurs game. VAR decision goes against them, then they drop a goal with some sloppy defending. Gotta love that.

VAR needs to have the kinks worked out. It takes too long and some of the decisions they’re looking at go against the spirit of the game. Why are football bodies so bad at implementing ideas? Then, why does it take so long for them to pivot?

The tech has to work for the fans in the ground. Getting to the right decision shouldn’t be so difficult. No one was complaining about millimetres, we mostly just too umbrage at obvious decisions, game-killing errors, and cheating.

In other Spurs news… there’s this:

Imagine KNOWING there’s a market for a book about a failed Champions League run.

What are you saying about your target? Imagine it was you?

Male, 20-50, low expectations, doesn’t value time, easily entertained, quite gullible, a loser

Unreal that there’s a book, absolutely unreal.

In Arsenal news, Hector and Kieran T made their U23 returns. The reports coming back are that Tierney is really fucking quick compared to Bellerin… which means he must be very, very quick.

Great to see our two full-backs heading back into the mixer. Look at Tierney’s leg muscles.

SPURS LOSING. Genuinely finding myself quite jealous that we didn’t hire Brendy. He’s a very good manager. Leicester compete. They have a balanced side. The players work for him. He changes things in realtime and it works. The football is attractive.

He’s just a bit of a donut.

Our new hero, Saka, had more to say on Freddie.

“He’s been with me since I was 15 and seen me do amazing things but he always tells me to stay humble and keep working hard because he really thinks I can be a top player,”

“He’s been a player before so he understands how I would feel. He’s played in my position and it’s just so good to have him there, an Arsenal legend giving me advice. There’s not much more I can ask for.”

The Swede really has impacted the kids in quite a way. They all love him. It’s great to see. I wouldn’t be shocked to see him as the Arsenal manager at some point, though I think it’d be a mistake post Emery. We’ll see though, United and Chelsea have made similar moves, though both clubs are struggling to find form.

I think the biggest job Freddie can do this season is keeping the kids grounded. Both sides of that coin as well. He needs to keep the Saka’s of this world focused on their game, avoiding the trappings of ego and money. On the other side, he has to make sure he helps the kids that are struggling. Reiss has bundles of talent, but he looks like he’s in a confidence hole.

Basically the only stat where Emery is winning this season is the amount of kids he’s having to use, I think we’re only bettered by Manchester United. That obviously comes with downsides, inconsistent performances and weakness when times are brutal.

We’re in for a ride this season… our biggest challenger for top 4 is looking like it might be Leicester. They don’t have a better squad, but they certainly have a better team than us.

Huge game against Aston Villa tomorrow. They’re going to have watched what Burnley, Frankfurt and Watford did to us in midfield. They’re going to know the patterns in defence. They are going to press us hard, with McGinn terrorising us like a lunatic from the off.

Emery needs a response. He needs to stabilise the squad. He needs to show the fans he knows what he’s doing.

Finally, I was talking about some of the fancy stats they’re using in football these days. Below is one called packing. It basically tallies the amount of players bypassed with passing for and against. It’s a bit of a weird one, but basically, it correlates quite nicely with winning. Liverpool is a bit of an eyesore in the validation of its usefulness, but it’s not shocking to see what our players are being bypassed more than they are bypassing.

What do YOU think about hipster stats like this? Tell me in the comments. x

P.S. Alex Iwobi on the bench.

P.P.S. Arsenal, 16 years ago today. x

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Tony

BRAIN TEASERS 1. Some months have 30 days, some have 31; how many months have 28 days? 2. A man gave one son 10 cents and another son was given 15 cents. What time is it? 3. If you had only one match and entered a room in which there was a kerosene lamp, an oil heater, and a woodburning stove, which would you light first? 4. There is a house with four walls. Each wall faces south. There is a window in each wall. A bear walks by one of the windows. What color is the bear? 5. Is… Read more »

Tony

ANSWERS: 1. All 12 have 28 days 2. 1:45. The man gave away a total of 25 cents. He divided it between two people. Therefore, he gave a quarter to two. 3. Light the match first. 4. White. If all the walls face south, the house is at the North pole, and the bear, therefore, is a polar bear. 5. Three. Well, it seems that it could almost be either, but if you follow the mathematical orders of operation, division is performed before addition. So… half of two is one. Then add two, and the answer is three. 6. Yes,… Read more »

Tony

A hunter kills a deer and brings it home. He decides to clean and serve the
venison for supper.

