THE Arsenal vs Man City H Sun Oct 8th 16:30. Prem.

[rodders999]

Look at the soft as fuck red card Tomi got at Palace and compare it to the shit that went down yesterday - absolute joke.

Luckily we’ve won all 3 games they’ve tried to screw us in this season - Palace, Everton and yesterday but at this rate it’s only a matter of time before they do us.

[the playing mantis]

He had f all to do 2nd half but his kicking did improve significantly tbf steveo...but 1st half was shocking..

At the moment he's not justifying the dropping of ramsdale...but think overall once he has some confidence he should be a slight, note slight, improvement, unless ramsdale kicks on. For me ramsdale has picked up nasty habit of simply pushing the ball straight back out when making saves...something Leno was rightly pilloried for.

[SteveO 35]

Look at the soft as fuck red card Tomi got at Palace and compare it to the shit that went down yesterday - absolute joke.

Luckily we’ve won all 3 games they’ve tried to screw us in this season - Palace, Everton and yesterday but at this rate it’s only a matter of time before they do us.

I have to admit, the failure to send Kovacic off yesterday was absolutely appalling. Based on what the scouse c.unt got sent off for against the vermin last weekend, he should have walked for the first challenge alone. To then do something similar 3 minutes or so later and escape completely was absolutely unreal - terrible officiating

[rodders999]

And SteveO I was just reminded that Michael Oliver was the ref who gave Martinelli 2 yellows in 10 seconds at Wolves a few seasons back for two nothing incidents.

I know people say it’s just incompetence and nothing more sinister but nobody could convince me that if an Arsenal player had done that yesterday he’d have stayed on the pitch.

[nut flush gooner]

https://twitter.com/Layladylay_/status/ ... 3191484549

If you weren't at the game yesterday, breathe this in and feel what it was like at the end. Pure goosebumps. The whole ground was rocking.

Great support when our boys needed us.

But nutty it's mostly not. During the scum game the blokes on my STs who had it said it was crap and that's what I got from the TV. The crowd was good before KO and after we scored but when we needed lifting they were MIA...again yesterday most of he game the crowd was a nervous atmosphere and the players and arteta had to try and gee them up.

It was different in the second half. The fans backed the players, especially the North Bank. It did make a difference.

Great to see that kind of atmosphere - whilst the Highbury Library used to get loads of stick in its more recent years I can remember many a fantastic atmosphere there, especially standing in the North Bank when there were 56,000+ people there including those sitting on the roof. The game where we beat Man U 2-1 in the FA Cup in the late 80s and McClair missed a penalty - the place was rocking and it takes your breath away. Never thought all seater grounds would allow that to happen but judging by some of the atmospheres in Germany and France, it is possible! My lad was there yesterday and he said the same i.e. the second half felt like the crowd were really urging the team on. Apparently Raya had everyone shitting their pants in the first half and given what I saw on the highlights when he almost cost us a goal with his crap footwork, and another with his flapping, I'm not surprised. Fabianski and Almunia used to do the same to me!

It was nervous in the first half especially when Raya wasn't decisive. But as I said kicking towards the North Bank in the 2nd half, there was a wall of noise and it definitely gives the players a lift. Gary Nevile has said on more than one occasion the noise in the Emirates is in his own words ground shaking. When an outsider says this sort of stuff you know things are improving with our support. It has been like this tbh since COVID.

[nut flush gooner]

https://twitter.com/Layladylay_/status/ ... 3191484549

If you weren't at the game yesterday, breathe this in and feel what it was like at the end. Pure goosebumps. The whole ground was rocking.

Great support when our boys needed us.

But nutty it's mostly not. During the scum game the blokes on my STs who had it said it was crap and that's what I got from the TV. The crowd was good before KO and after we scored but when we needed lifting they were MIA...again yesterday most of he game the crowd was a nervous atmosphere and the players and arteta had to try and gee them up.

It was different in the second half. The fans backed the players, especially the North Bank. It did make a difference.

