You knew I will do this at some point.
Gary Neville, former Manchester United defender and now a pundit at Sky, has partnered with them for ‘The Overlap’ where he discusses football and Premier League. In recent days, he has been very vocal about Manchester City winning the league and Arsenal not having that winning mentality to push for the title.
Recently, he decided to be the celebration police and went on record to say – ‘It’s too much emotion, too early for Arsenal, to be that desperate and to celebrate that much with half the race still to go, it’s not a good thing. After the Aston Villa game, I can understand how big of a moment it was, but that level of celebration was quite desperate, quite early. There was a lot of celebrations at the end of the game. The emotions are something that’s a negative, it’s not a positive for me in a title race.’ — Well, there’s only 12 games to go, and we are still on top, with 5 point lead to the Manchester City. There are fans invested in teams for 60, 70 years, from the day they were born. They follow it religiously. These fans then celebrate every little achievements of the players on the pitch, support them through thick and thin, sing for the 90min. What if the players gets emotional after a win? It’s not CHESS for fu*k sake.
On a different day, in the 24th game week, he said: ‘I thought City would win the league and United would finish second two or three months ago. To be fair, I’m not going to change my mind on it. I still think City are going to win the league even though Arsenal, the closer it gets… but 14 games is still a long way to go. I still think United will finish second.’ — Well, I saw United losing 7-0 to a mid-table Liverpool. Even if United win their game in hand, we would have a 11 point lead over them, with only 12 games to go. I don’t see how they are going to finish second.
And at the end, this is what I found on Twitter. I am sorry for the screenshot, I usually embed a tweet but I needed to keep it future reference. Tweets can be deleted, screenshots lives forever.
G. Neville, responding to an Arsenal fan –
There are 5 stages of grief – denial, anger, bargaining, depression and acceptance. Mr Gary was in denial state till last week, he was angry we have been winning for whole 26 weeks, he can’t bargain and I’m pretty sure, is depressed after the Liverpool game. He is getting into the acceptance mode, come the end, I will share his pic in an Arsenal shirt, with ‘Champions’ written all over it.
Right, I hope he takes it as lightly as he thinks others should take what he says. This is a dark art which he has mastered. Hate spreads faster, and he always knew the Arsenal fans are bigger and better than Manchester ones, so he picks up the club and try to keep himself relevant by talking non-sense about it. He can’t do it for City because if you pick up one pebble for each person supporting City, at Chalkwell beach, and keep it in your pocket, you will have the second pocket only half filled.
So yeah, here it is…
We are STILL ON TOP OF THE TABLE. We celebrated our win against Bournemouth like it was our last game on this planet, and we will do it again for every win this season. We sing for whole 90, even when we are behind. It’s just the beginning and IT IS WHAT IT IS, Gary.
If you are reading this, repeat after me – And it’s Arsenal, Arsenal FC! We’re by far the greatest team. The world has ever seen.
Very comfortable win. Just the trick. I watched yesterday’s CP game against City. Palace are running on fumes so we should be good for another 3 points next weekend.
If ‘saliva’ signs it’s a mouthwatering prospect. I’ll get me coat….
obvious shit like Vieira’s keystone cop 2 left feet gig simply must be overturned by VAR
Very happy for the performance and subs even if later then they should have been. Good to see Saka rested and Reis can be a nuisance on the right or left.
Most important it doesn’t look like anyone picked up injuries.
11 to go.
Three nil Ambarish
IT IS WHAT IT IS!
great first half and a clean sheet to boot, but I just wish we put them to the sword in the 2nd half…it appears as if most European Leagues are in a state of flux presently, which bodes well for the status of the PL because there would be status-based consequences in that weren’t the case…so far this season I’ve actually found that the Bundesliga has the most parity and the most enjoyable to watch on a consistent basis, which isn’t a good look on the PL or La Liga…maybe this is just a logical outgrowth of all the player movement and managerial instability
Reported that Spuds want Pickford if Everton are relegated.
Such lofty ambitions Spuds have. ⚽️👀
at least in the first half it appeared as if Howe had found his old Seasider tactical book in his sock drawer, as they were all over Wolves…they need Isak to provide a central presence up top and he was outstanding in the first 45…if they find a way to keep Bruno and upgrade Longstaff, Murphy and Fraser, they could be on to something…just as I say that they allow a real laugher to even things up
Tony
Adding Pickford to their squad would provide some healthy internal competition for their quest to win the ‘biggest cunt in PL football’ trophy. A good chance at some much needed silverware.