He knows his kids are fussy eaters, and won’t eat it if they know what it is – so he does not tell them.

His little boy keeps asking him, “What’s for supper?” “You’ll see”, says his dad. They start eating supper and his daughter keeps asking what they’re eating.

“Ok,” says her dad, “here’s a hint, it’s what your mother sometimes calls me.”

“We’re eating asshole!!”, she screams.

Tony

A pregnant woman with her first child, paid a visit to her obstetrician’s
office.

After the exam, she shyly said, “My husband wants me to ask you…”,
to which the doctor replies “I know…I know…” placing a reassuring hand
on her shoulder. “I get asked that all the time.

Sex is fine until late in the pregnancy.” “No, that’s not it,” the woman confessed.

“He wants to know if I can still mow the lawn.”

Tony

Your girlfriend is ugly when… (1) She looks out the window and gets arrested for indecent exposure. (2) As a baby, she had to be breast-fed by the family dog. (3) Even mosquitoes stay away from her. (4) She startles the animals at the zoo. (5) On Halloween, she has to trick or treat over the phone. (6) She makes onions cry. (7) Her ass looks like two pigs fighting over a box of milk duds. (8) Her armpits look like she has Don King in a headlock. (9) The plastic surgeon wanted to add a tail. (10) When she… Read more »

Tony

And finally as a few liked the builders’ real insurance complaints from last week. It’s a long one but some funny gems in there. The funniest Insurance Claims and Quotes (genuine scenarios, incorporated into a comic act by Jasper Carrott) A bull was standing near and a fly must have tickled him because he gored my car. A lamp-post bumped into my car, damaging it in two places. A pedestrian hit me and went under my car A truck backed through my windscreen into my wife’s face. Accidents with other vehicles. After the accident a working gentleman offered to be… Read more »

Freddie Ljungberg

Dream10

Would be incredibly stupid to add another layer to all the work we already have to do with the squad, only reason I can see that happening is if Auba doesn’t sign a new contract.

We have Eddie, John Jules and Balogun all a couple of years away from stepping up properly where we can see what their true level is as seniors, would much rather wait and see if one or even 2 of them can become starters for us in the future.

Next 2 windows should be all about the midfield and defence.

Tony

New post

Un na naai

Tony Back on the whiskey again? I’d give it a rest if I were you. You’re being quite disingenuous. Why don’t you apply your superior maths skills to wenger and Graham over their whole careers? See what you come back with. One league cup at the yids (who wenger would never join by the way) doesn’t reflect well on your super coach. Wenger won titles in two countries and really the only time in his career that he wasn’t winning trophies it was to help the club take a financial step up. You know full well which is why you… Read more »

Gentlebris

You have absolutely no reason to bench Saka today, the lad needs soft home games like this to build high gear momentum.

Bukayo if given chance would do everything a prime Alexis did and more.

Sid

Tierney and saka on the left is the stuff that produces mansauce, in the summer arsenal should sell Haka & get a beast, the youngsters dozi and willock could include Torr lack physical strength but it will improve with age.

PieAFC

Hahahaha.

Laugh or cry. We’re fucking disgraceful.
Making a challenge like that on a yellow.

We’re useless.

Timid and boring. We’re a joke.

N5

When Mings is running the wing, you know someone isn’t covering their position!! what a joke we’re becoming.

N5

WTF kind of challenge was that!!

N5

Nice one Pepe. Good pen.

N5

Fucking hell!!!!

N5

How are we chasing a game against such a dire team!! Villa have been incredibly average and if they had anyone who could consistently score we’d be 5 down.