Toon turdholes H Cup semi 1st leg Tues 7th Jan KO 8pm

[KingHenry]

Will it be Rice and Partey. Will it be Merino and Jorginho

Has someone built a time machine and taken us back to the choice of Hiller, Morrow, Selley and Jensen

Yes you say that SteveO but Hillier won a league and Morrow and Selly were the midfield in Copenhagen this shower wont win anything

[mcdowell42]

Arteta: "It's just half time [in the tie]. When I see the team playing and how we deal with a lot of situations, playing against a very good team, I have full belief that we can go out there and do it."

[augie]

Before tonight all I heard from all his apologists was the terrible injury list that we had

Well tell me barring White and Saka who would have played today? Sterling? Rwaneri? Tomiyasu?

The facts are that three of our main back four were there, first choice GK, the two main holding mids, our captain, first choice CF and Martinelli/Trossard.

There's no injury crisis. Just a crippled team led by a clueless loser playing God awful football at a snail's pace

We were missing one from our strongest starting 11 (saka) - timber is miles ahead of white for right back, and personally calafiori is first choice left back, but he was on bench tonight so was available

[SteveO 35]

Will it be Rice and Partey. Will it be Merino and Jorginho

Has someone built a time machine and taken us back to the choice of Hiller, Morrow, Selley and Jensen

Yes you say that SteveO but Hillier won a league and Morrow and Selly were the midfield in Copenhagen this shower wont win anything

Agreed and that was the key difference. A manager who could organise a limited team to win one off cup games no matter who the opposition were. The Sheffield Weds team we won 2 cups against were higher in the league than us and had better players, not to mention the teams we beat including Parma on the way to win the CWC. This manager couldn't organise a piss up in a brewery. Schooled by Eddie Howe and kept at bay by their reserve keeper and a bunch of also rans

[SteveO 35]

Arteta: "It's just half time [in the tie]. When I see the team playing and how we deal with a lot of situations, playing against a very good team, I have full belief that we can go out there and do it."

In the same way I have full belief that tonight Miss World is going to finally track me down and beg me to fuck her brains out

[Reno Gooner]

Arteta is exactly like Wenger.......Wenger put no stock in a captain as he saw himself as the captain......and everything else. Why do the team need a captain when they have him? Wenger was afraid of strong chatacters with leadership qualities because it overshadowed his presence. Arteta is no different. And the result is a team full of weak, ineffective yes men.

Who in our teams of the past 10 years can you compare to Keown, Adams or Viera???

Almost the entire team is made up of short, lightweight journeymen.

[Limerick Gooner]

Arteta is exactly like Wenger.......Wenger put no stock in a captain as he saw himself as the captain......and everything else. Why do the team need a captain when they have him? Wenger was afraid of strong chatacters with leadership qualities because it overshadowed his presence. Arteta is no different. And the result is a team full of weak, ineffective yes men.

Who in our teams of the past 10 years can you compare to Keown, Adams or Viera???

Almost the entire team is made up of short, lightweight journeymen.

Not sure how you can say our side is short?

[the playing mantis]

strange atmosphere....10 mins to KO and it looks half empty....

Per Rob it's buzzing. Per TV yet another awful quiet couldnt care less crowd.

It's history repeating itself. Akbs will be out in force whilst the manger refuses to rectify the glaring holes and keeps picking faverotes and projects

Havertz is an awful player. Drugged up fans with there stupid song fir him, he's utter shit. Yes he scored a few but how many chances did he have. Terrible player and that he's first choice says it all.

Ohdeargod as well. A decent player but will never win anything with him as the key fulcrum. Yes he has f all to pass to but he takes too many touches and isn't good enough to do it alone and goes missing too often.

Tactics are killing us too rice anonymous apart from a few going nowhere driving runs. A shadow of last season's player and looks knackered.

The only hope is a gun striker. We won't get one though.

[the playing mantis]

We were swashbuckling a couple of years ago.
Why are we so slow these days including the time-wasting?