Great to see that kind of atmosphere - whilst the Highbury Library used to get loads of stick in its more recent years I can remember many a fantastic atmosphere there, especially standing in the North Bank when there were 56,000+ people there including those sitting on the roof. The game where we beat Man U 2-1 in the FA Cup in the late 80s and McClair missed a penalty - the place was rocking and it takes your breath away. Never thought all seater grounds would allow that to happen but judging by some of the atmospheres in Germany and France, it is possible! My lad was there yesterday and he said the same i.e. the second half felt like the crowd were really urging the team on. Apparently Raya had everyone shitting their pants in the first half and given what I saw on the highlights when he almost cost us a goal with his crap footwork, and another with his flapping, I'm not surprised. Fabianski and Almunia used to do the same to me!

It was nervous in the first half especially when Raya wasn't decisive. But as I said kicking towards the North Bank in the 2nd half, there was a wall of noise and it definitely gives the players a lift. Gary Neville has said on more than one occasion the noise in the Emirates is in his own words ground shaking. When an outsider says this sort of stuff you know things are improving with our support. It has been like this tbh since COVID.

[Perryashburtongroves]

Look at the soft as fuck red card Tomi got at Palace and compare it to the shit that went down yesterday - absolute joke.

Luckily we’ve won all 3 games they’ve tried to screw us in this season - Palace, Everton and yesterday but at this rate it’s only a matter of time before they do us.

It was horrendous. Absolutely appalling from the referee. I'm wiling to put money on the fact that they decided in advance that after last week, they weren't going to send anyone off unless it was something like a fight or pulling the a man down when clean through. That was one of the clearest second bookings you will ever see and he didn't want to give it, knowing full well that nobody could do anything about it. These are the decisions that need more scrutiny because they are the ones which slip under the radar and the ones which can have a huge impact on matches. We should have been playing against ten for an hour and they should have him suspended for the next game. I fucking thrilled we won against eleven and the ref because it keeps the focus on our win rather than the ref but this cúnt needs suspending for incompetence.

[augie]

Was flying back from my hols today during the game and thought it would be the ideal one to miss. Landed at Gatwick with the game 70 minutes old, expected the inevitable "goal alert" to say we'd gone behind and then lo and behold in the passport queue the boy Martinelli does the business! Was waiting for the inevitable VAR rule out but thankfully it never came. As old Whiskeynose once said "Football eh? Bloody ell"

Only seen the highlights on MOTD but our overrated Englishman who we paid way over the odds for isn't looking too bad is he? Thay boy Saliba signed by the previous clown not looking too shabby either

Compare and contrast to Almunia MkII who from the brief highlights I saw flapped around and couldn't kick for shit. Get him the fuck out FFS! Useless! Big Dec saved his bacon with a goalline clearance while he did his Fabianski impression randomly diving anywhere but where the ball was going. My lad was at the match and he said Almunia MKII was unnerving the crowd - no surprise there. Hollywood keeper.

Fair play to Legohead, he's worked out a way to finally beat his teacher- if he'd lost that today it was curtains. How the fuck can we lose to Lens so pathetically and yet turn up and beat these?

Shame the vermin c.unts are top but we all know how that one ends up!

Tbf Steve O I am reminded of the "what comes first, the chicken or the egg scenario" on that - yes at times it did seem that raya was nervous on the ball, but the crowd were making it worse to the point that at times I thought that they were a disgrace If these fans are so happy to sing el basque's name then they have to accept that his tactics require a keeper to behave like a playmaker with the ball at his feet, and lumping it long to appease them will see his arse back on the bench in no time at all, so they should get the fcuk off his back or start aiming their frustration at the manager and his tactics imo. Likewise these c.unts like ben white continue to take the cowardly option of passing the ball back to him instead of being braver and more positive in possession - perhaps if he watched a game of football an odd time he might have more ideas of what to do when the ball comes to him cos he might learn how other players play the position - just a suggestion for a player who thinks that it is ok to trouser the £££ but has no interest in watching football and is restricting his ability to learn as a result. I'm not picking on white alone cos at one stage in second half Jorginho passed the ball back to raya from halway line when there wasnt a city player within 20 yards of him

