GEORDIE CUP FINAL

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Welcome to Saturday; let’s talk about some things.

I do find it quite incredible that there is a certain section of the fanbase that think refereeing decisions aren’t of interest and shouldn’t be part of the conversation.

The referee that sent off Rob Holding for a shoulder barge, let Harry Kane get away with this.

Does that challenge look like Harry Kane playing the dark-arts with ninja like subtlety? I don’t think so.

Simple fact with referees this season is that shocking decisions go against us more often than they do other teams. Some call it a conspiracy theory chatter, I’d say just look at how we’ve been treated, look at the mad decisions that have gone against us, and tell me how 1 soft penalty against United makes it better?

The reffing has been so bad for us this season we’ve actually had moments when the refs have invented new ways to fuck us… remember Martinelli getting two yellows in the same passage of play? How about Tomi getting his face stamped on with no action? How about Palace booting Saka in the air? How about the Xhaka sending off? The list goes on. We are treated differently.

If Rob Holding is sent off for standing his ground on 26 minutes, then Son should be sent off for throwing an elbow. The main difference seems to be that Bob Holding doesn’t scream like he’s been hit with a wet towel in the snow.

Paul Tierney had to really want to ruin that game to do what he did and the only people who think differently on that seem to have a history of wanting to see this Arsenal team fail this season. Embarrassing.

Ok, I’m done moaning.

Let’s take a moment to accept where we are right now: IN CONTROL OF TOP 4.

My view is that if we beat Newcastle, Champions League is ours.

The Geordies are THE banana skin game.

Eddie Howe will ask questions of us.

We have to treat this like our Cup Final.

They are no mugs in 2022. Below is the half-season table. It looks pretty close to what we did last season.

The positives we can take from this is their 3 tough games against Liverpool, Spurs and City have seen them beaten. They conceded 10 between Spurs and City alone.

The negative is this is their last home game of the season, it’ll be under the floodlights, their players will want to sign off in style, they have nothing to play for, so they’ll fly into us to put on a show.

The hope is that the news from the medical team is positive. Our players have been quite good at tapping themselves out early this season. Ben White sat on the bench at Spurs which was smart. Gabriel is quite robust, hopefully he took himself off the same way Bukayo did in the game prior. Having actual centre backs feels like an important part of the day… The thought of Tomiyasu and Big Mo in the middle with Lord Of Chaos starting fires on the left makes feel a little queezy I have to say.

The other worry I have is around fatigue. Saka looked blitzed the other night. A few of our players looked tired. 10 men for 65 minutes isn’t ideal. If we go to Newcastle tired, they’ll use their freshness to rattle into us. All the great managers say tiredness is part of the job, our young men need to find their inner Red Bull, crack it open, and let the wings carry them through the 90.

Ok, I apologise for that last line. Not my best.

If we play with the mindset we started the Spurs game with; we’ll be in good shape come the end of the 90. The absolute key is to not let the moment get to us, like it did Rob Holding. We need to control our emotions and manage the moments. Make it to half time without conceding and we’ll be in a solid spot to take the game from there. Arsenal away fans will be huge, I just hope they are prepared to suffer for a chunk of the game.

My pragmatic view of Top 4 is that if we can’t be Newcastle, we just weren’t ready to take the club to the Champions League this season.

If that happens, there will be recriminations with weirdo fans that have been gagging for a bit of bad news, but the reality is, we are at the start of this project and we know VERY clearly what we have to do to get better.

I thought this comment from Pep was really good as some preparation if things don’t go well.

‘Character’ and ‘bottle job’ comments at these players cannot be sitting in people’s drafts. The Premier League is the highest standard of football on the planet. What this squad of players has done this season has been exceptional. We can still finish with 72 points, with an average age of 23 years old. That is a marvel. If we make Champions League, it is a huge overachievement, if we don’t make it, it’s just a learning XP moment for a young squad of players with an outrageously high ceiling.

Being in control at this moment shows character, delivering on Monday merely demonstrates we got it right on the day, no broad-brush slander is going to land however things go.

I’m feeling bullish about the game. If we can put out a well-balanced side and the team can channel their grievances in a productive manner, we’ll exit with a win.

If we exit with a win, then we have to beat an Everton that will be safe, and properly on the beach.

Let’s see what the boys have got. We’ll be doing a BEFORE THE WHISTLE tomorrow after the Spurs win against Burnley. So be sure to tune in… but before, check out the Spurs post-game analysis.

