Tomi is back! Cedric has done ok, we are seriously lacking a back up LB. I'll take the 3-1 win, but we were a little lucky during that 20 mins at the start of the second. Could have easily been a draw or loss against a flailing Man U side.
Fudgeing huge result. How we got out of that second half with the win I don't know. Was always coming down to the Spurs game for 4th but this should at least count United out. Not many things better in football that beating them.
For me it seems a good bit of business for us. 25, plenty of experience, and should be a good price given he’s surplus to requirements and only has 1 year left.
If we got him and an Isak/Dom CL/Darwin Numez big man type forward we’d be golden!
Saka stepping up to take the penalties in do or die situations against Man United and Chelsea after missing the deciding one at the Euros as a teenager was awesome. Strong mentality and fudgeing burried them. Unbelievable how good this guy is.
Seeing both fernandes and jorginho miss penalties in the same weekend brings me joy. Two of the most weaselly scummy annoying penalty techniques. And i loved ramsdale giving it large to fernandes too. This modern penalty technique is specifically designed to turn the penalty into a battle of wits between keeper and taker. If you miss the target with this technique of eyeballing him and stuttering your run up to make him dive early, then the keeper has played a part in that 100% and is fully entitled to some credit.
For me it seems a good bit of business for us. 25, plenty of experience, and should be a good price given he’s surplus to requirements and only has 1 year left.
If we got him and an Isak/Dom CL/Darwin Numez big man type forward we’d be golden!
I still get the feeling we are being used as a contract negotiation tool. I wonder if we are getting caught up in the two rumours of Harland is coming and Jesus is nearing the end of his contract. I don’t know enough about him as a positional player, but does anyone know if he would suit our setup? Our forward needs to do lots of pressing which can be a thankless task that I can see many strikers not being overly in love with.
I havent seen the rumours but wouldn't mind him at all, a decently high calibre player, Arteta knows him well. And having been at a Guardiola team I've no concerns about his pressing or positional play. I'd probably look to offload Pepe and Laca, bring him in, and that's it. Re-sign Nketiah to compete with him and Martinelli as strikers next season.
Those three are all too similar for me. Can all play through the middle or come in from out wide. We also need an out and out big man who can mix it against the Stokes and Burnleys of the world and offer a different route to goal when.
Agree about Pepe/Laca/Nketiah decisions. Would leave you good depth: Striker: Big man, Jesus, Nketiah, Martinelli Wide Forward: Saka, Martinelli, ESR, Jesus, Nketiah Attacking Mid: Odegaard, ESR, Saka
Would also mean you could send Bologun for another 12 month loan for a bit more finishing.paulm
I havent seen the rumours but wouldn't mind him at all, a decently high calibre player, Arteta knows him well. And having been at a Guardiola team I've no concerns about his pressing or positional play. I'd probably look to offload Pepe and Laca, bring him in, and that's it. Re-sign Nketiah to compete with him and Martinelli as strikers next season.
Another massive three points. If someone told me we would take the full 9 points from Chelsea, United and West Ham i would think they were bonkers. Incredible turn around from the lads the past couple weeks.
Can’t believe we will have to support those bin dipping bastards next week.
Didn’t tomi go off injured again? Missed the game but sounds like it was a grind and we did just enough to get past westham.
I don’t want to raise my hopes but if Chelsea maintain their form then we might be able to pinch 3rd!! Spurs vs Liverpool in their next match will also be a big on for our top 4 chances. Not that’s we can really worry about others too much as we need to focus on winning the reminding 4.
Yeah I've been keeping an eye on third for a bit - although every time I look up the table we go on a run of dropping points so here is hoping I didn't just jinx it again!
Only this bloody team could find themselves losing 3 winnable guys then winning 3 tough fixtures. 4 massive games to go!
On Tomi he was straight down the tunnel, but I'm also wary that perhaps it was pre-planned given Cedric was already stripped and ready.
Didn’t tomi go off injured again? Missed the game but sounds like it was a grind and we did just enough to get past westham.
I don’t want to raise my hopes but if Chelsea maintain their form then we might be able to pinch 3rd!! Spurs vs Liverpool in their next match will also be a big on for our top 4 chances. Not that’s we can really worry about others too much as we need to focus on winning the reminding 4.
Close run thing. We were not the better side. Tough place to win though, excellent 3 points. Chelsea have a kind draw left, I'm not holding out much hope on 3rd, particularly given the goal difference situation. The next round is the one for me. I'd put the house on Liverpool beating Spurs. If that happens and we can beat Leeds, that gives us a 5 point lead over them with three games to go, meaning we could afford to lose at Spurs, and would just need to beat Newcastle and Everton in the final two games to squeak it. Obviously a win over Spurs to seal 4th spot at their ground would be pretty fantastic though!