I still dont know if raya is the real deal Steve O, but I do believe that he is an upgrade on ramsdale especially on crosses - ramsdale's personality is the type that gets fans behind him cos of his enthusiasm as long as he is producing, but if he is making mistakes that same attitude comes across as undeserved arrogance and rubs people up the wrong way. I continue to say that pep's cone boy continues to be an obstacle to what this team can achieve - his team selections shows a blindness/loyalty to a select group of players regardless of how they are performing, and his in game management is pub league level. Shining the spotlight on raya is giving a free pass to the guy responsible (el basque) and is another example of him trying to use pep tactics without ever the same level of players at his disposal - absolute naivety imo

[Perryashburtongroves]

Biggus Deccus was MASSIVE Deccus today, fucking brilliant

After his first couple of matches where he looked a little out of sorts he has been massive every game.

Mr consistent

Always in the right place at the right time including a header of the line

For that clearance off the line, he reads the situation so well. When the ball comes over and Raya is about to wander about, he's straight onto the line to cover. Excellent reading of the game coupled with the effort to get there.

[SteveO 35]

Was flying back from my hols today during the game and thought it would be the ideal one to miss. Landed at Gatwick with the game 70 minutes old, expected the inevitable "goal alert" to say we'd gone behind and then lo and behold in the passport queue the boy Martinelli does the business! Was waiting for the inevitable VAR rule out but thankfully it never came. As old Whiskeynose once said "Football eh? Bloody ell"

Only seen the highlights on MOTD but our overrated Englishman who we paid way over the odds for isn't looking too bad is he? Thay boy Saliba signed by the previous clown not looking too shabby either

Compare and contrast to Almunia MkII who from the brief highlights I saw flapped around and couldn't kick for shit. Get him the fuck out FFS! Useless! Big Dec saved his bacon with a goalline clearance while he did his Fabianski impression randomly diving anywhere but where the ball was going. My lad was at the match and he said Almunia MKII was unnerving the crowd - no surprise there. Hollywood keeper.

Fair play to Legohead, he's worked out a way to finally beat his teacher- if he'd lost that today it was curtains. How the fuck can we lose to Lens so pathetically and yet turn up and beat these?

Shame the vermin c.unts are top but we all know how that one ends up!

Tbf Steve O I am reminded of the "what comes first, the chicken or the egg scenario" on that - yes at times it did seem that raya was nervous on the ball, but the crowd were making it worse to the point that at times I thought that they were a disgrace If these fans are so happy to sing el basque's name then they have to accept that his tactics require a keeper to behave like a playmaker with the ball at his feet, and lumping it long to appease them will see his arse back on the bench in no time at all, so they should get the fcuk off his back or start aiming their frustration at the manager and his tactics imo. Likewise these c.unts like ben white continue to take the cowardly option of passing the ball back to him instead of being braver and more positive in possession - perhaps if he watched a game of football an odd time he might have more ideas of what to do when the ball comes to him cos he might learn how other players play the position - just a suggestion for a player who thinks that it is ok to trouser the £££ but has no interest in watching football and is restricting his ability to learn as a result. I'm not picking on white alone cos at one stage in second half Jorginho passed the ball back to raya from halway line when there wasnt a city player within 20 yards of him

I still dont know if raya is the real deal Steve O, but I do believe that he is an upgrade on ramsdale especially on crosses - ramsdale's personality is the type that gets fans behind him cos of his enthusiasm as long as he is producing, but if he is making mistakes that same attitude comes across as undeserved arrogance and rubs people up the wrong way. I continue to say that pep's cone boy continues to be an obstacle to what this team can achieve - his team selections shows a blindness/loyalty to a select group of players regardless of how they are performing, and his in game management is pub league level. Shining the spotlight on raya is giving a free pass to the guy responsible (el basque) and is another example of him trying to use pep tactics without ever the same level of players at his disposal - absolute naivety imo

