There’s no other way to analyse the occasion.
Arsenal were the better side for the opening stages of the game.
The referee then gave one of the most ridiculous penalties of the season, refused to check to see if he’s made a mistake.
The referee then goes super bold and sends off Rob Holding after 26 minutes in a ‘I WANT TO DO THIS’ decision of pettiness.
I don’t really have time for the crowd that wants to pretend we weren’t totally fucked over by an overzealous attention-seeking referee.
I don’t have time for those that say we don’t have the dark arts nailed down. Does McTominay do his dirties in a subtle way? Does Harry Kane go in for legbreakers with disguise? Everyone in the world knows what Mane does every single game, the refs know, but he never pays a price… is it cuteness that gets him off, or his big fat reputation? Why do Arsenal get a red every 75 fouls compared to Burnley’s 973 fouls… is it because Burnley players are just really clever or that refs have a different standard of reffing when it comes to Arsenal who have taken 6% of the red cards in Premier League history. It’s that Arsenal is held to a different standard that doesn’t even itself out over a season.
Arsenal, with a depleted team, wouldn’t have lost that game with 11 players on the pitch yesterday and that is my hot take.
The recriminations in the media are really amusing.
No one wants this young team to make the Top 4 this year.
Gary Neville wants to see Arteta fail because the Spaniard is everything he thought he’d be but wasn’t. The youngest coach in the league shines a light on his biggest career failure.
Arteta did things properly, studied 5 languages, took his coaching badges, studied all over the world, then made his first job a learning experience under the greatest coach on the planet.
Gary pulled in a favor from a clueless billionaire, took a job with a Spanish team, was too ignorant and arrogant to think he needed to master the local dialect, and tanked after 7 games.
There is still a class of pundits and journalists that believe being a snappy pundit or legendary player counts as the leading qualification for being an elite coach in 2022. They are wrong. You need to do the hard work as well as having a knack for communication, a deep understanding of tactics and systems, as well as being able to quickly master the art of media in a CEO-like way.
These naysayers want Conte to win the top 4 race because it reaffirms that failure wasn’t so bad, it keeps the global order in tact, it means their boring views that Conte is always the answer were right.
The ‘Arsenal were green’ story is factually correct. We have a young squad that lacks experience. But we didn’t get fucked by the ref because we didn’t play the game right, we were fucked because the ref didn’t like us and he wanted to be the man. Our inexperience still has us in 5th with two games to go. Our inexperience just saw us beat Chelsea, United, and West Ham. Yesterday wasn’t inexperience, it was a corruption of the beautiful game by officials that are militantly bad at their jobs.
… but for me, if you are going to go to the bowl and lose, that’s the way to do it. Getting cheated. Having the media call you dim. No one giving you the defence you deserve bar your manager.
Now the job is clear, two really fucking boring wins.
No drama.
Make that Spurs result look really pointless.
Newcastle is 14th in the league, they’ve had a pop of form this year, but conceded 10 against Spurs/City. They are safe, they are not that good, we have too much quality for them even if we only have 1 fit defender.
Everton are 16th, they are safe, that squad doesn’t give a shit. We need to avenge what happened earlier in the season.
If we play like we did yesterday, we will win both of those games, and we need to.
Spurs play Burnley on Sunday, that’s no guarantee, especially considering how poor Anotonio Conte is when he has more than 1 game in a week. I’d have more faith on a spirited Burnley performance than I would Everton or Newcastle. Spurs were beaten by them after they hammered City away. So let’s see what happens there.
The chips feel like they are down, but look at the table, we have more points, we are great against middling teams, and the only reason we lost yesterday was because Spurs once again lucked out with a penalty which was their first shot, then a gift of a red card.
I hate Spurs. The refs can do one. We are The Arsenal. Let’s move.
Probably one of the really boring Finals I have ever seen , topped only by Spurs and Liverpool CL final. There is just no intensity
G Your starting too hard to be impervious of reason There was no incident because Holding got up like a monk used to being elbowed in the face and went on with it. Had he stayed down holding his face, the game would have been stoped for head injury …. giving VAR a chance to review it. The player has to put the referee on the spot Had Holden accidentally talked Son in the face, do you think Son would have just gotten up ina high pressure game? No, he would have rolled on the ground until broadcasters all over… Read more »
* Had Holden accidentally tapped Son in the face, do you think Son would have just gotten up ina high pressure game?
Haha Sal two late goals have just fucked us of about £20m out of Mavropanos’ fee.
Stuttgart last second winner and Dortmund late winner on Hertha.
Divine
Probably one of the really boring Finals I have ever seen
I agree with you. I am bored to tears here.
But, my only relish here is to see both teams going t8 pens, and getting exhausted over it. (In particular Cheski. If they could lose their next 2 games, this could help us.
New post
This is not a boring final by any definition
Two equally matched teams trying to win the game
I don’t think this final has been that bad.
The Man Utd / Chelsea one a few years back was worse.
This is the one game I wish neither teams win.
If ever this was a possibility.
The legendary- West Ham v Fulham was poor
This was ok.
Corrupt fat boy Tierney would have given 3 penalties today in order of bung pay off obviously
I’m finding it so fascinating observing the optmists versus the pessimists. What seems inarguable is that everyone is using information to further the narrative they have already bought into. I’m going to see if we can look at both sides and of the argument in as neutral a way as possible and see what conclusions we can draw. Observations: *The Premier League is very competitive. Two of the three best teams in this years’ CL were from the EPL. Chelsea also pushed Madrid hard. West Ham would likely be in the final of Europa League had it not been for… Read more »
At this point, fuck Spurs in the ear. Arteta should lean in on the collective spite: Spurs players getting every decision from weak fanboy refs, their fans who have a superiority complex despite never winning anything, and what a sanctimonious prick Conte is. The message: How good will it feel to send those filthy fucks into the offseason with no Champions League? How bad will it feel to play on Thurs night in far off outposts. and watch Spurs play in Barcelona or Munich?