That’s Murphy’s Law, however it’s the variation of it which suits us more – “Anything that can go wrong will go wrong, and at the worst possible time.”
In the pursuit of title, we didn’t need a mid-week game. We played Sporting at home and lost. Now, most of us would have shrugged it off, looking at the bigger picture where title is on the line having been almost qualified for Champions League but everything went wrong for us. Tomiyasu picked up an injury in the 9th minute and by the looks of it, it was serious. If that was not enough, Saliba was subbed in 20th minute because he felt discomfort in his back. We scored first, but gave a goal away from half line. Match went into the extra time, likes of Martinelli, White, Gabriel and Zinchenko had to play another 30 minutes when we have game tomorrow the 19th. Of all, Martinelli’s kick was saved by Sporting goalkeeper and we lost.
Played for 2 hrs, lost 2 players to injuries, have another game in 3 days and went out of Europa against Sporting at Home. And if this was not enough, someone on Twitter added one more to the list – roof leaking.
Our CBs – Gabriel and Saliba have been immense this season, and losing one of them even for couple of matches could be devastating. Holding is no match, and Kiwior is not ready (yet). We could have hoped White to replace Saliba with Tomiyasu on the right, but Tomi is out injured now and for a long time.
Fortunately, our midfield is still safe. We need Partey the most for these 11 games.
Martinelli would be devasted. Over played, missed a penalty which lost the game for us, hopefully it don’t dent his confidence. We need everyone at their best for the rest of this season.
Anyways, all we can do is forget about it, concentrate on the league and Crystal Palace tomorrow. They have sacked Patrick Vieira, haven’t appointed a manager yet and have not won a game in the year 2023. That’s sort of game where we give a lifeline to the teams. I am worried, and hopefully Arteta and Co. will break that curse. We are still on top, if we win, we go into international break with 8-points lead over City even if they have played a game less, it gives a huge mental advantage. They are in Champions League, they too will tire out and chasing 8 points gap will cause problems for them.
Short one today, I will be back before the game against Crystal Palace. You have a nice weekend.
Nice one Ambarish although that tweet by that guy is a bit shrill to say the least. We didn’t even lose technically.
… Not even the most evil person could have scripted this…
Kin ell. A bit of perspective required surely. Herb was right the other day. It’s a stain on Arsenal’s legacy that they have had such little success in Europe but, over the years, that has been self inflicted. Sturm Graz/FC Magdeburg/Benfica/Real Zaragoza/Olympiacos/Villareal to name but a few. I deliberately omitted the annual ritual last 16 massacres at the hands of Munchen and Killroy’s boys from Catalunya (including that final) .
And after that 4-1 loss to Chelsea, I’m almost but not quite resigned to not seeing us win anything in Europe despite our being one of the richest clubs in world. Parma and Anderlecht are now football antiquities.
Tactically, Sporting were brilliant on the night. We got our strategy wrong. Two main people responsible for that.
Don’t worry about Martinelli – the kid is solid gold and a terrific pro. Plus like many Brazilian players, he’s as hard as nails.
Woy the bwoy possibly returning to Palace from his dotage is truly bizarre. He looked fucked and bombed when he left before. The CP faithful would be appalled and rightly so we’re he to return. It’s not even as if he has a special bond with the club. ‘Where’s the progress?’ they’ll all be whingeing in their Croydon accents.
All the baby men on le grove saying (yet again!) this is the toughest game of the season etc. etc. I’m seeing this as another straightforward win.
Palace’s interim manager (and presumably on the bench tomorrow) is a former player of theirs called Paddy McCarthy whose name I don’t really recall as a player. Saint Patrick the Second. It looks as if PV’s assistant Osian Roberts got the chop too.
Anyway, if Paddy Mark 2’s tactics resemble those of his namesake Mick, it augurs well for tomorrow.
From previous thread conversation.
Tony,
I thought the ruling was due much sooner – certainly before the end of the season purely because it affects who could be in the CL etc.
They can’t let City off it’ll be a green license to Newcastle and PSG to do whatever they like. If they give them a smallish points deduction say 4 points it’ll turn the PL into a handicap run competition – overspend by £100 million you get a 2 point deduction £200 million is 4 points but the £200 million of players will pick you up an extra 6 points so its a net win.
The rumours are that this has been pushed behind the scenes by Arsenal, Spud’s, Livepool, ManU and Chelsea etc.