The time wasting is a serious bore as well why do it, getting really silly now and serves us right when it bites us. Is it any wonder we get shit end of stock with decisions with first AW and now this petulant annoying twat in charge. Needless just antagonises oppo and officials and doesn't do us any favours

[the playing mantis]

Same old shit from a 15 years ago. Shit tactics, no game plan, no change of approach, no fucking goalscorer, making average teams look good by creating nothing, waste of fucking time. I haven't got the fucking energy to battle this all again. Either get a goalscorer in who can score 25+ league goals a season and change the way we play or just fuck off. Let's not get dragged back to years of fucking battling and civil wars. Either do what we need or fucking fuck off.

Exactly where I'm at

[Retro Gunner]

What a pile of absolute crap. I said ages ago, probably October, that Arteta and this team was done and that it peaked last season. Not one player is performing as well as last season and we look like a different team. Slow, turgid, toothless.

Newcastle are a committed but average side, BUT, they have a serious goal threat up front….we’ve got Havertz. That fucked up header from 6 yds says it all about him. Absolutely fucking useless and nothing condemns Arteta more than that fucking nonsensical signing. I used to say the same about Xhaka, it isn’t Havertz’s fault that he’s useless, it’s the fault of the clown that bought him and refuses to accept it was a huge mistake. Worryingly, he probably still doesn’t think it was a mistake.

Still, the problem is far bigger than Havertz and Jesus, the whole side has lost any creativity. We can’t break teams down and barely test goalkeepers even when we have 60-70% possession, or more.

As welcome as it’s been to have a proper set piece threat, it’s worth remembering that set pieces have dug us out of the shit a number of times this season and disguised the worrying fact that we create too little in open play. Set piece goals should be a bonus, not our main fucking threat. What are we, 1980s Watford or early 2000s Bolton ffs?!!

We’ll win fuck all this season and the trend is entirely in the wrong direction. The manager has had his day and if we do win nothing, then it’s time to say thanks, but goodbye to Arteta at the season’s end. He won’t improve this situation and make us true contenders and as augie often says, we can’t let him blow fortunes on more sub standard crap.

The game’s up.

[Retro Gunner]

We were swashbuckling a couple of years ago.
Why are we so slow these days including the time-wasting?

The time wasting is a serious bore as well why do it, getting really silly now and serves us right when it bites us. Is it any wonder we get shit end of stock with decisions with first AW and now this petulant annoying twat in charge. Needless just antagonises oppo and officials and doesn't do us any favours

This is absolutely right. I’d dislike us for that bollocks if I supported anyone else. It drives me fucking bonkers as it is. It amazes me we don’t pick up more bookings for it.

[Retro Gunner]

By the way, the comment was made on here a day or two ago that if we got rid of Arteta, we’d lose the likes of Saliba and Saka. Can anyone honestly tell me that those two and the one or two other quality players we have, will hang around to suffer this pointless crap and celebrate a top 4 trophy at best? No fucking chance. Expect a big bid for Saliba from Madrid in the summer and expect him to demand the move.

[General]

Arteta is exactly like Wenger.......Wenger put no stock in a captain as he saw himself as the captain......and everything else. Why do the team need a captain when they have him? Wenger was afraid of strong chatacters with leadership qualities because it overshadowed his presence. Arteta is no different. And the result is a team full of weak, ineffective yes men.

Who in our teams of the past 10 years can you compare to Keown, Adams or Viera???

Almost the entire team is made up of short, lightweight journeymen.

This is very reactionary. You can accuse this side of a few things but being short and lightweight isn’t one of them. Rice, Partey, Merino, Havertz, Calafiori, Saliba, Gabriel are all above 6 feet. The attack is woeful that’s all

[Red Army 2]

We were swashbuckling a couple of years ago.
Why are we so slow these days including the time-wasting?

The time wasting is a serious bore as well why do it, getting really silly now and serves us right when it bites us. Is it any wonder we get shit end of stock with decisions with first AW and now this petulant annoying twat in charge. Needless just antagonises oppo and officials and doesn't do us any favours

This is absolutely right. I’d dislike us for that bollocks if I supported anyone else. It drives me fucking bonkers as it is. It amazes me we don’t pick up more bookings for it.

often thought the same....Mantis is right...it seems to be winding up refs....