I'm not sure that is entirely fair PaulM. It was an error laid performance from both sides but: 7 shots on target to their 3 7 corners to their 3
While we made more tackles and clearances I think our defence was mostly on top of them and nullified the threat, but down the other end we created more shooting opportunities.paulm
Close run thing. We were not the better side. Tough place to win though, excellent 3 points. Chelsea have a kind draw left, I'm not holding out much hope on 3rd, particularly given the goal difference situation. The next round is the one for me. I'd put the house on Liverpool beating Spurs. If that happens and we can beat Leeds, that gives us a 5 point lead over them with three games to go, meaning we could afford to lose at Spurs, and would just need to beat Newcastle and Everton in the final two games to squeak it. Obviously a win over Spurs to seal 4th spot at their ground would be pretty fantastic though!
Fair points brumbys. We didn't really look like leaking goals did we.
How good have our set pieces been this season by the way??? At both ends of the pitch. I can't recall us ever being so good at that aspect of our game.
Also, god I love Ramsdale. He has some hairy moments and was a fraction of a second away from a red card there, but I feel like the best goalkeepers are like that. They are brash, confident, and they put a stamp on the game. Ramsdale has all that in his locker, on top of some frankly ridiculous saves. His reaction times are up with the best I've seen from any goalie, ever.
He's also very young for a number 1 at Premier League level. When he signed there was a stat about him having played the most games for a keeper in Europe by that age or something along those lines, can't find the exact stat now. He's been voted Player of the Season the last two seasons at his previous clubs too.
If you follow LadBaby on Facebook there were a couple of cool videos from the Euros where Ramsdale gave them tickets to the semi and final and they ended up sitting with his family.
Would still have supported Man City in it over Liverpool. I say "support" but more a case of anyone but Liverpool. Something about City winning hurts less than other clubs as it feels like it doesn't really count somehow. There's no competing with Oil States who have unlimited funds and resources so it's easier to accept it's just going to happen and there's nothing anyone else can do about it. How good would it be if Liverpool end up with only the League Cup after the quadruple talk? The worry now is that City are so deflated that they collapse this weekend and Liverpool do actually end up with everything.
It would also be another team that everyone can't wait to tell us why they are better than the Invincibles. Much prefer they end up with only the FA Cup if they have to win one of these 3 and if they lose the CL final they at least end the season upset. Even though they won the league unbeaten the Invincibles arguably underachieved that season with the players they had. Treble was there for the taking.
Yes ajc couldnt agree more. Other fans love to talk about how many different sides they think are better than the invincibles were. And yet, none of them have matched the achievement, so the statistic just rolls on, it's a beautiful thing. 18 seasons since then, and 100+ seasons before then, no equals. All hail Arsene.
It would also be another team that everyone can't wait to tell us why they are better than the Invincibles. Much prefer they end up with only the FA Cup if they have to win one of these 3 and if they lose the CL final they at least end the season upset. Even though they won the league unbeaten the Invincibles arguably underachieved that season with the players they had. Treble was there for the taking.
Definitely should have won the CL that season. Fudgeing Porto won it, against Monaco.
It would also be another team that everyone can't wait to tell us why they are better than the Invincibles. Much prefer they end up with only the FA Cup if they have to win one of these 3 and if they lose the CL final they at least end the season upset. Even though they won the league unbeaten the Invincibles arguably underachieved that season with the players they had. Treble was there for the taking.
Definitely should have won the CL that season. Fudgeing Porto won it, against Monaco.
How different might things had been had we made that final and beaten Mourinho?
Anyway it was interesting seeing Real Madrid "celebrating like they had won the competition" yesterday. Anyone got a link to the uproar from the pundits? Haven't been able to find it.
I’m at that point of the run in where I just want to get to the end of the season and know the outcome.
Big weekend though, we’ve got Leeds at home (not a spare ticket in sight - I tried) and Sp*ds have Liverpool.
Also of interest is the final day of the WSL! We’ve got West Ham away, Chelsea have United at home. If Chelsea win they get the title. If they draw a draw will be good enough for us.
Yea had been meaning to mention the WSL. I woke up in the middle of the night the other week when Chelsea played the first of their two games against Spurs, and they were at 1-1 and had got a red card, going into halftime. I was over the moon, thought that spurs were going to do us the favour we needed, only to wake up in the morning to see Chelsea had won 3-1 UGGHHH
They won narrowly 1-0 last round, so they are slightly fading even though they're still winning, we have some hope on the final day... they are playing ManU who are decent-ish as well, although it really is a two-team league with us and Chelsea to be fair, so not holding out too much hope. It's pretty crazy that we've had such a good season but may not win the title, we've only lost once!
I hope the atmosphere against Leeds is pumping this weekend. The home crowds have been nice and loud for a lot of this season, the fans have been pretty on board with Arteta and this team for the most part (first month of the season aside). I have been pleasantly surprised at how the roar goes up even after we've conceded, the fans know this team can turn things around during games, they don't deflate so much after conceding any longer. There's an air about this of the way Klopp got his team to really re-engage Anfield in his first couple of seasons. That was key to them becoming a successful team I feel.