Marc-what we don’t want is some sort of point reduction that leads to a title with an asterisk, unless we won on our own merit regardless of said reduction…I would suspect that none of the clubs in question will push too hard, as some, like United and Chelsea, certainly don’t want the focus to shift in their direction once City’s been sorted, and the others, although less likely to be offenders than the aforementioned two, know full-well how any severe punishment couold affect the PL standing in Europe…the Serie A went through a “dark” period following Juve’s excommunication…not to mention, from a League perspective, if they were to “prove” that City wantonly abused the very system that they themselves were responsible for policing, it would make them look incredibly negligent in the process, which was and is the case regardless of the public findings…I would suggest the punishment will be relatively minor in nature, but will act as the “line in the sand” impetus for more stringent policing moving forward…the PL certainly doesn’t want to lose Pep or one of it’s biggest earners in one fell swoop
TRVL
The stories are its all being driven by those clubs – with Newcastle now under mega money control you can argue they’ll only be 2 CL places available to Arsenal, Liverpool, ManU, Spuddies and Chelsea.
I don’t think a few points deduction is what they’re pushing for as I said it just turns the PL into a handicap race where the punishment is written off. We could be looking at relegation or even City being kicked out of the league structure – it is after all 100 charges.
There but for the grace of dog/god go I…
Downpour in Rotherham (it’s grim up north) brings a halt to play after 48 minutes with Cardiff 1 nil up. Collective lethargy sets in among Rotherham’s ground staff and they make little or no effort to clear the pitch of a bit of water. (English) Ref suspends and then postpones game. FA investigation to come which is bound to conclude that nothing was amiss and that entire game be played again. I’m unhappy enough sitting at home dealing with it. I think I’d have got arrested if I’d gone. Cardiff fans left fuming.
Watching Chelsea v Everton. Hoping for a heretical home win seeing as they’re no threat to us).
Marc
If that happened to City, it would go some way towards restoring some collective faith in the PL. I guess it’ll come down to how secretly they can fill and distribute the brown envelopes.
https://twitter.com/bluesaint72/status/1637143803835318281?t=054DPnIMTDRBPreaFJ6iwg&s=19
Look at this fucking wanker. 3 steps forward and 3 steps back. Football is soooooo bent.
Hi Ambarish
Coming back to the title of your piece…
Sod’s law for Bluebirds fans in the Yorkshire shit hole that is Rotherham!
Or Murphy’s law even. Doh!
Kroenke
Arsenal, Chelsea, ManU, Liverpool, Chelsea and the Spud’s are the biggest clubs in the PL by a comfortable margin – I don’t think this is about brown envelopes I think they’re looking to stop Newcastle and City turning the PL into a 2 horse race purely on who their owners were.
I appreciate the irony of Chelsea being involved but even what they spent could be dwarfed by Newcastle if its seen that there’s no real punishment for cheating.
It needs to be a huge punishment or the simple fact is it’ll be a slap on the wrists.
Yeah Marc
I was talking metaphorically really about envelopes. Every football administrator has their price. And as we know, City hasn’t exactly lacked creativity when it comes to buying their own way thus far.
Scenes at Stamford Bridge – Potter must spend a lot of time with his head in his hands. I just hope the point doesn’t keep Everton afloat.
Kroenke
Potter’s a good manager he just can’t seem to get Chelsea to click. It’ll all come together at some point, maybe next season if he’s allowed to select his own squad / purchases or he’ll be gone.
The problem for Chelsea there is where next without a Groundhog day.
If there’s any justice, KP, the rearranged game at Rotherham should start in the second half, and Cardiff having their 1-0 lead, particularly with what’s at stake in terms of staying up.
In the 21st century, how are we still getting games postponed half way through!
Perhaps if Rotherham council weren’t obsessed with covering up and hiding child-grooming gangs, their football club would have a ground befitting the second tier of English football.
If their council can’t invest enough to equip and prepare the club for Championship level, they deserve to go down.
They seem to yo-yo between League One and the Championship, but Rotherham seems like a very aimless project.
On the plus side, nearest rivals Blackpool were smashed at home.
Hi Marc
It’s a very good point you raise concerning City and Newcastle, but surely the PL bigwigs who set the guidelines for the fit and proper persons test regarding club ownership have to take some responsibility.
At this point, the PL has become a playground for billionaires who have no local, national or emotional connection with their fans,the seeds of which were sewn by Rupert Murdoch.
But football is corrupt globally, if we look at European leagues it’s even worse.
Look at neighbours Scotland. The last time the SPL wasn’t won by the Old Firm was back in the 1980s.
Bayern have had a strangle-hold in the Bundesliga for decades, La Liga is practically a two club cabal, Portugal have Porto and Benfica, in the Netherlands it’s Ajax, PSV and Feyenoord, and Ligue Un is all about PSG.