A very lopsided view I must say. Raya has seasons of experience and has been brought in as an upgrade to Ramsdale.....lets face it, he's Legohead's firm number 1 choice now with Ramsdale relegated to a Carabao Cup keeper. If it was a 19 year old rookie between the sticks I'd get your point with the crowd, or a keeper like Cech at the wrong end of their career who couldn't play that way if his life depended on it. Again, people have got excited about all these Raya stats without seeing him play. I heard he was supposed to be an amazing distributor of the ball. Well he has shown nothing of that at all - far behind Ramsdale in that department. Blame Ben White all you like, but do you think he's playing the ball back to Raya any more than he did to Ramsdale? Seriously? Sorry mate - the fella has been brought in as a "Seaman" compared to Ramsdale's "Lukic" and if he can't pass the ball accurately and makes Cech look elegant, that ain't the crowd's fault or Ben White's. I know you and many others are absolutely desperate for him to be so superior to Ramsdale, but he isn't. As for what you're seeing on crosses? His flapping was saved by Rice yesterday, and he pattercaked out for the scum's first goal - he's looked as shit with corners and crosses as he has with the ball at his feet. If he goes on to be an amazing keeper I'll rightly get plenty of stick on here - nothing new there - and will be the first to admit it......so at least have the decency to do the same in reverse and admit that he's been absolutely fucking awful so far, worse than Ramsdale, and its nobody's fault barring his own (certainly not Ben White's)

[augie]

Was flying back from my hols today during the game and thought it would be the ideal one to miss. Landed at Gatwick with the game 70 minutes old, expected the inevitable "goal alert" to say we'd gone behind and then lo and behold in the passport queue the boy Martinelli does the business! Was waiting for the inevitable VAR rule out but thankfully it never came. As old Whiskeynose once said "Football eh? Bloody ell"

Only seen the highlights on MOTD but our overrated Englishman who we paid way over the odds for isn't looking too bad is he? Thay boy Saliba signed by the previous clown not looking too shabby either

Compare and contrast to Almunia MkII who from the brief highlights I saw flapped around and couldn't kick for shit. Get him the fuck out FFS! Useless! Big Dec saved his bacon with a goalline clearance while he did his Fabianski impression randomly diving anywhere but where the ball was going. My lad was at the match and he said Almunia MKII was unnerving the crowd - no surprise there. Hollywood keeper.

Fair play to Legohead, he's worked out a way to finally beat his teacher- if he'd lost that today it was curtains. How the fuck can we lose to Lens so pathetically and yet turn up and beat these?

Shame the vermin c.unts are top but we all know how that one ends up!

Tbf Steve O I am reminded of the "what comes first, the chicken or the egg scenario" on that - yes at times it did seem that raya was nervous on the ball, but the crowd were making it worse to the point that at times I thought that they were a disgrace If these fans are so happy to sing el basque's name then they have to accept that his tactics require a keeper to behave like a playmaker with the ball at his feet, and lumping it long to appease them will see his arse back on the bench in no time at all, so they should get the fcuk off his back or start aiming their frustration at the manager and his tactics imo. Likewise these c.unts like ben white continue to take the cowardly option of passing the ball back to him instead of being braver and more positive in possession - perhaps if he watched a game of football an odd time he might have more ideas of what to do when the ball comes to him cos he might learn how other players play the position - just a suggestion for a player who thinks that it is ok to trouser the £££ but has no interest in watching football and is restricting his ability to learn as a result. I'm not picking on white alone cos at one stage in second half Jorginho passed the ball back to raya from halway line when there wasnt a city player within 20 yards of him

I still dont know if raya is the real deal Steve O, but I do believe that he is an upgrade on ramsdale especially on crosses - ramsdale's personality is the type that gets fans behind him cos of his enthusiasm as long as he is producing, but if he is making mistakes that same attitude comes across as undeserved arrogance and rubs people up the wrong way. I continue to say that pep's cone boy continues to be an obstacle to what this team can achieve - his team selections shows a blindness/loyalty to a select group of players regardless of how they are performing, and his in game management is pub league level. Shining the spotlight on raya is giving a free pass to the guy responsible (el basque) and is another example of him trying to use pep tactics without ever the same level of players at his disposal - absolute naivety imo