Who would the panel choose out of Kane, Son, Dier, Romero, Richarlison and Pickford? I’m possibly missing another 20 or 30 other spud candidates.
KP-after this season, you would have to expect that Romero would be the odds-on favourite, but maybe only by a cunt hair over PIckford, should he join on
it will be very interesting to see how the whole Barca “officiating” scandal plays itself out…by the sounds of it they supposedly paid upwards of 7M for some advanced analytics of some sort which no one seems to have ever seen…very sketchy shit
Good solid win made even sweeter knowing Tottenham wanted Leandro Trossard, and he chose The Arsenal, naturally.
A great signing with real football intelligence, two-footed, and has already improved us and players around him.
Great to see Gabriel Jesus back for the final push.
The winds are blowing in our favour…
I’ll be honest, I think Aaron Ramsdale needs better competition than Matt Turner with CL on the horizon.
I don’t think it will happen, but I wouldn’t mind Dean Henderson. I think if he is shown enough love he will be a quality GK, as he proved for Sheffield Utd in their first PL season (with Chris Wilder). United renewed his contract thinking de Gea was in decline, but as this clearly wasn’t the case, Henderson is now in limbo.
I’d raid Brighton again for Alex MacAllister and or Caicedo in the summer.
Those three additions, and I would fancy us for a stellar CL campaign.
TRVL
The Barca scandal has just added two additional parties joining the group of interested ones, La Liga and Real Madrid. La Liga can’t do anything regarding punishment because of time constrained but they are willing to testify. UEFA could dish out punishment since they are not time barred.
Ramsdale had again a poor showing today and definitely needs some better competition, Dean Henderson not a bad choice. Dealing with BHA and Caicedo’s agent there is just something that goes against my wishes. That dude did the fastest U-Turn in football history in my life time. Osimhen for me to be number 1 target.
I certainly wouldn’t mind having a different backup Keeper option, but I must say I don’t know if I have much confidence in our ability to do so, as we’ve struggled in this department for quite some time…of course Ramsdale has done an above average job thus far, but even that acquisition was problematic, as we paid above the number for his services then proceeded to ignore Leno almost completely, which in turn cost us dearly again
I’ve always been a fan of Henderson’s and truly felt that he was going to be United’s first choice by now, but there’s no doubt that moving de Gea presented Manchester with a couple different quandaries, one being financial in nature and the other seemingly political, as you don’t weather his rather stormy period without friends in high places…presently he has a contract with United until June of 2025, so I’m not quite sure if they would sell him to us, without us paying once again above the number, but maybe he would be a good loan candidate with a buy-on clause
that said, I’m not quite sure our club actually wants to have a “serious” Keeper candidate sitting behind Ransdale, for whatever reason, which is why Turner was our choice…maybe it speaks to the fragility of this particular position in modern day football or the fragility of our specific starting keeper or it’s simply a reflection of an organizational philosophy that believes if you have 2 starting Keepers you actually have none, which is rather common refrain for many in the NHL, the only other “major” sport with a similar Keeper position
as for other potential player acquisitions, I do agree with Herb about potentially returning to BHA for Caicedo, especially if there’s no Europe in their immediate future, as I feel we might get him for considerably less monies than that which was being bandied about in January…regardless we simply must get our midfield right this off-season, as I very much doubt things will be so unsettled next season with many of the “top” clubs who have struggled for considerable chunks this year…of course, I thought MacAllister had a banner World Cup, but I’m not convinved yet that he’s the real deal, whereas I would much rather that we found a way to pry Bruno from Newcastle and right a previous wrong…which reminds me that I’m still pissed that we didn’t find a way to weasel Nkunku from Chelsea’s grasp, as I think his set piece brilliance and positional flexibility would have improved our future chances immeasurably
Killroy-I understand what you’re saying about the Barca, but based on what they were saying on ESPN during the Barca pregame today, there’s a really strong possibility that things could get exceedingly more complicated if some very serious questions about potential longstanding corruption aren’t definitely addressed…it’s just serious enough that it looks like their new stadium financing is being withheld until this cloud is no longer hanging over their organizational head…as for the Osimhen question, you know my thoughts already, as I’m a huge admirer of his, but I think he won’t come unless we’re his dream landing spot and he makes things incredibly messy, which I don’t see happening after their currently magical season
Morning all
Ramsdale blows hot and cold in pulling off the impossible saves and then making needless gaffs, as I think he loses part of his focus under pressure when he panics. A good keeper, but needs to be pushed by his #2.