Give us a 5* rating as well. x

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Bankz

Bankz is here for the tr4phy again.

Bankz

Let’s do this!!!!!

Bankz

grooveydaddy, come outside!

Bankz

(((BOOOOM))))

Bankz

Clean sweep.
This was a bit easy

Up 4 grabs now

Evening Bankz, hope your well.

WengerEagle

This Final is a snoozfest just like last year.

FA Cup Finals rarely tend to be spectacles anymore. We’ve always been involved in the more entertaining ones in fact.

Up 4 grabs now

Newcastle, and more to the point Eddie Howe has impressed me.
They had ten points in December and no team has ever stayed up with that amount at that time of the year.

Don’t be fooled they won’t roll over.
Even Everton at the emirates won’t be a breeze, there away form is bad but we never do it the easy way.

I’d definitely be starting esr, and leave saka on the bench for a 30 minute cameo, he looks shot.

WengerEagle

How ironic is it that Lukaku has ballooned back up in weight and looks like his prime Utd unit days. Concrete blocks for feet and a hopeless first touch.

So the only time he has managed to slim down and remain trim was when he was living in Italy, fucking Italy with all that amazing food.

Dissenter

Conspiracy theory Pedro is still amok

TheLegendaryDB10

WE

This was pretty much my last post on the previous thread.

DivineSherlock

WengerEagle

We have been in some epic finals , Arsenal Hull was just bonkers .

WengerEagle

As much as I can’t stand Chelsea I would love for Liverpool to finish the season only winning the League Cup after boasting about a Quadruple run.

Dissenter

Newcastle have their best striker and dead ball specialist back just in time for Monday night.

They have the best their best header of the ball [Callum Wilson] and best crosser of the ball [Keirean Trippier] back

Jonjo Shelvey and Joe Willock are our though

WengerEagle

DS

Yep one of the best ones that, also the 2015 Final we blitzed Villa in style.

DivineSherlock

Dissenter

Its not conspiracy theory if its true , you just chose not to believe it

Dissenter

Does anyone thin Tuchel will sub in Kepa for the penalties again?

Up 4 grabs now

Pedro you need to drop this start of the project line,
We’re two and a half seasons in.
I’ve warmed up to Arteta this season, but he’s still making mistakes. Hopefully he’ll have learnt from them for next season.

We also haven’t over achieved this season, currently we are exactly where we should be. If we knicked third I would say it’s over achieving.

Jonko

This has been an absolute fucking borefest

DivineSherlock

WengerEagle

As much as I can’t stand Chelsea I would love for Liverpool to finish the season only winning the League Cup after boasting about a Quadruple run.

I want Chelsea to lose so I can banter my Chelsea loving cousins for losing 4 FA Cup finals ( Arsenal 2x , Leicester and now Pool ) xD

Dissenter

Top 4 will soon became top 5, pretty soon
Top 5 placed teams will proceed to the CL draws by 2023-2024.

Tom

Pedro, Lee Dixon is clearly a Spud fan now, or wants Arsenal to fail, clearly.

Graham62

Jonko

What are you talking about?

Chance after chance after chance.

Not “a borefest”

DivineSherlock

Graham62

Did you switch on the game when Extra time started , Game started 90 mins ago , lol .

Jonko

Graham

Not really. Most were half chances except for Robertson hitting the post.

Jonko

Pulisifc is dogshite

Dissenters

Klopp knows how to ditch unwanted players
He’s not given Oxlade even the slight glance at all.

WengerEagle

Yeah Pulisic has really gone backwards since his debut season with Chelsea.

Looks half the player.

Dissenters

Both teams are trying very hard to win the game
How can that be a “bore fest”?

Jonko

Lets put it this way – it’s an end to end borefest

TR7

Pulisic before his injury looked the real deal.

Loyika

This game is fucking boring to say the least, they should have just gone straight to Pens!?

Dissenters

Our 2005 FA cup final win was the most boring final there can ever be
Only one team came to win in regulation and ET … and it wasn’t Arsenal
From the first minute we were hanging on

Jonko

What the PL.really lacks is a world class striker…don’t think any team has one…that’s why there will be no stopping City for the next 3 years at least

DivineSherlock

Dissenters

.
Both teams are trying very hard to win the game
How can that be a “bore fest”?

Both teams trying very hard not to lose the game.

TR7

No stopping City as long as Pep is there, he is winning the league even without a seasoned striker.