A very lopsided view I must say. Raya has seasons of experience and has been brought in as an upgrade to Ramsdale.....lets face it, he's Legohead's firm number 1 choice now with Ramsdale relegated to a Carabao Cup keeper. If it was a 19 year old rookie between the sticks I'd get your point with the crowd, or a keeper like Cech at the wrong end of their career who couldn't play that way if his life depended on it. Again, people have got excited about all these Raya stats without seeing him play. I heard he was supposed to be an amazing distributor of the ball. Well he has shown nothing of that at all - far behind Ramsdale in that department. Blame Ben White all you like, but do you think he's playing the ball back to Raya any more than he did to Ramsdale? Seriously? Sorry mate - the fella has been brought in as a "Seaman" compared to Ramsdale's "Lukic" and if he can't pass the ball accurately and makes Cech look elegant, that ain't the crowd's fault or Ben White's. I know you and many others are absolutely desperate for him to be so superior to Ramsdale, but he isn't. As for what you're seeing on crosses? His flapping was saved by Rice yesterday, and he pattercaked out for the scum's first goal - he's looked as shit with corners and crosses as he has with the ball at his feet. If he goes on to be an amazing keeper I'll rightly get plenty of stick on here - nothing new there - and will be the first to admit it......so at least have the decency to do the same in reverse and admit that he's been absolutely fucking awful so far, worse than Ramsdale, and its nobody's fault barring his own (certainly not Ben White's)

Steve O, can I say again that I was never in favour of us signing Raya in first place, so your belief that I am desperate to see raya as better than ramsdale is incorrect - I never called out for us to sign a keeper this summer or last season, and have consistantly stated that jesus is never going to be a top quality goal scorer so that should have been our priority.

Secondly I dont disagree that ben white (and others) is probably passing the ball back as often to raya as they did to ramsdale - my point wasnt that raya is getting it tougher, but more that it is another example of players literally passing the buck instead of taking ownership themselves. Raya was probably installed as number 1 based on his passing ability (pet peeve of mine straightaway) - on a few occasions yesterday (and in the scum game) I seen no improvement there and I will agree with you there, but on other occasions he pinged a few quality balls out to jesus that the crowd responded to. Ramsdale's passing out has cost us goals in the past (like raya against lens), so surely you can concede that there is a flaw to that part of his game ?

Last year my youngest (a centre back) was playing league of Ireland underage over here and a new keeper joined his team so I asked what he was like, and his response to me was that he is good with the ball at his feet - my response to him was "is that what we judge keepers on now" and sadly that seems to be the case. Again I will say that I didnt want us signing raya unless he was a serious upgrade because apart from having other priorities, a blind man could see that as soon as he dropped ramsdale it was going to cause issues for us and be a big issue in the media and the fans - I think that is proving to be the case. You correctly point out that raya is no rookie and should be able for the pressure, but you are also pleading for the very experienced havertz to be given more time to show that he isnt a dud - why are you ok writing raya off but not ok writing havertz off ? I'm again consistent by admitting that I have written off havertz cos he hasnt impressed with us or the chavs, and I never wanted us to sign him. Raya I am in wait and see mode - I'm not all in on him but nor am I out on him either

[SteveO 35]

Was flying back from my hols today during the game and thought it would be the ideal one to miss. Landed at Gatwick with the game 70 minutes old, expected the inevitable "goal alert" to say we'd gone behind and then lo and behold in the passport queue the boy Martinelli does the business! Was waiting for the inevitable VAR rule out but thankfully it never came. As old Whiskeynose once said "Football eh? Bloody ell"

Only seen the highlights on MOTD but our overrated Englishman who we paid way over the odds for isn't looking too bad is he? Thay boy Saliba signed by the previous clown not looking too shabby either

Compare and contrast to Almunia MkII who from the brief highlights I saw flapped around and couldn't kick for shit. Get him the fuck out FFS! Useless! Big Dec saved his bacon with a goalline clearance while he did his Fabianski impression randomly diving anywhere but where the ball was going. My lad was at the match and he said Almunia MKII was unnerving the crowd - no surprise there. Hollywood keeper.