Football is broken on so many levels because it is over regulated by non football people whose sole purpose is to protect and maintain the status quo.
Politics has destroyed the spirit of football, because like everything else it is controlled by money that has no interest in serving the common good.
If they punish City, they have to radically change the way football is governed worldwide and perhaps look at why so few clubs have dominated their national leagues as well as European competitions.
Punishing them and not sanctioning this just seems like they’ve got a grudge or vendetta, and would look very petty from my perspective.
Marc-I’m certainly not disputing your claims about who the main complainants are, as they have seemingly the most to gain from the equation…that said, they simply can’t be so obtuse that they don’t comprehend that they likewise have the most to lose…I would suggest that they would be happier than a pig in shit if City was somehow handicapped to start next season, as it would give them all an added advantage in the race for top 4, without completely neutering them in the process…furthermore, this could create some interesting narratives next season, especially if City were able to overcome their initial points deficit, yet they would still have to endure the stigma that inevitably comes with this sort of “scarlet letter” remedy…to cut their balls off now after this sort of shit has been ongoing for years would undoubtedly tarnish the whole League…of course, I could be way off base…take care
I’m still of the mindset that Vieira will come good as a manager if he can discover the right balance between his overtly defensive inklings and the fact that it’s difficult to win if you can’t find a way to score on a consistent basis…that said, I think we might see a more offensively-minded Palace on display tomorrow, as there’s little doubt that some of the more skilled players, like Olise and Zaha, have anxiously waited for the handbrakes to come off…far too often I witnessed Vieira opt for the rather underwhelming Ayew over much younger and hungrier options like the aforementioned Olise
now if they do adopt a more aggressive tactical approach, I’m slightly concerned about our ability to maintain our defensive shape with both Tomi and Saliba on the shelf; not to mention the fact that White and Gabs played the majority of the minutes in a very lengthy, high-paced and emotionally draining mid-week fixture…as such, I wouldn’t be surprised if MA rolled out his old favourite 4-2-3-1 so as to curtail their pacier players in the opening half, then push the tempo in the second half if things remain scoreless
I do think this could be a battle of who was less affected by the ongoings of their respective weeks…if so, the one thing we do have in our favour is the fact that we’ve been as consistently good this season as they’ve been consistently bang average, so from a purely muscle memory standpoint we should come out on top, even if it’s difficult to watch at times
in a perfect world we would come out all guns blazing and try to erase the memory of our Eruopean exit by laying a beatdown on a rudderless and reeling squad who don’t appear to have the footballing DNA required to compete in a higher scoring affair…I will not be holding my breath in this regards!!
TRVL
That’s fascinating, ie the thought that CP’s attacking instincts have been suppressed and that the lid might be lifted this afternoon. Trying to play in a new more attacking style away to the league leaders who have a burgeoning reputation for carving teams up would be risky to say the least. I hate to say it but I reckon it’ll be bus-parking, low block stodge as they cling onto a nil-nil scoreline, only showing signs of life as we start scoring. Moreover, if their caretaker has pretensions to get the job full-time, I doubt he’ll be instilling an ethos of cavalier football. We might even see time-wasting right from the off. Let’s hope our boys are ready this time for any fancy kick-off manoeuvres a la Bournemouth.
Herb
Thanks for the counselling after ‘Rotherhamgate’. I agree that’s how it should go down but I have a feeling it’ll be replayed in its entirety and that the Millers will have regrouped and will win. It reminded me of a late 90s game I saw in Argentina. The Avellaneda Derby between Racing Club and Independiente. A rivalry as strong and much more local than Boca Juniors v River. In this case, the stadia are still only about 200 metres apart (a la Dundee! But with much more spite and violence involved). I went on the Sunday and saw my beloved Racing take a 2 goal lead at their place. Halfway through the second half the floodlights went out. Everyone knew it was done on purpose. Within hours AFA refixed the game for a Tuesday afternoon and Racing closed it out for another 25 minutes or so. I took a half day from work to see it. Jubilant Racing Fans celebrating like they’d won the league in an otherwise empty stadium.
What did you think of that clip? That little twerp ain’t doing a good job is he?
https://images.app.goo.gl/iJaRRgvfhjL1meiy7
The Racing Stadium by the way (named after Evita’s other half Juan Domingo Peron – who was a fan) is an architectural, art deco thing of beauty. It could almost be used for cricket given its roundness inside (although it’d make for a ridiculously high scoring game of T20 because of its size). As with all the other best stadia in South America it has a deep and smelly moat to keep fans out.
I’ve been an Arsenal fan for over 50 years but I had some terrific experiences as a fan in that place. Argentina is THE best place in the world to watch football.