Tom

People complaining Arsenal players are gassed and need rotation…… both Pool and Chelsea have played 60 plus games already and Mo Salah has clocked over 5k minutes for club and country this season.
This is the level people.

DivineSherlock

You know the game is boring when commentators start talking about different games/finals instead of the current one , in the second half of extra time !

Dissenters

DevineSherlock
…by repeatedly launching attacks in the oppo box?

Don’t mistaken the impact of fatigue and natural caution to not concede so late as a lack of ambition to find a winner.

Leftside

Literally falling asleep at this

Graham62

Divine and Jonko

I’m sorry guys but if you think it’s been a boring game then I’m afraid you must be watching another channel.

Dissenters

Devine
Commentators always talk about other games during a game
More so when Liverpool were daft to let the talk of the quadruple deep into the talking points
Any good commentator has to link Salah and VVD subs to the larger picture.

TheLegendaryDB10

Dissenter
.
Klopp knows how to ditch unwanted players
He’s not given Oxlade even the slight glance at all.

It’s incredible that Oxlade never had a sniff at the starting IX in his career at Liverpool. Probably his biggest mistake (not financially ofc) as he is never playing football on regular basis.

Glad we got shot of this player but what a waste of a talented player.

Jonko

How on earth wasnt that a foul on Ziyech by Trent? Might have been outside the box but a clear foul nonetheless

TheLegendaryDB10

And when I say talented, i mean that he could have gone elsewhere to make sure he could play regular football.

WengerEagle

We better get pens at least after all this.

Late winner now would be a real buzz-kill.

Dissenters

When I think of boring games, the one that pops readily into my mind is the “disgrace of Gijon”, when Austria and Germany strolled through a 1982 World Cup group game to eliminate Algeria.
I don’t think anyone on the field ran up to the mile the entire game. They just knocked the ball around for 90 minutes

DivineSherlock

Graham62

Can you really say with honesty that this the best Liverpool or Chelsea have played this season ? Even Tuchel and Klopp wouldnt agree with you . The game is textbook definition of playing it safe.

DivineSherlock

WengerEagle

Be interesting to see if Tuchel brings Kepa on again , atleast there’ll be some drama

WengerEagle

Finals tend to be quite cagey because there is so much on the line. Players play with fear and more of a desire not to lose than to go out and win.

Semi-Finals are where it’s at. We see that every season in the CL.

WengerEagle

DS

Doesn’t look like he’s going to. In fairness Kepa was hopeless in the League Cup Final pen shoot-out, didn’t save 1 out of a dozen taken.

TheLegendaryDB10

Pedro

I know what you mean.

It’s common knowledge that he loves Liverpool anyway. So I don’t blame him to accepting being a bit part player.

I just find it odd that he prefers the easy route to fame when he is perfectly capable of tearing it up at a lower level and get proper respect for it.

WengerEagle

Crazy that this is only the 3rd ever pen shoot-out for an FA Cup Final.

Chris

Chelsea losing a 3rd final in a row, and this one on penalties, would be pretty funny.

DivineSherlock

To be fair Liverpool actually tried winnng via Luis Diaz despite losing Salah , Chelsea werent even close barring some chances . No Kepa , fuck you Tuchel xD Bring on The Pens.

Graham62

Divine

Did I say that?

I was reacting to the comments that the game was boring.

Rich

Diss

I was at that final in 2005 in Cardiff, daylight robbery 😂

Made up for 2001 though, when we played Liverpool off the park, but Owen bagged a late brace

DivineSherlock

Graham62

I know I know but if they had then we wouldnt be having this conversation

WengerEagle

Mendy is shite at saving pens.

Dissenters

Mendy is doing his damn Best but these ‘pool penalties a few just perfect

Samesong

No skipping for Jorge

Dissenters

Mendy knows Mane penalties style

Right

WengerEagle

Attaboy Mendy, finally a save.

Dissenters

Ha ha ha

TheLegendaryDB10

Mané misses!!!

Lolz!!!

Dissenters

There goes the quadruple

They will end up with the league cup only

WengerEagle

Mount going 6th shows he lost his bottle beforehand.

Loyika

Poor Chavs.

andy1886

Lol

Dissenters

Damn, they are still running on the dream of a quadruple

WengerEagle

Chav tears are delicious tbf.

Leftside

How many FA Cup finals in a row have Chelsea lost now?