Fair play to Legohead, he's worked out a way to finally beat his teacher- if he'd lost that today it was curtains. How the fuck can we lose to Lens so pathetically and yet turn up and beat these?

Shame the vermin c.unts are top but we all know how that one ends up!

Tbf Steve O I am reminded of the "what comes first, the chicken or the egg scenario" on that - yes at times it did seem that raya was nervous on the ball, but the crowd were making it worse to the point that at times I thought that they were a disgrace If these fans are so happy to sing el basque's name then they have to accept that his tactics require a keeper to behave like a playmaker with the ball at his feet, and lumping it long to appease them will see his arse back on the bench in no time at all, so they should get the fcuk off his back or start aiming their frustration at the manager and his tactics imo. Likewise these c.unts like ben white continue to take the cowardly option of passing the ball back to him instead of being braver and more positive in possession - perhaps if he watched a game of football an odd time he might have more ideas of what to do when the ball comes to him cos he might learn how other players play the position - just a suggestion for a player who thinks that it is ok to trouser the £££ but has no interest in watching football and is restricting his ability to learn as a result. I'm not picking on white alone cos at one stage in second half Jorginho passed the ball back to raya from halway line when there wasnt a city player within 20 yards of him

I still dont know if raya is the real deal Steve O, but I do believe that he is an upgrade on ramsdale especially on crosses - ramsdale's personality is the type that gets fans behind him cos of his enthusiasm as long as he is producing, but if he is making mistakes that same attitude comes across as undeserved arrogance and rubs people up the wrong way. I continue to say that pep's cone boy continues to be an obstacle to what this team can achieve - his team selections shows a blindness/loyalty to a select group of players regardless of how they are performing, and his in game management is pub league level. Shining the spotlight on raya is giving a free pass to the guy responsible (el basque) and is another example of him trying to use pep tactics without ever the same level of players at his disposal - absolute naivety imo

A very lopsided view I must say. Raya has seasons of experience and has been brought in as an upgrade to Ramsdale.....lets face it, he's Legohead's firm number 1 choice now with Ramsdale relegated to a Carabao Cup keeper. If it was a 19 year old rookie between the sticks I'd get your point with the crowd, or a keeper like Cech at the wrong end of their career who couldn't play that way if his life depended on it. Again, people have got excited about all these Raya stats without seeing him play. I heard he was supposed to be an amazing distributor of the ball. Well he has shown nothing of that at all - far behind Ramsdale in that department. Blame Ben White all you like, but do you think he's playing the ball back to Raya any more than he did to Ramsdale? Seriously? Sorry mate - the fella has been brought in as a "Seaman" compared to Ramsdale's "Lukic" and if he can't pass the ball accurately and makes Cech look elegant, that ain't the crowd's fault or Ben White's. I know you and many others are absolutely desperate for him to be so superior to Ramsdale, but he isn't. As for what you're seeing on crosses? His flapping was saved by Rice yesterday, and he pattercaked out for the scum's first goal - he's looked as shit with corners and crosses as he has with the ball at his feet. If he goes on to be an amazing keeper I'll rightly get plenty of stick on here - nothing new there - and will be the first to admit it......so at least have the decency to do the same in reverse and admit that he's been absolutely fucking awful so far, worse than Ramsdale, and its nobody's fault barring his own (certainly not Ben White's)

Steve O, can I say again that I was never in favour of us signing Raya in first place, so your belief that I am desperate to see raya as better than ramsdale is incorrect - I never called out for us to sign a keeper this summer or last season, and have consistantly stated that jesus is never going to be a top quality goal scorer so that should have been our priority.