Sorry to hear about Rotherhamgate, KP, how the league used tom play as long as water was in the penalty area. Snow? no problem orange ball and lines. Us old timers used to enjoy real football :).
My pet hate: Xhaka is playing again instead of ESR and his average nothing stats. 2 decent games in a row is asking a lot akin to telling KP not to swear for a week. 🙂
Marc, I’m with you, relegation should be the least punishment, as well as being removed from leg and cup wins being left blank for the historical game and fair play the game seeks to uphold. The look at United and Chelsea and us as Wenger said he stuck to it: Raul? Got to be a grey area at least worth looking into as well as making sure Gazidis has been a paragon of financial virtue in keeping with the FFP.
Our daughter is at a concert in BKK with friends, so we’ve got Pumpkin to look after with him being scratched adequately for a 3:1 win. Mystic Meg is dead, which I bet she didn’t see coming, and my predictions have only been mildly better than Russel Grant’s daily forecasts.
3:1 to us with them scoring first and then running out of ideas.
3 points today and rest. No excuses.
We got lucky
Palace got the early chance I thought they’d get, but we were always going to be too much for them.
Great take by Mary’s.
Marts*
KP-I never meant that Palace would go full-bore, as I don’t think they have the horses, but they certanly have those who could aggressively counter, if given the green light more often…I don’t really blame Vieira for this, as he had to go point hunting for much of the season, not matter the aesthetics, unfortunately the choices he made failed to yield the required results…just to highlight this fact, today’s commentator just informed the audience that Palace had failed to record on shot on target for their last 2 matches
delighted for Marts…hope he scores a couple today, so as to ease his pain
What is it with our RBs? First Bellerin and now White with lop siddd shorts.
Excellent final 3rd football from us and the 2nd goal to settle any nerves. Could be a rout.
there’s no doubt that MA didn’t think Palace would be so adventurous going forward in the first 20, which should have yielded them a goal of not 2, but as soon as we put one on the board they immediately started to retreat…of course, they were summarily punished for this tactical miscue…maybe they didn’t feel they have the requisite personnel to stay their original course, after all, their best midfielder, in more recent times, has been Lokonga, who obviously isn’t available for selection today
if we can continue to get consistent scoring from our wide-side forwards, while adding a more viable option to provide competition for Jesus, then finally redress our midfield Xhaka issue, we could develop into an interesting mix between what City had on offer 3 years back and the more directness of the 2021 Pool side…wishful thinking of course, but certainly not beyond the realm of possibility with the proper scouting and investment
After a more defensive mindset play from Paddy, Palace couldn’t adjust to suddenly being more offensive. Holding has done well and White is linking up well with Saka and Ode. Shame we don’t have the same balance on our attacking left until Martinelli cuts in as he did for his goal.
Hopefully we can get a few more in the 2nd half.
TRVL – that would put us back in the game where we should be: challenging for 4/5 seasons. With good squad management, who knows?
Better rest Xhaka now for Leeds.
Tony-having said that, I’m still not convinced that our manager has any desire whatsoever to move on from our/his actual “captain”; plus the investments made in both Eddie and Trossard, with Balo performing beyond expectation, suggests to me that there won’t be any major signings up top…of course, this isn’t to take anything away from Balo’s potential moving forward, as he’s been stellar out on loan, but I just think if we do have higher aspirations for next season, on multiple fronts, we need to have another readymade bona fide scorer up top…this was always my concerns with both the mishandling of the whole Eddie scenario last off-season and our non-targeted spending in January
of course, as I say all this, Xhaka scores for the second game in a row…having you ever seen a more unmarked individual inside the box(on both ocassions that is)
Palace look as if they shot their load in the first 20+ minutes and have been living on borrowed time since
have NOT having you
Great goal and pick out from KT for Saka’s assist.
What a goal !
good to see Tierney on the pitch and contributing in the final third…we need him for the run-up and for the purposes of raising funds for the summer window
I’ve heard of alligator arm, but Tompkin’s alligator foot almost had us potting a 5 spot…we need to prove that we have a half dozen goals in us
i do think that Holding has worked on his passing skills, as he seems far more confident with his one-touch capabilities, with space and time, but he still needs some considerable work on his positioning, especially when he’s facing anyone with pace
still not quite sure why Partey and Saka are playing a full 90 or why ESR was shoehorned out wide instead of coming in for Xhaka in a more central role…we all know by now that he will never get any significant minutes as a wide-side player, at least not at the Emirates…we should never not use these types of affairs to see what we can get out of players in their preferred positions…otherwise, extremely pleased by the way we reversed course after the 25th minute and emerged with a resounding victory