WengerEagle

You put your foot in it Diss with that premature ejaculation of a comment!

Dissenters

Three straight FA cup final losses for Chelsea

Major_Jeneral

Chelsea have only won 1 of the last 5 FA cup final matches they have reached

Chris

Chelsea going for the Buffalo Bills ‘how many finals can a team lose in a row’ achievement

TheLegendaryDB10

Lolz

I hate Chekski so I am glad they lost.

It does suck that ‘pool had to win it.

Loyika

By Jove….hope Citeh put The Hammers to the sword tomorrow….can’t stand more of this “Quad!” waffle.

But fair play to Pool. 2 trophies in the kitty….

DivineSherlock

WengerEagle

Chav tears are delicious tbf.

Every . Single . Time.

Tuchel bottled another final , how many times will you go into a game with a back 5 and expect a different result ?

Dissenters

Wenger eagle
Was trying to will it into being

Who cares, there’s no skin off my teeth regardless of who wins.

You wrote that Mane was shit at penalties and then he saved a crucial one.

WengerEagle

Was only a piss-take Diss, lighten up lad.

Jonko

I’d be ok with Pool winning the two mickey mouse cups…anything more and you won’t fucking hear the end of it in this lifetime

Dissenters

These two team had played >62 games this season already

There’s a case for just proceeding to the penalty shootout after regulation time

WengerEagle

That’s Pool’s 3rd major trophy since Klopp has taken over.

Not actually a staggering amount tbh, bit surprised they haven’t won more although I suppose Man City are the reason.

WengerEagle

Yeah really need Real Madrid to take care of business in the CL Final for the summer to be bearable on my end.

Dissenters

This summer’s transfers have to be solely rotating starters

David Smith

Conspiracy theories? no examples of refs interfering in a biased, criminal or unfair way in any leagues world wide that I can think of? And even if there was, our English referees are different, because all is fair here, cheating refs is a foreign thing, right?
Pedro, I am with you on the refs, but honest question, any idea why this team are getting this treatment? The only answers I can think of are pretty unpalatable.
As for the game, cometh the hour, cometh the Martinelli , he’s gonna blow at some point, now would be a great time

Chris

Well Klopp has won everything tbere is to win with Liverpool now.

They will be a force for a few more years yet under him too so no doubt they will win some more.

For me he is level with Shankly and Paisley now given all the factors.

WengerEagle

I think that Klopp will stay on even if he wins the CL again.

1 PL title isn’t the stuff of dynasties as brilliant as his Liverpool have been, he’ll want another title at least before calling it a day there.

Tom

WEagle, Klopp has taken them to many finals though

Jonko

Klopp might have won all of it but not enough of it. Unfortunately for him , his prime collided with Peps.

WengerEagle

No doubt Tom but City and Pep have dominated the PL since his arrival.

Tom

WEagle, and they will continue to do so as long as Pep remains and they keep making the signings that they do make.
Last two transfers alone total fees paid out – £ 210m

WengerEagle

Exactly, he has been unlucky in that respect.

If it were even the City of the Mancini/Pellegrini days then Klopp is sitting on 3 PL titles by now.

DivineSherlock

Well , tbf Klopp’s rise coincided with City’s oil money.

WengerEagle

Tom

Not disputing that but people don’t care about figures like spend, etc and some even forget over time.

Nobody mentions about the Chavs blitzing through the PL in 2004-2006 because of their ridiculous spending power,. Even Fergie and United compared to us when they were dropping £30m a piece on players like Ferdinand, Carrick, Rooney, Veron, Berbatov, etc.

Jonko

I really think the next season we will witness a complete downfall of CFC, unlike anything in the recent past

Pierre

I wonder what terraloon has to say about the 2 possible penalty incidents today, both i would say more likely to have resulted in clear cut chances than the tottenham penalty

2 potential reds for both incidents without a doubt, I’m sure if that was Arsenal we would have seen 9 men on the pitch and 2 pens against us and Terraloon would be finding ways to justify the decisions..

Will he find a way to justify the decision not to award a pen or red card on either occasion in today’s game .

Dissenter

I just listened to a podcast with w prominent Brazilian sports writer who said Marquinhos is the real deal
He said Arteta will be wise to have him join the preseason before deciding whether to loan him out or now. He said the only reason why we are signing him ahead of Portuguese and Italian clubs is because if Edu’s outreach to the biggest Brazilian clubs.

He described the quoted transfer as daylight robbery

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