Secondly I dont disagree that ben white (and others) is probably passing the ball back as often to raya as they did to ramsdale - my point wasnt that raya is getting it tougher, but more that it is another example of players literally passing the buck instead of taking ownership themselves. Raya was probably installed as number 1 based on his passing ability (pet peeve of mine straightaway) - on a few occasions yesterday (and in the scum game) I seen no improvement there and I will agree with you there, but on other occasions he pinged a few quality balls out to jesus that the crowd responded to. Ramsdale's passing out has cost us goals in the past (like raya against lens), so surely you can concede that there is a flaw to that part of his game ?

Last year my youngest (a centre back) was playing league of Ireland underage over here and a new keeper joined his team so I asked what he was like, and his response to me was that he is good with the ball at his feet - my response to him was "is that what we judge keepers on now" and sadly that seems to be the case. Again I will say that I didnt want us signing raya unless he was a serious upgrade because apart from having other priorities, a blind man could see that as soon as he dropped ramsdale it was going to cause issues for us and be a big issue in the media and the fans - I think that is proving to be the case. You correctly point out that raya is no rookie and should be able for the pressure, but you are also pleading for the very experienced havertz to be given more time to show that he isnt a dud - why are you ok writing raya off but not ok writing havertz off ? I'm again consistent by admitting that I have written off havertz cos he hasnt impressed with us or the chavs, and I never wanted us to sign him. Raya I am in wait and see mode - I'm not all in on him but nor am I out on him either

Good points mate - I agree with you about how goalkeepers are judged. Don't get me wrong, we can't have a keeper like Cech who was like watching Bambi on Ice, but in fairness to the bloke he developed a reputation as one of the world's top keepers when with the Chavs despite his lack of kicking ability. Wouldn't be my number 1 criteria either. Arteta (and many a manager, including his big mentor who immediately dumped Joe Hart for the same reason) has chosen kicking as an important attribute and Raya's so far has been abysmal. Ramsdale's to my mind for the most part has been excellent. Of course with the number of games he's played there will be the odd error - just like there would be for Ederson or any other keeper - but his dsitribution for the most part has been excellent

As for Havertz, I just want balance. There are many here who are so desperate for Raya to be amazing that all errors are forgiven and every stat amplified or excused, and so desperate to be right that Havertz is shit (based on form for a club none of us give two fucks about) that he's been condemned before a ball was kicked. They are both equally experienced - isn't that we've been crying out for several years....to start signing experienced 'men' rather than talented 'boys'. So Raya gets no more bedding in time than Havertz - less in fact because Havertz has been a rotation player and Raya has been the undisputed number 1 for his club for seasons.

[the playing mantis]

Fair points but who on here has voiced their desperation for raya to succeed?! And excused his f ups?

[BobbyPires7]

Raya’s supposed advantage over Ramsdale is his calmness at collecting crosses and his distribution. Currently he is showing neither.

[OneBardGooner]

As Rodders correctly said Oliver the ref gave 2 Yellow cards to Martinelli within 20 Seconds of each other for 2 innocuous reasons let season yet specifically decided Not to give a Red Card to Kovacic for a Shin High Dangerous challenge on Odegaard and then 2 minutes later he lunges in on Rice who doesn't go down easy by any means and waved it away... It was on par with the giving off-side to the Bin Dippers last week but will he be 'stood down' for any length of time? Will he bollocks.

There are too many reffing wrong decisions going against us for it to be coincidence.

On a side note I had to drive some 180 miles early today to visit a relative (on their last legs sadly) BUT usually I would play music etc on such a long drive but decided to play the BBC5Live Commentary of yesterday's game and they had the ex-manure GK Peter Schmeichel as the pundit; you know the same RacistCUNT that called Ian Wright some derogatory names (1997? ) when the teams were headed down the tunnel...Anyway - Why is it when ever we play an important game the BBC always dig up an ex-player to be the pundit when that player has an Anti-Arsenal bias.

Every other (Punditry) comment was a vague dig at Arsenal from the DullardCUNT - I say Dullard because he really does speak like someone who's had a Lobotomy.

It's bad enough with Sly and their Media Love-in for the Scum, The Victims and manure... but this is just yet another version of the Media & Broadcasters not being Neutral.