I’m still banging the Mitoma drum who added to Trossard, Jesus, Martinelli, Saka, Reis, Bolagun & Eddie makes up a very interchangeable front line including a couple of false 9s. Bolagun netted again this weekend.
My question is why buy another front 3 player who may not fit? We need to hit the ground running next season so Mitoma fits the PL ready and tested fit who is scoring for fun and making assists.
Midfield is where we need money spent although Mitoma, Vieira and Trossard can play #8 equally well.
Spend well on a #6, as Kiwior isn’t ready to cover for Partey (Rice?) just now. Lakonga is improving at Palace and had an error free game against City’s MF at the weekend who could only manage a win by a lucky switch off moment by Elisse.
Our back 4 including White are hard to get past where I still believe we need to keep KT as an ‘old style’ hard man defender of the 80s & 90s.
I’m warming to White the more he seems to be enjoying his football. He really does leave it all on the field, and has good support from Tomi.
My concern with bringing in a big name up front is Arteta ‘pet’ based.
Look at Xhaka: Arteta’s pet Rottweiler lumbering around the pitch making his usual 45/48 passes mostly backwards and sideways and pass to their keeper when through on goal for a 2nd time from the penalty spot (last game?) and 6-yard box yesterday. That was it for 95 minutes for Xhaka. No tackles or any interceptions et al. Jorginho would be the better play after ESR/Vieira as 8 or as I mentioned above players that will offer far more than Xhaka’s 45 passes.
When Ode reaches his late 20s he’s going to be elite. I said it when I first saw him play as a 16yo and he isn’t disappointing. The focus he plays with is razor sharp where Jesus and Trossard have upped his game by their game & movement being far more intelligent. That’s what we play: intelligent football bordering on elite that’s required to win the PL and CL.
Yesterday was a turning point following on from our last minute win last weekend. We dispatched a decent Fulham side comfortably, so much so, we settled in 2nd gear for the 2nd half while containing the early onslaught expected from a shell shocked team. At least Arteta made the right subs barring Xhaka of course.
The subs should have been at half time as the game was won.
I’m happier having Palace at home next Sunday. Brighton and Palace are 2 teams Junior and I watch a lot. Obviously, Palace for Paddy and Brighton for De Zerbi’s ability to have taken BHA further in development after Potter left. Paddy has Palace well drilled where they kept City misfiring blasting over the bar or wide. Their aerial defending prowess kept Haaland’s head free of the ball all game in the box. It won’t be an easy game but we have enough at home to get the 3 points.
Paddy and De Zerbi & Paddy could easily take over from Arteta and do better in my view. Certainly, as people and man management and equal for tactics if not better.
Anyway, these and above are my thoughts after this weekend. We can take points from L’pool and City as long as Xhaka doesn’t play in either. To do this we need to continue our winning momentum, as both will want our scalp and where the tough will get going, as we are no longer shrinking violets playing tiki taki football, we’ll take the game to both Pool and City who will worried about playing us if we keep winning.
We play direct often breath taking football from a team full of leaders high on confidence and belief in winning the title; that much was evident Sunday at Fulham.
Do we really need 5 more games from the EL cup? My thinking is Arteta rested players for the Sporting home game and not for Palace, as he wants to win both, as do we, but not at the expense of losing the title.
We did it once in 2016, let’s not make the same mistake again.
will be worried*
Woodward always makes sense and has won it all.
https://www.dailymail.co.uk/sport/rugbyunion/article-11851333/SIR-CLIVE-WOODWARD-England-quality-players-need-drastic-changes-successful-again.html
Happy days!
https://www.dailymail.co.uk/sport/football/article-11851923/Arsenal-stars-pose-huge-CLOCK-dressing-room-following-victory-Fulham.html
High praise from Rednap saying Ode is now better than KDB.
New post!